Yeah, no.

As tempting as it was to use these new skills, this was neither the time nor the place, especially when he could do it at a much more leisurely pace in his free period after clearing a Barrier and getting new loot that he could then use for this.

Aside from the interesting beginning, the rest of the chemistry lesson was pretty boring, especially since he didn't have time to talk with Astrid anymore because they needed the whole lesson for one experiment about acidic reactions with precious metals. Honestly, it wasn't the worst lesson, but compared to the possibilities the next one had, it was still weak because next period was his free period!

While leaving the lab, he quickly asked Astrid, "What's your next period?" to which she looked at her schedule.

"U-Uuh... It says Art. Yours?"

"I've got a free period now, say hi to Ju- ehm Miss Summers from me if you have her. Pretty sure she will introduce herself to you if you have her. Maybe we'll see each other later?"

"I...uh... maybe?" and with that, she quickly took off, visibly uncomfortable to the close proximity of John. Sighing, John took off to some remote place in the school where he could open a Barrier without the chance of anyone interfering in that.

Thankfully, he found an empty artroom near the gymnasium, where at this hour no student would likely be, not even the football players. PE periods were mostly either in the morning or the last two periods of the day to not interrupt the usual flow of school. So now that he found this empty classroom, John just waited until the bell rang, and there was even less of a chance of him being found.

Once it rang, John switched to his 'Adventuring Gear' while casting Create Barrier. Seemingly at the same moment, the door to the Art room opened, and one of the two people in this school he couldn't use Observe on just entered the room.

Kim Moon, the tomboyish Korean student, just came into the room, and the look on her face spoke volumes about what she thought of John right now. "Halt, intruder! Who do you think you are, breaking into this school? What is your goal?" The Barrier was starting to create itself by this point, enclosing both John and the Asian girl in its darkness. This prompted Kim to get into a fighting stance, interpreting the darkness as some kind of trap.

Quickly pulling off the hood of his cloak, John panickingly looked at Kim and raised his hands above his head (unequipping his spear, of course) in a peaceful manner, "Whoa, whoa, calm down, I'm not some intruder, I'm a student here, just like you, first year. I've done nothing wrong... I think." Kim looked at him with a doubtful face, but she lowered her fists a bit, showing that John made some progress at least.

"How can I know that you're telling the truth? How do I know that you're really going to this school? Do you have some kind of proof?" she asked, still uncertain about his identity. For that, John changed back into his school uniform and took his wallet out of his Inventory, that also included his student ID.

"This is probably the best I can do right now to prove to you that I'm actually who I say I am. But can we move on with this? The period is not long enough to discuss this and clear out the Barrier, and by now, I don't think we're getting out of it without clearing it..." He wasn't sure if he could cancel the creation by now, and honestly, he didn't want to. He was sure he could leave the Barrier, but that would mean wasted time... Also, Kim was seemingly a way more capable fighter than him, so he could certainly use the added strength to get through this. Bonding with her would be nice as well, but that was out of the stars for now with how much she doubted him...

Looking at his ID card and the uniform for a while, she sighed and gave him back his card, "I apologize for my rude behavior, but there are strange things going on at the school, and one has to look out for every odd thing around here... But what is up with this different clothing of yours? And what is this place? Are we inside a Barrier?"

John had switched back to his primary gear by now again, picking up his spear again and looking over his interface while talking with Kim, "This? Oh, it's my gear for going into these Barriers, it's something I get through my ability I guess... And this place is an unfinished Barrier, I'd assume since it should create a fully made Barrier once I have chosen how it should look like," he said while putting in his wishes for the dialogue.

"I have to say, this is a rather stable Barrier from what I can see... the borders are clearly separated from reality, I can even feel that this Barrier is isolated from the rest of the world, making it nigh impossible for anything to escape. I guess I can help you getting through this Barrier once for your honesty with me and since I have to judge if you are a threat or not. Let me ask one last question though: What are your powers?"

Just as she asked that question did John hit the last OK and the world around them started to materialize again, and once again in a blinding light that made both of them cover their eyes. As the light subsided, John could see that they were in the school, yet they were not. Everything around them had the rough shapes of things they would find in the original school. Tables, chairs, blackboards, pretty much everything. But there was one giant difference: everything was made of mossy stone with plants growing along these shapes.

Happy with the result John looked at Kim, grinned and told her about his ability, "I'm the Gamer. My whole life has been turned into a video game apparently. I gain experience points, level up, gain items from defeated enemies, and gain skills as they apply to certain things I do. And before you ask, I got this ability less than 48 hours ago. Can I ask what your powers are?" he chose to go once again with honesty since she could probably easily pummel him into a pulp...

"You can not. But video game based powers? That seems highly unorthodox, especially for a late bloomer if what you say is true. Does anyone know that you have these powers?" While they discussed this, John took a look outside of the big window close by and was even more astonished by what he saw.

John took his time to answer the question, "Uhhh... I guess at least someone knows."

They were on the side of an overgrown mountain, high in the sky. So high in fact that there was a bank of clouds between them and the ground, obscuring any vision from what was below.

At this point did the pop-up appear that told John what this place was:

Type: Hostile
Level: 7
Mode: Hunt
Enemy Type: Wolves
Scenery: Mountain Monastery (Jungle)
Difficulty: 50%
Hunt 5 Wolves to face the boss.
Good Luck!

Huh, the enemies didn't seem to quite fit the scenery, but then again, John wasn't sure if there were no wolves in some kind of jungle... "So, it looks like we have to hunt some wolves around here. And this seems to be a monastery on the side of a mountain... not sure how that one works..."

Now Kim herself took a look outside of the window, and her face clearly told him that most Barriers did not go this up and beyond in detail, "Fascinating... This is a Barrier that I have only seen from the likes of an apprentice Fateweaver... your power is just getting more and more peculiar... And you say you have your abilities for less than two days?"

"Yeah, I do, got them yesterday morning. And what are Fateweavers?"

Sighing to herself, she looked at him while slowly walking out of the room before she started to explain, "Fateweavers are one of the largest neutral parties in the Abyss, they offer their services to anyone willing and able to pay, or at least most of them. Their service is the creation of Barriers like this one, but mostly on much bigger scales and with more features like time and space dilation. There are people outside of the Fateweavers that can do something similar, but you can be sure that these individuals either worked for them at some point or were offered a position. If word spreads about the quality of your Barriers after only having abilities for over a day, there is a high chance that you will get an offer as well if you don't put a target on yourself. Now, let us find these wolves, I am interested to see what your abilities here have produced."

And he was just as curious about that, seeing as how this was actually the first Barrier that he made himself.