Wentworth lessons 2: Electric Boogaloo

John’s first period of the day was math, which he sat through with pure boredom until it finally ended. His second, literature, had only one event of any worth, and that was when one of the more attractive girls in John’s class slipped on the floor and he got to see a peak of her panties. The only thing that could be considered productive that John did for the rest of that class, and for biology, was that he cast Observe on all the girls to see if there were any changes in their RP score. Due to the two points he invested in Charisma yesterday, their scores had all gone up by a few points, which ranged from a five to ten point increase, but most were still in the negatives despite this. Finally, when the bell that signalled the end of biology rang, John got up and left for the class he actually looked forward to today, history with Miss Wentworth.

When he got to the class room, John sat down at his desk and began to take out his stuff to get ready. As he did so, he made sure that the notebook with the list of items he had collected and the Rose Guardian Extract were both in his inventory. He watched as Miss Wentworth entered the class, and without so much as a glance towards him, she immediately began to write today's lesson on the board. With that, everyone took notes on her lecture, and the rest of the class went by without incident. Like yesterday, when the bell for lunch rang and everyone began to shuffle out, soon only John and Miss Wentworth were left in the class. John continued to sit at his desk and Wentworth shuffled papers at hers.

Welp, now that we’re both alone here, might as well get up and turn in my homework, John thought to himself as he got up from his chair and approached Wentworth. As Wentworth continued to shuffle her papers and reorganise her desk, she gave no apparent attention to John as he now stood near her. Only a few minutes later when she finally finished did she look at him and recognise his existence.

“Ah, Mr. Newman, I must say that I do appreciate your silence and not interrupting my work. Well then, let’s move this elsewhere so that I may see the results of your assignment,” she said to John as she stood up from her chair. They both walked into her office and the barrier inside. Wentworth sat down at her office desk, and John sat across from her. After John got as comfortable as he could in the chair, he pulled out the notebook and the Rose Guardian Extract from his inventory and placed them both on the desk in front of Miss Wentworth. She began to read the contents of the notebook she held in one hand while she picked up the Rose Guardian Extract with the other.

“Tell me, Mr. Newman, and be honest with me, when you acquired this item, did you use up a portion of it on yourself?” she asked John, her voice neutral in tone. John knew that when he had written about the item in the note, he had left out the amount of doses it had left. So if Wentworth was able to figure that out after a few seconds, there would be no point in trying to make up any type of lie. And even if he did lie to her, he didn’t want to find out what would happen to him once that clause of their contract was broken. John shifted uncomfortably in his chair as he figured that his only chance to prevent her anger would be the exact wording of the contract between them.

“I did, Miss Wentworth. However, in our contract you only put that I had to list the non-mundane items that I found, not saying anything about me actually using them for m-myself,” John stuttered that last part out due to nervousness from being under Wentworth's direct gaze. It was in that moment that John was once again reminded that he was dealing with someone who was powerful enough to disintegrate him with a mere thought if she so wished. The next few seconds were filled with an unnerving silence as Wentworth continued to give John a neutral, indifferent look while John felt a cold sweat begin to form along his entire body. Suddenly, as John began to feel he would implode from the pressure, Wentworth gave the ever so slightest of smirks.

“Why are you so nervous, Mr. Newman? What you just told me is indeed correct, I never specified anything about you not being able to use the items that you find, only that you catalogue them. I will admit, however, that your attitude once again does impress me. Contract aside, there are not many who would both not try to lie and would defend themselves with facts. Especially so when under immense pressure,” she said to John who immediately felt his entire body relax and his blood pressure begin to decrease. At the same time that he relaxed, Wentworth handed John his notebook back, but pocketed the Rose Guardian Extract. “Now then, with that out of the way, I believe it’s time to see just how much you learned about demons.Tell me everything that you have learned about them,” Wentworth said to John. John nodded as he started to explain to her everything that he had learned yesterday from the books he had bought and Blair.

The whole time Wentworth didn’t ask him a single question. In fact, she didn’t say a single word throughout the entire explanation, she just listened. Once John finished his explanation, Wentworth simply nodded.

“Very well, you certainly have all the essentials and basics covered,” she said as she glanced at the clock to see the time. “We still have enough time until lunch ends, so I believe it’s time I tell you more about the Abyss as a whole. We’ve already gotten Gaia and her nature out of the way. The next thing you should know is about the three non-combat guilds: the Apothecaries, Fateweavers, and the Abyss Auction. The Apothecaries provide medicinal needs that mundane hospitals can not. For example, most wounds of arcane origin can not be treated by mundane medicine, so most who can afford it go to the Apothecaries. The Fateweavers provide assistance in the formation and maintenance of barriers. All large and/or complex barriers require their presence."

"The last non-combat guild of importance is the Abyss Auction. Among other things, they act as the main service for trade in the Abyss. If you find any items of worth that you have no use for, you use them to either sell it for a fixed price or have it auctioned off to the highest bidder. Speaking of the Abyss Auction, I believe it’s time for your reward for completing your assignment,” she said as she opened one of the drawers inside her desk. From it she pulled out a quite large stack of $100 bills and placed them on the table.

John grabbed the stack and watched as it all disappeared and went into his inventory’s bank. His eyes went wide as he watched the number that showed how much money he had go up by $25,000.

Holy shit, this is more money than some people make in an entire year, and it’s all just sitting there for me to use, John thought to himself. As soon as he had put all the money in his inventory, Wentworth began to speak again.

“Now, while you’re free to use this money however you wish, I would recommend you to set up an account on the Abyss Auction and use the money there to better equip yourself; I doubt a school uniform will be able to hold out for what’s to come. On that note, your next assignment is a rather simple one. Meet me by the school entrance at midnight tonight, that is all,” she said as she looked at the clock on the wall. “You still have about 15 minutes left for lunch, so you should have plenty of time to eat before your next class,” Wentworth said as she began to get out of her seat. As John was about to get up to leave, he felt the need to ask Wentworth something.

“Miss Wentworth, one last thing if you don’t mind. Last night I went into a barrier, made some creatures inside it, and killed them. That’s actually how I earned the Rose Gardian Extract, it was a part of the reward for a quest for “clearing” the barrier of all its inhabitants. Basically, I just want to ask: is it morally correct for me to create living creatures for the express purpose of killing them so that I can get stronger?” he asked Wentworth, who frowned slightly.

“Mr. Newman, I highly doubt that I’m the correct person to ask that question. I’ve killed more actual human beings than I can count, so the ethics of killing creatures who are not even real are quite lost on me,” she simply stated. And with that solemn answer, both she and John left the barrier and were in her mundane office. John simply nodded and silently thanked her for her answer as he left her office and went to the cafeteria for lunch.