The Phantom Gauntlet was cool in his hands. He grasped the edge of the white table, and it cracked. Splintered wood burst apart, and a chunk of it lodged in Suna’s right hand. He stepped back, taken aback by his own strength. He stared in amazement. Now these people would no doubt respect…
He turned to see that everyone appeared to be wearing some strange clothing straight out of a game. The [Mage] was wearing an ornately decorated red cloak that flowed to her feet. She also held a staff that was almost as tall as her. That one was the girl, the one who wanted to help the fainted woman earlier.
Why, it looked like she chose faster than most! Suna bit his lips in annoyance.
And the rugby player was no doubt the one who got the most. His armor was a full plate made out of heavy steel. In both of his hands were a sword and a shield. He wore a helmeted cap that still exposed most of his face. On his shoulder was an extra arm shield that looked like made from reptilian skin.
“Your class, it's time for you to choose,” the creature said.
[Archer] [Common] – Taking down foes from afar or even becoming the main damage source of a party is no stranger to Archer. The bow is a fine weapon that allows the thread of swinging steel to become just a mere afterthought.
[Scout] [Common] – Making sure that the path is safe and everyone can walk without worries is the Scout's job. Becoming the beacon of light and reporting any danger ahead is a noble and important task.
“Choose already, Eyebag!” the office man shouted, still pointing that shaky finger at him.
Suna scowled openly at the man, and he widened his eyes at the office worker’s armor. An interlinked steel chain hugged his body, and the armored chain extended to his head as a steely cloak. He also had a shield and a mace. The man looked like a cultist. But that certainly was quite a nice piece of equipment, reminding Suna again that he should have chosen first.
Ignoring the man, he focused on the choice.
He had thought [Archer] was something he would never take, because he had never wielded one.
But [Scout] just did not sound appealing. No doubt it was a useful class for everyone. But being made to dive into danger headfirst did not sound like something he fancied.
Dealing damage from afar, though, was quite attractive to him.
[Choose [Archer]?]
[Y/N]
Yes.
Name: Suna Amor
Level. 0→1
Class: [Archer]
Rune: 2
Feat:
Mana: 100/100
Class Skill (1/5):
- Archer Sense
General Skill (0/5):
Strength: 20→35
Dexterity: 0→25
Vitality: 0→10
Arcanery: 0→10
Sense: 0→20
A cloak of brown manifested around him, blanketing his body with a fuzzy warmth. In his hands, a bow and quiver appeared. Each felt alien to him. Suna was careful not to break them with his Shadow Gauntlet.
[Archer Cloak] [Common] – An Archer requires his identity to be hidden and a shield from rain.
[Bow] [Common] – A Bow is a weapon that requires a certain degree of safety, but in exchange, it takes down enemies from afar.
He also had a skill, and this one would be useful. Hopefully.
[Archer Sense] [Common] – The tutorial has started. Implant a sense of archery deep inside of you. For if one needs years to train, then survival is impossible.
Archer Sense… For now, Suna did not feel any difference. Was this what a skill was like? Something invincible within him? But classes like [Mage] existed. Could they really shoot magic or something similar?
“She is dead,” a gaunt voice spoke. The [Mage] girl knelt in front of the unconscious woman, and she checked her pulse. “No pulse.” Her body shook, and she clenched the hem of her robe tight.
“Ah, that is very unfortunate,” the creature said, uncaring of the lives lost. Suna stepped back, distancing himself from it. “Truly unfortunate, but this shall be a boon for you in the first stage. Now I shall explain the two-stage tutorial that each of you needs to complete.”
“First, each of you will be randomly teleported within an area. Where I didn’t know, but within such an area, you could find each other. All nine of you. Other humanity also went through a similar stage. The ultimate objective of the first stage is to kill the gatekeeper who holds a gate toward the second stage.”
“On the Second Stage, you will find an entirely new world. Your ultimate objective is to make it to one of the teleportation panels scattered all throughout the world. Simple enough, is it? Now I need to send the next batch…”
“Wait!” Suna shouted.
The humans held their weapons tight around the creature; most gazed at the dead body of the woman. Realization of their grim reality sank in.
“What do you mean by a boon? What will happen to her?”
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“Class selection is a precious thing”. The creature paused. “Each of you hasn't realized yet how precious it is. To be granted such access to power… the system had made it clear for the first stage there shall be ten working together, now that she is dead, her soul and this [Scout] class shall appear in some kind of advantage. What will it be? I don't know. And you might never know too”
“There's a lot you don't know,” the rugby player growled from behind Suna.
“Believe it or not, I didn't orchestrate this tutorial. We're merely a race like you humans. The system chooses us to be overseers. In the distant future, it will be your turn. If you survive, that is”
The creature bowed and flourished his hand in a butler's courtesy.
“I wish you luck, all of you.”
A familiar bright golden light shone above them. The white light phased into a brilliant color. This was the light of teleportation.
They would be teleported to different locations. Suna recalled the creature's explanation.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. Anger still blared inside of him, but he shoved it down. Now, it was not the time for anger.
“Let's find one another!” Suna screamed, and he turned around to draw the human's gaze. He tried to think of something, but there was really no way to assign a destination…
“Highest place!” the [Mage] girl said. “Try to find each other in the highest place!”
Light blared, enveloping their body. Suna’s consciousness faded. He tried to fight, and the last thing he saw was the curved mouth of the creature.
--
He opened his eyes to a dark road. Beyond and behind him was a dark house, neatly arrayed, identical to one another. Spiraling through the skies was a tower that tried to pierce the hidden moon and was covered by thick fog.
“The highest place…” Suna let out a mirthless laugh; the irony was a bit too much for him.
Cold vapor bit his skin; he shuddered. A fog whispered around him; the city was cold, and the surrounding buildings reflected that, dominated by blocky, stark color. Some jutted into the sky like needles from solid brick blocks.
Looking down the road, he could not see anything there. Suna decided to approach one of the houses, just five steps away. He stopped by a dark oak door. He turned the knob, and it opened.
Clenching his bow tight, he stepped in. Twin staircases hug both the left and right walls, leading to the second-floor gallery.
Suna immediately went to the corner just to his right. He calmed himself down, slowing his breathing.
His body slumped down. He hugged his bow, and with a shaky hand, he picked an arrow.
Even if something came out and attacked him, he was sure he would miss.
This was really happening, whatever this was.
“What to do… what to do,” he muttered to the wind.
First was to secure this place.
He could think about what to do after. With an arrow nocked, Suna barged open a door. Inside was a long table and a warm hearth with dark firewood inside. The air was damp here. He entered the room and moved deeper into the kitchen filled with medieval utensils.
A cauldron hung above another hearth, this one meant for cooking. The shelves were neatly arrayed, forming a clear line between the dining area and the kitchen. Motes of ashes and soot covered them. Suna caught a glance of steel.
A sharp, pointy knife was there, along with other utensils. Butcher knife, pot, mugs, ladle, and many others. He picked up the knife and tucked it into his ranger cloak’s sheath shewn.
There was nothing here to be worried about. He left the room and opened one that was opposite of it. He was greeted by a bathroom, a small pool, more accurately. It was dug down and covered with brick. Although there was no water source. Deciding there's nothing here, Suna rushed to the second floor.
He opened the door to find a bedroom, a normal, everyday bedroom with a medieval flavor to it. There were five other rooms, each of which was more or less the same, with one master bedroom much bigger than the others.
Suna settled inside the master bedroom. A luxurious double bed greeted him with soft feathers tickling his face. He sighed, his bow and quiver sprawled around him.
The window showed the foggy world outside; it looked heavy and very tiring to watch. He grew sleepy. Now the urgency had left him; perhaps he should rest. Suna peeked through the window first and saw two moving figures on the street.
Excitement glowed inside him, only to be squashed when he saw the dark blue color of the figure's hair. They also wore light armor with a dark color. Their skin was ashen, like the fog illuminating the city.
“What are they?” Suna peered in more closely.
Drow Warrior. Lvl 5
Drow Warrior. Lvl 5
[Find the Gatekeeper and defeat him to access the gate: Lunatic Necromancer Lumien]
“Madness,” Suna grunted. A necromancer? Like someone who uses zombies?
And what was the deal with these Drow Warriors? Suna's eyes didn’t leave them; they merely stood in the middle of the street and talked. Suna caught a glimpse of steel on one hip. The Drow were a man and a woman. The man Drow had a curved sword drawn, and on his back was a crossbow with a bolt in a quiver at his hip. The woman, on the other hand, readied her crossbow, with a long glaive across her back.
Neither of them appeared friendly.
The woman Drow gazed up, straight at Suna. He crouched, his heart beating in a tight, red pulse. His body froze, and fear choked him when he realized they might have made it inside this house by now.
Suna's vision convulsed, a dark edge bludgeoned in. He let out a huge breath; he needed to know. So Suna bit his lip, the pain helped distract him. He grasped the cabinet to his right lightly with his shadowed glove and peeked again.
The woman had her crossbow drawn, and she shot. But not at Suna.
The bolt went up at a rapid speed. Then another two in less than a second.
Like a blur of shadows, a figure of red descended, with expert maneuvers worthy of an acrobat. It jumped around the balcony and kicked its whole body off a wall, dodging two more arrows. The figure somersaulted down, and Suna could make out twin red horns on the creature's head.
Tiefling. Lvl 3
The Tiefling rushed forward, toward the two Drow. The man Drow drew his curved sword in two hands. It was long, almost half the size of the Drow himself.
He swung the sword down, the Tiefling dodged–letting the steel crash–sending a loud ring through the air as it connected to the path below. The creature drew a weapon–a sword almost short enough to be a dagger. With incredible speed, it lurched forward with sword blazing, and it struck the Man Drow straight into his chest.
However, the strike bounced off the Drow armor. The Tiefling was not done. It used the recoil and flung its body up in a jump. With one leg on the Drow’s shoulder, it whirled the other one straight at the Drow’s face, sending the white-hair Drow sprawling to the ground.
The bolt of the crossbow kept firing, and each missed. The Tiefling ran around, three arrows were arrayed on the street below. The woman Drow needed to reload now, so she dropped her crossbow and drew her long glaives.
The Tiefling charged forward, entering the woman Drow’s defense before she could swing such an unwieldy weapon. It did not attempt to kill the woman Drow; however, instead, the Tiefling rushed to where the crossbows was. It took it and ran.
The red creature jumped onto a wooden crate and launched itself toward the balcony in front of Suna’s house. It climbed up and gave a devilish grin down at the woman Drow who screamed at it in a muffled tongue. It wove a tail, one that was completely black. The Tiefling wove its tail in an obvious insult gesture. It laughed out loud and proceeded to dissapeared behind a rooftop.
Suna watched the debacle, impressed by the Tiefling daring gambles and how it played the Drow warriors. His eyes settled on the Drow. The woman Drow knelt and cradled the man Drow’s head.
His hand tightened around his bow. Now, they were so vulnerable. Suna's hand moved before he could register it. In his hand, he had nocked an arrow, almost drawing it. He stared down, unsure of what had happened.
Is this Archer Sense?
If he could take down one of them…
The desire was there… No, the pulling of it… Like this was what he meant to do.
Suna drew his bow, pulling the arrow against his ear. Suna let out a soft breath, his heart still racing. His bow creaked as the Shadow Gauntlets allowed him to draw much farther–it was scary how steady his arm was.
The Drow woman's eyes locked with his. In his hand, the bow was still drawn. His arrowhead caught the small flicker of light under the thick foggy sky.
She had just fed a vial to her brethren, and now Suna saw him groggily wake up. If there were two of them on full alert…
Her hand moved, grasping her comrade's crossbow. And in a snap, she pointed it up. At Suna.
Three bolts fired in succession, two missed, and one blazed through the window and thudded into a wardrobe beside his bed.
Suna released his arrow. It streaked down and dug into the Drow’s chest, piercing her armor. Her body snapped back, and Suna could hear a gasp being cut short. Her body fell sideways, and blood colored the cobbled street.
[You have slain Drow Warriors. Lvl 5]
Name: Suna Amor
Level. 1→3
Class: [Archer]
Rune: 2
Feat:
Mana: 100/100
Class Skill (1/5):
- Archer Sense
General Skill (0/5):
Strength: 35→39
Dexterity: 25→33
Vitality: 10→12
Arcanery: 10→12
Sense: 20→24
Suna could only watch the figure of the Drow dying with blood pooling around her chest. His body shook with a creeping cold, then his eyes settled on the other Drow.
The man Drow moved with a cold urgency, straight toward the house Suna was in.
