A smile of unadulterated excitement spread across Ronan's face as he read the message from the system's administrative assistant. It was time to step up.

Administrative Assistant Shneevol has reviewed your complaint!

Your tutorial difficulty has been adjusted from [Normal] to [Hard]!

Assistant note: Next time you have a request to make, ask nicely, or I might just send a tribulation your way instead! Damned primates…

Even the insult to his entire species and distantly related… cousins couldn't faze him. I wonder what the monkeys and apes mutated into… Will they be sentient now? The random thought worried Ronan, but not enough to dwell on it.

Your difficulty has been set to [Hard]! If you dare voice another complaint, Shneevol will smite you where you stand. Stage 1 will begin in 5…

This Shneevol fellow really has a stick up his arse. Ronan quietly cursed himself for the thought, wondering if the administrative assistant was privy to his thoughts. He didn't want to get smited, even if he might end up returning to a moment not minutes earlier.

As the countdown drew closer to zero, Ronan prepared himself for the hard difficulty tutorial. He had no idea what to expect.

The system was a sadistic master, and for all he knew, the jump in difficulty might end up pitting him against level 20 monsters from the get go. His surroundings were the same, which made his stomach sink. It's going to be fucking goblins again, isn't it…

0…

As it ended, a portal appeared in the middle of the clearing, and Ronan raised his fists in preparation. No matter what emerged to kill him, he would be ready for it.

When he saw a gnarled green foot stepping out, followed by a thigh wrapped in worn leather armour, Ronan suppressed a sigh. Fuck goblins, he lamented.

Then, when the full body of the monster appeared, he regained a little of his excitement. It seemed that hard difficulty was a true step-up. He read the tag above his opponent's head, and his heart began to beat faster.

[Goblin Warrior Lv.5]

Not a lesser goblin, and it had a class too. It wielded a full-sized sword in its hand, and held a round shield in its off-hand. The creature locked eyes with Ronan, and let out a challenging screech.

Oh, it's on, you little green bastard! Ronan thought to himself as he took a step towards it. In the back of his mind he did wonder if there were really humans taking this on… raw… without his advantages, but there were always freaks of nature out there.

The goblin was, while stronger, not that intelligent, much like the rest of its species. After seeing Ronan take a few steps towards it, the monster let out a final screech before charging at him.

It placed the shield in front of its body, while its sword was pointed towards Ronan and held tight to the rim of the shield. A solid stance, leaving some openings but none that were vital points. Still, Ronan wasn't fazed.

His stats were minimal, but he had a little extra efficacy, as well as his various masteries, and now, four extra traits. In particular, animal prescience and mineral skeleton would give him an advantage from the get-go.

The goblin charged closer, now just six paces away. In two more, it would be close enough to thrust and stab Ronan with its sword.

He held his stance, not moving from his spot. This was a battle where the first to strike would lose. Only, the goblin didn't know it.

The monster took his lack of movement for weakness, and when it was close enough, it planted its forward foot and began to shift its shoulder. A telegraphed attack, and Ronan's animal prescience knew it. More than that, he knew what came next.

The goblin had barely begun to twist its hips when Ronan raised his knee. His foot exploded forwards. The sole of his shoe smashed into the shield. It groaned, but held. Perfect, Ronan thought as the force of his kick winded the goblin.

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The monster's charge worked against it. The rim of the shield smashed into its nose, and it screeched while stumbling backwards. It was no runt, and kept its balance, but the stumble exposed its gut.

In a desperate attempt, it thrust its sword at Ronan as it regained its balance. However, the swing was easily evaded. Ronan stepped into range, past the tip of the blade, as he lowered his leg.

With his weight on the now-planted foot, he surged forwards like a rolling wave. His fist flew, mana crackling down his arm as it did.

A heavy uppercut cracked ribs, the burst of mana that rippled outwards bruising its insides. Ronan hadn't held anything back. Vital surge was in full effect, and he'd used double strike for good measure.

When the second ghostly fist struck the warrior, it doubled over with a garbled screech of pain. The bastard was tougher than he'd expected—or perhaps Ronan had simply grown used to fighting with much more strength. It had been a while since he was in the tutorial.

The goblin's sturdiness didn't help it much. Once he'd dealt the opening strike, it was only a matter of time before it fell. It put up a valiant resistance—Ronan suffered a few more shield-bashes and even a nasty stab wound to his gut—but fifteen seconds later, he delivered a right hook that caved in its temple and dropped it to the ground.

You have killed [Goblin Warrior Lv.5]!

+25 Copper Credits

+4 [Pugilist II] Mastery

+2 [Mana I] Mastery

+3 [Stamina II] Mastery

+2 [Pain I] Mastery

+3 [Perception] Mastery

+Goblin Toes (Common)

+Chipped Sword Lv.5 (Common)

You have leveled up to Lv.1!

You have leveled up to Lv.2!

You have leveled up to Lv.3!

You have leveled up to Lv.4!

You have been restored x2!

+4 Vitality

+4 Endurance

+4 Free Stat Points

Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 1 of the tutorial!

[Inventory] access has been granted at minimum functionality. Improve inventory metrics by spending system credits or through other approved means. Open inventory through mental, verbal, or spiritual command.

+106 Copper Credits

+Myriad Skills Tome (Uncommon)

Stage 2 will begin in 2 minutes!

Ronan was momentarily deafened by the flood of notifications, but quickly found his bearings. He'd leveled up four times from just killing the first enemy, which was partly due to it being a higher level than him, but equally thanks to his huge experience multipliers from his heritage.

The doubled time in between stages was a breath of fresh air, one that he planned to make the most of in his coming lives. Right now, he was going to use it to think about his stats.

He usually knew exactly where to invest his stat points, but this time he stopped to think about it. If stage 1 was already this much harder than it had been in normal difficulty, then how exponentially would the other stages' difficulty increase?

He couldn't simply brute force his way through this. Well, I definitely could. I have endless attempts, after all, but I do want to use my brain a little, in case I forget how to, he inwardly joked.

His health had dropped below half during the battle against the goblin warrior, but that didn't necessarily mean increasing it was the right choice. Getting hit less would have the same effect.

Unfortunately, there was a worrying detail in the level-up message that he'd almost missed in his excitement. Ronan had gained 4 levels, but had only been restored twice. That meant he would only be healed every 2 levels. Relying on level-ups to cheese his fights against tough opponents wouldn't cut it anymore.

Although that raises an interesting question, Ronan thought to himself, tapping his chin. Even after I left the tutorial before, I still got a restore every single level. Is that going to be halved now, simply because I chose the hard difficulty? What about the next steps up? Are there some freaks out there finishing tutorials and venturing back onto our world without ever having the safety net that a level-up offers?

For now, he wasn't so worried about it. Every 2 levels was still an extremely comfortable margin for him, given how fast he racked up experience in these early levels with his multipliers.

Not to mention he naturally gained vitality when leveling up. No, investing in it further would be pointless. Ronan knew exactly what to do. He put 2 points in strength, 1 in agility, and 1 in resistance.

It was a basic spread, but he was going back to basics as he attempted the hard tutorial. Strong, pretty fast, and hard to kill.

He also noticed that he gained quite a few mastery points, despite fighting a fairly low-leveled monster. He wondered if the increased difficulty gave better rewards for kills, as well as for completing the stages.

1:47…

The timer in the corner of his vision reminded Ronan that he didn't have infinite time to think. Well, I'm basically done anyway.

The inventory access granted was the same as the normal difficulty tutorial, but he received a lot more credits. Part of that was down to his multiplier, but the base amount was still quite a lot higher than the normal difficulty tutorial. More importantly, the biggest reward of stage 1 had improved! Ronan had received his first ever uncommon myriad skills tome.

A fresh wave of excitement spread through him as he took the leather-bound book out of his inventory. It was time to receive his first uncommon rarity skill!

He activated the myriad skills tome. From the moment it flew into the air, he felt the difference. More power radiated from it compared to the common tome, and it shone in with a faint green glow. The first page fluttered, and his heart fluttered with it.

He couldn't wait to see what skill was hidden inside.

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