An Important Decision

Or rather, there were three pop-ups stacked on top of each other.

Quest Complete!
Quest: Gamer Basics 2
Objective: Use the Create Barrier Skill for the first time.
Optional Objective: N/A
Reward Gained: +50 EXP

Quest Complete!
Quest: Safety First
Objective: Stay above 50% HP until the end of the school day.
Optional Objective: Stay above 95% until the end of the school day.
Reward Gained: +300 EXP
Optional Reward Gained: +450 EXP

Level Up!
Level 3 to Level 4!
+1 to all Stats
+5 Free Points

John blinked as he read through the notifications. From Reginald’s perspective, he must have been staring at the back of the driver seat’s headrest like it was the most interesting thing in the world. But while he made a poor attempt to keep his expression as normal as possible, his internal excitement bubbled.

It was the first time that he had gotten his actual Class to go up a Level. For some reason he had started from Level 3, though for all intents and purposes, he had certainly felt like a Level 1 character compared to those in the Order. But rather than wait until he was driven home, he went ahead and opened his character sheet there and then.

General Info:
Name: John Newman
Class: The Gamer
Level: 4
Experience: 512/660
Money: $102.54
Inventory Slots: 2/24

Resources:
HP: 50/50
HP Regen: 0.295 per hour
MP: 62/62
MP Regen: 3.096 per minute

Stats:
Strength: 9 (+0)
Agility: 16 (+0)
Endurance:7 (+0)
Intellect: 26 (+0)
Wisdom: 13 (+0)
Charisma: 7 (+0)
Libido: 20 (+0)
Free Points: 5

Skills:
Gamer’s Body: Max
Gamer’s Spirit: Max
Observe: Level 2
Create Barrier: Level 1

Woah. Plus one to everything and I get to add five more Points to wherever? A dozen total per Level sounds pretty generous. Especially if I did something like dumping all 5 into Charisma or Endurance, I’d basically would be doubling them from their starting numbers, John thought to himself.

He hadn’t felt any different after this Level increase had happened at the end of the school day, so perhaps just a couple of Points wouldn’t be that big of a difference. It wasn’t as though that extra Point in Strength had made his muscles grow enough to suddenly stretch and tear his clothes like some kind of superhero. Well, superhero or a scene from certain kinds of fetish animations. Or perhaps it could be both?

That random thought aside, John let out a breath as he considered his options. So far his only source of Experience Points had been the freebies sent his way via his powers. He doubted the only source would be things like Quests, but nothing could be safely assumed until proven. The cautious thing to do would be a belief that Experience and Levels would only be gained so often, and thus his Free Points were a precious commodity. At least until shown otherwise.

But let’s be honest with myself. The last thing I need is something like even more Libido. I know for sure that Wisdom increases my MP Regen. So if we go by typical game logic where brain numbers equal magic numbers, Intellect would be the driver for my actual MP total. That would be useful for more uses out of Observe or Create Barrier… but I should check something first.

“Excuse me, sir,” John began as he leaned toward the gap between the driver and front passenger seat. “When we met, Moira forbade me from using magic specifically while in the school grounds. Using it anywhere else didn’t come up, so is that fine?”

Reginald glanced at him through the rearview mirror. “I cannot speak for the Lord or Mistress. However, if you were not specifically forbidden from using your magic elsewhere, then it should be reasonably fine. So long as it does not harm the Order or mundane civilians, or invoke powers seen as evil in the Lady’s eyes, the Abyssals of Springfield are largely able to act freely.”

John nodded, though he internally made a note of the use of “largely” in that last bit. Though before he could think on that or reply, the butler continued to speak.

“However, if I may be so bold as to add, Mr. Newman. Most restrictions are specifically geared toward those not in the Order or are only loosely affiliated. For one who joins the Order’s ranks as a full member, however, an olive branch of trust is naturally extended.”

He couldn’t help but smile a tad at the obvious sales pitch. “That’s good to know, thanks.”

“Of course, sir.”

The rest of the drive was done in silence. John had dismissed his character sheet for the time being, after deciding that he was in no rush on where to invest his Free Points. So it was that soon enough, the sedan came to a stop in front of his house.

John grabbed his backpack from the adjacent seat. As he stepped out of the car and was about to close the door, he had a
thought and leaned back in.

“Sorry, but I just had a quick question. If I don’t want to bother Moira and distract her just to give me a ride to the mansion, would it be okay if I called a Buber or something instead?” he asked, hoping there was an easy way to avoid a repeat of the maniacal motorcycle ride.

Reginald shook his head. “Nonsense, sir, there’s no reason to spend your own money on something as trivial as that. While I am not at liberty to offer my services directly, simply ask the Mistress tomorrow when next you meet here, and she can inform me to arrange appropriate accommodations as needed. If that is all, I would bid you a good rest of your evening.”

“Right, got it. You too,” John replied as he stepped back and closed the door . Without any hesitation, the car drove off and disappeared behind the next turn.

With a sigh, the Gamer lugged his backpack over his shoulder and fished for his copy of the door key. Evening was right, it was already dinner time. If he had waited just a little bit longer, he would likely have started to get worried texts from his mother wondering where he was at.

The sound of the television greeted him as he entered the door, along with the smell of pizza to make his stomach rumble. Kicking off his shoes, he passed by his mother on the couch, her gaze completely transfixed on what looked to be some kind of soap opera. With a devious look in his eyes, John quietly stepped up behind her and poked her in the back of the neck.

Brenda snapped around. “Jesus! Oh! John, you scared me!”

He chuckled. “Sorry, Mom, it was too tempting to pass up. I’m gonna head up to my room now and get started on homework, is that okay?”

His mother sighed. “Just don’t do that again, you dang near gave me a heart attack. But that’s fine, pizza’s in the oven and should only need a few more minutes until it's ready. Oh, did you have a good first day back at school?”

“Yeah, I guess, mostly just the same as usual. I did meet with another student for a project after school, in case you’re wondering why I’m home so late.”

“I was about to ask.” Brenda smiled. “But that sounds nice. As long as you’re not too long after dark or not getting yourself into trouble, it’s fine if you’re home a bit late.”

John waved her off. “Come on, Mom, you make me sound like a middle school kid who doesn’t know better when you put it like that. I’m not even in high school anymore, after all.”

That being said, I’d be lying if I claimed I wouldn’t be getting into any trouble. After all, Moira had half a mind to splatter my brains when I met her. Not exactly sure how Mom would feel about the Order’s offers either if she knew.

After a bit more small talk, John stuck around until the pizza was ready and cut. He gave his mother an excuse that he needed to focus on homework and asked if he could take it up to his room. An excuse she happily seemed to accept, going by the way she looked eager to get back to her show. Then as soon as he covered a plate with a few slices, he took it up to his room and set it on his desk. With a sigh, he practically collapsed into his desk chair and slowly spun it around in a circle.

“Right. Food first, complicated stuff after.”

A short while passed as John ate his pizza while finding a random video to watch online. Though even as he found something to watch, he found his thoughts repeatedly elsewhere. Yet it was only when he cleaned off his plate, that he reached over to pull out the cause of his distraction.

The papers given to him by Lord Brighton.
John made a brief trip downstairs to grab an energy drink from the fridge, already knowing that the evening caffeine would be necessary for the heavy reading ahead. But once that was cracked open, he settled in to start reading the first of the two contracts.

The minutes slowly ticked by, until eventually, John stretched his arms up. The contract he had just read was for the affiliated contractor path. And while it wasn’t the worst legalese he had ever seen, it had still taken a bit for him to translate the gist of it into simple English.

Lord Brighton, to his credit, had given him a rather accurate summary of what it would entail. The Order would give him and his immediate family protection while in Springfield for one full year. He would be supervised and agree to be under their jurisdiction, but otherwise free to live his life as a new Abyssal. But most importantly, he would be agreeing to work for them whenever called for whatever reason, in exchange for “compensation negotiated on a case-by-case basis.”

Unfortunately, that flexibility in the language didn’t really paint a good picture of what said compensation would actually look like. The easiest thing to imagine was direct cash. And when he considered the barely over hundred bucks to his name, the bar was rather low for how much it would take for him to be happy, depending on what kind of work they wanted. But before anything could be said for sure, he first needed to look at the other contract to compare it against.

Several more minutes passed as he read through that next. And for each minute that came and went, John had unknowingly found himself leaning more and more forward.

The contract for full membership was good, almost too good to be true. That year of protection was extended to however long he remained a member of the Order of the Golden Rose. There would be a mandatory training period described as at least one month, potentially longer depending on what was judged afterward. In which he would be still required to do some jobs for the Order, but it would be easier work meant for a trainee, and thus paid less. But even the payment was still enough to make his eyes widen.

For that one month training period, as long as he didn’t do anything to get kicked out, John was guaranteed a weekly paycheck of 2,000 dollars. He had to double-check there wasn’t a hidden decimal in there instead of a comma, but no, that was the actual number.

“Holy shit, just how much money do these people have to burn? That’s already six figures over a whole year, and you’re telling me that’s just the baby rate?” John mumbled to himself as he continued to read the rest.

And man, did it only get better from there. Either this was a massive scam, or they truly were willing to go all-in to get a Latebloomer like him on board. He’d get to pick out a set of equipment and armor that would belong to him, amongst their standard trainee kits. Then post-training, he would be able to swap that out for a different set from their better kits. As for the training itself, it would be a mix between personalized and standardized lessons, determined and adjustable by the Order toward what they believed would help his growth the best.

Of course, it wasn’t all goodies and rainbows. The paperwork did stress that there would be high expectations as well. Which included an outline of the most important things that he would forever be forbidden from doing, or else it would be considered not just an act against the Lady’s laws but also a betrayal against the Order itself. But as concerning as that initially sounded…

“Yeah, this all sounds like pretty stereotypical villain things? Wasn’t exactly planning on unlawful acts of necromancy, selling my soul to a demon, human sacrifices, or… any of this anytime soon. Do people really struggle enough with this obviously evil stuff that it really needs to be spelled out for them?” he asked aloud.

Granted, a part of John understood that nothing in life was given generously just for the sake of it. Especially in the eyes of a nerd who had done his fair share of random reading about history. There was a reason why when soldiers suddenly got nicer than usual meals, it would be followed by them putting their lives on the line. Or why the modern military itself often focused more on advertising their benefits package for new recruits… which he was realizing sounded rather similar to the contract before him.

“I mean… we’re talking about real knights and magic here. What are they gonna ask me to do, slay a dragon? Not exactly many of those flying around, but it sounds like these Barriers let people create what’s basically a second world hidden from the normal one, so who knows? John Newman… from bullied geek to dragon slayer…”

Perhaps a wiser man would have been more hesitant. Or at least tried to see if there were other local factions than the first one he had happened to have met, to see if there were better deals out there. But despite the fact that his Wisdom had gone up by three Points today, at the end of the day, John was still only a freshly turned 18-year-old. And known for being wise, people of that age were not.

The following night and morning went by as a blur. John had tried his best to sleep, but found himself often too distracted by his own imagination. Yet when sleep had eventually claimed him and he went back to the Academy for his first classes of the day, he couldn’t help but constantly check the time. Even his fear of Frank and Vanessa had been shunted to the back of his mind, as he only managed to avoid them due to subconsciously spotting them in the corner of his eye and reflexily avoiding entering their sight.

Until finally, lunch came. And rather than wait until the end of the schoolday, it only took John a little while to find the redheaded woman he was looking for. So focused was he on his task, that the normally socially awkward John didn’t even notice the looks being thrown his way as he sat directly in front of Moira Brighton herself like they were best buddies.

She looked up at him. “Ah, hello, John. Did you need something?”

He nodded, keeping his voice a bit low. “Yeah, sorry for bothering you while you’re eating. But I thought about what I… was offered the other day. And I decided that I do want to go all-in with you guys.”

Moira’s facial expression remained stoic. But for a second, there was an unmistakable pleased look in her eyes. One that was gone just as John had noticed it.

“Very well, I am glad to hear that. In the end, I am sure you will agree that it was the right choice. But let’s shelve that for now, and we can discuss more after classes are done. We can meet in the same spot as before.”

John stood up with a nod. “Right, after school sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

He took a few steps away. And, of course, it was only then he remembered what he’d spoken about with Reginald. But now it would be way too weird to suddenly turn around and resume their very clearly ended conversation. So it was with internal resignation, that John realized his lapse in memory meant… he would be doomed to ride with that absolute daredevil again.