Morning came quick as the sun shone through the hollow. Nostalgia ran through his mind as he remembered his first morning in the tutorial. Smiling, he looked around the empty space, wondering how a strange hole in a tree could feel so much like home. He was used to camping back before this all started, but he was pretty sure he had never camped in a tree before coming to Eden.

  Getting up, he placed his homemade bed of pelts into his inventory. The stack had gotten pretty big after all the fights he had been through. Cats, apes, boars, and a number of other creature pelts filled his inventory. Not to mention all the material he had taken from the crafting dungeon. He was starting to feel a bit like a hoarder.

  “Once I get time I really need to use all this stuff, seems like a waste to just let it sit...not sure when that will be though.”

  Smiling, he headed out of the hollow in search of some Eden Apples. Upon exiting, he noticed a smaller tree in the forest with bright green fruits hanging off of it.

  [Analyze: Forbidden Everblooms]

  Description:

  Forbidden Everblooms are prized for their superior taste. With high sugar and nutrition content, there are few who do not find this fruit delicious. It is considered rare due to the difficulty of growing the tree, but once sprouted the plant has no known natural enemies and is said to never die.

  “That sounds pretty cool.”

  He plucked one and took a bite.

  With a loud crunch, fruit juice sprayed out as he bit into it. The taste was heavenly. It reminded him of strawberries and cream, with a tangy back tone.

  “Today is going to be a great day.”

  Smiling, he pulled up his minimap, noticing that nothing had changed. There was still one dungeon left that appeared on the map. He saw no signs of the Order of the True Path, but he knew they were out there.

  With no better ideas, he finished his breakfast and started off toward the dungeon. Looking at the minimap once more, he guessed it might take him a day or two, but his agility had increased since his last travel day, so it could go quicker. The real challenge was going to be keeping his eyes out for the new player on the field.

  A thought suddenly struck him. He would not be the only one in the tutorial now, but instead of allies, it sounded like he was going to have to fight. After no human contact for so long, he would have preferred allies over enemies. Perhaps they may not even be human. There was no way to tell till they showed themselves. One thing was certain; there was no way a deviant hating order of fanatics was going to ally with him. At least that was how the system description had made it sound.

  His heart pounded at the thought of new enemies. A smile came to his face as he imagined the fights and challenges they would present. Fights had been hard, but he had overcome everything the system had thrown at him so far. He expected this would be no different. He had gained a level of mastery over his powers that he did not have when he started, and with the help of his new gear, he felt invincible. He slammed a fist into his open palm, smiling.

  “Hopefully they put up a good fight. Would be a shame if they turned out to be pushovers.”

  He took his time on the way to the next dungeon. The whole time he had been here, he had been moving at full speed. This felt like the first time he had gotten to enjoy the forest. Something he had always loved and enjoyed. He came upon a small pond. Wanting to refill his water, he pushed out a quick analyze.

  [Analyze: Water]

  Description: It is water, nothing fancy here.

  Condition: Clean and safe, no malicious compounds found

  He filled his container and took a long drink, letting the cool water settle in his stomach. It tasted like water should, clean and ordinary. For a moment, it grounded him more than any skill or stat ever had.

  Sitting back on his heels, he stayed there longer than necessary. Watching the surface of the pond. Listening. Letting the tension drain out of his shoulders. Back on Earth, he would have killed for a place like this. A quiet spot away from everything, where the only concern was whether it might rain later.

  Eden was trying to kill him, sure, but moments like this almost made it forgettable...Almost. He capped the container and stood, giving the pond one last look before turning back toward the forest path.

  His trek had begun again when suddenly a white blur zipped past his peripheral vision. Quickly, he readied himself, looking around as two more objects flashed past him. Whatever it was, it moved quicker than he could see.

  WHACK!

  Something small and hard smashed into his back, and he stumbled forward.

  WHACK!

  This time, his right arm.

  WHACK!

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  Now his chest.

  Whatever this was, it was fast but not particularly powerful. He did not feel his health drop by much. The problem was the blurring objects were growing in number. He attempted to swing as another object rocketed his way. The blur moved mid-air avoiding his attack before slamming into upper shoulder. More of the unknown foe approached. He continued to stop them, but they were just to quick. If he didn’t do something, this group of things would beat him down, slowly, although at this rate, they may be here for hours.

  Running may have been smarter, but his pride had been damaged; he wanted nothing more than to vent his anger on this new threat. The more he punched the wilder and more uncontrolled he got. Before long he was flailing every which way, trying to get a hit in as the blurs continued to pelt him. If someone had been watching him, it would look like he was trying to fight the air as he clumsily tried to dodge while counterattacking. The hits kept coming. Damage began to slowly pile on; he flared Emergency Heal at a low level throughout his body, to quickly top off his health.

  WHACK!

  Several more missile-like objects launched into him. He was starting to get really mad now. This enemy was making a fool of him. Reaching deep down, he punched the air, releasing a blast of Vital Conduction, but it did not find its target, and the blows kept coming. The creatures simply moved around the arcs of electricity like they weren’t even there.

  Letting out a roar of frustration, he flared Vital Conduction through his body, arcs of green lightning crawling across his skin as if he were infused with the power.

  WHACK!

  BUZZ!

  THUMP!

  He heard several weights hit the ground. Whatever had just slammed into him had been affected by the arc of Vital Conduction coursing through his body.

  [Vital Conduction is Now Level 13]

  Smiling, an idea struck him. This was one of his newer, less used skills. It was not as battle tested as some of his others. Just like he cycled Emergency Heal throughout his body, he cycled Vital Conduction. Raw pain spiked through him, feeling as if electricity was flowing through his veins. The arcs of green intensified, searing his skin. The pain was sharp but quickly disappeared as Pain Suppression took over. Several more creatures hit him and dropped. Finally, he got to see what was attacking him.

  Name: Eden Pukwudgie (F)

  Level: 30

  Description:

  A small, human-like creature standing just under four feet tall, with a hunched posture and dark, leathery skin. Sharp, porcupine-like quills protrude along its back, shoulders, and limbs. Its eyes are bright and watchful, and its movements are quick, deliberate, and unsettlingly purposeful. What they lacked in power, they make up for in numbers.

  The creatures kept attacking, and as long as Vital Conduction was active, they kept falling as well. Soon, though, he started to feel the carbonated blood sensation of Overheal starting to take effect. It felt like his cells were bloated with healing energy, and the sensation of small explosions rocked across his body as lesions formed and blood spilled. Tightening his focus over the skill helped, but it did not sever the condition.

  [Level Up.]

  [Level Up.]

  [You Are Now Level 37.]

  [You now have a total of 9 free Stat Points.]

  After dozens had fallen, he started to see some gains.

  Without thinking, he dumped his nine available free stat points into Agility, hoping to increase his reaction speed. The blurs seemed to slow mildly, enough that he could land a hit, but it was only enough speed to land about one out of five punches. Thankfully, the creatures were fast but oh so squishy. The spikes did hurt a bit though; he would need to watch out for those.

  Quickly, his fists turned red with the blood of his enemies, but he was still taking damage from Vital Conduction, but it was still dealing with the enemies the quickest, so he had to push forward.

  [Vital Conduction is Now Level 15]

  Smiling, as the fight continued, his strength grew. With each punch and fallen enemy, he felt his power and control increase. With a roar, he jumped into the fray as instinct took over, and the battle raged.

  Unfortunately, Hectors Perception was poorly trained so he could not monitor his surrounding mid fight. Due to this he was unable to notice the figure watching him. A couple hundred yards away, hidden from sight and senses, an imposing figure monitored his fight.

  Brother Alric did not move. He knelt atop a thick branch, posture precise, weight balanced so perfectly that the tree did not bend beneath him. His armor was the gray of ash and stone; plates etched with narrow geometric scripture that drank in light rather than reflected it. No sigils glowed, and his aura did not leak. Even the forest seemed unsure he existed. It was as if he was a ghost among the trees.

  His eyes, however, missed nothing. Below, his deviant target stood at the center of the clearing; green lightning crawling across his skin like a living thing. Alric watched Eden Pukwudgies burst apart on contact; their speed rendered meaningless the moment they struck him.

  Vital energy weaponized through bodily conduction. Alric felt a faint tightening in his jaw. That application was unsanctioned. Healing was not meant to persist at that density. Restoration skills were designed for recovery, not prolonged circulation. The backlash alone should have crippled the subject within seconds. Instead, the deviant adapted.

  Alric’s gaze flicked briefly to the system feed hovering at the edge of his perception. Levels rose mid engagement. Skill proficiency climbed while damage was actively being sustained. Stat allocation followed immediately, without hesitation or ritual pause.

  Improvisation under duress, looked like his target is either crafty or stupid, it was hard to make that judgement without more data. He watched lesions tear open across the man’s skin, watched blood spill freely, watched the green arcs intensify rather than fade. Overheal destabilization acknowledged and endured.

  Brother Alric exhaled slowly through his nose. This was not some berserker rage or uncapped madness. This was the Pantheon being used in a way it had not been designed to allow. He raised his left hand slightly, thumb brushing the dormant recording sigil embedded in his gauntlet. It pulsed once, silently capturing data streams, skill interactions, and physiological stress markers. Evidence that could be used later if the deviant somehow managed to escape.

  “Unlikely...” He muttered quietly to himself.

  The Pukwudgies continued to die, and the deviant continued to stand, fighting like a rabid animal. Alric did not intervene. The Order did not exist to stop monsters or cleanse forests. That work was beneath his doctrine. They existed merely to correct trajectories, and this one was diverging rapidly. Plus, there was no harm in letting the local fauna wear down his prey.

  “Confirmed, deviation is stable.” He murmured under his breath, voice barely disturbing the air.

  His eyes remained locked on Hector as the last of the creatures fell twitching to the ground.

  Alric continued quietly, “Phase Three, has begun.”

  Somewhere far above the canopy, unseen mechanisms turned, and the hunt, at last, had a direction.