Alexander woke up with Sarah pointing a flashlight in his eyes. He jerked, trying to swat it away. Sarah just stepped back and chuckled.

"Glad you're awake."

"What... happened?" Alexander asked while shaking the fog out of his mind.

"Well, you proved to be one great distraction." Flashes of memory coursed through Alexander.

"Yeah, I remember that part." He moved his arms around a bit. "Is the tutorial over or something? I'm fully healed." Alexander asked before looking up and seeing a clock ticking down, revealing that he only had eleven hours and some change to prepare for an incoming attack.

"Nope. Nano-bots. Steven was the one who saved you this time." Sarah said while starting to clean up the area.

"Nano-bots? That's awesome." Alexander kept having more flashes of memory, eventually piecing together what happened.

"Yep. I can give you the details later. For now, I assume you've got a lot of messages to look through. Go to Brandon when you're ready." And with that, Sarah walked off, leaving Alexander to sort out what was new.

The first thing that caught his eye was what they were facing.

x1 DEATH KNIGHT

Alexander took a second. Death knight. That did not bode well. He gulped and went to check the many messages in his mailbox. But before he did so, an Administrator popped up on his screen. This one looked more unique than any other he’d seen so far. It had eyes that just seemed more... alive. They were blood red and its body was a mixture of formal grays and blacks, almost resembling a suit.

Hello adventurer! I've come to congratulate you on the tutorial so far! While I cannot share specific stats, just know that not many make it past the first round, let alone the second! Good luck on your final round. If you complete this one, you'll have finished the basic tutorial and will earn a special prize!

And before Alexander could respond, it disappeared. He took a second to process that, then went to open his messages.

You have defeated x3 Mountain Yetis with the help of your friends! x15 level up! x250 credits!

x5 level up for climbing more than x10 levels during one encounter!

Due to your willpower shown during your last encounter, your feat "Willpower" has upgraded to "Advanced Willpower," granting you +10 willpower and advanced resistance to effects such as charmed, stunned, paralyzed, prone, and many more.

Brutality! Due to the nature of your kills, you've gained +10 strength +10 Constitution!

Because of how much you impressed the yetis with your barbaric screams, you've increased your charisma +10!

ITEM RECEIVED: Because of your unique methods of dispatching your foes, you've received a necklace with a yeti and lion's tooth on it. Wearing it has no bonuses for now.

You're tough! Because you've hashed out through tough weather conditions, you've received the "Resistance" general ability

You've demonstrated great skills with your fists. Your ability "Martial Arts Initiate" upgraded into "Martial Arts Intermediate."

Alexander felt good. This was a lot of bonuses. He took a look at his stats.

LEVEL: 35

CREDITS: 345

Strength (STR) 55 +0

Dexterity (DEX) 22 +0

Constitution (CON) 40 +0

Intelligence (INT) 57 +0

Wisdom (WIS) 18 +0

Charisma (CHA) 15 +0

Willpower (WIL) 43 +0

Perception (PER) 28 +0

He then took a look at his inventory. It used to only have his kilt, but now it showed that necklace too. He equipped it by clicking the icon. It appeared in his hands, and he put it on. Then, seeing he had one-hundred-and-five points to spend, he looked over at his abilities tab.

Resistance:

This feat allows the user to have a basic resistance to outside effects like temperature or wind. it is not impervious, but it does increase one's ability to withstand the elements.

Martial Arts Intermediate:

You've developed great skill in the use of your body, allowing you to understand not only the basic principles of martial combat but also the use of weapons and some of the advanced ideas of how to fight.

Advanced Willpower:

Your willpower is beyond most people, allowing you to undertake impossible tasks and still come on top. Your will is increased by +10, and you have many resistances to effects.

Alexander was extremely happy with how far he'd progressed. And now that he had over one hundred points to spend, he knew what he wanted to unlock.

Breathing Techniques – Cost: 100

This feat allows the user to understand the power of breathing. It can quell fear, control body temperature, increase strength for short bursts, and do other amazing things. It allows for a basic understanding of using one's breath for different purposes, letting the user grow these into solidified practices.

He clicked on accept and spent the points. He decided to just dump the extra five into will, increasing it to forty-eight.

Happy with his selections, he got up out of his bed and decided to do some yoga. His muscles didn't even ache, funnily enough, so he performed much better this time, being able to remember at least most of the poses he learned from Jenny. During this, he also noticed he got taller. Like, noticeably taller. About an inch from his estimates. He didn't know if it was from the nano-bots or the game. Either way, he didn't mind.

During his yoga poses, he noticed that his breathing naturally developed into a rhythm. He felt the air go through his nose, his diaphragm moving out and extending his belly.. He felt energy pool in his gut, then circulate in his body as he released his breath out from his mouth and into the open air. It felt hypnotic. He felt focused.

Afterward, he felt like a new man. The now felt so real and visceral that any identity he had before of being scared or worried about school washed away into his subconscious.

Alexander walked around for a bit before finding Brandon on the roof, next to Kate and Jenny. They all noticed him and Brandon rose up to greet him. After a handshake, Brandon started.

"I'm assuming Sarah talked about their project."

"Yeah... this game is one hell of a thing. Nano-bots..." Alexander trailed off. The frigid air around him didn't seem to bother him as much, and he noticed his breathing stayed in a rhythm.

"And this is just in the tutorial." Brandon shook his head. "I can't imagine what will wait for us when we get into the main game."

"No kidding." Alexander chuckled. "But speaking of the tutorial, tell me you have some kind of plan." Brandon's smile disappeared slightly.

"I don't really, Alexander." There was a moment of silence, Jenny and Kate both showing a look of saddened resilience toward Alexander. "But I have some ideas."

Brandon took a second and started talking again. "You may not believe it, but I'm a huge fantasy nerd. I used to play a lot of role playing games with guys in the service and whatnot." Alexander raised his eyebrow.

"Didn't see that one coming. I always wanted to get into that but I couldn't really find enough people." Alexander responded.

"I am; I just love the stuff. Now from what I remember from a while ago, death knights are high-level enemies that are essentially some kind of holy warrior or paladin that has fallen from grace. Or sometimes they're a knight risen from death. In any case, we're going to be dealing with a tough bastard with access to magic."

"Yeah I think I remember some death knight lore from some fantasy game I used to play, but I don't know how well that translates into this game."

"I'd say pretty closely. Well, that's our best bet anyways. Basically what I'm saying is that this enemy is going to have multiple layers of protection. They'll probably have some kind of magical resistance or a field or something, some tough as shit armor, and a durable body at that."

"You keep talking about magic, but how does this game even do it?" Brandon gave a shrug and looked over at Jenny.

"Well officially in this game it's called psionic abilities." Jenny started. "Out of the group, I'm the only one who even has any, and it's not much. There's no meter for it or anything, but essentially I've got a limited pool of this ability that I can use to bolster my body for quick bursts. The administrators have talked to me a bit about it, but they haven't given me much info. Based on what I've talked with Brandon about, I think I've got some latent abilities from my time in the real world that may classify me as a monk in this game. Like, the class, monk.”

Alexander took a minute to think about it. "Makes sense. So the game has magic, it just calls it something different." Jenny nodded. "And this death knight is definitely going to have it."

"That's not the only bad news." Brandon started. "Based on my memory and what the game will tell me, the only effective magic against it would be something like holy magic. Now, none of us here were exceptionally strong believers in something, so I'm guessing you don't have any either." Alexander shook his head.

"I've got this ability called Extraordinary Willpower. It says that I'm highly resistant to a lot of charming-like abilities." Brandon's eyes widened a little.

"I remember some death knights like to use illusion-type spells a lot. That means you're gonna be the distraction again."

"But that doesn't mean I'll make the shot." Kate piped up. "Hitting the eyes of the Yeti's were already difficult enough. But to shoot for a chink in some heavy-ass armor without knowing where it would be is damn near impossible. Archery school didn't cover heavy sets of medieval armor and their weaknesses."

"But you can use suppressing fire on the thing." Brandon piped up. "Just help aid us when we need it."

"I can try, but no promises. I don't have a class yet like ranger or something so I'm missing some crucial abilities." Kate responded sullenly.

"Alright let me go think for a bit. I'm going to take a walk. I'll be back hopefully soon." Brandon said as he started to leave, his voice soft as he descended deeper into thought. The two women just shrugged as Alexander found himself without anything to do.

"That's a cool necklace you got there." Jenny finally piped up after a while of uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, uh, the administrators gave it to me. They said it didn't give any buffs for now but I thought it was cool."

"Huh, the game hasn't seemed to do that with anyone else." Kate piped up.

"The game also didn't seem to tell anyone else about psionic abilities." Jenny piped up.

"So the game treats everyone differently..." Kate trailed off.

"Well, Terra does that in real life. Everyone has a unique connection to her and anyone can talk directly to her at any time." Alexander while thinking.

"So why isn't she here?" Jenny asked with a shrug.

"I wouldn't be the one to tell ya." Alexander said. "Your best bet is Steven."

"I already talked to him about it. He jabbered on for a while about how this game is separate from reality and is governed by administrators, who were probably just Terra in disguise or just bots under her direct control." Jenny replied.

"But some look different than others. Maybe there are levels to these administrators?" Alexander pondered.

"Seems so." Kate chimed in. "I talked to a higher-level one at the beginning, and it seemed more human than the one in the shop. I don't know what this game is all about, or why things are the way that they are, but it seems like much more than a game." Kate said with coldness in her eyes.

There was silence after that, and eventually, Alexander decided to leave and go meditate for a while. There really wasn't much else to do, and he didn't feel like exercising anymore. He sat down somewhere, and after spending a great deal of time unnecessarily trying to get himself comfortable, he tried and failed to meditate. He tried and tried again until he gave up. Think about nothing... he tried telling himself over and over again. All the advice from 3AM youtube videos flurried through his mind, but for some reason, he just couldn't think straight. There was something burning in him. It felt like the true reaction to this game was buried inside of him, screaming to be let out. He eventually decided to go back to Jenny, who was still with Kate.

"Back so soon?" Jenny asked. For some reason, it felt awkward for a second for Alexander.

"Yeah, I," Alexander shook off his nerves for a second. "Could you teach me how to meditate?" Alexander asked.

"Sure." Jenny responded quickly. She then got up from where she was sitting right next to Kate and walked over to Alexander. "Sit down opposite of me cross-legged. Just whatever is comfortable for now." Alexander sat down and looked straight ahead at her, who was sitting down herself. "Now then, your first mistake is probably trying to do anything. The goal is to not try."

Alexander frowned. "That... doesn't make sense."

"Ok." Jenny thought for a second while tilting her head. "Think of it like this. Instead of trying to think of nothing, just don't think. Try and clear your mind."

"Ok, well, how do I do that?" Alexander asked, now a little frustrated.

"Hmmm, for now, try and just concentrate solely on your breathing. Think of every action you take and only think of that. Like, take your time breathing in and focus on that, hold it for a few seconds, then slowly breathe out. Once you develop a kind of rhythm, I mean, that's basic meditation right there."

Alexander started the process and found it difficult at first.

"You've been doing good on the yoga so far, I'm surprised you're finding difficulty with this. They go hand in hand." And with that, it clicked for Alexander, sort of.

He started to focus heavily on his breathing. And ever since he took that breathing skill, it was easier to notice and focus on. Time seemed to take on a weird form in his head as he continued to descend deeper and deeper into focus. Suddenly, the world around him started to mute out for a few seconds at a time. It felt strange, then suddenly, that same burning came right back up. The horror of what was going on finally screamed loud enough for him to notice.

For a moment, he felt like he was back in college. Back in the real world. All of this was wrong. All of this was horribly wrong. The blood, the terror, the pain, it all washed over him and he started to shake. His body felt off-kilter and he felt like he was on the verge of falling off a cliff. Then suddenly, he felt someone push him.

"Hey, buddy..." Jenny started slowly, giving a strange look over at Kate. "You alright there?" Alexander felt his world snap back into focus. He was now in the game again. He was ready to fight. But what he felt lingered for a few seconds.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Alexander said while still getting his mind to come back to him. And before Jenny could say something else, they all heard a loud exclamation.

"I'VE GOT IT!" Brandon shouted.

--

Within five minutes, the entire group surrounded a somewhat crazed Brandon inside what's been their home for the past few days. Everyone's attention was on the navy man.

"Ok ok ok, I got it." Brandon coughed. "All I had to do was think about the training I got in the military for when I have to fight against a group by myself." Brandon paused, waiting for someone to look like they're following along. Peter was enthusiastic. "Then, I had to reverse engineer that thinking and find out how we're going to fight this knight." Brandon brought out a whiteboard, from where nobody knew, and marked an "x."

"This is the death knight." Brandon then made a circle around it. "And this will be us. Essentially, we're going to form a ring around the knight. But there's a way to make this doubly effective. We're going to get into pairs, then stand opposite each other in this circle. This way, you and your battle buddy can attack at the same time from opposite angles, ensuring confusion and attacking the knight when it's open." There was a pause.

"So... we gotta get into pairs?" Peter said after a few seconds.

"Yes. And the person you are with has to understand you. The goal is that you and your battle buddy attack the knight from opposite angles at the same time. Pick someone you know well and trust." Brandon explained. Everyone looked at each other and the matchups were made instantly.

After a minute, almost everyone was with their partner. The pairs were: Peter and Brandon, Steven and Sarah, and Kate and Jenny. Jade was in a corner of the room and had stayed silent the entire time. In fact, she appeared to have purchased some armor that made her blend more easily into shadows. Alexander was about to motion to her before suddenly she appeared from behind him and put her hand on his shoulder. "You're mine." She said in a raspy voice. Alexander felt chills go down his spine and shrugged.

"Ok, great. Now, we've got about ten hours left before the big guy comes. We all should be well rested by now, so take a few hours to get the timing down with your partner. Practice with something like a tree or rock. Remember, same time." And with that the groupings all left, leaving Alexander alone with Jade, who was still behind him, in the building