Even as you ask yourself the question you already know the answer.

You move quickly, fully rounding the corner as you begin to shout, your words only meant to draw their attention away from Derrick. You have no real plan, no course of action. You only know that if you want to save him you need to act.

It works and the two creatures stop their advance to turn and stare at you in confusion. It is only for a moment however as they then begin heading in your direction. You take that as your signal to get out of there.

You turn around to run, trying to put as much distance between yourself and the creatures as possible, yet as you start to move you feel something slam into one of your legs and a hot, burning sensation explodes forth.

You look down in pain and see blood beginning to soak through your pants from the knife embedded in your leg.

The noise of pounding feet causes you to look up only to see the two creatures barreling towards you, their fangs bared.

You try to take a step backwards, but stumble from the pain. You grit your teeth as you reach down and grab the knife before giving it a yank, pulling it out as a painful moan escapes your lips.

The dagger comes free just in time for you to bring it up as one of the dog-like creatures reaches you. You slash at it in a frenzied manner, hoping to fend it off, but unfortunately you've had little experience wielding a knife in combat. Your swing goes wide and gives the creature the opportunity to duck underneath your arm and tackle you to the ground.

Your head hits the stone ground hard and your vision swims as the creature bites into your shoulder, its teeth easily piercing your flesh and digging into the bone.

You stab at it blindly and are rewarded with a whine of pain as its jaw loosens. You push the creature off with your uninjured arm and roll to the side as you see the other creature slashing towards you with its own knife.

Its strike misses and you can’t help but think how incredibly sharp it must be as the knife effortlessly sink into the stone floor. You scramble to your feet as the creature pulls its arm back for another stab and you take a step backwards, evading the creatures lunge.

You somehow continue dodging it until you feel the rough tunnel wall against your back and you know you’ve run out of room. In a desperate attempt you bring your own knife up towards it in a block only for the collision to painfully numb your arm and send your knife skittering across the floor.

The creature's jaw widens into a cruel smile, knowing it has you, only to stop as an ear-piercing scream resounds through the tunnel.

The two of you turn to look at the noise and you see the other dog-like creature on the ground, its body smoking as it twitches. Off in the distance you see Derrick, still lying on the floor, his hand raised up weakly, his open palm pointed in the direction of the creature you’re fighting. You watch as he grimaces again and ball of sparkling electricity appears in his palm, slowly growing to the size of a baseball before it rockets away from him heading towards the creature in front of you as he slumps to the ground.

The dog-like creature reacts immediately to the oncoming threat and jumps to the side, rolling gracefully to its feet. You follow clumsily, rolling out of the way of the ball of energy. It takes you a moment longer to come to your feet, but your hasty roll brings you close enough to grab the knife on the ground.

Standing up, you notice that you’re only inches away from the creature whose attention is not on you, but Derrick.

It growls angrily at him as it bares its fangs and you notice its body tense as it prepares to charge.

Realizing this may be your only chance, you thrust the knife forward and watch as it sinks into the creature's back with almost no resistance.

You can feel the creature spasm as the knife enters and you feel horrified as its warm, red blood runs down the knife’s handle and coats your hand.

You take a shocked step backwards, letting go of the knife as you stare horrified at the creature as it turns to you. It takes a step forward, reaching out with its knife arm, only to collapse to the ground as blood continues to gush from the wound.

You don’t know how long you stand there watching as the creature slowly bleeds to death. Eventually it stills and you come back to your senses. You pick up the knife that’s fallen from its hand, having no desire to retrieve the one still stuck in its back, before you limp over to Derrick's prone form.

Arriving next to him, you can see the slow rise and fall of his chest signaling that he’s simply fallen unconscious.

You let out a sigh of relief that he’s still breathing before looking around for the light source and picking it up. It turns out to be a small, marble-like stone that pulses warmly in your hand. You have no idea what it is, but as the only light source in the tunnel you know you’ll be bringing it with you regardless.

Bracing yourself for what comes next, you grab one of Derrick’s arms and begin dragging him away from the messy tunnel, your only thought to get out of here as soon as possible.

Your fatigue builds up as time seems to drag on. Each step forward takes a tremendous effort, but your desire to leave this place is pushes you on.

You occasionally glance behind you at the unconscious form of Derrick, incredibly tempted to just leave him there, but you don’t. You can’t. Not after what you did to save him. So you move on.

Eventually the tunnel begins sloping upwards, and you can’t help but hope you’re heading towards the exit.

Your hope increases as the air around you becomes fresher, dispelling the stale taste in your mouth that you hadn’t noticed until now.

The tunnel finally levels out and as it does you see ahead of you, some distance away, the exit. You can see natural sunlight shining into the mouth of the tunnel and your pace increases in your excitement. You ignore the burning pain of your injuries as you quickly approach.

Squinting at the bright light, you make it to the tunnel’s exit, blinking your eyes as they begin to adjust.

Slowly you make out the sight outside and you can’t help but gasp at the beauty you see.

Before you lies a forest, its trees vibrant and lush, the grass a healthy shade of green you’d never have thought possible. You can hear the sounds of wildlife echo around you and the noise of a calm, babbling brook somewhere off in the distance. A squirrel looks up at you from where it sits perched on a nearby branch, watching as you enter its domain, before skittering away, a nut held in its small paws.

The entire scene seems so peaceful and serene, such a stark contrast to the dull brown-gray walls of the tunnel below.

You take the final step out of the cave, breathing in the crisp, clean air of the forest, feeling more refreshed than you thought possible.

Then a light engulfs you, brighter than even the sun, and you feel yourself start to shine. You can feel your wounds begin to knit themselves closed and as you look out at the forest wondering what is happening to you, a flurry of blue boxes flash by your vision.

Tutorial Completed!

Find the exit and survive.

Reward; Status unlocked.

Chapter 1: The First Steps.

Reach Level 10.

STATUS

Level: 1 (0%)

Title(s): NA

Health: 150/150

Mana: 100/100

Attributes

Strength: 15

Agility: 15

Vitality: 15

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Perception: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 10

Skills

The Perfect Body: Increase in Strength, Agility, and Vitality by 50%. Cannot be upgraded

You stare for a moment, dumfounded at the box in front of you. Levels? Status? Attributes? Skills?

Your thoughts are interrupted as another box appears and you are forced to make an unexpected decision.

Congratulations on surviving the tutorial! Please choose your starting ability!

1) Power Strike: Delivers a blow that deals 150% physical damage, costs 10 Mana.

2) Force Ball: Release a sphere of magic energy that deals 150% magic damage, costs 10 Mana.

3) Stealth: Increases chance to remain undetected by 10%.