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Chapter 240 - Striped Tutorial
🕑 Added 2022-01-28 00:06:36 +0000 UTCFor some reason, I always think of something other than a horse when I think of a horse of a different color.
Enjoy!
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The Tutorial was strange. The first Quest was to check the bulletin board and complete requests. There were requests from all over town; anything from finding a lost cat or doing housework to gathering herbs from the area just outside the town. The rewards seemed fairly low, but according to Blaze, even the smallest request would pay for the room and meals for a couple of days.
Serenity nearly lost his composure when he found a quest to “kill ten rats in the sewer”. That had to be a joke, didn’t it?
It seemed just as real as any of the other quests. It wanted the rats’ tails as proof.
Josaiah asked Serenity’s opinion on each of them, but in the end he chose for himself. Serenity was happy for that; it was good to see someone who could ask for advice without being dependent on it.
The quest Josaiah picked was not any of the ones Serenity would have chosen. Instead, it was being a messenger for the day, carrying messages and packages all over town to and from the Hall itself. It seemed that there was a list of requests that had been reported completed the previous day; someone had to deliver the proof of completion or get the report confirming it was done, as well as other small packages. Some seemed to be rewards, while others Serenity wasn’t certain about.
Some of the trips were definitely to suppliers, as well; several times, Josaiah brought back a wheelbarrow full of stuff and then had to return the wheelbarrow. Serenity followed him on each errand, interested in just how much detail had gone into making this apparently somewhat unrealistic scenario work.
Almost everyone seemed familiar, though he couldn’t have given a name to most. The town’s citizens were all instructors from the Tutorial, as far as he could tell, and that seemed to be the majority of the people in town. Most of the requests seemed to be from people Serenity only vaguely recognized; their altered forms didn’t help, but most of the problem was that they were people he didn’t know well. Serenity mostly knew the combat instructors, and most of the requests seemed to be from people he’d have guessed were craftsmen or mages.
It was midafternoon when the routine changed. Instead of a small house in town, the delivery took the group to an even smaller cottage set away from the others. When Josaiah knocked on the door, there was a distant-sounding shout to come in, even though the cottage wasn’t large enough to attenuate the sound.
It was explained the moment Josaiah pushed the door open, revealing a stone corridor longer than the length of the entire cottage. The voice called out to them again, leading them to a warm kitchen occupied by a surprisingly motherly-appearing figure formed from energy. A lightning elemental; this had to be a mage, given the pattern so far, but Serenity didn’t recognize her immediately.
“A package from the Hall? What are they thinking, having someone like you delivering the mail?” The woman’s voice made it clear she was older than she appeared as she turned towards Serenity. “And you should know better. Or is the Hall still charging for Affinity testing? Well, no matter. Tell them Helga says to get off their butts and do their jobs before they end up where the last ones did.”
Helga’s gaze went back to Josaiah. “You DO want to learn magic, don’t you?”
Josaiah nodded, then shook his head. “I do, but-” He froze, apparently unable to figure out how to say it.
“But what you really want is to swing a giant polearm like all the other idiots following their current hero? Bah. Do what you’re good at.” Helga waved a hand, dismissing Josaiah’s preferences.
Josaiah shook his head violently. “No. No! No, what I want is-I want to defend my mind! I don’t ever want to have something control me again. Ever.”
Helga froze and stared at Josaiah. After a moment, she spoke. “You’re an interesting one. That’s a goal I can believe in. Well enough. Be off with you, but come back tomorrow midafternoon. We’ll have tea and talk about how you can achieve that. It’s not free; be sure to bring some teacakes!”
As they left, Serenity heard Josaiah mutter, “Teacakes?”
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Josaiah’s Affinity test revealed that he had a single very strong Affinity and two weak Affinities; they turned out to be Life, Heat, and Mind. The mages administering the test were excited at first when they saw he had a strong Affinity but lost interest when they found out it was Life. They told Josaiah to see Flame, since “that Affinity, especially with Mind as well, is only good for healing.”
Blaze was incensed at their dismissiveness when he found out about it, but did agree that it was a good Affinity set for a healer. Unfortunately, Josaiah was terrible at Healing. He grasped the ideas quickly, but the details seemed impossible; he couldn’t work finely enough and always overpowered the spells.
Each afternoon, Josaiah visited Helga. The first few times, Serenity went with her; it was quickly apparent that he wasn’t needed and that Helga did actually know the basics for teaching mental resistance. As far as Serenity could tell, Josaiah didn’t actually need his presence or his training.
The only thing Serenity could provide for Josaiah was companionship; an ear when he needed it or a sounding board when he was unhappy about the way things were going. Josaiah worried constantly about the debt he was accruing to the Hall; he knew his time wouldn’t be over until he could pay it. Serenity could only reassure him that they’d find a way and that learning now would make it easier in the long run.
After a week of trying, Blaze gave up and introduced Josaiah to Life-based combat spells. Josaiah was a natural; the brambles he grew to entangle things went where he wanted with seemingly little effort and even the direct attacks Blaze taught him worked with as little trouble as could be expected. It wasn’t long before "Flame" told Josaiah that he was ready to leave the city, but Josaiah seemed content to simply perform requests and deliver things.
Blaze started stealing Serenity away to make him practice flying. Serenity was already taking the time to exercise; it was enough a part of his daily routine that he wasn’t comfortable without it, but flying practice hadn’t occurred to him. Blaze pointed out that his wings needed it if they were to grow strong. Serenity wasn’t certain that was correct, but he wasn’t sure it was wrong either. Even if he had been sure, he wouldn’t have given his reasoning to Blaze since it relied on him being as much monster as man.
A month into their stay in Brehain, one of the “flight practice” sessions led to Serenity’s discovery of something he could do for not only Josaiah but other students. Josaiah walked out on the practice field looking for him and missed seeing Serenity as he attempted to glide. Unfortunately, Serenity’s attempt was still mostly uncontrolled and he didn’t miss Josaiah.
It wasn’t the first time Josaiah hadn’t seen him immediately, but it suddenly clicked in Serenity’s mind that he hadn’t been taught anything about awareness and he was terrible at noticing the unexpected. Serenity immediately started hiding in visible but unexpected locations around the Hall and jumping out at Josaiah and other students when they weren’t expecting it.
The first time a student saw him before he could jump was several days later. Serenity inclined his head and said, “You may ask me one question. What do you wish to know?”
The trainee stared in shock. “You can talk?”
“Is that your question?” Serenity had almost expected someone to make that mistake, but it didn’t seem fair to call the first person on it. This was the only warming he’d give this student.
The trainee opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before blurting out, “You won’t be able to answer it, but why do I always get knocked down? No matter what I try, it always happens.”
“Show me.” Serenity had the student practice for a few minutes, then began his critique - starting with the student’s footwork. He seemed to think that a “strong posture” where he couldn’t be knocked over was necessary; it simply made it easy for his opponent to work around him or even to take advantage of his rigidity to knock him down.
After that, it became a game to find the dragon before he bowled you over. The students started talking about him as a “hidden quest”; Serenity could only laugh at that.
It took two weeks before Josaiah managed to catch him, and the question Josaiah asked was simple. “When can I go home? I’ve been here longer than anyone now.”
“When you feel you’re ready, choose your Path and we’ll find you a group to go after the monster cave.” They both knew that was the final mission; they’d seen too many people come and go for that to be a mystery.
“But my Quest is still talking about training,” Josaiah objected.
“That’s probably because you haven’t chosen a Path. If you’re not ready, you’re not ready. This isn’t taking that much time in the real world; you can wait.” Serenity also felt the strain; he hadn’t expected to be gone for more than a month, but he knew it was only seconds in reality.
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As time went on, the quests changed a little and the threats grew. The final quest moved from the Monster Cave to the Dark Forest outside the cave as the monsters inside became more powerful. Josaiah continued to train without being willing to take the next step. Two more months passed. Josaiah had long since paid back his obligations, but he didn’t seem willing to move forward.
Serenity was going to have to do something.
Serenity started haunting the dining hall. One day, a group of four caught his eye; they’d been there for a few days, but until one mentioned being from New York City, he didn’t pay much attention. A few days’ observation told him that they’d settled into a comfortable rhythm but felt like they were missing something.
So Serenity made certain that the next time he knocked Josaiah over, it was directly into the lap of the group’s frontliner. She was initially unhappy with the fact that Josaiah had also inadvertently landed in her soup, but somehow they got to talking.
It wasn’t love at first sight; in fact, Serenity was pretty confident by now that Josaiah wasn’t even interested in women. It was something more important than that: Josaiah finally started making friends that weren’t a sprite, a lightning elemental, and a tiny dragon who was still terrible at flying.
Two more weeks would pass before Josaiah finally felt comfortable agreeing to join their group for a trip to the outskirts of the Dark Forest, but when he did, he chose his first Path: Biomage.
Serenity gently scolded him for telling even the name to people he didn’t trust, only to be told that Josaiah trusted the group and Serenity. That statement was hard to refute with anything other than a “I hope you’re right to trust.”
It wasn’t long before the group was traveling deep within the Dark Forest, looking for the Monster Cave. They deliberately avoided completing their last Quest, since they knew it would send them home, in favor of the dangerous work they felt needed to be done.
It was obvious that the Voice thought it was time, too, when new trainees stopped appearing. Most simply finished their Grand Quests and left, but a number of others stayed to help. It took weeks of putting together clues and exploring the Monster Cave before they found the answer; a grotto accessible only by traveling deep within the cave system held a damaged ancient artifact. Once known as a Beast Tamer, it was acting as a monster-attractor. All they had to do was find it, then either destroy it or bring it out so that someone in town could take care of it.
It wasn’t a simple task. All of the students left in Brehain gathered together for a massive assault on the cave. Even with everyone searching, it took days before the artifact was found.
When it was, it was clear that it wouldn’t be easily destroyed; it couldn’t be easily crushed, and every time someone tried to break it, they either weren’t strong enough or it twisted so that they weren’t able to exert enough force. Josaiah set up the eventual solution; he used a Plant Growth ability to anchor both ends of the rod, with the damaged spot above a large gap. The strongest people in all of the groups then took turns trying to break it. Many used the weapons they’d found or earned; several of the weapons broke.
Eventually, it gave.
When it did, all of the Quests completed and the scenario Tutorial ended.
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Author's Note: The Tutorial is designed to help individuals grow. For many, that can be achieved with simple training; Serenity certainly didn't need anything other than the "standard" training Tutorial that can put a lot of people through in a short period of time.
Some people need something else; often, they need to be the hero of their own story. This scenario is surprisingly good at developing those. Unfortunately, it's a relatively expensive one for the Voice, since it takes a lot longer to get a smaller set of people through. It also requires additional shapeshifting, but that's not a large cost.
The Voice has to guess what people will respond to the best (or at least well enough). It's not always correct, but it does the best it can - and it's hard to know if another choice would have been better or not. It also has to balance that against the time required, since the Tutorial is part of how it helps people, and people who die because it didn't get to them in time are a complete loss.
