It took some time but everyone in the end managed to get their own room or a double, for the couples, and boy, I didn’t realize that so many had found solace in the arms of someone else in the time we were transported into the tutorial.
Who am I to judge though? I did the same, and if I could control this stupid aura I would actually be able to spend some time with Rhea, time that she probably needed after the incident at the border.
It was my fault she got accused as the culprit, but thankfully the people that knew her were inclined to believe she had nothing to do with it, and my reassurance helped with most of the members of the guild, but with the new group?
Let’s just say that dinner had been quite awkward for her, I was sure that it would pass, and in time they would see her kindness, she was a hard person to hate, even in this circumstance.
I found myself looking around at the tables, the tavern we were in, Vaukin’s Rest, was what I would expect of a medieval place, maybe a tad fantasy-like, it was beautiful in the manner that it plunged you into a different timeline, with our new way of dressing, armors, robes, weapons and a distinct lack of modern clothes, it made the ambiance all the more magical for it. The bard at the corner, playing a kind of guitar that looked like a mix between a balalaika and an oud, gave a pleasant background noise while reinforcing the magical mood.
That and of course, the big satyr-like people working in the tavern, bard included.
I took my eyes off the hoofed legs of a waiter passing by, the hearth in the middle of the room popped and sparks flew all around, the smell of the hearty stew we polished off a bit ago still lingered in the air, along with spices and the smell of unwashed people. The tavern was filled to capacity, small and big tables full of people, only a quarter were my own, the sound of talking was so loud we had to nearly shout to each other to understand something. And in between all of this Adrian was recounting a tale of one of his first times getting taken by a giant bird of some kind to the nest, to be used as food for the newborns.
People exploded into laughter as he said something I didn’t quite get, I was too far away, both physically and mentally, to pay attention.
“Hey!” A hand appeared in front of my vision, snapping its fingers rapidly.
“Earth to Elias? Are you here?”
I turned to my right, looking at Chloe and Tom who in turn were looking at me.
“Yes?”
“We were talking about that guy, what do you think?” She said.
“He’s powerful, extremely powerful, and his group is no slouch either.” I told them.
She rolled her eyes, “Not about that, we know it, and if he wasn’t powerful after all the shit he went through he would be a moron, no I mean as a person, what do you think about him.”
Adrian was a really outspoken guy, a true extrovert, with the looks and the charisma on his side too, he conquered the hearts of his people, and was in the process of doing the same for mine too. He looked like he had no trouble sharing information with us, giving a clear answer as to what happened when he went back in the past, it happened when he died, and he started over again at the beginning of the tutorial, right after he was transported from Earth, like us.
Pity that he left out how he got this ability and who gave it to him, but he said that this was the last run for him, no more going back, he finished the extra lives, like a cat.
Yeah, I didn’t believe him for a second, but apparently most did, or they simply could do nothing about it and decided it made sense to just go on with things, because the tutorial was too good to not be exploited as much as it could, and just waiting for Adrian to complete it, or reset it didn’t make any sense.
I agreed, but I wasn’t going to spend my time doing nothing, if he was going to reset the tutorial, he would do it much further along the line, I had time to think about a countermeasure, but now, I needed information about, well, everything.
“I think he is a skilled manipulator, probably twisted by his many deaths and living so long in the tutorial, but we can trust him that he will complete the tutorial, I don’t know how much I could trust him about anything else.” I said.
“He doesn’t give me the vibe of a manipulator,” said Cole from the other side of the table, he got a third serving of stew, and was greedily guzzling it down, the man now was decidedly bigger than before, after using that diluted giant bloodline, apparently he developed a giant appetite too.
“A hero complex with narcissistic tendencies and a pathological need for attention? Yes, but not really manipulator material.” He finished.
The people around him looked at the big guy intently, he stopped, spoon halfway inside his mouth.
“My ex was a psychologist.” He said, then resumed eating.
Isabella beside him glared at him at the words “my ex”.
He was wrong, dead wrong. I met many people in my line of work, I worked with real heroes, with villains and politicians, and everyone in between. This guy was building on his status and using his natural personality to hide his intentions, he had an agenda of his own, I still didn’t know what that was but for sure it wasn’t being a hero.
A hero… the way he addressed himself in the letter… Hero of Humanity, it sounded like a title to me, or an achievement. What if he really was the hero of humanity, anointed by some higher power, or even the System itself, and granted this ridiculous power?
Would it work forever? Would he go back to the beginning for all his life? No, it didn’t make sense, that would mean that every race would have a hero that would reset the universe every time it died? I had a theory, I believed that this power was going to work only within the bounds of the tutorial, not after.
We were in a bubble, so to speak, I saw the map, it didn’t make any sense and when I asked about it Adrian said that the boundaries of the map were impossible to cross, so we were like in a simulation, was this a simulation? Maybe, it was one of the greatest and most probable theories about our existence even before magic entered the equation, but anyway, all of these theories didn’t matter in the end, I was still here, I still had to deal with the situation at hand.
So what I believed was that this guy had unlimited chances as long as he didn’t exit the tutorial, or this phase of the tutorial at least, he never spoke of entering the beacon, actually he never spoke of felling the last two Kings. His limit had been five.
And the greatest news?
The Tyrant of Aaranor was the Third King.
Finally…
A lead, a true lead, I still didn’t know the location, but I don’t believe it would be a problem actually, he didn’t point it out on the maps, but I could ask, or better, I could make someone else ask and then I could go and get that crown.
I could nearly taste it, my freedom, so near…
My curse spiked at the thought, like if it was mocking me, plunging me in a pit of depression, my mood was rock bottom, I could feel myself slipping up sometimes, and the people around me were starting to notice.
My will was constantly battling against the emptiness that was encroaching on my psyche. Making me feel like I wanted to just curl up and die. But I refused.
A flame was burning in me now, the prospect of finding the crown was spurring me on despite the curse slowly ramping up in power, I still had a trait evolution token I would be able to use on my Curse-Born Resilience trait if I couldn’t take it anymore, but there was a silver lining to the curse acting up. I felt my trait respond by advancing slowly but surely, I felt the two interacting, the curse strengthening slowly while the trait evolved, but it was happening much too slowly compared to the curse, so it needed a boost probably, or I should continue to subject myself to more curses and see if I could force a breakthrough.
While my thoughts spiraled, the others continued the conversation, I paid them no mind, drinking absentmindedly from my glass of wine.
“Eli,” Alya’s voice roused me from my thoughts, I could see Rhea beside me look at her quizzically at the use of the nickname she called me by, but she didn’t comment on it.
“Yes?”
“I need your help, can you come to the shop with me?”
Rhea whispered “go” in my ear before I could refuse, I was pretty mentally tired and I already spent a lot of time dealing with her stuff today, but apparently it was not over yet.
“Of course, let’s take a breath of fresh air.”
We got directions before so I had an idea about the shop location, what we needed to do now would be to get her the stat fruits and potions, and then she would have to evolve her trait, then, her class probably.
It would be an important moment for her, and while our relationship was pretty strange right now, I still felt that attraction toward her… I didn’t know what it was but it spurred me to help her, so in the end, I’d do so.
We got up and after giving a kiss to Rhea, with the shock of many, I got out of the cozy and warm tavern into the cool air outside.
Let’s get one of my strongest allies a power up.