Art class.

John made it to his art class just in time for the bell. Miss Summers was already in there, prepping her lesson for the day. Judging by what was already written on the whiteboard, today's lesson was clay work. That was fine by John - gave him plenty of time to regenerate… and, actually, now that he was thinking about it, wasn't clay technically earth? He wasn't the best artist but he had some skill, and combined with the ability to actually manipulate clay with his mind, rather than his hands, he wondered if his newfound powers might have more uses than the abnormal. Raising his grades was a little bit disappointing in comparison to literally using the elements, but it was also slightly more practical in the immediate future.

So when the clay was handed out - they were supposed to make a statue of themselves, a project for the next several days - John let his mind and his hands wander a little more than normal. His art skills weren't quite spectacular, but he was definitely in the upper half of his class, so he could put some extra touches on this statue without drawing too much attention. Unfortunately… his class was about an hour long, and his elemental powers drained 10 mana every second they were active. Even with his newly-improved .8 Mana/min regen, he would have to wait almost half the class before he could do anything meaningful. And that was if he was able to activate it and immediately start working.

So, as eager as he was to become an elementalist, John decided that perhaps holding out until later was a smarter idea. With his current mana pool it would take almost two hours before his mana was full anyway, so it wasn't like he was wasting it by being in class. Although, that was something to keep an eye on. As much as he would like to always have full mana, the min-maxer inside of him wanted to make sure he was constantly spending it to level up his abilities. Already his Observe was getting closer to leveling. Besides, John wasn't even sure he wanted to level up the elemental stuff yet. How useful was combat stuff, honestly? It wasn't like there were monsters running around, and if he could level up or create new abilities based around increasing his status in life, he'd probably get more out of it in the long run.

So despite himself he kept his abilities quiet for the moment and continued working on the small statue by hand. Given how long it took Miss Summers to distribute the material and explain the specifications she had for the finished project, John was only just finishing up some trimming and design work on the base. His work in Warhammer might have made him just the tiniest bit obsessive about the details, and given him a few too many ideas for his own good.

"Alright, class, we're running a bit late, so don't worry about your materials, I'll store everything away safely for you in the supply cabinet here. Get to your classes and spend some time thinking about the exact pose and details you'd like to include. This project should represent who you are at your core."

"An interesting idea," John thought, shaking his head. He thought he knew who he was until a few days ago, but now… maybe not so much. He really would need to think about that. And John thought he knew a good way to do it.

"I'll help if you don't mind," John said as the other students started to file out. "I've got study hall next period and I'd like to see what other people have done on their statues."

"No stealing ideas John," Miss Summers warned, but she was smiling as she said it. "I do appreciate the help, thank you very much."

"Of course," John said, "I don't have any homework right now so this is a better use of my time, plus I get to help my favorite teacher."

"Flattery will get you everything but a good grade," Miss Summers said, actually laughing as she loaded a student's project into the cabinet. John didn't have anything else to say at the moment so he focused on the work, gathering up the future statues as quickly as he could. Most of them weren't even in the initial stages of formation, unsurprisingly, so he didn't have much of a selection of ideas to compare his own to. That wasn't much of a concern to him, though. His primary motivation was just spending more time with Miss Summers. Maybe if he bumped a few more points into Charisma…

"Thanks for helping John," Miss Summers said as she picked up the last statue. "You've always been a great student. I hear your grades are pretty good in your other classes too. I do wish you'd pay more attention in class, though."

"I'm sorry Miss Summers, I do lose myself sometimes when I'm working," John said sheepishly. Apparently she'd noticed how little he'd been focusing on his actual work while thinking about what he could do.

"Oh, lots of artists do that. I meant while I'm lecturing. You always seem to be staring… off into space," Miss Summers said, pausing a little bit too long there. John saw the smile that twisted one corner of her mouth as she spoke.

"Oh, I'm- uh," John stuttered, suddenly wishing he had leveled up so he could pour his points into Charisma, or give himself the Wisdom to not look like a fool. "S-sorry?"

"No need to apologize. It must be difficult for boys of your age to focus in any of your classes. Just pay more attention tomorrow, I'm sure you'll enjoy the class. Now get going, it may be study hall but you should still show up at some point."

"Yes, Miss Summers!" John said, eagerly heading for the door. That was… amazing and awkward all at once. Miss Summers often seemed flirtatious, but had she really just flirted with him of all people? John knew Miss Summers liked him as a student, but did it go beyond that? Didn't seem likely, she was way out of his league just in appearance alone, much less the fact that she was a laid back art teacher who actually knew what she was doing, unlike some of his other professors…

John was walking along so caught up in his thoughts that it wasn't until just then, halfway to study hall, he noticed how eerily quiet it was. Not the normal quiet, where he could hear teachers droning on in the middle of their lectures and the distant noise of students chattering in the study area. The eerie kind of quiet where he could even hear his footsteps echoing off of the walls, and the sound of his breathing suddenly seemed oddly loud.

"What the- what's going on here?" John asked. He wasn't sure who he expected to answer, but to his surprise, his new powers did.

A Random Encounter has spawned in this area! You've been pulled into a Trap Barrier!

As John read the window, his heart sank a little. John didn't know what a Trap Barrier was, but he knew what a trap was, and he sure as hell knew what a Random Encounter was. That was extremely worrying.

John eyed his mana. 48, barely over half, and almost enough to control the elements for a grand total of five seconds. He had a distinct feeling that wasn't going to be enough.