"Is that the gas?"
"Yes."
"Is that the brakes?"
"Yes."
"Is that..."
"That's the wheel, that's the window, and that's the windshield. Come on, it's just like other cars, drive it, I'm in pain," Glottis rolled his eyes.
"Mr. Sonora, I never drove such a car, I wanted to be sure," Rosemary said awkwardly.
"It's just us, it's weird when you call me Mr. Sonora. Please call me Glottis, don't you call Mike by his name?"
"I know him for a long time... but okay, Glottis. I'm going to start the car."
"Please do..."
Rosemary started by pressing the gas lightly, merely a gentle tap. This continued for a while, making Glottis watch her with amusement. They were eventually on their way, and she slowly regained her confidence when she found out it was not much different from driving any other car.
'What the hell about my mission?' Glottis muttered to himself quietly.
+-----------------------------------+
| Current Missions |
+-----------------------------------+
| Nobody Likes You |
| -Details: Turn someone important |
| to Mike Teuto against him. |
| - Prize: Stealing 10% of his Fate |
| Progress: 80% |
+-----------------------------------+
'80% through? Seems promising. At least now I know that Rosemary is important to that bastard.'
"Hey, what is this?" Glottis pointed at a blue bruise on her wrist, pretending he only noticed it now.
"Oh, it's nothing, really."
"It's not nothing, it must be painful! Is it from Mike? Why do you protect him so much?" Glottis was indeed a bit curious, but he didn't really care; he was curious in the gossip sense of the word.
"I have known his family for a long time, and I know that he goes through some difficulties at home those days. He wasn't like that before, I hope he will go back to being himself soon," Rosemary shared in a sad tone.
"I'm sure he will," Glottis comforted her as she parked the car near his house. It wasn't a long ride, only ten minutes away from school. "Come in with me, you need to get your wrist checked."
"No, no, thanks. I need to go back to work, I have a class to teach in less than twenty minutes," Rosemary's hands clenched into fists, a sign of nervousness. Looking at the huge mansion caused her to feel uncomfortable, and she declined the offer to go in.
"Don't worry, it will only take a moment. I'm sure the doctor will give you a pill that will heal it right away, and a driver will take you back to school."
"Hmm, okay, thank you, Mr.- I mean, Glottis."
"It's ok, thank you for protecting me and putting yourself in danger when Mike tried to kill me."
"He didn't... never mind," the teacher looked down with a darkened face.
'He did try to kill him. I can't believe he'd do such a thing...' she sighed while her mind was occupied with thoughts about Mike.
The doctor examined her wound carefully after a direct order from Glottis and reassured her it was nothing serious. He gave her a healing pill and the pain disappeared almost instantly. She could only look in wonder as the blue mark turned red.
"This pill is too expensive, I can't pay for it," she said, frightened.
"Don't worry, Miss. Young Master said he would cover all the costs because you only got it to save him. Frankly, I was surprised to learn you are a hero," the doctor calmed her down with a smile.
"He is exaggerating," she said with a faint blush on her cheeks.
"He sometimes does it, but I'm sure there's some truth in it. Anyway, the driver is waiting outside for you. I must go visit the young master and report to him that you are safe."
'Why would Mike hate him so much? He might be a dick sometimes, but Glottis isn't a bad person,' Rosemary bit her lower lip in frustration, 'I know he is still grieving, but I must take a clear stance that violence would not be tolerated at school.'
---
*Ding*
+-----------------------------------+
| Mission Complete |
+-----------------------------------+
| Nobody Likes You |
| -Details: Turn someone important |
| to Mike Teuto against him. |
| - Prize: 29 Fate Points |
+-----------------------------------+
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
'Great, that doctor gave the last push,' Glottis smiled triumphantly. 'Awesome, the prize was 10% of his original fate points, not after losing some to me.'
The door creaked open, and two figures entered. He expected the first since it was the doctor, but he didn't think Rosemary would come to visit him before she left.
"Glottis, how are you feeling?" She asked.
"I'm doing fine, just resting. The doctor said I only had one small fracture, so the pills my family acquired could heal it completely within a day. I will be brand new tomorrow."
"That's great to hear. I just wanted to thank you for the treatment and let you know I'm leaving. Make no mistake, tomorrow, our relationship will be back to that of a teacher and a student," she said the last words with a smile as she playfully pulled his ear. Her actions and her mouth conveyed entirely different messages.
"Hey, since it's not tomorrow yet, wanna know what Duke, Gabriel, and I were talking about when you saw us at school?"
"Sure, what was it?" asked the woman, intrigued. The incident slipped out of her mind, but now she was wondering about it again.
"I don't want others to listen, come closer," Glottis looked to the sides as though he was checking if anybody eavesdropped.
"It better not be nonsense," she warned him and leaned, her ear only a few centimeters away from his mouth
"I told them that you are the best booty wiggler in the whole school," he whispered before giving her a light kiss on her cheek and bursting into laughter.
"Ah! You...!" she straightened her back quickly when she heard his words and stared at him in exasperation. "You are an idiot," she muttered and jabbed him at the bandaged area, prompting a pained groan out of him. She left the room without looking back.
'Oh well, it was worth trying,' Glottis shrugged. He didn't care; it was time to deepen his foundation.
---
"Who the hell am I?"
+-------------------------------------+
| **Info** |
| - Name: Glottis Sonora |
| - Age: 18 |
| - Fate Points: 40 (average – 10) |
|- Cultivation Stage: Qi Consolidation|
+-------------------------------------+
| **Current Missions** |
| - none |
+-------------------------------------+
| **System Storage** |
| - [Empty] |
| ... |
+-------------------------------------+
| **Shop** |
| (Access to various items, |
| upgrades, and special abilities) |
+-------------------------------------+
| **Wheel of Luck** |
| (Chance to win prizes, bonuses, |
| or encounter random events) |
+-------------------------------------+
'Hmm, I can buy two pills of each type,' Glottis liked his pills like his girls' boobs - symmetric. He didn't want to purchase two pills of one type and a single one of the other. 'But then I'd be left with zero Fate Points, which sounds bad. On the other hand, didn't I live just fine with only two points my whole life? What difference do two points make?'
"I'd like to buy two Dantian Awakening pills and two Meridian Enlarging pills." He made up his mind to live without fate points.
+-------------------------------------+
| Warning |
| living with no fate points would |
| make the heavens actively |
| hunt you down and send enemies |
| after you until you are dead. |
| Do you wish to proceed? |
+-------------------------------------+
"NO NO NO! Cancel, abort, stop!"
The window closed and Glottis let out a long sigh of relief. He wiped a drop of sweat from his forehead and sat down on his bed. That sounded like one of the most dangerous offers he had ever received.
"Purchase only one of each."
He took the pills that materialized in the air in front of him and consumed them, moving in his place as an unpleasant sensation washed over him. It was over in a few minutes, and he could finally try some round kicks and jumping in place to see his improvement.
"I'm stronger," Glottis talked to himself excitedly. The difference was palpable. "I'm getting closer to the goal, I need three more of each pill now."
Since he couldn't buy two pills and he didn't want to only buy one of them, he decided to check out the last feature of the system. After all, he was never the saving type.
"What the hell is the Wheel of Luck?"
+-------------------------------------+
| **Wheel of Luck** |
| Roll for a chance to get rewards |
| Cost: 10 FP |
+-------------------------------------+
"Roll once."
A big window with a colorful wheel opened a meter away from him, on it were drawn many images depicting prizes. To Glottis' dismay, about ten percent of the slots were empty, meaning they offered no prize at all.
'A flame is the best prize? What's special about it?' He pondered as he scrutinized the rewards. He judged it as the best by its size; it barely took 0.01% of the wheel, making it almost impossible to win. There were pills, swords, spears, scrolls, books, and others.
'Are those...' he suddenly noticed something weird, 'No, it must be something else.'
He placed his fingers on the wheel and spun it with a swing, and he imagined the sound of a casino in his head as he waited for it to stop.
+-------------------------------------+
| Congratulations! |
| You have won a technique! |
+-------------------------------------+
| Phantom Step |
| Description: A dashing technique |
| that lets you move quickly and |
| pass through small solid objects |
+-------------------------------------+
'Oh, that sounds like it has potential!'
"System, I want to learn it," He said before adding in confidence, "The hell."
+-------------------------------------+
| **Notice** |
| Good luck |
| The system believes in you! |
+-------------------------------------+
"What the hell do you mean by that? I want you to teach it to me instantly, just like you broke through for me!"
+-------------------------------------+
| **Notice** |
| Attempting to embed information |
| to the host's mind |
+-------------------------------------+
| **System Fail** |
| The Lord of Wisdom has done |
| a lousy job. |
+-------------------------------------+
"Screw him!" Glottis yelled at the empty room. "How the hell should I learn it then? Do you expect me to work my ass off?!"
+-------------------------------------+
| **Notice** |
| Diligence is always rewarded |
| P.S. – The System can still help. |
| Price: 10 FP |
+-------------------------------------+
"WHY DOES EVERYTHING COST FATE POINTS IN THIS SHITTY SYSTEM???" Glottis screamed in frustration and punched the ethereal screen only to have his hand pass through it, causing no damage. He blinked once and made the notice disappear before sitting down.
'There are no missions available currently, so I can't get fate points,' Glottis thought in despair when he recalled something, 'Wait, there was a hidden mission I completed once – to make Mike miss his father's funeral. I simply need to do it again.'
The young master contemplated the characteristics of the hidden mission. First, it was important to Mike. Second... that's it, he couldn't come up with a second. Mike was injured in the process, but the mission had nothing to do with it.
'What's important to that piece of crap?' As he thought about the options, he remembered the incident at school. When he whispered to Mike that he'd dig up his father's grave, Mike was sent into a rage. He meant it as a taunt back then, but... it WAS important to Mike.
Just as he finalized his plans for tonight, he received a phone call. It was from his big sister.
"Mirelle, do you finally agree to my request for a night with your friends?"
"No, pig," An authoritative feminine voice came from the other side of the call. "I called to pass on a message regarding Mike Teuto. He has a problematic background; you can fight and kill him yourself or by hiring people with money you earn yourself, but you cannot use our family resources for it."
"Why not? What difference does it make?"
"It makes a difference. He has a powerful master. She dislikes weak people, so if you can kill Mike, she won't do anything. However, she also dislikes bullies who don't let those with potential grow, so she insists you can only do it yourself."
"Big Sister, aren't you sentencing me to death? He is at the second stage, how can I fight him without our family?" Glottis complained.
"Don't be ridiculous. We made it clear that if he tries to kill you, he would have to face the wrath of the Sonora family even if it's an all-out war. Practically, it's a one-sided battle – you may kill him, but he may not kill you. If you want to kill him so badly, perhaps you should finally move your lazy ass and cultivate."
"You are misunderstanding me, Sister. I'm a pacifist; I will never cultivate."