Knight (Without the Shining Armor)

The moment he got a clear view into the shop, he saw twelve muscular guys surrounding the girl he had seen earlier. He crouched down as he watched her fight off three of them, though their numbers were cornering her. She swung at them with what appeared to be a bass guitar. He cast Observe on the biggest man, staying as quiet as possible as he approached the glass door to the shop, which was broken off its hinges.

Normal McHuman

Totally Normal Guy, Level 4

A skeleton raised from a nearby cemetery. Has no will or soul and must remain within one hundred meters of the caster.

His confusion ebbed away as the illusion faded in and out of reality, showing the "human" he had Observed to be a skeleton.

Well that makes shooting them less of a problem, John thought as he took the gun out of his inventory. It felt awkward in his hand, and he leveled it clumsily at the torso of one of the assailants. Pulling the trigger, a couple of popups appeared as the bullet slammed into the skeleton, killing it instantly.

Weak Point! Stealth Crit! 4x multiplier!

120 DMG

+10 xp

+$13

New Skill! Marksmanship level 1, passive.

Improve your aim and consistency with ranged weapons.

You have been noticed by the owner of the barrier (hostile) you will be unable to leave until all enemies are defeated or otherwise allowed!

He ignored the popups as the skeletons noticed him. Disregarding their target, they rushed the man that had taken down their companion.

All the illusions faded away as the men rushed him, and the smell of decay filled the air as yellowed masses of bone rapidly approached him. John shot wildly in response, catching two of the skeletons randomly, and grazing a few more.

One skeleton tackled him, bringing him to the ground and saving him from a bullet that the only other armed one fired.

30 dmg!

30 dmg!

-12 hp

Achievement Unlocked: Saving Throw

Avoid an attack that would deal your full health in damage by complete chance

• +1 Level in Gamer’s Luck

Gamer’s Luck Level 2!

In response, he created a wall using Mana Construct to avoid getting mauled by jaundiced bones. Holding them back was pushing his meager strength to the limit, and he took a point of damage from the weight of holding up a dog pile of skeletons.

-1 hp!

“You look like you could use a little help,” he heard the energized voice of the girl he attempted to save from across the street.

With no warning, the skeletons were launched off of him, and he heard why a moment later as he heard a riff from what he assumed was her bass. The **** of the sound waves was so intense that he himself was lifted off the sidewalk and onto his feet, barely being able to hold his ground.

He glanced behind himself and saw the skeletons pressed against the wall, slowly disintegrating. He was constantly ticking slight damage, so he slowly moved to the left, his ears ringing and his health ticking down.

-12x 1 hp!

He finally managed to get out of range of the music, and his hands went to his ears as he worried whether he was deaf or not.

He watched as the skeletons turned to powder and thought about how ridiculously cool that ability was.

+10 xp

+$36

+1 Bone Meal

+1 Rotting Bone Charm

Due to the harsh ringing in his ears, he could hardly even focus as he noticed her crossing the street. His eyes came into focus just as she walked up to him.

“Thanks for the save, sorry about you getting caught in the crossfire though” she began the conversation by thanking him, and he cast Observe out of instinct to see if he could learn things from her yet.

Jenny Hudson

Lonely Musician, Level 16

Expert bassist. Only American, human user of bass magic. You saved her, so she’s kind of let her guard down.

Relationship: +34

“Jenny,” she said it as he read it, and John offered his hand.

“I’m John,” he responded, feeling awkward to be shaking a girl’s hand. She flashed an overwhelmingly charming smile at him, and he had no doubt of her highest stat. I wonder why I can see the info now and not before… I should probably figure that out. This thought process was interrupted as Jenny moved closer.

“Thanks for saving me, Johnny,” she breathed into his ear as she palmed a piece of paper into his hand. “I’ve got a gig tonight at the hottest club in town. I’ll make sure you’re on the list, be there at ten.”

Before he could respond, she had disappeared out of whatever this space was. He looked at the paper in his hand and discovered it to be a phone number. A girl’s phone number. A rockstar’s phone number. These powers keep getting better and better. His train of thought was interrupted by a new quest.

New Quest: We Will Rock You

Lose your virginity to Jenny Hudson!

Rewards: +5 Charisma, +4 Libido, +3 Agility, Jenny Hudson's Highest Level Skill, Unique Skill

Penalty of Failure: You stay a virgin. Pathetic.

[Accept]/[Decline]

He quickly hit accept, as the consequences of failure were nothing out of the ordinary. Remembering the popup upon entering, he glanced around for whoever had summoned the skeletons before noticing that whatever this space was called seemed to be empty.

A barrier, right, he reminded himself, as he recalled the popup. Realizing he had no idea how to leave and that he was left all alone, the achievement that popped up was a relief.

Achievement Unlocked: Barrier Survivor

Survive an attack in a protected space. You were more successful than the majority of people attacked this way.

• New Skill: Enter/Exit Barrier, level 1, varied mp: If you are at a higher level than the barrier or if the barrier is public, you may enter it for no cost. If there are no hostiles, you may exit a barrier at no cost. If forcing your way in/out, cost depends on barrier and enemy level.

John raised his hand and felt a physical wall separating him from the real world. With minimal effort, the wall shattered.

Barrier collapsed!

He reentered the busy street and noticed a popup inform him of a status effect.

Reentering! (10s)

While reentering the real world from an Illusion Barrier, normal people won’t notice your injuries or appearance for ten seconds.

John quickly walked toward an alleyway. He hadn’t even considered that his uniform had gone through minor wear and tear during the fight. Thankfully, the cost of Craft to repair each piece of his uniform was less than fifty dollars each.

He decided to use Observe on the two items he got to see if they were any good.

Bone Meal

Common Item. Powdered bone and marrow. Used in basic alchemy.

That was pretty underwhelming; hopefully, the Rotting Bone Charm was more interesting.

Rotting Bone Charm

Uncommon Item. This charm is in a constant state of decay and as such smells terrible. Makes the user less likable and transfers the decaying property to the wearer. -3 Charisma. -3 hp/min.

That was just terrible. He could never see himself having a use for that for himself, though if he could get an enemy to wear it somehow, that would work.

Walking toward his home, John wondered about what to do next. He had about four hours until he was expected to be at the club for Jenny, assuming he went. On the one hand, should he go there, it seemed like she wanted to thank him further, and that was something he didn’t want to mess up. On the other hand, clubs weren’t his kind of crowd. At all. He would stick out like a sore thumb. She did say he would be on the list though, so maybe it would be alright anyway. Either way, after getting home he would have a couple of free hours to experiment.