Tutorial's End

The New Arrival's Guide to Common Things

by Jorbon Delivas

Many organizations take turns 'recruiting.'

Recruiting is the practice of meeting a group of new beings from a tutorial at their initial arrival point. At which point, they offer them contracts for their services in exchange for the organization's support and training.

Almost all beings begin their life in The World in such a way. Without an organization, one can expect difficulty learning the ropes, understanding alien social constructs, and fitting into society in general.

For those few beings who refused all offers to join anyone, I strongly encourage you to seek out an organization which aligns with your goals and seek a contract. The benefits for a new arrival cannot be overstated: if only for their assistance in integrating into society.

Willow

Second Layer, ???

"Sooo, 'second verse, same as the first', huh?" Walking along the exceptionally familiar earthy tunnel, Willow couldn't help the feeling of profound disappointment roiling within her. There'd been a whole nest of monsters guarding the entrance to this new layer, then the gnolls had a barricade to prevent them passing through and a super crazy tunnel system and everything!

Then they get past those obstacles, and what'd they have to show for it? More dirt. More tunnels. Were there more obvious ore veins? Sure. Besides that, though, what was so special about this new 'layer' Madrick had insisted they descend down into?

"Good timing with that question." Jonah noted cryptically, with an odd twist to his nose and mouth that Willow couldn't quite determine the meaning of.

Piper popped into existence just before Willow could ask Jonah for clarification. Piper's feet swung over the cliff's edge the pixie had made of Willow's shoulder, grinning.

"There's people ahead! Fighting!" The guide happily informed her, an eager light in her eyes. "New friends, maybe!"

Tsking, Jonah scolded, "Way to ruin the surprise, Piper."

The pixie just stuck her tongue out in reply. Naomi and Slyth's attention shifted from a soft conversation they'd been having about one of the pretty stones they'd found. They broke apart and took better positions within the formation.

Since Willow was up front and Jonah was already behind her to the left a bit, Slyth slotted himself just behind and to her right. Naomi took the back of the semi-diamond shape they formed.

"Coms check." Naomi sent through the party channel. Everyone sounded off that they'd heard and could be heard in turn.

We're really starting to feel properly militant! It was kind of a cool feeling. Working with this group was so different from her brief adventure with Luzzi and Ravavka. The reason for the contrast was pretty obvious to Willow.

They all knew their roles here, there was no obscurity or guessing. Not to mention we're aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses. We don't have to guess.

Finally, having a designated leader in Naomi was a huge boon. While anyone could make a call if they felt they should, and the rest should respond accordingly, Naomi was their agreed boss lady.

Disagreements? Naomi's job to decide who won. Didn't know what to do? Naomi's problem. About to engage with an unknown group? Naomi immediately ran through the normal 'pre-encounter' checks.

"System, threat assessment?" Aforementioned checks began.

Jonah fell immediately into his cooler persona, the glint of annoyance toward Piper died as he reported, "Group of six humanoids of known sentient races versus a group of twenty unknown swarming creatures. Swarming creatures have six legs each, sharp looking claws, no head or obviously extra-vulnerable points. Exoskeletons. Three-ish meters long, maybe a half meter tall on all six legs."

"Anyone under any conditions which will hamper your combat potential? Three count to answer."

Three beats of silence were answer enough and Naomi concluded, "Don't engage until we've assessed. If the group of sentients look like they're in danger we'll intervene."

"Got it!" Willow agreed, followed by confirmations from the rest of the team.

Glancing back for a moment, Willow caught Prism staring at System in a way that told her the two were having a private conversation through a one on one channel.

"Oooooh someone's in trouble for trying to play a joke when he should have alerted you all." Piper whispered into Willow's ear. She nodded her agreement and turned her attention to the upcoming encounter.

Having Jonah, eh, System, around is kind of a cheat. We're pretty much never caught by surprise. I guess that cheat's extended even more with Piper on overwatch…

Before Willow could delve too much further into contemplating the absolutely broken composition of her team, the unmistakable noise of combat caught and held her attention.

Shifting her mindset, Willow activated her focus at a very low burn with her mana infused with an intent for combat and alertness. Details dimmed, while movements, potential dangers, possible weapons, and environmental hazards sharpened and became so obvious as to be impossible to miss. She took a couple quick steps, repositioning to be a proper tip to the diamondoid spearhead of her party. Her focus assisted hearing alerted her that Quiz and System had slightly repositioned to optimally cover her flanks as well. Prism had already been perfectly positioned, of course.

The next few bends were a blur as Phoenix's ability assisted mind automatically filtered out everything irrelevant, including passing time. The battlefield revealed itself in snapshots, the dust thrown up by combatants moving explosively across the dry tunnel floor obscuring the fight before returning to rest.

System had mentioned six sentients and twenty monstrous insects. The party had clearly been overwhelmed and split. A large tusked Minotaur holding a greatsword covered a stout dwarf holding a massive tower shield from above and behind. The two's synergy was excellent, with the shield moving in slight increments to ensure no opponents could get through - while the sword flashed out in quick stabs to harry skittering creatures over the defensive tool's edge.

The large bugs tried to go around the obstacle, of course, but the duo were standing in a corner that looked to have been artificially made for the purpose. The alcove perfectly fit the two defenders, leaving no space for the insects to climb the walls to reach their targets.

A dozen meters from the pair, pressed against the opposite tunnel wall, stood three more humanoids. An elf stood at the front, while a frog-like Wāskan and a short Lythan covered him from either side.

The elf was a clearly competent fencer. Her razor sharp curved saber punishing every attempt to advance on her with the swift removal of a limb or antennae. She stood her ground confidently, making hand gestures which sent swaths of the swarm backward a meter each time she had an opening to do so.

To the elf's left, the wolf-faced Lythan snapped and clawed at his opponents when they managed to get close enough. A rarity, considering the quick flashes of rainbow light which dazzled Phoenix's eyes even from several dozen meters away. Each flash was accompanied by one less bug. What was happening to them when the Lythan cast his spell was unclear.

Finally, the Wāskan guarded the elf's right side with a stoic expression and an upraised hand. A shimmering shield of interlocked plates of yellow light created an impenetrable barrier. The bugs had no hope of damaging the magic shield, their mandibles and blade-like legs lacking the angle and force required to penetrate its implacable surface.

It seemed as though the Lythan's quick casting was the only thing slowly wittling the crawling monster's numbers. The elf was maiming at least, but all of the others seemed to more or less just maintain the status quo.

"Didn't you say there were six?" Quiz asked through the channel.

The response was immediately, "Minimap up. She's in the middle of the trio, they're guarding her. Looks unconscious. Small, odd gray coloring. Maybe a goblin or something, I'm not sure."

"Should we help?" Phoenix asked, the idea of smashing some bugs oddly exciting. She'd never exactly been squeamish of bugs back on Earth, but certainly wasn't ever thrilled at the prospect of having to crush or capture one. They were gross, after all. Being big and vicious somehow made them less nasty and more 'enemy'.

"Hold off on helping for now." Prism decided, "But let's get a bit closer so we can intervene quickly enough if they end up in real danger."

Striding forward, Phoenix kept her posture relaxed and non-threatening. The wāskan's large froggy eyes locked onto the group as soon as they'd cleared the worst of the swirling dust on the edge of the battlefield. His lips moved and the elf's eyes flicked toward them for a half second.

Raising an eyebrow, Phoenix pointed at the bugs, then herself, then slapped her right hand hard into her left palm. Seeming to understand the question, the purple skinned amphibian - Wait, are wāskan amphibious? Or is that some kind of racism? Speciesism? - sharply shook their head. They made a bunch of gestures Phoenix had absolutely no hope of understanding.

Shrugging, she pointed to herself, then down at the spot to indicate she would stay. Then she pointed at her impromptu charades partner then cupped her hand to her mouth, raising her head as if hollering. Dropping the position, she pointed at herself and then back at the bugs. It seemed the wāskan got it, as they nodded.

Both satisfied they understood each other, the wāskan refocused on maintaining the shield and spoke to the elf, who just nodded.

After a handful of minutes, the original seventeen or so crawling enemies had been reduced to ten. The party's kill rate was, honestly, abysmal. The Lythan wasted so much of his time wildly swinging his big sharp claws at nearby enemies instead of just blasting them point-blank. Since he was the only one actually killing anything, that made the entire process horribly slow.

"They're training the wolf man." Prism noted, "The elf could definitely kill the bugs instead of just annoying or maiming them. That huge minotaur never goes for a killing blow, I've seen it swing with the flat of its blade several times. Both defensive party members surely have better control options at the very least, if not actual offensive capabilities."

Dialing back her focus a bit, Phoenix's critical thinking returned to the front seat. Prism's guess was probably accurate. Everyone except the flailing Lythan seemed quite relaxed for being in the middle of an apparently dangerous swarm.

"That's a Lythan, not a wolf man." Quiz corrected Prism, "Wolf-men are different. Less humanoid wolf, more harry and oddly proportioned human man with sharp teeth and uncontrolled body odor."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Oh! There were wolf men back in Glasgow!" System sent along with a weird attempt at an image. Instead of the classic yellow laughing face Phoenix was certain he was going for, System sent a horrible uncanny-valley photo realistic laughing human face and skin set in a perfect circle.

"Oi! Get emojis right or don't use them!" She berated system, "We don't want body horror imagery popping into our heads. Nasty!"

Quiz entered before they could revisit an argument they'd had dozens of times, "As for the minotaur, 'it' is a girl. You can tell from the lack of horns."

"How about the wāskan? I was thinking it's a male?"

"That'd be my guess, though I'm not entirely sure. Usually the brighter colored ones are men and the duller colors are women… Though it's hard to know what 'duller' means without seeing two next to each other."

After a good ten minutes, it became clear the Lythan was out of mana and nearly out of steam.

"Alright, Hosh's OOE. Cleanup, all." The elf spoke in a clear, calm tone which expected obedience without demanding it.

Following her own order, the elf became a blur of steel, chopping every bug within her range apart in less than a second. The wāskan made a motion and croaked something, three more shields formed, though these floated above an equal number of bugs and descended with shocking speed. The bug's guts couldn't even splatter, the hard shields pressing the remains into the dry tunnel floor.

As for the dwarf and minotaur, by the time Phoenix turned her attention to them, their little mob was already decimated.

Flicking her blade with practiced precision, the elf removed the gore from her blade. Whoa, I thought that was just a thing in anime! You can actually clean a sword by waving it around?!

Frella

Second Layer Tunnels, Chimera's Moon-63

Ending her spell blade cleanse, Frella took a moment to carefully observe the party that had stumbled into them during their training session. Hosh had some potential, as he seemed quite suited to the 'Prismatic Force' path he'd chosen. It was a well mapped path with few downsides, other than the temperament of the beings which generally chose to follow it.

Polli had alerted her of the party's intrusion, and subsequent offer for aid and presumed intent to help if requested. Too bad they hadn't come from Hosh's flank, it would have been interesting to see how the newbie reacts to unexpected situations.

"Thanks for holding back, and we appreciate your offer to assist." Frella spoke as she sheathed her sword and made her way toward the unknown group. Her own comrades took up their usual positions - except Hosh who floated off to the side uncertainly. They'd need to work on that.

Reaching the group's front-liner, Frella held a hand out to the human woman with startlingly bright blue eyes. The returned grip was firm, but there was no attempt to start a contest of strength.

White teeth flashed in a bright smile, just a few degrees off from 'vapid'. "I'm Phoenix, this is System…" She gestured to her left without looking. "Quiz." She let go of Frella's hand to point to her right. "And Prism is on rear guard!"

The team was clearly battle hardened, having maintained their formation throughout the fight and standing firmly therein even now. Although, for claiming Prism was 'on rear guard', the woman wasn't sparing much attention behind herself. Likely a lie to excuse their caster not entering melee range. Much like her own party, they felt the need to asses the situation before reducing their combat coordination.

At least, Frella presumed as much until the girl, Phoenix, turned her head entirely away from the potential threat that her own team represented to look at the man she'd called 'System'. "Didn't you say there were six? I swear there's still only five and these folks don't seem like the kind to leave an injured companion."

The question was enough that Frella found herself having to consciously pull her hand away from the hilt of her blade. A scout having noted their own was hardly enough to be considered a threat, especially when they volunteered their foreknowledge instead of pretending not to know. A sign of trust?

"Yeah, not a goblin. Some kind of little gray human-ish looking race I haven't met before. He's hiding over in the shadows to your right, behind his own group. Seems like a rogue or something." System replied in a nonchalant tone that made it clear he didn't feel worried by the revelation.

Turning back, Phoenix narrowed her eyes in the direction indicated for a few moments before sighing. "Carrotless-jambalaya. Can't make him out… I really need to figure out some kind of perception ability or something."

Clearing her throat, Frella brought the woman's attention snapping back to her. "Koll is an underworld gremlin. He's shy and doesn't enjoy being seen, please don't take offence."

"Oh, no, none taken! It's just a weakness of mine, y'know? System here can see pretty much everything around us without even trying, so when he's around it's pretty okay… But if we get separated I'm a 'prime target for assassins, girl my'." She deepened her voice into the mockery of a man's scratchy baritone with the last, and shrugged. "I don't have a ton of opportunities to train against opponents who can really take advantage of that weakness. Any chance y'all would want to train a bit with us?"

The naivety of the question took Frella by surprise. Asking another descender group if they'd spar was… Ill advised. It was too likely the stronger team would take advantage and leave a member of the weaker party injured or worse. Party wipes weren't even unheard of. Yet, the earnest look in the girl's eyes and the excited way she'd asked made the request oddly difficult to decline.

Thankfully, difficult or not, Frella was a professional. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."

Phoenix's smile crumbled, disappointment painted large on her innocent face. A burning need to excuse the denial won out and she continued, "We have a newbie with us, so sparing with an troop would hardly be responsible of us. Not to mention, while you've been quite cordial thus far we don't know you and can't know whether your intentions toward us include anything… Nefarious."

The disappointed expression turned to puzzlement. Is this woman incapable of hiding her thoughts? Or does she just not bother? Before she could engage with that puzzle, Phoenix asked, "What? Like robbing you or something? What'd be the point in that? It's not like your equipment would fit us or anything…" She glanced between each of the beings present and shook her head, "Yeah, the only possible fit would be you and Prism… And she always wears that dress. I tried to get her to put on this super cute chain-mail suit when we were on Shee, but she said 'I fail to see how a bikini will serve me in combat'. As if she doesn't understand the AC bonus all scanty-clad equipment come with!"

Half of that had been nonsense. Before she could answer, though, Hosh suddenly spoke up. "Hey! That's where I know you from! You're that girl from Shee with the tiny pink girl that promised me a barony!"

"Baron-guy!!" Phoenix roared eagerly, suddenly vanishing from her position and appearing in front of her most vulnerable member in the next instant. Spinning around, Frella's blade had half cleared its sheath before she found Phoenix grinning and shaking Hosh's hand. "Look at the little scam artist now, she's all grown up! Well, kind of."

A tiny bit of pink detached itself from Phoenix's shoulder and took to the air. On closer examination, Frella thought it might be a fairy. A shocking revelation, considering how untamable those menaces were.

"And I'm STILL stuck with the oppressive queen you returned me unto-therof!"

"Unto-therof isn't a thing."

"Is too! You understand what it means!"

"No one understands what it means."

Slowly releasing her sword's hilt, Frella noted Polli, Kash, and Loivl similarly relaxing. They quickly looked to her, clearly uncertain if they should reform into a proper formation to defend their newest member in case the - incredibly - fast human decided to attack. Quickly assessing Phoenix's group, she found the woman who had been at the back of the formation moving forward with unhurried, graceful, steps.

She gave the slightest smile, which didn't quite reach her eyes, and inclined her head, "I apologize for Phoenix's… Excitement. She tends to do things without thinking about how they could be taken. She truly doesn't mean any ill toward any of you. If she did, you'd be very, very, aware. If we want to sneak attack, we have to have her come in last."

"Hey! I can be sneaky!" The girl protested, apparently able to hear their conversation while also holding an impromptu mock-court with Hosh and the tiny pink fairy.

Shaking her head, Prism didn't answer the rebuttal. Instead she asked, "You were running… him… through a training scenario?" The woman hesitated a moment, searching for a name and continuing once she failed to find it.

"We were. He's new to our team. New to combat in general. Only twenty years since arrival and slated for his first rift in another couple years. We're getting him up to spec so he doesn't waste the opportunity." This Prism woman had an oddly calming presence. Being near her felt as though her worries were distant. She was still mildly concerned about Phoenix and her pixie animatedly chatting with Hosh, but there was no imminent threat of combat. She let herself indulge in the loosing of tension and waved for the others to be at ease as well.

She noticed that her gesture seemed to have been enough to break the tension of Phoenix's remaining party members as well. The silver man walked past, clearly intent on joining Phoenix. Frella only stopped herself from blocking his path by force of will. She'd have to trust her team to defend themselves if things suddenly turned ugly.

System moved forward to stand beside Prism and recaptured Frella's attention with a question, "Are there a lot of parties down here? You're the first other group we've run into in like… More than a month."

"You've been on the second layer for a month?" Frella clarified, voice raising a bit as she found her face scrunching into the frown of consternation her mother always told her was 'unsightly'.

The man didn't seem to notice, or care, "Nah, we just got down here a couple days ago. Yesterday we got through the gnoll gates."

"I see, then you have just begun your descent." Nodding, Frella remembered his original question and returned to it, "You are likely to see other groups often from here on. Most will be cordial, if suspicious. Did your organization's coordinator not provide you training and reference material about what to expect before coming to Chimera M sixty three?"

"Is that what this place is called? It's nice to finally put a name to the place we've been for the last while." System grumbled.

Prism answered the actual question, "Our benefactor has a fondness for 'sink or swim' training."

"Oof, one of those. Then you're not with the Gatherer's Guild. That's us, by the way." She tapped the little patch depicting a hand reaching out for a small lump of an indistinct ore on her left shoulder. "We specialize in retrieving ores, items, materials, whatever really. Who are you with?"

"An excellent question…" Prism trailed off, then sighed, "We're in the middle of a rebrand at the moment. Or perhaps it'd be more apt to just call it a branding? Our leader is trying to decide upon our charter and name."

Frella felt her eyebrows climb up her face, "Truly? Are you splintering from another organization?"

Hand lifting in a careful arc, just below her shoulder, Prism tilted her downward-turned hand left and right. "Something like that. System and I were 'acquired' from the Frazzlen faction. Phoenix and Quiz were both independent."

"Independents?!" A sudden spike of shock rammed through the comfortable calm she'd felt in Prism's presence. She spun around, deeply rooted worry spinning up new scenarios of how the two could be causing mischief and… Hosh, Polli, Kash, and Loivl were all standing around laughing uproariously as Phoenix and the tiny pink fairy mock-battled while orating, "…the ass-id rushed forward and BAM!" Phoenix leapt backwards, doing a fair job of making it appear she'd been struck. She hit the ground on her back, rolling back to her feet in an impressive display of combat recovery. "It missed by mere inches! The stupid thing didn't even realize it had stepped into its own ass-cid!" More laughter.

Shaking her head, Frella calmed herself and turned back to the patiently waiting Prism and System. The later had a knowing smile, while the former just seemed politely curious. "She's… Really an independent? Was she released, or banished?"

"Neither!" System brightly informed, the word bursting forth as if he had been excitedly waiting to break the news. "She never had a contract. Quiz, too, actually. The organizations like to pretend no one slips through their little contract-shaped nooses, but it does happen and we ended up with two of them! Pretty banger, huh?"

"Banger? Uh… Sure. How long have they been… Around, then? I presume several hundreds of years, at least. Catching up to all of us who have support systems must be truly grueling."

System and Prism exchanged knowing looks and Prism leaned forward in a conspiratorial way. The possibility of not leaning in to hear whatever secret she had to tell never crossed the elf's mind. "Phoenix, System, and I all arrived less than a year ago."

"Impossible!" Frella reeled back as if struck.

"Boss?" Polli called, concern coloring his croaking voice.

She waved back, indicating that she was fine before furiously chiding Prism, "You're lying. It's not possible to advance fast enough to comfortably delve this deeply after less than a year. There's no way you'd have gathered enough raw potential to reinforce your bodies to be able to resist the oppressive pressure of the moon's gravity, much less defeat the first layer's monsters and break through the gnoll blockade and survived their swarming hunt."

"Break through?" System asked, confused, "We just told them we'd do a favor and they guided us through."

That… Another impossibility. Right? The guild coordinator had given them plenty of materials to prepare. One of the clearest and best documented milestones was making it down to the second layer. The gnolls had blockades between the first and second layer at every entry point anyone had ever found, and they never let anyone through. Delvers had to break through their walls, and then flee through their tunnels until they found an exit into the second layer proper. It was part of the rite of passage. Many parties lost one or more member during the hunt. Until a group left the warren, the gnolls would hunt them relentlessly. To say nothing of the hundreds of thousands of traps they tended to have set throughout.

"Hey, you okay? You look a bit… Glassy eyed." System noted with apparent concern.

Then Prism was close again, too close, yet Frella couldn't back away. She felt like a fly caught in a net as the woman whispered softly, "They've all lied to you. You're just a thing they're using without a care."

The truth behind those words seemed undeniable. Absolute. Unequivocal.

"If you want to break free… We can help you." Blinking, Frella focused on the eyes centimeters from her own. Pools of dark brown specked with flecks of gold which sparkled like stars. She found herself drawn into those orbs. Eyes like portals to an expanse of eternal space dancing with galaxies. Blinking, she broke free of the hypnotic effect and staggered back.

Frella carefully assessed herself. That intensity was disconcerting, yet compelling. Engaging. Exciting. Importantly, when Frella examined her thoughts, she found them ordered. Unaltered. She was certain that the fascination she'd found herself locked into was purely a natural reaction to the woman's beautiful eyes and shocking fervor.

Examining said unaltered thoughts, Frella was surprised to find the answer to the question couldn't have been simpler. Although she often proclaimed how nice her guild was, how reliable, how much support they granted… Deep within, a smoldering resentment flared to life with the gust of wind which was an offer of escape.

"Yes. If you can release me from my contract, I want to be free."