Accidental Champion of Earth - Chapter 18 - Looks like they’ve already destabilised themselves

Alistair Reed wiped his dagger on the dead man’s cloak. He stood, tilted his head, admiring his handiwork.

You have defeated a Level 3 Human!

You have gained 300 Mastery Points.

You have gained 300 Spirit Energy.

The man was a Basic Warrior class. His cheap, thin leather armour hadn’t been enough to stop Alistair’s dagger, especially since he’d struck the back of the man’s neck.

The man hadn’t even seen him coming. He was one of fools who’d chosen to fight for this world, chosen to be a Soldier. Once the fifty-foot tall wizened, bearded hologram man had finished explaining to them what the Greater Universe and the System was—in fairly broad terms—this man, Daniel, had taken charge.

Those gathered in the square had a myriad of different reactions. Some were screaming, searching for their children or younger siblings—apparently anyone under the age of sixteen had been transported to “Safe Zone” cities where they would come to no harm and be looked after by those who had chosen Support roles. Others had broken down, squatting or sitting straight on the ground where they stood, putting their heads in their hands and going quiet or weeping miserably.

Alistair didn’t understand what their problems were. Why they were all so distraught. He thought this new world order was rather fascinating. Looking at those people, he’d wondered why he even needed a quest to destabilise the tutorial.

Looks like they’ve already destabilised themselves.

That thought had made him want to chuckle, though he had suppressed the emotion. He was used to suppressing his true feelings around others, so it wasn’t difficult.

Then men and women like Daniel, who might be described as stoic and strong willed, had taken charge. Not everyone in the crowd had broken down, either. Many had no more than frowns on their faces, or slightly wide eyes. Almost everyone seemed at least a little shocked. Though there were some among them who had smiles on their faces, similar to the smile Alistair wasn’t letting slip onto his own face.

He wondered if those were kindred spirits. People who revelled in chaos like he did. Or perhaps they were simply video game addicts and enthusiasts who thought their wildest dreams were coming true.

Alistair looked at his Quest Log again.

Quest Log

Current Quest: Destabilise the tutorial.

Progress: Incomplete

Reward:

1. Unknown item.

2. Bonus Mastery Points.

Alistair frowned. No change.

Footsteps sounded near the mouth of the alleyway he stood in. People coming. He sheathed his dagger, wiped clean of the dead man’s blood, and nimbly climbed up a fire escape. Putting points into Speed and Strength was a good idea.

It was the third day since the System had come and the chaos had begun. He still hadn’t appeared to make any progress on his quest, despite the fact that this was the third “leader” he’d killed. He was beginning to wonder if he was thinking too small.

So far, the tutorial had been incredibly basic. Monsters—things that were once animals, but had been twisted and changed with the arrival of the System—spawned in small enclosures in the middle of the square, and one-by-one the people gathered were given notifications that it was their turn to kill them.

Mostly, the “monsters” that had spawned had been level 1 rabbits and mice and had been no more dangerous than an angry dog.

Alistair pulled himself to the top of the building. He couldn’t believe how easy the System had given it to these people. When the fifty-foot-tall hologram had spoken, it had told them of a universe with vast kingdoms, empires and planetary collectives that vied for domination of the stars. Of entities that possessed the raw power to destroy entire worlds and solar systems. Of monsters large enough to eat suns.

And yet the tutorial had consisted of them fighting… bunnies?

It was utterly ridiculous. Made further ridiculous by the fact some had said, before they had been requested to step into the enclosures by the System, that they would not kill the rabbits and mice that spawned.

Though the people quickly realised that refusing a System’s command was a very, very bad idea. The only person to actually do it hadn’t been warned of any consequences. They had simply shaken their head and said something about being a vegan.

Then they had lost their lost hand. It had been sliced clean right off.

Alistair had found it incredibly difficult to keep a giggle inside. He’d had to stifle it so hard it almost looked like he was crying. Considering some people in the crowd hadbeen crying in reaction to what had happened didn’t make him feel any better for his pitiful appearance.

The woman—crying about her missing hand—had stepped into the enclosure, pale and shaking with fear, and killed the bunny with some sort of fire spell after it had bitten her arm.

After what happened to her, no one had refused the System since.

From atop the building, Alistair let his smile roam free on his face, watching as a woman noticed the corpse in the middle of the alleyway.

The woman screamed, loud and high-pitched. She fled, running back to find help. Alistair chuckled. It reminded him of the crime shows he’d watched. When someone had stumbled upon a body. The women had such terribly dramatic screams. He’d always thought they came off as fake.

Perhaps if the murderer were standing over the body and looked ready to kill you too. But screaming simply because you’ve seen a corpse? It had never rung true to Alistair.

Now, he supposed he’d been wrong about that.

Over the last few days, Alistair had been very careful with his kills. Cornering people when they were alone. Never taking on more than one person. He didn’t want to be found out.

But now, after having killed three people already without his quest having changed, he wondered if carefulwas the right approach.

I’m still thinking like this is pre-integration. Like I’m worried about getting caught by the authorities. He tilted his chin up, thoughts occurring to him. The world is nothing like it was. He thought of the vast kingdoms and empires that the hologram had mentioned, and his ambitions grew beyond simple murder.

In this new reality, killing brings strength. Power. The more I kill, the more Mastery Points I gain. The more Mastery Points I gain, the more levels I accrue. He smiled sinisterly. Levels make stats go up.

Why should he worry about getting caught? What did getting caught matter, if he became the most powerful human on the planet?

The hologram had spoken of other things, too. Of the fact that their world wasn’t “locked” like other, newly integrated worlds apparently were, which meant that portals had been opened up around the world—and more would follow—with enemies from other planets coming through. Though Alistair hadn’t encountered any of those portals yet, which he was glad for. He didn’t feel ready.

Alistair knew that if he destabilised this tutorial, it would mean there would be less people to help with the defence of Earth. That was information he’d not had when he’d chosen his moral faction.

Alistair didn’t much care about what happened to the people of Earth, of course, but now with the prospect of becoming powerful enough to perhaps one day rule it… he didn’t want his playground falling into enemy hands.

Plans formed within his mind. One after the other. He came to the conclusion that these people—the thousand people he shared his tutorial with—were not important to the defence of the planet.

If there were single entities in the Greater Universe that could destroy entire worlds, what did a thousand weak individuals matter? They couldn’t compare to a single strong individual, could they?

And their deaths will make me strong.

Alistair Reed now knew what he had to do to destabilise his tutorial and complete his first quest.

He had to kill every single person other than himself that was in it.

Quest Log Update

Kill every member of your tutorial before the tutorial ends to gain a bonus reward.

Alistair laughed again, seeing the notification. It appears the System agrees with me. And that it’s listening in to my thoughts.

~

Melissa Donavon drew back the string of her bow, an arrow nocked. She breathed slowly and deeply, sighting her enemy through the trees.

{Wolf – Level 6}

It was the strongest enemy she’d seen yet, but she didn’t doubt that she would be able to take it down.

She activated her spell, Precision Power Shot. Day three of being stuck in the woods, and she’d managed to upgrade the spell to Rank 2, from Power Shot to Precision Power Shot. She’d had to practice her bow skills on a tree for hours on end that first day, without ever sleeping, before a notification had popped up.

Melissa had been fairly hopeless at aiming the bow at the beginning, but after she’d added more points into her Strength attribute, it had gotten far easier to pull the heavy string back and hold it steady.

Then, for her, it had simply been about patience and perseverance. Two things she had in spades.

The notification which had appeared when she’d first began training had said she needed to land one hundred accurate shots upon enemies to learn a skill called Bow Mastery.

If all went well, this would be her hundredth shot.

The point of her arrow glowed as she loosed the string. The arrow shot through the air, whistled past the trees. The wolf had its head raised, sniffing the air, when the arrow slammed into its skull.

It didn’t have time to yelp.

You have defeated a Level 6 Wolf!

You have gained 600 Mastery Points.

You have gained 600 Spirit Energy.

Congratulations, you have reached level 7!

Your health has been regenerated by 50%!

Your Spirit Energy limit has increased by 100!

You have received +1 Strength and +2 Speed!

You have received +5 free stat points!

All your spells have refreshed and are no longer on cooldown!

You have completed 100/100 accurate shots on enemies with a bow. You have learned the skill Bow Mastery!

Bow Mastery - Rank 1

You are a student of the bow. Your weapon is one of range, power and precision. May your enemies never see your arrows coming.

+5% physical damage with bow weapons.

+5% Piercing damage with bow weapons.

+5% Speed when wielding bow weapons.

Melissa didn’t smile when she reached the next level. She simply released the breath she’d been holding, slung her bow about her shoulders, and drew the dagger from her belt.

She stalked over to the corpse of the level 6 Wolf. Melissa had only gone hunting once in her life. One of her mother’s ex-boyfriends had taken her bow-hunting. She’d been thirteen years old, and he had this weird, creep smile whenever he looked at her.

The last thing she’d wanted was to go hunting with the man, but he was paying for their rent, and her mother hadn’t given her a choice.

He’d carried a crossbow with a scope. Something he never let her touch. He went hunting with three of his buddies, and the only reason he’d wanted to bring her along was for someone to cook the meals and fetch the beers.

Though she’d hated playing little fetch girl, she was now glad she’d had that experience. When she’d given the deer he’d killed a sour expression, he’d frowned at her and made her gut and dress it.

At least I know something of this.

As she knelt, assigning her free stat points—1 to Strength, 2 to Speed, 1 to Toughness and 1 to Willpower—she rolled the wolf onto its back and began to slice into it. A thought entered her mind that she’d never imagined having before: I wonder what wolf meat tastes like.

On the third day of being “integrated into the Greater Universe” and Melissa still didn’t know what was going on. It was as though she’d been thrown into some sort of video game. All doubt in it being an hallucination, dream or psychosis had left her once the rabbit that had attacked her had sunk its abnormally large teeth into her shoulder.

Perhaps she should have been afraid, all alone in the middle of the woods with animals that had been transformed into monsters, but she felt a sudden sort of peace the first time she’d killed something and gained those Mastery Points. Seen that she could gain levels. A peace that only intensified when she’d gained her first stat points and allocated them.

Now, out here, she didn’t need anyone else. She didn’t need to go to university. Earn a degree. Find some job she didn’t truly want. All she needed to do was hunt and become stronger.

She would never run out of food again. And out here, she would never have to rely on someone else.

Melissa Donovan hadn’t had a single worry but for her basic needs since entering this forest. That was, at least, until lightning struck the ground half a mile away, and something that looked an awful lot like a portal opened up.

It happened once she’d finished dressing the wolf. She’d stalked through the forest as quietly as she could, approaching it, and watched as something—someone—had stepped through.

It looked and walked like a man, except it had ears that tapered to a point. Long, silver hair tied up in a ponytail. It wore some sort of medieval armour. Ringmail, she supposed it was called. In one hand it carried a long, slender sword. In the other, a round shield with a protruding bump in the middle.

Hidden behind a tree, Melissa scanned the strange looking alien.

{Elf – Level 8}

Elves are real? She’d seen Lord of the Rings, and supposed that’s what this man looked like. After all that had already happened, why wouldn’t elves be real?

Quest Log Update

Remain within the forest and survive the arrival of the enemy invaders for five days to gain a bonus reward.

Melissa quickly read the notification, silently nocked an arrow, and sighted her new enemy. She was about to activate Precision Power Shot when another two elves stepped out of the portal.

Gently, she held the string as the put it back into a neutral position, then, arrow still nocked, gaze still looking toward the newly arrived elves, she slipped back through the trees and disappeared into the woods.

Looks like I need a plan.

She wasn’t about to let her sanctuary be taken over.