章 12: Meet The Family
[Absorbing Life Force]
[Level up]
Alex stared at the messages for a moment as he connected the dots, his eyes slowly drifting down to the man on the floor.
'He's dead... I killed him. It wasn't just pure luck this time either, I intentionally attacked him with my ability and he died.' Alex stared at the wound on the back of the man's head as he expected a feeling of remorse would soon fill his heart. But he felt nothing.
'I don't have any feelings about this mans death, no remorse or sadness, nothing. Instead, I feel joy knowing that I've become stronger.' Alex thought as he opened the system.
He could see that he was now [Level 3] and that the bar beneath his level was basically empty. He quickly opened the Stats page, remembering what the system had told him about leveling up, and wasn't disappointed.
[Stats]
[Physique - 1] [Mind - 1] [Constitution - 2]
[Available - 1]
'I have one Stat point available but where should I put it?' Alex thought about it for about a minute before ultimately deciding to place the point into [Mind], bringing it up to 2.
'Improving how much energy I have available for my abilities is the most important thing right now. A regular person can't defeat an ability user outside of special circumstance, like with Oscar. He was surprised by my sudden appearance in his home and had injures all over his body. Considering how easy it was to kill this guy once I decided to attack, I think improving my abilities is the right choice. That said, I plan on increasing my Stats as evenly as possible for the time being.'
Alex nodded, satisfied with his decision to increase the [Mind] Stat, as well as his plans for future growth. Alex decided it was best to leave the alleyway as quickly as possible to avoid being spotted but realized something as he was about to close the system, he still hadn't looked at the [Notifications] page.
Inside the [Notifications] page Alex saw the Level Up message he had just received a few minutes ago, as well as 2 other messages below it. The message at the very bottom was also a Level Up message, with the one above that being a bit longer.
[Due to the Users injuries, the available Stat point gained upon leveling up will automatically be placed into constitution to improve the odds of the Users survival.]
Alex nodded his head in understanding. 'The system placed the point in [Constitution] to save my life after Oscar injured me, it's the reason my injuries healed faster and better than I would have thought they could. It also explains why [Constitution] was the only Stat above 1 and why my level was already at 2 when I noticed it.'
With no reason to remain in the alleyway, Alex continued towards his original destination. It was already getting late as Alex reached his home, the artificial 'sun' had already set as he climbed the stairs to the third floor and took the key to the front door out of his pocket.
There were several voices coming from inside and Alex was happy to hear that everyone was home safely. Alex placed his key in the lock and twisted it, only to realize it wasn't locked to begin with. He shook his and placed the key back in his pocket, opening the door right after.
"Oh you're finally back! Come sit down, dinner is almost ready."
Upon entering his home Alex was quickly greeted by his mother, who was closest to the door as it led into the kitchen. Alex did as his mother asked and took a seat around the kitchen counter, which they used as a dinner table, since there was no dining room.
Alex's mother, Jenna Rune, was in her mid 40's already but didn't look a day over 30. She was slightly shorter than most woman, coming in at a height of 1.6 meters tall (5ft2). She had a petite frame that made her seem even smaller and long brown hair that came down to the small of her back. Her beautiful brown eyes matched her hair perfectly and reflected the light in such a manner that you almost didn't notice the dark shadows beneath them, or how shallow her cheeks were from eating so little.
"Did you have fun with your friend last night?" Jenna asked with a sweet motherly tone as she strained the noodles over the sink.
"Yeah it was great. I actually have something to tell you all about last night but I'll do it when everyone is eating. How about you, mom, did you have a good day?Did you finally get that promotion they've been promising you?" Alex asked.
<Sigh> "My day was busy, as usual, but it was mostly good. And no, I didn't get the promotion, they gave the position to someone else." Jenna replied with a almost heartbroken tone. She tried not to sound too disappointed but Alex could still tell how she felt.
"That's bullshit."
"Hey! Watch your mouth, Alex!" Jenna said in a stern tone." I won't have any swearing in my house.
Alex felt a little guilty since he knew his mother forbade swearing, as well as annoyed at the restriction to his speech, but quickly moved the conversation along, curious to find out more about his mothers workplace situation.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it, it's just... you've been working as a nurse at the hospital for over ten years already and they have never once given you a promotion or pay increase, even though you deserved both of those years ago." Alex was silent for a moment before he asked. "Who got the position?"
"They hired someone new, a User with a healing ability." Jenna replied with a tone of disappointment.
'This is the third time they've skipped over mom for a User...' Alex clenched his fist under the counter as anger filled his heart. He was sick of his parents always receiving the short end of the stick in everything they did, especially at work.
"I know you just sat down but could you go tell the twins that dinner is ready?" Jenna said as she turned to Alex and forced a smile.
"Yeah, I'll be right back." Alex said as he smiled back at his mother. Although his smile was also forced, Alex had been pretending to be happy around his parents for years so that he wouldn't make their lives any harder. At this point in life, Alex was a master at pretending to be happy regardless of how he felt.
Alex walked to the twins bedroom and walked through the open door. Sitting on their own halves of the bunk-bed, each of the twins was busy doing their own thing yet somehow found a way to multitask by arguing at the same time.
"If you paid attention during class then you wouldn't be struggling." Sarah said with a smug tone as she continued to read her book on the bottom bunk.
"I don't understand why they had to add letters into math! They're just making it harder so more of us will fail!" Benny rebutted as he struggled with his homework. Sarah was about to say something when Alex walked in.
"While I'd love to hear your reply, I'm afraid it's time for us to eat." Alex said.
Both twins faces lit up as they jumped out of their beds, abandoning their tasks, and ran up to Alex. Sarah slammed into Alex with a massive hug while Benny just stood there with a smile on his face.
"You agree with me, right Alex?" Benny asked as he looked at Alex with pleading eyes.
"About math being stupidly difficult? Yes. That shit is evil." Alex replied as he and his brother nodded in unison.
"It's not that hard. You two just don't pay attention in class!" Sarah said as she turned to face Benny while still holding onto Alex.
Sarah was the spitting image of their mother Jenna. Her hair and eyes were the same hue of brown and her figure was just as petite. Benny on the other hand had black hair and green eyes, taking after their father rather mother. Sarah was the same height as her mother while Benny had reached a height of 1.8m (5ft9), only a few centimeters away from Alex. Both twins were 15 years old this year, making them 3 years younger than Alex as he would be turning 18 in a few months.
"Whatever you say miss know-it-all" Alex said in a mocking tone. "Come on, lets go eat. I have something I want to show you guys."
"Is it about those sunglasses?" Benny asked.
"That's right! Those are my sunglasses! You didn't ask me if you could wear them, Alex." Sarah said with an exaggerated pout.
"Oh, do you have a problem with me wearing them?" Alex asked in a joking tone as he leaned forward to match his sisters height, bringing his face close to hers as he smiled.
Sarah blushed a little and shyly replied."N-No I just wanted you to ask is all..."
'She's so different with me compared to Benny, it's quite funny actually.' Alex thought before he replied. "Then would it be alright if I use them? I need them for a very important reason."
"Okay..." Sarah replied with a shy smile.
The trio made their way to the kitchen and sat down at the counter as their mother dished up their food, placing a plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of each of them. After a few minutes of small talk and eating, Alex suddenly announced that he had something to share with everyone.
"I was hoping dad would be here tonight but I guess he's working a night shift again so there's no helping it." Alex said as he placed his new ID card on the kitchen counter. His family looked at the card in confusion for a moment before Benny finally asked.
"What's a black card supposed to mean and why do you have one?"
Almost nobody had heard of a black ID card, at least Alex, and seemingly his family, never had. When he saw that neither Tom nor his own family knew about it, he wondered how useful it would really be in proving his identity, but that was a thought for another time.
"Black ID cards are quite rare and are only given to people with a certain something." Alex said.
"A certain something? Like what?" Jenna asked.
Alex reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, causing gasps to escape his family members as a mix of shock and awe appeared on their faces.
"Like a Unique Ability."
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