Venerable Chapter 3: Chapter 3: White Room Vanishes

Read chapter 3 of Venerable by Jade_White on NovelPedia.

"Attention all participants," the Announcer declared. "The evaluation period has officially concluded. I hope you are all entirely satisfied with your assigned combat roles. It is now time to discuss the rules of your very first tutorial phase." The massive crowd fell completely silent. Even the giant Warrior named Baruka stopped swinging his heavy wooden club so he could listen carefully. "In just a few moments you will be transported to a localized tutorial ground," the Announcer explained. "This area is completely cut off from the rest of the universe. Your primary objective is incredibly simple. You must survive in that dense forest for fifteen consecutive days." Dustin frowned and quickly did the mental math. Fifteen days was a very long time to go without proper food or clean drinking water. He wondered if the magical system would provide them with basic daily rations. "I must also clarify one very important detail regarding your participation," the Announcer added with a laugh. "The pain you feel in the tutorial ground will be absolutely real. Furthermore any participant who loses all their vitality points will face permanent termination. If you die in the forest you will simply cease to exist everywhere else. There are no extra lives and there are no second chances." A wave of terror washed over the endless crowd. The reality of true death finally crushed whatever small hope they had left. Several people dropped their weapons onto the floor in shock. Others began weeping loudly and hugging their loved ones desperately. Dustin felt his own heart rate spike dangerously. He took a deep breath and forced his body to remain completely still. A young athletic woman named Cha hae suddenly stepped onto a slightly elevated section of the white floor. The golden glow of her status screen illuminated her determined face. She raised her sword high into the air to draw the attention of the terrified people around her. "Everyone needs to calm down and listen to me," Cha hae shouted. "Panicking right now will only get us all killed. We have thousands of people in this massive room. If we work together and form a solid defensive perimeter we can easily survive for fifteen days." Her strong voice cut through the weeping and the fearful whispers. People slowly began turning their attention towards her "We need to organize a central command immediately," Cha hae continued. "All the Warriors and Defenders will form a massive outer wall to protect the group. The Archers and Elementalists will stay right behind them to provide ranged magic support. The Clerics and the Civilians will remain safely in the absolute center. We will pool all of our resources together. We will send out large hunting parties to gather food and we will fiercely protect the weak." It was a beautiful and highly tactical speech. Dozens of frightened civilians immediately rushed toward her elevated position. They desperately wanted to be part of her organized and protective community. Even a few of the newly assigned Warriors nodded in agreement and began moving toward her to form the first defensive lines. Dustin watched the inspiring display of leadership from the very back of the dense crowd. He slowly shook his head in absolute disagreement. 'That is the single worst idea I have ever heard,' Dustin thought critically. 'Grouping thousands of noisy and panicked humans into one massive target is pure suicide. The sheer noise they make will attract every single predatory monster within miles. They are basically trying to build a giant all you can eat buffet for the local wildlife.' He looked over at the charismatic blonde man named Kael. Kael was forming his own separate group composed entirely of aggressive damage dealers. They were loudly discussing how many monsters they could hunt to maximize their experience points before the timer ran out. They completely ignored the careful defensive strategy proposed by Cha hae. 'Those guys are even worse,' Dustin reasoned inte