I

Eva welcomed the light that brought her to another break room. It was similar to the one after the 5th level, but with two differences: one door on the left was gone and the bed was gone as well, replaced with a door on the right wall. She was exhausted. She’d done her best to hold herself together long enough to get through to the break room; but now that she was there she fell to the floor and let her feelings take over.

Tears poured down her cheeks as she huddled on the ground, grasping her knees to her chest. Eva couldn’t understand what she’d done to bring on this relentless torture under the guise of ‘training’. Had she pissed off the wrong person or maybe she was set up by someone? She didn’t think so.

Eva had been living on her own since she divorced her ex four years before. Though he was an asshole, something like this would have required more imagination than his two brain cells would have been able to come up with. No, she didn’t think he was the culprit. She didn’t talk to many people or even gamble, so even those ideas were a bust. Alexandra was definitely the proximate cause, but could she have been hired by someone else?

It was then that Eva finally gave attention to the boxes cluttering her vision. She wiped the tears from her eyes and began to read.

Welcome to the 10th level break room

[0:11:52:44] remaining

For being active 6 hours continuously, the Status Effect Couch Potato★ has been downgraded to Unfit✦

Congratulations! For completing the 10th floor, you may select a prize. Failure to do so within the allotted time will cause a random option to be chosen for you.

[0:0:1:18] remaining

Eva didn’t know what to think of that. She didn’t have much time left to choose whatever it was, but did she really care? She sighed before figuring it was better to appease whatever deity was responsible for the mess she was in.

“What are the options?”

Novice✦ Skill

Status Effect Upgrade or Downgrade

Upgraded Item

5 Stat Points

There wasn’t much time left to choose an option, so she quickly thought through her choices. The Stat Points looked to be the default option. Not bad, but not the best either. The Status Effect one would let her drop or at least mitigate the negative effects or improve a positive one like her good education. That alone made the random selection a bad prospect. Upgrading a negative status effect? No thanks!

The upgraded item could be anything. Maybe a better potion or weapon or something. Not a bad choice. The best, however, was likely to be the skill. Everything so far had been Basic▲ rather than Novice✦, so if that was the next step up, it would be a huge improvement on anything she had. With some trepidation she selected the Skill option.

Choose a Skill

Medium Armor✦

Quick Strike✦

Slash✦

Stab✦

Block✦

Bash✦

Infuse Weapon✦

“What do each of them do?” she wondered. The boxes answered her wish.

Novice Medium Armor✦ Lv 1

Reduces incoming damage by 11% when wearing medium armor

Choose a second option

Novice Quick Strike✦ Lv 1

Strike with a weapon 11% faster

Choose a second option

Costs 10 Stamina to activate

Novice Slash✦ Lv 1

Slash with a sword dealing 11% more damage

Choose a second option

Costs 5 Stamina to activate

Novice Stab✦ Lv 1

Stab with a sword dealing 11% more damage

Choose a second option

Costs 5 Stamina to activate

Novice Block✦ Lv 1

Block with a shield absorbing 11% more damage

Choose a second option

Costs 5 Stamina to activate

Novice Bash Lv 1

Bash with a shield dealing 11% more damage

Choose a second option

Costs 5 Stamina to activate

Novice Infuse Weapon✦ Lv 1

Infuse a weapon with an element

Deals 11% more damage as that element

Choose a second option

Costs 10 Mana per second

Eva pondered her choices. Of all of them, she was most likely to gain Medium Armor. The others were possible as well, and just seeing them gave her some ideas of what to focus on if she wanted more Skills. It was the final option, Infuse Weapon, that intrigued her the most. That was the first time she'd seen mana used anywhere. She momentarily forgot the situation she was in. It was magic! Real magic! With no hesitation, she picked it with her mind.

Choose a Novice rank upgrade for Infuse Weapon▲

Intermediate Elements (Light and Dark) available

Increase [Fire/Water/Air/Earth] damage by 2%

Increase elemental damage by 0.5%

Reduce mana consumption by 1%

Intermediate elements went out of the window first followed by the element specific damage increase. The choice was between increasing the overall damage by a small amount or actually allowing her to use it for a decent amount of time. Eventually. Eva decided on the reduced mana consumption option. It wouldn't do too much now, but in 10 or 20 levels, it would be a significant reduction. With her limited mana, that would be the quickest way to keep it going for longer. Real damage could come later.

Novice Infuse Weapon✦ Lv 1

Infuse a weapon with an element

Deals 11% more damage as that element

Reduce mana consumption by 1%

Costs 9.9 Mana per second

II

With the immediate housekeeping out of the way, Eva picked up another letter from the table in the corner of the room.

Congratulations on making it past the hobgoblin. Those guys are nasty! I suggest you use your gift to gain a magic Skill. It will make the next few levels easier.

This is the first real place to rest. The extra door is a place for you to eat, bathe, and sleep. I highly suggest you do all of that. These extra rooms will show up after every tenth encounter. Their timers are longer to allow you time to rest and recuperate before taking on more challenges. If you feel that you can keep going, you can always think or say 'continue challenge' to end the timer early.

Speaking of Challenges, don't forget to check which you've completed to get the rewards. You'll need to be as strong as possible for tomorrow’s encounters! Good luck!

Alexandra

“Stupid bitch,” Eva cursed. “She got me stuck here, and for what? Some sick game of death and dismemberment? I won't be your damned reality star!”

Her stomach clenched when she read about needing a magic Skill. Just dumb luck had saved her! When she eventually calmed down enough to take stock of her situation, she decided to—grudgingly—follow the instructions on the letter and check her Challenges.

Novice Goblin Slayer▲

Kill 100 goblins using swords

Reward: 1 Stat Point

You're a Wizard!▲

Gain a skill that uses mana

Reward: 1 Stat Point

Better Than Basic▲

Upgrade a skill to Novice grade

Reward: 1 Stat Point

New Boss Same as the Old Boss▲

Kill a boss for the first time

Reward: 1 Stat Point

If At First You Don't Succeed▲

Die 100 times

Reward: 1 Stat Point

Eva pulled up her status to decide on where to put the Stat Points and to see where her Skills had ended up after fighting all day.

Name: Eva Greene

Health: 76

Stamina: 53

Mana: 80

Strength: 10

Dexterity: 9

Agility: 10

Endurance: 10

Wisdom: 12

Acuity: 10

Intelligence: 11

Willpower: 8

Vitality: 8

Perception: 7

Available Stat Points: 10

[Skills]

[Status Effects]

“Wait, why are there 10s for Strength, Agility, and Endurance? I could have sworn those were 9s before. Not that I'm complaining, but seriously! Consistency!”

Pulling up Status Effects told the story. Couch Potato★ was gone, replaced by Unfit✦. Unfit✦ reduced Strength, Agility, and Endurance by two, rather than the three of Couch Potato★. She decided to make everything at least round 10s with the extra going into Strength.

With the new magic Skill, she would need mana in addition to the rest. Every Stat was probably important, especially now that she was getting a lot better at fighting compared to when she started. Her Status looked better after spending the Stat Points.

Name: Eva Greene

Health: 76

Stamina: 53

Mana: 80

Strength: 12

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 10

Endurance: 10

Wisdom: 12

Acuity: 10

Intelligence: 11

Willpower: 10

Vitality: 10

Perception: 10

Available Stat Points: 0

[Skills]

[Status Effects]

Finally, she checked her Skills.

Throwing▲: 3

Polearms▲: 6

Unarmed▲: 4

Swords▲: 10

Shields▲: 6

Charge▲: 4

Infuse Weapon✦: 1

She noticed that the shape after Infuse Weapon✦ was different from the rest. She guessed this was due to the difference in rank.

Eva sighed. After fighting near constantly for hours, she felt exhausted. An exhaustion she'd not felt since she was a young child when she'd run around all day with friends. It was an exhaustion that seeped into her bones.

She was filthy, and she hated it. She needed to get clean in the worst way. A bath sounded like the most amazing thing she could imagine. Beyond being a place to wash up, it would provide a good distraction from the horrors she’d lived through that day. A little bit of normalcy.

Through the door on the right was a simple yet cozy bedroom with an attached kitchen and another door that led to the bathroom. Inside the bathroom was a large porcelain tub. When she turned the tap on to fill it, water appeared in the tub already filled to the perfect height with the perfect temperature. It could be only one thing. Magic.

Eva dropped what was left of her clothing and armor to the floor as quickly as she could before collapsing into the warm embrace of the magic bathtub. She scrubbed the grime from her body until she was clean. The water in the tub remained perfectly clear despite her use of soap and despite the blood and guts coming off her skin. She lay back when she was done. A contented sigh was all that escaped her lips as she soaked.

III

With a towel that she found conveniently placed on a freestanding shelf, Eva dried her body. She took one look at her clothing and armor before leaving them on the floor where they lay. There were new ones of both waiting in the closet in the main area of the rest room. Once dressed, she returned to the living area.

Waiting for her on the nightstand next to the bed was another note. It was larger in size than the other two she’d seen before. Eva unfolded it and began to read.

You’re probably wondering why you are here, why I selected you in particular. Answering the first question will require a lot of background, so I’ll start with the second question. I chose around 80,000 people in particular, while a further 20,000 or so were random. You were one of those randomly selected.

There’s an invasion coming, and this Training is designed to prepare you for what is to come. But what else can be done? I tried thousands of times on my own, only to fail. This is a roll of the dice, a last hope that we might survive against the alien invaders.

After this Training is complete, you will end up in the Tutorial with the rest of humanity—and an equal number of invaders. Some of them are here for adventure; Some of them are here to buy our resources for pennies on the dollar; Some of them are here to recruit people for their cause; but most are here to subjugate us, whether through slavery or outright extermination.

Earth is a precious resource—our precious home. I designed the Training to give each of you the prowess, Skills, and Stats necessary to be the vanguard against the coming invasion. Everything you do here will carry forward, including any gear you have with you when the Training comes to an end.

The monsters you face are examples of things you will encounter in both the Tutorial and in the transformed Earth that comes after. They will progressively get tougher to keep pushing your Skills and skills to the next level. Please use the time available to you to get as strong as you can.

Alexandra

Eva didn’t know what to think. She’d started off mad—holding that grudge through an entire day of brutal fighting—but now she was conflicted. On the one hand, she was still mad. On the other, if what this bitch said was true, it was a great opportunity. For as much as she cursed Alexandra for tormenting her, it seemed that the Stats were real. She could feel that she was stronger. She could feel that she was lighter on her feet. It was an intoxicating feeling. That it came from such pain and torment blunted any good feelings she might have had.

Eva pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind where they could sort themselves out while she took care of other things—like dinner. She made her way to the kitchen to see what she could eat.

The kitchen was small. It had a counter with a sink, a small fridge, and a stove top. Inside the fridge were a few essentials—like milk, butter, and eggs—as well as some things that looked more dedicated towards dinner like fish and vegetables. Below the counter were several cabinets that held other items like flour, cereal, and cooking pots. On top of the counter—next to the stove top—was a loaf of bread.

Eva didn't know what to cook. Eventually she decided to pan fry some fish and have a salad with it. If the Poor Diet▲ status effect could be fixed like the Couch Potato★ one had been, then she guessed eating better food was the way to do it. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy food like what she was making. Rather, it was more that she worked a lot and let laziness and mental exhaustion stop her from cooking decent food most of the time. She still ate like a college student often, and her waistline reflected that fact.

Just thinking back to her home life made her sad. The apartment she owned—well, the bank still owned most of it—was just for her alone. She'd been married once. The marriage lasted five years before she caught her ex cheating on her, and that was that. Now that she was alone, she realized how hard things were to do alone. It made her miss having someone to depend on. Not her ex, of course. He was an asshole and not reliable in any way.

Eva snapped out of her funk when she smelled the fish starting to get a little too crispy. She flipped it quickly and let it finish cooking before plating it. She stood at the counter and ate her food in silence. It was really nice to eat good food again.

After dinner, she made sure to put the plate and utensils in the sink and washed them. Eva dried the dishes and placed them back where they belonged. It would have bothered her to leave a mess out to dry.

She stretched loudly and crawled into bed. The exhaustion from before that had been muted by both the bath and the increase in Stats hit her with full force now. The best cure for it was good, old-fashioned rest. She lay on the bed with the covers tucked to her chin and stared at the ceiling. Sleep didn't come for a while—the thoughts of murder and death filled her mind. But sleep did come. Eventually.