Avalon Online 005 Tutorial

Rin looked up at the skies and saw the yellow sun scorching, glaring through the gaps of leaves. There was no cloud in the sky—it was strikingly blue. With no clouds, there was no breeze either. If there were no trees present in his surroundings, he might have thought he was in a desert.

Well, even if the place he was in was not a desert, it appeared to be an oasis with the hot temperature and humidity. He looked around the trees and found he did not recognise most of them.

The trees were high and had enormous trunks, towering over the land, encompassing all around as if they were grown from ancient times, watching over the land. Just by looking at them, Rin felt a little low. Still, they cannot put together a thick canopy to shelter the earth from the glaring sun.

Some of them even dried up, still standing with its proud trunk and branches.

The trees were identical to the game, even though the surroundings appeared not. Perhaps the beasts and monsters will be the same as in the game. That thought was more comforting than facing something unknown.

With that thought, he put his legs to work and moved on from the place he was dropped. The weather here was hot and humid, but that was the least of his worries. He could endure it, but he did not know about the other things that he would be facing.

In the game, he was damn good, but this was not a game. Still, he reckoned that if it was balanced like the game, he would do better than most. Well, what else they called him for, there wasn a second thing in the world, or worlds that Rin was good at.

[Scanning complete.]

[Origin Mark: Seed of Protection

Effect: Permanent Augmentation: 12 (10 2) points in Health for every 1 point in Physique.

Temporary Augmentation: Can burn mana to fill up lost Health points. Initially, its 5 mana points for 1 health points.

Cooldown: 4 hours.]

"Wow," Rin could not help but mutter. This was really a mystic element. Ignoring the temporary boast that he could utilise after getting injured, just by the permanent effect, it was all worth it.

Unlike a normal player who would get 10 points in Health, in an exchange of 1 point in Physique, he will get 2 points extra. Meaning, 20% more health than regular players—well, that was true if they did not have to cheat like this. But the possibility of them getting a mark was scarce. The expression on Dawns face was already a reason enough.

She said, its only the seed, so won have much effect, he thought. "Was this enhancement low in her view? I should ask her when I meet her again.

Then there was that temporary augmentation. Rin had to calm down the urge to test it now, as it will be useful during hunts. Remembering the hunt, he looked around to find anything worthwhile. The game gave evolution points if a player succeeded in killing something, and according to Dawn, it was true in reality as well.

His boot crushed the dry earth while he narrowed his eyes, looking forward. If his eyes were not playing tricks on him, then he saw something moving in the hedge, and it hid itself the moment he laid eyes on it.

With cautious feet, Rin advanced, narrowing his eyes. The short sword and shield were in his arms. He had not checked their specifications yet, but he reckoned they were nothing but common stuff. Another comforting thought was that he knows how to wield them and his physique was as fit as a fiddle, ignoring the little bomb in his head.

Rin held the short sword in a reverse grip and kept his instinct sharp. It proved to be a suitable decision, as at that very moment, something leapt at him. He did not even see it before his arm moved instinctively, and by the time his eyes could focus on it, the animal was already dead. The short sword had pierced the neck of the animal, bubbling out red blood. It appeared to be a fox of medium size.

"Guess, I still have my instincts," Rin muttered. The Superhuman Intuition was not just for show.

[You have killed a Wild Fox, LVL 3.]

[You gained 12 evolution points.]

[Congratulations! You have levelled up.]

[You have reached Level 1. 1 attribute point each is allocated in physique and spirit.]

[You have taken the first step of a player. Additional rewards: System ability: Inspection Level 1.]

Rin did not have to read all the notifications to know the entire thing. He felt some effect on his body, like an ethereal current of power surging through his veins for a moment, and then they went all silent. Still, he checked to see if the augmentation was working or not.

[Health: 112. Mana: 130.]

It was working fine, he thought, and another transparent notification appeared in his retina.

[Side Quest: Reach first-order.

Requirements: Gain enough Evolution points needed to advance to Level 20.

Current progress: Level: 1/20.

Time limit: 30 days.

Reward: A suitable class according to the players performance.]

"Looks like it is not so different from the game, after all. Then again, it is only the beginning." He reckoned the first few levels would be easy, and slowly it would turn difficult, like the game. Still, he had nothing to worry about till the first order. All he had to do was hunt down monsters and beasts, that was.

After that, he focused his gaze on the weapons he was given. He was trying to work on the Inspection ability he was given. After a couple of seconds, transparent windows appeared in front of him with the details about the equipment.

[Item: Normal short sword.

Class: Common. Quality: Poor.

Attack: 6~8. Durability: 4/4.]

[Item: Normal Shield.

Class: Common. Quality: Poor.

Defence: 6. Durability: 4/4.]

[Item: Ring of Healing.

Class: Common. Quality: Decent.

- Can heal injuries that were not too heavy or life-threatening.

- Recover 100 health points in a second.

Cooldown: twice a day.]

"These stuffs are just a little better than rubbish," Rin commented. "But its the only stuff I got."

Rin strode from there, leaving the corpse of the fox. He very likely needed to make his own food, but eating that did not appear that appealing. The sun was still in the mid-sky, though he did not know the allocation of time or how long it would stay like that. Still, the light will probably stay for a few hours at the slightest. In that time, he will look out for something smaller, like rabbits, to stuff his stomach.

Then there was water. He needed to find water, too. This place seemed like an oasis, but the organiser should have left the necessities for the tutorial. Else, the players will die from thirst rather than the monster.

Abruptly, he came to a pause. His eyes narrowed, and his ears picked up some noises. It seemed to be screeches of some wild animal coming from the forward. Peculiar thing was that he did not recognise the screeches. It may well be from monsters.

A curve appeared on his lips. Arching his eyebrows, he moved to the origin of the sound. Moving along the trees as stealthy as possible, he came across the thing he had only seen in movies and games. But they were all real now.

The makers of those screeches were not any animals, but a few humanoid creatures. Zombies. There were exactly six zombies, and their opponents were four humans who were doing their best to ward them off.

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