Chương 49

"Another one here, I need help!" I barely stirred at the shout. Someone else would help them out. I walked around in a daze. Sara's empty gaze still lingering in my mind, and I couldn't get it out no matter what. We had all stood there in silence for who knew how long. Just staring at her body. Someone, I wasn't sure who, had suggested that we should walk around the destroyed goblin camp in search of anyone who needed healing, and also to make sure to collect all the dead bodies.

I had jumped at the opportunity to get away, and was now making my way around the camp, searching for people. I wasn't sure what was worse, standing around there trying and failing to think of a way to comfort Lucas, or walking around in search of people, or more accurately, searching for bodies. So far, we had found seven people, all dead. And from the shout just now, it seemed like the count had just been raised to eight. I thought back to everything that had gone down in the past few hours. Had I been wrong?

Did I jump to a conclusion that the goblins were attacking us too fast? Should I have instead waited to make sure they really were attacking us before convincing everyone to go along with my plan? If I had waited, would we have had the chance to become stronger? Would Sara still be alive if I had waited…? I was sure I wasn't feeling much grief, as I hadn't known Sara well. What I was feeling though was a serious amount of guilt. It had been my plan that had gotten everyone here, and gotten so many killed.

I don't think my normally subdued emotions were helping much in this instance. Thoughts continued to swirl within my mind as I distractedly made my way round the destroyed camp. I almost missed it, but did a double take to see that a human arm was sticking out from underneath some debris. I looked around, but the dozen or so others who had also volunteered to come search were busy digging their own bodies out. I stepped forward, and started lifting the debris off.

The increased strength and endurance came in handy, and soon, about half of the buried body was visible. He was wearing heavy armour, whoever he was. However, his armour didn't protect him from a huge wooden piece punching straight through his chest. Must've been that insane clash of the two bosses… I continued lifting the debris, and with a final grunt, the last of the debris apart from the impaled wooden piece was lifted and I could finally see the face.

Another shock ran through me, as a familiar face stared back at me. He had always been so dependable, always there whenever anyone needed him, and always happy to let others be the center of attention. I blinked rapidly, and looked closer, wishing that I had been mistaken earlier. But the face was unmistakable. It was Ben. How…? I remembered him always being beside Lucas. Wasn't he there when we were about to fight against those last three ogres? No… he wasn't there, was he…?

I actually didn't remember seeing him ever since that gigantic clash tore through the camp. It hadn't even crossed my mind to look for him, as he had always just been there. I was rattled once again, and stood there in shock for I don't know how long. I finally managed to shake myself off the stupor, and started trying to take out the wooden piece still impaling Ben. I wasn't sure if it was my shaking hands, or if the wood was just too deeply impaled, or if I was lacking the strength…

all I knew was that I couldn't lift it on my own. Yet another death I'm responsible for…

"I need some help here, please…" I managed to call out, shakily.

We were trudging back towards our camp. A heavy silence smothered everything, making it difficult to even hear our own footsteps. I had been given the role of scout, so I was ahead of the others by a few steps. I stoically looked forward, because I knew if I turned around, I would see Lucas, stubbornly carrying the body of Sara all alone. And then, I would see Omar, carrying the upper body of Ben along with the help of someone else I didn't know the name of.

Then, I would see the others stretched out, carrying nine other bodies amongst them. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Our movement was slow, but no one paused, or even tried to speak. I almost wished something would attack us, so I could do something. Or I would lose someone else… I shook my head, and continued moving forward, distractedly looking around.

My mind always noticed little things along the way – the type of bushes around, the height of the trees, the thickness of the canopy up ahead. But soon, we had reached the camp, and I honestly couldn't remember anything about the way back. It was only now that I noticed the sun had started its slow descent. I reached the square, and turned back around. My eyes instantly found Lucas, his head still down, staring at the limp body in his arms. He neared me, and I stopped him with a gentle touch on the shoulder.

He looked up in slight surprise at the sudden touch, his eyes meeting mine briefly before he looked around and realized we had reached the base.

"Why don't we set her down over there?" I asked gently, pointing towards the place where we had buried the bodies killed by the buffaloes a few days earlier. He nodded, and headed there as I followed him, a step behind. We reached the place with the crudely designed headstones, and I touched his shoulder once again. He nodded, and I helped him gently lower Sara's body to the ground. I turned back, mostly to stop seeing her dead body than anything else, and saw as everyone trudged into the square silently.

Those who were carrying bodies made their way towards us, and I moved to the side as Omar and the other guy lowered Ben's body right next to Sara's. Soon, all the bodies were lined up on the ground. By now, our return had been noted by the vast majority who had stayed behind. A crowd was forming, and a lot of them were demanding answers.

I wanted to go and silence them with force, hating that they had chosen to stay here in relative comfort while we had gone off to face hell, and they were the ones now demanding answers? What did they know about what we had faced? Omar stepped forward, thankfully, raising his large arms above his head to somehow pacify the crowd. He started saying something to the crowd, but I didn't pay attention. I stepped closer to Lucas, squeezing his shoulder once again.

He was still staring down, but his eyes weren't focused on just Sara now. Instead, they were flitting back and forth between Ben and Sara.

"I'm sorry" I managed to croak out. He nodded, but didn't say anything. Mason joined us, not saying a word either. Sometime later, Omar had managed to pacify the crowd, and had joined us in silence as well along with Madelline and a still shaky and weak Marcus. I don't know who started, but I knew that I found myself shoveling the ground, digging graves for the bodies. This time, I didn't even think of going off on an adventure alone and letting others dig the graves.

"… and we pray that they find peace, wherever they may go from here." Silence followed the speech from Mason, as we all stood with our heads turned down. The moment lasted for a few long seconds, before the crowd started breaking apart. Hushed whispers sounded out, mostly from the people who had stayed here, but those of us who had gone in the fight stayed silent for a while longer. The atmosphere stayed solemn, but the system decided that we had had enough of a break. Ding! You have levelled up!

You have levelled up! Class stats distributed. Two levels… That's what I got for putting everyone in danger, and for making Ben and Sara lose their lives. I dismissed the screen in anger, but the System was just getting started. Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Tutorial. Early completion of the Tutorial has enhanced your rewards. You have earned the Title: Pioneer. Please wait while your individual rewards are assessed. I read through the screen, and this time I felt the fog clear from my mind.

The tutorial had been completed? That means that the goblin camp was really the main test, and that gigantic ogre was the boss of the tutorial? But how could we actually have defeated that thing if we stayed on a normal path? That thing had been impossible to contend with, but the system wouldn't make an impossible challenge, would it? I know we hadn't had a chance to explore everything here, but had I really missed a way forward that would have let us contend with that ogre? Early completion…

which means that we could have taken our time… Stopping myself from going into a guilty spiral once again, I instead focused on another thing that had caught my eye. A title…? This was the first title I had received. I dismissed the screen and looked around, and everyone was staring at empty air. I felt relief at finally completing the tutorial. We could finally head back to Earth, hopefully.

My mind raced at all the possibilities – the individual rewards are being assessed, so does that mean I was right in thinking there would be factions keeping track of our tutorial somehow? And now, there would be offers and invitations to join factions, or possibly blessings from gods, like the stories I had always been reading? I was still looking around, when Omar's eyes met mine, and he came closer to me.

"Did you get a title too?" he whispered. Oh, so everyone got the title…? I nodded, and he whispered again, "Have you seen what it says?" I shook my head, and then immediately opened my Status. A new section called 'Titles' had been added, and I focused on the one Title I had. A screen then lit up. Pioneer Awarded to those who had participated in the first ever tutorial designed by the System. +10% to all Stats when equipped. Grants the Skill: Universal Language when equipped.

I read the screen twice, and then a third time, to make sure I was reading it correctly. But I still didn't believe it. First ever tutorial…? End of Book 1 (Kindly read the author's note at the end)