White light filled James vision completely. His body fell apart in a way that did not hurt but felt very wrong like something important about James had been taken apart and put back together in a place.
Then there was nothing.
Then everything came back at once.
James stumbled forward gasping for air. His feet hit the ground that felt like stone but was not quite right the feeling of it was a little off from anything James had stood on before.
The light went away slowly. Everything around James was grey. There were no walls, no ceiling, no horizon to see in any direction.
James spun around trying to understand what was happening.
Light flashed beside James. Four other people appeared in bursts of white, around eighteen years old all looking just as lost as James felt.
A girl with braids spun around looking everywhere with her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked.
A stocky guy in a tracksuit reached out with his hands toward the grey emptiness searching for a wall or a way out or something solid to touch. His fingers grasped at nothing.
A thin boy with glasses started breathing fast his chest moving up and down. He put his hands on his face.
A tall guy with a shaved head stood still. His eyes moved slowly across the space looking at every detail.
James turned around in a circle. The empty space gave him nothing. No signs, no landmarks, no direction.
The System chime cut through the noise, loud and flat and mechanical. Every voice stopped.
[HELLO, CHALLENGERS]
[YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED TO CLIMB THE TOWER]
"This is it," the stocky guy said, his voice tight. "We're actually in the Tutorial."
The girl with dark braids let out a shaky breath. "I thought maybe it was a mistake or something. But here we are."
"We chose Challenger," the tall guy said. His voice was steadier than the others. "This is what that means."
The thin boy with glasses was shaking. "I changed my mind. I want to go back. Can we go back?"
"There's no going back," the girl with braids said. "Everyone knows that. You finish it or you don't come home."
James didn't say anything. He'd already accepted where they were. The only way out was through.
The System chimed again.
[NOW SCANNING CHALLENGERS]
[ANALYZING AFFINITY]
James felt something pass through him, like a cold wave scanning his entire body from the inside out.
New icons appeared in front of him. Three glowing symbols hovered at eye level: a staff wreathed in flames for Mage, a chalice with a green glow for Healer, and a book with arcane symbols for Summoner.
[MAGE - COMMON TIER]
[HEALER - COMMON TIER]
[SUMMONER - RARE TIER]
Around him, the others were getting their own class options based on their affinities. James glanced sideways and saw different icons in front of each person.
The stocky guy had a shield, a sword, and an axe. The girl with braids had daggers, a bow, and dual swords. The tall guy had various weapon options. The thin boy had similar options to James — magic-based classes.
James looked back at his three choices. Two Common tier classes and one Rare tier. The choice seemed obvious.
He reached for the Summoner icon and tapped it.
The icon flashed.
Then red text exploded across his vision.
[ERROR]
[ERROR]
[SYSTEM MALFUNCTION DETECTED]
[ATTEMPTING TO RESOLVE...]
[FAILED]
[WARNING: RARE CLASS 'SUMMONER' HAS FORCIBLY EVOLVED]
[NEW CLASS: NECROMANCER - LEGENDARY TIER]
[CAUSE: ???]
[CLASS ASSIGNMENT LOCKED]
[CANNOT BE REVERSED]
James stared at the cascading error messages as they flickered and glitched across his vision. The text stuttered, some lines repeating, others cutting off mid-sentence before reforming.
This wasn't normal. This looked like something had broken in the System itself.
Around him, the others were confirming their selections without issue. Their icons flashed green and disappeared.
[CLASS-SPECIFIC DESIGNATION NOW ASSIGNED]
[PLEASE TAP PROFILE TO VIEW]
James tapped the profile icon in the corner of his vision. A window opened with more detail than he'd expected.
[PROFILE: JAMES GANNER]
[CLASS: NECROMANCER]
[TIER: LEGENDARY]
[LEVEL: 1] [EXP: 0/100]
[HP: 120/120]
[MANA: 150/150]
[STRENGTH: 8]
[AGILITY: 12]
[INTELLIGENCE: 15]
[ENDURANCE: 10]
[LUCK: 7]
[SKILLS]
[ACTIVE: SUMMON UNDEAD SKELETON]
[Summon 1 skeleton warrior to fight for you]
[Duration: Until destroyed]
[Cooldown: 20 seconds]
[Mana Cost: 50]
[ACTIVE: NECRO BLAST]
[Fire a bolt of death energy at target]
[Damage: Based on Intelligence]
[Cooldown: 10 seconds]
[Mana Cost: 20]
[PASSIVE: CALL OF SOULS]
[Absorb souls of defeated enemies]
[Effect: Convert absorbed souls to mana]
[Mana Restored: 20% of enemy's max HP]
James read through it twice. Level 0. Three skills. Two active abilities with cooldowns and mana costs. One passive that let him recover mana from dead enemies.
He'd watched hours of Tutorial survivor videos and read through dozens of forum threads, and he'd never come across anything like this before.
Around him, the others were reacting to their own assignments.
The tall guy checked his profile and actually smiled — teeth showing. Berserker, by the look of it.
The girl with braids checked hers and her shoulders came down. Assassin, Rare tier.
The stocky guy nodded at his screen. Tank, Common tier.
The thin boy stared at his profile with blank eyes. Summoner, Epic tier.
They stood in silence for a moment. Nobody knew what to say.
The stocky guy cleared his throat first. "I'm Liam. From Cork."
"Ciara," the girl with braids said. "Dublin northside."
The tall one rolled his shoulders. "Finn." He carried himself with a calm that suggested he'd actually prepared for this — probably trained, probably knew what he was walking into before he pressed Challenger.
The thin one's voice cracked when he spoke. "Aiden."
James gave his name and nothing else. "James."
Nobody asked what Necromancer meant or whether Legendary tier was something to be glad about.
The System chimed again.
[DISTRIBUTING STARTING EQUIPMENT]
Light flashed and suddenly James had weight in his hands. An iron sword appeared in his right hand, a wooden shield strapped to his left arm. Leather armor settled over his clothes, fitting tight across his chest and shoulders.
The others got gear suited to their classes. Liam received a large iron shield and a short sword. Ciara caught two daggers without thinking about it, testing their weight in both hands. Finn got a broad battleaxe with a blade built for heavy swings. Aiden ended up with an iron sword and wooden shield, gripping them awkwardly like he'd never held weapons before.
James swung the sword once to feel the weight. It was heavier than he'd expected and the balance was different from anything he'd handled before.
[TUTORIAL COMMENCING]
[NOW TRANSPORTING CHALLENGERS TO MISSION ZONE]
[3... 2... 1...]
The grey void came apart around them. James's stomach dropped as everything reformed in a rush of colour and noise and open air.
He was standing in a wide field. Tall grass in every direction, swaying in a breeze he could feel on his face. A tree line roughly two hundred meters out. Blue sky overhead that looked slightly wrong, too clean and too even, like it had been placed there rather than grown.
The five of them stood together in the middle of it, weapons up, looking around.
Aiden's voice cracked. "Where the fuck are we now?"
Ciara was already turning in a slow circle, scanning the edges of the field.
Then the grass near the tree line moved. A lot of it, all at once.
James's eyes locked onto it. His grip tightened on the sword.
Shapes came out of the trees. Small, green-skinned, hunched, with pointed ears and yellow eyes that caught the light even at this distance. They were carrying weapons — crude clubs, rusty daggers, wooden spears. They spread into a line as they came forward, moving with more coordination than they had any right to.
Goblins.
James counted quickly. Fifteen total.
James's hands tightened on the sword grip. His knuckles went white.
Aiden's voice shook beside him. "What are those things?"
The System chimed.
[TUTORIAL MISSION ASSIGNED]
[TYPE: SUBJUGATION]
[OBJECTIVE: ELIMINATE ALL HOSTILE ENTITIES]
[SUCCESS CONDITION: TOTAL ANNIHILATION OF ENEMY FORCES]
[FAILURE CONDITION: CHALLENGER DEATH]
[MISSION COMMENCING]
"What the fuck?" Ciara said. "Those things have weapons."
Aiden's breathing went ragged again. "We're fucked. We're completely fucked."
Then he ran.
He dropped his sword and sprinted toward the opposite tree line, legs pumping, not looking back. Liam watched him go for about half a second before following, his shield bouncing hard against his back as he fled.
James watched them go. "What the fuck."
Ciara spun her daggers in both hands, her jaw set. She moved to stand beside James and Finn, forming a line.
Finn stood on the other side, his battleaxe in both hands, properly gripped. "What are they doing?"
"Running," James said. The word came out flat.
The two of them hit the invisible barrier at full speed. Aiden went down hard, skidding backward across the grass from the impact. Liam crashed into it a second later and fell.
They beat at it with their fists, screaming. Aiden collapsed onto the ground and started begging in a broken voice, asking to be let out, saying he wanted to go home. Liam dropped to his knees and started praying, hands together, words coming apart between sobs.
James turned away from them and looked at Finn. The goblins were still coming, their line spreading wider as they crossed the field, weapons raised and shrieking in that high, carrying pitch.
"Any combat experience?" James asked.
"Challenger academy in Galway," Finn said, adjusting his footing. "Three years."
James's chest loosened slightly.
James glanced back at Aiden and Liam once more, then faced front. "Guess it's just us."
Finn didn't argue.
The goblins hit a run. Fifteen of them screaming across the field, the sound rising as the gap between them closed. One hundred meters. Eighty. Sixty.
Finn dropped into a proper stance, feet wide, axe ready.
James brought his shield up and set his weight.
"Get ready," he said.
Fifty meters. Forty. Thirty.
He could see their teeth now.