"Wooo."
Atlas sighed before approaching the corpses. Each of them had dropped an Ogre's Essence. 'Lets see how strong I can get now.' He thought as he grabbed his fourth essence. But the familiar sensation didn't happen this time, in fact the essence merely stayed in his palm.
>>----------------------<<
Physical stats are too high to be enhanced by Ogre's Essence.
>>----------------------<<
Seeing this Atlas was stunned. 'I guess that's why that last change felt so monumental. I must've reached FF-Grade.' Naturally since the essence enhanced all stats by 1 below FF-Grade, he assumed that the limit of enhancement would be the minimum of FF-Grade. After all logically the limit of FFF-Grade would be below FF-Grade so increasing it by 1 would allow it to change grade. This was merely speculation though, so Atlas wasn't sure how accurate his guess was.
He then grabbed the second essence holding them in his left hand. His pockets were ripped now so this was the only way he could carry them around. 'Well actually the tutorial should be over now. Will I be sent back home?' Just as this thought crossed his mind a new system window appeared in front of him.
>>----------------------<<
Special Mission Complete!
Victor: Humans
All surviving participants will now be taken to the intermediary dimension to wait for the global tutorial's conclusion.
>>----------------------<<
'I guess I still have to wait. It could've at least left me here so I could continue treasure hunting, but oh well.' Atlas sighed internally. While he had defeated the Ogres he knew this wasn't the end. Clearly tutorial was only the first of the horrors that would befall him and humanity as a whole.
---------------------------------------
In an instant Atlas found himself within a white void. "I guess this is the intermediary dimension." He muttered to himself. Even here he was alone, he assumed there'd be other tutorial groups and he would be placed with them but apparently not.
>>----------------------<<
Tutorial Batch 10,004,325
Congratulations on Surviving the Tutorial!
Rewards:
System Beginner Version Unlocked!
>>----------------------<<
>>----------------------<<
Special Mission Blood Debt!
COMPLETED
Basic Rewards:
[Ogre's Essence FF-Grade] x1
For participating in the Special Mission "Blood Debt!"
Title [Ogre Killer FF-Grade] obtained!
Calculating Additional Rewards!
>>----------------------<<
>>----------------------<<
Contribution 100%
Multiple Achievements Completed
Additional Rewards:
Killed all opposing Ogres with majority of the contribution!
Title [Ogre Killer FF-Grade] evolves to [Ogre's Bane F-Grade]
Collected 5 or more items in the tutorial!
Title [Hoarder FF-Grade] obtained!
Cleared "Blood Debt!" singlehandedly!
Title [One-Man Army F-Grade] obtained!
+100 Merits
Reward Rank: S+
>>----------------------<<
Reading through all this Atlas was shocked. It seemed he hadn't toiled for nothing, and from what the rewards were he was indeed right. This fight wasn't over, at least not yet anyway. 'I might as well look at the Basic Version now.'
"Status!"
>>----------------------<<
System Version: Basic
Name: Atlas Ironwar
Species: Human [FF]
Age: 20
Titles: [One-Man Army F-Grade] [Ogre's Bane F-Grade] [Hoarder FF-Grade]
Merits: 100
Stats:
Strength: 10 (+4) [FF]
Agility: 10 (+4) [FF]
Vitality: 10 [FF]
Durability: 10 [FF]
Senses: 10 (+5) [FF]
Intelligence: 13 [FF]
Gift: [Calm Mind FF-Grade]
Inventory (0/5):
Mission: N/A
>>----------------------<<
Looking at his newly improved status Atlas nodded in delight. Now this really reminded him of those system novels he had read in his youth. Naturally he still didn't understand how much of it worked, but as he moved his intention to certain pieces, descriptions popped up.
>>----------------------<<
One-Man Army
Description: Increases all stats below E-Grade by 1.
>>----------------------<<
>>----------------------<<
Ogre's Bane
Description: When fighting Ogres increase all stats below E-Grade by 1.
>>----------------------<<
>>----------------------<<
Hoarder
Description: Unlocks the inventory function and grants 5 slots.
>>----------------------<<
Seeing this Atlas nodded in understanding. So it seemed that inventory wasn't a base function of the system but rather an effect of his title. Next he wondered what Merits could be used for, but the system gave him no extra information unfortunately. He then moved onto his Gift which grabbed a lot of his attention.
>>----------------------<<
Gift
Description: An innate talent of a being, certain species have higher rates of Gifts among their populace. Gifts while fantastical will normally conform with a being's species.
>>----------------------<<
>>----------------------<<
Calm Mind
Description: A versatile gift. Being's with the Calm Mind Gift are clear headed in any scenario. While they may not be the most intelligent, battle ready or even manipulative, the ability to be calm at all times proves to be greatly useful allowing bearers to perform well above what their stats may indicate.
>>----------------------<<
This alone answered one of Atlas' most pressing questions. His extreme calmness during the tutorial. He was never one to panic as such, but he wasn't stone cold. On the other hand the tutorial would make one believe he was a seasoned veteran. 'I guess the gift must've taken effect once the tutorial began. Which begs the question. Since before I wasn't a naturally stone cold always calm person, would people who developed that calm or exhibited it in the real world also have my Gift?'
After speculating for a moment his intention turned towards his stats. All his physical stats were cleanly at 10, while his intelligence was a whopping 13. 'Well considering the Ogres and the fact our human race is an FF-Grade species, we must classify as such due to our intelligence. Because assuming my current strength is a 10 total no athlete on earth can match my current strength.' With that in mind Atlas tested something.
He grabbed the Amulet of Strength and "tried" to place it in his inventory. In but a moment the amulet disappeared from his hand and reappeared in the inventory section.
>>----------------------<<
Inventory (1/5): [Amulet of Strength FF-Grade]
>>----------------------<<
Atlas then felt strength drain from his body, and simultaneously his status changed. His strength stayed at "10", but the "(+4)" had disappeared. 'So I guess all stats in brackets are enhancements via items, which fit my prior speculation. What was more important was figuring out that they're added on top of the base and not part of it.'
He then tried to retrieve the Amulet of Strength, and in but a moment it reappeared in his hand. With everything now figured out, he wore the amulet once again, and then placed the two essences and sword in the inventory. Since he didn't need them right now, and he frankly didn't feel like carrying them, he thought it best to place them there.
'I just wish they provided a timer or something. And I wonder when its going to give me the reward essence, but I guess its not important anyway considering I can't use them.' After that Atlas then started lying down. His sleep was previously interrupted, and the tutorial was finally over, so he felt it was long overdue that he rest. And then he slept.