I smashed down my staff over and over until nothing remained of the goblin’s skull but the mana stone. Without hesitation, I picked up the cold bead and tossed it into my pocket. After roaming around the forest for twenty minutes, I successfully collected a total of five beads; they all came from solitary goblins.

I met a larger group of goblins earlier, eating around a campfire. I could have attacked them but decided against doing so. I was confident in my strength and knowledge, but I did not want to make the mistake of overestimating myself. Fighting a goblin alone was easy but if they fought as a group, it was a different story.

‘Five beads. Not a bad harvest. Now, all that is left is to find a water source and to clean them up.’

‘It was a good idea to roam around. As I expected, the tower has done nothing to stop me from exploring.’

‘I walked around but found nothing special. My throat is starting to feel dry too… I still have to satisfy my basic needs and need to drink and eat.’

I took a moment to rest while planning. I picked the wrong direction and did not know where to go to complete the task. However, I was unwilling to ask for help. Levi has been buzzing around me the whole time like an annoying mosquito.

‘I need to look for water. If I remember correctly, the tutorial will teach me how to survive in the wild which involves camping and foraging my own food. The camping location should be near a water body.’

‘Of course, setting up a camp may come up in a later task but taking into account the position of the sun, it should not take long before nightfall.’

‘For now, I should just walk in a radius around my starting position. I’ll eventually reach the correct location.’

…

[Task 2 completed. A new task will be issued.]

[Task 3: Defeat the kobolds]

I have been wandering around the forest, doing my best to keep track of my position until I finally came across a clearing. As soon as I stepped in, the voice of the tower spoke.

‘I was wrong. There is no river or source of water here. I may have to deal with my dry throat for a little while longer.’

“Human, you finally arrived at your correct destination. You could have arrived here a long time ago if you agreed to my terms.”

“I did not mind walking around though. And if I did not, would I have eight mana stones in my pocket?”

“…”

“Anyway. You are now going to face kobolds. These creatures are much more ferocious than goblins.”

“You can stop your sales pitch. I do not need any information about them and dealing with the kobolds is not a difficult task. The only variable is the number of kobolds involved this time.”

I ignored the fairy and focused on my surroundings. The message of the tower was clear; there was going to be more than one enemy this time. Kobolds were small creatures with a similar build to goblins. However, while goblins could be described as ugly green-skinned children, it was more accurate to describe kobolds as young rat-men. They were faster and more agile than goblins. They used weapons but would often use their tails to sneak attack their prey.

Just like for my first task, I waited for my enemies to show up, holding on to my staff. After a while, three short figures emerged from a nearby bush. ‘Three kobolds… It should not be too bad. Two with small daggers and the third one with a slingshot.’

I rushed forward as the kobolds let out a cry. ‘I must not give them time to get in position. Always take the initiative in a battle…’

I thrust my wooden staff toward the closest kobold, but the rat-like creature was fast. It easily dodged the attack and jumped at me, drawing its dagger.

I smiled to myself; it was all part of my plan. I deliberately showed an opening to bait the kobold into attacking. It was fast and could dodge my staff but at the end of the day, it could not defy the laws of physics. Once it jumped, it could no longer change its trajectory.

I swept my staff in a large arc, smashing the skull of the poor kobold. Blood splattered everywhere.

At that moment, I instinctively closed my eyes and a moment later, a small piece of rock hit my temples.

‘It hurts… My current body has not been tempered by combat; a simple scratch is enough to make me grunt in pain.’

The two other kobolds would naturally not stand still as I killed their companion. The kobold with the slingshot was the one who flung the rock.

“Little bastard!”

I raised my staff and attack the other kobold. Like the other kobold, it dodged the attack but did not retaliate. Instead, it positioned itself between me and the kobold with the slingshot.

“Grrr”

“It’s pointless.” I shook my head at his actions. Then, I mercilessly lowered my staff, crushing kobold’s body.

“A kobold’s body is supposed to be lighter and less dense than a goblin’s body. Your bones are weaker and softer but also more flexible. It is what gives you your high agility and dexterity. But if you disregard your advantage and choose to fight me head-on, then, you won’t stand a chance.”

I turned my attention to the last kobold standing. It let out a scream and continuously fired rocks after rocks at me. I sighed. This has not even been a real battle; it felt more like I was facing a bunch of annoying entitled kids who were hell-bent on harming me. Naturally, in this scenario, I did not need to tolerate their tantrum.

The third kobold joined its companion in their afterlife and soon, I had three more mana stones in my pocket.

[Task 3 completed. A new task will be issued.]

[Task 4: Walk 1km East]

…

[Task 4 completed. A new task will be issued.]

[Task 5: Build a camp and survive the night]

‘Oh? Not a task to battle with monsters?’

I was pleasantly surprised by the new task. As soon as I stepped into yet another clearing, the voice of the tower spoke. The clearing this time was different from the others. There were a couple of materials lying in the middle that could be used for building a camp: sticks and a large piece of cloth for a tent, wood, foliage and a flintstone to start a campfire.

The tower’s message was clear; it was where it wanted me to spend the night. At the other end of the clearing, I noticed a small stream of water; it was not large enough for me to take a bath, but I could satiate my thirst.

Furthermore, I noticed the presence of mushrooms and several edible plants that I recognised. In short, this clearing was the perfect location to spend the night.

I rushed to the water stream and started washing the mana stones I collected earlier. I took a sip of the water after confirming that it was safe to do so. In my memories, I do not recall ever getting poisoned in the tutorial which meant that the water was most probably safe. Nevertheless, I only consumed it after making sure that no abnormal reactions occurred from washing the mana stones.

I then got to work and assembled the tent. It was an easy task that any regular resident of the tower could do. However, for newcomers like the humans who never had to do any manual work, the task could prove to be slightly more challenging.

I started the fire and collected a few edible plants to munch on. Unfortunately, this was all I would have for dinner. It would calm my hunger for now, but I knew I needed to find something more substantial in the near future.

‘The camp is set. All that is left is to wait for the night to pass. The sun has already set and if I am right, there should be a few nocturnal creatures waking up right now.’

‘The greatest mistake I could make is to happily lower my guard and sleep peacefully in the tent.’

I looked around me and finally found an appropriate spot to spend the night. Although I set up the camp and assembled the tent, I had no intention of sleeping in such a defenceless and open area. Instead, sleeping on top of a tree branch was much safer. It was not as comfortable but right now, comfort was a luxury I could not afford.

Between having a bad sleep and no sleep at all, I preferred the former. On top of the branch, the chances of an enemy being able to reach me went down drastically.

However, before resting, there was one more thing I needed to do.

I took out the clean mana stones resting in my pocket. There were thirteen mana stones; a decent-sized harvest for a newcomer.

In the tower, a mana stone had three uses. First, it could be used as a currency; it was one of the two valid currencies of the tower alongside the Points. One point was worth about 4.5 low-quality mana stones.

Second, it could be used to recharge one’s mana. It was the method I used earlier with the two instructors. A person’s body was like a container that could hold a certain amount of mana. They could use the mana in their body to use spells and once empty, the mana stones could be used to refill the containers.

Lastly, a mana stone could be used to upgrade the container in question, allowing a person to hold more mana than before. If a person’s mana was already full and he forcefully consumed a mana stone, the pressure caused by the additional mana would cause the person’s mana reserves to expand. It was a very wasteful process as a large portion of the mana in the stone would be lost but it was also the only method known to the residents of the tower to reliably increase the amount of mana they could hold.

I tossed a mana stone in my mouth and closed my eyes, waiting for the nauseating feeling. I felt the bead slowly disperse in my mind and then instinctively gagged. This feeling was like having a full stomach and forcefully trying to take another bite. Regardless of how delicious the food was, the human body instinctively resisted consuming more than it could.

My body shook for a moment; it was extremely uncomfortable, especially for this body since it was my first time doing so. After doing it a few times, my body would hopefully get used to this feeling.

I waited for my mana to calm down and took in a second mana stone. All that was left was to repeat this process again and again.

…

A few minutes later, the small pile of mana stones had completely disappeared, absorbed into my body. I opened my eyes and frowned with a dark expression.

‘It is as I expected. Because my affinity with the Healing element is lower than the Fire element, I will need more mana stones to increase the number of spells I can cast.’

‘I could cast Heal three times at the beginning while in my previous life, I could cast Ember five times. After eating ten mana stones, I was able to increase this number to six but this time, even after eating all thirteen mana stones, I can only cast Heal three times.’

‘According to my estimates, I now have about 3.8 times the amount of mana to cast Heal.’

‘Sigh… I made things difficult for myself… But hopefully, this pays off once I reach the cities. At least, I have some affinity with the element, or else, I would only have been able to cast the spell once before running out of mana.’

When I look around me, I found that the forest has turned strangely silent. The atmosphere has changed, giving off a mysterious and dangerous feeling. The campfire crackled in the middle of the clearing.

I crossed my arms and closed my eyes. I could not be concerned with what would happen on the ground.

…

When the first ray of light finally pierced through the foliage, I opened my tired eyes and stretched my arms.

‘What a terrible night. My back hurts and I was woken up twice during the night by a group of goblins and kobolds.’

‘Luckily, I did not sleep in the tent or it would have been too late for me to react. I only noticed their presence after they started destroying the camp. My sense of hearing is currently not sharp enough to detect the presence of enemies in my sleep…’

‘Anyway, I should be grateful for still being alive. This small event was not without gain either.’ I thought as I took out seven mana stones collected from the monsters during the night.

I jumped off the tree and headed to the water stream to wash the mana stones. I relieved myself there and consumed the mana stones.

While doing so, the voice of the tower sounded to my ears:

[Task 5 completed. A new task will be issued.]

[Task 6: Walk 1.5km South]

I almost flinched and cursed aloud. “Are you kidding me? First North, then East and now South? Are you making me go around in a circle?”