Coming around, Carter felt a throbbing pain in his neck. 'God, what a vivid dream, I am going to have to quit falling asleep at the desk thought it is killing my neck.' Carter opened his eyes to a sight that will be ingrained in him till the day he dies.

Welcome to the Tutorial

Carter Hudson, while participating in the Tutorial time inside is sped up by ten times. For example:

10 min = 1 min real time

1 hour= 6 min real time

He seemed to have woken up in a grassland prairie that extended for as far as the eye could see. Twenty some odd feet away from him stood an oddly familiar figure. Carter was both curious and terrified at the same time, a stones throw away stood his grandfather. The thing that Carter was struggling with was that his grandfather had passed away during his second year of high school. Struggling to rationalize everything that had happened to him in the last couple of minutes, Carter stood up and walked towards the only other person for miles.

"Pap?..." Carter started out hesitantly not really sure how to go about communicating with a dead person.

Pap just smiled at the approaching figure. Once Carter had made it within a reasonable speaking distance the old man began.

"Not quite son, you can address me as Alvin, instructor, or sir." Alvin stated with a hint of exhasperation.

"I don't quite understand what is going on here... I mean one moment I was walking around the library and the next I'm in this field... and you look just like my grandfather... how is that even a thing?" Carter just managed to get out those couple of lines out of all the random thoughts swirling through his head.

"Your experience is not entirely unique, in fact that is the story for most people who are new to the system and who accept the tutorial. Again my name is Alvin, the reason my appearance resembles someone of your past is that we are currently inside your head." Alvin left off the explanation feeling pretty good about how he addressed his new students question.

Carter just stared at Alvin standing across from him seemingly unconcerned. 'Makes sense, makes sense yeah totally... We are currently inside my head. All of this is totally rationale...' Alvin could tell that Carter was approaching a mental spiral that would not help either one of them so he headed off his thoughts.

"Time to get this tutorial started, which will both convince you that what is happening is real and that your world has changed drastically. We will begin with the basics, think to yourself 'Status'." Alvin commanded Carter hoping to get his thoughts and actions moving in the right direction.

'Ok Carter get it together, enough of this stumbling around. If you are going to do something do it right. It's time to get your head in the game' Carter was trying to psych himself back into his normal behavior, well as normal as he can get in this type of situation. Alvin nodded appreciatively noticing Carter's change in demeanor. 'Maybe this one isn't entirely hopeless after all.' Despite his approval he still did not get his hopes up to high.

'Status' Carter thought to himself. What popped up again reminded him of all the games that he had spent endless hours playing all through high school, college, and if he was being honest with himself, whenever Catherine would still let him get away with it at home.

Carter William Hudson Level 1 Next LVL 0/100 Strength 8 Affiliation N/A Agility 7 Endurance 5 Merit Balance 0 MB Intelligence 5 Wisdom 8 Influence -

"Any questions about what you see in front of you?" Alvin asked.

"I have a couple of questions, yeah. How am I seeing this in front of me? What are Affiliation, Merit Balance, and Influence? Assuming that Strength, Agility, Endurance, Intelligence, and Wisdom follow the general path of video games that I have played before. Also what the hell is going on in general?!?!" Carter spouted out feeling a slew of emotions.

"Lets start with the first question and work our way through them shall we?" Alvin said as he conjured a stone pillar underneath him to sit on. "The reason you can see the screens in front of you but can't touch them is because they are in your head. The message is actually mana that is translated into an image through your brain to put it simply. Suffice it to say that the exact machinations of what is happening is well beyond the current you. Looking at your stats, you seem to be slightly above average for your race. Five is the average stat that your average human seems start with, anything lower than that seems to imply some sort of genetic or physical deficiency. Your strength, agility, and wisdom all seem to indicate that you are not completely average. Addressing your stats statement while we are on the topic, for the most part, yes and no. Strength addresses how hard you hit and body mass, in essence it makes you thicker and stronger. Agility addresses your flexibility and coordination. Endurance affects the amount of time your body can endure strenous excersize and how much punishment it can handle. Intelligence speaks to the amount of mana you are able to channel at one time as well as your memory recall. Wisdom handles your ability to comprehend information and mana, as well as your reaction speed." Alvin paused to take a breath and give Carter the opportunity to ask the questions he could see in his eyes.

"Seems easy enough so far, I would like a little more clarification on intelligence and wisdom if that is alright?" Carter spoke up not hesitating to ask the questions on his mind. This tutorial could save his life and he was not about to stare a gift horse in the mouth. He planned on milking this Alvin character for everything that he was willing to give up about what was happening. "In regards to intelligence, can you expand more on the whole 'channeling mana' comment? I would also like to know more about the 'comprehend information and mana' comment in regards to wisdom, if that is alright."

"Perfectly alright, looking back into your memories I am able to see that your world did not previously have mana. Mana is a form of energy that is compatible with almost every aspect of nature. It is usually found on worlds that have been nurtured and cared for until they reach the peak of their performance. Mana was injected into your world to help facilitate the repair of the damage done to your environment by your species mishandling of resources. With the introduction of mana comes the ability to control it, usually in the form of spells and runes. Spells are the first step of mana control and allow the caster to directly control the mana around them. Runes are the implementation of mana into a physical object for a specific purpose. In regards to the clarification you were asking for a higher intelligence will allow you to cast stronger spells through controlling more mana. Before you ask what spells are available let me tell you that it will be addressed later in the tutorial in a way. Your question about wisdom can be clarified by saying that a higher wisdom will allow you to digest what is happening around you in regards to your physical environment and mana more quickly." Alvin finished explaining with a huff. It seemed to be eons since he was required to go into such detail on what he had now come to understand as the very basics of his existence. However, he had to admit that he was intrigued by what he saw when looking back through Carter's memories. The young human standing in front of him had given him a few things to think about.

"Skipping the whole 'looking back into my memories' comment," Carter decided that with everything going on his memories being searched were the least of his worries. "Moving on to the affiliation, merit balance, and influence...?" Carter left the question hanging in the air, he was on a roll and that last explanation had him spinning. His only goal at this point was to keep moving the conversation forward.

"Affiliation is truly very simple, in the right circumstances anyone is able to set up and organization that others will then be able to join. The people in the organizations usually have similar interests or goals. Merit Balance is similarly simple, it is the currency of The Conglomerate. Performing tasks, quests, or other actions that influence your planet towards healing will award appropriate amounts of merit. Influence indicates the amount change a individual has implemented on their planet. The Conglomerate pays special attention to those inhabitants with high influence, handing out rewards and special tasks at times." Alvin was getting dangerously close to oversharing but it had been a while since he had to do one of these tutorials so he found it hard to care. This human was starting to pique his curiosity.

"Ok so I'm following your on everything so far I am pretty sure. Few more things I would like clarification on and one is a pretty big one. Why does this seem so much like a video game, and since it is so similar to a video game are there other similar aspects that I should be aware of?" Carter felt like he was on to something, everything so far was eerily similar to games he had played in the past and he couldn't shake this feeling it was relevant.

"Bingo champ, The Conglomerate has been aware of your planet for decades and when it noticed Earth's health begin to continously degrade it decided to begin preparations for it's future intervention. The video games that your planet has been playing for the past few decades were introduced by The Conglomerate to ease the transition when they took over. As far as similar aspects there is quite a bit of overlap in fact. Inventory, loot, dungeons, monsters, levels, experience, spells, and most importantly the shop. The shop is where you will spend your merit, the items purchased there can be used to improve both yourself and others. It is also used to connect yourself and planet to the rest of The Conglomerate." Alvin explained.

"Wait... Inventory, like endless pocket of space that can store anything?" Carter was starting to get super excited.

"No, nothing like that. Yes you have the ability to obtain items that contain a set inventory that will be able to hold gear, materials, and other miscellaneous things for you but what the inventory can hold is limited to how advanced the enchanted item is." Alvin stated, truthfully. There were a few work arounds but Carter was no where near being able to put them into play.

"A little less awesome than before but still pretty far up there on the 'plus' column." Carter's head was spinning from all the new information and possibilities. If he was being honest with himself his inner nerd was having a total geek out, as he paced back and forth in front of Alvin. Giving himself a moment to settle down, Carter's throught process led him to a dangerous realization. Coming to a stop he tried to find a way to ask this question without being defensive, the last thing he wanted was to piss off the guy giving him all the information. "So what does all this mean for Earth?" He asked staring directly at Alvin.

"From looking at your memories and what I have been able to experience so far, your species is in for a rude awakening. These next couple of years are going to be a trial by fire to see if humanity has what it takes to stand among the other species in The Conglomerate. It is not all bad news though, once your planet is able to stabilize its mana and produce a steady supply on its own, you will be able to have representation in The Conglomerate." Alvin stated with a little more interest. He liked what he was seeing in regards to Carter's thought process and demeanor.

"Representation? You mean like politcs and ambassadors?" Carter asked. He did not like what he was hearing at all. To begin with The Conglomerate sounded like a massive government in and of itself, and it seemed like Earth had just been annexed into its territories. He did not like the idea of some alien government staking a claim to his planet at all. If there was one type of person, or in this case alien, that Carter could not stand it was politicians.

"Yes, for the most part those positions resemble what you humans call politicians. There are two ways that planets are absorbed into The Conglomerate. The first, and preferable, way is that the planet develops to the point that it awakens the ability to produce mana on its own. This is usually done by the sapient inhabitants forming a mutually beneficial relationship with it. The Conglomerate then reaches out to the planet, which is then given the representative position immediately. The second way," Alvin paused giving Carter a meaningful stare, "involves forced intervention on The Conglomerate's part when a native population's develpement is leading to the destruction of its planet. The aforementioned planet's core is then injected with mana to kick start its ability to produce mana. This leads to the planet wanting to purge itself of impurities in order to begin developement of it own mana source. This brings us to where we are now, when you return to your planet you will see these impurities in the form of monsters, dungeons, and even in your own kind." Alvin had to pause here due to feeling the distinct pressure of eyes on the back of his head. Despite knowing that he was being watched he continued on with the discussion, "The planet did not get the way it did on its own, it was corrupted by its inhabitants. As humanity has developed it has gotten used to the idea of taking without giving back and living without responsibi..." Alvin felt his windpipe close up and was wracked with a fit of coughing. 'Yeah, yeah assholes I get it. No leading the new guy.' Alvin thought to himself. Just as suddenely as it appeared the pressure on his throat vanished.

Carter watched this happen from a few feet away. From his vantage point, Alvin was mid sentence when all of a sudden it looked like he got something stuck in his throat. Before he could move up to check and see if the old man was okay, Alvin had righted his position and looked to be doing okay. In the back of Carter's mind he could hear alarms going off that something fishy was going on.