Chapter 6 - The Tutorial (Part Four).

"Welcome to Gateway traveler!" said a cheery voice that echoed all around Søren. "In just a few moments, an encounter with a Hordeling will begin. Your performance will be assessed in order to determine suitable Paths from which you can choose upon completion of the Tutorial."

Søren felt the world shift around him as his mind was once again woken up inside his body. He opened his eyes to the same sterile white room. Rather than simply wait for the wristbands to click open, he felt around the sides for a moment before finding a small button tucked under the edge of the cushions. Stretching out as far as he could, he was able to depress the button and was rewarded with a snick of the restraints snapping open. Søren rolled off the side and moved quickly towards the wall where the holographic camouflage hid the doorway.

Not wanting to entirely trust that it was a hologram, he used the wall near the doorway to stop his momentum and slammed into it with his shoulder. Søren slid his hand along the wall and found the edge of the doorway, swiftly pulling himself into the chamber beyond. As before, blue-white light flickered intermittently, revealing the same debris covered floor, shattered furniture, and toppled tables. Søren bounded across the floor, avoiding the metal shard that had sliced his foot open each time before. He latched onto the table leg and wrenched it free with a ringing *TING* sound that echoed in the chamber.

"Hah!" Søren shouted with a grin on his features. He sprinted towards the crack in the wall where the first Hordeling Spawn hid within and lifted the table leg into the air over his head. With a barely stifled grunt, Søren slammed the makeshift weapon into the hibernating Hordeling Spawn. A bright red -34 (critical hit) drifted upwards, ascending into the stone above where it disappeared. Encouraged by this, Søren bashed the now stirring hordeling several more times. Each one a critical hit until the spawn fell out of the crack and onto the floor. Søren's attacks had broken many of its legs and one of the talons, making it easy enough to finish off by jabbing the jagged end of the table leg into the joints between the Hordeling Spawn's legs.

You have defeated a Tutorial Hordeling Spawn (Copper I). (1/3)

You have earned 10 TEK. (70/1000)

You have lost 10 reputation with Umber Horde.

You have lost 5 reputation with The Collective.

Søren had little time to celebrate as he heard two thumps on the floor behind him, announcing the arrival of the other two hordelings in the room. Not wasting a moment, he moved to crouch behind the table and tapped the club on the floor to get the attention of the Hordeling Spawns. The two creatures crashed into the table and began to climb over, snagging their talons on the top edge. Søren flipped the table over, taking care to not brush against the dangling cabling still sparking with electricity. A few leaps into the air later, he was rewarded with another notification.

You have defeated a Tutorial Hordeling Spawn (Copper I). (2/3)

You have earned 10 TEK. (80/1000)

You have lost 10 reputation with Umber Horde.

You have lost 5 reputation with The Collective.

The splatter of cobalt blue blood and egg-white ichor spread across the floor as Søren backed up to give the last hordeling time to get to its feet. With great care, he took the end of the power cable and readied it in front of him, his makeshift club held in the other hand. The Hordeling Spawn, battered and broken in many places, but still obviously a terrible threat to Søren, wriggled its way out from beneath the heavy metal table. It oriented on the sound of Søren tapping the table leg on the stone floor with a quiet metallic ping. The spawn screeched at Søren, revealing jagged rows of chitin inside its mouth. Saliva mixed with blue blood spattered onto the floor. Søren risked a glance at the combat log and noticed that the Hordeling Spawn had activated an ability called Adrenal Surge.

"This is it," he said to the Hordeling Spawn. "Down to you and me you ugly excuse for an overgrown bug."

The Hordeling Spawn screeched again and surged forward towards Søren with unimaginable speed, little more than a blur in the dim light from the resurrection vault behind him. Trusting his luck more than anything else, Søren flung the electrical cable forward towards the Hordeling Spawn and then threw himself to the side to avoid getting slammed into by the charging hordeling. The end of the cable touched the top of the charging spawn; a flash of light and wailing screech was followed by a heavy thump on the floor. Søren picked himself up off the floor and approached the slightly twitching corpse of the last Hordeling Spawn.

You have defeated a Tutorial Hordeling Spawn (Copper I). (3/3)

You have earned 10 TEK. (90/1000)

You have lost 10 reputation with Umber Horde.

You have lost 5 reputation with The Collective.

"Congratulations Traveler! You have completed the first stage of the Tutorial. When you are ready, please advance to the next chamber to begin stage two. If you have not left within thirty minutes, the next stage will automatically begin. Good luck!"

Calculating rewards.

Tutorial Stage 1 completed with nine kills and three deaths.

You have earned the Perfect Run (Tutorial - Stage 1) achievement. [Complete stage one of the Tutorial without taking any damage and eliminated every foe.]

You have earned 100 TEK.

You have earned 1 attribute point.

You have earned 5 skill points.

You have earned 1 perk.

Søren dismissed the notifications got to work immediately. He moved to explore the rest of the chamber that he'd yet to reach in prior attempts. He spared a glance towards the status bars and noticed that the dark steel bar had more than just a sliver of bright steel showing. His first stop in the room, now that it was safe to explore for at least another twenty-nine minutes and change, was the bench covered with bits and pieces of various equipment and debris. Something there had to be of use for the next stage of the Tutorial.

The first workbench was mostly covered in debris, but Søren was able to find a length of thin electrical cable he could use as rope. The second workbench had avoided most of whatever catastrophe had destroyed much of the rest of the room. Unfortunately it was covered in beakers, funnels, and other glassware. Some had dried out residue in them, suggesting they had been empty for quite some time.

The last workbench hadn't suffered as much damage as the first. Søren set the electrical cable down and began to sort through the mess, setting aside anything that looked intact. The first intact item was a transparent crystalline dagger that looked like a napped flint knife. The crystal dagger had a soft pebbled green leather wrapped around the hilt and a pale blue gem inset into the pommel of the hilt. Next to the dagger was a crystal card, roughly the size of an index card. A little bigger kind of card you would keep in your wallet, but it was four or five times as thick, yet still had some flexibility to it. There were also some symbols etched into one of the long edges like where you could find the power or volume buttons on a smartphone.

"Maybe it's just dead and needs to be recharged," Søren muttered to himself. He set the card next to the coil of electrical cable and the crystal dagger before working his way over a pile of rubble to get to the other side of the work benches. A familiar shape on the floor just behind the benches caught his eye. A dust covered skull with a large triangular shaped hole in the crown. The wound would have been instantly fatal to the person and it bore a resemblance to the shape of the talons on the dead Hordeling Spawns.

The skull bore a remarkable resemblance to the anatomically modern human physiology and Søren would have easily classified it as human remains, were it not for the odd color of the bone after he wiped away some of the dust. It looked like the bone matched the same color of the silvery-white metallic ceramic he had seen in use throughout the Tutorial.

"Could be a coating of some kind for durability," Søren postulated. Identifying the material the skeleton was made of could wait. Of more importance was the one-piece set of clothing the body was wearing. A flexible white material that would have looked brand new were it not for the coating of dust and grime. He knelt down next to the remains and sighed. This would have been an amazing find in any archaeological dig site. The skeleton appeared to be fully intact, minus the wound to the skull and a few scattered metacarpals and phalanges from the uncovered hands.

Søren finally felt around for a zipper or clasp on the clothing, but his fingers could only find a small pair of nodules sewn within the material at the front of the collar where it was in an easy to reach place for a person wearing the jumpsuit. Søren tried pulling them apart and then pressed down tightly and a seam appeared. Despite his reluctance to desecrate the dead, he was able to gently peel back the sides of the torso section of the jumpsuit and reveal more of the skeletal remains. Every bone so far had the same silvery-white metal appearance.

"Unfortunately I don't have time to do this the right way Skelly McSkelerton," Søren said, his lips tight and pale as he pressed them together. "I'm sorry."

Søren took the boots attached at the bottom of the jumpsuit and lifted them into the air above his head. The bones clattered onto the floor into a pile with a soft metallic ringing sound. The humerus, ulna, and radius bones slid out of each sleeve as well, though the scapula of one shoulder got stuck inside. Søren grimaced again and reached into the jumpsuit and removed the scapula. It had a cool, metallic weight to it, but the texture perfectly mimicked the texture of natural bone. He shook the suit a few times, creating a cloud of dust that he attempted to avoid breathing in, but a stray bit got caught in his throat anyway. He doubled over coughing.

The movement from doubling over caused another card like the first to slip out of a pocket on the jumpsuit. Søren retrieved the card from the floor, coughing hard a few times to dispel the last remnants of the dust and debris he had inhaled. He took a deep breath and lifted a bare foot, sliding it into the jumpsuit.

"I really hope this fits," he muttered.

His foot slid all the way down into the boot connected at the end of the leg and he frowned as he had not done a good job empty the jumpsuit. Another quick shake with both boots held up high removed that last bits of bone and other debris from inside the suit. Søren pulled the jumpsuit upwards after sliding his feet and legs into the bottom half. The two sections of the torso split apart wouldn't connect until he took the two nodules he'd found earlier and pressed them together. The jump suit sealed up seamlessly and then tightened all around him.

"Neat," Soren said, watching as the different sections of the jumpsuit adjusted to mold itself to his body. Søren considered the two cards he now possessed. Both were identical in shape, size, appearance, and weight. He took both cards and shoved them into his right pocket. The cable went into the left pocket and he carried the crystal dagger in his left hand. He turned to clamber back over the workbenches, but a glint of metal behind the pile of rubble to his right caught his attention. Søren squeezed his way past the rubble and the smooth white wall into a small room filled with simple lockers.

"I suppose if it works, why change it," he mused. Most of the lockers were empty as he went through them quickly, one by one, but he was able to add another crystal card to his collection as well as a small futuristic looking pistol. The body of the weapon was made of the same silvery-white metallic ceramic that much of everything else was made out of. The grip was covered with a matte black rubberized coating that had a sticky texture for improved handling. Underneath what he assumed was the barrel, an eight inch long hollow cylinder, was rounded triangular attachment of some sort. It had unfamiliar text etched into the side and long empty rectangle on the other. Søren found a second object of the same shape in the locker, but it had a lightly glowing green bar on one side.

"Warning, you have three minutes to advance to the second stage of the Tutorial." The cheery voice of the Guide or whatever was in charge here echoed in the chamber. Søren's eyes widened and he quickly glanced at the chat log.

07:39 > You have thirty minutes remaining before Tutorial Stage Two begins.

07:42 > You have acquired 24 feet of [electrical cable].

07:49 > You have twenty minutes remaining before Tutorial Stage Two begins.

07:50 > You have acquired a [crystal dagger].

07:52 > You have acquired a [dataslate].

07:59 > You have ten minutes remaining before Tutorial Stage Two begins.

08:01 > You have acquired a [jumpsuit].

08:02 > You have acquired a [dataslate].

08:04 > You have acquired a [dataslate].

08:04 > You have five minutes remaining before Tutorial Stage Two begins.

08:05 > You have acquired a [pulse plasma pistol (depleted)].

08:06 > You have acquired a [pulse plasma battery pack (25/25)].

"Well shit. Guess I better figure how to swap these quickly," he said with a frown on his face below a furrowed brow. He narrowed his eyes, the deep green color darkening slightly, as he studied the pulse plasma pistol in his hands and then turned his attention to the battery pack that still held a charge. Søren studied the pack, turning it this way and that a few times before he noticed a tiny indentation next to the charge gauge. A second indentation matched the first he had found, but on the exact opposite side. Søren picked the plasma pistol back up and placed his thumb in one indentation and index finger in the other and pulled towards the end of the barrel. The strong tug released the pack into his hand. He immediately shoved it into his pocket with the cable, just in case it could be charged later and then grabbed the other battery pack off the table. It fit into place with an audible snap of metal on metal, like two magnets colliding, though he hadn't noticed any external connections for energy transference.

"Warning, you have one minute remaining." The cheerful voice called out the remaining time every ten seconds as Søren squeezed his way back into the main area of the wrecked chamber. The rubble and workbenches should be good cover, he thought to himself has he crouched down between them.

"Let's see how these things like plasma," he said with a grim tone to his voice. The plasma pistol rested comfortably in his left hand. He carried the crystal dagger in his right in a reverse grip with blade pointing down.

"Congratulations Traveler! Stage two of the Tutorial is about to begin. In just a few moments, the door to the next area will open. You will have five minutes to make your escape. Good luck!"

"Oh fuck."