Immediately he took out his second item, a dark red ring with the hazy image of a bestial face drawn on it.
After wearing the ring, he got pricked by two small needles eliciting a startled yelp as that was completely unexpected. After pricking him, the needle generated a suction force so strong that it formed a mini tornado above his hand that attracted a dark coloured liquid from his surroundings.
Blood, specifically the blood of the zombies he had slain in the span of the day he had stayed here. The sight of litres and litres of thick, smelly dark coloured zombie blood floating towards you was enough to scare anyone into a sprint and Mateo was no different. Unfortunately for him though, the pressure released by the ring kept his feet firmly rooted on the stone floor, forcing him to inhale the brunt of the stench.
Upon being released from the ring's pressure after it was done sucking blood, he threw up, hurling what little food he had left after a full day spent fighting. Slowly rolling away from his excrement, he lay down on his back, looking at the cause of his extra weakened state which now had a faint glow to it.
As the last second marking his time in the DEAD-ZONE ticked, he got enveloped by a blinding gold light that forced his eyes shut. After a while, when he felt it was safe, he opened his eyes and found himself in the same hall he found himself in after dying in his first DEAD-ZONE test, with the same golden genderless looking figure floating in front of him.
This time though, there was a heavy pressure surrounding the being. The pressure, Mateo guessed, was as a result of the absurd amount of mana surrounding it. As although Mateo couldn't see mana, he recently started using it, plus it was his gut feeling that told him that the amount of mana was the reason, and he always trusted his gut, because that was what any self confident person would do.
While Mateo was making theories with a bit of substance backing them, the genderless being was also analysing Mateo, surprised at how an individual who fell into the department of AVERAGE by all aspects, physical and physiological, was the first one from the planet to complete the tutorial stage of the DEAD-ZONE.
The being decided to break the tension less silence by giving out a light cough, just loud enough to attract Mateo's attention. He then proceeded to congratulate Mateo for being the first one from Earth to complete the trial stage. He concluded his short speech by giving Mateo the chance to ask three questions which it would do its best to answer if it could.
''Okay, first and foremost, what the heck are you and do I address you formally orr what?''
"Am i supposed to take it that those are your first two questions"
"What - no, I was just giving you the chance to be courteous. I don't know how you practice courtesy where ever you come from, but here on Earth we introduce ourselves first, before moving on to the important topics", stated Mateo with a look that implied what he just said was common sense.
"Hmm, in that case shouldn't you be considered as a rude person seeing that you also have not introduced yourself" countered the golden being with what could only be assumed as a smirk on its blinding face.
"Hmm that's true, forgive me. My name is Mateo Smith, high school student and recent zombie slayer"
"Okay, unfortunately I cannot tell you my name since I don't have one, but you may address me as, Fragment of His Indomitable Majesty, or FragHIM for short and do not call yourself a zombie slayer, you are not worthy of such a noble title."
"Wait, so you telling me that you ain't even real, but you already have enough mana to form a terrifying pressure around you, and what sort of lame title is Zombie slayer."
"Hmm, it seems English isn't your strong forte. I am real, I'm just based off of the Indomitable One, kind of like a clone He made, only much weaker. And by the way, you are down to your last two questions."
"Dang it, I didn't think that would count as one question, ah well. Okay so tell me the benefits I get for getting first clear on the tutorial phase, and the power levels of the world."
"Oh my, I can't tell if you are unlucky, impatient or plain stupid. I was going to tell you the first one anyway and the second one is basically common knowledge. But hey, since I'm obedient and do not like stress I'll count it as you using your chances.
Okay so listen up, in this world we have three main [STAGES ], in order of weakest to strongest, we have [MORTAL], from rank 1 to 3, [ASCENDANT], from rank 4 - 6 and to top it off, [DIVINE], rank 6 - 9. Each of these is further divided into three tiers, lower tier, mid tier and high tier. And as it usually is, the wider the gap between ranks or levels the harder it is to get a victory." FragHIM explained, concluding his short info dump about the power levels of the world.
After a short while of what FragHIM assumed to be information digestion, Mateo opened his mouth."What the hell was that. Why is the power leveling of the world so small. What happened to all the long and hard to remember lists containing Nascent realm cultivators, immortals, novices, experts, among other Asian based rankings?"
"HIM found all those rankings to be unnecessary and as you said, difficult to remember but don't worry, the universe is vast and not every organisation uses these rankings. Most of them have their personal rankings."
"Okay so what are my benefits for placing first."
"Impatient brat, don't you know what the word patience means. I was obviously getting to your benefits. *Sighs* this is going to take a while."