Mostly not important

There were a lot of messages, some from new numbers, some from old ones:

Brun [17:35]: Breaktime! So, whatcha mean ‘finding some work’?

Brun [19:40]: Dude?

John [22:38]: Sorry, been busy with an interview and some other… stuff… But yeah, getting a job! The deal Moira and your grandma worked out yesterday to get me into the Fateweavers? The interview for that was today already. Guess I’m a Fateweaver now ;)

Astrid [19:27]: Oh really? That sounds interesting! How did that interview go?

John [22:42]: Pretty good, I have a job now I guess xD How was your day? Already had to deal with the ‘representative’ of the Order yet?

Astrid [22:43]: Congratulations! I’m so happy for you! And yeah, she came around today already. Her name is Danielle, and she seems to be a nice person, even though a bit... weird.. She doesn’t really emote that much most of the time, it’s a bit creepy.

John [22:45]: Thanks, I’m really looking forward to work :) Ah, I’m sure you’ll do well with her, you seem like someone that would get along with anyone if you had the guts.

Astrid [22:46]: You really think so? I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll believe your word :) Anyway, got to go to sleep now, I’ll be back at school tomorrow!

John [22:50]: About school, something really weird is going on there… I found another Barrier, and it was filled with dummies modelled like students… and the Barrier belonged to James, the new guy you entered the class with… I’ve got a really bad feeling about it.

Aranea [15:40]: Work conditions? You’re getting a job? Well, hopefully it’ll pay better than delivering pizzas :P

John [22:44]: Oh believe me, it pays a lot better. But yeah, I should be free on Sunday. Should I meet you at your workshop or something?

Abyss Auction [21:00]: Your auction on ‘Spear of Armageddon’ will end in 2 hours, please prepare the offered item(s) for a drone to pick them up at your location.

Those were all the messages from numbers he already knew. While he read the last message, he was reminded that he indeed had put up the spear for auction before going to the workshop. Looking at the auction, John’s eyes almost popped out.

The spear was currently priced at $123,189. Either it was more powerful than John gave the item credit for or people were just really blinded by the flashy look of it and didn’t bother to read the description he had put into place, detailing that the spear wasn’t that good. A look at the clock told John that he had roughly eight minutes before the item ran out. So, John quickly opened up the gateway to the Nexus while he read the messages from unknown numbers.

??? [18:35]: Hiya! Kaen here, hope you’re doing fine with whatever you were in a hurry to get to… I annoyed Kim long enough to get your number (who probably annoyed the shadow mage :P). I just wanted to say how cool and nice you were, and that I would really like to see you again at some point, maybe play a bit more with your dragon ^_^

John [22:53]: Hey Kaen^^ Nice to know that you have enough interest in me to annoy Kim xD I feel flattered ;) Also I sure would like to train with you again at some point, I want a proper conclusion to our fight :D

??? [18:13]: Hello, John, this is Kim Moon. I would like to offer my congratulations on your successful interview with the Fateweavers. I’ll be interested to see where that kind of work will take your abilities. I would also like to offer you again to train with me, or rather us, at some point. We would both benefit from it, I’m sure. With best regards, Kim.

John [22:54]: Hey Kim, thank you for the congratulations :) Sure, I’d love to train with you! From what I’ve seen so far, you’re really strong and I’d love to learn some things from you. I’ll just have to see when I’ll be available to do so. Also, did you ever notice a weird Barrier at school, aside from the one I opened? I think there’s something weird going on at school…

??? [20:25]: Good evening, Mr. Newman, Hannah Sterling here. I wanted to officially welcome you to the Fateweavers now. I expect good work from you after seeing your actual skills today in action. Anyway, there are still some things that you would need to do until Monday for your first orientation: 1. Decide on a vehicle of your choice to get around with. Decide resourcefully, since you have to pay for half of it. 2. Let us know until Sunday if you want to stay at school or not. If not, then we will give you a cover story that you can use for family and friends outside of the Abyss, if applicable. 3. Connect with the Master’s Eye at least once, so that we have your arcane signature in the system and we know it’s you when you enter. Please meet me at the Sullivan tower at 10 AM on Monday, should you decide to stay in school then you will have a signed absence. With kind regards, Hannah Sterling

Huh, so all of the girls he had met today sent him messages, nice! But, then again, with the combination of his Hunter’s Amulet, his newfound Charisma, and the rewards he got for the Daily Quest, it wasn’t that surprising...

As he entered the Nexus, he was immediately greeted by two small drones carrying the Spear of Armageddon.

“I have anticipated your return, Master. I knew you would come around at some point to pick up this artifact. How was your day after we last met? It seems like you needed help from the two little ones. Is everything alright?” Sarai immediately popped up on his interface.

But she didn’t look like before. Where before there was Sona from League of Legends, now there was an animated avatar of Tohru from Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, smiling happily at him. John’s heart skipped a beat, he had found a subservient AI that pulled images out of his head and formed her own appearance according to them…

He had found a cosplaying AI. Thank you, Gaia, for these small blessings.

“Yeah, it was fine, there was a small confrontation with an enemy that I just wasn’t fast enough to fight against… And there are some really concerning things going on at my school… I fear that there is more to it than I found up until now…”

Sarai’s face took on a concerned expression, “That does not sound too good… But I am sure you will be able to deal with it, Master!” A bright smile on her face also put one on John’s.

“Yeah, I guess I’ll deal with it once I know what’s up… Anyway, I think I will retire for the rest of the night now… I want to sleep a bit more than I did last night… Maybe I should get a bed in here soon… Then I could sleep anywhere I want…” yawned John, slowly having to fight against the fatigue of the day.

“That sounds like a lovely idea, Master. I wish you a good night, and I will await you in the morning.”

With that, John turned around, spear in his hand, and went back into his original room.

As the clock struck 11pm, a drone softly bopped against one of his windows. Looking at it with a raised eyebrow, he first tried to Observe it:

Window
Sheets of glass framed with wood to provide a room with natural light and the possibility to look outside.

...So he couldn’t Observe through windows, good to know. Seeing as how the drone was here at exactly the time he was expected to have the spear ready, he assumed that it was probably the Abyss Auction, trying to take the item.

He opened the window, but the drone didn’t enter his room. Through a small speaker on the top of the drone, John heard a prompt asking him to put the item into the drone. A chute then opened on top of the drone, next to the speaker, that seemingly went into the machine.

Not thinking further about it, he slowly dropped the spear in there so that he wouldn’t deal any damage to the drone, which then simply took off.

Looking at the sheet, he indeed had already gotten the money. That was nice! He also remembered that he still had that perk point to spend.

Bringing up the perk menu revealed a lot of new choices. The Deep Pools, Deep Pockets, and Bully perk were back, and some new ones:

Deep Pools
Increase all pools you have by 5 points. Regeneration is not affected.

Deep Pockets
Increase Inventory by 10%

Bully
Deal 1.5x damage against enemies below your level

Double-Down
Take a second choice from one selection you had to select so far

Rubber Man
Become double jointed

Magic Man
Increase magic damage by 1.25x

Muscle Man
Increase physical damage by 1.25x

Celestial Body
Your body has been blessed by angels. Immunity to diseases and poisons, +25 HP

As he looked through that list, he immediately knew which Perk he would select, since he had two specific selections behind himself that were pretty much the best that had happened to him.

Double Down selected! Please select the selection you want to choose from:

Fighting Style
Bionic Upgrade
Crafting

Now… Should he choose Fighting Style or Bionic Upgrade?