50 mana drained from his pool instantly.
[MANA: 150/150 → 100/150]
Black mist coiled up from the grass around the goblin's corpse. The mist thickened and spread, covering the body completely. Bones cracked and snapped with wet sounds as they broke free from flesh. The corpse began to move as pieces pulled themselves together. A skeletal hand punched up through the mist, then another. The skeleton dragged itself upright, shedding rotted flesh and meat as it rose.
A skeletal warrior stood there with empty eye sockets glowing faint green. It held the goblin's rusty sword in bony fingers. The bones were yellowish and cracked in places. It moved stiffly, joints grinding together with each motion. Slow and clumsy and brittle, a reflection of James's own inexperience made manifest.
But it was something.
The skeleton lurched forward with its sword raised. One goblin charged it with a club and the skeleton blocked the strike. The impact cracked one of its arm bones but it didn't stop. The skeleton's sword lashed out and caught the goblin in the leg. The creature stumbled. The skeleton stabbed forward and punched the rusty blade through the goblin's chest.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 45/100]
Another soul ripped free and flowed into James.
[MANA: 100/150 → 110/150]
Two more goblins rushed the skeleton from different sides. The first one's club smashed into the skeleton's ribcage and cracked three ribs. The second goblin's spear punched through the skeleton's spine. Bones shattered and the skeleton collapsed into a pile of broken pieces.
But those eight seconds of distraction let James focus on his other skill.
He raised his hand and pointed at the nearest goblin. He focused on the mental image of death energy and spoke the activation word.
"Necro Blast."
20 mana drained from his pool.
[MANA: 110/150 → 90/150]
Black energy gathered in his palm as a sphere of pure darkness. It pulsed once, then shot forward as a bolt of condensed death. The blast hit the goblin square in the chest and the effect was immediate and horrifying.
The goblin's flesh began to rot where the energy touched it. Skin turned grey, then black, then simply liquefied and sloughed off the bone. Muscle underneath followed, dissolving into black sludge. The creature screamed and clutched at its chest but its hands just sank into the rotting flesh. Its ribs became visible as meat fell away in chunks. The goblin collapsed while still screaming, and then the scream cut off as its throat rotted through.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 60/100]
Soul absorbed and mana refilled.
[MANA: 90/150 → 100/150]
The synergy was clicking now. Kill, absorb souls for mana, use mana to kill more.
James raised his hand again and another goblin died to Necro Blast. Black energy rotted its face to nothing but skull and dripping flesh. The soul is absorbed. Another 10 mana restored. He summoned a second skeleton from the fresh corpse. The undead warrior rose and engaged two goblins at once. It lasted maybe five seconds before getting destroyed, but that was enough time for James to kill another goblin with Necro Blast.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 75/100]
His sword caught a goblin's arm and nearly severed it. The creature screamed and dropped its weapon. Ciara appeared from nowhere and finished it with a dagger to the spine before it could retreat.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 90/100]
James summoned another skeleton that bought him space. He fired Necro Blast into a goblin's face and watched its head dissolve into black sludge.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 100/100]
Then Finn's axe took down another goblin in a spray of blood and gore. James got the assist.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
A new notification blazed across his vision.
[LEVEL UP! YOU HAVE REACHED LEVEL 2]
[CURRENT EXP: 15/200]
[5 STAT POINTS AVAILABLE]
Mid-fight with no time to assign them.
Finn's berserker rage was still going strong. He moved like a whirlwind, his axe cutting through goblins like wheat. Each swing took down one or two creatures. Blood covered him from head to toe but he didn't slow down. His eyes were wild and his teeth were bared in a feral grin.
Ciara had taken a spear through her left shoulder at some point but kept fighting with her right dagger. Her movements were slower now but still deadly precise. She moved through the chaos like a dancer, each strike finding a vital point.
Aiden's Emberbear was dominating the entire right side of the field. The massive beast scattered goblins with every swipe as flames spread across the grass wherever it stepped. Three goblins tried to surround it and the bear simply charged through them. Two died instantly from the impact while the third caught fire and ran screaming.
The remaining goblins were breaking.
James, Finn, and Ciara pushed forward together while the Emberbear flanked from the right. James summoned another skeleton on cooldown and it rose to join the fight. He spammed Necro Blast as fast as his mana would allow. One goblin died to his blast as flesh rotted off its bones.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 30/200]
Finn's axe took down three more in quick succession. Powerful overhead swings that split skulls and crushed ribcages. James didn't get credit for those kills and no XP was shared.
Ciara planted her dagger in a goblin's eye socket. The creature went limp instantly. She spun and opened another one's throat. Blood sprayed but she was already moving to the next target.
The Emberbear caught a goblin in its jaws and shook it like a dog with a toy. Bones snapped and the creature went limp. The bear tossed the corpse aside and charged another group. Aiden got all that XP, not James.
The last few goblins tried to run. The Emberbear chased them down and crushed them one by one. Finn's axe caught another as it fled. James's final Necro Blast rotted the last goblin's back to sludge and it collapsed mid-run.
[GOBLIN SLAIN - 15 EXP AWARDED]
[CURRENT EXP: 45/200]
Heavy silence fell over the field with only breathing and blood dripping to break it. The field was littered with thirty-five goblin corpses and Liam's broken body near the barrier. Grass burned in patches where the Emberbear had walked. The air smelled like blood and smoke and rotting flesh.
The System chimed.
[TUTORIAL MISSION COMPLETE - ALL HOSTILE ENTITIES ELIMINATED]
James checked his final stats quickly. Level 2 with 45 EXP out of 200 needed for Level 3 and 5 unspent stat points. His stomach wound still bled while his hands shook.
Finn dropped to one knee with his battleaxe planted in the ground for support, gasping for air. His berserker rage had worn off and the crash was hitting him hard. He was drenched in goblin blood and sweat.
Ciara sat down hard while gripping her shoulder wound. Blood seeped between her fingers and her face had gone pale.
Aiden's Emberbear dissolved into mist as the summon duration ended. The massive bear simply faded away like smoke in the wind. Aiden collapsed onto his hands and knees immediately and vomited onto the grass. His whole body shook.
James walked over to Liam's body.
He looked down at what the goblins had done. The skull caved in on one side with the chest torn open and ribs visible through the wound. Eyes still wide with terror. The wooden spear still jutted from his torso. James felt nothing in response. Not grief, not guilt, just the cold realization that this was real. Death was real. The 80% mortality rate wasn't a number on a screen but this, bodies that didn't respawn and kids who chose Challenger and died screaming.
The System was announced.
[TUTORIAL COMPLETE - FLOOR 1 ACCESS GRANTED]
[RETURN TO WAITING ROOM IN 60 SECONDS]
Sixty seconds remained.
James looked at the other three survivors. Finn was breathing hard while leaning on his axe. Ciara bled from her shoulder with eyes closed. Aiden cried quietly while still on his hands and knees.
Four out of five made it through the Tutorial's first fight. They'd just beaten the 80% death rate, but Liam was dead. His corpse would be transported back to Earth where his family would get a body to bury and the System would add him to the statistics.
This was just the Tutorial. Floor 1 came next, then 299 more after that.