Unpleasant introduction [Little_Dragon]

Hey, TheDespaxas here! Here it comes, another author jumps into the fray. It took it quite a bit of time, but hey, it's like that when you try hatching a dragon egg. As usual, the same warnings about the differences between this and other branches are to be remembered. So, go on and read it after a short word from his sponsor. The mic is yours Zix!

"Hey guys, Izix, here again, welcoming yet another author to our ever-increasing group of authors. I picked up Little Dragon because his idea showed a lot of promise, and boy did he deliver. Dragon goes his own path, leading us all on a trip through a less hostile Abyss than we might be used to. I hope you all have a great time, and once again, please welcome our newest author, Little Dragon."

John entered the park. He flopped onto a nearby bench and used Meditation. Once his MP had finally fully regenerated, he started to take a walk. 'I can use Theft twice, so I’ll have to get close enough to two different people, then I’ll do a little training with Move.'

Walking through the park he passed a tall man in a business suit. His face was contorted in anger and he was almost shouting into his earpiece. As he neared, John used Theft and continued walking. Further down the path, he passed a couple, the guy was a little on the lanky side and the girl was a short brunette. She was yelling at him and the poor guy just apologized over and over. Walking between them The Gamer used Theft before he sat on a nearby bench, waiting for them to get out of sight. While they lingered, he checked his inventory but was a little confused when he saw the two items he'd just picked up had golden outlines. John tapped the phone and was greeted with a small window.

Blueberry 2

This phone belonged to Dan Bloom. He has a habit of losing his phones. There is 72% battery remaining and it doesn't have a password.

After closing the window he noticed the gold outline had disappeared. 'Hmm, so it's like a new item indicator. Wonder why it hasn't done it before…' he thought to himself, going over the possibilities. 'Maybe it was stealth patched in?'

He clicked on the wallet and got the same kind of pop-up.

Brown Leather Wallet

This wallet was the property of Aiden Bell.
Contents: $150, 2 credit cards, an ID and a security pass.

John closed his inventory and stood up before heading to the woodland area. He was aiming for the small clearing with a fire pit encircled by logs, thinking it’d be a good spot to level Move. After he sat on one of the logs, he picked up a pebble and had it float over one hand, only able to have it hover for a few seconds before it dropped into his palm.

'Who just wakes up one day with powers all of a sudden anyway? Well, I did, but that’s beside the point,' John pondered to himself as he trained. 'I mean, I guess Spiderman did, and I’m pretty sure The Flash did too. In fact, plenty of superheroes just woke up with new abilities… Could these qualify as superpowers?' He watched the small stone in his hand, a physical representation of what he could do. 'I could probably help people with them and I’m sure doing good deeds means that I should be allowed some leniency to a few ‘extracurricular activities’.' Mulling it over, he continued to levitate and drop the pebble.

'No one would argue with a superhero if they were to take a little something back for their heroism, so why would I be any different?' He shifted to try and get comfortable on the uneven log he’d decided to sit on. 'I don’t even need to think of a superhero name because it’s already been decided for me. I am ‘The Gamer’, scourge of all evil and taker of panties.' John laughed at his ridiculous inner monologue. 'I mean I’ve only taken one pair the other was given to me… Panty collector? I still only have 2 pairs of panties… Whatever, I’m sure I’ll do more than just swipe a few pairs of panties anyway, especially if I raise my Charisma stat.'

The pebble dropped into his hand one final time as he ran out of mana, and as if timed as soon as he felt the cold stone touch his palm a pop-up appeared in front of him.

Skill level up: Move Level 2, MP cost is severely decreased.

John took out his phone and texted his mom to let her know he would be home late. He stowed it back in his pocket, then opened up his character sheet to see if there was anything he might have missed in his previous quick glances. With a more thorough examination, The Gamer noticed the UI settings.

The only option he could currently change was to have the intrusive pop-ups that blocked his vision become notifications that he would have to manually open. Thinking it would be better than one popping up in the middle of a fight, he turned that option on. The menu also let him know that he had a UI update, so he clicked on it, and the settings menu, as well as his character sheet, vanished. John tried to bring them back, but nothing happened, and he grew frantic as he kept trying.

Please wait… UI update 30%

That was the only thing he managed to pull up, but it made John sigh in a mix of relief and frustration. After a minute he was able to bring up his new UI, and he was very pleased with the new look. Once he finished fiddling with the settings a little more, John went back to Meditating.

'I should get one of my hoodies and wear a mask or something. I wouldn’t want people to know who I was, or I could end up putting Mom in danger. I’ll find something and go out to try and fight crime tomorrow…' He paused, shaking his head to clear it. 'What am I even thinking? I sound like such an idiot, or worse, some kind of weeb,' he sighed and let his head fall backwards, 'But, I really should try and use these powers to help people…'

“Looks like it’s getting dark, though, I should start heading home,” he groaned as he stood up.

When he reached the edge of the woods, John heard someone scream, ”HELP!” John’s skin crawled at the blood-curdling sound.

'I guess there’s no time like the present, it is a little coincidental though.' John thought, he didn’t know what he was going to find, so he picked up a couple of pebbles before he ran in the direction of the cry for help. He froze for a second as he saw a seedy, homeless-looking guy on top of a cute blonde with bright green eyes. They were between the park’s restrooms and the edge of the woods.

“Be quiet. You’re only going to make this harder on yourself,” the man said in a hushed, angry voice as he groped her chest through her shirt. John’s blood boiled and he used Move to hurl both pebbles at the creep.

8 dmg

4 dmg

John sprinted and jumped towards the guy feet first, hitting his side.

3 dmg

“Ouch!” The creep looked up to see who threw the stones. “You little cunt, you’re going to regret that!” The homeless guy shouted as he stood up and punched John square in the face. Crunch. John felt his nose break as he fell back onto the ground.

-15 HP

'Oh shit.' The Gamer looked up at the level 6 . Suddenly, with a little cracking sound, he felt his nose pop back into place. He was shocked that the pain had completely vanished, so he jumped back up. 'Just because he’s a higher level than me doesn’t mean I’m going to let him carry on doing… that.' John threw a punch, hitting the guy in the stomach.

6 dmg

The laughed raspily, “If that’s all you’ve got, then you might as well give up now.” John grunted and went in for another punch, but the caught his arm and brought it down on his filthy knee.

-13 HP

John’s arm bent gruesomely in the wrong direction and he yelled out in pain. The stared in shock and horror as John’s arm snapped back in place, looking good as new. In an instant, the pervert sprinted away faster than John could react.

He turned his attention to the girl, who was curled up in the fetal position, shaking and breathing erratically. 'Hope that means she didn’t see my nose and arm get broken.'

Ellie Turner.
Level 6, Victim.
Geek Queen.

“Hey, are you alright? He’s gone, he can’t do anything to you anymore,” John reassured her in a soft voice.

“I can’t… I didn’t,” she tried to speak as tears began flowing across her freckled cheeks.

The young man reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. The contact made her jump and begin to shake, and John quickly retracted his hand. “Whoa, it’s alright, I’m sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Just take some time and take some deep breaths, I’m here, nothing bad is going to happen to you.”

John offered Ellie his Ashcroft jacket and sat by her, slowly and gently placing his hand on her back, just rubbing up and down. 20 minutes later she started to breathe normally but tears still ran across her face. “T-t-thank you,” she swallowed hard, “I-I don’t want t-to think what he was g-going to do.” Her voice was soft, though still hoarse from crying, and shaky as she took laboured breaths.

“It’s no problem. I couldn’t live with myself if I had just walked away. The important thing is that you’re safe,” he softly said with a reassuring smile.

She took a deep breath. “I-I think I need a drink,” she looked over at John, “w-would you come with me? I’d like to buy you one as a thank you.”

“That’s a really nice gesture, but you don’t need to do that. Besides,” he explained, “I’m only eighteen.”

“Y-you don’t have to drink,” Ellie stammered. “T-they do food, a-and I don’t want to go alone… Please?”

New Quest: Blind date
Take a girl on a date without using any skills.
50 exp
$100
New skill

Bonus Objectives:

Earn a kiss.
50 exp
Common magic item

Lose your virginity
1000 exp
$1500
Rare magic item.

Accept
Yes/No

John rubbed his temples before hitting yes. 'Would this even count as a date?' He looked over at Ellie and smiled. “Sure, that sounds nice. I’m John, by the way.”

“Ellie, n-nice to meet you.” Her tone was almost relieved, knowing she wouldn’t be going out alone. John felt butterflies in his stomach the moment he saw her cherry lips curl into a smile, even if it was obviously .

The Gamer got up and offered his hand to Ellie to help steady her as she stood. Together, they started to walk towards the park entrance, but she was still shaking, so John thought talking might take her mind off what had happened, “So, why were you in the park anyway?”

“I j-just came for a walk, but lost track of time. I went into the bathroom, and when I came out th-that guy attacked me,” she stopped and took a couple of ragged breaths, before continuing, “what about you?”

“I promised my mom I’d spend a bit of time outside instead of playing video games all day,” John quickly lied. “I should have probably made something up to make me sound a little less like a loser, shouldn’t I?” he awkwardly laughed.

“W-what games?” she asked, perking up slightly, then clarified, “L-like specifically…”

“Oh, erm, I started replaying Skyrim recently. It’s a pretty old game at this point, even if it’s been released like a hundred times.” He scratched his head.

“I-I really like Skyrim… I did a werewolf play through a little while ago.” She seemed to relax a little and John could swear he started to see a small genuine smile creep onto her face. “I, uhm, even modded the game so that the werewolves had more perks and were customisable.” John’s jaw hung open in surprise. Seeing the <Geek Queen> tag was one thing, but listening to a cute girl talk like that wasn’t something John was used to. Ellie looked back up at him and her mouth formed a slight pout. “... What? Girls can like video games too, you know,” she defended.

“S-sorry, I know, it just caught me by surprise; pretty girls aren’t usually into that kind of thing… Wait, no, I mean, I, erm-” John panicked and blushed profusely.

Ellie seemed to relax a lot more and let out a giggle. “So, I’m pretty, am I? You don’t need to get all bashful, it’s nice to get compliments from time to time…” Her smile had returned in full , making his heart skip a beat. “Hey, knowing you're a nerd kind of makes me even more thankful. Most nerdy guys I've known would have taken off running over helping someone and putting themselves in danger, so it makes you quite special in that sense.” Her face dropped a little, but her smile didn’t completely vanish.

The pair continued to talk as they walked the path. Once they were clear of the park, Ellie seemed to relax and calm down almost completely. During their talk, John learned that she was truly quite the ‘Geek Queen’. Apparently, she liked to go to cons in cosplay as often as she could. She asked him a bunch of gaming-related questions as well as some personal ones that caused John to blush, which in turn made Ellie laugh and smile which John liked.

John noted that either she was extremely forward or enjoyed getting him flustered. A while later they arrived at a bar that John had been to before with his mom for a meal, it was probably the best bar in town for food. The inside was what you would expect from a bar: on one side of the room were plenty of tables, with waiters bringing out food and taking orders, and on the other was the actual bar and a door to the kitchen. They both sat down at a table, and a young man probably close to John’s age approached them.

“Will you be eating tonight or would you just like drinks?” the waiter asked. His voice was deep but had a pleasant tone to it.

Ellie spoke up, “I’d like a ‘Sex on the Beach’ please. John, you can pick anything you want.”

John blushed and avoided eye contact while Ellie flashed him a mischievous smile. “Oh uh, could I get a, uh, banana milkshake, please?” he asked.

“And we aren’t sure about food yet,” Ellie added.

“If you decide you want food, you can either order when I return with your drinks or flag down one of the waiters. Also, I will need to see your I.D. before serving you , miss,” the tall waiter explained as he wrote down their orders.

“Sure thing.” Ellie handed over her I.D., and the waiter nodded before handing it back and heading off towards the bar. Ellie turned back to look at John. “So, do you want to get some food? I was just going to eat pizza on my own later, so it would be nice to have someone to eat with and it would mean that I wouldn’t be alone for a little longer.”

John thought for a second. “When you put it that way, I can't really say no can I?” He smiled.

They ordered food and John thought things were going well, although he wasn't sure how he should act since he’d never been on a date before. Not only that, but he wasn’t sure this even counted as a date; she did say that it was a 'thank you', so maybe it didn’t count.

Their plates finished off, Ellie called over the waiter and asked for the bill. “I'm just going to the bathroom. When he brings the bill, I’ll pay and we can go,” she explained.

The waiter brought the bill, John paid it and gave the waiter a generous tip. Ellie came back to the table and sat down. “Would you like me to walk you home?” John asked meekly.

“That’s nice of you to offer, thanks, and sure, once the bill comes we can leave.” Ellie smiled.

“No worries, I already paid. So, if you’d like, we can head out.” John stood and walked behind Ellie to pull out her chair.

“Oh, how much was it?” Ellie took out her purse.

“Don’t worry about it, you can get the next one,” John pushed his luck.

Ellie laughed, “I see, think you're being sneaky, don’t you? I guess I’ll have then. Let’s get out of here.”

Ellie’s hotel wasn't far, only about a 10-minute walk from the bar. “You’re staying in a hotel?” John asked.

“Yeah, my mom and I live a few hours away from here, I'm just here to visit family,” she explained. John frowned a little, thinking she was nice and seemed to like him and that after visiting her family she might just leave, but put a smile on again as they walked up to Ellie's room. “This is me. Thanks for everything you've done for me today, even if you did pull a dirty trick to get a second date.” She laughed and softly jabbed his ribs.

John choked. “T-this counted as a date?”

“A meal and a drink with a pretty girl? I don’t think you could call it anything else.” She laughed causing John to blush. “You’re kind of adorable, you know? Being all bashful like that.”

John cleared his throat. “I-if you’re not from here… Would you maybe, well, could I show you around tomorrow?” he asked.

“Sure, that sounds nice. But I do have one last thing to take care of before saying goodbye.” Ellie stepped closer to John and lifted his chin into a kiss. John’s slight blush deepened and Ellie laughed. “That was a thank you for being my hero today. Now hand over your phone please, it will be a little hard to get in contact with each other otherwise, although I guess you know where I’m staying.” John fumbled his phone out of his pocket and handed it over. “Weren’t kidding with the whole nerd thing, were you? I like the Nuka Cola wallpaper by the way. Here, now you have my number, send me a text tomorrow when you want to meet up.”

“S-sure. Oh, I have school tomorrow, so it will be some time in the afternoon,” he quickly added.

Ellie smiled. “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She entered her room and winked before closing the door behind herself.

“Bye,” John said to the door half waving and slightly stunned by what had happened.

---

By the time John got home, his mom had already gone to bed. She’d left him some food on the counter. He decided to warm it up and put it into his inventory, then walked upstairs to his room. Lying in bed he clicked on the notifications he’d gotten.

Achievement: Tough as nails - break one or more bones in combat and keep fighting.
+ 2 Points
+ 2 Endurance
+ 35 HP

Achievement: A win is a win - Have an opponent concede when you are at a disadvantage.
+ 2 Strength
+ 2 Endurance
+ 50 exp

Optional quest objective complete: Earn a kiss.
+ 50 exp
+ 5 points
+ Knapsack of holding

Ding Level up: Level 4
Update to MP and HP calculations
HP Total: 140
HP/min: 0.45
MP Total: 135
MP/min: 0.56
5 points
UI update

Achievement: Grow a pair - Ask a girl out on a date
+2 Charisma
Base dick size +10%

'Sweet a level up! But wait, why didn't I complete the quest? It’s still active, so does that mean it didn't count as a date? That dick boost is sweet though... At least the bonus objective counted, I guess, and I’ll have another chance to get lucky to complete the other bonus objective. Let’s check this item out.' John took out the leather knapsack and used Observe.

Knapsack of holding.

(Enchanted Item)
In addition to its normal compartment, this bag can connect to a pocket space with 15 inventory slots.
To access its inventory, just place your hand at the mouth of the Knapsack and concentrate on it.
Any item that can fit through the mouth of the Knapsack can be stored.
As long as the pocket space is in use, the Knapsack can not be stored in your inventory,
If this bag is turned inside out or damaged beyond repair, all items stored magically will be ejected.

Guess I won’t be able to just store this in my inventory then, but 15 item slots are pretty good. That will bring my total inventory up to 39 slots. Today was pretty cool, got superpowers, went on a date and got a new item. I can’t wait for tomorrow.

Before sleeping, he headed out to the hallway and used Theft three times on the dresser, putting the items back each time. With only 12 MP left he decided to use Observe until it ran out or he levelled up.

Skill level up: Observe level 4.
Mana cost: 0
Observe now tells you the target’s mood and opinion of you.

With that, he changed out of his clothes and laid in bed.

Sleep?
Yes/No