Sleepy Melodies and Creepy Witches

John woke up to burnt out candles, the air still filled with the pleasant smell of vanilla thanks to the scent diffuser Jenny had plugged in last night. It was girly, but it was nice. Jenny was sleeping peacefully next to him spread eagle, her left arm draped over him and her right hanging off the bed, her legs spread across it and on top of his. He carefully disentangled himself from her, thinking he’d let her sleep a while longer.

Daily Quest: Learn at least 3 new skills today! Each skill earned past 3 will add to the rewards!
Rewards: +1 Level in each skill learned today per skill learned, 1 random enchanted magical item relating to each skill.
Penalty of Failure: Halved skill experience tomorrow.
[Accept]/[Decline]

It’s a risk, but skills come to me often enough. I can totally do this. With that rationale John hit Accept, noticing movement on the table out of the corner of his eye.

David had apparently slept next to the bed on his bedside table and woke up with him, fluttering after him and resting on John’s shoulder in his incorporeal form. Jenny yawned behind him and stretched her arms toward the ceiling but didn’t wake up. John took a uniform from his wardrobe, absent-mindedly attempting to pet David, but his hand sunk through the hawk. Weird that he can still stand on my shoulder but I can’t pet him, John thought as he walked into the bathroom, hearing the faint sound of bacon sizzling on a pan.

He unequipped his clothes and tossed them into the hamper before turning on the shower and stepping inside. He thoroughly cleaned himself and stepped out, still on a partial high from last night. As he stepped out of the shower, Jenny walked into the bathroom, naked. “Aw man, I wanted to mess with you while you showered,” she pouted, swiping the towel away from him to reveal his naked form. With his small investment in Strength and huge investment in Agility, he didn’t look bad at all. He had a runner’s body, not particularly strong but sleek and quick. She pat his butt as she stepped in the shower herself, and continued, “After yesterday, I am all sweaty though… fine. Just today, we can take separate showers.” She shooed him out of the bathroom so she could shower in peace, and he sat on his bed, reviewing his popups from yesterday.

Warning! Skill points expiring soon!

He glanced at his sheets and noticed that he had three skill points, and that they all expired within the next few hours. May as well keep upgrading my main two skills John thought as he put two points in Marksmanship and one point into Mana Construct, raising the former to seven and the latter to six.

Marksmanship Level 6! Your left hand is now as proficient as your right with guns.

Marksmanship Level 7!

Mana Construct Level 6! Constructs will last 1.5x longer!

Those were both nice bonuses, especially for Marksmanship, though he hadn’t even really noticed the difference between his left and right hands. Maybe that was part of Marksmanship’s earlier levels? Either way, onto the next popups.

Achievement Unlocked: Nothing Would be Finer
Have a sixty-nine with a girl for the first time! Were you equally satisfied? Knowing you, I’d guess not.

• +2 Libido
• +½ inch dick size

That put his dick at just above five inches, which he assumed was average. It certainly made him a little more confident in himself, and he looked forward to Jenny’s reaction.

Achievement Unlocked: Not Quite Deflowered
Have oral or anal sex for the first time, let’s see if you can manage to remove the “not quite” by the end of the day.

• +1 Libido
• +1 Charisma

OR

• New Quest: The Throes of Passion

The quest piqued his interest, so he tapped on its tooltip to see the details.

Achievement Quest: The Throes of Passion
Lose your virginity to a willing partner by the end of the day!
Rewards: +2 Libido, +2 Charisma, +1 Perk Point
Penalty of Failure: You stay a virgin. Pathetic.

The choice was pretty easy; obviously, he had to go for the quest. The extra Libido and Charisma are nice, but that perk point is what I’m really after. I’ll definitely be able to convince Jenny to have sex with me by the end of the day… I probably could’ve last night! John thought as he tapped on the quest before moving on to the next.

Daily Quest Complete: Unsightly to Dapper!
Rewards: +1 Charisma, Desperado Mask of Identity Protection, +2 Charisma, Echo Stone, and you’re not as much of a loser. Congratulations!

Well, I guess I better get used to these depreciating lines. Seems whoever is writing these, despite giving me the coolest powers ever, loves poking fun at me, he thought to himself as he tapped the Desperado Mask of Identity Protection first to Spy it.

Desperado Mask of Identity Protection
Uncommon item. Lightweight. An old, genuine Desperado mask made of tanned leather. Protects the wearer from dust and weak inhalable toxins. In addition, while worn, this mask makes the wearer unable to be identified and distorts the view of those trying to identify him. Also resistant to some forms of scrying magic. Those in your party will still recognize you.

That’s so cool! It’s not very useful in barriers, but against people, this thing is awesome! John equipped the mask and felt the cool leather draped over his nose and down his face, held in place at the back of his head. Next that stone…

Echo Stone
Rare item. When dropped, this stone emanates unhearable sound waves which bounce around the area and return, giving the user a rough outline of the terrain and informing them if there are any creatures in a 20 meter radius by highlighting any moving objects or creatures and walls.

That was possibly more useful than the mask! It certainly made sneaking up on enemies easier if he could see them before going into their line of sight. David was getting restless just watching John, and since he was alone in his room, he let David take on his physical form. David flew around John’s room curiously, picking at random things with his beak and biting others. He flew over to the scent diffuser and stared into it curiously before flapping back, startled by the hot air that blew into his face. Next he perched on top of John’s wardrobe and stayed there for nearly a minute, surveying the room from the highest point. Satisfied that he was familiar with the room, he flew back to John, chirping insistently with his mouth open. “Right, you’re probably hungry,” John thought aloud, and David nodded at him.

“Let’s see what I can get off the Abyss Auction for you, buddy,” John said, scratching David under his chin, which resulted in the hawk chirping happily back at him. After a few minutes of typing with different keywords, John found something which seemed like a perfect fit. Reading the description, it was just as **** as the guns had been.

Magical Bird Meals: Meat Edition
From the mightiest phoenix to the cutest razor owl, every meat eating bird needs a meal fit for an avian king. Well, look no further! Using a precise and long-researched formula, we’ve come up with the perfect mix of wild-caught meats which will be sure to give your bird friend a full stomach and a full heart! Preserved using frost from the peak of Mount Olympus and our patent-pending magical ice-maker, your feathered friend won’t find this fowl!
Cost: $50 per kilogram/$22.75 per pound

John immediately ordered ten kilograms, looking up how much to feed his feathered friend until then. The money was subtracted from the credit remaining in his Abyss Auction account, leaving him with $2,300. Hopefully, by the end of the week, I can get enough for those guns. I think I’ll put the Duck Call up for bid when it only has one use left. I’ll see how much that nets me. With that, he unequipped the mask and watched the window, wondering if this delivery would be just as quick as the last one.

His suspicions were proven correct as a drone carrying a large plastic bundle bumped into the window multiple times, and he opened it, letting the drone in. The drone dropped the bag in the middle of his room, faced John, beeped, bumped into him once, and flew back out of the window. David tore into the package with his beak, but John, wanting to save most of the food, and not wanting David to eat twenty times his body weight in one sitting, commanded him off.

“David, you can have a lot of this, but I’m going to keep track of your meals! Get off it!” John ordered, and David looked at John for a moment conspiratorially, but complied; the Avian Ring on John’s finger glowed a faint jade green for a brief moment. Unpacking the rest of the package, John tossed a bit of meat into the air, which David fluttered up to and plucked out of the air. Forming a roughly mouse sized ball out of the meat, John laid it on the floor in front of David, cringing slightly at his oily, gross hands as he put the rest of the food into his inventory. David ate the entire thing practically whole and left an oily mess on his floor; apparently, the source of his powers had the same sentiment.

Okay, that’s seriously gross. New Quest! Clean that up with a regular cleaning product and I’ll give you a cleaning spell. Either way, just clean that mess.

Having no complaints, John took a few wet wipes and paper towels out of the upstairs closet and worked on the mess, which was still liquid and easy to clean. Though it was easy to clean, the smell of raw, oily, rodent meat was enough to make him gag once or twice. When he was done, a popup informed him that he had a new spell.

New Skill: Clean, Level 1, 2 MP/s
Channeling your mana into a stream from your hands, you can wipe it across an area like a hose to dispel any dirt, grime, muck, or other gross stuff to remove it! If the substance is stained or otherwise embedded in the object you’re trying to clean, you may need to hold the stream on it for longer. Has no effect on humans.

He immediately activated the skill, and a thin, wispy burst of blue mana shot out of his hand and bathed the floor in energy, quickly removing any of the previous dirt. He moved the stream over David, who at first squawked indignantly but quickly calmed down when he realized all it did was clean him. Jenny walked in as this was happening and asked, “Did you get a cleaning spell from showering?” in a threatening tone. As she took off the towel on her head, her red hair cascading down her back, delightfully fluffy looking.

“No… I got a cleaning spell from David making a mess,” John replied, sweeping the stream over her out of curiosity, but all it did was bathe her toweled form in pale blue energy for a moment.

“John, you and your girlfriend better get your butts down here, or you’ll be late for school,” Brenda called up the staircase, and Jenny pushed him out of the room as she scrambled to get her clothes from her bag.

When Jenny was changed, Brenda handed her and John egg-sandwiches as they raced out of the door, “Thanks, Mom, love you, see you later!” John called back as he swung his bag around his shoulder.

“Why do you still carry that thing if you’ve got an inventory?” Jenny asked as they walked toward the barrier that led toward the school. It was then that she noticed she had failed to take her bag. “Ah crap. I’ll meet you there. I should probably stop by my house anyways.” With that, she kissed him and sprinted back in the direction of his house as he entered the barrier.

Amy greeted him with a friendly hug, and they quickly got to work, since today Mr. Oliviera had actually assigned work. The rest of their periods up until the end of civics class were mostly the same. “Mr. Newman, please stay after class,” Mrs. Wentworth requested moments before the bell rang.

“I’ll see you in chemistry, Amy,” John said as they gathered their things. She smiled back at him affirmatively as she walked out of the room, and since she was the last one out, Mrs. Wentworth closed the door behind her.
“Mr. Newman,” Wentworth said, a popup informing John that he had entered a barrier.

You have been pulled into a trap barrier! There is no escape.

“Why don’t you explain to me why you reek of necromancy?” Wentworth demanded, and out of instinct, John used Spy on her, hardly taking in the cold, damp, stone room they were in. There were no windows or entrances, and nothing adorned the walls in front of him… It was just a hollow cube of stone.

The Scarlet Witch, Level ???
No. That’s all you get to see.

“That’s wasn’t what I ordered Mr. Newman,” the Scarlet Witch hissed, and before he could react, John was chained to a vertical machine. Metal cuffs bit into his wrists and ankles, and he decided to answer her questions since he was so obviously, ridiculously outmatched.

“I’ve been attacked by skeletons twice in trap barriers. I managed to defeat them both times.” He purposefully left out the part about Jenny, but what he said technically wasn’t a lie. He just hadn’t managed to beat them alone.

Apparently, this was enough to satisfy the being in front of him. His wrists and ankles were released, and he fell to the floor, feeling significantly weaker. He got up slowly under the meticulous stare of his civics teacher. He considered drawing his guns from his inventory and firing on her, but she interrupted him before he could think more about it.

“Cute that you think those trinkets of yours could hurt me,” Wentworth said, her hard, callous eyes staring him down. Slowly, he felt himself submit, his hands lowering as if of their own accord. “No more barriers on the school grounds, these are my domain. Do be careful around here, Mr. Newman. There are many who would react to this taint with **** first. I won’t expose you to them… but in return I expect something of you. Return to class now. I will give you your errand later.” With that, he was expelled from the barrier, into the wall of the classroom. Wentworth appeared at her desk at the same time, looking at her student’s papers as if nothing had happened. “Well? Get to your next class, Mr. Newman,” she ordered, and John scrambled to comply, speed-walking to chemistry.

“I got in trouble for opening a barrier at school, so I don’t think we can do that again today,” John explained as they relaxed, having finished the work for today yesterday. Apparently, this sparked a million questions in her.
“Really? By who? The Order of the Golden Rose? I heard they had a manor here. Or was it the Fateweavers? I heard they’re opening up a branch here too!” Amy babbled on for a moment, and John grinned at how she seemed to have forgotten what they were talking about already. “What? Who was it?”

“Well… my girlfriend. She said I was lucky that the Order of the Golden Rose didn’t know about it. She didn’t really explain though, just complained about how whoever that’s associated with them in the school is prissy. Do you know what they have done?” John replied, a little insulted at how shocked she looked when he revealed that he had a girlfriend and deciding that she didn’t need to know about his conversation with Wentworth.

I can’t believe he has a girlfriend! Of course he does… obviously somebody as kind and smart as him would have a girlfriend. Not to mention his powers. What does she have that I don’t? She hid the look of jealousy under a look of shock, and was satisfied that he had bought it, and relieved, especially because she had almost said the last part out loud. “Well, my family has had an uneasy alliance with the Order for a long time. Back in the 18th century, I’m told, we were almost as powerful as them, but we somehow faded…” her dejected look reflected the decline of her clan’s power and what his likely punishment would be.

“They’re pretty ****. If they were to catch a rogue mage that goes to the same school as their… I think they’re called jailers? I don’t know what they’d do to you. And I don’t want to think about it. If I had known that they were in town yesterday, I wouldn’t have asked you to make a barrier. I can’t even remember how many times I was told to stay away from them at all costs. Don’t worry, if I do come into contact with them, I won’t tell them you exist,” she finished relaying to him, and this new threat combined with the threat of the necromancer that seemed to be following him around made him resolve to be more careful. Or more powerful. Hopefully both.

“Alright then… thanks about that. I won’t tell them about you either.” John replied, more mortified than he showed, his face mostly relaxed. “What else do-” he began but was cut off by a knock at the classroom door, and he turned toward the front to see Jenny.

“Heyyy, I need to take John out of class to work on an art project,” Jenny said, bouncing on her heels at the front of the room. The chemistry teacher’s eyes briefly glowed just as his mother’s had last night before he responded.
“Of course, since John is done with his work, he can go.” Most of the class was focused on their work, so only Amy noticed as Jenny walked up to John and kissed him. John was slightly confused, since they weren’t doing any art project he knew of, but figured that it was just a way to get him out of class.

“Well, I’ll see you later, Amy,” John said, feeling slightly bad about leaving her alone in chemistry class, but figured she could look at her phone or something until the period was over. Though Jenny certainly didn’t miss the slightly jealous look on Amy’s face when she kissed John.

“Jenny Hudson, nice to meet you,” Jenny introduced herself with a pat on Amy’s shoulder and steered John out of the classroom. Once they were in the hallway, Jenny held his hand again before asking him, “You know she totally likes you, right?”

“What? No way! I met her yesterday,” John replied, thinking back to how he had spent most of the school day yesterday talking to Amy or fighting alongside her. It was nice, but did she really like him after just that?

“Well, I only met you the day before yesterday,” Jenny replied, turning down a flight of steps. Again, John wondered where they were going.

“Right, and you’re totally head over heels for me,” he joked as she led him into a room full of instruments in the far end of one of the less used wings of the school. Looking around, it seemed like somebody used this room very often, but no classes were held in it. The section of the room with desks was caked with dust, but the other half of the room was structured almost like an amphitheater, with a circular clearing in the bottom containing an empty instrument rack save for an acoustic guitar.

Jenny decided not to comment on his joke, mostly because she didn't know how. She wasn't sure how he made her feel, just that she liked it. Instead, she explained why she had taken him out of class, “I’m going to teach you how to play guitar! Then me, you, and Keith can make a band out of people who know music magic, and it’ll be super cool.” John smiled at her excitement and walked over to the guitar.

“So you know how to play guitar too? What other instruments can you play? More importantly, can you do magic with all of them?” he asked as he picked the acoustic instrument up. The wood felt smooth under his palm, but holding it felt awkward.

“Well… I know guitar and bass best, but I can play ukulele and violin pretty well. I can play the drums and the piano too, but I don't know them that well. I only learned them so I could help my friend with a video she was posting online.” Jenny scratched the back of her head as she spoke but quickly got back into her confident flow, “Aaanyways, you’re going to learn how to play the guitar! Those abilities of yours will probably make it way easier anyway.”

She tossed him a pick from her bag, moving behind him to help him. “First thing is to hold it right. You’re not supposed to hold the neck of it like a stick,” Jenny explained as she took his hand and guided it behind the guitar, making sure the strap was securely around his neck. “You need to press down on the strings hard at different frets to produce different sounds. Try just strumming it as it is right now.” Jenny said, looking at him expectantly. The sour note John struck prompted a popup and a sigh from behind him.

New Skill: Guitar Playing, Level 1, Passive
Using a pick or your fingers, you can pluck or strum a guitar’s string to produce variably good sounds. Also instills in you experience of how to play certain chords, and which chords mean which frets to hold down.

Jenny, a little discouraged but still confident that he would learn quickly, looked at him quizzically. John closed the popup and replied, “Yeah,"