FMH ~ 36!

Skill increase complete!

Luke waited for more, but it appeared that the system was done speaking to him right now. He sighed, and requested more information. “Skill page, changes only.”

Tier seven ‘Fully Geared’ has become Tier eight ‘Walking Arsenal’.

Walking Arsenal. (T8) Level 0. 0/100 to level 1!

Effect 1: You are able to absorb natural weapons and armor (Claws, fangs, scales) by touching them. By absorbing a certain amount of the same type of weapon or armor, you are able to ‘equip’ it on your body. Only one type of weapon can be created at a time, and only one type of armor per slot. Choosing a new type of weapon or armor will replace the previous type once it is complete. Weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level.

Bonus 1, at range: You are able to absorb a weapon or armor type within five feet of your body. No longer requires active attempts after the item is selected.

Effect 2: You are now able to absorb weapons or armor created via natural metals. Natural metal weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level. Natural weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within three effective levels.

Bonus 2, Multitarget: You can now select to absorb all weapons or armor of the same type within the range of bonus 1.

Effect 3: You are now able to absorb weapons or armor created via unnatural metals (magical weapons/armor). Weapons and armor cannot exceed current tier and level. Natural metal weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within three effective levels. Natural weapons can exceed tier, so long as they are within six effective levels.

Bonus 3, AoE: You can resize the weapons and armor you create. An increase of size decreases overall mobility, but allows for defending or attacking at greater range.

Effect 4: Each active weapon or armor slot now costs a flat percentage of your mana pool to maintain! To achieve the exact damage or protection potential, ten percent of your mana must be applied. Each percentage added or subtracted will change the potential by one percent. See bonus 3 for details on adding in additional mana.

[New!] Bonus 4, Multitarget AOE: All weapons and armor in your possession and within five feet of you grant you 1n% of their maximum damage or armor. This bonus is maximized at the tier limit.

Luke read over the information, excited about the idea of gaining more power. However, his face fell when he realized that he had no extra armor, no extra weapons, and no way to get or make them. “Maybe I should try remaking some tools? I'm sure that my leatherworking skills have degraded… I bet my father would be disappointed. Didn't I know someone who was a blacksmith once? Maybe I can convince them to give me every weapon that they made since I was locked up here!”

Now that his glowing blue armor - and he assumed his weapons as well - were back to full power, he sprinted into Zone five and started hunting for Phantoms. There was a good chance that they had been lured into the area from the power fluctuations coming off of his sigil. Luke was going to take advantage of that, and he knew the best way to do it.

He got to the area he had been aiming for, and laid down. Closing his eyes, he pretended to be asleep. Luke waited, waited… waited. He was far too excited to actually fall asleep, but there was no way that his prey would know this. There was a light hissing sound as a spear was thrust in his direction, and Luke reactively activated Leap.

Exactly as he had hoped, he was surrounded by easily a score of Phantoms. These creatures seemed intelligent, very rarely did they come after him one-on-one. Not after the massacre of the last few years. However, he had rarely seen so many of them all together and in one spot for months on end. Luke was going to use this opportunity to the fullest!

Devoting a full fifty percent of his mana to his Battering Ram Knuckles and essentially disregarding defence, Luke began attacking the surprised Zone training devices. They seem surprised, but Luke knew better than to pretend that they had feelings or thoughts other than finding more sophisticated ways to ambush him. “Other things aren't real! Only I am real! All of you only exist to make me stronger!”

Damage: 391 (Blunt damage). 

Damage: 286 (Blunt damage).

Damage: 322 (Blunt damage).

The battle was short. The only reason it lasted as long as it did was that Luke needed his opponents to attack first before he could damage them. He took some light damage, but a single sip of water was enough to heal the light scrapes and contusions.

Enemies remaining: 22/1,000

Exp gained: 33 (T3 Physical Phantom destroyed x33.)

“Twenty-two to go!” Luke's eyes were gleaming as he thought of finally, finally getting out of the Zone and the tutorial in general. He shouted into the night, “I'm coming for you! I'm coming for all of you!”

It took three weeks, but he did it. Just shy of his 30th anniversary in Murder World, Luke tricked the last Phantom into attacking him while he was quote ‘weak and defenseless’. When it popped like a bubble, Luke received the message he had been waiting for. He had waited years, decades, and it was finally here.

Zone Five cleared! Congratulations for setting a new record clear time for Zone five! New record: 17 years, 4 months, 18 days! Now people following in your footsteps have something to strive for! Hidden achievement: Defeat more than 110 total Phantoms! 1,000 Potentia gained!

Tutorial complete! New record for tutorial: 29 years, 11 months, 30 days! no bonus is allotted, as the estimated time to completion for the tutorial was five years, three months. every aspect of yourself should have been challenged during this tutorial, if you feel that you have not been sufficiently challenged, please contact -ERROR-. 

Scanning... no class trainer found. Your reward has increased! As you managed to complete the tutorial without assistance, you have become the default class trainer! as the class trainer, you are allowed to change the name of various sections of this dimension. As an example, you have titled This Plane as ‘Murder World’, and that is now the official title of this entire dimension!

“Hold on... I am the only person to ever get through this, and the big reward that I get for it is that I get to provide naming conventions?” Luke tried again, unsuccessfully, to tear the sigil out of his forehead. The only thing that stopped him from trying harder was the next message that appeared.

Quest complete! Go to the boundary of the sixth Zone to collect your reward.

Luke started walking, hoping against hope that this would be his ticket out of this terrible blue abyss. Then again, even if he left for a short while, he would be back to search for Cookie. Until he had her safe in his hands, there was no way that he would ever be able to rest properly. 

Soon enough, the boundary of the sixth Zone came into sight. Unlike every time he had ever seen it before, there was no shimmering barrier blocking him from crossing. As Luke got closer, a stone plinth began to rise out of the ground in front of him. “well, that's handy. I suppose they could never have designed this place to know exactly where I would be crossing the boundary. If it didn't come up right in front of me, and I had to search for it... I suppose they don't actually care if I'm angry.”

There was a single hole on the plinth, and as Luke walked over to it, his sigil projected words above it. 

Add as many skill pearls as you would like, final reward is based on total and quality of pearls added, clear time, and achievements gained within the tutorial.

Luke looked at the single, small hole, and sighed deeply. He opened his goat hide canteen and started putting pearls into the hole one by one. One, a dozen, fifty, one hundred, and finally a total of two hundred ninety-seven skill pearls between the ranks of one and four were pushed into the hole.

Would you like to add any more?

“No.”

Processing… please allow up to three to five business days for new Skill Pearl to be created based on the criteria!

“Are you messing with me?” Luke dropped all of his defense, pouring fifty percent of his mana into each of his Battering Ram knuckles. His hands began to glow a brilliant blue, with a depth of power that began shaking the air around it. Just before Luke lashed out, a single skill pearl was pushed to the surface of the plinth.

As there are no other requirements on the system, the skill pearl was generated in record time! This is a custom skill pearl, and it is very unlikely that you will ever find one like this again! It has been configured specifically to your person, don't let your friends have it!

“Other requirements on the system, my gluteus maximus. It didn't take you any time, you were just afraid of work!” Luke snarled as he snatched the pearl and threw it down his gullet. “How can an entire plane of existence be lazy?”

Skill gained: Open Up. (T6) Level 9. 0/11,500 to level 10!

Effect 1: You have gained the abilities to open a small crack between dimensions. By punching into a weak point in the world, you are able to tear through enough to pass between the worlds. Total mana needed to open a small crack: 1,000-10n over five seconds, where n = skill level. Current mana requirements: 1,000-10(69)= 310 mana required, or 62 mana per second for five seconds!

Bonus 1, at range: You are able to clearly and easily see weak points in the world. 

Effect 2: You are now able to reuse weak points in the world at a much reduced rate. Each time you use the same weak point, the mana cost will be reduced by 50%, to a minimum of 25% mana cost.

Bonus 2, Multitarget: No longer are you making a momentary flicker in the weave, you are able to invest extra Mana into the opening to create a stable portal that other people will be able to travel through. Time that the portal will remain open: 60 seconds per 100-n mana.

Effect 3: You are now able to break down the barrier to other worlds in order to enter them. In order to do so, a portal must have been made to that world and closed within at a maximum of 24+n hours.

Bonus 3, AoE: by injecting your Mana into a portal, you can either subvert it to your control, redirect it to [Murder World], or directly close it. Cost: 100-10n mana. Caution: if the person who has created the portal is maintaining control of it, your willpower will clash against their charisma.

“It is my way home!” Luke's eyes welled up with tears, but only for a bare moment before the sigil on his forehead re-centered him. “I can see my father… his name is… my mother! Sister? I can't… remember them? How long has it been since I thought of them? Are they even still alive? It has been thirty years! Will they even remember me?”

Luke looked around, and found that right at the edge of the zone there was a vertical shimmering field. “So you are a weak spot between the worlds? Imma punch you.”

It has been exactly 30 years since you entered Murder World!

“Yeah, cool, thank you for the information.” Luke snorted as he poured Mana into his new-found skill. He lashed out and punched the weak space, and a small crack appeared for just a brief instant.

*Chime*!

Connection re-established! System clock updated! Skill forcefully deactivated!

“What in the actual abyss just happened?” Luke tried once more to invoke his new skill, however, every time he attempted to do so it was forcefully deactivated. “Sigil, you had better explain yourself!”

System clock shows that the order of the Archmage is still in effect! Two and a half years of training time has been allotted for new initiates, they are not allowed to leave their designated worlds until the required time has passed!

“Not enough time? Not enough time?” Luke was flabbergasted by this information, he simply could not understand what the sigil was telling him. “How much more time do I have to be here? How much time has passed out there?”

System clock has shown that two base-world years have passed! Assessing current differences between system clock and personal clock... Calculating… Congratulations! You have entered a world with the highest time dilation on record! With a 15x time dilation, you have Six months of base-world time, or seven-and-a-half years subjective time remaining until your training is considered complete!

After reading the information, Luke felt something inside of him break, something that the desperately chiming sigil on his forehead was unable to prevent or fix. 

Luke closed his mouth. He turned. He walked into Zone six.