Too Stubborn to Die

Despite the minor malfunction at the start of her Tutorial, Voghillia Vorg Valvoria was rather pleased with how her Tutorial was going. She wasn’t pleased that her “Goddess of Meatpaste” nickname was making its rounds among the upper-level gods, but most of it was just playful teasing. Any actual vitriol was softened by the progress made in the rest of her Tutorial.

She wouldn’t consider it a smashing success by any means, but her survival rates and average levels of her participants were well within the standard ranges. She had overlooked the arrival portion of the Tutorial, but she had taken great care in the rest, resulting in a challenging but rewarding experience for those inside. And even better, it looked like she would be cultivating a Shadow Trial entrant! They likely wouldn’t make it until near the end, but at the rate they were progressing, completing the Tutorial and entering early was well within reach.

At the thought of that, though, her mind turned back to the man she had sent to the Shadow Trials on the first day. There were many unfortunate participants injured by her failure to handle momentum properly, but a quick round of divine healing was enough to fix them up. It was only that one man who was so unfortunate as to perish.

Aaron Dober… she thought.

She still remembered his name. It was seared into her mind as a reminder of her failure. She wondered how he was doing. She was glad she was at least able to save him, but unfortunately, not even gods could see inside the Shadow Trials without having formed a connection through their avatars. Voghillia had an avatar there, of course, but no one had chosen it yet, so she was blind, for now.

On the bright side, by her estimates, the top performers of the new multiverse would be entering soon, so there would be a higher chance of her getting selected, and if she were able to find someone worthy of blessing, she would be able to see inside. Until then, though, all she could do was wonder.

Or so she thought.

As she relaxed in her divine realm, watching over her Tutorial, she suddenly felt a polite knock from outside. Her face paled as she turned her awareness outward. Anyone who could locate her realm was not someone she could take lightly.

She peeked outside to see who it was, and for a moment, she was dumbfounded. Unlike many gods, the visitor outside was dressed plainly. Simple martial artist robes, hair tied in a ponytail, and no divine glamour to spice her appearance up. Not a single bit of power radiated out from her, and if not for the fact that she was standing unharmed in the midst of the Void, Voghilia might have mistaken her for a mortal.

But this woman was no mortal. This was one of the Prime gods. A deity so powerful she could claim the arrogant title of “Martial God,” and no one dared challenge her for it. It was Yendal, the Empty-Handed. And she was holding a cardboard box with a cake inside.

Immediately, Voghilia created an opening to her divine realm to let the other god inside.

“I greet the Martial God,” she said, bowing deeply as Yendal entered. “To what do I owe the pleasure of having you visit my divine realm?”

“I’m here to bring you a thank-you gift,” said Yendal, holding out the cake.

“I-I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve such a thing.”

Voghilia was mentally panicking. Yendal wasn’t known as one to mince words, so it was likely that she was telling the truth, but Voghilia had no idea what she was talking about. Had there been a mistake? Was this “thank you gift” actually a punishment for accidentally offending her?

“Aaron Dober,” said Yendal.

Voghilia’s mind went blank.

“What?”

“The man you sent to the Shadow Trials. I’ve given him my True Blessing.”

Voghilia’s mind went blanker.

“What?”

“While not intentional, you’ve done me a great service,” Yendal considered. “We have a Fated connection. I am here to give you a gift. I do not have anything else to say, but I expect that we will be working together in the future. Please take it.”

Wordlessly, Voghilia reached out and accepted the cake.

“I will be seeing you later,” said Yendal.

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Voghilia couldn’t sense even the faintest hint of power as Yendal suddenly vanished from her divine realm. Still not quite able to think clearly, she took the cake back to her viewing room and sat down on her couch. After a minute or so, she had finally collected herself enough to react.

“WHAT?!”

Epilogue 3: Talia Rhineheart

The giant knight avatar that stood over Talia Rhineheart and shadowed her movements glimmered as she swung her sceptre, and its huge sword cut through two pig-nosed guardians dressed in armor that looked a little too much like BDSM.

“You’re good at this,” a man beside her panted as the corpses hit the ground, and leaned against the stone wall to catch his breath.

Talia and the man had entered the battle as allies, but being a good ten levels lower than her, he had been forced to drain his mana to keep pace. And even then, it was clear who did the heavy lifting.

Talia turned to him. He was exhausted, sweating all over the place. And that was saying something. The man was Ryan, and he was the leader of the squad she’d been traveling with, and by far the strongest amongst them.

Seeing his state was a little concerning. Bit by bit, they had been learning more about both the Tutorial and what would follow it. And from what she knew, it wouldn’t be pretty. The thought that he was likely the second strongest in their Tutorial didn’t bode well for humanity.

“I’m okay, I suppose. I still have a long way to go, though,” she said, not happy with the progress she’d made so far.

“Okay?” Ryan chuckled and straightened. “You’re bloody amazing. It’s okay to have a little pride in yourself. You know, you kinda remind me of a mate of mine. That guy is just… fearless, y’know? Always up for a challenge. I bet he’s having a ball in this Tutorial.”

Talia wasn’t trying to be humble. Maybe she was the strongest in the Tutorial. But she doubted that would be enough for what awaited them after it.

“Probably,” Talia said, disinterested as she studied the wall and looked for the entrance into the Tutorial boss lair.

“It would have been great if we did this thing together. Old mates back to back, fighting evil. This System is cruel, huh?”

“Now isn’t really the time to be reminiscing about old friends. Has your party set up the perimeter?”

Ryan turned, pressing a hand above his eyes and scanning the surrounding valley. His party was doing their job, taking up positions and culling weaker enemies.

“Looks good from here.”

“Found it,” Talia said, pressing her hand into the groove mentioned in the quest details.

The moment her hand was flat against the stone indent, colorful dots lit up across the smooth wall, and moments later, it began to rumble and open.

This was it. Inside was the dungeon that would eventually lead to the boss fight. However, the boss itself was likely still some way away.

Talia had to think wisely about her next move. She could either attempt the boss solo or choose the raid option. However, the quest warned that the raid option greatly increased the difficulty of the fight, and she knew that her power was well above Ryan and his party.

Exhaling, she clenched her fist. She didn’t want to betray anybody and leave them out of the fight. But she also had to be pragmatic. Were they ready for this? If not, the raid option might be their death.

I suppose we could wait… gain a few more levels and do it later.

There was a problem with that thought, too. The Tutorial lessons had made it clear that there was a reward beyond the Tutorial itself. How valuable was that reward? Well, she couldn’t know. But could she really risk sacrificing it for strangers?

Talia had been doing her own thing for a while. She was used to it. It was how she started the Tutorial to begin with.

Then again, maybe she was being a little unfair. She had an advantage from the start. She had been sitting in a waiting room when it all happened, and so she entered the Tutorial fresh, whilst many had been banged around and some even injured during their transportation here.

Of course, there had been that strange healing light, but it still handicapped the start of the Tutorial for many. If the same had happened to her, maybe she would be in a similar position?

Then she remembered the corpse. She had started the Tutorial right beside it and had been able to loot the two free healing potions everyone started the Tutorial with from it.

It was ghastly, but she had seen the pragmatic side to it, just like she did now.

Those two extra healing options had allowed her to go harder at the start, to get a better lead.

Within a couple of days, she was out hunting monsters in a virgin forest where no others could go, thanks to outleveling them at the start.

How much had that helped her to where she was? Maybe she would still be number one without it, but she would have had to compete for kills, and she would no doubt be a lower level right now because of it.

But that didn’t mean she owed anyone anything. Fortune favored the brave, after all. And if waiting around to let others catch up just so they could raid the boss together, would everyone be worse off because of it?

Perhaps it was better for everyone if she just did it alone. She could get stronger that way, and then she could protect them. If they were able to beat the boss with a raiding party, then they could catch up later.

There was no value in holding everybody back.

Talia turned to Ryan. “You can come with me, if you like. But I’m challenging the boss by myself.”

Ryan sighed. “You know, you really do remind me of that bloody stubborn bastard.”

Talia smiled at the playful way Ryan spoke. “Well, maybe the two of you will meet again.”