New abilities, discoveries, and mysteries

John's time with Alice was cut short by the sudden stop of the bus; something that both of them were silently saddened by. As they proceeded to get up from their seat they continued to hold hands. They then began to walk towards the exit of the bus, looking at each other in the meanwhile. The realization that their time together was almost over now, as they were both in different classes dawned on them at that moment, and silently they decided to walk as slowly as they could off the bus and towards the school. Instead of being allowed to do that, however, they were met with the presence of the bullies Frank and Vanessa immediately after getting off the bus.

“Can’t believe the nerd got himself a girl. You think she knows how small his dick is?” Vanessa said, seemingly talking to Frank and their friends, but talking loudly enough that it was clear that she wanted to be heard. After saying that, and noticing that both John and Alice had not been visibly disturbed by her comment, she walked towards the two of them.

“Huh, didn’t you hear me? Do you really wanna be seen with a small-dicked nerd like him?” She said once she had gotten in Alice’s face. Having taken a closer look at the face now in front of her, Vanessa seemed to realize something.

“Ah, it’s her. The doctor girl. No wonder they’re together. You freaks always find each other, don’t you?” She scoffed, venom in her words. After she said that, having apparently given up on continuing to taunt the two given the lack of visible reaction from them, she walked away from them and back to the group of bullies. The rest didn’t even bother to hide the laughter caused by Vanessa's actions.

All the while, both John and Alice had attempted to remain stone-faced, both of them having enough experience with this to know that reacting will only give the bullies satisfaction. After they were gone though, John noticed Alice, who was still holding his hand, pressing harder on it. Almost like she was attempting to funnel her rage through him.

“Don’t worry about them. It was bound to happen, at least we have each other again now,” John said, attempting to comfort Alice. Alice did not respond, however, so John attempted to hug her. He was unable to do so, however, as Alice had suddenly resumed walking towards the school at a quick pace.

“I’m fine. We need to get to class, remember?” She said, her face displaying obvious anger, although her voice echoed none of it, almost like she was putting on a well-acted performance. All the while she continued to walk, even increasing her pace almost as if in an attempt to avoid John.

John thought about stopping her but didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how he could tell her that she was just making the same mistake they had always made. He didn't know how to tell her without hurting her again. Without seemingly blaming her for all of it. How could he tell her not to make the same mistake that he had always made. The one that brought them here in the first place. The one that caused the both of them so much suffering and loneliness, the mistake so large that it had shaped her title. Because he didn't know the answer to any of those questions, he could say nothing.

They continued walking in silence, quickly entering the gates of the Academy. Then they headed into the central, and largest, of the three buildings that made up the Academy. Once they had walked inside the large building, Alice quickly said goodbye, still having a somewhat angry expression, but her words still conveyed none of that anger. Once John had said the same, albeit more sweetly, and she had left, he noticed three popups now in front of him.

Quality of life feature enabled: popups will only be displayed when the user wills them to, or when he is not busy.

‘That seems useful’ John thought to himself, honestly surprised to see that it was not a default feature. He read the next popup immediately afterwards.

John almost laughed, it was so incredibly ironic that it was now congratulating him for making one of the biggest mistakes of his life just because he was able to fix it. Now that he thought about it, however, he wasn’t as sure it was as fixed as he thought. Even when they were still just friends, Alice had never been so distant towards him. If that mistake shaped her title, it must have affected her more deeply than he could hope to fix in an hour. Probably more deeply than he could ever fix again.

The next one wasn’t as ironic, but it did come to him as a shock.

For a moment, John felt like the world was shaking. That popup came and hit him like it was a truck. He couldn't figure out how it was possible, was it talking about what he said to his mother, or Alice? He dismissed the second option out of hand. There was no way he would have been able to regain her after all. If anything, the only reason he got her back was because of his powers, so it couldn't possibly be that he hadn't needed them in the first place.

'It must be talking about what I said to mom’, he thought to himself. Not even considering any other options after he had reached that conclusion.

A moment later, he noticed he had just spent the time he would have needed to get to class on time looking at popups, so he rushed to the classroom and sat down for the first lesson of the day. It was literature, and Mrs. Flung would not have been kind if he was late. Luckily, he was not, as she entered the room only a moment after he had sat down.

Literature was even more boring than usual, as John was now waiting not only for the class to be over, but also to try out his new abilities and to spend time with Alice. Mrs. Flung, meanwhile, was ranting and raving about some story or another just like usual. John paid no mind to her. Even on a normal day, he had not found her particularly interesting, but today he had more important things to consider.

While he thought of Alice he understood something important; he had already figured out that this power was not just in his imagination, but now he thought that it had to be something more than that. His powers had now caused things to happen in his real life that he did not think possible, which meant that they had to be real. The source of his powers, and why they had appeared, however, were still a mystery, but what he did know was that it must have been the same thing that had created those achievements, that wrote them, not an automated system.

For the next few minutes, John sat in that classroom not listening to the teacher, nor doing anything else of particular importance, which seemed wasteful to him. That wastefulness caused him to decide to try to use Observe on as many students as he could.

Just like his parents and Alice when he looked at the other students, he noticed they all had their names and titles above their heads. Their titles mostly consisted of even more mundane descriptions of who they were like <Passionate Student>, <Hopeful Artist> and so on. Nothing popped out to John, as they all had those same mundane titles that seemed utterly normal and gave him no clues or answers. He was, however, able to use Observe on a large majority of them, gaining nothing more than some basic information on a few of them. Later, about halfway into the class, he had gotten a popup.

Observe level task completed: Observe levelled up

Interestingly, this time it didn't change the whole description of the skill, but just mentioned what the level up had added to it. John was eager to check it out but decided to keep the surprise for somebody more important than one of the random students he had been using Observe on.

Unable to find anything else to do, he started thinking about his current situation, but before he was able to sink into thought, he noticed a new popup appearing before him.

Magic Attunement increased: Psychic magic attuned due to natural inclination

John’s first thought was one of utter confusion. He had apparently become more attuned to magic, but he had no idea how that was even possible nor how he had done it. How he had achieved the attunement was less important than what it would do at that moment, however, a question that was answered almost immediately later with a popup.

Skill unlocked due to Psychic magic attunement: Psychic Connection

His first thought was about what a mindscape was, it was a strange term for what John assumed to be one’s mind a moment later. John decided to investigate that term later. His second thought was confusion about what Psychic meant, was it a type of magic? A specific category? A style? What kind of magic did it even encompass? John did not get an answer straight away, but he could guess it was probably magic that had something to do with the mind. Having nothing else to do, however, he decided to use the skill and see what he would receive from it if he even received anything at all.

John spent the rest of the class using the skill. It allowed him to continue thinking while using it, and so he considered all the things that had happened to him today. He considered how he should tell Alice that they both can’t make those mistakes again. How much he wanted to tell someone about his powers. He thought about whether these powers might have meant there are other people with magic in the world but decided there was not enough evidence for that assumption currently. He wondered how long he could continue to hide his powers. About whom he should tell first if he ever decided to tell anyone. He considered all the skills he might be able to learn using this new system. He understood that the skill he had just gotten confirmed that he could actually get magic, whatever that meant in the video game-esque system that had given him his powers. There was no doubt in his mind that maybe now he could finally fulfill his dream. Not because there was no doubt about, but because he refused to hold doubt for the fact that his life could finally change for the better. He still did not know much about his powers, but he knew one thing, whatever they were, it must be that he can use them to achieve his dream and help people. He had a feeling that neither exploration nor helping people would be most people’s first thought, but he did not care. It did not matter to John what others would do with such powers only what he could do with them.

After he had finished considering those grand questions, his mind became largely empty. If John had been able to think at that point, he would probably conclude it was because of the skill he was using. Occasionally, however, stray thoughts crossed his mind, thoughts that he could not explain. Stray feelings were somewhat common as well, feelings that he knew were not his own. Eventually, he started feeling the minds of those around him and attempted to enter them, curious as to what that would do.

When his meditative state had been interrupted by the bell signifying the end of the class, he had finally been able to connect to the mind of one of the other students. He felt the emotions running within that student, but the shock of feeling all these strange emotions which were not his caused him to quickly end the connection. Then he noticed a popup.

New skill: Reinforce Emotion

This time, John’s first thought was much more negative.

‘This is almost mind control. Am I supposed to use this to change how people feel? Is that what whoever is making these wants me to do?’ John thought to himself, utterly disturbed by the implications the skill might have. Contrary to his initial reaction, however, John realized that the skill did not fundamentally change people, it only reinforced the emotions already existing inside someone. The thought that he could influence people in that way tempted him. Not because he sought to control or convince others, but because he saw the opportunity that this skill gave him to help so many people.

When John thought about how he might be able to help people using this ability however, he was tempted even further. Especially thinking of the prospect of a similar ability in the opposite direction.

‘What if I could make people hate less? Be less envious. Less greedy? I could help people reform. Of course, they would have to be willing, but that could do a lot of good for people’ John thought, genuinely considering the use of this theoretical ability in order to help people, but not reaching a conclusion either way.

When he finally snapped out of his thoughts, he noticed he was still sitting in the classroom, and that he only had a few minutes until his next lesson. That lesson was one John had always enjoyed and could find useful, as it was the sort of class whose action might translate into skills. Not only that, but Alice would also be there.