Soon after the revelation about rifts and other worlds, Liz got up and went to continue her watch. Amelie was quiet for a few moments, and then she sighed, then leaned over and scratched the cat behind the ears.

  The cat purred happily, little flames dancing over its fur, which didn’t seem to hurt the healer.

  “I should continue my watch as well,” she said as she got up. She gave him a weak smile and a heavy-lidded wink before trudging back to her spot. “Welcome back.”

  Her sister watched her, eyes full of concern and she only looked away when Gerald spoke. “I’ll take over her watch in a few minutes.”

  Audrey stared at the man for a second and nodded. “Thanks Gerald.”

  Ethan excused himself as the two continued eating and found a secluded spot to put some clothes on. With his pants and torn shoes back on, he turned off the scales and the heart and groaned as the pressure in his chest suddenly abated. It really did feel like some too-tight bands had been wrapped tightly around his soul. Ethan took a few deep breaths, enjoying the cool underground air, then triggered [Mana Heart] again.

  The pressure came back with a vengeance, eliciting a grunt out of him, but he quickly got used to it, and he even felt it wasn’t as bad as the first time he activated the form. Maybe it’ll do him good to get used to such pressures. After all, one day he might need to push the wand more than it would like, and he should for such.

  He went back to the fire and found Gerald sitting alone. He’d been staring into the fire and when he heard the crunching under Ethan’s shoes, he leaned over and picked up a roasting skewer and handed it over.

  “Thanks,” Ethan said as he took a seat on one of the stumps.

  The two ate quietly, and at some point, Ember took over one of the stumps and laid on it, watching the fire with half-lidded eyes.

  After a few minutes of silent eating, Gerald tossed his bare and burnt skewer into the fire, and as he rubbed his hands together, eyes still on the fire, he broke the silence. “I wanted to say sorry, about that first day.”

  Ethan grimaced internally, and shook his head as he stared at the burnt skewer in his hand. He’d been pretty full when he’d arrived already thanks to the tail he picked up on the way, but the skewer might have been a bit too much. Still, it didn’t distract from the unease he felt from the man’s apology. “No, I was being a dick. I’m sorry. Let’s just… move on.”

  Gerald nodded, and seemed to relax. He rubbed the back of his head the glanced around. Audrey was coming back toward the camp, having gone to the stream. She looked about to get some rest on a shared bed made of leaves and branches. “They’re good kids. You all are,” he said, and for a moment, the man seemed older. Ethan always assumed he was in his thirties, maybe late thirties at most, but suddenly, he seemed to gain a decade. “But I think this stuff’s starting to get to everyone. Rolling with the punches early was easier, when everyone’s running for their lives. But now that we all had the chance to lay down and be alone with our thoughts for a couple of days… it’s starting to get heavy.”

  Ethan nodded quietly. He wasn’t sure what to say, but he didn’t disagree. He was doing alright as he didn’t feel he had much to get back to in the old world, but most others were struggling.

  It’s time I give a hand, I guess. I can’t help out everyone caught in these trials, but I can help these people at least. But what if my help’s not enough?

  “Anyways,” Gerald said as he got up. “We really appreciate your help. Knowing what to expect from this stuff really makes a difference.” He rolled his shoulder and gave Ethan a small tap on the shoulder. “I’m gonna go relieve the others so they can get some rest. I’ll see you later.”

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  With that, Gerald walked away, leaving Ethan and Ember alone. When he glanced at the cat, he found her staring back at him, her black and orange eyes reflected the bright flames of the campfire, contrasting with the soft blue lights of the canopy around them.

  “[They are not well.]”

  Ethan blinked at the cat, then nodded. “I know.”

  At first, when he’d asked Ember to watch over the group, he hadn’t felt that attached to them. He liked them, sure. They were decent people and like many, they didn’t deserve to end up as sacrifices or die to some lizards in the middle of nowhere. It was easy enough for him to have the level fifty cat watch over them. Now though, seeing them like this, he felt conflicted.

  Soon enough, Ember won’t be enough to stave off the swarm of monsters. He wasn’t sure if she’d been actively helping, but whether she did or not, she might not be able to stand up to a swarm of water monitors.

  “[I resent the thought, but it is not wrong,]” Ember said as she twirled her tail back and forth. “[The rift will keep spewing stronger and stronger monsters as it stabilizes, and soon I will not be enough. They handled themselves well so far, but rifts are no trivial matters. Even where I’m from. It doesn’t help that their edge is being blunted. They’re losing motivation.]”

  “We were all on higher alert when this started and as Gerald said, now that time had passed, they’re acclimating, in a away. Or maybe it’s just exhaustion.”

  “[Whichever the cause, the result is the same. They’re losing their bite. One of them will slip-up, and then someone would die.]”

  Ethan nodded. He knew that logically, he couldn’t save every innocent person in this tutorial. He just couldn’t. He was no hero. Ethan didn’t want that kind of responsibility and would probably never accept it. Not to mention he already had blood on his hands so he was in no position to speak of morality or ethics. But these four? They’d been nothing but friendly. He saved their bacon once or twice, but they never stopped working hard and it wasn’t a weakness that they were being pushed. Even Ethan, with all of his levels, had to retreat back from the swarm below.

  He had enjoyed the feeling of freedom and adventure for a couple of days, and nothing said that it would need to end. But would still be fun knowing he left this group to die when he could have just stuck around and fought closer to them?

  No. Not at all. That’s not who I want to be.

  Ethan stared into the fire. He didn’t want to take responsibility for every living being, but if someone was decent in his vicinity and he could help, he owed it to himself to do so. He had to.

  Luther helped me when he didn’t have to.

  Ethan sighed and considered the situation. He had a feeling the main quest had something to do with this rift. It couldn’t be a coincidence. Would the tutorial be over once they finished the quest? Would everyone be thrown back to Earth or would there be more tutorials?

  I guess I’ll know when it’s done, which should be in a bit more than three days once I’m done resting. It would be nice if people get the choice though. I’d love to do a tutorial where everyone signs up to be in it instead of being dragged against their will. But that’s for another day. For now… the rift.

  “How did you deal with them, back where you’re from? Rifts? Is there a way to close them?”

  The cat stood up and sat on her haunches, facing him. “[We don’t. We leave, and we let those who can handle them do so. There is a lot to be gained from rifts, but we find it too dangerous,]” she glanced to the figures of Audrey and Amelie sleeping, then her eyes roved around as she continued. “[If you care for their safety, it is time to fully commit or to leave them fend for themselves. When me and my sisters hunt, we don’t stand in front of our prey. We either attack or we retreat. Waffling in between is how you get gored.]”

  Ethen exhaled slowly and looked down at his hands, then at the tree Liz had climbed. At Audrey and Amelie, holding hands in their fretful sleep, at Gerald, hunched but still vigilant, head on a swivel.

  He could be their vanguard. He could push into the fray and they could work on the stragglers.

  With my new upgrades, I could output a lot of firepower. Heh.

  Ethan chuckled at the pun, then focused back on the new strategy. He keep the bulk of the monitors off of them. He’d still get all the fragments and level he wanted, but he’d have an eye on these four.

  “[What will it be? Will you help them, or do we leave them to level or die?]”

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