Tutorial Day 2

  The inside of the Tower was nothing like what I expected. There were no staircases, or hallways or even rooms. It was hollow. My neck craned upward as I stared up the ever-narrowing walls of black stone. There, at the top glowed a blue cloud or gem—it was too high up to be sure.

  A line or wisp of blue descended from the top down the center of the hollow-coned interior, and I followed it, arriving at a massive faceted diamond-like Gemstone.

  We were perhaps three steps into a space that could likely hold thousands of people if pushed, and there were even people milling about the central gem—and the gem still looked as big as a Necrograph ATV.

  My mouth went dry and I swallowed against the pasties that came with it. Due to my scrutiny and shock, it took me several minutes to realize that I was using the proverbial ‘we’ a bit too liberally. My group were all moving toward the Gem, without looking back.

  After a brief hesitation, I unstuck my feet from the floor and jogged a few steps to catch up. London was the first to notice me, or rather, the sound my feet made with that momentary jog.

  “Oh, shoot—this is probably your first time here.” He pushed his hand through his hair, almost seeming embarrassed. “Uhhh—well… welcome to the Black Tower, sometimes called the Maelstrom Tower—”

  “Or the Hollow Tower,” Sarah added.

  “I’ve heard people call it the Mage Tower too,” Jacky stated, her voice bored. Why was she offering the information if she clearly didn’t want to?

  Gavin just pointed toward the Gem, and with a big smile he said, “That’s the Tower Shop.”

  “I’ll sell one Core and you sell the other,” London said, proffering the group's Bag of Holding. “That way, you’ll know what the price is worth. Normally the Cores go exclusively to the fighters, and we’d split the Meat, Skin and Herbs as payment down the middle. I realized that we never explained that. However, if…”

  He let that statement hang in the air with a pointed look at the milling people around the Crystal. I got his hint. If the Cores sold for more than they should—he was willing to concede the fifty-percent on them as well.

  I wouldn’t say that the admission was a huge trust-builder for me. The reason was both complicated and simple. Simply put, that fifty-percent was a pittance for the knowledge that the group would retain if the Core Heart was worth more.

  Additionally, it felt like he was attempting to buy my silence with that pittance. This is where I felt it grew a bit complicated, and my Mental Fortitude even kept me calm as it analyzed each consideration.

  London could truly be a virtuous, wonderful man—and by all accounts today, he was. However, he could just be a Hunter trapped in the Tutorial acting the part of a White Knight to take advantage of Gatherers, Hunters and Crafters.

  Honestly, I would have been too naive to even consider that possibility before Smegma, but in his absence I felt that I owed the Demon to at least consider the possibility. I looked at London and motioned for him to sell the first Core Heart—then scanned the others in the group. They didn’t even flinch.

  Either my assessment was wrong and they trusted London to be honorable—or they were in on it.

  Still, when the Bag was handed to me, to make my sale—I did a quick check of its contents. I’d learned the trick with my Necklace some time ago. Sure enough, all the Herbs, Skins, Manes and Meat seemed to still be in there.

  I’d watched London closely and all he’d done was walk up to a vicinity about ten feet from the Gem—so I did the same.

  Unlike Demonic Vault’s windows, and Plaques—a blue screen appeared in front of me. I’d associated the blue screens with the System—so its appearance made me somewhat more comfortable, but also apprehensive.

  I blinked at the notification, and then scanned back to London. He had a remarkable poker face. The group had said that these usually sold for twenty points or so, right? London winked at me, and gave me a slight nod that seemed to say, ‘sell that one.’

  I did so, but then took a moment longer to ‘sell’ the Skins, Herbs, Manes, and Meat.

  I started with the Meat and was only mildly surprised to find the meat simply appeared in my hand, instead of the Gem offering a sale. I guessed selling Monster Meat for points would cause problems for those living in the Tutorial. Still, I wondered if it had any value if sold to Alchemy School or others in the Town?

  Well this was going to be a bit of an issue, I thought as I did mental calculations in my head. Sure Tutorial Points were great, but I wanted to keep all the Herbs and Fruit—to try my hand at Alchemy. But the Math made it clear that I’d need to choose.

  Of the eleven-hundred plus points on that screen—I wanted eight hundred worth of Herbs and Fruit. That three hundred might be able to be supplemented by the Heart Cores, and Meat—but to get an additional five-hundred seemed unlikely.

  Another troubling thought floated through my analyzing thoughts. How could the Gathered Items be worth so much more than the Monsters? Didn’t most Hunters here get their points from Monsters?

  Fong had said that Gatherers were important, and protected. Is this what he meant?

  I turned and handed the Bag back to London—allowing him to check the numbers for himself. I assumed he hadn’t yet, because of how fast he returned. London accepted the bag, and paused, holding it. He was clearly cataloging the items inside to ensure I hadn’t sold them off when interacting with the Shop.

  Then he took one more step back into range of the Gem and began checking through the rest of the items. I looked at the group who were all checking out the other Hunters, in most cases, staring at the best-geared amongst them. It was clear to me that they were coveting—

  “Outside, now!” London hissed from near my shoulder, and I jumped.

  I hadn’t heard him move. I felt a hand on my back. With a bit of pressure, he got me moving. A quick view of London over my shoulder told me that his poker face was entirely gone. Something had made him pale.

  The group hurriedly followed in our wake, as I was somewhat marched back through the door. London didn’t stop once outside and ‘guided’ me to the nearest building—one I hadn’t been inside before.

  To a Guard at the front London shouted, “Table for five, in one of the Private Rooms!”

  The ‘Guard’ who I’d only glanced at, bowed, and I noticed that he was in a suit that clearly marked him as something less threatening than one of the Hunter Guards I’d seen. As he straightened back up I recognized his role thanks primarily to my avid time spent watching TV and Movies. He was a Ma?tre d’.

  London and I were ten steps away when the man opened the door for us and a beautiful woman in a black dress stepped forward. The Ma?tre d’ whispered something quickly, and the woman nodded before turning to London.

  “Follow me, sir.”

  She then walked confidently back inside, and up the stairs that were literally two steps from the entrance. London continued to apply pressure as we passed the suited man, and I heard, more than saw him give the Ma?tre d’ a nod. Then, we too were inside the building and climbing the stairs.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, and got shushed by London in turn.

  “Wait till we get to a private room,” he whispered. “I’ll explain.”

  I heard the feet of the others as they began taking the stairs, and then heard a few mutters as we kept climbing past the first landing, second, and even third. Only when the woman arrived on the fourth landing did she veer off and move to a door that led into the building proper.

  London whisked me through the door and into a room that made me blink. First, because of the startling amount of light coming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, which didn’t exist in the Alchemy Building or the one Maelstrom used, but then again, for the sheer opulence on display.

  The woman in the black dress gown spoke, then. “Will the fourth floor be sufficient, sir?”

  If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “Yes, a private room on the fourth is fine,” London said politely.

  The woman bowed and then led us to the nearest sliding door. I scanned the mostly empty room, cataloging the rich wood of the tables, and the Monster-leather chairs, as well as the chandeliers that held no illumination but refracted and reflected the suns from outside to create beautiful patterns.

  I didn’t get much time, before London practically shoved me through the doorway and into the room beyond. Thankfully, I didn’t need to examine the large open-concept room, since it appeared we were in a room that contained all the same accoutrements and more.

  Aside from the table, we were directly beside a window, with our own Chandelier that glowed and flitted beautifully as it hung above the center of a huge circular table. This close, I saw the resemblance to a wondrous bird and my mouth fell open.

  My shoes squealed as I slid to a stop which brought my attention to the floor—where I found white stones with Dalmatian-like black spots shining up at me. They looked so clean and polished that I felt it was a crime to be standing on them.

  “Sit down,” London ordered, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t directed solely at me. “We’ll each take the cheapest food you have that will allow us to keep the room!”

  I’d forgotten about the woman, and looked over my shoulder to see her nod, seriously. She didn’t appear disappointed in London’s words, nor even surprised. The others in the group hurried to chairs, even as London closed the sliding door.

  Any sound from the open fourth-floor dining area was instantly cut off. Eerily so. I almost wanted to touch my ears and ensure they were still there.

  Still, Sarah spoke up which stopped the need. “What’s going on, London? You know we can’t afford to eat here unless it’s important. Is it important?”

  I turned to London and realized that only me and him were standing as I scanned over the room.

  He was staring at me, his mouth hanging open. “Brodie, sit down—we’re buying…”

  “What?!” Jacky exclaimed, even as the others' eyes focused in on me, their mouths falling open.

  I lowered myself into the nearest seat and watched as all eyes in the room followed me down. Before my butt touched the leather, I asked the question I’d been meaning to the entire walk here.

  “Can you explain what this is all about?”

  “Uhh—” London said eloquently. “Well—how do I put this?” He continued. “You just multiplied our earnings by about ten times!”

  “You guys only make a hundred tutorial points a day?” I asked, even as I internally corrected myself. Twenty-five each…

  “He what?!” Jacky shrieked. “You’re telling me that he earned over a thousand points today with four kills?”

  “We’ve always husking wondered how other groups are doing so well!” London exclaimed. “I think we know the answer now.”

  London sat down in a chair himself and started explaining. “I was pretty surprised with the Heart Cores going for sixty plus points. That’s already an awesome discovery, but you know how our ragged skins only go for ten points at most? His goes for twenty-five each. But that’s not the real earning potential. That Mane he cut out, goes for over a hundred and fifty.”

  The silence that descended on the table seemed to crackle in my ears, like fireworks heard from a distance. The Gathering Skills of Skinning, Harvesting and Gardening were worth that much? I had to wonder what would have happened if I had Butchered the meat of the Borker as per the instructions.

  “Guys,” London continued over my roaring thoughts. “The plants he collected also were broken down into the component parts, and while the Skins and Manes were worth around four hundred points—the herbs and fruit he collected, is like seven hundred points!”

  “Is that why the Gathering Skills are so expensive in the Shop?” Jacky complained. Which opened the floodgates.

  “Shut up, Jacky!” Sarah said jokingly, even as she began to whoop and cheer. The others joined in, except for Jacky who just scowled at Sarah.

  “So, how much is this place?” I interjected into a moment where they all took a breather from celebrating. The decor alone made me believe it would be far more pricey than what we earned today.

  “It’s about a hundred points per person for a private room,” London explained, sobering a bit. “Depends on the daily special, since it’s usually the cheapest.”

  “Then, didn’t you four spend almost your entire half taking me here?” I asked furrowing my brow in confusion. “Plus, how much does it cost to simply live in Maelstrom?” I added, realizing I could get some more information.

  “The living in Maelstrom is kind of free,” Gavin offered, but then scratched his head at my questioning look, before indicating London and ceding the floor.

  “Anything bought or sold in the North Tower Shop is taxed. The sales prices you saw are totals after that tax. While owning a house, or renting a room in one of these buildings costs points. Simply being a member of Maelstrom is paid for by those taxes. We’ll show you how eating works after this, even though we won’t need more food.

  “As for the expenses. Well, I’m looking at it as an investment and a necessity. First, either this information is kept from others to allow people to get ahead—or people don’t know about it. Either way coming into this—”

  The door opened and London instantly cut off as five men and women all wearing identical suits entered. At the front was a new girl in another lovely black gown. “Today’s special is Roasted Rabbit, with Mushroom Alfredo, Leeks and Monster Vine.”

  She had paused for a moment before starting and as she finished, I figured out why. In unison, the five servers put a massive plate down in front of each of us. The reason for the sheer size of the plate was the gigantic Rabbit Leg that was strewn over it. That, and the portion of vegetables.

  To my astonishment, my Cooking Skill Planet inside my mental universe vibrated while looking at the plate, and I realized that the person or people in the kitchen at this ‘establishment’ were Skilled Cooks.

  The waitstaff and the woman who spoke exited the room and closed the door, removing the noise of the outer open room from theirs. As if the interruption hadn’t happened, London continued, even as I felt my mouth begin to water at the delicious scents coming off my plate.

  “—coming into this room keeps that secret as either ours, or out of others’ hands. Finally, it’s an investment, because we need someone like you, and if I’m being honest, I don’t think you should go to another group with a secret like this…”

  The drool that was forming in my mouth dried up like a puddle on the Sun. Was that a threat? London was smiling while he uttered it, so surely it wasn’t. Channeling a bit of Smegma I asked the question anyway.

  “Is that a threat?”

  “Husk, no!” London exclaimed, waving his hands. “I meant it protectively. We—” London motioned around at his group. “—Will appreciate your value and give you seventy percent of the Tutorial Points. Plus, I don’t know if you’ve heard the saying about greed?”

  “Greed is in everyone,” I began, quoting a line from a famous movie.

  “But it isn’t always accompanied by Empathy,” Sarah continued.

  “Appreciation,” Gavin added.

  “Or Sense,” Jacky grumpily finished.

  London nodded and opened his arms as if to say, we’re what you’ve got. I had to admit to myself that he had a point. At least, until I learned more.

  I was heavily leaning toward this being a known secret, since there were so many Gatherers. A well-kept known secret, perhaps, but surely already discovered.

  The only question was why they wouldn’t have told newbies like this group.

  * * *

  The group had eventually left me to my own devices, allowing me to keep all of my herbs, and fruit. Taking only the Skins, Manes, and Meat with them. They claimed they’d get about a hundred Tutorial Points for the meats or about two hundred in ‘credit’.

  That credit was essentially in a meal plan card that they’d be able to use to visit a buffet restaurant near the edge of the permanent structures of this district. When they’d offered to show me, I’d chosen to stay near the Tower instead.

  London had promised to come back and collect me later, which I was still deliberating on whether I’d allow it. I had a place in the Alchemy School, and if I was being honest, I didn’t know if I wanted that fact to be known yet.

  However, London’s group had been the only one to take me in this morning—so, did I have another choice? Even if I was making ‘good’ Tutorial Points, as the group seemed to suggest—and I was currently about to discover by checking out the Shop. It didn’t mean that I would succeed at making a Pill later.

  I opened the Skills list first.

  The price of the Profession and Gathering Skills wasn’t totally unreasonable, but simultaneously, would be the product of years to obtain. The fact that combat Skills were twice as expensive—meant they would be nearly unachievable for small groups like London’s.

  In addition, many Skills had limits that were already reached, meaning that people already purchased them. I assumed these were some of the limits that would reset from time to time, but for all I knew, they could be the ones that required someone to die.

  The reason for the secret being kept was clear in those two lines alone. I scrolled through the Mage Skills that the Tower offered, until I arrived at a final page.

  Alchemy and Mass Production. Yeah I could see the appeal. I truly wanted the Skill, but simultaneously didn’t want the trouble that would spawn with it. Still, if I found a way to get the Tp, which was an abbreviation that made me chuckle—I’d perhaps approach Maelstrom.

  Well, if my attempts at Alchemy were possible. Still, the Skills section was leading me to believe that five hundred to a thousand Tutorial Points a day weren’t very much.

  Then, I opened the Weapons and had to reassess.

  These and the Armor section were extremely similar and remarkably affordable. If the weapons and armor had Enchantments on them, which I assumed they probably did—then in a week, I could have a set and begin fighting Monsters…

  No wonder a thousand points or more a day was considered excellent. If London’s group got better equipment they could Hunt more Monsters and with Gatherers get more Points…

  Tools were items that were like the Mining Picks from the Demonic Vault, but just like the weapons and armor, you couldn’t see what Enchantments they came with. I highly doubted they’d have the Demonic Repair Enchant, but who knew.

  Potions, was again far too expensive for current consideration, but did have some pretty amazing options in there. One of which I couldn’t stop staring at.

  My stats had all been stuck at ten points, and I guess I was starting to understand why. I needed something like this!

  Still, would the Liquid only work for one stat at a time? I’d have to ask London or the others to see if they knew. Yet, with their level of poverty, I doubted it.

  Miscellaneous was varied in price, but also turned out to be where people were buying Earthly products and lumber that they were probably using to build the ‘houses’ in the outer area of this District.

  I closed out of the windows after my cursory overview of the shop and then looked around. I had some decisions to make. First amongst them, should I spend a few weeks gearing up London and his group, so I could also collect more Herbs and Fruit before attempting Alchemy?

  Or, should I use my twenty-five thousand points to live frugally and experiment?

  Something to note. This chapter has a great deal of the Shop listed out. I'm going to need to make changes and input things here to make changes for the end goal of the Tutorial. So think of this as a placeholder in some ways. Like alot of this exists, but if there is anything that breaks the system or economy please ignore or let me know so I can look at it more closely on Dev Edits :).

  Thank you

  Facebook Page:

  Facebook Group:

  Instagram:

  Discord: