Lucy Bright's world ended when two windows, like the kind you would find in a computer, popped in front of her as she was about to follow her friends up a rocky wall. Jake had been the first one up and had left the rope dangling for the rest to follow up. The area they were in was gorgeous, completely free of civilization except for the camping spot they had set up and the occasional graffiti or bit of trash some asshole had left behind. They weren't really in a canyon, there was more like a step of steep cliffs on the way up to probably the largest mountain in the area. There were other mountains, here and there, but they were scattered. The area behind her had some trees but was mostly scrubland. She had tied her harness to the rope and was about to take the first step when the first window appeared:

[Initiating System...]

This was quickly replaced by another window a second later, just as the exclamations from her friends were reaching her.

[Welcome to the Multiverse]

Before Lucy could do anything, the world went black. After what felt like moments, she realized her eyes were closed. She knew this because she could see the light pouring through them. When she opened her eyes, she found herself on the ground, rather than in the air. She was inside, rather than outside. The floor was a single sheet of an odd type of... metal, she supposed, colored steel blue. The color was somewhat relaxing but it felt very alien. There was a chair, table, complete with a flower in a pot. The flower was bright white. In fact... examining it closely, the flower was actually emitting the light that filled the room, though it wasn't blinding. In addition, there was a fridge and plenty of storage space, plus a stove and oven. However, the thing that drew most of her attention was a foot-tall, humanoid creature sitting on the edge of her bed, watching her. He was dressed like a butler, though that was the least of the odd things about him.

Lucy froze. Her hands were still raised, gripping rock holds that were no longer there. At first she didn't move, she couldn't have, even if she had tried. Her eyes darted around taking in this strange scene. After a moment she was able to move her head to glance down to make sure all of her was still there.

Her mouth was slightly open in frozen shock, but she was able to lower her arms. She wanted to speak but nothing came out. After another moment she was able to address the creature sitting on the bed, "Who are you?", she said, her voice a whisper. "Where am I?"

"Oh good, you are awake." The creature hopped on to his feet, seemingly standing in mid air. "You, lucky cultivator, were chosen by the System to have a chance of changing your fate! You can call me Pit." He looked mostly human, except for his size, blue-tinted skin and hair, and lack of a pinkie finger on either hand. "I am here as your helper through the... mmm... guidance the System has set up for you. You can kind of think of it as a tutorial. I am here to answer any and all questions. However, we only have an hour before the System will force you to make your first step forward. I will spend some of that time attempting to figure out what you will need."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:32, Sun 27 Feb 2022.

"Okay...Pit", Lucy said tentatively, still trying to get her bearings, "where am I? What is 'the System'?"

The fear and shock that had paralyzed her was beginning to wear off. "One minute I was outside, about to climb with some friends, then this wierd message appeared, then I was here. What happened? Where are my friends?" Lucy didn't like this, but Pit had disarmed her by his answers and seeming friendliness. She was still very suspicious of him and her legs had not stopped quivering.


OOC: was Lucy in the bed or transported standing as is? Also, did the System change what she was wearing/carrying? If so, she will ask about that too.

Lucy was transported to be lying on the floor. She currently on the ground, on top of a nice fuzzy carpet. Pit answered her questions quickly and confidently "You are in a room that was created by the System for your stay in the Tutorial. The System, well, the short story is billions of years ago, an empire wanted an automated training program. They underestimated the cost which led to their dissolution but the System eventually emerged, independent of all beings. It helps bring out the potential of all that it can by bringing them into situations where they can cultivate their minds, bodies, and souls. The messages appeared when the System took your world under its umbrella. If you mean the beings that were nearby you... oh, how lucky, all of them were cultivators as well. They will be either in a nearby room or another Tutorial. Assuming you are alive, you will all be returned to your updated planet when the Tutorial ends."

Lucy sat up to be about level with Pit. Her face scrunched as she tried to process all that he was saying. "And what is a 'cultivator'? And what happens to those who aren't chosen as cultivators? ", Lucy inquired.

She was still thinking. "How does it define potential?" Lucy asked further. "Or since people have potential for all kinds of things, what does the System see as most valuable or how does it decide? I was doing a lot of good back on Earth as a nurse, helping people in a hospital. That's potential. Can the System find me a good husband so I can start a family?, that's potential. Given the time I could become a competitive rock climber, more potential. Heck", Lucy cried in a grandiose manner, "given the circumstances I could do anything, like become a fierce warrior."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:11, Mon 28 Feb 2022.

"A cultivator is a person who can absorb Cosmic Energy in the air through meditation, rather than having to harvest it from other beings via killing them. Those who cannot, most call them mortals, were left behind and are on the new, merged, planet. There may be a few of them that achieve something but it is a much more difficult path for them. As for your second question, I cannot properly answer it. The System is so infinite in its complexity that even those who have spent their entire lives analyzing it cannot give a definite answer. However, it does seem to give you options for what you are already doing. For example, use a bow and it will give you things related to archery. That sort of thing. Things will be more difficult if you suddenly change your path so choosing something you feel comfortable with is essential. Of course, you don't really choose a path until something like the D-grade so don't worry too much. There is not right or wrong in the System, only making things harder or easier on yourself. Now, we need to start focusing on the current situation." Pip took charge of the conversation.

He gestured around you "This is your room for the tutorial. Outside, there will be a gathering room, with a large crystal and a shop. You go to the crystal and select a difficulty. The first mission will always be "Easy", kind of a hand out, show you what things will be like. After that, each day you can go to the crystal once. After each mission, you will receive a number of points, depending on your contribution. You spend those points at the shop to buy anything from food to weapons to information crystals to even more esoteric items. You may take missions with other people but while here or in the missions, you may not directly attack one another."

For some reason unknown to her, a calm came over Lucy as Pit was explaining things. She didn't understand why Earth had been absorbed by the System or all that had happened, but Pit's confidence eased her fear.

"Okay", she said. "I'm starting to understand. Is there anything you can tell me about preparing for the tutorial or what the missions will be like? Will I see you again? If not, what do I do when the tutorial ends and am sent back to Earth? "

As Pit responded to these further quest, a restlessness was quickly replacing Lucy's calm. She was ready to go outside and see this crystal. Her hour with Pit was likely coming to a close. "Can I go out and start today?", she asked.

OOC: Assuming the answer is yes, Lucy will go and interact with the crystal.

"The missions fall into one of three general categories: slay a certain number of beasts, protect an area, item, or being from the beasts for a certain number of time, or survive a certain length of time. The starter mission is always the first, just getting you used to things. First, though, we need to give you an item and a skill." At this, Pit made a gesture and a blue light enveloped Lucy.

"Hmmm... so with that kind of thing, huh? Alright, your analysis came out with these three items and these three skills. You are free to decline the recommendations and choose manually but I recommend you chose from what I've select; I've done this for a very long time." He places three things on the table while he talked, "This is a throwing hammer, though it can also be used in melee. I recommend skill number 1 if you pick it or possibly skill 2, depending on how you think a fight will happen. You will receive 4 additional hammers, all identical. A standard bow and arrow set is the second item. And the third is this combat pick, with a hammer on one side and a spike on the other in case you need an alternative type of damage." He quirks an eyebrow "I'm not sure when the last time I had a human female have such heavy weapons."

While that was going on, a screen flashed up in front of Lucy with the following three options:

[Unseen Hand]- Move objects at a distance.

[Fervor of Notus]- Bring the power of the storm down upon your obstacles.

[Tears of Isis]- Remove those from death's grasp.


"Unfortunately, I cannot explain the skills."

When Lucy exited the room, she found herself in a hallway, filled with other doors. Some of the occupants were leaving the rooms and some were traveling down the hallways. She not only saw humans but also tall, grey humanoids, with hair that seemed to be standing on end, hard skin, and four arms. The three of them she saw all wore the same kind of skirt but were bare on their upper half, except for some minor armor or the weapons they bore.

There were also a group of humanoids with green skin and, more alarmingly, a whole where a heart would be located on a human. Instead, they had a large emerald, the size of a person's fist, in their chest, connected in some unseen way. They were talking amongst themselves in a language completely foreign to Lucy. They had a strange creature with them which seemed to be made of crystal body parts and stone-like fibers that connected the parts. It had four feet, with the fibers taking the part of the legs, connecting to a main body. The body was the largest chunk but there was one more chunk in a long, tubular shape that seemed to be a head and peered around. It made a deep grumbling sound if anyone who wasn't part of its master's race got close.

There was one last group that seemed to be part human, part fox. They were shifty and quick and Lucy could barely get a glance at one before it had moved on.

When she got to the main room, she saw there were thousands of... beings? People? Anyway, there were a lot of them. Most were moving towards the crystal.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:28, Tue 01 Mar 2022.

Lucy was looking attentively at Pit and raised an eyebrow in amusement when Pit mentioned women and heavy weapons. A small smirk crossed her lips. I like that, she thought.

Turning her attention to the items on the table, Lucy's hand reached out almost without thinking to pick up the throwing hammer. Without knowing how, she knew it was the right choice. It was an intuitive knowledge, perhaps like when someone knew that was the man they were going to marry without knowing them at all. She rolled the handle of the hammer around in her palm, passing it back and forth between her hand and balancing the weight. It seemed like the hammers she used when rock climbing.

For her skill, Lucy choose the [Unseen Hand]. Pit suggested it, and she reasoned it would probably help recover the hammers after being thrown.

"Well, thanks, Pit", Lucy said. She wasn't sure how to feel about all that had happened today so far and what to think of the System or this odd tutorial. But she was restless and eager to explore. Taking two of the hammers she fastened them to her belt and exited the room.

She entered the hallway and was amazed by all the creatures she saw. I hope I can find my way back to my room, she thought, seeing all the doorways. She tried to keep track of where the door she exited was, but it was soon impossible.

Most of the beings were simply fascinating, and the nurse in Lucy was struck by the very strange anatomy of some, particularly those with emeralds where the heart should be. Though she did not like their crystal creature one bit, they seemed like something out of a half remembered nightmare, but Lucy couldn't place them.

Lucy made her way to the crystal to interact with it and start the first tutorial mission.

Lucy felt the skill somehow integrate into her body. She saw her arm in a strange double vision. She could see her normal body just fine but somehow she sensed that a symbol, which she instinctively knew was the skill, had superimposed itself on some other kind of body that duplicated herself exactly, on her right arm. It reminded her of a rune, only much more complicated, but also of a puzzle piece, taken out of the puzzle and left alone. She had a feeling it was a part of something much bigger. She felt some kind of energy in her body and soon realized how easy it was to activate the skill.

As soon as she touched the crystal, she was engulfed in darkness which quickly disappeared. She found herself at the foot of a mountain. Lucy suspected it was a volcano due to the smoking top but she couldn't be sure.

Kill 15 Obsidian Monkeys.[0/15]

Looking around, she found she was in a field of sharp rocks, surrounded by thick jungle. The sounds of beasts came from the jungle, far too loud for Lucy to be comfortable. However, she spotted one of her targets right off the bat. It was sitting in the field, idly chewing on a piece of volcanic glass. It had pitch black skin with strange, hard fur. Its tail was swinging around happily.
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:36, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

As Lucy took in her new surroundings her heart began to beat faster. That was a lot of noise coming from the jungle, and 15 was a lot of monkeys.

The fact that she had touched a crystal and suddenly appeared somewhere else was not startling, and Lucy noted that lack of surprise with a kind of disengaged inquisitiveness. Odd how fast this becomes normal. I guess when you are expecting it, it's not so surprising, she thought.

Lucy spotted the first monkey eating some glass. ?? She decided not to wait, but take the initiative and try out her new stuff. The natural impulse to care for other creatures was overcome by the game-like character this all seemed to have. Lucy wasn't even sure this thing was real.

She decided to try out her new skill by pulling the glass the monkey was chewing in the direction opposite Lucy to distract it as she threw her hammer. After throwing she would charge in with the other.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:29, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

The monkey was confused when the glass is was eating started to move but maintained a strong grip on it. However, that distracted it from the first hammer, which sailed merrily over its head. Confused, the monkey walked over to it, dropping the glass. It instead began to poke the hammer but the crunch of feet on rocks made it shift its gaze to Lucy. It grew extremely agitated, letting out a high pitched screen and chucked a rock so hard it was almost a blur. Lucy managed to tilt her head as a reaction but the rock was sharp and grazed her cheek, leaving a big cut and lot of blood started pouring out of her check and onto the ground. It began to back up, clearly more at home on the rocky terrain than she was. The glassy rocks were slippery and kept shifting underfoot. She was going to have to try another tactic or it was going to escape into the jungle or, worse, throw another rock.

Not having any experience throwing, she hadn't really expected to hit with the first hammer, more just trying it out on this easy first mission. The embarrassment turned Lucy's stomach that this wasn't as easy as she had thought mixed with anger at having been cut by that rock and unable to reach the monkey. New plan, she thought.

Since closing the gap didn't seem as easy as before, Lucy decided to continue using this skill. Maybe she could use the unseen hand to pick up a rock and bash or cut the monkey? Lucy was hesitant to try that trick with the hammer, so as not to call attention to it, and since the monkey had kept a solid grip on the rock it had been eating. Since the monkey was again looking at her, she would use a rock behind it to maintain the surprise.

OOC: If that doesn't work and presumably causes more rocks to be thrown at her, Lucy is going to become very angry and will try and choke this monkey with the unseen hand Darth Vader style. If she can pick it up into the air high enough, instead of strangling it, she will drop the monkey from a height she thinks would kill or seriously injure it.

The moisture of the air and the heat of the sun was getting to her but Lucy did manage to throw a rock from the opposite direction. The monkey turned, startled, and stopped moving briefly. Lucy managed catch up to the monkey and swung her hammer but by that time, the monkey had realized it had been tricked and moved again. It was agile enough that the hammer only grazed it and Lucy was surprised by its weight. She felt like she had slammed her hammer into a large rock. However, the graze was enough to send a large crack through the monkey's shoulder. It screeched and leapt on Lucy, clawing with rock-like talons. It was extremely painful and Lucy had reached her limit.

She threw out her arms, forcing the monkey to back off, before using Unseen Hand in a very different way. The skill grabbed the monkey by the neck, putting extreme force on it. However, despite its weight the monkey was extremely fragile. After only a moment, the neck was completely crushed. As it died, Lucy could feel some kind of energy entering her body. Lucy did feel, however, that some of the energy in her body had used in that last attack. She felt a trickle of blood and found it was coming from her nose. Apparently, forcing so much energy into it like that was somewhat dangerous. Maybe the backlash would decrease if she got more practice.

She found she could mentally summon the prompt from before, which now read:

Kill 15 Obsidian Monkeys. [1/15]
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:35, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

Lucy wiped the blood from her nose and retrieved her second hammer. She went over to the remains of the monkey to examine it more closely. Obsidian Monkey, she thought, is this thing really made of rock?

She was frustrated and angry at how difficult that first fight had gone. "Dumb System", she said aloud, Pit didn't answer me, but if this system was designed to train soldiers, the potential it cares about is combat. Fifteen monkeys was going to be a much harder number to reach. Was there some time limit to this?  And this is supposed to be 'Easy'?

Lucy reflected on her Unseen Hand, she was going to have to figure out how to improve so it didn't cost so much from her. How could she use that to make this mission easier? Lucy looked around to better survey the terrain and what her options were. Simply hitting the monkeys was certainly an option, she was going to see if there was anything she could drop on them or some ledge or cliff she could push them off of. Rocks break same as bones, she thought.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:29, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

Looking at the monkey more carefully, Lucy said that it was indeed made of flesh and blood. However, the outer skin was hard, like a rock, and was becoming increasingly rigid as the creature's body cooled. That was another thing she noticed: the monkey was much hotter than the ambient temperature. It actually seemed to emit heat. Perhaps the skin reacted to the heat in some way to keep it flexible?

While Lucy couldn't see any good ledges to push them off of or drop rocks off of, she did notice a small gathering of monkeys, identical to the first. They were collecting rocks and moving into the jungle. That's probably where most of the monkeys lived. From what she could see, there were only 3 or 4 of them.

The fight with the first monkey had not gone well, but Lucy was learning about her skills and this environment. Attacking 3 or 4 didn't seem like the greatest idea, but that would be a lot better than a whole bunch more all at once, and there was a lot of noise coming from the forest.

Perhaps she could get them to fight each other for her...

As the monkeys were walking back towards the forest, Lucy would use the unseen hand to pull the tail of the lead monkey from behind, as if it were being pulled by one of his fellow monkeys. She would try to move the rocks they were carrying as well to have them hit each other with them, or at least make it appear to (hopefully) dumb monkeys that they were hitting each other, then she could move in and clean up what was left.


OOC: Depending on how this plays out, there will hopefully be less monkeys and those that remain will be injured. She will start by throwing the hammer at a distance and trying to guide it mid-flight. She will keep one hammer on her to attack with. Her backup plan will be exerting herself with the unseen hand to crush the monkey's throats, which she would do if she had to, but was hesitant to because of the energy it required last time and she was still trying to figure it out.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:07, Wed 02 Mar 2022.

An enterprising idea! Lucy found out that the cost of the skill not only depended on force, but on also on distance from her. Fortunately, it didn't cost nearly as much to give a simply tug and the lead monkey dropped its rocks and turned to scream at the monkey behind it. This led to a screaming match between all of the monkeys, with much posturing (now counted as four since they stopped and gave Lucy a chance to see them properly). After several minutes, it simmered down, wherein the monkey picked up its rocks... and Lucy yanked its tail again. This time the monkey spun around, flinging its rocks at the poor, innocent monkey. It flung one of them hard enough to crack a part of the other monkey's torso, who dropped most of his rocks and ran off. The lead monkey went after it, leaving the other two monkeys agitated and confused. They decided to sit down and chew on their rocks to relax, looking in the direction of the jungle where half their group had run off to.