I sprinted toward the sound of the scream, cutting a path through the tall grass. As I ran, I noticed two new dots on my minimap. One red, one white. I felt faster and more powerful than I had in years as I made my way to the fight.
I arrived at a dirt road that cut through the meadow as the merchant screamed again. He was a squat, purple creature with a face like a catfish. His garish tweed suit had a wet stain in the crotch. He was frantically shuffling, trying to keep his small, horseless cart — more a rickshaw than a real cart — between himself and the animated skeleton that was hunting him.
I tried to remind myself that this wasn’t real. I told myself that the tutorial said it would be easy. No matter what I said, this felt both real and difficult.
“Help!” the strange fish man blubbered again.
I equipped the ritual blade from the menu. It appeared in my hand. I approached the skeleton. It hadn’t yet noticed me.
The next part was strange. I wasn’t sure how I knew what to do, but it felt as simple as walking or breathing. I prepared and fired a Jinx at the skeleton. A purple bolt leaped from my extended hand and struck the skeleton along its spine. A health bar appeared above the monster, drained by about 20%. My own health bar popped up at the bottom of the interface. It didn’t have a numerical value, but it was currently full and green.
The skeleton spun on its heels and lumbered toward me. Its bones were yellow and heavily weathered. The monster creaked with every movement. In one hand it held a rusty cutlass. I did not want to get cut by that thing. I had looked at it long enough for the system to offer a description.
TUTORIAL SKELETON — Level 1
This mob is likely slower, dumber, and weaker than anything else you will face. Be wary of his very telegraphed swings with his rusty-garbage cutlass.