Weapons of Mass Destruction

(Nathaniel, I don’t believe it’s that easy to make an arcane item. By the way, I know you aren't good with names so you can continue calling me Channeler!)

(It’s fine, I can make such an item. It won't be mid arcane, but low arcane should be doable with a bit of effort. For example, the sword on my waist is mid arcane and I made it with a bit… well a lot of help.)

His eyes slide to the sword as expected and then back to look at me, (You don't strike me as someone who really takes to fighting with swords. What does it do?)

(It is annoying and it sometimes destroys stuff while trying to kill me.)

(Is that some sort of hint that I shouldn’t be asking too many questions?)

(What? No. What are you even talking about? Now back to the item. Do you still want to work with me?)

(Of course I do,) he confirms.

(Okay, so I’ll make you an item. I’ll also be giving you the names and locations of the family and friends of the members of group 4 so you can check on them. Carefully, of course. I don't think you’ll be unkillable on Earth, even with the item. Tess wanted to speak with some of the people from Easy difficulty but since she’s not here, Sophie and Maya will be going over it with you. They have some things in mind and they’ll need to work them out with you.)

(Will do!)

(You… I know you may be strong, but can you actually pull that off?)

(Yes, don't worry about pointless things.)

POV Rafael Vaughn, aka Channeler

Noname, no, Nathaniel has changed since the last tournament. I noticed it right away, I remember his bearing, reactions, and all. He’s colder now, more domineering, and he has this air of confidence about him.

Some of that I'm sure is a mask he’s put on for the sake of his group. I can see it in their eyes. Something must have happened, something very bad, and they keep glancing at Nathaniel as if seeking confirmation that everything will be okay.

I think it has something to do with Tess, but she seems to be alive. Maybe she’s gotten herself in some kind of trouble that kept her from joining the tournament? But couldn't she have escaped into the tournament? Maybe she can’t?? Has she decided to do some kind of dangerous training instead? Did something stop her? A wound? A side quest? Is she in Beyond?

I know enough to say that it's probably better not to pry so I stay quiet.

As I walk at his side with the rest of group 4 trailing behind, he glances at me with his eyes having that golden circle around his pupils. He picks a mana stone from his pocket and after a few seconds, he hands it to me.

Examining it, I notice training instructions much like the ones he gave me before. The ones that made me the strongest member of my group. These new instructions seem to be even more impressive as if he could have assessed my growth by simply observing the movement of my mana.

(Thank you,) I answer simply.

I know he prefers this kind of simple thanks and feels awkward when people show too much thankfulness to him.

Before we reach the center of the Common area where I can already see Gareth, Swordmaster, Samuel, Adam, and others, I reach toward Nathaniel.

I tap on his shoulder to get his attention and feel goosebumps when he turns to me with his usual expression—the one that makes him look disinterested, arrogant, and cold to most people.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I notice little Izabella and she smiles at me and nods.

(I think you should let me talk instead of you,) I send to Nathaniel through the link they’ve recently included me in, (And, nothing against Sophie but people don't like her much and Maya isn't very good at things like this.)

I smile at Maya apologetically and then turn to Nathaniel, (You don't seem to be in a very patient mood now either so leaving things to me will probably be for the best.)

He stops to think of it for a moment and finally nods.

I feel a wave of relief as he does so. With the mood he's in, this could have ended very badly.

POV Nathaniel

Would you like to rent Oakheart Refuge and the accompanying facilities?

1000 shards/day

I confirm and the house with its facility becomes the new base of operations for our group. Much like the prior tournament, it turns out to be one of the more expensive ones.

It’s basically a huge oak tree on the edge of the forest and the house itself almost seems to be growing out of the tree just as much as it surrounds it. The facilities are separate, built on the ground. The tree itself is taller than any tree on Earth and thicker. But it's one of these things you get used to here in the tutorial.

Leaving Channeler, Sophie, and Maya behind, the rest of us are here depositing our baggage.

I die again and for a moment I close my eyes, resetting the seal on my heart before making another attempt to loosen it.

“Dennis, Aaron, take all the materials we have out to the smithy outside. Once you’re done with that you can take Min-Jae and go out to check on Brainiac and Lootenant. I can already tell you want to.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Are you sure? We want to help. We care for Tess just as much as you do, Nat, and…”

I interrupt Dennis, “You’ll only be distractions here. If I need anything, I will make sure to ask.”

“Got it,” he confirms, as he takes Min-Jae, and his brother to start carrying the materials over to the workshop.

Entering the Oakheart Refuge I find the room on the highest floor. It’s been entirely formed from the inside of the tree with a huge balcony at the other end and a massive window to let in lots of natural light.

I turn to Izzy and Lily, especially to Izzy, “I might seem a bit colder for a while so please make sure the others understand.”

“Are you going to be using [Focus] to manage your emotions again?”

“Yes,” I confirm, “Not all the time, but I’ll need to if I don’t want to be distracted.”

As I talk I place a few Ley lines throughout my surroundings and tie a few of them to any members of group 4 that happen to be present. Maya and Sophie already have one.

Looking at a shimmering pale blue line that may as well be invisible to just about everyone else, I think, “Of course, I will be disabling [Focus] at times. I can use these emotions to push me, but I'm way too pissed off for that at the moment and I have a lot to do.”

“Lissandra?” Lily asks quietly.

I nod, “Anyway, I’m about to get started. So I'll see you later.”

Sensing the trio of boys leaving the smithy, I teleport over.

The smithy is a smaller house made of a darker sort of wood than the main building, having an appearance almost like metal. The house is circular with a cupola-style roof with an anvil set in the center of the room, next to a fireplace and chimney creating a pillar in the middle pulling any resulting smoke up through the roof.

Kicking my bags aside to open them, I bend and start pulling out materials: voidsteel, endurium, arcanadium, voidcopper, and more besides. And in a separate part of my mind, I begin preparing the base for the item I’ll be making for Channeler.

For a moment I stop and redirect a greater portion of my mental bandwidth to dealing with my heart as a powerful heat wave washes over my body. I use [Redistribution] and push it out towards the fireplace rather than allowing it to simply scorch its way through the area around me. My golden flames immediately start burning along the prepared path, spreading their heat through the building.

Suppressing the heart, I redirect part of my mind to training with it—and set another to the task of training and maintaining the arrays in the back of my mind and split off a third part to work on the item whose base I will now be creating.

I won’t be able to complete it in one day, but if things go like they did before then the events shouldn’t be announced for the next 12 hours. Until then I can at least prepare a base for the item.

Taking off Fracture and tossing it into the corner, I grab the materials. Drawing a small amount of thermal energy from the heart, I begin hammering with kinetic energy.

At the expected time a notification pops up.

Events for the 2nd tournament of Earth tutorial have been decided. They are as follows:

1st event - Clash of Rounds

2nd event - Beast Hunt

3rd event - Chronicle of the Past

4th event - Avatar’s Gauntlet

5th event - Tyrant’s Arena

The first event will start in 12 hours. More information will be shared soon.

I pause my work and reach out through my Ley Line, pulling Fracture back into my hand and proceeding to tuck it into its home at my waist. After that, I leave the item lying there and exit the smithy while reading the notification again and thinking of the events.

So once again we have 5 events, leaving Chronicle of the Past as the sole returning event. There also don't seem to be duels this time but the last event sounds like it's replacing it.

The second event sounds like some kind of PvE challenge, maybe we’ll be hunting beasts for points? It could be anything, a solo event, a team building exercise, a competition between the rounds, hell it might be a challenge for the tutorial as a whole. Who knows.

Avatar’s Gauntlet could make for an interesting event as well but I can’t really say for sure until we see how the avatars will be used.

As for the first event, the name mostly explains it. It will be either round against round or multiple rounds clashing all at once.

I allow myself to slide out of the [Focus] and for a moment I pause to examine my feelings.

Worry. Anxiety. Pressure, and worst of all doubt. The creeping doubt that I may not really be able to do the thing I’ve set out to do. It's just a whiff of a feeling. A constant threat lingering in the background and constantly trying to take hold of me.

But there’s also anger. And prevalent at that. Part of it is directed at Lissandra. For the sheer fact, she would even think to mess with me this way. Using Tess's life to get what she wants out of me. The anger comes from the fact that she didn't do anything to stop it from happening.

But the larger portion of that anger is directed at myself. For not noticing. For not thinking it could happen. Lulled into complacency by that sense of safety in the valley and my single minded focus on training and the Champion's heart that now lies sealed in my chest.

What a fucking mess.

I teleport through [Ley Line] landing in the biggest room of Oakheart Refuge where I find the majority of group 4. Izzy, Noodle, and Sophie are the only ones absent, and going by the explosions I can feel going off outside, they are training, readily abusing the fact we cannot die in this place.

The others already seem like they’ve been through something similar and have seized the opportunity to take a break.

I know I handle deaths here better than most, but from the looks of it, there’s no lack of determination. Directing a bigger part of my mind to training, I sit down and grab some snacks from the table nearby.

“Where’s the cockroach?” I ask Myrra.

The white-haired lynthari shows her fangs in a smile, “She’s probably examining this place, feral one. She said exiting the tutorial should be nearly impossible for her and me and that she needs more data. From the different floors, the tournament, and Beyond. She wants to examine every facet and come up with the best way possible.”

“So does that mean you’re not participating?”

“I will do whatever she tells me to, feral one. Because without her I will die.”

"Did you know?" I ask, gauging her reaction.

Myrra stays quiet to that question.

With an annoyed groan, I grab a few more pieces of dried food.

I turn to the twins, “If you haven't already done it, add Channeler and maybe Miwa to our link. Make a secondary one for Gareth, his guild, and any others willing to cooperate.”

Standing up I turn to Lily, “We might need the others to cooperate at least somewhat as we currently don't know if we can handle the 1st event on our own. I won't let others put us in jeopardy with in-fighting over leadership or their petty ambitions. Group 4 will be taking the lead and if anyone complains, kick them around until they agree. I don't care if it's WhiteWing, TheGuild, IDK, Samuel, or anyone else. Can you do it?”

“Absolutely! I'm more than strong enough!” As expected Lily understands right away and agrees.

“Thanks, I need to make some money for a new passive so I’ll be in the workshop.”

I teleport away without waiting for a response, retreating into the workshop and opening a window.

To be able to sell the items in the tournament shop, register as a seller. Please, choose an alias.

It would seem that even this is the same.

Would you like to register as "Tent Creep"?

“Yes,” I confirm.

Congratulations, you have been registered as “Tent Creep”, you may now offer the items you’ve crafted items for sale.

I then open up the tutorial shop and start buying the necessary materials.