"You're damn lucky that we're letting you in, looking like a fucking creep, Stinky. You're not getting a fucking apology for calling a damn spade what it is. Now walk in or walk off. I don't give a fuck."
TJ caught the last words out of Gus's mouth before Seth blurred forward and punched the larger man in the mouth. Gus flew back, blood flying, but the Zealot laughed aloud as he found his feet and rushed back towards Seth. The Zealot's hands shot forward in a practiced combo of punches. Seth, leveraging his much higher Agility, dodged back, striking firm punches that, now that he was ready, Gus easily shrugged off.
"Oh, Stinky Seth finally got a backbone, huh? Even got to Copper! What a treat." Gus laughed, his bloody mouth spread in a wide grin as he continued pursuing the thinner man. "You're still a greasy freak, huh? Maybe we'll need someone who can scare off the monsters, so if you let me get a hit in as well, then I won't make any problems for you in here. Not too bad, huh?"
Seth's face screwed up. "A fucking bully stays that way, huh? You're not shit. You're just some scrub who barely got to Copper and you think you're hot shit. Embarrassing."
"Seth!" TJ shouted. "C'mere and tell me what just happened!"
Keeping his eye on the other man, Seth jumped back further and faster than Gus could reach him, and then, without looking at TJ, he got next to him.
"Hey TJ." Seth said with forced nonchalance, his face scarlet with genuine rage. TJ placed a hand on his shoulder, where his heavy breathing made his whole body shudder with anger. TJ Appraised the man and, for the first time, was surprised by what he saw.
Avenger (Copper), 24
"Hey, Seth. You doing alright?" TJ asked, looking at Gus who strode forward with a certain cocksure look on his face.
"Been better."
"Ok. Let's see what we can do about this. If you'd like me to" TJ said as Tessie and Molly stepped next to Seth.
"Go ahead." Seth shrugged imperceptibly as the two teens started to talk to the Avenger about something that TJ didn't pay any real attention to. Instead, he stepped between Seth and Gus and held up a hand.
"What's happening here?"
"You don't need to get involved with Stinky." Gus shook his head. "I went to school with him and—"
"His name's Seth and you're not a fucking child. Act like an adult if you wanna converse like one." TJ cut Gus off with a disgusted scoff. "So you went to high school with Seth?"
Gus stiffened a little. "Yeah. I can take care of it. You can trust me."
"Doesn't seem like it." TJ replied with a snort.
"He started it! And you would trust him over me?"
"First, I don't care. And second, yeah. Saved my life in the Tutorial, and he's a good man. Why would I give any credence to what you have to say, when I've barely talked to you? You haven't done anything for me."
Gus's previously stiff stance became positively rigid. "You were in the same Tutorial as St—Seth?"
"Yeah. So, why should I care what you have to say about a guy a year ago in high school when, news flash, nobody gives a damn about high school in the regular world, much less the apocalypse."
Gus began to flush with anger or embarrassment, and he was saved by Raya's appearance.
"What's happening, Gus?"
"One of the people looking to enter attacked me for no reason." Gus answered. Instead of engaging in that childish behavior, TJ continued looking at Raya. She nodded slowly while looking at Gus, then, without saying anything more, turned to TJ.
"It wasn't you, was it?"
"Of course not." TJ shrugged.
"But you know them."
"Yeah, from my Tutorial."
"And what was the reason why they struck Gus?"
"He was insulting him about something from high school, so far as I could tell. I only heard the tail end of it."
"That makes more sense than random violence." Raya nodded. "Now, Gus, would you like to amend your statement?"
"I…" The manchild finally realized that people weren't going to unilaterally be on his side for no reason whatsoever. As he gathered himself, he shrugged. "He was creeping on people in school. I called him by his nickname, and he got pissed and demanded I apologize. I refused, and he attacked me."
"I don't know if 'Stinky Seth' qualifies as a nickname." Raya replied dryly. "Seems to me that TJ had the general gist of it. And why couldn't you just apologize? Sounds like that woudl have been a pretty easy solution."
Gus looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel in his face, but after thinking about it for a moment, he nodded curtly once, looked at Seth, and said, "Sorry." before turning and stalking away, leaving his post without another word.
After looking at him leaving for a moment, Raya turned to Seth before saying, "I think that will be the last you hear from him for a while. Don't hold out hope for a more genuine apology."
Seth's face relaxed as his old bully disappeared. "I didn't think I'd get one, honestly. I was looking for a fight when he started calling me stinky. Just a… holdover from a worse time."
"Frankly, Seth, I don't care." Raya replied with a shrug. "Like TJ said, nobody cares at all about high school once you're out of it, and I suspect that there was no reason for you to have been tormented the way you were. For what it's worth, I'm sorry that you were treated that way in the old world. I'm glad that you're able to defend yourself now. If you have any questions about what is expected of you as one of the elites of the New Republic, find me or one of my representatives, and we'll quickly assist you in whatever it is that you need."
Raya nodded respectfully before looking at Molly and Tessie. "The same goes for you two ladies, of course. I suspect you were also in TJ's Tutorial, like Seth?"
Tessie glanced at TJ while Molly just nodded. "Yeah. He helped us out a lot and said that this is a place where our families can be safe. Is that true?"
"Yes, of course." Raya nodded. "I'm sure TJ can fill you in on what exactly our little city will become, but we hope to convince all you Copper tiers to join under our flag. I will ensure that rooms for you and your families are prepared, as Copper tiers deserve."
Then, without another word, Sven's second in command strode away. She gestured at a couple of people to come forward, and as she whispered commands to them, new guards took Gus's spot.
"So, what's the deal with that Gus guy? Seems like a real douche." Molly said as soon as Raya was a little ways off.
"Molly!" Her mother chastised. "We don't speak that way!"
Molly rolled her eyes but didn't talk back, and though Lucy ground her teeth at that, she also didn't say anything else.
"He's a bully." Seth shrugged, not wanting to engage further. TJ, picking up on that, asked, "Why is Avenger listed as your Class now?"
"It's interesting," he responded, "The System said that my progress in my Occupation was greater than in my Class, so I could choose to have my Occupation supplant the Class, so Avenger is my Class and Avenging Acolyte is my Occupation now. It's a good Class! Wrathful Avenger, it gives me 110 Attributes for every level!"
TJ's eyebrows climbed up as he congratulated the lanky man. "That's one higher than mine, good job!"
"Really?" Seth perked up. "How about your Race and Occupation? Mine give 90 and 99."
"I edge you out on those." TJ chuckled. "But I'm curious—what's the deal with your 'Occupation'? It seems almost like a subclass or something. Avenging Acolyte?"
"The System said that it's categorized as my Occupation, but that it's technically a subsidiary Class. I didn't lose any Skills or anything, and it acts mostly like it did as a Class, but because it's tied with my new Class, there's a lot less flexibility for me moving forward."
TJ nodded as Seth excitedly explained. He didn't want to give up flexibility the way Seth had, but it was obvious that the System was rewarding the steps that Seth had taken to get to where he was. He gestured for everyone to follow him
"Was dealing the final blow on the Boss a big deal for you?" Molly asked. "I mean, like, it was super badass, so I bet you got tons of experience!"
"Yes, but not in the way that you're thinking." Seth shrugged with a proud grin as everyone ignored the disapproving glare on Lucy's face. "It was because it was the last monster in the Tutorial that killed a Participant. I was the final killer of the last monster that I had a reason to take vengeance on there. I got an Bitter Divine Trial completed for Avenger there, and that was what allowed me to sublimate my Occupation."
TJ nodded, putting the pieces together. There was more that he could ask the System about it, but he didn't care enough to really dig into it right now. Instead, he listened as Molly asked Seth a bunch of questions about what he'd done to get here, and a bunch of other questions that he didn't much care to have answered. Instead, a question that'd sat in the back of his mind unasked and unanswered finally rose to the surface. As they approached the center of campus, he asked.
What happened to everyone else around here? There aren't nearly enough bodies in Tempe or Mesa to account for all the casualties of the world out here, but we also haven't heard about anyone else having a Tutorial as difficult as ours. Maybe Sven's was, but we haven't heard any details about that, and it seems like there were a fair amount of them that survived, more than did in ours. So where is everyone?
Many Tutorials feature a stronger hand from a force antagonistic towards Participants. As such, those Tutorials frequently result in mass extinctions of all Participants.
TJ's breath caught in his throat. He'd suspected as much, but to have it be directly confirmed wasn't easy to accept. Instead of letting anyone else on to his worry, he asked, Which god was trying to kill everyone in our Tutorial?
The System will not give any details regarding which Divine Vestiges have expressed anything regarding any Participants while within any Tutorial or outside. However, there was no malevolence in the treatment given to Participants in Tutorial 107.48.891. In fact, several Divine Vestiges expressed interest in giving greater opportunities to Participants found within said Tutorial. Which opportunities were provided to which Participant from which Divine Vestige cannot be shared.
That was a damned opportunity? Most of TJ revolted at the suggestion, but much of him also understood what it was getting at. He'd exited as a Copper tier, and though he hadn't gotten the perfect Class, Race, or Occupation, he'd gotten damn good ones of each. Plus, he'd been offered a perfect Class, even if he'd chosen not to accept it. With a groan, he rolled his shoulders and gestured for the people following him to speak with George, Raya's assistant. The man gave some instructions to the new inhabitants while TJ went to collect Luz at the daycare. When the child saw him, she grinned widely and reached out for him.
Though surprised, he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth and asked, "How was she?"
"She was fine." was the answer, and though there was a story that remained untold there, TJ could also tell that he wasn't being lied to. That was enough, and he walked out to speak with the rest of the people who'd followed him into camp. There, Molly cocked her head for a minute, watching him walk up.
"What?" TJ asked, concerned.
"I thought you said your son was a boy?"