Loot, Sleep, And The Next Day

The bus ride home passes quickly. Of course, this is partially helped by the music in my ears. I keep replaying the day’s events in my head. The attempted ****, meeting Belle and the subsequent slaughtering of all the men in that gang, the short conversation with Skylar, acquiring my new ice and frost magic, the fight against the rats and the aftermath and cuddling with Mia.

My life has become extremely interesting, and I find myself itching to go home and go to sleep, so I can wake up and face the next day. Even though I’ve now faced down two different **** attempts, a sense of optimism fills me. I get the feeling that whatever happens tomorrow, I’m going to be really happy with the outcome. Or at least, it’s going to be really interesting to see, for better or for worse.

I get off the bus and walk the short distance back to my apartment. I get inside, put on my pajamas and make myself some dinner. After watching some youtube and eating my food, I try to upgrade my gear again with the crafting materials I got from the rats.

Error: Unable to upgrade further with current materials.

Shrugging, I watch a little more youtube before I feel myself getting horny. I jerk off twice in order to satiate my cravings. I try not to, but I can’t help fantasizing about Mia while I do. That gorgeous, lithe, lean body of hers, those beautiful eyes and that warm smile. She’s the kind of woman with a body that’s as captivatingly sexy as her face is stunningly beautiful.

She has the kind of beauty that makes me simultaneously want to fuck her brains out and cuddle with her to sleep. I cum harder than I have in a while, the large amount of cum getting soaked up by the wad of tissues. I sigh in relief, clean myself up, and then head to bed, a happy smile on my face and a warm feeling in my chest. I can’t help it, I think I’m developing a huge crush on Mia.

I wake up, feeling well rested and refreshed. As yesterday, the first thought that runs through my head is that I love these powers. I jump out of bed and go through the motions of getting ready for class with both excitement and nervousness. The quest I have - to have my first kiss - is looking slightly more achievable now than it was before.

Of course, I still have a long way to go. More investment in Charisma will be needed, though I can only make that a priority once I have enough points invested elsewhere to be able to take care of myself.

The bus ride to campus passes quickly. I spend my time observing anybody I haven’t observed already (basically the bus driver and one or two other people), and daydreaming about what else could lay ahead of me. Although I really have no way of knowing what I could face in the future, because I’m so new to this world, one can daydream.

Given my powers themed as they are, I now have the potential to vastly improve many different areas of myself. I smile to myself, very much looking forward to getting better in general at life.

I get off the bus and walk into the campus. I have a small smile on my face, I’m feeling optimistic today. I almost feel like whistling, but my general social anxiety puts a stop to that idea almost as soon as it pops into my head. Instead, I opt to keep my outward expression of happiness to a small smile, and walk inside. A slight tugging sensation, the world discolours around me and I get the same popup that I’ve gotten annoyingly used to over the past couple of days.

You have been **** into an illusion barrier. You may only leave after all hostiles are defeated, or when you are allowed by the person in control.

Shit. I can only hope either Olivia or that woman from yesterday, Belle, will intervene quickly. The thing is, they have both only shown up once, Olivia the first time this happened and Belle the second time. This means there’s precedent for them both not intervening, which means that I can’t trust that they will.

I switch to my battle gear immediately (which only involves taking out my knife) and look around for the threat. I can hear voices coming from my left, around a corner. I bolt to my right, sprinting around another corner in order to keep myself from being seen. It’s there that I find somebody else.

Skylar Whitley

Lvl 12, student

Apprentice of Shadow

20 years old

Single

Relationship: +2

Emotions: Curious, nervous, determined

“Skylar? Are you part of this gang?” I ask cautiously. She shakes her head, and I see the nervousness break through slightly. “I got caught up in this barrier. What’s going on?” That’s enough for me to believe her. “It’s a gang trying to kidnap us, most likely. It’s happened to me twice before.” She nods.

“We’re both here now. We should work together, we can beat them more easily that way.” I say, offering my hand to her. Skylar hesitates for a moment. “No favours involved?” She asks. I shake my head. “We help each other get out of here alive and free. Neither one of us owes the other anything.” She takes my hand in hers and we shake on the agreement.

That temporary alliance sorted, I invite Skylar to a party. “So you really do have video game powers.” She says in slight wonder. “That’s kinda cool. What does this party thing do?” “It means you can see your level and stats, as well as my level. It can help compare our relative power levels. It also gives you access to my levelling mechanic, which means you get stronger from killing enemies. Although that does also mean that I can see your level too.” I say. “I’m sure you already know it, from that spy magic ability of yours.” She waves off, hitting the accept button. She isn’t wrong, but I’m not sure how she knows about that part. Maybe because I tried to use it on her a few days ago?

“My offensive abilities mostly revolve around ice and mana spells. What are yours?” I ask her. “I’m a shadow mage. I fight using the shadows.” Skylar says. At that moment, her blue eyes melt into a bright, silvery colour. “Woah, what just happened to your eyes?” I ask. “These are my natural eyes. The blue eyes are a disguise.” She replies. I nod, not having time for any more questions due to the footsteps coming towards us.

We back away from the corner. I take a defensive stance, ready to use freezing blast. Shadows gather around Skylar’s clenched fists, ready to be unleashed. It’d be the coolest thing ever, if I hadn’t already seen examples of Scarlet Witch style magic, air magic and my own frost magic. “Come out come out wherever you are! Ya cunt.” One of the voices reaches my ears. I roll my eyes internally. Why is it always the same kind of people who are trying to kidnap me? I suppose it’s because one needs to be a certain kind of person in order to attempt **** in the first place.

The first person rounds the corner and lays eyes on us. “I found her! And she’s with another pretty bitch too!” The man jeers. Not yet. A few of his companions round the corner, and I decide that it’s enough. I throw a wave of frost at them, taking them by surprise. If they had been less overconfident, they might have been prepared for some kind of attack.

“Agh! Ughh-” A variety of groans erupt from the few gang members that have rounded the corner, while the rest walk right into them, not being able to see them around the corner. Skylar takes that opportunity and unleashes a fist of shadows, crashing into the lead man and knocking them down like bowling pins. I fire off a mana arrow before turning around.

“Run! We can’t beat them in a straight up fight!” I urge her, already starting to run in the opposite direction myself. She clicks her tongue before following me. She understands just as well as I do that we’re outnumbered, although she’s clearly not happy about running like this. A fireball streams past us and hits a wall. Skylar turns back and erects a wall of shadow, blocking the gang from sight. “That won’t hold them for long.” She lets me know.

We duck behind another corner, this time at a T junction in the corridor. This position gives us a strategic advantage. Even if they have figured out what we’re trying to do by this point, they still have multiple places we could be hiding in, instead of just the one. “Hide around here!” I hiss. She nods. “Ya little fuckers! Youse are both gonna pay for that!” One of the men curses after us. I speak to Skylar in an urgent whisper, trying to convey my plan quickly whilst also not giving away our position to the gang members.

“We’re outnumbered here, and they’re more powerful than us. But, if we play this right, work together and use their arrogance and stupidity against them, we can survive. We’re going to do hit and run attacks. My frost magic can slow them down, your shadows can hurt them. Hit them once or twice with each, then retreat. Sound good?” I ask, wondering where I got the confidence to take charge like this from. Maybe something to do with the situation being stressful? In any case, Skylar responds in an affirmative tone. “Sounds like our best shot at walking away alive and free.”

Scuffed footsteps echo from around the corner as the gang members rush to try to catch us. I ready myself once more and I see Skylar tense up from out of the corner of my eye. I decide to try to let off two waves of frost this time, hoping that it will bring them closer to the freeze condition of the ability. If I can get at least one of them frozen, it will confuse the others for a few seconds and allow Skylar to do some damage.

The first gang member rounds the corner, and a stroke of luck in our favour, as he looks in the opposite direction. I delay for half a second, then let loose a freezing blast. It hits the mark, and I send another wave of freezing magic in the general direction of the gang member. Two more round the corner at the same time and all three of them visibly ice up.

Skylar unleashes a few punches from her gathered shadows, knocking back the men. A fireball from one of the unharmed gang members reminds us that we’re still in considerable danger. Skylar once again puts up a wall of shadow to mask our retreat.