Moral [DocOfRedheads]

Hey Despaxas here, a new egg hatches and the Doc is here. Seems like new Johns are all the rage this summer. Have fun reading this new take on the story, but first have Fun give you another foreword.

"This author is a heretic that does not have the appropriate number of maids in his story (which is all of them). That aside, Doc will hopefully be bringing you great entertainment. Just remember that all bad times must come to an end." Funatic

John shook his head at the thought, banishing it from his mind. Sure, he could borrow the money, but… it struck a discordant note in him. He stood still for a moment, gears turning in his head.

It felt entirely wrong for him to take the money, for whatever reason. Sure, he had full intention of repaying it, but taking it without asking, even if with good intention, still felt like stealing, and that just sat wrong with him. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that it was a bad idea, even outside of his morality. If he did take it, Frank would just steal it from him in turn, like the walking caricature of a jock that he was. Just the thought of the bully sparked some small flame of resentment about the unfairness of his life. Taking a breath, he shoved that back into the corner of his mind where he kept the unwanted and less pleasant parts of his personality.

“Are you okay, honey?” his mom’s voice cut into his thoughts. “You’ve been standing there swaying slightly for a while now. Do you feel well? I have to go to work, but if you’re ill, you shouldn’t go to school.”

Her voice was filled with worry, and John could almost sense her motherly instinct kicking in.

Brenda might not have been around very often, working long, late hours and taking regular trips, but she always wanted the best for him. He had no doubts about that, and if he had, he only had to remember her lack of a boyfriend to remind himself. Despite his urgings, she’d always insisted that all she needed was John.

In this case, though, her words not only calmed him but lent him some clarity. He couldn’t steal from her on a technicality without feeling like a scumbag, even if he objectively knew that it was a silly overreaction. So, with that decided, and since the thought of actually asking her for the money was something that he didn’t even consider, he figured he would just have to go hungry today instead.

“Yeah, Mom, I’m…” He was about to say he was fine, when he realised, why would he want to go to school today? He just got turned into a literal video game character, with potentially dozens of new, unknown abilities, actual magic, and he was thinking about going to school? Why would he-

New Quest: A subtle hint
Choose One - Head for School, as the previous quest so politely suggested - OR - Lie to your mother about being ill and skip school like a delinquent to play with yourself.
Rewards - 30 EXP, 1 Enchanted Charm, a morally positive feeling - OR - 15 XP, disappointing the woman who raised you and works her ass off to make you happy, being a terrible person, and 1 Cursed Charm

Huh. Guess that’s why he was going to school.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom, don’t worry about it.” He tried to sound upbeat, despite the unexpected passive aggressive tone of his newest quest.

She gave him a searching glance and checked her watch before saying, “Hmm… all right. I can drop you off at the corner store on my way to work if you’re ready in five minutes, and I’ll give you some money for a treat on the way. I know you don’t like the morning break food they offer.”

John quickly swung around and jogged upstairs, accompanied by the gentle sound of his mom’s laughter, and an unexpected warmth in his chest. Without even realising he’d had a problem, she’d solved it. He was reminded again exactly how lucky he was to have her for a mom.

He managed to get ready in time, and they even got a whole two and a half minutes away from home before his mom started fussing over him again.

“Are you certain I shouldn’t drop you at the store to get something nice, then you stay home today, sweetie? You looked a bit pale earlier, and you’re so lean and lanky these days. It’s my fault for not being around enough to make sure you eat enough, but work is just so busy this year that I simply haven’t had the time free and especially with the recent-”

“Mom!” John interrupted her. “You don’t need to apologise, please. I’m a big boy now, remember? I can feed myself. And I feel fine. I’m pretty sure it was just a dizzy spell from waking up fully.”

“Sorry, sorry! I know, you’re all grown now, but…” She paused a minute in thought as they hit a red light, and John turned to look at her, only to get a sudden and unexpected glimpse of his mom while she wasn’t putting on a mask for his benefit.

Like she had said, all year she’d been working near non-stop, but it hadn’t really sunk in how much that was affecting her until he saw the heavy bags under her eyes, concealed by makeup, and the tiredness that was in her every move and expression when he wasn’t looking. It was shocking because he’d never even realised how bad it seemed to be.

He was just about to speak up and suggest she take some hours off when she continued,
and his chance to bring it up was lost.

“I was wondering if we could maybe watch something tomorrow evening?” she asked, her hopeful tone sending another twinge of guilt through him. “I can make sure I’m home by six, bring some takeaway, and we could do a little movie night. I know I’ve been busy an awful lot recently, and I miss spending time with you.”

How could anyone with a heart say no to that? She was tired, working her ass off daily to get them money, and she was still trying to make sure he was okay and she was spending enough time with him.

“Of course, Mom. I’d love that.”

The two of them shared a smile, which John tried to every ounce of his love for her into, before continuing the drive in a comfortable quiet for a minute while they thought of anything else to say.

“How is school going for you these days, sweetie? I know you were struggling a bit at the start of the year, before my schedule picked up”

John shifted uncomfortably, immediately disquieted by the direction this conversation could go in, and the negativity it would bring up that he usually tried to keep tamped down.
“It’s… alright. It’s school.” He kept it short, hoping she would leave it there.

“Yeah? Have you met anyone interesting? Or maybe even a girl you might like?” she asked teasingly. He wanted to resent that, but there was no cruel intent, or even the slightest hint of negativity in her. She didn’t know about Frank and Vanessa; she just truly hoped that he’d met someone special.

He remembered the day in middle school where he’d come home crying, thinking it was the worst day ever after being embarrassed by falling over in front of the entire class and then also failing one of his tests. He’d hidden in his room and refused to talk, leaving the poor teenage babysitter at a loss of what to do. Ultimately, she’d called his mom, who’d come home early, brought ice cream, and simply sat with him as he cried it out.

That was one of the few memories that John treasured whenever he recalled it, because it reminded him that his mom would always be on his side, even if she didn’t know what the side she was taking represented.

He smiled slightly, but honestly. “...There isn’t, Mom, but I guess you never know when you’ll meet someone. I’ll tell you if I do.”

“Remember, John, if you feel sick or your head hurts, or anything else, you go straight to the nurse and get them to send you home, okay? And be safe on your way to school from here. Don’t be walking with your earphones in, or on one of your phone games again. I keep hearing about disappearances more and more in town these days, like that poor blonde girl from Crescent Drive, Daisy. Oh, and don’t forget-”

“To call you when I get home later because you’ll still be at work, and that there are leftovers in the fridge on the third shelf if I get hungry before you get back or your work runs late. I remember, Mom,” John finished his mother’s sentence with an exasperated smile at her mothering as he got out of the car. “Have a good day at work, love you, Mom!”

She smiled sheepishly back at him as he closed the door and replied out of the window as she began rolling away, “Love you too, sweetie, have a good day.”

John watched her drive off, then hitched his bag on his shoulder properly and began walking to school. Ashcroft was about a fifteen minute walk from here, twenty if he took it slow, but he preferred it to the bus despite taking longer and needing physical effort, simply because it allowed him to avoid Frank and was overall less stressful for him. Also, there was occasionally one of his more attractive female classmates walking the latter half of the route, and spying on their asses swaying in the short summer skirts was always enjoyable. With it being a sunny and warm day, at least he could rely on those skirts being almost unreasonably short.

As he walked, he tinkered around with his new menus, exploring what was available to him in these powers. There was his skill list on the right, but he’d already read the explanation on what each of the things there was, so he skipped that. He also didn’t bother checking the tooltips for his inventory or wallet, and there weren’t any tooltips on his HP, MP, or half a dozen other things he figured were too obvious to warrant explanation if you’ve played almost any video game. His stats, however, each had one to, assumedly, explain what the stat affected, which he tabbed through.

Strength - Influences the power of physical attacks and the amount that can be lifted or carried.
Agility - Influences reaction times and general maximum speed of movement
Endurance - Influences your HP and how sturdy you are.
Intellect - Influences how easily you grasp new concepts and the amount of your maximum MP.
Wisdom - Influences your ability to judge if a decision is a good choice or not, as well as the rate of your MP regeneration.
Charisma - Influences the ease of adaptation within conversation and the perception of attractiveness to others.
Libido - The Fun One. Influences the intensity and regularity of arousal, the length of the refractory period, the volume of cum, and half a dozen other factors that make it extra enjoyable. Notably, this also increases the aptitude at pleasing a partner that reciprocates attraction and arousal.

Well, ignoring the incredibly explicit nature of the last one, those were very handy to know. He hadn’t chosen a class or anything yet, like mage or warrior, if he actually got the chance to choose. Most games with this kind of layout, like Dungeons and Dragons characters, already had their class chosen from character creation, but maybe it just depends on what equipment he decides to use later?

Speaking of equipment, his quest had completed when he was in the car with his mom, which was great, but he hadn’t had a chance to check what the charm he got actually was. He looked around to check if anyone was nearby before he opened his inventory, but despite moving into a more built-up area of the city proper, rather than the suburbs, the only person in sight was a redhead on a bike. From what little he could see of her in her helmet and jacket, she was attractive. Seemed to have a decent rack, slim waist, the red hair was vibrant and that ass in tight jeans on the seat of the bike was something that only God could have provided. More importantly for the task at hand, though, she was waiting at a red light at the junction he’d just passed while checking her out, and his body should cover whatever he was holding, so he navigated his menus and pulled out the promised reward.

In his hand manifested a small yet finely crafted badge made of steel, silver, iron, or some other white shiny metal of that colour, engraved in the shape of a top hat paired with a cane, and it seemed to have no visible way of attaching it to his clothes.

The Gentleman’s Charm
- A small charm made of silver, depicting a Victorian era top hat and a stereotypical curved wooden cane. Gives the wearer a 10% increase to Charisma during interaction with potential partners, so long as the interest is shared.

Well, that was monumentally useless. He tossed it back into his inventory with a snort of derisive laughter. Even if he still had a crush on any of the girls at Ashcroft, Vanessa had made it very clear that there would be consequences if anyone attempted to grow close to him, teaching by example. His first crush, as a new student at a new school, had been messy, especially since he’d not learnt the social circles yet and had asked out the wrong girl - not a memory he wanted to face again anytime soon. And he only heard rumours of the one time a girl confessed to liking him, but she’d transferred schools almost within the week of the aftermath when Vanessa learnt of it. All in all, romance was definitely not what John foresaw for his future.

John shook off both of the depressing reminders of the past, pushing them back into the same mental corner he kept his resentment about Frank and all the other things and people that caused him issues in his life. All in all, though, that little charm was possibly one of the most singularly useless items he’d ever gotten as part of a quest, and very disappointing for his first magic quest. And that included when he got an entire stack of mammoth tusks in Skyrim because he’d misread the objective.

He was so busy grumbling to himself about that mistake and then a further tirade about Skyrim’s 327th release that he almost missed the shatter of glass and quiet cry that came from an alleyway across the road. John took a look around to see if anyone else might be dealing with whatever it was, but the redhead was still the only one around, now typing up a storm on her phone, and didn’t seem to have noticed it.