With the awakening of the Codex, the entire earth had started to shift and reconstruct.
Entire regions shifted in climate, and biomes changed in seconds.
New York City had turned into a snowy and mountainous area: not just in its surroundings but the city itself was atop a giant mountain plateau that had split parts of the city apart.
Outside of Corvane Academy, swaths of people shuffled and meandered their way through the streets. These people were rendered close to vegetables from the exotic radiation called mana.
Similar events had transpired globally. Some countries had shifted and split into pieces, while others had new swaths of land inserted and jammed around. These new additions had, around the world, totaled to a doubling of surface area and overall size of the earth.
It had been a few hours since the world had settled into the tutorial, and many groups in New York City had quickly set up their own areas and rules
Malric, Illia, and John had gotten to searching around the academy. While it had been a tiring walk due to the increased gravity, they were now returning to their class, B207.
"Man, can't believe that so many people skipped school today. Like, just because a mountain appears on the horizon and the temperature drops to freezing in summer does not mean you should skip school!" John complained while walking in front of Illia and Malric.
"Stop your complaining. You're just jealous that they don't have to deal with this. Or slay monsters that look human," Malric shot back, also tired from the long and jumpy day.
Opting to be quiet, Illia agreed with Malric. John was clearly jealous and trying to distract himself from his emotional distress.
Standing before the door, the trio rushed in after spotting a corpse halfway through the frame.
A sigh of relief washed over the group as they took in the ten-odd students that had gathered in the class.
"Now that you three are back, we should stay put. This is probably everyone still alive inside the school grounds," Mr. Cassidy suggested before pointing toward the back of the classroom and saying, "There is also a new guest in the back."
Walking in, the trio told everyone their mission contents and their encounter with the snow leopard, which now lazily lay on the AC unit in the back of the room.
Illia, while with John and Malric as they explained, didn't say a word. She stared at the snow leopard, its soft fur beckoning her to pet it.
Walking over to the creature, Illia gave the large and regal beast a pet on the head, before switching to chin scratches. Purring like a house cat, the snow leopard nuzzled its face into Illia's hand.
A soft click went unnoticed, except by Malric, who turned to see what had happened this time. Seeing nothing wrong — yet at least — he continued to chat with Juniper and Filip.
Minutes passed, and a Codex interface startled the whole class.
| Stage 2 complete |
| Mission results awarded |
| Stage 3: defense |
| Survive for 1 hour |
And with that, a hollow classmate walked through the door, a guard already stabbing them with a spear. Then another, and soon half the students were needed to contain the listless beasts within John's Kill-box-o-matic.
Grabbing a spear, both Illia and Malric, alongside Juniper, Amina, and Filip, all rushed to help keep the Nekros away.
"What kind of name is that? It's super edgy and kinda dumb," Amina asked after hearing Filip's name for the dead-ish classmates.
"I mean it works for now," Juniper commented. While the students were not technically dead, they had died in every manner but physically. It seemed as if they were zombies.
"I kinda like it, it's pretty accurate," Malric followed.
Doing a turnaround in her opinion, Amina commented on how great of a name it was.
"Well it could have been worse, it's actually pretty good… ya know, 'cause it's easy to remember and hard to confuse!"
Her comment was punctuated with a Bunsen burner spear — modeled after Illia's — punching through a Nekro's eye socket.
"The amount of students at school today were not even half. The hour survival might not be as hard for us," Malric decided to break the awkward silence.
While almost everyone was aware why Amina flipped her opinion so quickly, Malric barely registered it as he was focused on staying alive.
"Yeah, a bunch of them probably thought this was all a dream and went to do random stuff. Probably regretting it now," John said.
Like that, the hour passed. The end of the day closing in.
| Tutorial stage 3: complete |
| Tutorial stage 4 |
| Solve the Lie |
| Groups completed: 0/80% |
| Failures will gain penalties |
Being the first to speak, Jasmine restated the problem by saying, "The Codex said there is a lie, and that a bunch of groups have to figure it out — maybe even the entire world. So clearly it's gotta be obvious, so let's get to work and think."
While Jasmine wanted to be a leader, and was trying to now earn it — like what she had been told earlier — she was still locked into her habit of telling others what to do but not doing it herself.
"It's probably something it said in the beginning. Something it talked about, or maybe it's not actually a tutorial but something else," an average-height guy with freckles, short auburn hair, and reading glasses calmly suggested.
At some point in the defense, Illia had opted to sit with the snow leopard, its soft fur and body heat acting like a heated pillow. Staring into the group, Illia watched as they figured it out.
"The whole world going to shit is true. The monsters are true. Zombie guys are definitely real," Filip listed out while everyone continued to think and discuss their ideas.
Walking over with Juniper, Malric quietly spoke to Illia, "You figure it out already?"
Looking into his eyes with a deadpan stare, a quiet "yes" escaped Illia's lips.
"Then why don't you share what the lie is?" Juniper asked.
"Is it because you don't want them to rely on you too much? It would be bad if everyone started to expect you to solve everything, right?" Malric threw out his guess, hoping for confirmation.
"No, I'm not in their group. And you and Juniper didn't ask," Illia said like it was the most obvious thing ever.
"Oh okay… huh? How are you not in the group — are we not all surviving together?" Juniper asked.
"Mm, but that doesn't make them a part of our friend group, does it?" Illia said, with an inquisitive glint to her eyes and a slight head tilt.
"Well if we are all in the same group, mind telling me? I think it is related to the classes but I'm not sure," Malric explained.
Before Illia could open her mouth to tell Malric, Filip shouted, "I figured it out! It's the classes — we picked them, but nothing has happened with them yet! The classes are a lie!" while wearing a huge grin on his face.
| Tutorial stage 4 |
| Solve the Lie |
| Complete |
| Groups completed: 12/80% |
| Extra rewards due to fast completion |
| +10% during next stage |
With the room subsiding back into normal talk, Illia finally spoke. "Yeah, you are right. In addition, it would seem that members of your greater friend group had already figured it out and were just waiting."
"Illia, you don't have to separate it up like that. You are a part of our friend group. Me, Juniper, Amina, John, Filip, and now you. That makes six of us," Malric said while staring at the leopard that was giving him a glare, before adding on, "Umm, would you also like to join the group, Mr. Snow Leopard?"
Giving a low growl, Juniper clarified for Malric, "Dude, I think it's a girl…"
"I'm sorry, Miss Leopard."