章節 2: Family, Training, and Allison

After returning home, I finish up my homework and start trying to use my mana, which I know I have because of my status. I sit down, cross my legs, and begin to calm my mind. I focus on trying to feel my mana, which I do pretty easily. Then I try to move it around my body. This was really hard.

I was able to, but I could only move it extremely slowly. It takes me 30 minutes before I gather a small amount in my hand. I try to draw it out of my body in a small line that was almost wire like.

This was actually pretty successful and to my surprise, it didn't appear to be affected by gravity. It floated in front of me and moved with my will. It was a strange feeling. The only way I can describe it is as if I had just grown a third arm.

Then, a blue screen appeared in front of me with a beep. It read:

[A new skill is created by a specific action.]

Then another one appeared after it:

[Due to the continuous usage, a new skill [Mana Wire] is created. It is a wire made of mana.]

After that message appeared, using the mana wire became many times easier. I could also bring one out in a fraction of a second. I then checked my mana and it had gone down to 80/120. It seems that each use of [Mana Wire] consumes 20 MP.

After playing… *cough* familiarizing myself with the wire some more, my mom called me down for dinner. Then a message appeared in front of me:

[The quest is created.]

[Task from mom: Set the table

The gamer's mom wants us to set the table. Let's be quick and set the table for her.

Limit time: 10 minutes

Reward: EXP. +300. Increase closeness with mom.

Fail Penalty: Sad mom. Decrease of mom's faith in you.

Accept (Y) Deny (N)]

I hit Accept and headed downstairs

My mother's name is Sarah. She is beautiful and kind and sometimes makes me wonder if I'm adopted because I look nothing like her.

As I walk into the kitchen, I grab plates and silverware and start setting the table for 4. Afterwards, I help mom bring over the food. I then go get my sister and father, who are in the living room.

My sister, Jane, is 13 and looks exactly like my mom. She's extremely smart too. She's already ahead of me when it comes to academics.

My father, Chris, is a tall and handsome man with a cold demeanor. He's a doctor at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. I also don't look like him either. You could say that I'm the black sheep of the family, but that wouldn't be entirely right as we're all pretty close.

After dinner Jane clears the table and does the dishes while I go back upstairs and decide to make an armor out of mana wire that I can wear under my clothes and even use to protect myself.

I get about half of it done before I decide to go to bed. I check my phone as I put it on the charger, and I see that Allison had texted me:

[I'm glad we met! We should definitely study together sometime!]

A smile makes its way on my face as I reply:

[We definitely should. I'm not the best student, so I could use all the help I can get lol]

Then I go to sleep.

The next week goes by pretty fast. I have been practicing with my mana wire and I've created a few more mana skills.

[[[Mana Shield] LV 5] Shield made of mana. MP Cost: 40+]

[[[Mana Spear] LV 5] Spear made of mana. MP Cost: 30. Number of spears: 5]

I have completed my armor of mana wire. It is many times more comfortable than I thought it would be. It's like wearing an always warm wet suit.

I've also learned that I can absorb the mana wires back into my body as mana. They only give me half the mana back, but even still, it's like my mana reserves have quadrupled. Speaking of mana wires. This is what that skill looks like:

[[[Mana Wire] LV 13] Wire made of mana. MP Cost: 20]

When the skill level hit 10, there was a qualitative change to my wires. They are now twice as sturdy as they once were and have gotten thinner. I also received an extremely useful skill:

[[[Mana Control] LV 3] Ability to control mana. Increases power of mana related skills by 3%.]

I also went over to Allison's house to study and help her understand where we are in the classes we share.

When I saw her parents, I was a little bit scared. Mr. Argent was LV 24 and Mrs. Argent was LV 17. I used observe on them, and apparently they're werewolf hunters. I just ignored it. After all, I'm not a werewolf, so I shouldn't have anything to be scared about. Allison and I studied down in her living room because her room wasn't unpacked much and was still mainly filled with boxes. As we were studying, a message appeared. It read:

[Due to continuous study Intelligence has increased by 1 point.]

It seems that by training my mind and likely my body I can increase my stat points without leveling up. After, I begin studying again. Allison was a huge help. She reminds me a bit of my sister, just more mature.

We finish studying and I begin to pack up my things when Mrs. Argent invited me to stay for dinner, which I accepted and called my parents to tell them I would be eating here.

During dinner, Mr. Argent was interrogating me the entire time. He asked me about my parents and what they did, what I enjoy doing, and how I am in school. Allison was becoming upset until her mom said, "Chris, stop grilling the boy. Jeez, I can't even imagine what you're going to do when she gets a boyfriend." This both calms down Allison and makes her blush. I chuckle a bit at this family and say, "I understand. I'm pretty protective of my little sister. If she were to suddenly get close to a boy, I'd make sure he was a good person too. And if he were to ever hurt her… so I can understand. Also, you don't have to worry. I'm not looking for any sort of relationship. I don't have any good friends, only acquaintances at best, so I'm really grateful to your daughter." There was a pause after this that made me a bit uncomfortable, but soon Mr. Argent smiles and says with a chuckle, "Well, it's good you know." Mrs. Argent chuckles and smiles, looking pretty happy. Allison soon says to me, "I'm grateful to you too, you know. I wasn't expecting anyone to be as kind and welcoming to me here as you've been. I'm glad we're friends." I don't say anything and just smile.

The rest of dinner was pretty mild. Afterwards, I grabbed my stuff and was getting ready to leave when Mrs. Argent pulled me aside and talked to me when Allison wasn't in the room. She said, "William, I'll be relying on you to take care of her in school. If anything happens, let me know." She passes me a note with her number on it and continues, "Also, if you and Allison were to start dating, you have my blessing." She says with a wink. "I'll keep you updated, but I'm not the one Allison has her eyes on." I respond thinking about how Allison and Scoot have been flirting and getting closer. This gets a raised eyebrow from Mrs. Argent, but she doesn't comment on it.

I finish packing my materials and make my way to the door with the Argent family behind me. "It was nice meeting you." Mr. Argent says with a smile. "Yes. Come over anytime." Mrs. Argent states, shocking Allison. "Thank you for dinner and the warm welcome and it was nice meeting the both of you. I'll see you at school tomorrow Allison." I say as I begin my walk home, which is only ten minutes away as we live close to each other.

I chose to not tell Mrs. Argent about the date she'll be going on with Scott to Lydia's party, which she told me about while we were studying, but I do message her so she has my number and say:

[Mrs. Argent, this is William. You can call me Will by the way. You can also give my number to Mr. Argent if he would like it. It's probably better to be able to contact each other immediately should anything happen. And again, it was nice meeting you.]

She soon responded with:

[OK Will. You can call me Victoria. I will give your number to my husband.]

That's the only notable thing that's happened this week.