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Exiting his car for the second time today, Nick decides to take a moment to look at his house before entering through the front door. He managed to get the house for cheap because his uncle decided to move out to one of his summer homes. ´Rich certainly is an understatement for him… but that´s a given, considering he owns the largest travel agency this side of the country.´
The house has 3 windows at the front of the house, one at ground level just to the side of the door and two more windows above said door and window. Each window is closed by black curtains which makes for contrast with the white bricks that the house is made of.
To the side of the house is tall, wooden fencing that forms a boundary between the backyard and the public road allowing some privacy when spending time outside. ´although i don't spend that much time outside unless my niece and nephew come over and want to play out there.´
Finally walking inside, Nick hangs up his coat. ´So what should I do now? It might be best to check on my family before i get caught up in any more of this craziness´ He thinks to himself, then walks into the living room and sits on the couch nearly walking into the table next to it by accident.
‘I really am out of it right now, last night really fucked up my sleep i guess. Mom should still be home with Leslie right now, so I'd better call them before Leslie and mom both head off to work.’ Taking his phone out of his pocket, Nick begins to call his sister.
Dudu Tudu Dudu Tudu click ‘’Hello hello, what’s got you calling me at 1pm Nick? You don’t usually do more than text us if you need anything.’’ Nick’s sister, Leslie, says over the phone in a curious tone.
Not having expected his sister to answer the phone so fast, Nick stumbles over his first few words ‘’Lezhlie yuo ahve tu- excuse me, tongue got twisted. Leslie you have to listen to me for a minute, what I'm going to say will sound absolutely absurd to the point even I am having a hard time believing it and i've seen it for myself! Look, uhm, you play video games right? Do me a favour and imagine a blank status sheet for yourself with the categories [Name], [Age], [Sex], [Rank], [Skills] and [Abilities].’’
At Nick’s ramble of information, Leslie is silent for a moment before replying. ‘’Nick, in the future take some more time to think before you speak’’ once more the phone is silent, but Nick swears he can hear Leslie sigh at the other end ‘’I’ll give your madness a try, but promise me you’ll explain everything after’’
Being glad his sister will at least try, he quickly does just that ‘’I promise I’ll explain everything Lez, but you need to do this before i can.’’
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Muting my end of the phone I mutter to myself ‘’What the hell Nick, I know you like to make jokes but this is something else…’’ I figured I better just get this over with, so I started to visualise the way Nick told me to with a minor edit of my own. Instead of imagining it in my own head, I imagine it appearing on a panel in front of me.
After spending a few minutes visualising the litrpg novel-like system panel appearing in front of me in my room i open my eyes again and what i see leaves me oh so very surprised.
[Name]
[Age]
[Sex]
[Rank]
Stolen story; please report.
Leslie Alverton
19
Female
0.5
[Skills]
[Combat Meditation] [Lesser Unarmed Mastery]
[Abilities]
[Ether awareness(Developing 20%)]
‘’WHAT THE FUCK NICK!’’ I shout into the phone, having unmuted myself after a moment of confusion. The reply coming soon after.
‘’It worked then? Good, brace yourself for what i'm about to tell you then because it only gets weirder.’’
‘’I swear i am going to kick your ass if you don't start talking immediately!’’
‘’Well, sis, it starts with me ending the call with mom last night after which i started to head to bed and…’’
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‘’Then I went home from the library after which I called you. It’s been one hell of a day so far, I assure you, Leslie. and I still want to try that ritual from the book, I think it is going to be key to figuring this all out.’’ I take a deep breath after i finish speaking, having barely stopped to breath while i spoke
‘’Wait, Nick, you said your status appeared in your head right? Well mine’s popped up in front of me, is it stuck there now!?’’ My sister asks me worriedly.
‘’Have you considered focusing on putting it away? That’s what i did to pull up information on my abilities.’’ I say, hoping it isn't stuck there permanently as that would be debilitating in daily life
After just a moment Leslie replies back in the affirmative ‘’It worked! I can also take it back out if I want, but I can just close the panel again and it returns to my mind.’’ Glad that it isn’t permanently stuck, I ask her if she minds telling me what her status says.
‘’Sure, I don't mind. My personal info mirrors yours in every way that actually matters, but i have [Combat Meditation], [Lesser unarmed Mastery] and [Ether awareness (Developing 20%)]’’
‘’Any clue what they do yet, Les?’’ I ask after she tells me the names, trying to find out more information.
‘’Not yet, but you said I just had to focus on them right? Give me a second.’’ Going silent for a moment, she gets back to me shortly after with her info. Her skills and abilities looked like this :
Ether awareness (Developing 20%) {Common}
You can tell if there is ether around or not, an ability common to most who utilise it and usually the basis of their skillset
You can sense ether in more clarity the more you develop this ability
Combat Meditation {Rare}
Fighting for you is more than violence. It is a means to focus your mind and spirit, a means to revitalise your mind and spirit from mundanity
This skill provides you with a 20% boost to awareness during battle or otherwise practising combat
Achieve a higher mastery of this skill to upgrade it
Lesser Unarmed Mastery {Common}
You know how to punch.
5% correction in unarmed combat
Achieve a higher mastery of this skill to upgrade it
‘’Damn Les, those are some impressive skills. Guess those boxing lessons are paying off!’’ Looking at her status I'm very impressed, but also finally curious as to what the {Common}, {Uncommon} and {Rare} indicators refer to.
‘’Yeah, I am definitely happy with my lessons. Never expected it to lead to this though! You seem to not have any skills though, and different abilities than i do at that’’ She says, picking up on a detail i overlooked.
‘’Now that you say that, there’s a difference in our abilities. Maybe because I went through that whole dream meeting thing and you didn’t? It seems like the only other explanation would be a difference in talents, we both know you were always the athletic one and I was always the more academic one.’’ Not seeing any reason other than those, I voice them.
‘’That seems about right all things considered’’ She says ‘’I’m gonna go get mom up to speed so you don’t have to go through all this again’’
‘’Alright, thanks Leslie. I think i’ll make myself something to eat before I get deeper into that book. Talk to you later, ya mass o’ muscle’’
‘’Same to you, ya brainiac.’’ She says before I can hang up the phone, leaving me to figure out what I'm going to be making for food and worrying about supernatural mysteries after that since I haven't eaten since I woke up this morning.
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