James had never been so sad to see the end of shift come. As he shut down the machines, he gave the boiler a sad pat and slowly began walking up the stairs towards the locker room. But really, he couldn't be that sad as he looked on the pretty pile of experience he had earned today. Not only had he advanced his [Steam Master] profession and gained an amazing new skill along with it, he had also gained some free EXP to place as he wanted.

[Steam Master] Level 3 EXP (223/10,000)

[Exp. Pool]: +13

As he was looking at these and wondering what he was going to do with his points and the possibilities of what skills may come with further levels in his professions, he nearly ran into Sam walking out of the locker room.

"Oh, hey there James" Sam's characteristic smile wasn't there today as he looked at James. "You got a minute?"

"Absolutely man. What's up?" James replied, still distracted by thoughts of experience points.

"Well I was just talking to Sarah today..." Sam let his words fade off as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh yeah Sarah is the lead upstairs, right?" He replied hoping to understand what was going on. "Is she the one hosting the party on Saturday?"

"Yeah, and I was just talking to her and she and I agreed that we don't think this party would really be your step man. It's just... You know... A lot of people and drinking and..." he awkwardly let it drift off as he attempted to look anywhere in the room except at him.

"I like people." James softly replied. "I even don't mind drinking sometimes." At this point James was cursing his luck and his 4 high charisma. As he saw exactly where this was going.

"Well it's just tomorrow and you haven't RSVP’D, and you don’t really know anyone... Anyway, I think it would just be best. Sorry man." For his credit he at least attempted to look James in the eyes as he apologized at the end. But by that point James was already distracted by something Sam had said.

"Wait, tomorrow is Saturday?!" He thought about the week up to now and he realized that was right. The evening he had lost asleep on the pavement had messed up his whole perspective of time. But none of that mattered as he realized something much more horrible. "You mean to tell me I can't work the boiler tomorrow?!" He said in exasperation. Before even waiting for a response he threw up his hands and stomped into the locker room leaving a confused Sam standing in the empty hallway alone.

"Something is deeply wrong with that kid." Sam said quietly as he inwardly commended himself for thinking to uninvite him from the get together tomorrow. Shaking his head, he clocked out and headed home for the weekend.

----------------------------------------

James found himself home in no time. He finally washed off two days of heavy sweat and changed into clean pajamas. He was sitting at his small apartment's tiny kitchen table trying to give three separate things his attention at once. Commendable as the attempt was, he found his split attention caused him to take longer at all three.

He had a bowl of homemade chili that was rapidly cooling in front of him, as he attempted to search the web for powerful personal steam producers, and debate on how to spend his 13 Exp. He had already decided on putting 10 EXP towards getting his first level but he couldn't decide where the rest should go. Thankfully, he wasn't tired anymore due to his convenient skill [Steam Powered] replenishing his energy. And, as this was his second bowl of chili, he wasn't ravenously hungry anymore.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Finally, slowing down and taking stock of what the last 24 hours had been like left him feeling a bit like he was spinning. Just over 24 hours ago he had been carelessly imagining himself beating up monsters and saving damsels. Now it really looked like he might someday be powerful enough to beat up monsters. This left him wondering why he had been given these abilities and what they were truly for.

Unable to make any headway on guesses, he decided he would save questions for a time and place he might be able to get answers.

Looking down at his now cold chili an idea came to mind that put a smile on his face. Reaching down he pointed his palm at the bowl of chili and activated his ability [Steam Release] by imagining a plume of steam escaping from his hand.

*Woosh!*

*Pop!*

*Tinkle* *Tinkle*

James suddenly found himself well and truly coated with chili and pieces of broken ceramic.

The gust had been much more powerful than he had expected. Shattering the bowl and flinging chili across most of his studio apartment. The heat had also been more intense than he expected, bubbling up the lacquer on most of the table in front of him.

Sighing, he got up to start the process of cleaning with another shower. At least he could turn the heat up and soak up a little steam before he had to scrub everything he owned.

After a longer than necessary hot shower, James spent the better part of an hour cleaning the mess he made. After everything, including the ceiling, was free of beans and meat he got another bowl and filled it with chilled chili from the fridge. This time, instead of blowing it up, he was determined to cook it with his ability. Learning from his mistake he first placed the bowl in the sink.

Poking into the center of the bowl with a single finger, he concentrated on releasing a tiny stream of steam into the food before him. Slowly, he started to see the chili begin to bubble as a slow stream of energy released from the tip of his finger quickly heating his dinner.

With that success out of the way, he turned to spending his Exp. However, when he looked at his stat sheet, he was shocked to see that his EXP pool had gone down to +11. It seemed that the experience was truly temporary and needed to be used quickly. Not daring to delay any further, he dumped all 11 points into his character's level.

*Ding*

Congratulations! You have fully awakened! You are now a level 1 [Dream Weaver]. You can now weave items of common grade into existence. With your new level your health will be set. A new ability is added [Dream Walker]. Taking your current health to be considered a single health point you will now be increasing your health points. You may either roll a d4 and add +1 for your constitution or take a 3 +1 instead. The level up will not take effect until you sleep.

James didn't quite understand what was being said about health points, but he knew he was getting a lot stronger and gaining a new ability to boot. As well as now he could use his [Weave] ability. When he had tried previously all he was able to draw into existence was a single fuzzy piece of lint. And truly, he wasn't sure if he had made it or it had come off his shirt.

Well, accepting his luck when it came to rolling, he decided to play it safe and take the 3+1. Deciding on this, he finished his meal and then went promptly to bed. Excited to find out more about what he was turning into tomorrow.

Character Name: James

Character HP: 5/5

Character Level: [1] EXP:(1/100)

EXP Pool: + 0

Character Title: [Dreamer]

Character Race: [Human]

Character Age: [22]

Character Stats: (1-20)

Strength: [15]

Dexterity: [8]

Constitution: [13]

Intellect: [16]

Wisdom: [11]

Charisma: [4]

Luck: ???

Character Class: [Dream Weaver]

Character Sub-Class: [Empty]

Character Professions:

[Student] Lvl. 1 (87/100)

[Steam Master] Lvl. 3 (240/10,000)

[Empty]

Character Skills:

[Weave]

[Dream Walker]

[EXP Bonus] (X1.15)

[Skill Transfer]

[Steam Proof]

[Heat Resistance] (X1.3)

[Steam Release]

[Steam Powered]

Character Equipment:

[Old Pajamas]