Metalshop and Crafting

John rushed to his next class, making it only slightly after the bell rang to begin. With head hung low, he handed the excuse note to Miss Brooks, who grudgingly accepted it. He hadn’t paid much attention in this class before, but since he had video game powers now, maybe he could use it to make better gear for himself.

Once Miss Brooks had released the class to work on whatever project they had going, John made his way into the back. Alone in the back of the metal shop, John found what he was looking for, small blocks of steel and the barrel of gloves. While there was a forge in the Metal shop, since Miss Brooks liked to beat out her frustrations on hunks of hapless metal, it was kept off most of the time. That being said, there were plenty other ways to heat the metal, like the various styles of torches and cutting tools.

John grabbed a small block of steel, a couple of small steel rods and a pair of gloves. Taking it all back out to the common work areas, he set it all down and grabbed a plasma cutting torch, not really understanding the difference, but hoping that it wouldn’t matter too much once he got the skill. Once he had everything together, he put the block of steel into a vice and turned on the Plasma Torch.

An hour, and several small burns, later, John realized that he might be a bit over his head here, but stubbornness drove his actions forward as he struggled to create the simple image that he saw in his head. ‘This is what I get for not paying attention in this class,’ John thought to himself as Miss Brooks signaled for the cleanup of class. John set what he was working on to the side, surprised to see that it stood upright at all, if a little wobbly.

He cleaned up his area, leaving the project for Miss Brooks to grade. When he came back to his station, he saw the note that she had left. You have a good idea, but maybe you should check out some of the pamphlets at the front of the class before trying something so ambitious. John sighed as he knew she was right, but when he got the pop-up for a new skill, he found that it didn’t matter so much.

New Skill Unlocked: Craft
Craft: Level 1, 20 MP
This skill allows the user to create items. Higher skill level increases the rarity of the items created, and decreases the cost of the skill.

John left the classroom, grabbing some of the pamphlets on his way out the door, and headed for the cafeteria, thinking about what he could do if he could level up the new skill. Visions danced in his head of epic gear and weapons, all stamped with a logo of his design. He saw the most powerful people in bidding wars over his custom made pieces. He did not see the pole that he walked into.

“Nice job there Newb,” called Frank as he and the other members of the football team laughed at him. This started the rest of the cafeteria laughing at him as well, which in turn caused John’s face to burn with humiliation.

“Oy,” a peppy voice called out from the crowd as a plain looking half asian girl walked out of the crowd and stood in front of Frank and his cohorts. “I am tired of ya doing whatever the hell you want,” the girl said loudly, drawing everyone’s attention to her and the group of football players.

“Well as I live and breathe, if it isn’t the Party Wrecker herself,” Frank stated loudly. Out of the back of the growing circle of students, one of the braver nerds in the school ran off, headed for the security office. “What do you want little Janey,” Frank taunted.

“I warned you not to call me that jackass,” Jane replied, her foot beating out a rapid angry beat. John didn’t know who this girl was, but if she was standing up to Frank, he couldn’t just let her fight the whole team alone. He moved to be in front of the girl, only to have her push him aside as though he were a feather. “Don’t get in the way, ja?” Jane said as she stared down frank.

Frank guffawed at the sight of Jane pushing John out of the way. “You are so weak that even the girl protecting you can beat you up,” Frank declared loudly before swaggering over and tried to lean over Jane in an intimidating manner. Jane didn’t say thing, just stared coldly back at him. The moment that Frank put his hand on her shoulder, her hand shot up, clipping Frank’s jar hard enough that it dislocated it as she broke several teeth.

“WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!?” the loud voice of the security officer called out, causing the students to break up leaving John, Jane, and Frank. “You two go to the principal's office while I get this one to the infirmary,” the security officer ordered as he lifted Frank up and carried the boy off.

“Oh ja, like that is going to happen,” Jane said flippantly before sauntering off, head bopping to music. John stared after her for a bit, before he decided to follow her lead and make himself scarce.

John headed to his last class of the day, and his least favorite one while attending this school, Feminine Studies. He wasn’t sure how he had gotten the class as he hadn’t requested it, unlike the other two boys that shared his class. But when he requested to change the class, the teacher went ballistic. So instead he kept quiet in the back of the class, as far away from the other two boys as he could.

He was pleasantly surprised when he walked in to find the Vice Principal standing at the head of the class. He was even more surprised to find the mysterious young woman from the bus ride make a beeline to sit next to him. He smiled and gave her a small wave, both of which she returned.