GLOBAL AWAKENING: My 10,000x Exp Multiplier-Chapter 3: []The Ghost of the Tutorial, Priestess Aria

The entrance to the Tutorial Labyrinth was a massive cavern carved into the side of a jagged mountain.

Hundreds of players milled about the entrance, shouting for party members, trading basic potions, and nursing the wounds of their wounded pride.

The boss of the tutorial, the Ironback Behemoth, was a massive, armored ape that served as Aetheria’s first real skill check.

It had impenetrable armor on its front, requiring a coordinated team. A tank to hold its attention, damage dealers to strike its unarmored joints from behind, and a healer to keep the tank alive.

Vahn bypassed the chaotic crowd entirely.

To the players standing around, he was barely a blur. A gust of wind rustled their cheap cloaks as he shot past them and entered the cavern.

Inside the antechamber just before the boss room, a small group of players was arguing loudly.

Three heavily armored warriors were berating a lone girl standing slightly apart from them.

"You missed the heal, you idiot!" one of the warriors barked, his digital armor dented and smoking. "We had it down to half health, and you let the tank die! What kind of Priestess are you?"

Vahn slowed to a halt, the sudden deceleration creating a sharp crack in the air.

He glanced at the girl.

She possessed long, wavy hair the color of pink-gold cherry blossoms, and eyes that shimmered like polished emeralds. Her features were delicate and almost overwhelmingly beautiful. She wore the simple white robes of a Level 1 Healer, clutching a basic wooden staff tightly to her chest.

Aria. The Priestess.

In Vahn’s past life, Aria had been known as the National Muse. She was a high-tier Healer who became a literal legend. She was the moral compass of the resistance, a woman whose beauty and grace were only eclipsed by her relentless dedication to saving others.

Right now, however, she was just a Level 1 player being yelled at by idiots.

Aria nervously fidgeted with her staff, her emerald eyes looking down at the cavern floor.

"I... I didn’t miss the heal," she said, her voice gentle but trembling slightly. "My cast time is two point five seconds. You charged the Behemoth without waiting for my signal, and you broke line of sight behind the pillar. I couldn’t target you."

"Excuses!" the warrior spat, stepping aggressively toward her. "You’re just a trash"

"She is correct. Your positioning was statistically flawed," a flat, monotone voice interrupted.

The three warriors spun around. Aria blinked, looking up to see a tall man with pitch-black hair and deep purple eyes standing just a few feet away.

He hadn’t been there a second ago.

"Who the hell are you?" the warrior snarled, looking Vahn up and down.

Vahn was still wearing the default commoner tunic and holding a splintered wooden practice sword.

"Get lost, noob. This is party business."

Vahn didn’t even look at the warrior. His deep purple eyes were locked onto Aria. He wasn’t trying to be a white knight. He was simply stating facts based on the data he observed.

"At Level 1 your mana does not grow back fast enough to waste on people who will not listen," Vahn said to Aria, his voice completely empty of emotion. "He broke your line of sight on purpose and then blamed you for it. Do not heal them again. They are not worth it."

Aria stared at him, her lips parting in shock.

The insult was so blunt and clinical that she didn’t know whether to laugh or gasp.

"Not worth it?!" the warrior roared, his face going red as he drew his broadsword.

Vahn ignored the screaming warrior. He turned his back on the group and walked toward the massive iron doors of the boss chamber. He placed a single hand on the heavy metal.

"Wait!" Aria called out, taking a step forward. Her gentle voice rose in a panic. "You can’t go in there alone! The Behemoth requires a full party of five. You don’t even have armor! It will kill you in one hit!"

Vahn glanced back over his shoulder. The dim light of the cavern caught his eyes, and for a fraction of a second, Aria swore she saw glowing azure circuits mapping themselves across his irises. It made her breath catch in her throat.

"It will not hit me," Vahn said simply.

He pushed the doors open. They ground loudly against the stone, and he stepped into the darkness alone. The heavy iron slammed shut behind him.

The boss chamber was a massive circular arena lit by flickering torches. At the center of the room sat the Ironback Behemoth. It was a terrifying monstrosity, standing four meters tall, its back and chest covered in thick, metallic plates.

[Tutorial Boss: Ironback Behemoth]

↳ Level: 5

↳ HP: 5,000 / 5,000

The Behemoth roared, a sound that shook the dust from the ceiling. It pounded its massive fists against the stone floor, locking its glowing red eyes onto Vahn.

It charged, moving with terrifying speed for a creature of its size, raising a massive fist to smash the arrogant human into paste.

Vahn stood perfectly still. He didn’t tense his muscles. He didn’t brace for impact. He simply watched the beast approach, his brain calculating the exact velocity of the incoming fist.

Three meters.

Two meters.

One meter. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The massive fist crashed down. The stone floor shattered, sending debris flying in all directions.

But Vahn was no longer there.

With 50 Agility, Vahn’s perception of time was vastly different from the beast’s. To Vahn, the Behemoth was moving through thick molasses. He had simply stepped to the left, allowing the fist to strike the empty floor.

He moved in.

He possessed 0 Strength. A single strike from his wooden sword against the beast’s armor would do absolutely zero damage and shatter his weapon.

But Vahn wasn’t aiming for the armor. He was looking at the microscopic gap between the armored plates at the back of the Behemoth’s knee. It was a vulnerability that was only exposed for a tenth of a second after it struck the ground.

Vahn’s arm blurred.

He didn’t strike once. Because his Agility dictated his attack speed, he unleashed a torrent of slashes.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

In the span of a single heartbeat, Vahn struck the exact same unarmored tendon behind the beast’s knee seventy-five times. Each strike only did 2 points of baseline damage, but the sheer volume of attacks hitting the exact same coordinate stacked exponentially.

The Behemoth shrieked in agony, its massive leg buckling entirely. It crashed onto its side, exposing the unarmored nape of its neck.

Vahn didn’t pause. He stepped onto the beast’s shoulder, moving like a phantom. He raised the wooden sword, the tip vibrating violently from the kinetic force he was channeling into it.

With a final, precise downward thrust, he drove the splintered wood deep into the beast’s brain stem.

Critical Hit.

The Ironback Behemoth went completely rigid, then exploded into a massive fountain of golden pixels.

Vahn landed lightly on the stone floor, dusting off his tunic. The entire fight had lasted less than three seconds.

The system notifications flooded his vision.

[System Remark]

↳ You have slain the Ironback Behemoth (Solo)!

↳ Base EXP gained: 500.

↳ Hidden Modifier Applied: The 10,000x Factor.

↳ Total EXP gained: 5,000,000.

↳ Notice: You have pushed a basic movement skill beyond its mathematical limits.

↳ Your base skill ’Flashpoint’ has absorbed the extreme kinetic data.

↳ Skill Mutation successful!

↳ You have acquired the Epic Skill: Temporal Step.

Vahn read the notifications with cold satisfaction. Five million EXP. He had successfully cleared the tutorial and built a massive reservoir of capital.

He rubbed his temples, feeling the slight strain of moving faster than the game engine was designed to handle, but the headache faded quickly.

He turned around and pushed the heavy iron doors back open, stepping out into the antechamber.

The three arrogant warriors were still standing there, arguing with Aria. They all froze, turning to look at the massive iron doors opening from the inside. They stared at Vahn, then looked past him into the empty boss room.

The Ironback Behemoth was gone.

"What... what did you do?" Aria whispered, her emerald eyes wide with absolute shock, her hands trembling as she clutched her staff.

Vahn looked at her. He didn’t smile, and he didn’t boast. He merely stated the facts.