Chapter 4: Chapter 3 – Getting a Party (Day 1)

The sleeping arrangements were a series of large rooms with beds, split by gender. Serenity was surprised by this - he remembered sleeping in a small, poorly constructed individual hut. He’d clearly been pulled into a different Tutorial this time - it had started several hours before the one he remembered - but he hadn’t realized that they were different from each other otherwise. They were told that if they wanted to sleep elsewhere that was fine, but this was all that was provided.

In the morning, they were told that lunch would be the last meal that was simply provided. Dinner (and all other meals) would be handled by anyone who signed up for a cooking class, and if there weren’t enough people signed up, you’d be able to cook your own.

After that was class and Trial signup. Rissa went to look at classes, but Serenity decided to check out the Trials first.

The rules were simple. You had to do at least one Trial every four days. If you didn’t sign up for one, you would be placed into one, without being able to choose which. You could do as many Trials as you had time for, and they could start whenever you set them during the hours Trial instructors were available. You could sign up one to five people. If you signed up less than five, they would match you with others unless you requested not to be matched.

Serenity was pretty sure he was a lot better than most, but Rissa wasn’t, and he didn’t want to try to clear a five-person Trial with only the two of them. He looked up and found a familiar face also checking out the Trials - Lancaster.

Serenity made his way over to where the other man was looking at the Trial rules. “Lancaster? That was your name, wasn’t it?”

Lancaster slowly turned to look at Serenity. He’d clearly been aware Serenity was there, but hadn’t expected to be spoken to. “Who - oh, you’re that guy who took out Macho. I don’t remember your name?”

“Call me Serenity, it’s the name I picked for the tutorial. The Trials are groups of up to five, I’ve only got Rissa and myself, was hoping you’d be interested in joining us?”

Lancaster turned back to the Trial rules. “It’s every four days. I was thinking we could get some capable people, split them up, run some who need it through - keep them safe …”

Serenity shook his head. “We can do some of that, sure. But it can’t be all we do. We have to push ourselves or we won’t have the levels to handle what’s after the Trial. Maybe not even what’s in the next Phase. And … everyone has to learn at least something. Or they’ll die. If not here then later.”

“But - it’s just this tutorial thing - “ Lancaster stopped himself. “You’re telling me that it won’t be safe at home after the tutorial. That it’s going to get worse. Can we at least set up safe areas?”

Serenity closed his eyes, remembering, then opened them again. “Maybe in a few years. Until then … it’s going to be hard to even keep children safe. We can’t afford adults who can’t fight. Most won’t have to fight often, but - they need to be able to.”

Serenity could remember several times where he hadn’t been able to keep the kids safe, and had returned to find things he didn’t want to remember. The pain of the memory washed through him and he realized there were tears running down his face.

It wasn’t until he saw Lancaster’s tears that he realized he had lost control of his aura, and it was projecting his pain to everyone close to him. He concentrated on regaining control, pulling it back around his body.

“That … that was you. What the hell are you?” The area near Serenity had completely emptied of people while he fought for control … except for Lancaster, who hadn’t moved.

“What?”

“You were shot yesterday, but now you’re fine. You just cleared a ten-foot circle around you by … I’m not even sure what you did. And you know too much. What the hell?”

“Uh - “ Serenity’s mind went blank. He had no idea how to answer that. “Uh, I’ll explain but .. not here?” He gave a weak smile.

Lancaster huffed, then looked around. “Looks like there’s a bench over there away from everyone. That work?”

“Yeah.”

Once they were both sitting with no one else nearby, Serenity tried to figure out how to start. “So - that was - I - no. That’s not a good place to start, is it. I guess ... A couple nights ago, I had a dream. The dream was… this. Only it went far past the tutorial. So far it’s been very accurate. And … I seem to have picked up some things from it. Like the fast healing. And … that was … I lost control of my aura. I don’t know why that affected people, it shouldn’t have much effect since I’m still Tier 0…”

Lancaster looked dubious. “So you’re telling me I should trust you because you know the future?”

“Uh … sort of but not exactly? It’s … a lot of it will be different. I - Rissa died. While I wasn’t there. I never knew who killed her. Macho - he was an enemy, later. I don’t know - I don’t know if he was the one that killed her the first time or not.”

Lancaster still didn’t look convinced. “Next you’re going to tell me that we were best buds and that’s why I should trust you.”

“Wha - uh - um, no. We, er, weren’t even allies. I think I’d have classed you as an honorable neutral. Sort of uh, enemy-ish but we never fought? Our goals, uh, didn’t align.” Serenity didn’t think he’d said that terribly well. “I, uh, did manage to take out the guy that killed you? If that helps?”

Lancaster looked at him for a moment then laughed. “I think I like you. I’m still not sure you’re human, but hey, at this point maybe that doesn’t matter. It sounds like we can work together.”

You are reading story After the End: Serenity at novel35.com

Serenity pulled up his Status and shared it with Lancaster. The things on it he didn’t want other people to see were hidden anyway.

 

Name: Serenity
Species: Human
Path: N/A	Level: 0	Tier: 0
Path History: None
Condition: Healthy	Mana: 110	Stamina: 110
Might: 1	Agility: 1	Phys: 1
Understanding: 1	Will: 1	Mind: 1
Perception: 1	Luck: 1 - 100%
Resistances: Unknown
Affinities: Unknown
Concepts: Unknown
Aspects: Unknown
Titles	Named

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