Max woke in his bed slowly and he looked up having trouble opening his tired eyes. He stretched out his hand and flexed his fingers. Thank you for fingers, he thought, having hands makes everything so much easier.
After getting Charlie into an AutoPod and saying goodbye to Leah, Max rushed directly home too tired from the sparring to check on his awards. Finally, it was time.
“Notifications and then Status please, Trainer.” Max said.
[Novice Spar Tourney winner, +100 XP awarded, Bonus skill selection available]
[Bonus Skill Unlock choices]
[1 Balance – augmentation assist for superior balance and directional awareness]
[2 Hulk –augmentation temporary overcharge of muscles and tendons, warning may result in damage]
[3 Painless – augmentation lowers awareness of pain, warning pain is useful to avoid damage]
[4 Digi-sense – augmentation of all senses with digital enhancements, fine control, and superior range]
[Selection 1-4?]
Wow, Max thought, these are all good. Just knowing what skills there are to be unlocked is a major advantage. I need to target my training to try to unlock some. Balance and Hulk seem obvious and are probably straightforward to get with training. Painless would be nice to avoid as that training likely sucks, but the Digi-sense skill might be tricky to understand how to unlock. Before thinking himself in circles, Max went with his gut instinct and chose.
[New Skill Unlocked: Digi-Sense 1 - augmentation of all senses with digital enhancements, fine control, and superior range]
Immediately Max felt the change as his vision sharpened. Looking out the bedroom window, with little effort he could pick out features in the distance with the ease of a hawk. He could hear the slightest of sounds. His smell had always been superior thanks to his canine capabilities being brought over into his uplift operation, but now he could parse out individual scents with ease. His whole body felt like a tuning fork that had been struck as he could feel even the slightest of vibrations, probably the smart matter shifting downstairs. As Max took a breath to set himself the status notification appeared.
[Name: Max E. Mitchell Level: Novice 2 (950/1000 XP)]
[Body Design Model: Custom – Canis Familiarus Uplift Free Stats: 10]
[Strength: 7 Agility: 10 Endurance: 10 Vitality: 11]
[Intelligence: 5 Perception: 9 Will: 6 Energy: 32 Regen: 17/min]
[Basic Skills – HUD, Map, Health Monitor, Telephony, Translation, Music, Record]
[Body Skills - Stamina: 3 Leaping: 2 Healing: 6 Strike: 4]
[Body Skills - Unbreakable:1 Ballistics: 2]
[Resist Skills – Shock: 4 Sonic: 4 Light: 4]
[Sense Skills – Scent: 8 DigiSense: 1]
[Mind Skills – AI Assist: 4 Access: 4 Dream Learning: 2]
“Nice!” Max exclaimed. “Do me favor AI, hide the basic skills from the status page. It’s just taking up room. I know what I can do there.”
He pulled on his smart suit and accessing it, he chose his favorite training attire, a cross between a sweatshirt and pants and his Gi, with built-in running shoes. He ran downstairs to see if he could catch Casa in mid-transformation of the downstairs reconfiguration of the décor.
Casa was more than happy to let Max watch as she worked her magic. Max couldn't help but marvel at the changes; he'd never seen such a room magically change in an instant like this. Casa had reformed the downstairs to look like a log cabin lodge today.
“Breakfast is ready, Max!” Casa said. “What’s your plan for the weekend?”
Max grabbed some food and smiled. He shared with her some of the training sites he had found earlier.
“I know that you’re not supposed to reveal any specifics about the training program, but any suggestions for me? I do want to check up on Charlie. If he’s feeling better maybe, we can spend the morning in the Grand Oaks picnic area again.” Max said around a mouthful of food.
“That sounds like a great plan,” Casa said, “you’ve been advancing very fast. You want to make sure you're accustomed to the changes before you push for more. What your coach said about shifting to mental exercises after the weekend means you may unlock some new skills soon. “
“Also, you should check up on your quests. If you have too many quests, the trainer may not offer new ones. If I understand the training program, as you complete quests, it primes the system to provide more for you. More quests equate to more guidance in unlocking or advancing skills.” Cases mused.
“Some of the games you and Bo played together in VR were dungeon delving, right? If you like that, you might want to investigate the Mystery Labyrinth. Bo loved it when he did his augmentation training. It has a challenging mix of animatronic monsters and puzzles to build out both your body and mind skills. I think it requires a team of 4 to enter though.”
“Wow, Casa. Thank you for the tips. The Labyrinth sounds interesting. I think I may need to get some formal combat training first, but I’ll add it to the list.” Max said before he dove back into devouring his breakfast.
“Trainer, what quests are still open?”
[Quest: Born to Run level 3 of 3: run like the wind]
[Quest: Scavenger Hunt II – Find and identify 10 forest animals 8/10]
[Scavenger hunt quest 2 remaining – Red Fox, White Tailed Dear]
[Quest: Meditation III – Expand your mind]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 2 of 5 – defeat 5 novice level opponents]
[Quest: Grudge Match – Tyler Ericson has defeated you in combat; rematch and win]
[Completed Quest: Novice Obstacle Course – improved time may earn further XP]
After breakfast, Max called up Charlie and they would share an autopod to the training grounds. Max was shocked as the autopod arrived at Charlie’s apartment; he was waiting outside but he didn't look ancient anymore. He had visibly transformed and now looked so much younger, maybe in his late forties.
“Hey kid, is your father around? We are supposed to go train together.” Max greeted the man.
Charlie smiled and shook his head, “Har har har. The rejuve process is slow to avoid social shock both for me and my friends but when Coach Thompson accelerated my healing through that poison, it forced a bit of an acceleration in the rejuve process.”
The two entered the autopod and activated the navigation toward the park. As they drove, they discussed their strategy. Soon the autopod arrived at the training grounds and Max and Charlie moved over to the Grand Oaks picnic grounds and set to work.
They raced together as fast as they could toward Charlie’s meditation spot at the top of the falls. Charlie led slightly no matter how much Max pushed. With the final climb in front of them and the meditation boulder in sight, Max gave in to instinct and dropped to all fours.
With a final burst of speed, he tore past Charlie and tagged the rock.
[Quest: Born to Run level 3 of 3: completed +100 XP, Skill unlocked]
[New Skill: Speed 1 – augmented body optimized to human maximum and beyond.]
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
[Max Level +1, Max advanced to Novice 3, +10 free stats]
Charlie laughed and said “Good race! You surprised me with the four-to-the-floor method. Not sure if that would work for me.”
“Yes! The run quest is complete, and I advanced to Novice 3! I’m not sure, but I think I smelt a deer on the way. I'm going to backtrack and see if I can collect it for my Scavenger quest.” Max responded with pride.
“Sounds good. Since we are here, I may meditate for a bit more before trying to cap my agility quest.” Charlie said as he climbed up the rock and took a seat.
“See you in a bit then”, Max said as he sped away. He was no longer even winded as his stamina and speed skills combined. Despite his speed, he ran quietly and followed his nose hoping to spot the deer.
----------------------------------------
After an hour circling along the running paths, Max realized he would need to go off trail to spot the deer. He was sure it was not far in front of him as he tried to advance quietly. Twice now he had tried to approach, but both times the deer had spooked and ran before Max could glimpse it and collect on his quest.
Maybe I need to go about this a different way, Max thought, looking up. I just need one instant to physically see it. My vision is eagle eye for distance now. I’m convinced the deer is just over this rise. Maybe I can climb this tree.
With enhanced stats for strength and agility, the climb was easier than Max had first imagined. Careful use of his leap skill propelled him upwards between what would have been hard-to-reach handholds. He quickly found himself forty feet high with a commanding view of the valley on the other side of the rise.
[
“Gotcha!” Max yelled as the skittish deer bounded away again.
Suddenly a loud screech sounded off right over Max’s head. He was so startled he slipped off the branch and just managed to grab hold with a hand as he fell.
Dangling high above the ground, Max looked up and saw the persistent red squirrel from a few days ago. It continued to screech and chitter at him.
“Hah! Trees won’t save you now, squirrel. Best run before I get you.”, with a yell and snarl, Max dropped to a lower branch and then triggered his leap skill to go higher so he was on the same level as the squirrel. The squirrel spit and chittered and flipped backward to land on another branch. The squirrel raced along the branch and jumped to the next tree.
Howling with delight, Max gave chase. The squirrel managed to stay ahead thanks to its use of branches too small for Max, but he managed to chase it for about 10 minutes through the treetops, swinging and leaping, until his branch pathway was too sparse to maintain the pursuit.
[Leap skill +1, Leap achieves level 3]
[New Skill Unlocked: Gymnast 1 – augmentations enhance acrobatic flexibility and power]
Max consulted his map and marked it.
Chasing after that squirrel is going onto my training list, I should be able to level both leap and now gymnast, Max thought with amusement. And the chase brought me almost out of the lesser forest and almost to the meditation rock and the Grand Oaks. Maybe Charlie is ready for lunch.
Max dropped down branch by branch back to the running trail and quickly forged his way back up the path. Like before, he found Charlie upon his rock. Unlike last time, Charlie was meditating in a one-armed handstand. With his free hand, he balanced his walking stick and both legs each had a small stack of rocks balanced on top. Charlie maintained the pose with no apparent effort as still as a statue.
“Wow.”, Max sighed, “until seeing this, I thought I was an overachiever.”
“Thanks, Max”, Charlie said with his eyes still closed. He kicked to toss the stones into the air and rolled into a sitting pose. As he smoothly placed his walking stick down, he caught the dropping stones without looking up. He stacked the rocks into a tower in front of his meditation spot.
“I achieved a new skill with my agility quest. I think this exercise will help me level it nicely.” Charlie explained. “Did you find that deer?”
“I did. I still need to find a red fox to complete the quest, but thanks to a bothersome squirrel I found another skill anyways.” Max said.
“It sounds like time to celebrate with lunch then. Let’s grab lunch at the diner downtown.” Charlie said. “I was thinking maybe we could call Leah and see if she can join us. After lunch maybe we can get into the academy building and train on those mannequins. I’m not sure if they count as novice-level combatants, but it’s worth a shot.”
Charlie grabbed his walking stick and stood up. With a shake, the stick lost its rigidity, and he slung it over his shoulder. It looped around and its ends fused, the whole mass shrunk slightly to form a snug loop around his torso. With a twinkle in his eye, he launched himself from the boulder and bounded down the path, yelling over his shoulder.
“Race back to the autopod!”
----------------------------------------
The group met at the Four Corners for sandwiches. They all traded their gains from their sparring the previous day. Both Leah and Charlie were very interested in Max’s info revealing the options available for extra skills. Both had ideas as to what type of training could activate the skills. Leah was very eager to join the men for mannequin sparring.
“I can’t believe you won the race back from the woods. I had both my speed and stamina skills active for the race.” Max complained.
“Thank you for the challenge. My running quest was completed halfway through the run, giving me a speed boost skill too. Can’t be overconfident in this game.” Charlie grinned with his answer.
“I need more training and some wins to advance my body skills”, Leah said. “My bouts yesterday showed me I have a lot of room to improve.”
“Do you think Tyler will be allowed to return?” Max asked.
“Word from school is that Coach Thompson is very hard with his training rules. If Tyler cheated to unlock extra skills prematurely, I doubt he’ll be back. No matter who his dad is.” Leah said.
“Good riddance!” Max said. “He was like a cancer for the whole class, maybe with him gone we can learn something.”
Charlie looked grim and said, “Oh, he helped me learn a bit. Thanks to him I have an extra resistance you two don’t have. Poison. And that type of trick is something we all need to be aware of. At higher levels, these skills give everyone the potential for surprise attacks. I need to reread some old superhero comics to prepare myself for future spars.”
Once they had all finished, they walked to the Academy building. Coach Thompson was nowhere in sight. Usually, a few administrators and teachers were around, but being Saturday, the building was open but empty. Not surprising on a beautiful summer day. Tatemono Rei let them in. The class was still configured with a single sparring ring, weapons on the wall, and the same six mannequins ready to go. In the back courtyard, the Novice obstacle course had been rebuilt as well.
Leach stepped into the ring and spun on her heel. A mannequin raced up to stand behind her and mimicked her as she bowed to the boys.
“Who’s first?” She spoke.
The mannequins could be classified as novice combatants as long as Tatemono Rei was piloting them. The trio fought one-to-one with the mannequins. The academy AI controlled the mannequins and could match their strength to the student. It forced them to fight hard and use their skills. After several grueling rounds, they all got several more victories.
Notices and Status, Max thought.
[Quest: Ready to Rumble – 2/5 complete, Defeat 5 Novice opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Endurance +1, Strike +1, Skill: Strike reaches 4]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 3/5 complete, Defeat 5 Novice opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Agility +1, Strength +1]
[Body skill: Stamina +1, Stamina reaches level 4]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 4/5 complete, Defeat 5 Novice opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble - no progress, Defeat 5 Novice opponents, new/improved combatants required to quest advancement]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble 5/5 complete, Defeat 5 Novice opponents, 100 XP awarded]
[Vitality +1]
[Body Skill: Gymnast +1, Gymnast reaches level 2]
[Quest: Ready to Rumble complete]
[New Quest: Ready to Rumble II unlocked, Defeat 10 Novice/Adept Opponents]
“Hey guys, check your notices.” Max said. “My third fight was a repeat of the first mannequin, and it didn’t count towards my quest. The notice said that for credit a new or improved opponent is needed. I’m guessing we need to ask Tatemono to adjust the bots, either improved or at least randomized before each fight. But I did unlock the next level for Ready to Rumble!”
The other eyes glazed over, a sure sign they were reviewing their progress. Max reviewed his status screen.
[Name: Max E. Mitchell Level: Novice 3 (1350/1500 XP)]
[Body Design Model: Custom – Canis Familiarus Uplift Free Stats: 20]
[Strength: 8 Agility: 11 Endurance: 11 Vitality: 12]
[Perception: 9 Intelligence: 5 Will: 6 Energy: 34 Regen: 18/min]
[Body Skills - Stamina: 5 Leaping: 4 Healing: 6 Strike: 5 Speed: 1]
[Body Skills - Unbreakable:1 Ballistics: 2 Gymnast: 2]
[Resist Skills – Shock: 4 Sonic: 4 Light: 4]
[Sense Skills – Scent: 8 DigiSense: 1]
[Mind Skill – AI Assist: 4 Access: 4 Dream Learning: 2]
Max wondered again if he should assign his free points or not. He was holding out to pile them into areas he needed to win, but he had forgotten in the excitement. Maybe I should continue to hold, a sizable boost might help complete a quest if I get stuck, Max thought, with the next class shifting to mental training on Monday I might see some stat jumps for Intelligence, Perception, and Will. So, boosting those might be unnecessary.
After seeing the aikido and Wing Chun martial arts in action, Max realized he needed more formal training and brought it up with the others.
“I’ve been thinking that with these augmentations, I need a different style.” Charlie began. “My habits with aikido are built upon my unaugmented capabilities. I think maybe expanding into a new style may help me to incorporate augmented power and help with a better striking style. Do you two want to check out a dojo? Both Epic Kempo and Wuxia Martial Arts are right downtown. The first is a striking focused school and the other is a modern blend of Kungfu specifically to integrate augmentation skills.”
“I’ll have to pass,” Leah said.” My Sifu would be devastated if I sought other help. I’ll need to check in with her as to how to better build my augments into the Wing Chun style.”
“I’m in. But let’s avoid Epic unless we need it. I’m pretty sure from Tyler’s Gi choice that he might be a student there.” Max said as he watched the mannequins reset. “Let’s borrow this place occasionally to train. Tatemono? Can you improve the skills of the mannequins to push us harder and make it count in quests?”
“Trainee Max, sparring dummies reprogrammed, Challenge awaits you,” Tatemono's voice chimed out from the air.
“Wuxia Martial Arts tomorrow then.” Charlie said. “I cleaned up three quests today. I feel primed for whatever happens next.”
“And Wuxia might provide us more opponents to fight and grind these quests some more”, Max added.
“Have you two heard anything about the Mystery Labyrinth? Once we get the training for mental skills, I’ve heard it has both puzzles and combat to train both at once.” Max suggested. “I think we might need a fourth team member though.”
“That’s a good idea. We can all be on the lookout for a fourth while we get our next round of training.” Leah agreed. Charlie gave a quick nod and then hesitated.
After a moment of thought, Charlie said, ”Max, you said you still needed a red fox for one of your quests. I went a bit deeper into the Grand Oaks a few days ago, and I think I saw one in there. You should be careful if you go too deep though. It’s an unmonitored wildlife preserve, I’m pretty sure there are wolves and maybe even a mountain lion if you go too deep.”
Max sighed. Today was a good day, and tomorrow I’ll get that fox.