I stared at the text in confusion.

  A tutorial?

  False Mother still stood by the door, frozen mid-sentence. What sort of magic was this? And how was it coming from this…phone?

  Underneath [TUTORIAL : SAINT STANLOWE HOOD] were three options: Skip, Play, and Come Back Later. I tried shifting on the bed for a better look, only to find my body refusing to move.

  I, too, was frozen.

  “Please select an option before continuing,” the phone said.

  Time magic? Arch Dragon Retrius was more powerful than I remembered.

  I selected Come Back Later, and False Mother immediately finished her sentence.

  “—about a cleric and your party grabbing loot?”

  We stared at each other for several seconds. I needed them to think their spell had worked. I blinked once.

  “What are we talking about?”

  False Mother sighed in relief.

  “I’m just glad you’re awake. Get some sleep. We’ll get you out of here tomorrow, baby.”

  She closed the door softly.

  After a moment, I rose and cracked the door open, scanning the hallway for hidden observers. None that I could see, at least on this plane. I shut the door and reached for the lock.

  There wasn’t one.

  This room was not secure.

  But the bathroom was.

  I grabbed the phone and locked myself inside. Surely even Arch D ragon magic had limits, and if there was one safe place, it would be here.

  I opened the phone again and selected Play.

  A soothing voice spoke.

  “This is the tutorial section for your current playthrough. Please note: time is currently paused and will remain paused while tutorials or tooltips are active.”

  What?

  “Welcome to Saint Stanlowe Hood! One moment please!”

  A circle began spinning on the screen.

  A minute passed. It kept spinning.

  I looked up at the mirror, studying my new face.

  Was I a dark elf?

  No. The ears weren’t pointed.

  A human.

  Disgusting.

  The phone chimed.

  “Thank you for waiting! You may now assign fifty points as you see fit.”

  [FLOW: 0]

  [SLY: 0]

  [PRESENCE: 0]

  [INGENUITY: 0]

  [ATHLETICS: 0]

  “Tap the question mark if you have confusion. Otherwise, press confirm when finished.”

  My hand hovered over the options.

  Ingenuity and athletics were self-explanatory. Sly likely meant stealth.

  Flow?

  Like water?

  I pressed the question mark.

  “These stats determine how you solve problems during your playthrough.”

  “FLOW pertains to ranged weapons, accuracy, and reload speed. Primary stat for Barrelmancer perks.”

  “SLY pertains to sneaking, evasion, and threat detection. Primary stat for Stepper perks.”

  “PRESENCE pertains to talking your way into and out of situations. Primary stat for Wordsmith perks.”

  “INGENUITY pertains to crafting substances and rhymes. Primary stat for Producer perks.”

  “ATHLETICS pertains to strength, speed, and physical build. Primary stat for Pugilist perks.”

  “Perform related acts to gain stat points. Higher stats unlock stronger perks.”

  Alright.

  I could work with this…whatever it was. I began assigning points.

  [+15 FLOW]

  [+10 SLY]

  [+5 PRESENCE]

  [+10 INGENUITY]

  [+10 ATHLETICS]

  Balanced. Sensible.

  Did balance even matter here?

  If ranged weapons existed in this world, then advantage mattered.

  I shifted the points again.

  [+25 FLOW]

  [+5 SLY]

  [+5 PRESENCE]

  [+10 INGENUITY]

  [+5 ATHLETICS]

  Better.

  Let’s see them handle a master archer.

  I pressed confirm.

  [STATS ALLOCATED]

  The screen shifted to colored squares:

  [Contacts]

  [Perks]

  [Base]

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  [Upgrades]

  [Gang]

  [Save]

  [???]

  Another chime.

  [TUTORIAL: NEW PERKS]

  I opened Perks. A pentagon displayed my stats, FLOW pulsing. Two empty circles appeared.

  [ASSIGN PERKS 0/1 SLOTS TAKEN]

  One option:

  [BARRELMANCER: BRING THE HEAT (1)]

  “Your weapon gains 10% increased aim for the first 10 seconds drawn.”

  As if I’d worry about missing.

  I selected it.

  Back on the menu, my attention drifted to one app.

  [???]

  I tapped it.

  [TUTORIAL STILL ACTIVE. COMPLETE TUTORIAL TO UNLOCK ACCESS.]

  I sighed.

  Enough instructions.

  I returned to bed, careful not to reopen my wounds.

  Tomorrow, False Mother would take me home.

  Then I’d begin finding real answers.

  —

  The False Mother came and collected me the next morning. We had gotten only ten paces from the infirmary when she commanded me to step into a metal contraption. Wary of a potential trap from the Arch Dragon, I glanced around at my surroundings. A door from the metal construct nudged my hip. The False Mother was already inside, and spoke to me.

  “Jamal, come on, let’s get you home. I have to get to work.”

  I crept inside the metal box. The seat was in tatters, but I sank right into it. Had I been in this spot before? It certainly seemed so. I watched as the False Mother inserted a key into a hole and turned.

  It was then I understood we were in the maw of a dragon.

  Startled, I reflexively reached for a bow that was not there. False Mother glanced over at me with an eyebrow raised. For a woman on the inside of a dragon, she was staggering calm.

  The metallic beast led us down roads surrounded by high and unscalable towers. At our side were more metallic dragons of all shapes, colors, and sizes. They all moved in unified pods, stopping and going at intervals unknown to me.

  Was the Path of the Great Dragons real?

  We continued to move in unison with the other dragons. In the distance I could see even taller towers made of glass reflecting the sun in my eyes. I found myself staring at them longer than I thought I would.

  Surely, if there was a king, that is where he would reside. Maybe it was there I could seek out a couple of quests to get back on my feet. Maybe I could form a new party and gain loot never seen in a world like this.

  Yes.

  Yes, that would work.

  She guided the dragon down a street that blocked my view of the shiny towers. A stretch of old brick buildings and beaten down fronts littered my sight. This remained for the duration of my time inside the metal beast until she removed the key.

  A small blue house.

  The paint was chipping off the sides and the roof had missing shingles. Other houses of similar splendor were plastered up and down the street. I exited the jaws of the metal beast and followed her inside. She tossed several items on a small table near the door, littered with letters.

  “Now just take today to rest, I gotta get back to work. I told all your cousins you’re out so they may come by to check on you, okay?”

  “Yes, cousins…how many?”

  “My baby can’t remember his cousins, oh Lord. Dayday said he would call soon and Maurice said he’s on his way..”

  False Mother grabbed the keys to the metal beast and went to the door.

  “Drink water and stop talkin’ to those fools on the corner. They don’t care ‘bout you, understand?”

  I nodded.

  However, if I could find the people that made me ache like this, there is no corner, wall, or street that I would not confront them on.

  False Mother shut the–

  …

  She shut the door behind her. From the window I saw her enter the metal beast and leave.

  Another chime from my phone.

  I decided to ignore it. First I needed to clear the home of any spies of the Arch Dragon, and that meant I needed a weapon. I crept around the corners of the house until I came to a tiled floor.

  A knife laid exposed next to a pot on the counter.

  Perfect.

  Just as I grabbed the knife my phone buzzed a second time. I took it out of my pocket and tossed it on a countertop, now focused on my mission. I cleared the tiled area before moving on to the back hallway where two doors were. I moved into the room on my left first.

  Judging from the underwear on the floor, this was not my room.

  No matter.

  I was careful to inspect every part of the room as if it were undisturbed. Then I crawled underneath the bed and bumped headfirst into a solid case. Pulling it out, it was more dense than I expected it to be. This had to be something valuable.

  Perhaps it was loot.

  Maybe my bow.

  Maybe…mother…was an ally against the Arch Dragon, and this was her way of doing what she could.

  Possible.

  I opened the latches on either side of the box and slowly lifted the top. I was met with a black shape bent at an angle.

  Next to the oddly bent black stick were smaller black sticks that contained tiny metal pelts. I took them both into my hands and let the weight sink in.

  This was definitely not a bow.

  I placed the oddity back into its case, latched it, and slid it back underneath the bed before leaving the room. I crossed the hallway to the other room.

  Up on the walls were banners of men in bright uniforms holding an orange ball. I stepped in and nudged a pile of clothes out of the way. I repeated the same inspection I had done of the other room.

  Nothing in the drawers.

  Nothing underneath the bed.

  I stepped into the closet to see eight boxes neatly arranged on a rack. They came in a myriad of colors, and I realized if anything were to be valuable, it would be inside these boxes. I put the knife down to open the first box.

  Shoes. They look as if they were never worn. They had a man who matched the pose of the pictures on the wall.

  I put the box back and grabbed another.

  More shoes.

  I tore through the rest of the boxes only to find more shoes with alternating colors. Each, to their credit, were in immaculate condition. Whoever I was clearly had an obsession. How could they be expected to wear this many pairs of shoes consistently?

  I had no weapon, armor, or spells. How was I to defeat the Arch Dragon without any tools? How would I find a way to return to–

  From down the hall I could hear my phone making noise. I stood among the mess of shoes in silence. Sighing, I began to put them back in their places when I realized something.

  They had a leather-like touch to them.

  Maybe the shoes weren’t useless after all.

  There was metal in the kitchen.

  Maybe I could make a breastplate.

  Yes.

  I took as many pairs of shoes I could fit in my arms and ran to the kitchen. I tossed as many as I could on the counter and let the other boxes hit the ground. Then I started to ransack the cabinets for pots and pans.

  I stood back and took inventory. I didn’t have the tools of Vellowyn’s Great Forge, but I’d have to improvise. I took a shoe and placed it on the counter, tracing the seams with the tip of the knife.

  It’s no different than skinning an animal. I–

  The phone started to ring again.

  Knife in one hand, I grabbed the phone and glared at the screen. I saw the face of a man with skin like mine, but his black hair was full of long knots. The screen read, “Dayday”.

  I tapped the button that said “answer”.

  “Cuz! I was trying to call you, man! I hear you’re out of the hospital! How’re doin’?”

  “Hello…cousin. I am…alive?”

  “I called your phone two times, man, I got worried. I just wanted to holler at you. Who the fuck are you beefing with, god damn?”

  Beefing? There weren’t any cows involved.

  “No beef…? But I will be okay.”

  “Well someone is. I’m on the road, I’ll call back later. You’re not tweaking or nothing, are you? I can come by.”

  I looked around the kitchen.

  “Not tweaking.”

  “Alright JJ, be easy.”

  JJ?

  “Right. No difficulties. Easy. Bye.”

  The phone clicked.

  I set the knife down and opened my phone, tapping on the [TUTORIAL] square again. Maybe there was a specific recipe for how much leather I would need to use.

  [TUTORIAL IN PROGRESS]

  What progress had been made?

  An energetic knock at the door pulled me from my thinking. I grabbed the knife and went to the door silently.

  Another man with skin like mine. He wore a covering on his head, and a slim necklace of silver. He adjusted his pants while looking around on the patio.

  “JJ! Open up! It’s Maurice! Your mom called me and told me to check on your holed up ass!”

  The other cousin.

  I hid the knife behind my back and slowly opened the door.

  “What’s good, JJ! Let me in!”

  Maurice nudged his way in and adjusted his pants again. His undergarments were showing as he walked by. He turned around and froze upon seeing my scars.

  “Oh they fucked you all the way up.”

  He put a hand on my shoulder.

  “Don’t worry,” he said, “We finna get to the bottom of this.”

  [TUTORIAL QUEST: GET YOUR GET BACK - PART 1]