"Do you think we'll meet other players there?" Mia asked Ethan from behind as they both continued making their way toward one of the golden lights.
"I don't know, but we'll find out when we reach there," Ethan replied, his gaze focused on the direction leading to the particular golden light he chose at random.
Ethan was both a little fearful about the unknown, but he figured that he still had to check out what those golden lights were and what this system event was all about.
If he ignored the blessings that have descended now because of fear and uncertainty and they just happened to be something that could be very useful to him during his stay here, the uncertain future in front of him would only look more dreadful in a sense.
For one, the message the panel showed relating to the tutorial grounds suggested that everything was real.
Ethan had stopped trying to convince himself that this might still be a game or not and decided to take things way more seriously.
In the end, if this all happened to be a game, he'd have a good laugh over it and maybe praise the game developers for making it look so real. But if a part of him still continued to treat the world as a game, he might really die.
However, for some reasons he could not explain, this both scared him and made him excited.
After several minutes of travelling through the woods in silence, something finally happened that made Ethan stop in his tracks.
A metre away from Ethan on the loamy soil was a footprint.
The footprint, shaped like a step, seemed to have been created by a human.
In fact, it belonged to a human. After the first footprint on the ground, several others followed. There were other foot trails beside the one in front of Ethan and in the middle, indicating that multiple individuals had treaded on this path.
"Players?" Ethan muttered silently, bending down to lay his palm on the ground where the footprint was.
It was still fresh, and the sensation was as real as it could get.
A few minutes ago, he might have considered the footprints belonging to NPCs, but that seemed very unlikely now. Except, of course, if this was all still a game. However, Ethan had stopped considering this a game and started taking things seriously.
"They seem to be headed in the same direction as us," Mia said over Ethan's shoulder, looking at the footprints in front of them curiously.
A particular scent wafted through Ethan's nose and almost distracted him from what he was focusing on before. Since her upper body was just above his shoulder, Ethan was very tempted to stare up. Her slightly wet hair that brushed against his face didn't help matters. Thankfully, the urge to do anything that would alleviate his distraction ceased when Mia separated herself from him and took half a step back.
"What should we do now?" she asked, a little nervous.
Hearing her words, Ethan released a short sigh, stood up, and then replied.
"We continue," Ethan said and added, "If the other players are interested in these system blessings, then we should show some interest too."
Hearing what Ethan had said, Mia could only nod.
Mia had no choice but to follow his lead in the first place unless she wanted to separate, and that was not in her best interest. She knew she couldn't defend herself at all, and venturing out alone would be a death wish. Mia had witnessed a person being devoured right before her eyes and had even experienced being attacked herself.
Mia knew she would have died if Ethan hadn't been there to accompany her. Now that she had somehow convinced him to let her follow him, she wasn't about to go against that, especially after observing Ethan's actions in the last few minutes.
"Apart from the system blessings, it seems that other players will surely be there, so let's use this opportunity to regroup with the others faster," Ethan said.
Ethan was someone who often preferred to be a lone wolf in games, but this time was different. He might need someone capable by his side to survive whatever challenges this tutorial ground was going to throw at him. If he couldn't find a reliable teammate, that was fine too. Being alone was better than carrying a heavy burden.
Mia's case was a little different, as she had essentially hired his services. However, she wasn't entirely different, as Ethan had told her that if they encountered something dangerous, she would be on her own.
"Let's move," Ethan said and started making his way forward by following the foot trail in front of him. It wasn't strictly necessary since the direction the foot trail led him was to the golden light some distance away, but Ethan still paid attention to it regardless, lest he missed something.
As they continued making their way toward the golden light ahead, which was growing larger by the second, Ethan decided to check his status again.
The panel from before had made it clear that this system together with its blessing held significant importance, and given the nature of this place, Ethan's instincts told him that he might have to engage in combat. He wasn't sure if it would be against a wild animal, a monster, or even another human – though he hoped the latter wouldn't happen. Thus, he chose to prepare himself, just in case.
He had a sword in his hand, which was his greatest strength when combined with his martial arts. However, he realised that what might mean a lot in the real world was different in this environment governed by game rules.
---------
Status Name: -Aurora-
Level: -1-
Class: -Mage-
Experience: -8-/-100-
Attribute Stats:
- Strength: -13-
- Agility: -14-
- Intelligence: -17-
- Constitution: -11-
Attribute Values: Strength: 1.3, Agility: 1.4, Intelligence: 1.7, Constitution: 1.1
Attribute Points: -0-
- Coins: -0-
- Active Quests:
- [Survive the tutorial grounds]
- Inventory:
- [Level 1 Low Common Grade Staff]
- [Level 1 Low Uncommon Grade Health Potion x1]
- [Level 1 Low Uncommon Grade Mana Potion x1]
- Skills:
- [Analyse]
- [Loot]
- [Level 0 Mana Ball]
- [Level 0 Mana Missiles]
- Abilities:
- Friend Status:
- Friendling List-
- Map:
----------
System Notification:
- [4 Exp Gained]
- [You have slain a {Normal Grade}Level 1 Forest Wolf]
-----------
"I'm a mage here; can't forget that."