Nine days were left in the second stage of the Tutorial. If things went well, then there would only be one day left for this monster stronghold.

Teresa hadn't gotten any new skills from her class yet, it was actually rather slow to gain experience. That made sense considering the class perk, but it was also slow for a class that was level 0. Did classes need more experience to level up the stronger they were? That would make sense.

There were four archer towers within the stronghold, each with their own archer. Once again, it was a camp full of skeletons, so her poison staff wouldn't do anything. Those archers were her biggest threat, as she could probably just run away from the melee fighters if need be. She couldn't run away from an arrow, but she was fast enough to make herself an incredibly difficult target.

How was she going to do this? The best option was for her to get more Clubbers to attack while she zigzagged like a maniac to avoid getting shot. She was probably fast enough to outrun some Clubbers by now, so it wouldn't be too big of an issue.

They would probably die relatively quick, but she would provide them with the best buffs she could. <Magic Wellspring> didn't do a lot for the monsters who already didn't seem to have a great Intelligence or Wisdom stat, but it still gave her some experience anyways.

That was part one of the plan, which was nearly identical to last time. However, she couldn't rely on the Clubbers killing all of the skeletons again. There would still be a lot of skeletons remaining, and it would be difficult to find more Clubbers. Teresa had kind of sorta maybe killed most of the monsters nearby, bringing even a single pack of Clubbers would take a while.

Teresa had set a goal for herself. There should be five people in her party, so she would try to take out five strongholds before the second stage of the Tutorial was over. There were four to go with nine days remaining, giving her two days per stronghold with a day to spare.

The strongholds evidently got harder the more she conquered, so she would prefer to leave as much time as possible for the later strongholds. She couldn't spend several days bringing Clubbers to this one stronghold, she would have to finish the skeletons off herself.

With her she had her full equipment minus the poison staff. It wouldn't be useful to her at all, as once again the skeletons did not need to breathe. She actually did bring her bow with her this time, as she might get a chance to use it if she could take over one of those archer towers. It would be incredibly difficult to shoot skeletons that consisted of so much empty space, but it would be manageable at medium range. She also didn't bring the C4, as she felt this battle didn't warrant using plastic explosives.

About two miles from the stronghold, Teresa found a pack of Clubbers.

{Yectin Clubber (F) (lv 15)}

They were slightly higher level than the ones Teresa had used last time, but Teresa had grown much faster since then. Running ahead of them wouldn't be a problem. At least, Teresa hoped not. Either way, she was fast enough now that she wouldn't be worried about taking the pack on in a fight if she really had to.

She cast <Facilitated Restoration> and made it as bright as possible, shooting the DIY flare gun of a skill towards the pack. The spell caught their attention, and soon Teresa was running towards the stronghold with a pack of six Clubbers on her tail. Really it wasn't a lot of them, but it would have to do.

The two miles passed after a few short minutes of running. Despite the monsters chasing after her and the stronghold full of enemies in front of her, it was incredibly peaceful. Teresa's footsteps kicked sand far behind her, and she launched herself through the air with every movement. It was fantastic, being basically superhuman had its perks. She sent <Facilitated Restoration> and <Magic Wellspring> behind her at the Clubbers, making sure to get all of them before the battle began.

The archers in the towers began to draw their bows and take aim, which was Teresa's cue to start running more erratically. She darted at an angle to her left, counted to two, then changed angles again. After counting to three this time, she changed angles once more. The irregular movement at such a high speed made one of the four archers miss their shot, and Teresa realized something as she watched the skeleton fire.

She could react to it.

While she couldn't just dodge the arrows as they came at her, Perception was her third highest stat. She could clearly see the skeleton as its fingers began to release the arrow. She had a ridiculous amount of Intelligence and Wisdom at this point, and whatever it was that made her think faster and react quicker was coming in clutch. Teresa could tell when a skeleton was going to shoot just a fraction of a second before it did.

Another archer's fingers began to loosen, and Teresa changed directions abruptly to avoid the incoming projectile. The arrow plopped into the sand several feet from her, just as she was getting ready to dodge yet another arrow.

Some skeletons had come out in front of the gate yet again, however unlike last time they did not charge to meet her. Teresa would have preferred it if they just abandoned all sense of strategy and left their fortified position to attack her, but this group seemed a little smarter than the last.

She drew her sword as she got near, arrows landing to either side of her again and again as she repeatedly dodged by tracking the archers' fingers. Once she was close enough, some of the archers lost a line of sight making her life just a little bit easier before going into the melee. Teresa rapidly approached a skeleton with a shield and sword, getting ready to swing her own.

Teresa's sword slammed down onto the skeleton's shield, the force bringing the monster to its knees. Immediately the skeleton attempted to swipe back at her with its own sword, and the skeletons on either side of it tried to do the same. Rather than staying in melee range, Teresa ran along the frontlines of the skeletons, occasionally smashing her sword into shields and sometimes even bone. She didn't focus on any particular skeleton long enough to be attacked back, she was just buying a couple of seconds until-

CRASH

The Clubbers arrived. Skeletons were punted like a doll by the massive monsters, though multiple of the Clubbers already had arrows in them. The commotion distracted a skeleton next to Teresa, and she took the opportunity to swing her sword down onto its skull.

You Have Slain {Skeletal Warrior (F) (lv 18)}

Experience Granted

The sword went straight through the bone, which cracked and crumbled apart. It seemed the skeleton's body became incredibly brittle after death, or at least true death. Teresa was able to swing her sword into a second skeleton's skull before they started retaliating.

Teresa jumped back as five skeletons all tried to cut her at once, either stabbing or slashing their blades into the space Teresa had just been occupying. A sixth skeleton darted forward and swung its blade at Teresa before she could dodge again, but she managed to raise her own sword to block the strike. Damn, that was kind of cool-

SMACK

"Ow, fuck!" Teresa yelled, speaking aloud for the first time in a while as the flat side of her own sword smacked her in the face. She had managed to block the strike with her sword, but had underestimated how much force she needed to exert against the attack. As a result, the skeleton's blade hit into Teresa's and made her own blade slap her in the face.

Teresa quickly stabbed the skeleton through its nose hole, the end of her sword protruding from the back of its head. Asshole. Ruined her moment. She pulled the sword out from the skeleton and swung it at the next skeleton closest to her. The monster blocked her strike, and Teresa took that as a cue to take a step back.

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As expected, the skeleton that had just blocked the strike immediately went for a counter attack with its sword, but Teresa was able to predict the monster's behavior as the bones in its body shifted before it swung back at her. She also took a quick glance up at the archers, but they seemed focused on the Clubbers still.

There had already been a significant number of casualties among the skeletons, but many of the Clubbers had fallen as well. The battle hadn't even been going on for a minute, but in a senseless brawl everything died rapidly. All four archers were still standing, and that needed to change. Teresa couldn't spend too much time in the melee, as the archers would inevitably be the deciding factor in this fight.

Regardless if she could dodge an arrow or not, getting overwhelmed was still entirely possible.

Teresa sprinted towards the stronghold entrance, slipping past skeletons and even shoving some out of her way. They raised their shields to block her sword, but they didn't expect her to just push them back with her bare hands as hard as she could. She had a solid Strength stat and a lot of momentum, and she managed to send a couple skeletons tumbling back.

It was kind of comical. Teresa did not really look like she should be as strong as she was, so it had to be really funny to witness. Too bad no one else was there to laugh about it with her. Having some company again would be really nice, but she wasn't through with the Tutorial yet.

She made her way inside the stronghold, the Clubbers out front still causing enough of a ruckus to steal attention away from her. The camp was larger than last time, and there was even a log cabin within the walls. Opposite of the stronghold from her was another treasure chest, but Teresa didn't have time to go straight for the loot.

Teresa ran up the stairs to an archer tower as quietly as she could. The skeleton was focused on the Clubbers, and she did not want to draw its attention as she ran up a narrow set of stairs. Wait, did she need to be quiet? Skeletons didn't exactly have ears, so could they hear at all? Were skeletons deaf? No, that wouldn't make sense, they didn't have eyes but they could still clearly see.

A few steps later she was directly behind a skeleton archer. She wasted no time and smashed her sword into the archer's skull, killing it instantly. She looked around at the remaining archers and spotted one aiming right at her, fingers just about to release the bowstring. Teresa dropped to her stomach while pulling out her bow, the skeleton's arrow whistling right above her.

She got to her feet and drew her own arrow, aiming at the monster. She aimed just above center mass, and released the arrow as the skeleton drew back its own. Teresa's arrow slammed into part of a rib, breaking it off and causing some ricochet damage to the rest of the monster's body. The sudden influx of force made the skeleton prematurely release its own arrow, and the shot went nowhere near Teresa.

She drew another arrow and fired, but this one went perfectly between two of the monster's ribs. Shit. Hitting a skeleton from a distance was hard, there was way too much empty space. If she could reliably get a headshot it would be fine, but Teresa was not a great archer.

The skeleton returned fire, though Teresa was able to avoid this arrow far more easily than the last. The skeleton seemed to be off balance from missing a rib, and its shot went wide. Teresa didn't even have to move, though she had still dropped to the floor again just in case.

Teresa shot back once more, this time her arrow managed to hit the skeleton in its arm. The bone snapped, and the skeleton was no longer able to fire arrows in its condition. That would have to do, Teresa's goal was to stop the archers first and foremost. That didn't mean she necessarily had to kill them, however. Just disabling them would do for now, she could finish them off later.

She took aim at another archer not facing her, taking her time with this shot as she was no longer being shot at. Due to the angle the monster was standing at, it was a far easier shot as more of its body was exposed. Teresa fired her arrow, and it planted itself inside of the skeleton's shoulder. That skeleton would no longer be able to fire again, so she turned to the next.

There was one last archer, and a good chunk of the melee fighters were still alive. Many of the Clubbers had fallen, only three remained though it looked like they were all seriously injured and about to go down any second now. The skeletons in this stronghold were not only stronger, but there were also a lot more of them.

A sudden surge of energy flowed through Teresa's body as she gained a level from all of the assisted kills from the Clubbers, just as she was about to fire an arrow at the last skeleton. The abrupt change in stats made her shot miss entirely, and the archer focused on the enemy shooting at it.

Teresa still managed to fire off another arrow at the skeleton archer, but once again it missed. Suddenly gaining stats in the middle of firing her bow had thrown her off rhythm, and it would take a shot or two with the bow to get used to it again.

Arrows were exchanged back and forth, and eventually Teresa took a hit. An arrow cut alongside her waist, though some quick restoration Magic fixed it right up. So long as the damage wasn't completely debilitating or instantly lethal she could tank a shot or two thanks to her high Fortitude and Vitality stat combined with her healing skills. If she had a full set of metal armor she could be a monster herself.

In the end an arrow struck true as it planted itself in the skeleton's skull, instantly killing it. It was the first shot from a bow that had actually killed something directly, but Teresa didn't have time to celebrate as skeletons began running up the stairs to her tower.

The previous two archers had drawn daggers and rushed her, but thankfully Teresa had a few seconds to spare after finishing her firefight with the last archer. She drew an arrow and released it, killing the skeleton in the lead with a headshot. It was far easier to hit a target at closer range as it rushed her, and the dead monster's body caused the one behind it to slow down as it climbed over the corpse. Was it a corpse if it was just a skeleton? That was a question Teresa would have to look up once she had access to the internet again. Shit, would the internet even still work when she left the Tutorial?

Another shot later and there were two dead skeletons on the staircase leading up to Teresa in the archer tower. The last of the Clubbers had died, and a group of melee fighters were now approaching Teresa's position. There seemed to be twelve skeletons left, which was unfortunately a somewhat large number.

Shooting them would be difficult due to their shields, but Teresa's position in the archer tower had an advantage. The stairs leading up the side of the structure were rather narrow, it would be difficult for more than one skeleton to march up the stairs at a time while holding their shield out in front of them. Additionally, Teresa could alternate between shooting directly down the staircase from the top steps and shooting down from over the ledge, each position offering a slightly different angle of attack.

As the first skeleton began climbing, she released an arrow that struck the monster in the leg. It had kept its shield high to protect its head and chest, but left its lower body exposed. The monster was crippled on the staircase, drastically slowing down the remaining skeletons.

One shot later and the injured skeleton dropped dead with an arrow shooting straight through its skull and into the shield of the monster behind it. Teresa fired again and again, always targeting any exposed bone not protected by a shield. A lot of her shots missed as shooting a bone was not exactly easy, but she had improved her archery quite a bit since the start of the Tutorial.

Each dead skeleton was one more body the rest had to climb over, and by the time three skeletons were left Teresa ran out of ammo. They were also about to reach the top of the stairs, so it was time for Teresa to start swinging her sword again.

She drew her blade and approached the skeleton in the lead. Rather than slamming her sword into its shield like an idiot, she launched one of the nastiest front kicks of her life. The bottom of her foot collided with the shield, and the force from her blow knocked the skeleton back causing it to trip into its allies.

Seizing the moment, Teresa swung down at the skeleton and cut through multiple ribs along with its sternum. The skeleton struggled to move, but after a few shakey attempts at standing it collapsed on the ground. Teresa had only really killed skeletons with headshots before, so it was weird to see one die from a chest wound. What counted as enough damage to kill a skeleton anyways?

The next skeleton caught her by surprise with a shield charge, dashing into her and bashing Teresa with the defensive weapon. She was knocked back into the railing, nearly slipping over the edge and down the side of the tower. Despite being caught off guard, she got a weird sense of deja vu from the attack. It had been incredibly similar to their strategy during the first wave of the Tutorial, when Jake had pinned mosquitoes against a wall to render them immobile.

Unfortunately for Teresa, the roles were now reversed. She caught her balance, but the skeleton was swinging its sword at her already. Teresa leaned back as far as she could on the railing without going over the side, and the tip of the blade cut across her forehead. Blood poured out from the head wound, though it was quickly closed up thanks to her <Facilitated Restoration>. It took longer to heal than it should have, but that was likely due to her increasing Fortitude.

She swung back, catching the skeleton in the side with her attack. The sword cut through the monster's body, but before it could even drop dead the next skeleton was already on her.

It was going to swing its sword in a horizontal arc at her, and there was not a lot of room to maneuver. Thinking quickly, Teresa dropped her sword and jumped forward, grabbing the skeleton and tackling it over the edge of the tower.

They dropped together, the skeleton underneath Teresa as they plummeted to the ground. They slammed into the sand together, and Teresa heard the skeleton's bones break along with some of her own.

She punched down at the skeleton's skull, bashing its face in repeatedly. It cracked and crumbled, and eventually the monster was dead. Teresa had broken her ankles and her legs in multiple places, but surprisingly enough the damage wasn't as bad as she was expecting. Several of the breaks were just fractures, and her restoration Magic got to work.

Teresa had just conquered another stronghold.

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