My father is a smart man.
I didn't realize it at first, but he was trilingual (Japanese, English, and French), had a bachelor's degree of science in forestry and had completed several courses at the local college regarding IT work and accounting. Over the course of the nine years he'd worked at the local phone company, he'd been promoted several times over, now holding a senior position in the trouble-shooting subdivision.
Where my father was smart, my mother kept up with him with sheer stubborness and deterimination.
She'd apparently dropped out of high school, but got a GED when she'd immigrated. From there, she learned to speak english fluently, got a bachelor's in business specialized in accounting, and followed my father up the career food-chain, now a manager for the local branch in the company.
Where was I going with this? Well, while nowhere near what could be called "upper class", my parents were becoming somewhat important people locally. We'd moved into a larger house after my mother's promotion, moving to the most modern and elite neighborhood of the city, Millidgeville.
Millidgeville was an extremely popular part of the city, one of the few areas that wasn't constantly bathed in fog year-round, it had been slowly been building important institutions for the city since the early 50's, from the Regional Hospital, to the University of New Brunswick. What really set it apart was the excessive patriotism of all things francophone.
The french community was stark-raving mad about promoting their culture, and had invested heavily, both through the public and government sponsoring, to make the neighborhood one of the greatest parts of Menagwes. Truthfully, the modern and sleek look of the newer buildings clashed quite a bit with the suburbs of Millidgeville, but it had a homey feel to the area, a happy and carefree place.
Anyways, what's most important is the school I was registered for.
Centre Scolare Samuel-De-Champlain. It was a mix between a community center and a K-12 school, a decade-old "public" school that had a budget twice that of it's rival, Menagwes High. It was truly a school for the elite francophones, the mandatory "Parent must speak fluent french" restriction had turned away many prosperous students, and the puny school population made the institution more of a private school than a public one.
And I was attending there.
The school bus was a shiny yellow, and picked me up at 8:30 in the morning, my mother waving me off to the school that I could quite literally walk to in fifteen minutes. I'd been one of the last stops the bus had, which would have you believe that I'd be greeted by a filled bus, but the two-dozen bus seats barely had twenty kids in it, ranging from five to seventeen years olds. I sat in the empty seat behind the driver.
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We arrived at the school ten minutes later, a total of thirty kids in the bus. The school's exterior was made mostly of thick, heavy bricks, the glass wall serving as an entrance letting anyone see into the front of the community center. The bus had dropped us off past that, to a extended portion of the building that served as the main entrance to the school.
The sheer size of the place reminded me that it wasn't just a school, but a community center. There was a huge track field and baseball field besides the school, a tennis court and a playground was behind the school proper, and a church across from the school. Inside the building, there was a full-fledge medical clinic, a cafe/restaurant, a library, a daycare center, an art exhibiton room, a theater, a radio station, and an olympic-sized pool.
Frankly, it was simply excessive.
We'd been escorted to the theater, where we had a school assembly, introducing the new students and welcoming the old ones. There were a few events that had been already planned out for the year, things like visiting bands and performances. Halfway through the event, the school's staff had explained the schedule for the youngest students, and we were escorted by our new teachers to class.
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A typical day for me went like this:
7:30 AM - get up, prep for school.
8:25 AM - catch the bus to school, or (if my parents had already left) walk to the school.
8:50 AM - The school's open to the students, where 200 or so kids rush to get to their classes.
9:00 AM - Homeroom and role call. Afterwards, we review any "homework" we'd been assigned.
9:15 AM - By this point, the teacher had lost the attention of the less controlled students, and a "play-break" was given.
9:45 AM - French class begins, both written and spoken.
10:45 AM - Recess for 15 minutes outside, enough for the more rowdy students to run around like maniacs, and the calmer ones to have a snack.
11:00 AM - Rotating class between Arithematics and P.E..
12:00 PM - ten-minute Lunch, as well as a half-hour recess.
12:40 PM - "Nap" time.
1:10 PM - "Play" time, in which I hogged one of the computers that was installed in the classroom.
2:10 PM - Clean up, and prep to leave for the bus.
2:25 PM - Class officially ends for the K-4 grades. Kids run to the bus, or head to the after-school program.
I'd been "lucky", and had been signed up for the after school program. It was two and a half hours of screaming and yelling kids, either stuck inside in one of the playrooms, or outside in a fenced in playground.
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Okay, I admit I was socially awkward. It was hard, connecting with what I saw as kids a fifth my age. Sure, I participated with the other kindergarteners, but they were all...
Well, dumb as bricks, with the common sense of them too.
Seriously. One of the more quiet kids, Alex, had fallen off the indoors slide and bashed his head against a table, knocking himself out. None of his friends, who had egged him on to climb up the slide by a stablizing pole, helped him, and the little idiot kept the incident to himself, potential brain damage be damned.
What, you're asking why I didn't do anything about it? I did. I got a teacher. I told her what I saw. It did nothing good for me, or for Alex.
The fallen boy's friends had straight up lied when the worried teacher started asking questions, said I was lying. When Alex, still somewhat out of it, confirmed their story, I'd gotten the ire of the teacher for lying, as well as the new title of "Tattletale"...
Simply put, I left the group I was now calling the idiot brigade alone after that.
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Except, they didn't leave me alone.
The Idiot Brigade would pester me, taunt me and insult me poorly from that day forwards. While they were obviously looking to start a fight, I kept my cool, and didn't rise to the bait.
It worked for a month, before they decided to straight up attack me. By this time, I'd had more than enough of them trying to rile me up. It'd have been a confrontation either way.
I used a point for something special, in this case. It was late in november, and I had two points.
Notice You've purchased the Brawling Skill, placing 2 points in it's Point Value.
Five kids against one. It would a tough fight for any six year old.
Except, now I knew how to fight, and it marginally increased my combat capabilities. Against untrained combatants that have equal prowress to me, it'd be a slugging match.
Just as one of the larger bullies went to shove me, time seemed to stop, and what could only be described as a combat screen popped up. Suddenly, I could see the status of the five other kids.
ENEMY ALEX DANIEL LUKE MAXIM JACOB HP 7/7 6/6 6/6 6/7 7/7
Oh. So, it's a combat system. Huh. Maxim, the guy about to push me, follows through. It's a simple thing that doesn't do anything but push me back a few inches.
Somehow, I know I can take a step, just one, and try to grab him. I go to grapple, and get ahold of his chest. Maxim flails, but doesn't escape my hold. The other boys seem suprised, but do nothing yet. Maxim is the biggest one of them, and seeing him being overpowered is somewhat suprising.
Things stop again, and I get to choose my actions. I try to takedown the other boy, a struggle between us happens, but I end up tipping him over to the side, where he falls to the pavement, on his back. Maxim tries to use his feet to trip me up, but just ends up scraping his foot along the pavement. The other kids are still staying back, but the students in the playground have realised a fight's broken out.
I pull back a foot, and take a determined swing at the downed boy. It hits him in the torso, my booted foot slamming into him.
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ENEMY MAXIM HP 4/7
He lets out a yell that gets interrupted by the combat turn, as his arm tries to come up and catch my foot, but fails.
I got for another all-out kick, determined to take out one of these asshats. My foot sails into his torso again, and I can hear his ribs crack, and break, under the crushing sole of my foot.
ENEMY MAXIM HP -5/7 (Fainted)
Maxim lets out a loud cough, blood spilling between his lips. He's knocked out. I look up, and pick out the nearest bully.
Luke is the smallest of the four remaining guys in the Idiot brigade, but he's fast. Stupidly fast. Speed doesn't help a lot thought, when someone slams into you. The shove barely grazes him, but he goes flying to the ground.
ENEMY LUKE HP 5/6
Luke's been stunned by this, and seems to be out of it. By this time, Alex, who was closes, goes for a swing at me, but misses. Daniel and Jacob reluctantly move closer. Time does it's little flicker while I line up another shot at Luke with my foot. My foot barely hits, catching on his side as it goes up, but it seems I hit something sensitive.
ENEMY LUKE HP 1/6
By this point, the entire playground has noticed the fight, and most of the kids have formed a loose ring around us. The teachers still haven't noticed anything.
Alex goes for another swipe, but misses. Luke doesn't lose his stunned look, and neither Daniel or Jacob approach. My foot goes into the downed boy's ribs again, and Luke's eyes go white as he passes out.
ENEMY LUKE HP -2/6 (Fainted)
Alex finally gets a punch flying towards me, and it hits, but I don't even feel it. Taking the opportunity, I grab hold of his extended arm, catching it. He tries to break free, but doesn't succeed. I bring a raised fist down on his arm, aiming for his elbow with a determined look in my eye. It hits, but compared to my early blows, it'll only leave a nasty bruise.
ENEMY ALEX HP 6/7
The boy in my grapple breaks free, but by this time, my foot is swinging into his leg. A one-in-a-million hit, the kick sails right into a crack that had formed on Alex's leg bone from an accident a few days ago. A sickening snap rings out, as Alex' leg's bone breaks in two.
ENEMY ALEX HP 3/7 (Crippled)
Alex lets out a wail as he drops like a sack of potatoes. He's still not out, but he's in so much pain that there's no way he's joining this fight again.
By this point, I've put the fear of god in the other kids around me. In ten seconds, I've taken down three of the more rowdy kindergarteners, two of them with very obvious injuries. I've been hit once- once, and it did nothing to slow me down.
Daniel and Jacob bolt when I turn my eyes to them.
At this point, an older boy has reached the crowd. He takes in the scene before yelling in shock "
ENEMY DUNCAN HP 9/9
Oh, of course, the brother comes at the last moment. The teenager, twelve or thirteen, comes barreling towards me. I barely move out of the way as the older boy rushes past me in a tackling move, stepping on Alex as he passes, who finally passes out from the new source of pain.
Wildly swinging, My arm comes up at the newcomers' back. It's more akin to a slap thought, but the sound of my connecting fist echoes, enough to hear the blow has done some damage.
ENEMY DUNCAN HP 7/9
Enraged, The teen my combat system tells me is Duncan takes a all-out punch at me, looking to land a devistating hit, but the wild swing misses me entirely. It does give me an opportunity to do the same thing I did to Alex though, but the older boy overpowers me, and actually pulls me towards him.
Using the momentum, he tries to get a punch in with the same savageness, but it fails just as badly. Giving up the fancier moves, I just go for a spot I know'll do a lot of damage. His groin. The fist goes flying into his junk, and I swear I can hear something pop when my fist connects, and Duncan lets out an unmanly screech.
ENEMY DUNCAN HP 5/9 (Shocked)
Obviously concerned with his family jewels, Duncan cups his junk, while I try something. I evalute where I want to put my next kick. By this time, Duncan had recovered ever so slightly, enough to bring an arm up, relaxing his stance slightly. My foot flies for his leg. My boot deals a satifying blow once more, that creak I heard from Maxim's ribs early coming to my ears as the kick connects.
ENEMY DUNCAN HP 1/9
Duncan, beat up and more or less teetering on his feet, throws out a hand to grapple me. Instead, he stumbles, and falls to the ground, smacking into concrete.
He groans, but doesn't get up.
Satisfied, especially in the fact that I'd taken down a kid nearly half again larger than me, I walk off towards the school to wash off my bloodied boots.
I do get a very interesting pop-up.
Notice(s)x4 You've knocked out an enemy without taking damage. +25% to Brawling.
Notice You've beaten your enemies into submission, and gained 1 Point Value for Brawling.
Cool.
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Parents get involved in the fight when the school calls them. Maxim had to get checked out at the clinic, having broken off a rib with my last kick to his torso. Alex has a cast on his leg, and gets around on crutches. Duncan has been speaking with a high pitch voice for the last week.
I got a slap on the wrists, mostly due to the fact that the other witnesses saw that I hadn't started the fight.
Dad treats me to ice cream at a Dairy Queen. It's goddamn amazing.
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The Idiot Brigade never mock me again while in my company.
Scott Theriault learns his best minion got the snot kicked out of him by a kindergartener, then snorts at even the possibility of it happening, even if Duncan Martell walks bow-legged for a few days after the suppossed fight.
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I'd figured some more of my EXP system out.
See, when I'm learning a specific skill, I get twice the rate of growth in that specific skill, at the cost of the EXP of that time I used. It meant I lost some assignable growth, but doubled the gains in a specific skill or ability.
I'd spent nine months on the same schedule, learning french an hour a day. I'd done basic mathematics for half that, the same for Gym class. I'd also been glued to the computer for nearly an hour most days during "play" time.
On my birthday, I reviewed the pop-ups I'd gained during the year.
Notice(s) x11 EXP COUNTER You've filled the EXP bar. +1 CP. 3.5%
Notice COUNTER You've gained through osmosis and training the Language (French) trait. Spoken and Written has reached Accented. 11%
Notice COUNTER You've gained through training the Mathematics/TL 8 (Applied) skill. Assigned Point Value has reached 1. 37%
Notice COUNTER
You've gained through training a Health skill or Ability. Assigned Point Value has reached 1.
Choose a Skill:
[X] Running [] Swimming []Lifting []Save for Later
37%
Notice COUNTER You've gained through training the Computer Operation/TL 8 skill. Assigned Point Value has reached 2. 75%
It was an increase of eight points, compared to the 11 CP I'd gained throughout my fourth year in this life. It was, technically, a huge increase of +70%, but it relied on me locking down on certain skills I didn't actually think were going to be truly useful in the long-run.
I also noticed that the amount of EXP I gained per day had ticked up slightly, from 3% to 3.5%. I had a theory why.
Okay, so for the first five years of my life, I was awake for roughly twelve hours a day. I'd been trained to take a nap during the day to tied me over, usually two hours long. I hadn't take that nap during the last year or so, and, other than me starting school, nothing else had truly changed in my daily schedule.
Did that mean that the hours I was awake played directly into how much EXP I gained?
Well, to prove it, I bought an Advantage: Four levels in Less Sleep, maxing it out.
Less Sleep IV [8] You need less sleep than most people. A normal person requires 8 hours of sleep per night. Each level of this advantage lets you get by with one hour less than this, giving you a few extra hours each day to study or work on other projects. Cannot be taken more than four times.
Yeah, it was going to play hell with my schedule, But, If I could squeeze out more EXP at a faster rate, It'll be worth it.
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My test bed for the sleep theory had been the summer period. I'd spent most of it screwing around, not really following one thing or another. There was those trips to the zoo and the meuseum, but it was overall a boring time for me.
My theory had been proven correct, thought. My EXP counter had jumped up to 4.5% per day, and sometimes, it got to 5% for an unknown reason.
Notice(s) x4 EXP COUNTER You've filled the EXP bar. +1 CP. 26%
While I couldn't really pin down where the half percent bonus was coming from, I'd guessed it was the few times I experienced "more", like that visit I'd mentioned above.
While I had five points ready for use at the start of September, I decided to keep them to increase my Intelligence again. It would take the rest of the year to gain enough CP to buy it, but it'd be worth it...
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Nine days into the year, a day before school would start, I passed out in front of the television. It was as if someone clocked me in the head, as I woke with a fogged-up sight and a killer headache. No that wasn't right, It was more like I was still dreaming, As I wasn't seeing my living room.
The room I was looking into seemed as if it was a cave that had been dug by hand, and deteriorated over centuries of use. Runic carvings dotted the walls and roof. In the center of the cave, sat a "man" dressed in a heavy dress and a turban, grinning maliciously. I put emphasis on the "man" part, because the guy looked deformed as heck, as if he'd been riddled with tumors and had agonizing injuries, but seemed healthy notheless.
He spoke some lines in an language I didn't know, and began to chant. The song-like whispers slowly grew, as the carvings around the room began to light up. The chant became deafening, the light slowly blinding me. Finally, the man stopped chanting, and the carvings stopped glowing. The man closed his eyes, and kept still, as if he were praying or meditating.
He didn't stir for quite some time, but when he did, all he did was laugh like a maniac, a deep and horrifying thing.
Holy crap, it was downright terrifying.
The vision started to fade around here, and I awoke in my living room, with a pop-up that filled me with dread.
Notice You've pierced the veil of the supernatural, exposing your eyes to the truth of reality. Mundane Background can now be bought off. Cinematic Background can now be bought off.
Aw, crap.