Not Much Biology Studying Being Done

John sat near the side window of his biology classroom; he didn’t need to pay much attention. Being among the top students, he could afford times like this; teachers generally just left him alone when he seemed busy doing something else. Mr. Stone, the biology teacher, was not different. John never disrupted any classes anyway and seemed to know the answers to the questions that were asked to him, so the teachers discovered quickly that they didn’t need to be bothered by his lack of attention in class.

Even so, not wanting to **** his biology teacher’s consent for him not paying attention, John cast camouflage directed at a teacher for the second time that day. I just don’t want to seem disrespectful, and I do need to think a lot about things.

Mr. Stone started class with an announcement, “Sorry, guys, no new books today, I’ve been told that something wrong must have happened during the printing process; some of the books turned out blank for some strange reason. They are checking every book before sending them.” He walked towards the whiteboard to start his lecture. “Due to this, we’re not doing any practical activity today, just a normal lecture.”

Thankful that there would be no group activity today, John went back to his thoughts. He ignored his surroundings and preferred to look at the outside through the window. Even though there were a lot of things that he could use observe on during this class, figuring stuff out took precedence.

He just wanted to think. He pondered back to the implications of what happened to him six years ago. It was obvious to him that becoming an outcast made him very sensitive to negative social issues. For all that he suffered, he disliked most of his classmates. Some of them were making his life miserable, and the rest were just too scared to become like him, so they never interacted with him much. All of this made him see the worst in all of them for years. The only time when John was relevant was when he had to work with whichever lab partner was assigned to him. In this case, the person in question had to either listen to him or risk getting accidentally injured; that was also when someone - most of the time a bully - needed to use him to get a better grade. Other than that, he was selected last in team activities at PE, ate mostly alone during lunch and never really got to participate in any social activities inside or outside school.

What now occurred to John was that all the incredible amount of bad behavior had made him too quick to dismiss the good in others. And there was definitely good happening all around him, it just never happened to him enough. Not that he noticed anyway. Thinking about it, maybe most of the students here were prisoners to the system, the very one that Vanessa imposed at the school to maintain her reign. The good was lacking not because people didn’t want to, it was because they couldn’t.

And then, he thought back to his newly acquired powers. He went back to his earlier thoughts of the day; though he didn’t feel fear or anxiety anymore, there were still a lot of unanswered questions. He started to wonder what was the source of this power, why he got it and if he was the only one that had powers? This time, there was no achievement communicating him if he was on to something.

He thought that if there was any entity - god or not - responsible, it wouldn’t design this kind of system just for him. It was true that the details in his stat sheet were mostly game based, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other kinds of powers. It would be too arrogant of him to think that they, whoever they were, had made this just for him. What is the bigger picture here then?

For all John knew, there could be no real reason for it. He could have just been made part of something where these powers were made available to him. He knew that in literature there are many examples to this, where there were coexisting worlds, where one exists without the other knowing. Maybe getting powers happens naturally, I just haven’t seen anyone that is similar to me yet.

He shut himself out of his thoughts for a moment, took a look around the classroom and spotted the one responsible for his misery, Vanessa Hawthorne. For him, she was pure evil. Then, something struck him, only mentally this time. Shit! Evil... Evil people might get powers too. He shivered to the thought of someone like Vanessa or Frank getting this kind of powers. I can’t let myself become naive in believing that just having this power solves everything. I am still weak... I’ve only just started; there probably are many people with powers that are a lot stronger than me. Hell, even a mundane Frank was stronger than him at the moment and other students had higher levels than him also. My mom is level 9, for goodness’ sake.

I must train, I must develop my powers and get more skills! In order to survive whatever possible threat there is, I must become stronger. Then, a very cliché phrase flashed through his mind, Power tends to corrupt, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It was true, as easily as he could use his powers for good, it could also be used by him for evil. But, remembering that he had been a victim of evil for years, his resolve was strengthened so as to not let himself be corrupted by his power. No matter how strong he got.

To dedicate himself to training, John felt he needed to leave school. He figured that, with his powers, his need to learn school stuff was mostly null. He could always do things to get by, and some quests rewarded him with money also; although, his last one was a meager $5 and it was too early for him to tell if he would be constantly getting quests. I wonder if there is a loot system? He definitely wanted to find out about that. The thought of finding gold and silver coins made him smile and hope even more for better days.

The thought of silver brought him back to reality as he remembered his ring, thus also making him remember Amelia. Damn. I can’t just leave school. What would happen to her? He was sure that the moment he left the academy, Vanessa would put a target on her. Amelia would be the last of the trio left at school and eliminating her would be Vanessa’s main focus. John shuddered to think of what she would do, even thinking of the possibility of her setting her dogs on Amelia. He knew someone like Frank would never let that sort of opportunity pass.

He decided to think things through more carefully. First I need to know how to train. My Strength and Endurance are way too low. I need to- Suddenly a pop-up appeared.

New Quest: PE training

Dedicate yourself during PE class to start your training.
Rewards:
+1 Strength
+1 Endurance

Accept | Refuse

He instantly hit accept. I guess training will start earlier than I thought. And it starts at PE then? Great! he thought sarcastically; PE was definitely not his favorite class. Well at least those rewards make up for the effort.

Just then, John heard the bell ringing signal the end of another class. Training will come later. He smiled widely.