Name Pending

“Mr. Newman. I believe I may have a better understanding of your powers now.” Miss Wentworth’s words made John snap out of his inner thoughts. “Not just of your demonic prowess, but for that as... the Gamer, if I recall correctly. After you informed me that you have abilities comparable to that of a video game, I took it upon myself to instruct myself in that field. But first, tell me, did your powers allow you to generate any more non-mundane objects of interest recently?” she asked him.

“I…” John paused and tried to focus. “Y-yes. I got one new item after beating a boss in a Barrier.” He opened up his inventory and pulled out his notebook and the Grass Jingasa. He handed them both to Wentworth, who took them and flipped the notebook open. She took a few moments to read through the description John had put for the Jingasa, and then closed it.

“Very well then, this item in particular is of no importance to me. You may keep it. On a similar note, I see that you spent your funds well on the Auction,” Wentworth said as she looked up and down at John’s armor.

“Yeah. This is plate armor that’s enchanted to be lighter.” He grabbed the amulet and held it out slightly towards her. “And this is supposed to give me a plus five bonus to my Strength, Agility, or Endurance for ten minutes whenever I activate it. Although… it’s supposed to come with some weird side effects. But I haven’t actually tried it yet,” he informed her. He let go of the amulet, and it lightly swung back into his breastplate.

“Is that so? In any case, as I said just now, I did some research into computerized games. For the sake of being able to better understand the nature behind your powers. Which would subsequently allow me to more easily instruct you. On the day that you first received these powers, you attempted to use your scrying spell on me. I believed you said it was called 'Observe.' I told you then that it was already above average in strength for a spell of its type. Has it improved since then?” Wentworth inquired.

“Umm, yes. I leveled it up after that, and now it’s apparently reached its max level. Because of that, it shows me more information than it did before. So I guess it is more powerful than it was before,” he said. Wentworth began to lightly nod.

“I see. Well then, Mr. Newman, feel free to see if your spell is able to discern more information about me now." Although it might have been structured like a request, John could already tell that she was telling him, not asking. He swallowed nervously.

"A-are you sure it's okay?" he asked her. Although internally, he started to feel annoyed at his stuttering and inability to stabilize his self-confidence. Wentworth didn't say a word, but instead nodded in confirmation. John took a deep breath, and then cast Observe on Miss Wentworth.

Observe failed!
Target's high level and anti-scrying defenses have blocked your attempted Observe!

Realistically, it was the expected result; however, he still felt a sense of relief when he saw the notification. He looked at Wentworth to try to gauge her reaction, but she seemed completely devoid of any sort of expression. But perhaps that was a good sign. After all, what would have happened if he had actually managed to break through Wentworth's defenses? Would she have been surprised, and then angered, or maybe even proud? If she felt angry, what would she had done to him? He wasn't sure, but in all likelihood, it probably wouldn't have ended well for him.

However, there was still one gain that John received. He now knew that, unlike before, Observe still gave him extra information even when it failed. Although in this case, it was the reason for failure instead of his target's info. But that was useful on its own. Since it would allow him to know immediately whether a target was exceedingly more powerful than him or just had strong anti-scrying magic. With that kind of info, he could tell if he would be outmatched or not. Or at least be able to somewhat do that, anyway.

"Hmm, you said that it had already reached its maximum level, correct?" Wentworth asked him. He answered yes in return. "Very well. Your spell has indeed become exponentially more powerful than before. To an admittedly impressive degree, really. At this point, it is probably one of the most powerful scrying spells in existence. The amount of individuals that are capable of fully blocking it with their own strength is certainly a rather small list. No more than a hundred, or perhaps a couple hundred, at the very most. Bravo, Mr. Newman. You have impressed me with your growth. To the point where I am willing to even perhaps overlook your disappointingly poor performance on your written test. Overall, you have done well today." Although her voice didn't betray any emotion, John couldn't help but feel some pride in that. It was probably the first time in his life that he had heard her say she was impressed with anyone. If he didn't count the times where she had obviously been sarcastic about it.

"Oh. I... I'm not sure what to say. Thank you... Master Wentworth." He awkwardly added that last bit after a moment's hesitation.
"Master?" she asked, an eyebrow raised. John scratched the back of his neck as he looked to the side and shifted his weight between his feet.
“Well, I mean, you did accept me as your apprentice. And since this was your first test for me, it felt more... real now, I guess? So I kinda felt that maybe it would be more appropriate to call you that now?" He winced slightly, almost ready to be scolded at the very least.

"Hmm, is that why? Perhaps you might be right, Mr. Newman. Or, it might be more appropriate for me to refer to you as my apprentice in return. Perhaps I may do so in the future," she said to him. The ghost of a smile on her face. It tucked ever so lightly at the outermost edges of her lips. "In any case, I am, for the most part, satisfied with your performance. Aside from your scrying spell, you do seem a little less weak now than you were just this morning. And more so when compared to yesterday. But be cautious as you further experience this sharp growth, for the balance of power here in Springfield is a fragile thing. And it may be easily broken should someone new cause a ruckus unchecked. And that someone may very well quickly perish soon after."

"Do you mean because of the Order?" John asked. He rolled his shoulders slightly now that the tension he had felt had left them, for the most part.
"The Order of the Golden Rose is one of the more active organizations, yes. Especially when it comes to their incessant nature in regards to keeping rogue mages or organizations under their thumb. They are a **** that prefers to keep the current status quo in check. Except if that change is in their favor and benefits them. In contrast, one of the biggest enemies of the Order is the Cabal, an organization that deals heavily in the **** trade and other such markets. They've been at war with the Order for a little while now, and as such have been increasingly **** to turn the tide in their favor. Should they become aware of you and your potential, they may approach you to join them, either willingly or unwillingly," she warned him.

"I'll try to be careful. Being enslaved isn't exactly something I think I would be a fan of anyway," John tried to lightly joke.

"Yes, I would think so. But before I dismiss you for today, I have an assignment of sorts for you. There will not be any test for it, but I would urge you to explore it anyway for your own sake. Think back on the questions you read through and answered on your written exam earlier. I'm sure there were at least some that piqued your interest. So, your task will be to further explore the guilds and organizations of the Abyss. Especially those with known influence here in Springfield. Your most trusted material to research would be those you could find certified for authenticity on the Auction. Try to answer those questions that interested your curiosity as you look through them."

"I will, although... I... don't know if I have enough money for that now. I spent most of it on my new equipment. I think I only have a bit over two thousand dollars left." It was a little weird for him to say that he only had that much left. But compared to how much he had before, over ten times as much, it wasn't a lot. And that the fact that on the Abyss Auction, low-end items were already worth thousands and tens of thousands of dollars didn't help much either.
"That should be enough to purchase a basic guide or two. And I'm sure your ability to generate wealth will not leave you nearly penniless for too long," Wentworth replied.

"Oh, okay. That... makes sense."

"Then, Mr. Newman, that will be all for now. Remember well what I have said, for today we will not be meeting again after my class like before. You may go now." With a simple wave of her hand, John felt his stomach do a 180 as the world around him abruptly shifted. He had to blink the spots out of his eyes a few times as he grabbed the nearest thing to help him keep his balance. After a few moments, he regained his stability, and looked around.

He knew that he was now back in the real world. Something that, if nothing else, could be proven by the fact that he now leaned on and was holding the edge of Miss Wentworth's desk, since it was now next to him instead of being pushed against the wall as it had been inside the Barrier.

He let out a deep sigh as he felt each of his muscles relax and untighten. He checked his phone, only another minute had passed since he last looked at the time. It was a bit past midnight, and with how much he had done today, he was tired and couldn't wait to get into bed. Especially since... it would be Blair's bed.

Well, she did say she was okay with me staying the night. And with the way she put it, I don't think sleeping will be the only thing we do. I just hope Ganzac doesn't barge in or try to **** me to sleep in another room. John thought to himself as he began to make his way out of Wentworth's office. I know Ashcroft has a few security guards inside that patrol the school at night. I'll have to sneak out and try to avoid them. Kinda wish Miss Wentworth would have been nice enough to kick me outside of the school. Hmm, I do wonder what’ll happen to that troll-slime. It does have a max reputation score with me, so who knows, maybe I could ask to have it as a pet or something as a reward… ah well, thoughts for later.

He walked through her classroom and peeked into the hallway through its window to check for any security. But as he did so, a sudden and unexpected pop-up appeared in front of him.

Alright, I'm back and finally caught up! Yeesh, I was only looking away for like, a day, and now you've already done so much. Oh, in case you couldn't tell, ‘tis I, Gaia! You know, the apex of the universe, God, the one who's responsible for your powers, yadda yadda yadda. I'm kinda a big deal. Been kinda busy since yesterday, but let's see here...

Losing your virginity, check. Nice by the way. Fought your first boss, check. But didn't kill it yourself though, tsk tsk tsk. Completed that quest I gave you to get you in better shape, check. Wait... where did this extra 50 experience come from?