Last call, life's echo

Skyler tilted his head slightly. "Hey bro, what's up?" Koby didn't turn, but sighed. "Dad fell again. I was helping him up from the bed... He almost made it fully onto his feet, but... He pulled over his dresser and slowly fell to the floor." Although their father falling had become a fairly normal occurrence, this time was different. Sure, their father had required help before, but he had never pulled down his dresser in an attempt to get up. Koby looked slightly over in Skyler's direction. "He was almost there too." He lifted up his hands, looking at them with a slightly pained expression. "I, I don't know what happened. It was like all his strength had faded away."

Skyler could hear the subtle pain in his brother's voice as he walked over to sit in his recliner while continuing to focus on his brother. "I see. Um, I guess dad was in that ambulance, right?" Koby nodded slightly. "Yeah, it left a little bit before you arrived. So yeah, probably." Skyler nodded slightly while thinking. 'I know dad has been getting worse over the last few days, but. I didn't think he had gotten to this point yet.' At that moment, there was a knock on the laundry room door. However, before he could say anything, Verona opened the door anyway. "Well, they have left." Her eyes were focused on Koby before directing their attention to Skyler. "Oh good, you're home. Did Koby tell you what happened?"

Skyler nodded. "He told me about dad's fall." Verona walked over to his desk chair to sit down. "Yeah, but that isn't the troubling part. He fell down earlier too. He had been mumbling for the last few hours. We couldn't get him to properly respond to anything." Skyler looked down then over to his mother while thinking, 'That doesn't sound good.' while saying. "Um, was he talking in his sleep again?" She shook her head. "His eyes were open, but he would just mumble, Mhms and hmms. Nothing intelligible." He looked down then over to Koby, but Koby was just in deep thought. It wasn't likely he would get any help from his brother at this time.

Koby got up and headed for the door. "I'm going to lay down. I'm tired." Both Verona and Skyler nodded. "All right, sleep well." They said almost in unison. Koby nodded before exiting the room. There was a short pause before Skyler broke the silence. "Do you think he'll be okay?" She shook her head. "I, I don't know. Falling more than once within twenty-four hours is not a good sign and he was already in bad shape." He nodded slightly. "That's true. If, if only he would have listened to me. He didn't want to exercise or eat better."

Skyler let out a soft sigh. "He wasn't willing to cook for himself and I can only cook so much with those stupid roaches around." Verona nodded knowingly. "Yes, and leaving out food for them didn't help any." He closed his eyes and let out another sigh. "Wasn't he in the hospital a few days ago? He was mumbling then too. Didn't the nurse say they gave him 500 mg of acetaminophen? He seemed surprisingly aware of everything when we picked him up from the hospital at that time." She nodded. "Yes, but you said yourself that that medicine doesn't do that. I don't like sending him there, but they treat veterans for free."

Verona looked down while shaking her head. "Ugh, that nurse felt slimy too. If it wasn't so late I would have sent him up to the hospital up in Harlingen. They have a much better track record." Skyler looked over to his mom while thinking of how hard this must be for her. "Yeah, if he is awake tomorrow and is able to get into the car. We can take him to Harlingen to get him evaluated there." At that moment, his mother's ringtone sounded. She blinked, lifting up her phone to answer it. "Hello. Yes, this is Mrs. Peterson. Uh-huh. What? Oh? Okay... Thank you. Yes, thank you for telling me. I appreciate it. Thank you again. Good bye."

Verona's eyes closed as she hung up the phone. "Well, he didn't make it. He's gone." Skyler's eyes teared up slightly as he heard those words leave her lips. Although this wasn't completely unexpected, it was a bit of a surprise that it was tonight of all nights. He was thinking he had another week or so left, but apparently that assessment was incorrect. At that moment, two new red exclamations flashed that he allowed to pop up.

Achievement Unlocked!

No! Uncle Ben!

Have someone close to you die shortly after receiving your powers.

Reward: 500 xp, 1 Endurance, 1 Wisdom, and 1 Charisma.

P.S. He is in a better place now. I promise. ;3

Ding!

Endurance has increased from 24 to 25.

Wisdom has increased from 32 to 33.

Charisma has increased from 14 to 15.

25 Endurance has expanded the depths of your body's health and recovery rate!

Endurance Modifier for Hp has been increased to x 2

Endurance's Modifier for Hp regen per minute has been increased to 2% of Endurance.

Skyler felt something odd inside the very core of his being when his Endurance increased to 25. It was like several heavy weights had been lifted from his shoulders and heart. It was nice to know that his father was no longer suffering, but he was going to be missed by many. Unlike himself, his father had touched the hearts of many individuals in the community. He was a beloved teacher to many and to others a generally jolly man. There were going to be a lot of people heartbroken by his passing.

Skyler's eyes closed as he took in a soft breath, sniffling a few times as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. There was going to be a lot of things to do soon, but for now they needed to rest. Verona was quivering slightly, but didn't say anything. He looked up after wiping the tears from his eyes. "Looks like we'll finally be able to get some actual cleaning done." She chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, there is a lot of junk and papers to go through, but we can do that tomorrow." He nodded slightly. "I think we should both get to bed then. Let me know if you need anything. Okay?" She nodded slightly and got up.

A few seconds later, Verona walked over to Skyler and hugged him tightly. "I love you. I'll be requiring a lot of help from you boys in the weeks to come." He hugged her gently back. "I'll do whatever I can, mom." After hugging for a little while longer, his mother left the room, leaving him alone with his thoughts. 'He was the main source of income and he is the reason we don't pay property taxes. What are we going to do?' As his mind ran over things, a new yellow exclamation flashed that he allowed to pop up.

A Proper Son, and Gamer?

- Help your mom with the funeral expenses

- Help your mom with errands pertaining to your father's estate and finances where you can

Reward: 43 xp, 1 Endurance, 1 Intellect, and 1 Wisdom

Optional: Obtain extra money before the expenses are due from any illusion barrier(s).

Reward: 51 xp, 1 Strength, 1 Agility, and 1 Charisma

Accept or Decline?

Skyler blinked several times while reading that quest and mentally hit, 'Accept.'. "Maybe, maybe I can actually do this. Um, I need to get to sleep. There will be a lot to do tomorrow." He took off his shirt, pants, shoes and socks, setting the shoes near his other pairs of shoes by his computer desk and his pants by his shoes before taking the rest of his clothing and placed them in the proper laundry hampers upon his dresser. He pointed his hand at himself and cast clean three times, doing his best to aim for each section of his body like a grid to clean himself completely, rather than taking a shower. 5 x 3 = - 15 Mp He sent the contents into the trash bin before turning off the light in his room.

In that moment of darkness Skyler realized he had 5 new skill points to spend. Without much thought, he decided to mentally spend all 5 points in Strength, increasing it from 20 to 25. As expected, he felt like another few weights were lifted from his body. Simultaneously, his muscles expanded before tightening once more. He gently flexed his hands, getting a new sense for his new found Strength while realizing that he could see slightly better in the dark than he had previously. A second later, two new red exclamations flashed that he allowed to pop up.

25 Strength has honed your body in more ways than one!

Strength Modifier for Hp has been improved to x 6.

Increases health regeneration by 1% of maximum Hp per minute.

New skill gained!

(Passive) Nocturnal Embrace rank 1

Perception in the dark is increased by 10%.

Skyler read all of that carefully before smiling and thought. 'I've made a lot of progress in one day. I know I didn't give my father much to be proud of, but I might be able to do something about that soon.' He let out a soft yawn before taking off his glasses, walking over to his desk. He set them down upon his desk before turning around to crawl onto his bed to laydown. While drifting off to sleep, he began to wonder what the next day would bring. Would he end up helping his mother clean and sort through papers and other junk? Would he need to worry about the funeral already? Or would he need to run errands with his mom pertaining to his father's estate and finances?

Name: Skyler Peterson

Title: The Gamer

Lvl: 6 XP 151/1,200

Hp: 200/200

Hp regen: 2.7 per min

Mp: 216/216

Mp regen: 2.82 per min

Money: $2,220.41

Build: Overweight

Weight: 215 lbs

Height: 5' 10 ¾"

Dick size: 6 inches

Inventory slots 3/25 (Black Pearl Ring of Enthrallment, Small Living Core, and Vial of Slime x 2)

Unspent skill points: 0

Str: 25 + (0) + (0) End: 25 + (0) + (0)

Int: 25 + (0) + (0) Wis: 33 + (0) + (0)

Agi: 23 + (0) + (0) Cha: 15 + (0) + (0)

Lib: 16 + (0) + (0)

Equipment Slots:

Ring 1:

Ring 2:

Gloves:

Weapon:

Off-hand:

Torso:

Legs: Black Boxers

Feet:

Neck:

Face:

Head: