The Achievement [system].

James stared at the achievement.

He reached out to touch it hesitantly – feeling the slight haptic tug of contact and flashing back to the contract in his room.

It's real.

Of course, it's real. I already knew it's real I can feel it. This is reality.

James had felt weird ever since waking up. He had been acting differently than normal. Feeling differently. Thinking slightly differently. A part of him hadn't quite understood what was happening – a part of his brain dismissed everything and treated reality like it was a dream.

In this specific moment his finger brushing past a fading block of hardlight his situation finally started sinking in for good.

The block was convincing enough but the "knowledge" the system had just given him was what sealed the deal.

Knowledge suddenly appeared in James's memory as if it had always been there.

He now knew how to activate his haste instinctually – he had always known how to activate 'his haste' instinctually.

It felt like he had used it all his life, he had hundreds of memories of using the skill seamlessly integrated into his mind…but no memories of when he had used it. He knew what it would feel like, despite knowing he had never used it before.

James stepped forward and activated [haste].

His steps 'rushed forward' and he found himself running faster than he had ever run before.

He deactivated haste.

It felt almost as if there was no point in practicing his skill – he already had the muscle memory of using it – but…the thrill of knowing he had an ability trumped anything else. He wanted to continue using it again and again.

The reward almost completely wiped his memory of the box that had given it to him – frankly it calling him a coward for strategically retreating pissed him off. He wasn't afraid of dying. He…wasn't young and hotheaded enough to be manipulated that easily.

I need to find out more about my situation. What exactly is this place? What is this world I'm in? First let's retrieve that sword.

James waited a few minutes and then left – once more aiming along the wall. His fingers ran along the stone as he retraced his steps towards where he had dropped the massive blade.

Out of the corner of his eye he tracked what he was pretty sure was the same boar as before. It hadn't noticed him yet and with any luck it wouldn't notice him.

As if triggering a flag, as soon as James reached the sword the boar turned and noticed him.

Dammit.

Pawing the ground it bent back and then charged – barrelling towards James even as he scrambled to pick up his sword.

James activated haste as he reached down, his memory guiding his hand.

A flash of energy seemed to push out of his pores. A haze surrounded his skin in a moment and his arm lurched forward.

Grabbing the sword faster than he would have otherwise and then aiding his jump up once again [haste] smoothed things over. James turned with more grace than normal and [Haste] pulled him back towards the gate dragging his feet forward.

He ran and continued running past when haste deactivated – safely back at the gate.

His previous run from the boar had taken over 30 seconds of mad dashing.

This magic fueled sprint had taken just over 10.

---Richard---

Richard stood cross armed inside a shop. None of the weapons seemed fun – and that was the most important part of picking a weapon.

"I want a shotgun. They always feel the best. One with a nice solid recoil and a satisfying 'chick chick' sound. Have one of those?"

"I...I am sorry Sir, the only weapons I have are what are on display. Perhaps one of my competitors has what you are looking for?"

"...doubt it. I'll take that hammer I guess."

"AH! Good choice, The Mirel is a fine warhammer. Great for smashing!"

"Yeah, sledge hammer going sledge. I'll figure something out". Richard took the sledgehammer and left – wandering about looking for something to do.

---Maddy---

Maddy scanned the plain looking for the weakest tutorial "monster". She hadn't liked the idea of attacking animals unprovoked – she wasn't a hunter and didn't like the idea of causing pain but…

The animals did disappear when they were "killed" – vanishing a few moments after death. They had red eyes and were acting pretty aggressively.

Second guessing absolutely everything isn't doing me any good. The evidence suggests they are indeed 'monsters'….I might as well commit because I'm falling behind the head of the pack.

Rabbits spread in patches – spawning from burrows underground nearly as soon as one of them was killed. They seemed the smallest and weakest physically but were fast and incredibly agile – able to dodge most attacks. Good for training speed based people? Getting better reactions?

Further out wandering around there was the occasional deer – relatively strong, relatively fast. More importantly they stayed far away from people and stood still unless approached – good for ranged practice?

There was the occasional boar – strong and relatively fast in straight line dashes but with abysmal agility. Good for dodging and glancing attacks? Learning how to wear something down slowly?

Very rarely there were turtles that…seemed to just sit there waiting to attack and ineffectually biting at anything that got close – sitting target good for damage scaling? Good for crushing attacks?

I think that's everything? Can-

Maddy noticed a glint in the grass. Stepping forward she picked up a bunched and broken snake skin and finished her review. Okay so there also exists some hidden snakes and potentially more hidden creatures I haven't found yet. Probably to train perception or tracking skills? Right now I need something that's easy to hit and there's one thing that matches.

Looking around and making sure not to get in anyone's way, Maddison picked a turtle and hiked over to it.

Holding the scythe by her side she awkwardly swung it a few times – knuckles turning white as she gripped the wooden handle tightly.

Stepping forward and bringing her arms back she nodded her head slightly before swinging forward at the stationary target.

"Sorry about this" she whispered and then twisted, her blade swept around and smashed off the shell.

With a scraping screech, her blade's edge slid overtop of the shell causing rough vibrations to travel up her arms. A screech first from the contact on the shell and then from the mouth of the turtle.

The 'monster' really was 'screeching' – an unearthly nails on a chalkboard level of shrill anger.

The sound made it easier to solidify the creature as unnatural and worthy of attacking – Maddy pulled back again shifting her arms slightly before swinging a second time.

And again. I'll figure this out.

Maddy did not know how to use a weapon…and a scythe wasn't a typical weapon. It wasn't even classically a weapon – it was a farming implement used only in battles by peasants who couldn't afford a real weapon.

She swung again.

Maddy had never killed something before. She had never gone hunting, never had any interest in death. She had zero bloodlust and actively disliked the idea of harming an animal.

She shifted and swung.

A new skittering shriek rang out from the mouth of the monster, like something between a hoard of insects and a car being shoved through a trash compactor.

A chip came off the shell like a badly cracked egg exposing yellow pink organs.

The organs pumped enthusiastically in front of her – surprisingly lacking in blood and pumping about more than something standing still should.

Maddy started to realize something was off – not with the monster, it was more and more obviously not a natural creature, but with herself.

She moved her scythe back aiming the tip awkwardly towards the exposed area and stabbed again and again dissociating completely in these final hacks.

The point of the curved blade slid in and out of the fleshy hole and twisted violently as it attempted to do the most damage… but Maddy was barely paying attention. She tried to center herself.

Why do I feel like I'm in a dream? I can feel the grains of wood in my hand. I can feel myself wandering about.

Why doesn't this feel real?