When the young man stood up, he turned to the woman he was trying to protect and said, "If you know of a safe place, please leave here quickly."
The woman shook her head and thanked him tearfully, almost pleading, "Thank you so much, thank you so much!"
Altair's hands were shaking uncontrollably. It wasn't from fear. It was the adrenaline that his body was pumping out in increasing amounts.
The young man hadn't expected to have so much fun inside the tower, especially during the tutorial section. It was perhaps a slightly cruel thought, but killing a monster excited him.
There were many dead people around, and the dead bodies of many races Altair didn't know. Spilt blood, scattered body parts...
Still, the young man hadn't collapsed at the sight, perhaps because he had taken a life himself; on the contrary, he forced himself to see everything.
Meanwhile, more shouts began to reach his ears. Yet this time, the shouts were neither from the crowd nor a cry for help.
"Fall back! To the inner perimeter! Quickly!!!" someone shouted repeatedly.
The young man could see wounded soldiers being carried away, many of them young men, perhaps the same age as Altair, trapped beneath heavy armour.
He could see dozens of goblins advancing towards the soldiers.
He began running directly towards them, grabbed the iron sword lying beside a dead soldier with a sense of confidence, and then charged at the goblins.
The retreating soldiers saw Altair running towards them from their left flank.
Before they could comprehend what this young man was doing, Altair had plunged right into the goblin group.
The soldiers looked at the young man and, though they began to tremble with fear, they immediately launched their attack.
Nearly twenty soldiers were retreating from nearly forty goblins when suddenly they all counterattacked.
The moment Altair entered, he had already thrust his sword into the bodies of two goblins and pulled it out.
When the soldiers joined the fray, the clanging sounds of dozens of swords began to echo in this area, just a short distance from the entrance to the walls.
These sounds, echoing far and wide, told those around that there was still solidarity within this city.
The city was still standing.
Altair was slightly out of breath.
He hadn't taken any major blows, but part of his clothing was torn with small cuts. He wasn't in pain, but he had sustained minor injuries, albeit unintentionally.
Still, he wasn't weak; he was acting very bravely, especially for someone who had seen everything for the first time and taken a life for the first time.
Of course, this didn't mean he was very strong.
"CHING!"
Somehow, one of the goblins managed to parry the sword Altair had swung at him, causing it to slip from his grasp.
Nevertheless, the young man realised that if he hesitated even for a second, he would die. He immediately drew the dagger he had tucked back into its sheath at his waist and plunged it into the goblin's throat before it could attack him again.
"Kii---kiegghhh..."
The goblin thrashed about for just a second or two, then blood spurted from its throat. Altair immediately spotted a system window in the lower right corner of his vision, one that wouldn't interfere with his fighting:
[Congratulations!
User has levelled up to level "two"!
You have gained 5 status points!
Each status point gained in the Tutorial will be distributed randomly.
User has gained "3 strength" and "2 agility" status points.]
Altair suddenly felt his body become lighter.
It wasn't a huge change, but he knew his body had genuinely become lighter.
The trembling in his hands had instantly disappeared, and his breathless body had suddenly begun to breathe more easily.
The young man suddenly smiled.
This terrifying smile seemed to freeze the goblins in their tracks for a second.
Altair really did look terrifying. He had never been very good at smiling, but it was indeed true that being able to frighten real monsters was rather gratifying for him.
He realised that the soldiers had already dealt with nearly twenty of the goblins as he gripped the knife in his hand more tightly, and he pounced on the rest as if nothing had happened.
Within a second, he had knocked another goblin to the ground, and while the soldiers pounced on the other goblins, he stabbed the goblin he had knocked down repeatedly in the chest.
Without stopping.
Until he was sure it was dead.
When the goblin died shortly afterwards, Altair finally got up from where he was and saw the soldiers looking at him with curiosity and admiration.
One of the soldiers stepped forward and extended his armoured hand towards Altair, saying, "Thank you, sir hunter, you saved our lives."
Altair wiped the goblin blood that had spattered the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, took the soldier's hand, and said, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."
Apparently, the soldiers thought Altair was a hunter, which was quite normal.
The young man had only a knife in his hand, no armour or anything else. He did have a bag full of water and food, but that wasn't very important.
In short, the soldiers thought he was a hunter belonging to the guild.
When the young man came to, his adrenaline levels must have started to drop, and he realised his body ached.
Of course, apart from his walks and lifting weights, it was unheard of for him to engage in such strenuous activity.
He had only learnt to use a knife about six months ago, let alone swing something like a sword.
"Is there anywhere we can go?" Altair asked calmly. Despite all the pain in his body, the only thing he wanted was to finish the tutorial and leave this place.
"The city centre, next to the statue of the Great Goddess, will be safe," replied the soldier.
Altair tilted his head curiously and asked, "You realise that it's that statue that attracts the monsters here, don't you?"
His words surprised all the soldiers.
Quite... naturally.