After the End: Serenity

Serenity woke up exactly when he’d planned to the following morning. The evolution he’d gotten from the Blossoms was amazing, even though it was very minor. He was sure he’d get used to it in time, but for now it was nice to wake up when he planned to, without needing someone to help.

The instructors’ rooms were simple, perhaps, but the small luxuries of a personal shower with hot and cold running water and laundry taken care of by other staff were enough to make him feel like he’d won the lottery. He knew the later phases of the tutorial wouldn’t be so comfortable - even this phase wasn’t, for students - and back on Earth, well, he’d have some comforts for a while but they wouldn’t last unless he somehow managed to -

That was getting ahead of himself. He would have time later in the tutorial to think about how to salvage Earth. The staff break room was empty when he stopped by, but there was a hot breakfast available. It was clearly designed for people who would be working or fighting all day; it was solid, high-calorie food, mostly protein and vegetables with a solid-looking brown bread, rather than the high-sugar food he’d been seeing for breakfast in the student area.

He decided he needed to be cautious, so he took only a little more than a reasonable amount for someone who expected to be fighting all morning. He was glad he’d limited himself when Sillon walked in before he was halfway through the food.

Sillon stacked his plate with food - it looked remarkably similar to Serenity’s, actually - then sat where he could easily speak to Serenity. “Participating in the Trials today?”

“Yeah. I figure you’ll be busy with all the people who haven’t done a Trial yet. Is the first one always Slimes?”

Sillon chuckled. “I bet you’re planning to go as a student. So I can’t tell you that there’s a standard order. Even if you already know I broke it to give you the plants early, and even if it doesn’t really matter for any group you’re with.”

That was probably clearer than Serenity deserved.

“Seriously, though, this Tutorial hasn’t been too bad. We’ve had about a quarter of the people come and do at least one Trial, so they won’t be in a mandatory group today. Anyone who wants an optional Trial will have to go without an instructor, but - if we hadn’t had so many through already, I’d be asking you to come on as an instructor today. As is, we’re only going to have about 75 groups today. Fifteen groups per instructor is pretty rough, but - that’s why it starts even before classes start.”

“Yeah, I’m planning to be a student today. All the mandatory Trials today - “

Sillon was already shaking his head. “Mandatory Trials are managed by Heaven’s Order, we don’t schedule them. You’d have to get people to schedule an optional Trial before their slot - “

[Time Remaining before first Mandatory Trial: 30.00]

[Serenity has been registered as a Student for Dungeon Mandatory Trials]

[Due to Serenity’s status as both an instructor and a student, no instructor is required for Mandatory Trials where Serenity is present]

[Serenity has been listed as a viable participant for any Mandatory Trial while he is within the Tutorial and not in another Trial or actively instructing a class]

Serenity looked at the notifications. They were definitely what he’d wanted for today, but he had the vague feeling that he’d been screwed over by the Voice. He was going to be spending a lot of time in Mandatory Trials now.

“No instructor required … too bad. I’d like to see some of your mandatory Trials.”

[Sillon has been added as an optional instructor for Mandatory Trials including Serenity]

“...did Order’s Voice just reply to me?”

[3.49 until Mandatory Trial]

The message was blinking insistently in his vision.

Serenity felt much better after finishing his second breakfast. His energy reserve wasn’t full, but it was getting closer. He hoped Lancaster or Echo would show soon; there wasn’t much time left before the first Trial, and he had the feeling he’d be in it. It was early for them - classes didn’t start for another half hour - but he still hoped he’d catch them. He’d left a message at the Armory, but he wasn’t sure they’d check there if they missed him at breakfast.

He scanned the room again, and saw Echo entering. He headed over to her - they could talk easier outside. Plus, he’d be teleporting soon and that might as well be from outside.

“Why are you carrying so many weapons?”

Serenity was holding a spear and had a sword hung at his back, another at his side, and a pair of large knives strapped to his thighs. It was more than he’d been carrying during the tutorial so far, but it didn’t seem like all that much to him, so it took him a moment to answer Echo’s question.

“In case I need them, or need to loan out a weapon. Mandatory Trials will provide daggers, but that’s all.”

[1.00 until Mandatory Trial]

“I’m out of time - Echo - please tell Lancaster that if he wants to help people with Trials today, he’ll need to bring them in as optional trials. The mandatory ones are done by the Voice. I’m in - special case - but I don’t think I can get him in. So he’ll have to do it -”

The world vanished around him as the countdown ended, and was replaced with a room he hadn’t seen before.

“- that way.” Serenity finished what he’d been saying as he looked around the room. It looked like a small cave with a single exit. There was a rack with five daggers on the opposite wall. Light came down from above with no clear source.

Sillon stood near the rack with the daggers, and four people he didn’t recognize - a middle-aged woman, an elderly woman, a large man, and a small, sickly-looking teenager - stood scattered across the room. One of the women held a staff, but the others were unarmed.

“Welcome to the first Mandatory Trial. My name is Sillon, I’m your instructor for this Trial. This is a Dungeon Quest type trial, which means that…”

There was a round of questions and a round of introductions - the woman with the staff was Rachel, the man was Mike, the elderly woman was Leticia, and the teenager (who angrily insisted he was 21) was Adam. Serenity waited until the end to introduce himself.

“I’m Serenity.”

Sillon waited a moment before he growled at Serenity. “Do better than that!”

“Uh.” He hadn’t actually prepared what he was going to say. “I’m also from Earth, but - I have a bit of experience, so … I’m here to help you through the Trial.”

“Good enough. Now. I see three of you aren’t carrying weapons. That’s stupid. You should always carry weapons. For THIS trial, we’re prepared for you, so you can each come get a dagger. You’ll need it. Future trials won’t always be so nice. So carry a weapon. Have one near you when you’re sleeping. Don’t be unprepared.”

Serenity thought that might be the most he’d ever heard Sillon say at once.

They walked outside the small room, and Serenity found out a major difference between the optional Trials and mandatory Trials - the dungeon was lit. It wasn’t bright, but you could more or less see.

The first room had a series of alcoves, each of which held a single slime. Sillon waved Serenity forward to explain what to do. “There are two primary ways to kill a slime. The first is to remove its core. You see that dark spot floating in the middle?”

Everyone agreed. Rachel and Leticia got up close to see, while Adam stood with his back against a wall, as far from the slime as he could get.

“If you can get that out of the slime, it will die and collapse. It can move it around, so the best way to get it out is quickly - like this.” Serenity held the butt of the spear above the slime, then pushed it through the weak membrane, then quickly knocked the core to the side and out of the slime. “The outer coating of a small slime is weak, so you can just reach through it. I don’t recommend using your hands, though, because they have a weak acid in their internal fluid. It’s not a problem from a single small slime, as long as you wash it off quickly, but if you get too much on you it can irritate or even dissolve your skin. Don’t step in it if you can avoid it; it will degrade in air, but that takes time.

He walked over to the core he’d knocked free and pulled a waterskin out of his pack. He poured a little water on it, then picked it up before finishing rinsing it off. “We don’t actually have to rinse the slime cores, but it’s safer, in case there’s any acid still on them. If you’re not carrying water, I have some and Instructor Sillon has more. If you can, I recommend always carrying some water in your pack. It’s heavy, but useful.”

He tucked the core in the pack, then headed to the next alcove where there was another slime waiting. “Now, I said that was one way. It takes a bit more practice, but it’s quick once you know what you’re doing. The second way is slower, but usually easier.”

Serenity drew the dagger strapped to his right leg. “Most things die when you poke them enough. Slimes are no exception.” He stuck the dagger into the slime, then made a long cut. “With a slime, you particularly want to damage the outer surface. It can heal it to some extent, so a small hole doesn’t do any good - and there’s nothing inside to damage other than the core, so internal damage doesn’t matter. Nastier slimes can generally heal faster, so you may have to carve entire pieces off of them to do this, instead of a simple slice.”

While he was talking, the internal fluid of the slime flooded out through the hole, and the slime was essentially flattened. He used the dagger to scoot the top of the membrane off the core. “Once it’s flat, you can just remove the core. This method pretty well requires stepping in slime goop, though, so be careful of your footwear.” He rinsed off the second core, pulled out a cloth and cleaned his dagger, then sheathed it and used the cloth to clean the end of his spear. “Also, remember to clean your weapons. I probably should have mentioned that earlier.”

When they got to the third slime, everyone looked at him for guidance. He paused, waiting for someone to take the lead, then asked “So which of you is first? Remember that you each need five cores.”

Leticia stepped forward. She didn’t have any luck using her dagger to knock the core out, but simply trying pierced the membrane and it eventually died. Once it was down, she asked “Do any of them move?”

At Serenity’s answer that - in this dungeon - the small ones wouldn’t, and there was only one boss, she borrowed a water skin from Sillon and went off to kill more slimes.

Rachel and Mike were also fairly simple, but Adam didn’t want to get anywhere near touching the acid of a slime. Serenity eventually gave up on convincing him with words - apparently he’d been too careful about warning of the danger - and stuck his right hand into the slime they were looking at. Once Adam calmed down, he pulled his hand out - carefully leaving the core still in the slime - and showed Adam that he didn’t have anything worse than mild reddening. “It’s something to be careful of, not something to be scared of. Now. Please cut a hole in the slime.”

He had to (figuratively) hold Adam’s hand through all five slime kills, and by the time they were done, all of the slimes had been killed.

When they got to the boss slime, Serenity made them come up with a plan.

The first person to propose a plan was Adam. He suggested that Serenity reach into the boss and pull out the core.

“There are several problems with that plan. First, you have to hold it in place somehow; this one isn’t going to just sit there. Second, it’s too far in to reach with just my arm. Third, this is a larger slime; its acid is stronger and I promise you don’t want it in your eyes. On your hand, it’ll be fine as long as you get it off, but not your eyes.”

Sillon chuckled. Everyone jumped - even Serenity. “Healing’s a good thing.”

Serenity grumbled, “You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

“Why would I? But get back to it. Keep planning.”

Leticia suggested that they all cut holes in it, let it bleed out No one had any problem with the plan, so it’s what they were going to do until Mike suggested they combine the plans - bleed it, try to knock the core to the side, then someone reach in and try to grab it.

That was what they eventually went with. Rachel ended up being closest to where the core was (Adam was equally close but didn’t even try to grab the core). Rachel reached in and grabbed the core in one quick motion, before tossing it at Serenity and holding her arm out to be rinsed off. Even that small exposure had left her arm with painful red splotches. Sillon told her to go to the healers’ area once they got out of the Trial, and she’d be fixed right up.

Adam looked at the larger boss core and asked who should get it. Rachel snarled, “Let Serenity have it. He helped us all through this, especially you, and didn’t even get time to collect extra cores like the rest of us.” She turned to face Serenity. “Hey - you did get enough for the quest, didn’t you? I lost count.”

“I’m fine.” He only had two from this run, plus the boss core, but he didn’t have the quest. The boss core was more important to him than the small slime cores anyway. This was only his second boss slime core, after all.

Slime Dungeon 0.0 Complete

5 Participants

Rewards reduced for repeated completion.

Monster extermination: 62 XP

Boss Killed: 25 XP

Total Extermination Bonus: 25 XP, 25 Ev

Dungeon Cleared: 25 XP, 25 Ev

When they walked out of the Trial, Serenity reappeared back where he’d been when the Trial started. A message appeared in front of him.

[5.00 until Mandatory Trial]

Five minutes wasn’t long, but at least it told him he’d have a chance - between Trials - to quickly grab a restroom break, refill his waterskins, or get food, as long as he was prepared at least. He decided that the staff break area would be a better choice than the student cafeteria, and headed that way.

The trials blurred together fairly quickly. Sillon introduced himself, explained the Trial and the Quest. Everyone would introduce themselves - somehow, they were never people who knew each other. Serenity’s explanation got smoother with practice.

The unprepared participants would nervously pick up daggers, then they would go out and see the first slime. It was even odds if someone would panic, even though the slime would literally just sit there. Serenity would have to calm them down, before he could explain how to kill the slime.

The second time it happened, Serenity asked Sillon why he wasn’t helping. The response was enlightening. “Usually I do. But you’re doing fine, and I won’t always be here for you.”

Apparently Sillon was treating him as a trainee. Fair enough.

Once Serenity walked them through killing slimes, each group would clear out some or all of the dungeon - some groups cleared it completely, others only until they had enough slime cores to meet the quest requirements. Even the teams that completely cleared the dungeon would only have two or three extra slime cores per person, since the groups were full. Serenity ended up with quite a few slime cores, since he didn’t actually get to turn in the quest. About half of the groups gave him the boss core as a thank-you; the others divided the cores in different ways. As long as everyone (often other than himself) had the required five cores, Serenity didn’t care what the split was. He didn’t consider slime cores particularly valuable.

At the end of the day, Serenity was exhausted. He’d lost count of the number of teams he’d led through the Trial, but it had been a bunch. Sillon’s first break was for lunch, and he’d taken several after that - but Serenity hadn’t gotten a break longer than five minutes.

When his final Trial was over, he reappeared in the staff break room and collapsed on a seat. There were half a dozen people around him; he recognized Sillon, Kerr, Ekari, and Entherys. The other two he knew he’d seen somewhere - at the Trial area, maybe?

Sillon broke the silence. “You made our task easy today. You did most of the groups yourself; other than me, the other guides did about half as many as they were expecting. We’ve been done for hours; it looks like the Voice saved as many as it could for you.”

Serenity just looked at him.

“Drink?” Sillon offered, holding out a glass with an amber-colored liquid in it.

Serenity accepted it, and sniffed. Definitely alcohol, and high proof. He threw it back all at once, and was surprised when he was able to simply swallow it with no cough reaction.

He could feel the warmth running through him, and started to relax. As he put the glass down, he realized that he probably should have been more careful - he was Tier 0, and the people around him weren’t. They could give him something that poisoned him accidentally.

Although … he could eat monster cores. He wasn’t sure it was possible to poison him anymore. Or was that even the same thing?

Either way, he didn’t need to be thinking about that right now. He needed to focus on - Kerr was trying to get him to stand up?

“I’ll get him to bed,” Kerr said. “He’s dead on his feet again.”

Serenity was asleep before his head hit the pillow.