Trauma

John stood inside a bathroom stall. He unequipped his bloody shirt and held it out in front of himself. The shirt was covered in blood and dirt. It was torn up and there were scorch marks strewn across its surface.

Damn, I haven’t looked at it this closely before. Thank God nobody seemed to notice it from under my jacket. Although it does bring up the question of how exactly I’m supposed to get this cleaned up before Lunch ends, John thought to himself as he contemplated his options.

I wonder… what would happen if I used Craft on it? John asked himself as he cast the skill on the shirt.

Ashcroft Academy Uniform Shirt (Ruined)
A bloodied white shirt that makes up part of the uniform all Ashcroft students are expected to wear.
Repair/Upgrade/Reshape

John looked over the shirt’s basic description and the options laid out before him. He selected Repair to see what its exact requirements would be.

Repair
MP Cost: 5
Use Craft to repair this item?
Yes/No

He selected yes and watched the shirt as it emitted a dim yellow glow. He watched as the tears began to repair themselves and the scorch marks began to fade. Within the next few seconds, John held a fully repaired shirt within his hands. He equipped the now cleaned shirt as he left the stall to catch the last few minutes of Lunch.

As John walked through the hallways towards the vending machines, he began to get lost in thought.

Repairing an already existing object costs less than making something new from one. I guess that makes sense, but that means if I want to level this skill it’ll cost less to just break stuff and repair it rather than to make new items from it, John thought as he spent $15 on a meal that consisted of a sandwich, chips, and a can of soda.

He found a quiet spot around the corner to sit down and eat his meal. He knew that if he went to the cafeteria to eat he’d almost surely be attacked by Frank and Vanessa. He leaned back against the wall and tried to get as comfortable as one could when one sat on the hard cold floor.

As he quickly scarfed down his lunch, John pulled out the pills Wentworth had given him from his Inventory. He popped one of the pills down and followed it with a swig of his soda.

New Status Effect Acquired:
Demonic Aura Suppression
The trace amounts of demonic corruption within your being have now been suppressed.

As John read and dismissed the popup, he began to reflect on the day’s events. Him waking up with new powers already felt like it had happened ages ago after everything that had happened today. As he began to relive his near **** encounter with the demon, John felt his pulse quicken and his breath become rapid and shallow with panic. John’s throat tightened and his chest began to hurt as he felt a chill go through his body. John looked down to see his hands begin to tremble and felt a numbness within the tips of his fingers. The shortness of breath became worse until John felt as if he was ****.

“Shit shit shit shit shit shit. Calm down, John, just calm down. Come on, come on, please just stop, please!” John whispered aloud as he tightened his hands in an effort to stop their tremble and calm down.

He lay pressed against the wall for the next five minutes or so until he felt himself finally begin to calm down. John heard the bell that signaled the end of Lunch begin to ring. John **** himself to take a deep breath as he picked himself up and hurried to his next class before anyone could see him.

John rushed down the hall to be sure that he was the first one to arrive at Mrs. Flynn’s Mathematics class. As he entered the class, he saw that he was indeed the first one to arrive, Mrs. Flynn herself also yet to arrive. He sat down at his desk and closed his eyes as he began to breathe slowly and deeply to get the final tendrils of panic under control.

New Skill Acquired
Meditation
Increases Health and Mana regeneration by (Skill level x 100%).
Cannot be used while in combat.

John spent the next few minutes of free time between classes in this state of Meditation. By the time the bell that signaled the start of class had rang, he had completely regenerated his mana back to full.

As class slowly went by, John, for once in his life, appreciated the bland nature of a simple math class. There were no demons that tried to kill him nor was there a super powerful witch that could disintegrate him with a mere thought. There was only the simple and friendly repetition of mathematical equations.

As John finished an equation, he opened up his character sheet to look through both it and the quest he had yet to complete.

Hmm, between Craft and Observe I’ll have a much easier time leveling up Observe without catching any attention. Although, what if I use it on someone else with magic and they catch me? I doubt they would give me the chance to explain myself like Miss Wentworth did, John contemplated as he solved another equation.

He resolved himself and began to carefully Observe everyone in the class one by one. He did this for about twenty minutes, until eventually it finally happened.

Observe lvl up
Lvl 4 → lvl 5
Observe has reached its max lvl.
Observe now reveals more detailed information about its targets.

Lvl Up!
You have reached lvl 4!

Now excited, John cast Observe on one of the few people in class he had yet to do so.

Woah, that’s way more information than I used to get on people. Although, she doesn’t belong to a Class or Guild. Hmmm, when I used Observe on Moira, it said she was a Paladin and a Warden of the Golden Rose. So is Paladin her class and the Golden Rose the guild she’s a part of? If yes, then what does being the Warden of it mean? John contemplated as the bell rang.

His train of thought now interrupted, John sighed and picked up his stuff as he left the class. He checked his schedule and headed for his final class for the day, Business with Mr. Oliveira.

John had nothing against Mr. Oliveira as a person; however, the logical part of his brain always told him that a failed entrepreneur was perhaps not the best person to be giving financial advice. On top of that, Mr. Oliveira always taught with a tone that clearly indicated that he was only there to collect his paycheck and then go home. John would usually sit in the back of the class and either play games on his phone or sketch something in his notebook.

John entered the class, and as he walked by Mr. Oliveira’s desk, he saw Mr. Oliveira minimize the game of Galaga he had on the screen. John sat down in his seat as the bell for the start of class rung. Mr. Oliveira got up and lazily began to put on the slide show about the types of business models he had prepared.

John pulled out his phone as his free hand scribbled random doodles into his notebook. He checked the statistics for the art he had published online under his username Jihan. There were several nice comments that liked his latest piece; however, there were also the know it alls that left practical essays that pointed out every way he could have improved the art instead. As much as John didn’t appreciate the attitude that came with their comments, they did still make some valid points that he made note of in the back of his mind.

Some time later, the bell rang to signal the end of class and the school day. John turned off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket as he grabbed his stuff and left class. Now John only had one thing to worry about, to make sure he got out of school without being found by Frank or his lackeys.

He peeked around the corner of the hallway and saw that two of the jocks had seemingly been posted besides John’s locker. John walked through the hallways until he reached the school’s back entrance that only a few people really used. He looked to see more of Frank’s lackeys stationed there.

Well then, if his lackeys are at the back door and my locker, Frank himself is probably waiting for me at the main door, John thought to himself as he turned the corner.

John left the area and went into the bathroom and inside one of the stalls. He locked the door behind him and leaned against the wall as he pondered his next course of action.

Hmm, I might as well open my character sheet to see what’s changed with my level up, he thought as he opened it. His eyes scanned over it and he saw that he had gained five Ability Points.

If this works like your typical game, then I should be able to invest these into any stats I like. But that brings up the question, what type of build am I going for? I have a scythe, and honestly, it’s pretty cool to wield, and it does more damage when I increase my Intellect and Strength. Although, there’s my current social standing in school, or lack thereof, to consider, John began to think deeply as he pondered the many options and paths before him.

After several minutes of contemplation, John made his decision. For now he’ll focus on getting every stat to at least ten, then after that focus on his Intellect, Agility, and Strength. Strength and Intellect due to them being the main stats for his Soul Weapon and Agility because, even though it was a magical scythe, it was still pretty awkward to swing when he broke his way out of the barrier. So John determined that out of all of his stats, Agility would be the one most likely to solve that issue.

Hmm, for now I’ll just put one point into Strength, two points into Endurance, and the last two into Charisma, John thought as he hammered the points into their respective stats. John stared at his now updated character sheet, proud of the progress he had already made.

“Now that this is out of the way, time for me to think of a way to get out without running into Frank,” John muttered to himself.