Chương 10: B1 | Chapter 10

Aidan"No idea what you're talking about," I hastily defend myself.

"So who are they? And how did you find a group so quickly?" Ali looks at me again in confusion and says, "They were my group for the first floor. Didn't you have one too?" I blink and answer, "No… what's this about…" I trail off as some things begin to click in my mind. Like why others were so weak. They did the easy or normal difficulties? But the Guide said to just do hard, so wouldn't other people's Guides do that same?

"Wait, don't tell me you did hard difficulty for the…" Ali starts, her eyes widening before she trails off and mutters, "No, to get your score, I'd wager hard mode is a requirement…" Then her eyes lock onto me as she practically demands, "Why the hell did you choose hard mode?!" And now she's getting mad. But why?

"The Guide said hard mode was the best way to survive," I state with a frown.

"So I chose it." Ali stares at me. I stare back.

"Tell me everything you spoke with your Guide about that isn't personal," Ali says with a hard edge to her voice. So I do just that. And by the time I finish, Ali and the others are all looking at me with pity for some reason.

"He's trying to make you do as well as you can on the leaderboards for that bonus of his and manipulated you into doing the hard difficulty," Ali says, following which the others all nod in agreement. And when I try to open my mouth and retort, she just says, "It hasn't even been two whole days and I'm level eleven in my Class after doing the normal difficulty. Which wasn't even that difficult since I was with four other competent people that could help me.

You were all on your own against even stronger monsters than the ones we faced." I close my mouth. She's got a point. I knew that Guide was sketchy. It's not like I had much else to go on, though. And, to be honest, there's a good chance I would've just gone with hard difficulty anyways. I'm pretty competitive after all. Especially after spending so long with that gnawing hunger eating away at me and making me feel annoyed about everything.

Things I knew I could do well on I was doing poorly on just because of that hunger. And that made me upset. Now I'm free of the hunger, and I want to challenge myself.

"You were just thinking about how you probably would've done hard mode even if your Guide didn't trick you into it, weren't you?" Ali comments, her eyes dangerously narrowed at me. I avoid her gaze as I retort, "Don't know what you're talking about."

"Then why aren't you looking me in the eyes?" Ali asks in retort to my retort.

"Right, weren't you going to introduce your friends?" I ask back with a smile as I meet her eyes, definitely not changing the subject. Ali rolls her eyes, clearly giving up as she begins to introduce her group one by one to me. Starting with the younger looking guy whose name is apparently Jackson Foster. Followed by Rachel Reagan and Jamie Landis, the two girls, and Henry Williams, the guy in the tuxedo. Of the group, there isn't a single one that isn't odd in some way based on appearances.

Jackson is holding a sword made of bones that he apparently crafted himself – I'm not even going to ask why he knows how to do that – and Henry has a bow and quiver drawn across his back despite wearing a tuxedo. As for the two girls? One of them is holding a staff made out of bone and the other is holding a club made out of bone. But both of them are apparently healers according to Ali. They just wanted weapons to protect themselves if needed.

And it probably will be needed considering all the monsters in this Tutorial. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. We all identify each other as the introductions are going on as well. [Alana Vale – Level 11 Human] [Jackson Foster – Level 10 Human] [Rachel Reagan – Level 9 Human] [Jamie Landis – Level 9 Human] [Henry Williams – Level 10 Human]"And as you've already heard, this is my twin brother, Aidan," Ali says while motioning towards me.

"Which finishes up the introductions." She turns to me as she asks, "Think you might want to join our group for a hunt? We've learned that the kills aren't split up between the group. So one kill made by the group will give the same number of points from the mission rewards to everyone in the group regardless of contribution."

"Sure," I answer with a shrug.

"As long as I can drain the monster corpses that we kill." Ali glances at Jackson, who steps up and quickly asks, "Can I debone some of them first? I don't want the bones to go to waste! Even just a couple monsters would be fine!"

"Just a couple?" I ask, following which he nods his head multiple times.

"That's fine."

"What about the items?" Henry asks, surprising me a little. I glance at him before answering, "Give me whatever you don't need. I'll drain them of source mana just like the monster corpses." He smiles and nods his head without another word. Guess he's not very talkative. Anyway, the six of us set out to hunt monsters while planning strategies along the way. Which doesn't end up being very detailed or good seeing as none of us have any type of training in group combat or anything of the sort.

At best, three of us have some sort of martial arts training. Me and Ali have different types of martial arts training while Henry has archery training. With the bare basics of close martial arts in case he has to fight bare handed. Although he didn't say which type. When we get deeper into the Hunting Grounds though, I find myself heavily disappointed by the monsters we run into.

Because, when I hear a monster jumping from the bushes and react pretty much on instinct to grab the monster – which turns out to be a wolf – by the throat and slam it into the ground, I identify it to find the thing is weak. Very weak. [Level 8 Gray Hunter Wolf] I dig my claws into its throat, tearing into it with ease and quickly killing the thing before the others can really even react. Then I pull my claws out, wipe the wolf blood covering my hand on the wolf's corpse, and turn to face the others.

Only to find them all staring at me in a daze.

"What?" I ask while tilting my head. Within the Hunting Grounds Henry Williams has always been a very pragmatic person. He takes things as they come, figures out if there's any way he can use it to benefit himself, and moves on after dealing with it. But when the System came, everything he believed he knew came crashing down in an instant. And now he's watching a former human going around tearing wolves throats out with his claws.

A former human who now has pitch black irises that Henry feels terrified to look directly into. Which isn't even counting the eerie black mist rising from his skin and passing smoothly through his clothes. Personally, he doesn't see anything wrong about the man, and he does just see him as any other human. But even with that mindset, he can't help but feel inherently afraid of him. Like an instinct.

And while that instinct is telling him to get away from the terrifying creature, his business instinct as a lawyer is telling him that the terrifying creature would make for a great partner. Which makes him glad that he decided to continue following his group from the first floor after arriving at the Hunting Grounds. While he was first uncertain about meeting Alana's brother, now he's absolutely certain. Then again, none of them expected her brother to have turned into some void creature. Whatever that is.

Not even Alana herself expected it. There is one problem though. Every time he tries to shoot an arrow at one of the wolves attacking them, the wolf is already dying or dead. Unless it's a pack. If it's a pack then it's fine and he can kill them. Fortunately for him and the others, they all get Tutorial Points even if they didn't directly contribute to the kill. With the monster dying before they could. They just don't get any source mana from it. And so, they spend entire days hunting more and more monsters.

With them all claiming Tutorial Points along the way while stopping at night to rest in the village or at a camp they set up if they're too far away. Henry has seen Aidan leaving the camp in the middle of the night every night though, just going to hunt more monsters no doubt while they're asleep. Which makes Henry wonder just how much sleep a 'Void Crowne' needs. But none of them ever run into any monsters that Aidan can't easily handle during their group hunts.

Making the fear and danger Henry and the others felt in the first floor dissipate in the process. And that's what matters. Until they make it far enough away from the village on the seventh day of the tutorial and find another village. One with a warning about stronger monsters further past the village. And while Henry, the two girls, and Jackson are all tense or frightened by the sign, Henry can't help but notice a grin forming on Aidan's face. As if he's found better prey. He'll make for a good partner indeed.

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