Frank laid on his bed, a half hour later of scrolling through the power menu with different filters on left him scratching his head and brainstorming. His clock still wasn't running when he checked on it, which was strange since it had entered the roughly foot or so long range where his hallucination of time stopping began. He wondered if maybe he was just so far gone that he couldn't read anything real in front of his face?

He had looked through powers by type, cost, growth ability, and even ones that weren't available to him due to certain stipulations. For example, he couldn't use certain types of powers that sounded like priestly powers or powers that required prerequisite skills or another power to be finalized as a choice. Certain powers were also gender locked, so he was locked out of powers exclusive to women unless he took the 60 cost shapeshifting power or something similar that would allow him to bypass that restriction. He didn't want to bother with any of that though.

He narrowed his picks down to 2 major choices:

'Teleportation (Tier 3 Power) [60]: User may teleport to any space they can see within 15 feet with slight concentration, or any space with which they are deeply familiar using focused concentration. User arrives at the location with any items they are holding or wearing on their person. User may not teleport with other beings, or into a space which is directly occupied by another being. Cooldown period of 20 seconds Earth time between uses, 10 minute cooldown is applied if using the focused concentration option. Upgradeable by skill use and knowledge.'

'Total Invisibility (Tier 2 Power) [40]: User becomes completely invisible upon activation. Effect lasts 2 minutes Earth time. User is unable to be detected on the human-visible light spectrum, nor much of the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum. However, user still gives off heat, breath, and still makes noise when moving or handling objects. Objects held close to the body or inside clothing may be made invisible so long as they are in possession by the user. Any contact with a living being that is not significantly smaller than the user will break the effect and end it early Cooldown period of 2 minutes from end of effect. Upgradeable through skill use and knowledge.'

Teleportation would be the most subtle transportation method, and if he was invisible while teleporting, who would be able to tell? Besides, he could just teleport to the store to buy groceries and teleport back home with that "familiarity" clause. There were other cool ideas in the list, but they were either too detailed or focused on combat. When the hell was Frank going to fight someone he would need crazy acrobatics skills for or the ability to create fireballs? Sure it would make crazy money on social media, but he didn't like the limelight in that way. He was not a stage performer type.

Not to mention this would all go away when he went to sleep. At least, he thought so. Yeah the screen felt real, but don't people that hallucinate things experience them as reality when they happen? At this point he felt trapped by this nonsense, it was all too surreal. Like something right out of a comic book! Which is why it had to be something made up by his mind, he couldn't accept anything less.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

One final check. He made sure he had selected Teleportation and Total Invisibility, then he clicked the 'Finalize' button on the top corner of the screen. Another feeling welled up in Frank without warning, a warm feeling that almost felt charged with electricity but gentle rather than the sudden feeling static shock would give. It welled up from his center, somewhere around his belly. The tingling feeling spread out and dropped suddenly into his legs, he was glad to be sitting because it was so unexpected he may have fallen down if he were standing. Finally the feeling bounced back up along his spine and spread through his head and his arms. Frank felt very different, he couldn't put his finger on it but something felt changed about his room, or at least his perception of it. The screen changed again, still gently following his vision like a floater.

'Congratulations, Frank Lepari. You have awakened and have taken the first steps to fulfilling your potential. Due to your limited selections, you have been granted a bonus power in line with your archetype.

Your archetype: Scout

Bonus power granted: Psychometry (Tier 1 power)

Upon touching an object and concentrating, the user may detect information about an object. Information can be as simple as the construction or condition of an object or as complex as spiritual effects cast upon the object or conferred by its use. History of the object, or events experienced by living beings in contact with the object may also be divined using this skill. No cooldown between uses. Upgradable with skill use, effectiveness of divination may grow in relation to user's conscious knowledge of affected object'

"The fuck? Why not just give me 20 more points if I could take another? Oh my God, I can't believe this is still going. I just wanna sleep this off already!" Frank complained exceedingly loudly in an attempt to see if his parents or sister were home yet. With no response his anxiety ticked up a little more. He'd been tripping for at least an hour or 2 by this point, reading the list off the screen waiting for the drugs to leave his body. He had a late lunch, so someone should have come home by now.

While he sat there stewing, trying to keep a lid on what could spill into a panic attack, the voice that first addressed him piped up again, the sound feeling like it was coming from within his skull instead of his ears.

"Blessed Awakened, you will be given a one time boon of health to set you to train for the coming Realm War. Please conduct yourself wisely and prepare. Rest now, you will be given a dream to prepare you for what you shall face in the coming conflict"

Before Frank could cuss out the hallucination, he was struck by a sudden wave of fatigue. He knew he couldn't fight it and quickly got into a more comfortable position on his bed. Finally, a chance to sleep it off, he could throw away his tainted cartridge tomorrow. While he was steadily dropping into sleep, he was alarmed by a dull cramping sensation throughout his body. His arms, legs, stomach, all hit by waves of cramping. But he couldn't address it, he was far too tired and could barely feel it anyway. Something wasn't right in his body, but he wouldn't be conscious for any of it. He mentally crossed his fingers that he would wake up in his bed instead of a hospital, and let sleep take him completely.