(Author's Note: I just realized that I had said 6 individual stat trials, but there were 7 stats, so just note that there are actually 7 stat trials and then 3 final trials in the tutorial tower.)
What I first noticed when I walked into this structure was that it was completely dark, with no light at all.
The second thing that I noticed were the 12 statues that were surrounding the edges of the room.
Finally, the door behind me closed and I walked to the center of the room.
[Trial: Perception
Objective: Defeat all enemies in the room
Difficulty: Hard
Rewards: +10 Perception
Punishment for Failure: Death]
"Well, let's get this test over with quickly."
As I had already added so much points into my perception stat, I could easily detect where all of the statues were and I could even detect their movements and I could estimate almost perfectly when they would hit me.
Using my senses, I was able to dodge, parry and weave through the twelve statues pretty easily.
Then after 5 minutes of dodging and trying to find a way to hurt the statues, I was finally hit once, then again, and again. After I lost my stride, they started overwhelming me, causing me to fall to my knees, I only had 4 Hp left.
'Shit, I forgot to buy a weapon from the store.'
"Open store!"
Not wasting time looking through the catalog, due to me having to continuously dodge and parry, I bought something that I knew for a fact was in my budget.
"Buy two beginner daggers."
[10,000 TC has been deducted from player "Shinubwa".]
Two steel daggers appeared in my hands and I was finally able to start counterattacking.
With the weapons in my hands, I easily started shattering their arms, legs and then finally their heads, bringing them down one by one.
After what seemed like an eternity, I was able to break the head of the last statue.
"Ugghh," I groaned, clutching my head.
"Status Window"
[Player Shinubwa Lv. 1 (174,990,000 TC):
Strength: 17
Stamina: 10
Agility: 20
Mana: 10
Hp: 20
Perception: 30
Intelligence: 20
Extra Stat Points: 0
-------------------------------
Job: None
Titles: "Millionaire"
Skills: Tactical Domination (S)]
I bought a small Hp potion from the store and gulped it down in one shot.
Grimacing due to the test, and then wiping my mouth, I contemplated why this mistake happened.
I came to the conclusion that was all due to my ignorance and confidence, making a rookie mistake like forgetting to buy weapons because I believed myself to be a god in this world, forgetting that death can still be right around the corner.
After pondering over my mistakes, I vowed not to get too cocky again and opened the door to the next test.
What I came across was a great and vast field.
'I guess it's time for the stamina test.'
[Trial: Stamina
Objective: Cross the field and reach the ocean
Difficulty: Hard
Rewards: +10 Stamina
Punishment for Failure: Death]
Although the instructions seemed simple, this was actually one of the most mentally stressful tests as you had to cross a distance of 500 km just to reach the sea.
"I guess I'll just start now."
I ran at a moderate pace, not stopping by replenishing myself with stamina potions that I bought from the shop along the way.
Day turned to night and the turned back to day and then turned back to night. Watching the sun pass by overhead was really the only thing that I could do, as the plain looked the same no matter where I was.
I used the rising and setting sun to check my direction so that I didn't stray off a straight path and endured the mental boredom that attacked me.
Finally, after who knows how long, I reached the ocean.
At first, all I could smell was the slaty air. Then I saw the blue shining in the distance. And finally, when my shoes touched the sandy beach, I sunk to my knees, crying in joy at the change in scenery and the sense of accomplishment.
"Finally, it's over," I murmured, wiping the tears from my eyes.
I got back up to me feet again and steeled myself for what I was about to do next.
You see, there was a hidden test here that doubled the rewards of the first test, and that was to swim across the ocean.
I had added this in as a hidden easter egg, wanting to reward players that tried to increase their stamina even more, after that brutal marathon the had just run.
I took off my clothes, placed them into my inventory, and then dived into the ocean.
Again, I followed the exact same strategy that I had done when running, keeping a steady pace and only stopping to drink stamina potions from the shop.
After another round of countless days and nights, I finally reached the other shore.
[Congratulations on passing a hidden trial!]
[You have earned the title "Perseverance Maniac"]
[You have gained 20 extra stamina points.]
[Many gods applaud your unwavering character.]
[You have been gifted 30,000 TC.]
"Ahhhhh, thank god that all payed off," I said, while lying down on the soft, fine sand.
"Status Window"
[Player Shinubwa Lv. 1 (174,920,000 TC):
Strength: 17
Stamina: 40
Agility: 20
Mana: 10
Hp: 20
Perception: 30
Intelligence: 20
Extra Stat Points: 0
-------------------------------
Job: None
Titles: "Perseverance Maniac", "Millionaire"
Skills: Tactical Domination (S)]
A smile creeped up on my face seeing the stats that I now had.
Stamina was a really important stat for 2 reasons. One was that it made it so that the user could work for a longer period of time without feeling tired, and the other reason was that the Stamina stat made it so that your skin became harder and harder, so my 40 stamina right now could probably make it so that even a top ranker with a 20 strength stat couldn't pierce through my skin even when they were at full power with using a skill on top of that, that was just how far the gap was between a 40 point stat and a 20 point stat.
'I guess I should check the leaderboard again.'
"Leader Board"
[Leaderboard:
1. Zero (Tutorial Tower 3) - 7th floor | Lv.1 | 73,146 TC
2. Anonymous (Tutorial Tower 83) - 6th floor | Lv. 1 | 174,920,000 TC
3. Liu Zhang (Tutorial Tower 61) - 6th floor | Lv. 1 | 69,789 TC
4. 876 (Tutorial Tower 82) - 6th floor | Lv. 1 | 62,931 TC
5. Bam25 (Tutorial Tower 82) - 6th floor | Lv. 1 | 62,281 TC
...]
It seemed like they had also been held back by the stamina test, probably taking longer than me as they couldn't waste 100,000 TC like I did on stamina potions, so they had to rest every once in a while while taking it.
I was impressed at Zero for being able to make it to the 8th floor before me, but they couldn't advance yet anyways, as after I checked the leaderboard, I could tell that they couldn't satisfy the conditions just yet.
I would probably be unable to satisfy the conditions in a while too, so I didn't worry about it anymore, as the 8th test mostly depended on how strong you where and how close other members in your tower were to reaching the 8th floor.
'Well next is the mana test.'
Double checking everything again, I proceeded to go to the last "easy" floor of the tutorial tower.