"You!!!"
Hiraya could only curse helplessly as she watched Kevin hold the sword.
With no retort, she lost.
The item was a sword that surprisingly seemed tailored for Kevin who is a swordsman. It was a black long sword that was covered by carved runes on its blade. Its hilt fit Kevin's hand as he felt a large power radiating from the sword.
It was the SSS-grade item, [Nijimiri (Replica)].
Holding the sword, Kevin appeared to be a full-pledged Sword Saint as he revealed a satisfied smile. It took him no time before his body dropped to the ground, keeping the relieved smile.
His newly awakened skill earlier cost him his entire mana. That was why he told Hiraya to keep a distance so he could push his body to its limit and secure the item before he passed out from mana exhaustion.
Clenching the sword tightly as he couldn't wait to use it, he passed out in the large space with Hiraya walking closer to him.
Clicking her tongue, Hiraya felt annoyed for a while before she plastered a smile on the resting Kevin. After all, she knew that he craved to have the SSS-grade item for a while now.
She too wanted such an item but seeing that it was a sword, she shortly tossed off her enthusiasm as she couldn't use a sword anyways.
"I guess you are destined to have it", she mumbled as she then carried Kevin on her back and held the two swords.
"You are heavy!", releasing a pained expression, Hiraya pushed herself to carry Kevin on her back, carrying him outside of the cave.
Kevin, aware that Hiraya would take care of him, smiled as he rested himself on Hiraya's back and let himself doze off.
—---
"Hiraya! Kevin!"
Returning to the Wyvern's territory, Alab and Althea welcomed them back as they flashed a relieved expression upon seeing that they were fine.
Much more, they plastered a grin at the sight of the SSS-grade sword.
"It's great that you guys are fine", Alab uttered as he dragged his exhausted body to help Hiraya hop off the Dove's back. Similarly, it took them a hard time to drag Kevin's body off its back.
Thud
With a thud, they all rested their body on the head of the [Nightmare Skull]. Each of them was exhausted beyond words.
"About earlier—", Kevin was about to say something when Hiraya cut him short.
"I told you right? It's not your fault", she asserted as she looked at the sky being gradually submerged into darkness once more.
They didn't know why but the night sky became their favorite scene from this Tutorial. It was during these times that they got to spend most of their time together, lying and just watching the arrival of the starry sky.
"It was a long day, I think we should rest now", Hiraya muttered
With their exhausted bodies, they closed their eyes as they let their bodies rest under the starry sky. Relieved smiles on their faces and unawareness of their bond that was forged stronger by this major crisis.
"Goodnight", they muttered…
—-
"I will be leaving now then"
It was the dawn of 5th day and the sun was yet to peak out but a group of players watched the picturesque spectacle of the dawn as they bid their goodbyes to Kevin.
"It's not a goodbye, we will still meet in the Tower", Alab muttered as he patted the shoulder of Kevin.
"Be sure to get that medicine and cure your mother, okay? Little Kevin", Althea muttered as she also patted his left shoulder.
"Our guild, I would let you have the Vice-leader so be sure to join, you got me?!", Hiraya uttered as she patted Kevin on his head. To be exact, it was too heavy to be called a pat.
"Still have a grudge for losing the SSS-grade item, aren't you?", Kevin teased Hiraya.
"Y--you! Just leave! Else I would smack you more!", Hiraya exclaimed.
Watching her happy pills arguing once more, Althea released a chuckle as she covered her mouth.
"Make sure that you guys will get a stronger item, I would take the leadership role if your item couldn't compare to mine", Kevin teased once more.
Hearing him, the three nodded their heads.
"Sure! Just wait for us!"
"Don't worry, we are stronger now!"
"Tsk, you are more arrogant than you look!"
After exchanging some more teases, Kevin finally looked at them one by one as he firmed his resolve. He got to leave the Tutorial now as he already wasted too much time. He still needed to get the medicine for his Mom.
"I will be leaving now then", he did as he uttered "exit" and left the Tutorial.
Seeing his body dispersed into golden lights, Hiraya muttered in a low voice…
"Take care"
"I heard that you idiot", Kevin teased as he revealed a smirk.
"Y--you! I didn't say anything! Just leave!", exclaimed Hiraya as she urged Kevin's body to just dispersed into golden lights completely. Her face blushed red from embarrassment.
Beside him, Alab teased.
"Hiraya! I didn't know that you and Althea have the same taste in men ", he whispered, which further caused redness on Hiraya's face.
"You!!!"
Smack
With a bump on his head, Alab teased her again as he ran. Hiraya then chased after him with her fist clenched tightly. Althea on the other hand just kept laughing at them.
"HAHAHAHHHA"
—--
Meanwhile.
On the edge of the Inner Part of the wilderness, a bloodied young boy dragged his worn-out body that was missing a left arm as blood endlessly gushed out like a loosened faucet.
His face turned pale as he constantly lose blood over time. From the large cuts covering his body, it was clear that he was ambushed by several people.
If Alab was here, he would be able to recognize the young boy. He was the boy who shouted before entering the Tutorial and the same SSS-grade player that Alab tailed at the beginning of the Tutorial.
His name is Alon.
His eyes burned with madness as he remembered how he got ambushed by several players the moment he reached the Inner part where the SSS-grade item was at. He blamed himself for being naive and caught off guard, bringing him to his current state.
It already happened days ago but the pain and looks of greed from the other players were fresh from his mind. He couldn't wait to exit the Tutorial and repay the same humiliation they gave him.
Helplessly, Alon could only escape the onslaught of attacks and watch the players battle for his SSS-grade item.
'Those fuckers, I will kill you all! Just wait', he pondered as he threw up blood again.
With his pale complexion, his sight landed on the scenery ahead as his face revealed a shocked expression.
Ahead of him, a pit larger than anything he had seen in this Tutorial, was located. The enormous trees seemed to have encountered brutal enemies as they were shredded to pieces. From this, Alon could infer that a fight, more large-scale than he had ever witnessed, occurred here.
'J--just who?', he pondered as he dragged his exhausted body to enter the Center part. The trembling ground no longer restricted him as the fight had probably caused irreversible changes in the landscape.
'This, are they SSS-grade rank??? Or, are they U-rank awakened?', he pondered as sweat dripped down from his head.
—--
A day had passed after the sensational fight in the Center of the Tutorial.
It was the night of the 6th day and three players sat on the head of a [Nightmare Skull]. It was the group of Alab.
For two days now, they had been searching for S-grade items in the Center part but to no avail, their exhaustion was for naught. They weren't able to find any item which was expected as the Center part was vast and they were chasing blindlessly, with no intuition or hint of some sort.
Thinking of this, Hiraya clicked her tongue as she chewed on raw and badly-cooked meat from the monster they killed earlier.
It was during these times that they couldn't help but miss Kevin.
"Though expensive, his food tastes better than this", Alab muttered as he chewed on the jerky without a choice. His face clearly sulking as he missed the latter.
"I hope he already cured his mother", Althea muttered as her teeth barely shred the jerky in her mouth.
Changing the topic, Hiraya rubbed her head as she pondered.
"This, only if there is a U-rade item in this Tutorial, it would be better", she uttered as they only had a single S-grade item in their hands. Also, she was annoyed by the fact that no U-grade item existed in this Tutorial, otherwise, their intuition would have pointed it out.
"How about you, Alab? Can you still feel the existence of the F-grade item?", Althea asked.
Closing his eyes and perceiving what his intuition was telling him, Alab nodded his head as he could still feel the F-grade item. Only this time, it had gotten stronger as they were close to the deepest and the central part of the wilderness.
'I still wonder why is the F-grade item the weakest, was placed in the most dangerous part of the Tutorial?', he pondered.
After eating the jerky that they could even barely call food, the group proceeded to their main discussion.
"Tomorrow is the last day, we have to get at least 2 S-grade items within that time", Hiraya uttered as she revealed a serious expression.
Alab and Althea were new to this side of Hiraya. They were used to her annoyed, smug, and cheerful self. They didn't know that she had a serious and clever side on her.
They just attributed it to her desire of being the leader of their soon-to-be-formed guild and just tossed it off before they replied.
"We have already searched the Northern, Western, and Southern Parts and weren't able to find any item", Alab uttered.
"And for the Eastern Part, that would be impossible since that would be covered by a seascape. We couldn't fight there", Althea added.
Pondering for a while, Hiraya disclosed a determined demeanor as she looked at the deepest part of the wilderness. The Center of the Central part - the nest of the SSS-grade monster, an untouchable bug in the Tutorial.
"Then we have no choice, we have to attack that place", she muttered as she stood up. Rage surged in her eyes as she didn't want to exit this Tutorial empty-handed.
She had been holding her annoyance for two days now, and at this moment, she couldn't help but clenched her fist as she muttered.
"Prepare yourselves, tomorrow, we will be taming a large beast", she uttered looking at several S and SS-grade monsters behind them, standing behavely. Closing her eyes, she had decided.
'If I can't find any item in this Tutorial, then I will take that SSS-grade monster as my reward'