I didn’t unlock anything until I was alone in my room. That gave me time to think about what I wanted to get. The first thing I did was to test Milestones III. I wanted to see if unlocking system stuff would give me experience—though the negative with quests I couldn’t do was a downside. I wanted to see what it counted and cared about.
Feature Unlocked: Milestones III
Current Exp: 131,513
Milestone: Gained 1 Exp
Exp Gained: 1
Milestone: Gained 10 Exp
Exp Gained: 2
Milestone: Gained 100 Exp
Exp Gained: 4
Milestone: Gained 1,000 Exp
Exp Gained: 8
Milestone: Gained 10,000 Exp
Exp Gained: 16
Milestone: Gained 100,000 Exp
Exp Gained: 32
Milestone: Unlocked 1 Feature
Exp Gained: 1
Milestone: Unlocked 10 Features
Exp Gained: 2
Milestone: Unlocked 1 Feature Permanently
Exp Gained: 1
Feature Unlocked: Leveling
Current Exp: 130,580
Feature Unlocked: Leveling Speed Medium
Current Exp: 130,480
Feature Unlocked: Skills I
Current Exp: 129,480
Feature Unlocked: Skills II
Current Exp: 124,480
Feature Unlocked: Skills III
Current Exp: 99,480
Feature Unlocked: Mana
Current Exp: 99,380
Feature Unlocked: Stamina
Current Exp: 99,280
Feature Unlocked: Health
Current Exp: 99,180
Feature Unlocked: Strength
Current Exp: 99,080
Feature Unlocked: Intelligence
Current Exp: 98,980
Feature Unlocked: Physical Agility
Current Exp: 98,880
Feature Unlocked: Mental Agility
Current Exp: 98,780
Feature Unlocked: Physical Fortitude
Current Exp: 98,680
Feature Unlocked: Mental Fortitude
Current Exp: 98,580
With that out of the way, I tried to take a look at my stats through the system, but realized I hadn’t unlocked that ability yet. I chose to do so permanently.
Feature Unlocked: Logging I
Current Exp: 88,580
Feature Unlocked: Logging II
Current Exp: 38,580
Feature Unlocked: Status Screen Manipulation
Current Exp: 38,480
Milestone: Unlocked 10 Features Permanently
Exp Gained: 2
With that accomplished, I was able to pull up my stat sheet.
Level: 1
Tier: 1 Exp Next Level: 100 Health: 100/100 Stamina: 85/100 Mana: 100/100 Strength: 10
P. Agility: 10
P. Fortitude: 10
Intelligence: 10
M. Agility: 10
M. Fortitude: 10
Now that I could see the numbers, I was… not underwhelmed but also not overwhelmed. I was mostly confused. I didn’t know what they translated to in the grand scheme of things. Was 10 what everyone got? Was 10 the same for a child as it was for an adult or was that a relative 10? I had many questions and no answers. What I did have was access to skills for the first time. I considered which ones to buy to help me now with my Micah problem and which ones might help me in the longer term.
Skill Purchased: Additional Experience I
Current Exp: 28,482
That skill gave an additional experience every time I got any sort of experience. For low-returning activities—especially the repetitive ones—I would be increasing my experience gains by up to double! It cost an extra 10,000 experience, but I felt that was worthwhile. I would definitely get more back from all the quests and such. I was looking at more than a decade still. The math worked.
The math didn’t work when it came to the more expensive versions of the skill—not that I could afford them even if I wanted to. The price for them was just too high to warrant picking them up even when I would be able to afford them.
Skill Purchased: Identify
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
Current Exp: 27,482
Skill Purchased: Tracking
Current Exp: 26,482
Skill Purchased: Stealth
Current Exp: 25,482
I figured that the classic—Identify—would be a good idea. Given the current situation with Micah, Tracking and Stealth were good options. I wanted to see the strength of the skills and what the weaknesses of the system would be if I went this route. At least when it came to leveling and the skills system. I had a suspicion that I’d need to make many changes to how they operated before I was happy with the progression of both. For now, though, I was content to leave it as it was.
The final thing I did—before going to sleep for the night—was to level up a few times.
Level Purchased
Current Exp: 25,382
Level Purchased
Current Exp: 25,182
Level Purchased
Current Exp: 24,782
Level: 4 Tier: 1 Exp Next Level: 800 Health: 250/250 Stamina: 235/250 Mana: 250/250 Strength: 25 P. Agility: 25 P. Fortitude: 25 Intelligence: 25 M. Agility: 25 M. Fortitude: 25
That left the damage I’d done to the monster strength to check.
Average Monster Level: 9
Monster Strength Tier: 2
Exp To Next Tier: 91,340
Cumulative Monster Strength Bonuses: Average Monster Level +8, Monster Strength Tier +1
Next Tier: Average Monster Level +1
I sucked in a breath. I didn’t know how much of a difference the monsters going up a tier would bring, but I was hopeful my choices would mitigate that issue before I let the apocalypse arrive. Tomorrow, I would test out the new skills and see about getting Mac’s console back.
----------------------------------------
When I woke the next morning, I looked around my room. I used Identify.
Object: Lamp
Tier: 0
Object: Bed Frame
Tier: 0
I was unsure if the information I was getting was what I already knew or if it was telling me the truth of what was there. Using the skill cost me some mana—ten per use. I needed to pay attention to the recovery rates for the different resource stats. I also wanted to check how much of a difference 25 strength was as compared with 10 strength.
I walked downstairs and Identified Mom when I walked into the kitchen.
Creature: Human
Level: 0
Tier: 0
That made some sense. I’d purchased the featured for just myself, so Mom not having any level or tier was to be expected.
“Morning, Mom,” I yawned.
“Late night?” she teased.
I cracked a smile.
“Nah. Just testing some system stuff.”
“Oh?”
“I decided to do a dry run of the leveling and skills and stats stuff. Get a feel for it so that when the time comes, I can make the best choices I can.”
“Why would you do that?” Mom asked with concern. “What about the monsters?”
“I’ll probably have to do this more than once so I can make sure it is done right. There’s just too much I don’t know that I can’t really figure out without trying it out for myself.”
“Can you please talk to me or your father before you rush off to do something like this again?”
“I—“
“Please? We’re here for you. Just check in for a sanity check just in case next time?”
“Ok,” I said.
I hadn’t considered anyone but myself in all of this. Not really. After all, things would go back to what they were when I reset in a decade. Having a second set of eyes just to look over anything I might miss was welcome. It just hadn’t been on my mind.
“Sorry,” I added.
“It’s ok,” she said, grabbing me in a hug. “I’m here for you.”
I hugged Mom back.
----------------------------------------
When I got to camp an hour later, I considered my options. The best opportunity for me to get the console back was during swimming. That was only true if Micah kept it on him and hadn’t left it at home. Given his braggadocious nature, I guessed he was likely to want to show off his prize. That meant he would probably have brought it back.
If nabbing it at swimming wasn’t going to work, then lunch time was the next best option. Since lunch happened before swimming, I planned on trying there first and falling back on swimming if it failed. I could have gone to the counselors—and maybe I should have—but Mac was my friend. I wanted to take care of the problem on my own. There was more experience that way.
The first activity of the day was soccer. Unlike on Mondays, the game on Thursday morning had another group of boys as our opponents. Teams were set as seven on a side. Though I preferred to play on the defense, I was assigned as a midfielder instead. I grumbled at the extra running I would have to do.
The coin flip went our way. I jogged forward as Michael passed the ball my way. For some reason, the ball felt slow. It was also tailing behind me instead of meeting me where I was headed. I turned to call out to Michael—thinking it was his fault. That’s when it hit me. I was the problem!
The stats I’d gained from leveling had made my jog faster than my run had been just a day ago! I slowed to a walk. It was hard to consciously regulate my speed let along do so instinctively. I jogged backwards a little to meet up with the ball. I tried to dribble forward. Every light tap was much stronger than I thought it would be. I gave up at that point and gave the ball a good punt in the direction of the goal. If I had way too much strength, maybe I would be able to sco—it sailed over the goal by a good ten feet.
I shook my head in disgust. While I was unable to score, I was an absolute menace on defense. With my speed and agility, none of the boys on the other team could get past me. I was a wall. I tried to gently pass the ball to a teammate every time I stole it from the other team. I got better at controlling my newfound strength as the game wore on. I was sad when I was benched to give someone else time to play. We won, but the other team scored when I wasn’t there to stop them.
----------------------------------------
When lunch came, I ate with Mac and the others. I glanced at Micah a few times. He stuck by his bag the whole time, even taking it with him to the bathroom. I guessed it took a thief to know how a thief might act. That made lunch a bust.
Next was swimming—my real chance. I changed into my swim trunks and took note of where Micah stashed his bag. I’d either need an excuse or I’d have to be really sneaky to get back without anyone noticing me.
I heard the gate to the big pool close behind me. I knew that sneaking out with Stealth was out of the question. I’d have to try a different tactic. That’s when I had the idea of asking one of the counselors at my pool to take me to the changing room so that I could get something I forgot. Mac had told me a few times that he had an extra pair of swim goggles. I didn’t think he’d mind if I borrowed them for an hour if that meant he had his console back.
“Excuse me,” I said to a woman in her late teens.
She was one of the counselors for the eight-year-old girls.
“What’s up?” she asked.
“I left my goggles in the changing room, can I go get them real quick?”
“Uh, hold on.”
The counselor went and talked with one of the others before coming back to me.
“Sure, let’s go.”
I led the way out of the pool area and to the changing rooms.
“I’ll be right out here,” she said.
“Thanks.”
I went inside and beelined for Micah’s bag. I opened it and dug through it. Though it took a little bit of effort—Tracking helping me a lot—I found what I was after. I plucked it from the back and put everything back the way it was. Then I found Mac’s bag next to my stuff. I fished the extra pair of goggles out and put his console in its place before rushing outside.
“Got it,” I said, showing the counselor Mac’s goggles.
We walked back to the pool with her being none the wiser as to what I had done—at least, I hoped so.
The rest of the my time in the pool went swimmingly. I had the chance to break the good news to Mac when I gave him back his goggles on the way to our next activity.
“Mac,” I said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“I borrowed your goggles,” I said, handing them back to him.
He looked surprised.
“Please don’t jump or yell,” I continued, “but I got your console back from Micah. I had to use your goggles as an excuse to get it back for you. Sorry.”
“Wh—Thank you!” Mac exclaimed way too loudly.
“Please don’t yell,” I said. “Wouldn’t want him knowing you have it back. I’d leave it at home next time, just in case.”
“Yeah, thanks,” he said. “I—my parents punished me for losing it. Thanks.”
“No problem, Mac.”
I smiled. I hadn’t gotten Micah back for what he’d done, but at least everything was as it should be. The experience wasn’t half bad either.