Tutorial 2.6 was authored by Faria Lyton as a part of Co-Op Mode. This chapter is reposted as part of A Bug in the Game with permission.

Tutorial 2.6

Simply sharing a room with a little brother would suck. Sharing a room with my younger brother, who's already pushing six feet at age 13 (and a half), completely blows. Seriously. I'm getting his hand-me-downs now. And he's such a little snitch. Or something that rhymes with it.

"What are you doing with my shirt?" Andy's got a rather deep voice for his age. I'm not sure how much of it is him faking it and how much is just part of hitting the puberty jackpot. He'd almost be intimidating if I hadn't just spend the day fighting zombies alongside a cape who could pull off calling herself Pestilence if she wanted.

We've had this conversation before. "Dude, your shoulders don't fit in it anymore. Mom passed it to me six months ago. You said I could have it the last time I wore it, two months ago."

"Whatever. Just changing into pajamas early so Mom will let me stay up to watch that Earth Aleph movie with the trippy dreams." Ah, the little shit's just marking territory again. And he's already gone to change in the bathroom. Usually it takes even longer than this to get him to drop it when he's fishing for a reminder that he's taller than me and that half my clothes were his within the last year. I'm not short, but it's enough to give a guy a complex.

I don't know how long the movie is, but an hour and a half is a good rule of thumb. So I need to hurry. Suit, armor, and a name… I can do this.

In the end it takes me just over two hours to cobble something not quite entirely unwearable together. Whatever the movie is, it's still going. I have to leave a few pieces in the garage to dry overnight, but it's unlikely anyone else will go in there on a Sunday morning. Looks like I'm in the clear. And exhausted. Too bad I can't actually sleep until Andy goes to bed.

..ooOoo..

Taylor's in nearly the exact same spot as she was last time. I'm a few minutes earlier than last time, partially because all the running is doing amazing things for my VIT, and partially because I need to finish my quest before ten. That's under two minutes from now. I'm cutting it close, but I can finish it in time. "Do you have the mask? My quest won't complete, and I think it's because the costume isn't complete." She hands over the yellowish grey balaclava and I greedily pull it over my face. "Inventory"

A few quick swipes equip my Black Jeans, Blue/Black Franken-Shirt, Black Knit Gloves, and Grey Velcro Shoes quickly replace the more colorful clothes I'd been wearing a moment ago. Now for the more costume-y parts. One at a time, the remaining items appear on top of my clothes. Brown Soccer Shinguards, Brown Scavenged Tin Greaves, Brown Scavenged Tin Chest Plate, Enveloping Shades, and finally the unimpressive Brown Antenna'd BMX Helmet. It's not pretty, but it's not bad for only having one night to work on it.

"I couldn't find any black spray paint, and the helmet is crap, but it's a start." Taylor doesn't look quite as unimpressed as I expected. The chest-plate seems to have drawn her attention. Hmm, no quest completion... I've only got a few seconds left when I realize what I still need to do, "Meet Beetle Knight!"

"Wait, what?"

00:00:04
Quest Completed!
You have gained 500 XP and a piece of Beetle Knight equipment

A decent-size cardboard box appears on the ground in front of me. "Beetle Knight. I thought it worked well as an 'insect medieval' theme. And I like the sound of it. Lady Bug. Beetle Knight. Get it?" I miss her reaction as I'm busy ripping the box open. There's a head-sized black object wrapped in packing foam and five smaller boxes. Okay, it's a helmet. Glossy black, two big eye lenses, stylized fang/mandibles, a section of vents over the nose and mouth, and an oddly shaped hole in the upper forehead.

"Okay, it's not bad. The name works well with Lady Bug and gives us a shared theme. Give me time and I'll get a spider silk under-suit made to go under your armor. Also, Parian might have some ideas that work with the name. That hole looks… like it could be a problem," she waffled.

"Let's see what's up with that. Observe"

Unsocketed Beetle Knight Helmet
Type: Equipment; Quality: Epic
An unnaturally hard helmet given to the Beetle Knight to protect his head and identity. Comes with five interchangeable attachments for different situations. None is attached at this time.

"One moment…" I dig into the largest of the remaining boxes. A pair of curved horns with a slight split towards each tip, also in glossy black, clears the packaging. "Observe"

Stag Beetle Augment
Type: Augment; Quality: Rare
A pair of stag beetle horns made to be socketed to the [Beetle Knight Helmet]. Provides a +5% boost to AGI while equipped.

Sure enough, it slides right into place. "It's got a few different add-ons. This one gives an extra five percent to AGI." The other boxes contain similar items. Goliath Beetle Augment has a large, long bottom horn and a top horn forming a kind of sideways jaw and gives a small boost to STR. Three long horns forming an upside down triangle with a bare stub of a horn between make up the Atlas Beetle Augment, which boosts VIT. There's no boost from the Firefly Augment but the tiny antenna come with a headlamp built-in. The last augment, Golden Scarab, looks kinda like a pair of bent antenna that bulb out towards the ends. For +5% LUK, it's well worth it for Illusion Barriers, even if apparently also turns my entire outfit gold while equipped. I'll probably look like a half-assed armored Scion knockoff if I ever wear it around people.

"That's way better than the one you're wearing. Why don't you try it on?" Taylor's fragile smile seems to be physically pained.

Admittedly the helmet I pieced together last night is awful. I think the thing's a little small. A few flicks of my finger later I'm adjusting to the feel of having a pair of pincers on top of my head.

"Yes, much better. I like that helm. If you can get a full set like that you won't need help from me or Parian. That reminds me - did the pauldrons look bad?"

Novice Hero
Obtained by finding your heroic spirit.
You are just beginning on your journey as a hero!
Become a Hero and save the world!

10% increase in exp gain for stats
10% increase in exp gain for skills
Only available to level 25

"Haven't made it yet. Just earned a title. I'm a Novice Hero now. Gimme a sec." Equipping a title the first time didn't seem to make any obvious changes. Maybe it's just the difference between the two, but I can feel my hatred for the undead subside a little, replaced by an equivalent increase in my drive to excel as a hero. "That's… really weird feeling. Definitely using this one for a bit, though." Some basic math has shown me that I get more out of each level up if I already have higher VIT and INT. So a little focus on stats over damage should be a good thing for now. "That's useful."

Taylor nods, "Especially for me. I swapped back to Novice Hero last night. All I get from leveling is a few stat points, which I plan to save until it becomes harder to earn stat levels."

"Well, it does make more sense to use your rare candies at level 90 than at level 9." I don't think she gets the reference, but she nods along anyway. I'd explain, but I don't want to start my life as a Cape by acting like Uber and L33t. That would be a bad omen. "We've got a few levels on the zombies now. How about we try training our skills a little, maybe try and fill in our skill lists. I kinda want Rising Strike and Finishing Blow, and I'm sure-"

"I want Physical Resistance," she interrupts with a great deal of certainty. There's a brief pause. "...and Grounding Strike. Give me a moment to change into my costume." She blushes. "Be right back."

Girls. Even an insta-change requires privacy.

It really does only take her a moment to return as Lady Bug, bat in hand. "Okay, I'm ready-"

"ID Create!"

Before I can suggest a plan, or ask for a weapon, Lady Bug has launched an especially emaciated zombie into the air with a Rising Strike. Its frail form flies high enough I have to jump a little to catch it with an unarmed Grounding Strike, but that does give me enough time to ready another blow for the moment it hits the ground. Its face squish/crunches around my fist. Thankfully it dissolves off my hand before the sheer grossness can sink in.

A skill has been created through a special action.
A skill to finish off injured opponents, [Finishing Blow], has been created.
Finishing Blow (Active) Lvl 1 Exp 0.0%
Allows user to strike an incapacitated target for bonus damage. 25% increase in critical rate. 100% increase in attack damage. Can only be used on prone opponents.
... and hit the ground!

Brawling's level goes up by one!

You've got 14 XP

"Got Finishing Strike!" I announce. "Do you have a-"

Taylor's already got the knife from yesterday in hand. "You opened the barrier before I could offer you a weapon. This is the only spare I've got on me. You probably can't get Rising Strike with it, though." Even as she's offering the blade to me, her insects are Entangling half a dozen zombies. She's left the nearest one free to shuffle towards us,

"I'll stick to unarmed until that one pops. But thanks." I snag the knife, step forward and mistime an uppercut, hitting it square in the chest for damage only. And not even much at that. "Hey, Taylor, can I ask you something?" I should probably start thinking of her as 'Lady Bug' while in costume.

"Sure." She steps up to another zombie "Power Strike!" and slams her bat into its head.

I step back a little and try the uppercut again. The zombie's hit points drop by maybe a third with a Critical Hit! as his head snaps back, but still no Rising Strike. I'm hitting too high for this, I think. "So what's up with the bitches three? They are way too focused on you and you alone. Seriously, hero or not, how have you not given them crabs or at least lice?"

"Rising Strike!" Tay- Lady Bug slams the zombie she's fighting in the nuts. She does not need to hit that low for the skill to work. It flew into the air as it drops to zero hit points. You've got 14 XP It dissolves into a nothing but a rib that clatters to the deck a dozen or so feet away. "I don't give them crabs because I can feel exactly where all the bugs in my range are. All the time. I don't give them lice because I'm better than them. Than that. I'm going to use my powers for good." She backs away and sighs. "Besides... sometimes my emotions leak into my bugs. If I ever started with them, I'm not sure I could stop. It's... They're... They aren't worth it."

I crouch a bit, plant my feet, and aim another uppercut, this one for the zombie's diaphragm. The corpse lifts completely off the ground. I don't need to check the flashing indicator to know I got Rising Strike. But it's not the time to mention it. "Okay, I get it. Beware the dark side, forever shall it dominate your destiny. But what's with their hate-on for you?" I switch to using the knife.

Lady Bug half-releases a zombie and repurposes the Entangle to trip it. She viciously smashes its head twice with two Finishing Blows. 14 XP "It's a girl thing. Emma used to be my best friend. Then she got to high school and realized that as a model she could be popular, but little old me was uncool. So she ditched me for Sophia the track star and popular girl. I'm the ex best friend forever who is unpopular. She has to diss me to prove she's above me now." She picks up the shard that dropped. "At least that's the only sense I can make of it." She points her bat at another zombie. "Letting that one have a go at you."

"Setting one up. Rising Strike." I launch the undead right into her path with my free hand. "Take it down."

...someone needs to talk to Taylor about her tendency to go for the nads. Aiming for weak points is one thing, but that's just not right. Still, that was a perfect Grounding Strike. I'm sure she's got the skill now.

"If you don't mind me asking, why isn't D&D a good cover story at your house?" Lady Bug is letting one zoot-suited zombie live long enough to get a few hits in, probably trying for Physical Resistance. Her armor is probably doing a lot to make that tolerable. My homemade kit is doing more to stave off glancing blows than I'd expected.

"Honestly, I'm a little on the outside, even in my family, so I don't know all the details," I hedge. It's completely true, though. I smash back a zombie while deciding how to word things. "What I do know is that one night Mom woke the entire house up yelling because she'd found my oldest brother, Bill's Dungeons and Dragons books. Too many demons and too much magic for her take on Christianity." Power Strike and the undead. Catharsis. "She kept the whole house up for three or four hours yelling and crying. When she finally shut up long enough for everyone to get back to sleep, he left. It was over a year before we heard from him again. Even now he's unwilling to be around more than once every three or four months, and it's been around seven years."

"Oh, sounds uncomfortable," her tone sounds just as uneasy. "My family was never really religious."

There's a long, uncomfortable silence. The only sounds are thwacks, slices, and groans. Thankfully, I have a thought. "On the subject of books, I noticed two of my books at home count as skill books. I brought them along. We should check them out after lunch. Tabouli and provolone on wheat, by the way."

The conversation is combat focused and much more comfortable for the next hour or so. Along with both skills I was aiming for, I unlock Light Armor Mastery and earn another point of AGI and STR. Looks like I also got +1 Brawling, +2 Power Strike, +3 Knife Mastery, and +2 Grounding Strike. And a shiny new level.

As I dispel the Illusion Barrier, Lady Bug reports her progress. "I got 3 more levels of Blunt Weapon Mastery and Entangle. 2 more of Rising Strike, Light Armor Mastery, Power Strike and Finishing Blow. Just 1 for AGI, VIT, Combat Mapping, and Dodge. And I unlocked Grounding Strike but not Physical Resistance."

"Maybe nothing hit you hard enough? If it weren't for Gamer's Body, I'd be bruised pretty badly from how I got that. Inventory." Now that I've got my handy extra-dimensional storage, the tupperware is unnecessary. Preplated sandwiches look better anyway. The glasses of water are just me showing off a little. I also pull out two books. There's a brief pop-up as I handle each, but it fades as I place them on the ground.

Taylor ducks around a corner while I'm arranging things and un-equipping the more costumey bits of my outfit. The first thing she grabs isn't a sandwich, but a book. "Beginner's BASIC? I…" Her eyes shift in a way I'm rapidly associating with game messages. "Wait! We don't have to study? Push a button and just learn it? This could make computer class even easier. This could make everything easier..." She pokes a finger at the air.

The book vanishes.

Okay, not like an instant 'blink gone' vanish. It suddenly glows, fragments, and disappears like sparks rising from a fire. Taylor's hair floats briefly in a breeze that isn't touching anything else, a calm smile on her face.

"Wow. That was… I already knew most of that, but still. I didn't expect a skill as broad as Computer Programming from this book and it just poured into my head!" She looks down and realizes the book is gone. Her smile turns sheepish. "...sorry."

I wave her off. "I half-expected it. A lot of games only let you get one use out of skill books. I guess Long is a Dragon is mine." I grab the remaining, much thinner book.

You've obtained the skill book [Chinese]
Would you like to learn the skill?
Yes No

"I never figured I'd actually learn Chinese before Japanese." I only got the book back in grade school because it had a dragon on the cover. "Yes."

Knowledge fills me, expanding my comprehension of the world around me. Pronunciations, hanzi, and some grammar slots itself neatly into my mind. Wow.

You've obtained the skill [Chinese]
Chinese (Passive) Lvl 1 Exp 0.0%
Allows the user to read, write, speak, and understand Mandarin, Cantonese, and many other sub-dialects. At this level, the user has a pre-schooler's comprehension and will suffer misunderstandings between the various dialects.

"I get the feeling I'll still need to study a lot before it's really useful, but damn me if that wasn't one hell of a jump start."

"No kidding." I guess Taylor found the lightshow as impressive as I did. She looks more timid than I've seen before. "...can we go shopping after lunch? I think I need to visit a used book store…"