March 17, 2055
A man called Dwayne Lawson won the lottery, earning himself fifty million dollars.
You may not believe what I am going to say which is why I have given you a date. Do not trust me now, but believe in me when you see it for yourself.
On April 20, 2055 you will be one of the few selected to participate in a game. Not an ordinary game that pits humans against demons. You will be transported to the tutorial, just like a video game. HOWEVER, do not believe that you will be resurrected upon death. Unlike a video game you only have one life, after that it is game over.
There are a few key thoughts you have to keep in mind. One, although you are in the tutorial, that is just a small isolated space. The real game begins once you are tossed into the world. More than likely you'll land yourself on the Edith Continent. More of that place will be spoken of later.
First, there are no restrictions in the world. Forget the laws that you are used to, the world you are going to is one where the strong thrive.
Second, there are five systems that play a major part in that world. The Magic system, where you align yourself with an element. The Trait system, where you can freely pick a passive ability. The Skill system that helps define who you are, and customize yourself to fit your playstyle. The Stat system, where you can increase certain attributes to improve your strength. Last is the Gear system, which improves your overall protection, utility, and offensive power.
In the first part of the tutorial, you only have to worry about the Trait system, Stat system, as well as the Gear system. You will not encounter any skills until
Traits are passive abilities that you keep forever, there is no replacing them. Everyone picks something that makes them stronger since they are thrown directly into a fight. I suggest you choose a trait that increases your ability, not your stat.
Stat wise, Magic is the most important. At the beginning strength is useful, but if you are able to become a magic user then the world will be a lot easier.
When you enter the tutorial, keep your cool. It will be difficult, but it is best to stay composed.
"Yo Zane!" A loud voice shouted.
Closing the journal in his hand, Zane looked up only to spot a rough-looking teen. His blonde hair was dyed at the ends dark blue, and there was a bruise on his lip. In his hand was an envelope.
"Was that just a book? Bro, since when do you read?"
The teen asked as he approached Zane's desk.
Zane was not one to actively read, but his interest was piqued by the journal he received. 'Knowledge of the Fallen' is what the journal was called. It was a guide of sorts, something that he found himself absorbed in as of late.
At first he thought it was a joke. The journal talked about a fantasy world where people were given superhuman abilities. Zane was a realist, he never believed in fantasy.
Yet, March 17th came around and that is when his mindset changed. Dwayne Lawson really won the lottery for the amount that was written in the journal. Zane found it unlikely to be a coincidence so he looked more into what was written down.
There were times when he found himself staying up at night reading. His grades were already average, so they did not drop by much.
"I don't. You have my package?"
The teen nodded as he tossed the envelope down on Zane's desk.
A little bit of money slipped out of the envelope, and Zane put it back in.
"David did not want to stay in line so I roughed him up a little."
"Whatever."
Zane did not really care. He took a few bills out of the envelope and passed it to the teen as payment for his services.
The teen counted it and grinned, an easy two hundred bucks.
Zane was pretty stingy with the money, there were more than a thousand dollars inside. Still, he did not complain. He did not want to get beat up.
"Where's Tiffany?"
Zane asked as he looked around the classroom.
"Don't know, probably fucking the teacher."
He replied as if it was something normal.
"Whatever, I'm heading home now. Tell her swing by later."
"Already? It's not even second period yet."
Zane looked at him coldly for a second before he got up and walked out of class.
The teen clicked his tongue after Zane left.
What was he, some sort of minion? Well yeah, but still. Zane could have answered him.
Other students in the classroom started to glance in his direction causing the boy to glare at them.
"The fuck you all looking at? Huh?"
Swiftly everyone turned their heads.
Zane kept the journal with him and headed home. His dad was out cold on the couch with a beer bottle in his hand. Beer cans, bottles, and glasses were tossed all over the living room floor.
The place was junkyard city, and no one bothered to clean it up.
He went straight to his room and closed the door. Going over to his bed, he reached under it as he pulled out a shoebox. Inside it was wads of cash. Tossing in the envelope, Zane closed the box and put it back under his bed.
Sitting at his desk full of books he never opened, comics he used to read and boxes of condoms Zane grabbed a piece of paper as he began to write.
This was not something new to him, but he had a hard time putting his thoughts on paper. When he finished, an hour went by already.
Zane stretched his body and cracked his neck. He opened his phone to check the time, it was 9:53 am. In seven minutes he would not exist anymore, at least not here.
Holding onto the journal, Zane waited with eyes closed.
"Where am I?"
"Who are you?"
Confused voices rang out, many of which he did not know.
Opening his eyes, Zane realized he was in a forest. The area he was in now was wide, but dense trees could be seen in the distance. There were a lot of people around him.
In his hand he still held the journal.
[Welcome Players.]
A blue transparent notification screen appeared in front of his eyes.
[Please select a trait from the 'Trait Menu'. Note that you can only have one trait so choose wisely. If no trait is chosen within five minutes you will be randomly given one.]
Zane did as he was instructed and another transparent screen popped up in front of him. On it was various traits that would increase his strength by leaps and bounds.
He took his time, but for everyone else they were confused. Some people were shouting and asking to be sent back home.
To him, none of them mattered.
Laughing to himself, he could not even believe one of the traits. 'Ogre's Strength' a trait that gave you three times the strength of a normal person.
It was beneficial but not needed. Having strength that you were not used to was more of a detriment than anything else. You couldn't control it.
Instead, Zane picked up something he found amusing. 'Spell Breaker' a trait that allowed the user to negate spells.
In a fight Zane was confident in his ability. That is as long as it was within his range.
All the other traits seemed interesting, but he was unsure of how much they would be of use to him. At least with this he knew exactly what he could do.
The journal did mention that there was magic in this world. Picking this trait up meant that he would have a strong defense against mages.
[Please Summon your preferred Weapon. Weapon types include Gauntlet, Rapier, Claymore, Sword, Lance, Axe, Bow, Crossbow, Dagger, Tome, Staff, and Orb. Note, the last three are magical items.]
A short dagger materialized in his hands.
Zane moved it a little bit to get used to its weight. It was around the size of a kitchen knife, something he was used to handling.
Some people started to adapt to the situation seeing as how their questions were going unanswered. He could not help but laugh to himself as he watched people pick tomes, staves, and orbs as weapons.
Maybe it was because he knew how useless those were right now that made him laugh. It would be funny when they realized it themselves.
[The tutorial will now commence.]
[Survive for three days.]
[There are currently 1,000 players in the tutorial, but only the top 500 will move on to the next stage. Every six hours the tutorial leaderboard will be updated.]
Everyone looked uneasy, but there was murderous intent lingering in the air. They needed to cut the numbers down, and there was an easy way to do that. Kill.
For Zane, he was not that interested but he still acted. His hand moved, stabbing the dagger into the neck of some man who stood next to him.
He was not given any experience, but he was given an item. Reaching down, he grabbed the man's sword.
"How can you kill!"
"Do you have no morals?"
Listening to a few people speak about his actions Zane smirked.
"Just doing what you are all thinking."
As he said that, he threw the dagger causing it to fly towards another man. The man was not expecting it and the dagger found its way to his stomach.
Zane clicked his tongue, it was lower than where he was aiming for.
Still, the man cried out in pain. Zane ignored him and glared at all those who dared to look at him.
With a swift cut, the man died. This time Zane gained a bow along with his quiver full of arrows.
A moment later skeletons started to emerge from the ground.
Those that were frightened ran away quickly, some were frozen with fear.
A skeleton started to crawl up from the ground in front of Zane, he did not allow that. Stabbing the sword down, he crushed the skeleton's skull.
[Obtained 10 Experience.]
[Obtained 1 Tutorial Point.]
Others took note of Zane's idea and started to do the same. While they were busy doing that, Zane left. There was nothing for him there and the tutorial was only just starting.
'Status.'
Name: Zane Richfield
Strength 10 Defense 10
Agility 10 Resistance 10
Dexterity 10 Magic 10
All his stats were even across the board, that was mainly due to his trait not buffing his base stats. But, all humans started at the same point. Even if you came in here looking like the hulk, your strength would still be classified as a ten.
This story takes place years later after the story Pathfinder: Sacred Order. The two stories are (Spoiler) set on different continents but in the same world.
Do not read this if you do not like a character who does whatever he wants. He's pretty scummy at times as well.
Enjoy!