No sooner had Zack spoken than another window appeared in his mind’s eye:

New Habit Quest: Tidy Up.

A gnome Commando always controls himself and his surroundings. Make your bed and clean your room every day. Don’t break the streak!

Days Completed: 0/21.

Reward: +1 Cognition.

Accept Quest?

Yes / No

“Wow,” Zack said as he mentally accepted the quest. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

[You haven’t given me much to work with,] Gia said. [In fact, you haven’t left this room!]

She had him there. He’d been hoping for a combat-focused quest, but Gia wouldn’t even know about the mine or the tunnels. Still . . . twenty-one days for a reward? This system sucked so far.

Speaking of rewards . . .

“What’s cognition?” Zack asked as he stepped into the bathroom.

[Cognition is one of your five attributes. You can open your status screen to see the rest.]

He tried another mental command rather than speaking aloud. Sure enough, a message appeared:

Name: Zack

Level: 1

Constitution: 8

Cognition: 8

Charisma: 8

Craft: 8

Combat: 8

Zack blinked. He’d played his share of roleplaying games, and they usually based the attributes on the seven Titans, with strength, intelligence, and so on. Charisma and craft usually made that list, but these other ones felt . . . off.

“Where’s my strength stat?” he asked Gia. That had always been his personal favorite.

[Constitution is intertwined with personal strength,] she replied. [it’s impossible to raise one without the other.]

Well, strength sounded cooler, but he couldn’t argue with her reasoning. He’d always associated strength with combat and melee damage, but this system already had a designated combat number.

Besides, he’d seen plenty of local athletes step into Kord’s dojo, hoping their strength or reflexes would help them in combat. But catching a ball was nothing like blocking a punch, and they typically learned that lesson the hard way.

“So what why does everything start at eight?” Zack asked once he’d finished his business in the bathroom. “Is that the average?” If nothing else, he would have expected his constitution and combat numbers to start higher than the rest. He planned to join the Sentinels for Titans’ sake. The Sentinels must be as good as the gnome Commandos, if not better.

[Everyone starts with the same attributes,] Gia said. [I will award or remove attributes based on your performance in the first few weeks.]

Zack considered that as he set to work on his room. A part of him wanted to go straight outside and show off his combat skills, but he still had over an hour until his shift, and this cleaning quest shouldn’t take long.

He might complain, but no one could ever call him a slacker.

And so Zack made his bed, cleaned up the floor, and took his dishes to the kitchen. Then he dusted the surfaces and windows, wiped them down with cleaner, and vacuumed the dog hair from the carpet. Honestly, things weren’t that bad. He and Daudilus mainly used this room for sleeping; it wasn’t like he hosted wild parties in here every weekend.

Besides, his mother had insisted that he learn every position at the Valley View, including housekeeping.

New Skill: Cleaning Level 1.

Your Craft attribute has increased by 0.25.

Your new Craft is 8.25.

“A cleaning skill?” Zack raised an eyebrow as he put away the vacuum. “Really?”

[Consider it a compliment. It means you performed your work at a semi-professional level.]

“Wait a second,” Zack said. “Are there limits on how many skills I can have?”

[Yes,] Gia deadpanned. [I’m afraid you’re trapped on a permanent path toward the Housekeeper class.]

“Very funny.” He had been worried about permanent consequences before, but he could always eject the core and start over if he had to.

Stolen novel; please report.

[You’re limited to two primary skills and two secondary skills per attribute category,] Gia said.

He blinked. “Can I get rid of the cleaning skill, then?”

[There’s no need for that. Your skills exist independently of this mana core. I only keep a list for quests and mana allocation. Any skill can fade if you neglect it, and any skill can be overwritten by another.]

Zack gave a slow nod as he pulled open his quest window. Sure enough, the progress on his cleaning quest had increased to 1/21. With that done, he laced up his workout shoes and headed downstairs.

A small crowd had gathered in the common room, and Zack stayed quiet as he passed through the back door and stepped outside. His husky was nowhere in sight, but that was typical. Daudilus had always liked to explore the local forest, even before he’d gotten his mana core. He’d probably gotten a quest to kill ten squirrels or something.

After a quick warmup, Zack stepped over to his dad’s old weights—three long shelves of galvanized steel, lined with several dozen dumbbells. Each dumbbell had a stainless steel handle and black rubber casing around the weight itself. They ranged from ten pounds, all the way into the early hundreds. Zack had vague memories of his dad using the largest sizes, but he’d plateaued in the mid-fifties for most basic lifts

“So how come my craft number went up?” Zack asked as he grabbed a pair of forty-five-pound dumbbells. “Do I always gain one-quarter point for each skill?”

[Correct,] Gia said. [Four skill points per attribute point, and three attribute points per level.]

“Okay.” Zack mulled that over. “So basically, I need twelve skill points to reach level two?”

[Right again. Except you only need eleven more skill points, thanks to your cleaning skill!]

Weird. Normally, you gained levels in roleplaying games, and your attributes increased with those levels. This system seemed all inside-out and backward.

It also forced him to see his cleaning quest in a whole new light. Apparently, that would award him a whole cognition point—a full third of a level. Zack still didn’t understand what cleaning had to do with cognition, but that was a question for later.

He carried his dumbbells over to a padded bench, then he knocked out a set of chest presses. He focused harder than he had on the cleaning, recalling everything he’d ever learned about proper lifting form. He angled the weights near his chest, tucked his elbows at his sides, then exhaled hard as he pushed the weights up toward the ceiling.

Zack brought them back down a second later, slowly and deliberately. Master Kord always said slower was better, since it kept your muscles in a constant state of tension.

That was why he’d chosen the forty-five-pound dumbbells over the fifties today. If Gia thought he took weightlifting seriously, then she might allocate more mana toward his strength. That meant more gains in the long term, right?

Gia remained silent as he finished his eight presses. Zack leaned over the bench and did an equal number of one-armed rows in each hand. Then he put the dumbbells on his shoulders and knocked out a set of eight squats.

His reward came a few seconds after he’d finished:

New Skill: Weightlifting Level 4.

Your Constitution attribute has increased by 1.

Your new Constitution is 9.

“Nice!” Zack said. “That’s more like it!”

[Congratulations,] Gia said. [It appears you’re good at something after all!]

Zack narrowed his eyes. “What’s with the sarcastic comments? Is that part of your programming?”

[Yes, as a matter of fact. It’s part of my humor settings.]

“Can I turn it off?”

[Of course. Feel free to file a complaint with your squad leader.]

“I don’t have a squad leader,” Zack said. “And I hate to break it to you, but all the gnomes are dead.”

[Sounds like a personal problem.]

He’d honestly expected a bigger reaction than that. Hadn’t the gnomes created her? But maybe she wasn’t as self-aware as a true mana spirit. Maybe she didn’t even remember her previous users.

“Can I be the squad leader?” Zack asked.

[You need a squad for that. You would also need enough mana to access my higher functions. We can’t do much at level one.]

“Don’t worry,” Zack said. “I’ll be level two soon.”

[By the way,] Gia said. [I have another quest for you, but it could be a long one. Don’t shoot the messenger, okay?]

New Chain Quest: Lift your Body Weight: Part One.

Press, pull, and squat your own body weight in dumbbells.

Step One: Do your research and make a plan.

Reward: +0.5 Constitution.

Accept Quest?

Yes / No

Zack winced as he read the description. He weighed one hundred and seventy pounds right now, so that meant lifting an eighty-five-pound dumbbell in each hand.

Then again, he didn’t need to perform the exercises to get the first reward; he just had to make a plan. What if he stopped by the dojo and talked to Master Kord? That seemed like an easy first step.

Zack accepted the quest as he lay back on the bench with his dumbbells. If his theory was right, then his new constitution should let Gia allocate more mana toward his strength.

Sure enough, the weights felt lighter than before. That could have been his imagination, but he doubted it. These cores had made Daudilus smarter and healed his wounded leg after that battle with the quartz beetles. This system was far more than just quests and status screens.

Speaking of Daudilus, what level was he now? What skills had he unlocked? Probably something with combat, since he’d gotten his core back in the tunnels. Did Gia have a way for them to share their progress with each other? He’d have to ask her about that later.

Regardless, Zack wasn’t about to let his dog show him up, so he stepped away from the weight bench and fell into a martial stance.

Come on, level two . . .

His legs became the roots of a thick tree, and his arms extended out into the cool morning air. He shifted his feet, adjusting their angle, feeling the smooth concrete beneath his shoes. Air flowed through his nostrils, filling his body in a soft wave, from the bottom of his stomach to the top of his chest.

He stood there for several heartbeats, finding his balance, tensing some muscles and relaxing others.

Finally, he twisted his body, letting the energy flow through him like a river. It traveled upward from deep within the earth, through his legs, all the way to his shoulder. The energy propelled his right arm forward in a slow, controlled, motion. His fist tensed at the last possible second, and he exhaled as he struck the air.

Zack followed through on the blow, and the energy shifted to his left hand. He continued the routine, executing several more punches, kicks, and defensive stances.

Kragor’s kata had limited combat utility; real life was too messy for such things. For all that, the moves demanded years of practice, and no martial artist would ever reach true perfection. There were simply too many variables, and one misplaced toe could send the whole stance spiraling out of control.

At first, he’d barely lasted a few minutes before his aching muscles forced him to stop. Even after two years of constant training, he’d found himself stumbling more often than not.

Now, after five years of daily practice, Zack lost himself to the movements, and the ten-minute routine passed in a blur.

His muscles shook by the time he’d finished, and a layer of sweat coated his forehead. In hindsight, he should done have the kata before the weightlifting, but he couldn’t change that now.

New Skill: Martial Arts Level 7

Your Combat attribute has increased by 1.75.

Your new Combat is 9.75.

Pride surged through him at the reward. And this was just the beginning. What sorts of skill points could he gain in the mines, fighting live opponents?

And if Zack’s math was right, then he should have another reward on the way . . .

The air shimmered around him, and blue light flowed like a whirlpool toward his chest. The crystal over the door flickered out, and so did the nearby street lights. Zack looked down, and his mana core shone beneath the fabric of his t-shirt.

Finally, another message appeared:

Congratulations! You have reached Level 2!