Conservatively [Dadwood]

Hi TheDespaxas here, here's a new addition to the flock. As always a warning that things could work differently than in my or other branches. But don't worry, this pigeon here, he writes good stuff. So what are you still reading this for? Go read the chapter! Oh right, before that his mentor has left you a little note too.

Hi, everybody, its Zewesman here! flails Dawodd This guy right here, he's a good guy. He proposed an idea I took quite an interest in and I took him under my wing and made him my apprentice. I taught him only the best knowledge for the dark side of lewd writing, and now you shall all experience it! I hope you enjoy his chapters as much as I had helping him craft them. Now go and enjoy it! Continues to flail Dawodd

John looked into his inventory once again just to make sure.

$2.54, not enough for an actual lunch, but I should be able to buy a few snacks from a vending machine. He nodded to himself, accepting his new plan of action. Pausing at the door, he knelt down and opened his school bag once again, just to double check that he had everything he needed for today. Excitement buzzed through John’s body at the thoughts of all the new possibilities of the school day but with literal powers now.

“Jooooohn! Your bus is here, so get your silly butt out the door, young man!” Brenda yelled from the kitchen.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m leaving right now, Mom,” John said as he stuffed all his supplies back into his bag, zipped it closed, and flung it over his right shoulder. He power walked through the door while waving goodbye to his mother, now ready to begin another day at Ashcroft Academy.

He saw the bus in front of his house, impatiently waiting for him like his mom had said. As he quickened his pace even further to catch it, he saw something move in one of bushes in the corner of his eye. John felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up as an unnatural chill shivered down his spine.

“Probably just a neighbor’s cat or something,” he mumbled aloud to no one in particular. As he practically jumped onto the bus, John didn’t notice the red, snake-like eyes that no normal cat could possibly have staring at him hungrily from within a bush.

Looking down the bus’ aisle, John could see that most seats had already been taken or had a bag on them. Accepting his fate, he walked towards the dirtier seats at the very back. John cast Observe on the people he walked by, feeling this was as good of a time as any to train the skill. After John sat down he continued to cast Observe but had to stifle a sneeze as the relatively dirtier air invaded his nostrils.

After 15 minutes of casting the spell, pausing a moment between casts to preserve mana, these were the results:

Observe lvl up
Lvl 2 → lvl 3
45/60 MP

Observe has become lvl 3, a relationship status ranging from -200 to +200 will now be displayed on those Observed

Sweet, now I can see how everyone actually feels about me. Who knows, maybe some of the girls harbor a secret crush for me, John thought to himself, practically giddy with excitement at the possibilities as he had to consciously stop himself from giggling like an anime school girl.

John quickly cast Observe on the people around him, soon finding out that hope couldn’t be further from the truth.

Okay, what the Hell is this! I know that I’m not the most popular guy in the school, but this is just ridiculous! John thought to himself in practical despair as he looked at the relationship scores in front of him. The highest score here is a -2, and that’s from the bus driver who probably doesn’t even know my name! The lowest here is -178 and that’s coming from Vanessa Hawthorne, seriously, what could I possibly have done to her to make her hate me so much!?

As if on cue, John looked up to see Vanessa glaring at him as if he’d called her name out loud before returning to her conversation with her meat lug of a boyfriend Frank, who had a relationship score of -163 himself.

Internally sighing with defeat, John decided he might as well take the time to explore his powers, hoping to learn more about his new life. He opened his character sheet and found small question marks next to his HP, MP, and each of his stats. He pressed on each of them, and this was what he saw:

Health Points:
The total health of the Gamer, representing the amount of lifeforce he has.
45 = 10 + (END x 5)
Increases HP regeneration by 0.1 per point of total HP

Mana Points:
The total mana of the Gamer, representing the amount of magical power he has to cast spells with.
60 = 10 + (INT x 2)
Increases MP regeneration by 0.01 per point of total MP

Strength:
Represents the physical the Gamer is able to exert with his body. Affecting his lifting strength, melee attack , and other activities that require physical .

Agility:
Represents the movement speed and nimbleness of the Gamer. Affecting his running speed, flexibility, and his body’s reaction time.

Endurance:
Represents how much damage the Gamer can sustain and how long he is able to continually do physical activities. Increases his total HP by 5 HP per point of End. Also increases his total HP regeneration per hour by 1 HP per point of End.

Intellect:
Represents how smart the Gamer is, affecting his overall intellect and other mental faculties. Increases his total MP by 2 MP per point of Int.

Wisdom:
Represents the Gamer’s common sense and how well he is able to apply his Intellect. Increases his total MP regeneration per minute by 0.2 MP per point of Wis.

Charisma:
Represents how likeable the Gamer is, affecting his success rate for persuasion attempts. Charisma is more effective when the Gamer is less known by the target.

Libido:
Represents the sex drive of the Gamer, affecting his sensitivity and lowering his refractory period.

As he finished reading through the last of them, John and all the other students suddenly felt the bus screech to a halt. John’s face slammed into the back of the sticky bus seat. He groaned softly from disgust as he peeled his face from the seat.

The bus driver audibly grumbled, killing the engine and turning on his hazards before stepping out of the bus, shouting for everyone to stay in their seats on his way out. All of the students, including John, stared out of the windows to watch.

John and the other students watched as the bus driver went to check on the bus’ engine. However, he soon looked away from it visibly confused. He bent down to check the tires.

All the bus’ tires were popped. As he scratched his head, the bus driver assumed he must have driven over some nails or glass without realizing it, glancing back at the road behind them as if looking for the culprit.

After he climbed back onto the bus, the driver grabbed the intercom, turned it on, and cleared his throat.

“Errrrrr, due to an unexpected development, I have to tell you all that you're going to be late for school today. If you have another way to transport yourself, do so now. I’ll call the school right now to ask them to send another bus to pick the rest of us up. So feel free to stay in the bus or wait on the sidewalk next to it, either is fine with me.”

About half of the bus stood up; they groaned with annoyance as they grabbed their school bags and got off the bus.

John heard Vanessa tell Frank about how she'll call her daddy to send a limousine to pick them up.

Well, might as well go out to stretch for a bit and get some fresh air to get out of this old gym clothes smell while I wait.

He slung his school bag back over his shoulder and made his way up the aisle until next thing he knew he had fallen face first towards the cold, metal ground.

-2 HP

As he lay on the ground, John grimaced as he tasted iron inside his mouth and heard Frank’s pig like laughter above him.

“Oh, sorry, Newman, didn't see you there. Here let me help you up, buddy,” he said as he stretched his hand out for John to take.

Well, guess some things just never change, even with new magical powers, John thought to himself as he begrudgingly grabbed Frank’s thick, meaty hand.

John felt himself get pulled up quickly, his head getting slammed into Frank’s. John felt his ears begin to ring and the world distort slightly from the direct impact to his head.

-4 HP

“Damn, Newman, no need to be so hostile! Is that how you treat a friend trying to help you?” he said chuckling as he threw John into an empty seat, ready to teach him a lesson in friendship.
That is, of course, until Vanessa Hawthorne herself intervened.

“Let him go, Frank, the limousine is gonna be here any minute and I don't want you staining the seats with bloodied knuckles.”

Frank dropped the fist he was about to swing. Instead, he gathered up all the saliva in his mouth and spat it out onto John.

“Don’t worry, Newman, we’ll finish your lesson at school. So be sure that you're ready, because I promise it’ll be an extra special lesson you’ll be sure to never forget,” he sneered, cracking his knuckles for emphasis as he walked out of the bus behind Vanessa.

That was how things always were: Frank would bully John physically while Vanessa would watch, staring at John like he was the scum of the earth. Even while they abused him at school, a teacher could pass by and would just pretend to not have seen anything. This was likely because Frank was the captain of Ashcroft’s football team and Vanessa had one of the richest, if not the richest, family in Springfield, making them both practically invincible as far as John was concerned.

John sighed and wiped the spit off his face. Great, now I have to make sure I avoid Frank all day. How could this day possibly get any worse? he thought to himself as he got up and picked all his stuff back up.

The world then seemed to shift ever so slightly. The background noise of morning birds and other cars in the distance was suddenly gone and left the world with a dreary silence. John looked and saw he was greeted with new messages.

Trap Barrier activated
Hostiles: 1
Must defeat all hostiles to escape

Trap Barrier? What the Hell’s a trap barrier? Also, what hostile? I don’t see any-

He heard it before he saw it.

The terrible screech of steel being scratched apart made John flinch and was what him to turn around. John took a step back and almost tripped on his own feet as fear clenched his heart. The same chill he had felt when he left home reverberated inside his soul once more, only dozens of times more potent. John’s eyes instinctively focused on its face, and the hungry, sadistic eyes that looked back into his terrified John to his very core as his legs turned to jelly and his knees began to shake.

In that moment, John wanted to do nothing more but to close his eyes and forget the terrible face as fast as possible, but his own fear kept his gaze fixated on its black teeth as its snake-like tongue licked its purple, curled lips. John’s breath came to him in short, ragged gasps as the monster that was less than a third of his size seemed to ooze enough bloodlust to shake his spirit.

John immediately cast Observe to see what the abomination of nature he saw before himself actually was.

Lesser Imp (Starving)
Demon
Lvl 3
-7 Relationship Score

“Noooooooope! Fuck that!” John screamed, immediately running out of the bus to get as far from this thing as his legs and current Agility score could carry him. As he reached about 20 meters from the bus, he slammed into what felt like an invisible brick wall.

-1 HP

As he groaned in pain, the world around John seemed woozy as he looked back, and he became as wide eyed as a deer caught in headlights as the imp flew right for him.

“Shit.”

38/45 HP
51/60 MP