"At least you're eating."

John raised an eyebrow at Sera, who was sitting on the kitchen counter. She was wearing a black tank top and jean short shorts.

“And why am I an idiot now?”

“Stop being so suspicious. I’m trying my best to keep you and your mom out of harm’s way. You almost convinced her to stay. Now that you’re a part of the Abyss, dangerous things are going to start happening around you. You might not have this impression yet, but you aren’t the strongest idiot out there.”

John rolled his eyes at that. She continued.

“The point is, you won’t be able to protect those you love for long. The stronger the people you beat up, the stronger people they hire to beat you up. It’s a dog eat dog world out there, and because of the nature of your powers you’re going to attract a LOT of attention. At least you haven’t told anyone. That would have been extremely idiotic.”

John finished off his slices of pizza and went back for more, deciding to just stand by the box instead of walking back and forth a few slices at a time.

“Just, whenever things seem too good to be true, look for a sign. Specifically, my sign.”

A golden emblem shimmered in the air above the pizza box. It was an upside-down Greek delta with wings. John nodded. He didn’t say anything, as his mouth was full of pizza.

“It won’t always be that big, or that color, but whenever I’m messing with your life indirectly it’ll be there. Observe should make it light right up for you if you don’t see it immediately. Now, if things are looking too good to be true and my sign is nowhere to be found, get the hell out of there. Got it?”

John nodded again. He was both annoyed by her tone and grateful that he was finally getting some information about his new life.

“Okay, I’m pretty sure that’s it for now… Oh! One more thing: don’t ignore info boxes. Seriously. They’re there for a reason. If you can watch porn, listen to music, read a manga, jerk off, and do your math homework all at once, you can read an info box and pay attention to your surroundings.”

John’s eyes bugged at that. He’d only done that twice, and both were long before his powers had kicked in. She laughed.

“The look on your face! Hahaha! I had to do a crash course on your habits and stuff so I could anticipate your idiotic decisions. Heeheehee! Oh, sweet ambrosia! Haaaaah.”

John shook his head. He had finished the entire pizza, a feat he wasn’t capable of before his powers came in. He checked his stamina bar. 55/100. He shrugged and walked upstairs to his bedroom. Sera followed him up.

“You should start packing. The dorms are nice at Firesmith, fully furnished, but they usually can use a personal touch. The obvious bedsheets, clothes, books, your computer, your dungeon drops… How about these little things?”

She pointed at his collection of figurines on a shelf above his computer. Among them was A2, from Nier:Automata; his favorite female protagonists from Pokémon; Mikasa, from Attack on Titan; Sinon, from Sword Art Online; Albedo, from Overlord; Erza, from Fairy Tail; and Akatsuki from Log Horizon. John was very proud of his collection. He nodded and rummaged in his closet for bags to stuff his things in.

He found three gym bags relatives had sent him for his birthday over the years, probably hoping that it would inspire him to go to the gym. It obviously didn’t work out too well. Worked out pretty well for what he had in mind though, and cast observe on one of them.

Old Gym bag: Very Common Item

Holds 50 small items, 25 medium items, 5 large items, or 1 very large item.

John nodded. These three bags would illogically be enough to pack all of his belongings. He dropped a bag in front of his desk, in front of his closet, and in front of his bed. He walked up to his desk, and Sera watched from on his bed with a smug yet curious look on her face. He opened up the inventory interface on the bag and started taking down his figurines. The eleven of them stacked into one of the fifty slots in the bag.

“I am disappointed in you two.”

A seductive voice was reprimanding two Firesmith students.

“A fight? And on school grounds no less. I should suspend the both of you. Can you give me a reason not to?”

“She tackled me! Am I supposed to just let that happen? I was acting in self-defense.”

“Madam Headmistress, I don’t know what she’s talking about. I accept whatever punishment you intend. Fighting is a dishonorable practice, and I am ashamed of taking part.”

“Taking part!? You started it! You were averaging three hits a second! I didn’t even hit you once! I just threw you off of me!”

“Miss Cruz, please lower your voice. I understand that you are upset, but yelling is not helping your case.”

Arabella shut her mouth and stared daggers at Layla, who looked innocently at Headmistress Ankov.

John was all packed. His room looked sadly desolate, with only bare furniture left in it.

“That was surprisingly efficient. Good job. I’ll be disappearing for now, you should probably spend your stat points.”

She disappeared in a flash of light. John sighed and pulled up his stat sheet.

“These points are going into… Oh.”

He tapped the star by his strength stat.

Health calculation change possible, 1 of 2 requirements met.

Investigate?

Yes No

John hit yes, already pretty sure he knew what was coming.

Requirement 1: Strength stat 25/25

Requirement 2: Have sex with 2/4 different humanoid creatures

He sighed.

How am I going to do this? I have to have sex with more and more different women for every calculation change.

He tapped the star next to his endurance stat, knowing what it would bring.

Health regen calculation change possible, 1 of 2 requirements met.

Investigate?

Yes No

Requirement 1: Endurance stat 25/25

Requirement 2: Have sex with 2/6 different humanoid creatures

He shook his head.

I was going to add the five points to Intellect, but with these requirements I think I’ll have to add them to Charisma.

He pondered his options for a few minutes, then poured his points into intellect, hoping that it would make future decisions easier.

Ding!

New Skill Unlocked! Battle Awareness lvl 1

Battle Awareness lvl 1: Your hp, mp, and sp bars will be visible in the upper right hand corner of your vision during battle.

-25 mp

John blinked in surprise.

“That is both unexpected and useful. A little expensive, but hopefully grindable. And I’m talking to myself again.”

He took a deep breath and rubbed his temples.

I still have an active quest, I should get to it. I have…

He checked the time.

10:00 p.m.

“What? How?”

“Idiot, shut up and go to sleep.”

Sera was back, wearing a loose black crop top and white boyshorts.

John narrowed his eyes.

“What are you doing back?”

“Sleeping. What does it look like?”

“Where?”

“In your bed, where else?”

“Where am I going to sleep?”

She rolled her eyes at that.

“Idiot. We’re sleeping together. It’s to protect you. No low-level idiot is going to attack you as long as I’m right next to you, I have an ability that instills a holy fear in anyone who has a lower level than me and has a harming intent towards the person I’m guarding as long as I’m right next to them. Trust me, I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t have to. Get in bed, I’m tired.”

John crawled into bed hesitantly, and set his sleep timer for 8 hours.