First Class

Reader made his way to English class, took out his textbook, and resolved to hide for the rest of the class. Ms Calloway was clearly what happened when a literature nerd read one too many Danielle Steele novels – though in her case it was adamantly Austin. Still, Reader doubted anything in her class could provide anything of value, so he focused instead on practising his skills.

With his mana almost drained Reader used his Observe skill on the girl in front of him, receiving an interesting result:

Margie White <Lvl 3 Student>; Guilds: None; Titles: None; Relationship: Observe must be level 2 to see; Sexuality: Observe must be level 4 to see

Well, that seemed like all the reason to grind the skill he needed. Reader used Observe on everyone in the classroom, then on most objects he could discretely stare at. It was when he was observing the word 'the' in his textbook that his Observe skill finally levelled up. Excited for more information that might help him better understand the dynamics of the classroom, he used Observe again...

Margie White <Lvl 3 Student>; Guilds: None; Titles: None; Relationship: -20; Sexuality: Observe must be level 4 to see

Reader was immediately taken aback, unsure why his relationship with her would be in the negatives. He used Observe at random on a different student...

Jessie Grant <Lvl 6 Stoner>; Guilds: The Staveburne Psychonaut's Club; Titles: None; Relationship: -31; Sexuality: Observe must be level 4 to see

I don't even know that guy! What the hell's his problem? Reader wondered. He quickly used Observe on every student in the room, quickly finding that he was definitely not well liked by anyone. His highest score was with Ms. Calloway herself, at 0. Lexa was at – 49, weird given how much she seemed to hate him. Plenty of people thought worse of her than she did, Will was at a whopping – 169! That seemed ****. What the hell have I done to ruin my reputation to this degree? Reader thought to himself, checking his character sheet to see if there might be an explanation to be found there.

Nothing to explain it there Reader thought, though he was pleased to see it looking less bare than it had this morning. I wonder whether, this being a finishing academy, everyone's been putting all their progression into charisma? I'm level one, if I got up to the average level for the class and focused on upping my cha maybe that would improve... Reader had told himself that he was detached from the petty politics of people he wouldn't be seeing in another year, but that had always been based on the idea he could learn and excel at the rules of it like any other game if he'd wanted to. Seeing his low scores now, He had to wonder whether that was something he'd actually want to go after. If I'm really meant to be a hero, it's everyone else's loss if they shun me, but getting around that might be what's required of a hero as well... Reader's stats seemed to be average across the board; barring some new revelations about the world, the obvious stats to focus on would be either INT or CHA, and the question was academic until he managed to actually gain a level It seemed XP was gained separately from skill increases, so he'd have to figure out some way to get more quests.

_Maybe if I got a job as an OoverEats driver, it would count as doing a bunch of fetch quests... but I'd need a way to get around town... _Reader thought to himself. Still, for now, he couldn't see an immediate way to tackle the problem. With no one interesting to Observe, he closed his eyes to see whether he could get in a discrete session of Yoga. Other skills that he'd practised before seemed to be showing up, so perhaps that one would as well... Sure enough, a few minutes in he was brought back to ordinary awareness by a now familiar notification sound.

New skill: Meditation

Meditation: stay motionless and Observe the contents of your mind. Nothing else can be done while meditating. HP and Mana regeneration doubles while meditating. Small chance of discovering a new magical skill.

Reader cheered internally at the sight of the last line. He’d always found meditation helpful when he needed to get over something unpleasant. Now though, he’d have a skill to practise even when his mana was low, and it clearly had some crazy good Knock-on effects. Reader meditated for the next 20 minutes, distracted by the thought that if he focused on the skill he might up his chances of discovering a new skill each session to an absurd amount. No skills yet though.

During that quiet time he became uncomfortably aware of how similar his attitude was to that of most supervillains, what with the determination to show a world that had wronged him. He wondered how he could best get stronger without risk to himself. He still lacked an active magic skill he could practice with unless someone got hurt in front of him. He chuckled to himself at the idea of following around Will or his friends, healing their victims. _Good thing it works on me too _he mused idly.

The bell rang and Reader made his way into the hallway. He continued to use Observe on as many students as he could as he made his way to his next class, trying to level it up. The low reputations he saw everywhere stung. They stung hard.