NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3 The First Quest
I wasn't sure how long I sat in cultivation before a deep anticipation built in my chest. It didn't take a lot of effort to figure out where it came from. The small pond that was my dantian had steadily deepened and I could feel something about to change. Suddenly there was a pop that reverberated through my entire body. My dantian swelled as the "water" level decreased. Or to be more accurate the pool expanded. I smiled and pulled up my status screen. It looked like I would gain three attribute points per level which wasn't a lot but it would do. There wasn't much debate on where to put the points though. My only spell relied on Wisdom so all three points went into it. With that finished I turned my attention to the rest of my screen. There wasn't much to see.
I focused on each section hoping to get some more information but there was nothing. "Information log? Wiki? Explanations?" I spoke out loud partially hoping the System had some kind of guide for this but nothing happened. I was starting to assume that knowledge was a form of currency and if I wanted to know the full extent of what I saw I would have to work for it. I couldn't help the dry chuckle that escaped my lips. The world had effectively ended and I was treating it like a game. A game I could min-max my way out of.
The dozens of questions I had were pretty pointless at the moment. I would have to survive the tutorial before I could start theorizing or chasing ancient secrets. I sighed and closed my screen. Survival had to be my focus for now. A part of me wanted to return to my cultivation chamber but I held back. It wouldn't be wise for me to push myself too hard before whatever we had to do tomorrow. So I decided to do the only other thing I could, I headed to bed.
I awoke to a low hum that filled the entire room. It took me a second to realize that it was a weird alarm. I quickly put my jeans and shirt on. I checked myself in the mirror and straightened my locs. The beads on the end slightly shining in the light. The hum intensified in a way that I assumed meant I was out of time. A moment later the front door swung open. I quickly darted out not wanting to see what the unpleasant version of a wake-up call would be like. I quickly fell into line behind my fellow participants and we slowly entered the main square. The woman from last time was gone, replaced with a man with dark black skin. His skin was crisscrossed in multiple places with a dark red light shining through. It took me a second to realize that he was some kind of volcano elemental.
"Good Morning." He turned to face us, his voice deep and gravelly. Unlike the woman, he gave off the feeling of someone who had done this exact thing way too many times before. Today is the first of your quests. For the next twenty-nine days, this will be your schedule. You will be given one day of quest, one day of cultivation, and one day of instruction. Your first day of instruction was yesterday if you hadn't figured that out yet. Today you all will be randomly sent one of two scenarios. You will either be tasked with the defense of an area or the exploration of an area. You will not be brought back until the quest has been completed. The better you perform the better your rewards."
"Are we allowed to group up before the quest starts?" I turned my head in search of the person who asked that question but couldn't find them. The elemental somehow managed to look even more bored as he shook his head.
"Now, the first three quests are assessments of your abilities. You will be sent randomly in groups ranging from one to several hundred. After that period you may do as you wish." He hesitated for a moment as if considering what he should do next. Then he let out a sigh and waved his hand. For a moment everything froze, I searched around but it only took a moment for a familiar voice to fill my mind.
Commencing teleportation to tutorial quest zone.
I blinked as the world around me disappeared into a void of darkness. A brief sensation as if someone pulled me away before my feet found solid ground. I surveyed the world around unsure of what to expect. I was in some kind of large cave. The ceiling had to be at least fifty feet high.
"That wasn't very pleasant." I turned in the direction of the voice and found two other people. One was an Asian woman who looked like she was in her late 30s or early forties. The other was an Indian man who might have been in his late twenties or early thirties. It was he who had spoken up, he used a spear like a cane to keep himself upright while rubbing his head. "Uh do either of you speak English?"
I blinked in confusion before I slowly nodded. "Uh yeah, my name is Amari. I take it you picked a spear skill?" The man nodded and then we turned to the woman who drew a rapier-like sword from her belt loop.
"I um I took a sword skill. My name is Kim, Kim Jeong. I uh would either of you know anything about what happened to people who were doing things when they were transported? I was on a plane back to Korea with my husband and I didn't see him."
I shook my head. I hadn't even considered that but what would happen to traffic If half of the drivers just disappeared? Did the System care about that or was it just chaos? "I hope you don't mind my asking but you don't seem to have a weapon." I came back from my thoughts and nodded my head. "I picked a spell. It's a mental attack that will hopefully get past their defenses easier."
"You didn't mention your name," Kim said while looking between the two of us.
"Ram. I don't presume that either of you were near India when this whole thing happened?" He said and looked at me.
"No, I was in law school in the States. Do either of you know what we—" Before I could finish the question, the voice of the System filled my mind.
Explore the Cave and defeat the monster located in its heart. Reward: A Skill. Quality is Based on Performance
"I guess that answers that. We should probably get a move on. I don't want to spend all day and night here if we can avoid it." I said and gestured to the path deeper into the cave. When the others hesitated I shrugged and started walking. A moment later they had fallen in behind me. "So it sounds like Ram you are the resident warrior. Do you have any experience using a spear? Before this I mean?"
"Not exactly. I only had five choices available and between them, I didn't want to get too close to anything." Ram replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Same for me though I had ten available. I had learned knife fighting as a girl so I figured a dagger shouldn't be too different from that."
"What do you mean you only had five and ten choices?"
"Well on the status screen where we could make our skill selection. I had five choices. There were other options like slash, thrust, bludgeon, and jab. Jab was more for hand-to-hand combat so that was out. I didn't think a really big sword or hammer would work for me too well since I am not exactly the strongest person."
I nodded along and turned to Kim when he was finished. "Same for me though I didn't have jab, I had cut and slash on top of a skill related to archery and one for thrown weapons."
"I see, Very uh interesting." A low bestial growl interrupted the conversation as a wolf stepped into view thirty feet away. It had dark black fur with amber eyes that made the beast seem much more frightening. I only hesitated for a second before I raised my hand and channeled my energy into the sigil for my new spell. The wolf launched itself forward, a snarl on its face as it leaped for me. The indigo blast shot from my hand just before the wolf closed the distance.
The light faded a second later and the wolf crumpled to the floor. I stared at it in shock. I wasn't sure if the wolf was dead or not until a second later. A surge of energy-filled and pleasure-filled slammed into me like a truck. I stumbled backward and fell on my ass while I tried to figure out what just happened. My dantian surged with energy and a light blinked in the upper corner of my vision.
"Are you okay?" It took me a second to process that someone had asked me a question. When I did I took a deep breath and stood up. "Yeah, Uh thanks, Kim. I–Did you all feel anything just then?"
"Like what? The wolf attacked I saw you use what I assume is your spell and then it just crumpled lifelessly to the ground. It's a bit creepy, to be honest." Ram added as he stood with his spear at the ready.
"Uh right well I think we can expect there to be more wolves further inside. Are you two ready to go?" I asked as my heart pounded in my chest. I wanted whatever that was to happen again. Especially if would help me level, that had to be several hours worth of spiritual energy. Of course, regular cultivation didn't include the risk of wolf attacks.
"You sure you don't want a break?" Ram asked.
I shook my head. "We don't know how many wolves are here. For all we know the System might endlessly spawn wolves until we complete this thing." I considered what that would mean as we started walking. Would I be able to grind my level if that happened? Or at least raise it a few times? We walked for another ten or fifteen minutes when a pair of wolves came at us. I grinned when they charged. "Ram, Kim you take the one on the right. I will deal with this one." I barked out my command before an indigo beam shot for my target. The first one missed the wolf's head and instead hit a stalactite behind it.
"Fuck me," I said mostly to myself as the wolf closed the distance. It leapt for my throat which forced me to step back and into spin. I felt the heat from the wolf's mouth against my chest as I narrowly avoided the attack. The wolf attempted to dig its claws into the stone to stop its momentum. Thankfully it wasn't strong enough. By the time it recovered enough to attack I had already unleashed another Psychic Blast. The wolf collapsed and a familiar surge of energy filled me. I closed my eyes and let the wonderful feeling wash over me. Just as the feeling faded a scream brought me back to the battle.
Ram and Kim did not have the same success. Ram had somehow ended up on his back with his spear braced against the wolf's mouth. I searched around for Kim only to find her hidden in the corner. I unleashed my spell and the wolf collapsed. There was a familiar pop and I gained another level. I ignored the pleasure and rushed over to Ram. I quickly pulled Ram out from underneath the beast.
When he was free the man let out a torrent of words and phrases in a language I had never heard before. It wasn't hard to guess what he meant though. There was also the side-eye he gave Kim, it was pretty good that he hadn't gained some kind vision based magic or else we would be down a member. "I–I am sorry. I froze I couldn't I had to survive for my daughter. I—I am sorry."
Ram's anger seemed to deflate a bit at that and I took the chance to step in between them. "Alright, we had our first run-in with the enemy. Now that we have taken our first hits we should be able to handle the rest. Just stick together. I am gonna go out on a limb here and assume that both of you are still level 1?" They both nodded their heads. "Alright, so this is what we are going to do. I will deal with the largest number of wolves. I am pretty sure I can handle one or two now without much issue. They either have no mental resistance or they just die easily. You two should work together. You should be able to kill a wolf or two and then we can get out of here."
Ram nodded while Kim looked much less confident. I wasn't sure what I could do for her though. Ultimately there was no way out without teleportation. I wasn't going to search for another exit either, I had no idea if the System created this area for us or if there were dangerous things we weren't meant to deal with. Either way, I decided to turn my attention to other things. I pulled up my status screen and let out a low chuckle. I had gained a new title. I placed the free points into Wisdom to continue with the pattern. Next, I pulled up my new title.
**Leader of the Pack: First to Kill a Monster in the World. Reward: All Attributes +10%**
We could get percentage boosts to our attributes? I needed to figure out how to get more of those kinds of titles. I wondered if there was a maximum to that or if I worked hard enough could I get like +1000% percent to all attributes. Not to mention that the benefits extended to luck. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing but there was no noticeable difference. I didn't feel any wiser nor did I feel luckier. Though I did feel a bit more agile, it was like I had a slightly better awareness of my body in space. I wondered if this was how professional athletes felt. I closed the screen and considered cultivating but decided against it. I was desperate to boost my power but cultivation took your attention away from the environment and I had no confidence that Ram and Kim would be able to keep me safe. "We will leave soon so do what you can to calm down. We aren't safe." I called out.
Neither was thrilled when it was time to head out. Although Kim was especially against it. Part of me sympathized with her especially since it turned out the System teleported her son with her to the tutorial. He was allowed to stay in her room with her but didn't have to go on the quests. The System itself took responsibility for them which meant that Kim would be fine as long as she survived. Despite that I knew it wasn't completely true, there was no way to know what would happen after this. So we needed to gain the strength to take care of ourselves. We ran into another pair of wolves a few minutes after and this time things went much better. I dealt with mine in one shot while Ram managed to stab the second wolf in its leg. While he kept it busy Kim moved forward and stabbed her blade through its eye. It wasn't the most effective way to do it but it got the job done.
"What was that." I raised an eyebrow at Ram as the afterglow of the kill energy left him. The man looked like the cat that got the cream.
"The energy from the kill. I think it's meant to cause a Pavlovian response in us." When they both stared at me with blank confusion I sighed. "I mean that it's meant to make us want to fight. My guess is that the energy will feel good to make us want to kill to feel good again."
"So you mean it's like a drug?" Kim asked with a slight tremble in her voice. I considered it for a moment before shaking my head. "I don't think it's meant to get that extreme. I think it's to motivate us to go forward. Either way, there isn't anything for us to do about it. We have to keep fighting and I feel fine. Anyway, you two should prepare yourselves. I think we are close to the end of the road which means we will have to fight whatever counts as a boss in this place. They both nodded in agreement.