Noah was silent as he entered the room. James quickly closed the door behind him.

“Tea?” James suggested, placing two cups on the cheap table in the room’s center. He walked to the interconnected kitchen and brought back a small, steaming pot. As if Noah were just some random participant, James sat down and held out his pale hand, offering Noah a seat.

Noah indulged him, sliding into the plastic chair opposing James’ and sitting on it. James poured tea for both of them, the liquid’s pleasant herbal aroma coiling around the white ceiling. Maybe it was just the day’s humidity, but Noah felt the air was quite thick.

As if proving the tea wasn’t poisoned, James took a leisurely sip, not affected in the slightest by the hot tea.

“I have a fabled core,” James suddenly stated, spinning his cup around. “Although I don’t know how that compares to a rare core, it certainly isn’t lower. This core is quite good, it allows me to do many things. One of them is having a superhuman instinct.”

Noah lowered his head.

“When I asked myself ‘How do I survive in the second trial', my gut told me to follow Nicole. That turned out well. Unfortunately, she’s dead now, killed by some dogs, but now I have you,” James grinned, spreading out his arms.

Noah’s lips parted in kind, the width not quite reaching his eyes. “I suppose I can view this as a threat, no?”

“If you want to. You owe me one anyway.”

“Difficult to deal with,” was the only thought in Noah’s mind. He did not know that James was such a person. Such skill in deception, along with unnaturally powerful instinct. Who could stop him?

Suddenly, Noah felt his talent was quite poor.

“I guess I have no choice then,” he answered. “I just hope you’re as good at fighting as you are at scheming.”

“I’m passable,” James answered.

Noah nodded, not doubting him in the least. At least, James was confident in his ability to escape from any pursuit. He wouldn’t have invited Noah otherwise.

“So, what’s your plan? I’m sure you're not going to keep on staying here, cooped up in this room without doing anything. Just by hiding me, you’ve already become an enemy of Jack and the entire tutorial.”

James took another sip of tea. “Of course I have a plan. However, it depends on what your core is, as well as how many points you have. Especially points, the more you currently have, the better.”

“How so?” Noah asked, blowing on the tea before taking a sip. He had relaxed by now. Perhaps it was due to the adrenaline wearing off or the calming tea, but without him knowing, his brows had eased.

James tapped his finger on the table before replying. “We’re going to need a lot of food and storage. Around 400 points' worth, in fact.”

Nodding in understanding, a faint idea of James’ plan formed in Noah’s mind.

Setting the cup down, Noah looked at James deeply. “Do you plan to fully clear the tutorial?”

James didn’t reply to his question, rather stating, “Work with me. I’m sure you have quite the number of points and combined with mine, my plan has almost a hundred percent chance of succeeding. I’m sure you can think reasonably.”

Noah agreed and transferred 200 points to James through the use of the system. As he couldn’t go out for the near future, due to the active hunt for him, he would have to trust James to carry through. It was a risk he was willing to take. Compared to any of Noah’s ideas, James appeared to be someone with experience in scheming.

Based on what he’s seen so far, Noah knew James was not an ordinary person, even before the tutorial began. Because of the second trial, he had a good idea of this world’s people.

Maintaining a façade, as well as having a good understanding of when to advance and retreat was certainly abnormal. Noah had already realized that compared to Jack, James was far deadlier.

“I’ll be going then,” James said after checking his points. “It probably won’t take long for me to get back, meanwhile, make sure you stay here. I’ll be needing you to help me fight later on.”

“Sure,” Noah replied. There was no point in him going out, and as he had already spent the majority of the points he had to upgrade his clothes, he didn’t need to go out. Jack left, leaving Noah alone.

The first thing he did was search the room. Like a professional thief, he didn’t leave a corner unturned. Shelves, drawers, and the closet were all opened and looked through. Noah sighed; there was nothing in the room besides food and clothes. Although he expected this, nothing of value such as a weapon would be left behind by James.

“He must’ve bought something along the lines of a spatial ring,” Noah thought to himself. A spatial ring was a complex item, it was impossible to possess one without sufficient means. It was only in the tutorial that it could be casually bought. The whole world was illusionary, after all.

As there were two beds, Noah sat on the one closer to the undecorated window. It didn’t bother him that Nicole had probably slept in the bed two nights before. He wasn’t someone who cared about such grim details. It was many times better than sleeping on the ground.

Crossing his legs, he breathed in, beginning a new session of meditation. Personal strength was the most important, without it all schemes would be meaningless and with it he wouldn’t have to resort to such measures. He would simply kill anything that appeared in front of him, whether man or beast.

Noah focused on his mana core. Despite being unable to see it physically, he could feel the mana flowing through him. In this way, it acted similarly to blood; mana was carried through the veins and the core processed it like a heart.

If Noah were able to see inside of himself, he would notice that as he absorbed mana, his mana core slowly grew in size. However, he wouldn’t be surprised.

While meditation increased one’s understanding of mana and its regeneration speed, it also strengthened the mana core permanently. This was how a mana core’s tier was increased.

Exhaling deeply, Noah continued to meditate for three hours until he heard the room’s door open. James entered carrying nothing but a casual smile, his hands sheathed in his pant’s pockets. Noah uncrossed his legs.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” James asked, almost in a caring tone.

Noah deadpanned, “Nothing at all.”

“Well, that’s good. Better nothing than something bad,” James remarked, picking up a fresh shirt. “Anyways, tomorrow Jack, along with most of the top groups, will be heading out on the first so-called ‘maze raid’.”

He took a seat on his bed, his elbows resting on his knees. “I want to use this chance to set my plan into motion.”

“To attract all the beasts in the maze and have them fight with the tutorial’s participants, leading to the extermination of both sides,” Noah continued. James nodded, uncaring about the interruption.

“That’s right. From what I know of the tutorial, this is probably the best result. Even if it may be hard to pull off, it’s possible with my powers and your fighting skill as a backup.”

Noah’s expression didn’t change, but internally he was surprised. “He’s confident in doing it by himself.”

Fabled cores certainly were something else. Noah felt his mood brighten, if just a bit.

James reached into his pocket, his pale hand wrapping around something. He pulled it out, revealing a silver ring to Noah.

“Here, take this. It’s a space ring, an item that allows you to store things within it. Just move some of your mana into it and it’ll allow you to put stuff in it.”

Noah smiled and received it, thanking James. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about inconveniences caused by his weapons, food, or clothes. However, he couldn’t help but deeply think about how many points James has.

“His core must give some direct benefits to his combat power,” Noah thought, sliding the ring onto his finger. “It’s likely a speed-related boost. To gain so many points in such a limited time requires more than strength.”

Thinking so, Noah smiled; his head bowing slightly. James grinned, slapping his thighs.

“I see you’ve been exercising,” he commented, noticing the sweat dampening Noah’s shirt. “Make sure you’re well-rested for tomorrow. We’ll be moving around a lot.”

Noah tilted his head again in understanding. James placed his hands on the bed, ready to get up, but stopped himself.

“By the way, Noah, I need to know what your core’s abilities are. We’ll be working together for the near future and to properly plan, I’ll need to know what you can do,” James asked.

Noah appeared to hesitate, but he eventually replied. “I can see through any disguises or invisibility, but I can’t see through walls.”

James rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So you can’t see through walls, but you can see through clothes. That’s certainly strange. They’re both solid.”

“It’s because clothes are organic,” Noah explained. James frowned at this. “What about plastic clothes?”

Noah shrugged his shoulders. “I guess all the clothes in the shop are plant or animal based.”

“Hmm,” James hummed. He didn’t ask anything else, getting up and entering the bathroom. “I’ll be taking a shower now; it’s getting late anyway.”

The door shut softly, leaving Noah alone in the room again. Thinking of his situation, a feeling of bitterness engulfed him.

“To think I’ll be sleeping in the same room with someone I don’t trust so soon. I can’t tell whether my luck is terrible or great.”

He chuckled lightly before peering into the ring. Like looking through a microscope, Noah could see the ring inner contents clearly. Besides piles and piles of edible bait, the ring was empty.

Noah didn’t hesitate to put his saber in it. The blade was sucked in silently, shrinking until it disappeared. Unfortunately, he couldn’t grab anything else on his escape, so all he had were the clothes he was wearing. He should have prepared himself.

“Another mistake to add to the list.” Noah sighed, lying down on his bed. Then again, he was only human. But he could improve with experience. Noah just had to make sure he didn’t make the same mistakes twice and he would be without regret, even if some mistakes couldn’t be made twice.

He sighed again. Sinking further into his bed, Noah ran his hand through his hair. In truth, the day had taken a lot out of him. Layla’s early, no, her betrayal had disappointed him greatly. He had left his axe behind as well.

Noah dragged his hand to his eyes, rubbing them thoroughly. He let his arm fall to his side; the gray ring snugly wrapping around his middle finger. He spun it lazily, his eyes drifting off towards the ceiling. Unexpectedly, he fell asleep.

It was James who shook him awake early next morning. Groggily sitting up, Noah swung off of his bed and entered the bathroom. After washing his face and relieving himself, he checked his ring. Everything was in order; his sword, food, and bait were all prepared.

“You ready?” James asked, opening the door. Noah nodded, his expression blank like slate.

“Then let’s go.”