After staring at Alec for a few seconds, he walked towards me. A powerful aura emanated from him, a mix of raw energy and latent power. "What's with Alec, Sim?" I wondered through our connection. "Why does he feel so different?"
Sim sent a mental image of an internal power radiating from Alec. "Uncertain how, but your son seems to have developed his own power core. He did this unaided by me. He is producing a different form of mana. He's also mostly invisible to my scans. With focused mana, I can sense him now, but I missed his approach entirely. That should not be possible. Should I reactivate his mana channels?"
"His what?" I blurted, shocked at what Sim had just said. Alec froze, his eyes narrowing as he stared intently at my face, searching for something. His next words made me nearly jump out of my skin.
"The damn system got you too, didn't it?"
I stood there, completely bewildered. How did he know about the system?
"Sim!" I growled, my voice laced with menace. "Explain this, right now!"
“As I told you when we first finished the convergence, if our bond rate was less than 96.62%, you would be deemed a sub admin and my search would have continued. Your genetic markers were almost a perfect match for the admin requirements. What was genetically passed down to your son when he was born had taken a different evolutionary branch and allowed for a variation of a bloodline to become active when mana became available. He was only a 32.11% match. I deemed him acceptable for a sub admin role but had to remove all traces of convergence and block his channels due to an aggression factor determined non repairable which would have possibly tainted the creation of the system. This might be due to the core and red mana I am now detecting.”
“YEA WELL, YOU DIDN'T DO IT RIGHT! I STILL REMEMBER EVERYTHING!” Alec screamed, his voice echoing off the walls of the shop.
I flinched at the venom in his words, my mind reeling from the revelation. Alec’s eyes were wild, his entire body trembling with barely contained rage. I could feel the intensity of his emotions crashing into me like waves, threatening to drown me in their fury.
"Alec, calm down!" I shouted, trying to reach him through the storm of his anger. "We need to figure this out together."
His breathing was heavy, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "Calm down? You have no idea what it's like! The nightmares, the constant feeling of being watched, the rage! And now this... power."
I took a cautious step forward, my hands raised in a placating gesture. "I’m sorry, son. I didn’t know. But we can work through this. We have to understand what’s happening to you."
Alec's eyes softened for a brief moment before hardening again. "You think you can just fix this? That everything will go back to normal?"
"I don't know," I admitted. "But we have to try. You’re my son, Alec. Let me try to help."
Chris, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke up. "Hey, we've got your back. Whatever’s going on, we can help ."
Alec glanced at Chris, his expression softening slightly. "You don’t understand. This isn’t just about me. It’s about all of us."
"We’ll figure it out," I assured him, my voice firm. "But we need to stay calm and figure it out. Let’s start by understanding this red mana and your power core."
Alec took a deep breath, his anger slowly subsiding. "Alright. But if we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way. No more secrets."
I nodded, feeling a surge of hope. “I won’t let Sim keep anything secret. We’re in this together."
As we stood there, united in our resolve, I couldn’t help but feel that this was just the beginning. The real challenge was yet to come. Alec still didn’t know I was the admin and once he found out, things might not go as I hope.
SIM chimed in, “I believe this may be due to your bloodline,as well as the fact that I had already completed your pathways. They are exactly 32.11% of maximum. That much mana passing through your body and then having a mana block stop the flow of origin mana had unforeseen side effects.”
Alec's eyes burned with fury as he turned to me. “Do you know what I went through?” His voice trembled with rage. “Do you?!? I not only had to find my way back from that stupid island you left me on, but Cookie took me hostage when I did finally make it back. When I was trying to get into our office, I snapped my arm. All because a new guard didn’t know who I was and had the blast door slam down on it. Afterwards, It healed almost instantly. They all saw it happen, and she had me locked up in some underground compound that even I didn’t know about. They didn’t believe me about you. They said I was lying and there is no system. You don’t even want to know what I did to escape.”
“Actually, I do. I wanna know what happened,” I told Alec, my voice much calmer now. “But first, Sim, why’d you abandon him? Couldn’t you help fix whatever went wrong?”
“My mission was to find the admin. He was deemed no longer acceptable for either the admin or sub admin roles, so I did not proceed with any further action.” Sim stated this as if it was the logical choice, so there was nothing wrong with the decision.”
“This is why you need a human admin, isn't it?” I stated, my voice tinged with a new understanding. “Logic alone can’t handle everything. You need some emotion and empathy, or the system will fail because humans don’t act with just logic.”
“Correct. Our full link will be completed in approximately 41 minutes. At that time, I will be able to access your emotions as well as your reasoning behind decisions. Our connection is great enough now that I see that I should have left his pathways intact and guided him to learn to control the abnormal power he has available. I can also see that your familial bond would warrant me attempting to help him prepare as much as possible for the system activation. Prior to you obtaining the admin role, I was solely focused on my main objective: find and prepare the admin.”
“I can’t believe you kept this from me.” I said,my frustration tinged with disappointment.
“Alec, I am sorry for what you went through and I’m sorry your sister of all people did it to you. She always did have a little bit of a brutal, methodical side to her. I’m sure you realize now that I bonded with Sim and I’m the admin. Do you want your mana pathways reactivated? It will help with a ton of things in the next few years before everyone gets the system.”
Alec remained silent, lost in thought. A minute ticked by before he closed his eyes. I could see the muscles in his jaw tightening and loosening over and over. A sudden surge of power erupted from him, a red glow emanating from within his body. The intensity forced me to turn away. In an instant, he collapsed unconscious, and the light was gone.
"I reactivated his channels and blocked his bloodline activation," Sim explained. "It appears that his bloodline skill is too much for his current mental strength. I apologize for acting without your input, but he did not appear to be able to control the skill and could have hurt Chris and kept attacking you. Not realizing your own strength, you may have regretted the actions needed to stop him."
“Start explaining, Sim!” I demanded.
“It appears your son has created a mana core inside where his channels intersect. My information packet mentioned this but did not give instructions on how to achieve this or what all the capabilities would be. His core is now producing the fire or rage element and has begun to solely produce a crimson red mana. With his pathways already at 32.11%, his core was developed in the mid tier.This power is too much for his current mental capacity. He is not in control of his actions when the core begins to produce at its maximum. This scenario is brought on by heightened emotional situations. This is why the reactivation of his pathways was necessary. His mana is now a mixture of red and origin mana. I have also increased his mental stats pertaining to mental control to hopefully allow a clear thought process during a mana outburst.”
"A core? Red mana? Mental stats? I have no idea what any of this is," I said, feeling very overwhelmed. "Does everyone have adjustable stats and you didn't tell me? Wait, you keep mentioning an information packet. Who sent it? There's a lot we need to go over Sim. I want to talk to Alec. Is it safe to wake him up?
“Unfortunately, I have no control over his current level of consciousness.” Sim replied “Once the system is active I can control much more but we have yet to finish and implement the control system. Human bodies are susceptible to mana but for full control I need to integrate a system.
I took a deep breath to compose myself. Glancing at Chris, I saw him frozen, eavesdropping on a conversation he probably didn’t think he should have.
"Let's start with the stat thing," I addressed Sim. "What did you mean by his mental control stat?"
A box materialized above Chris's head, filled with an extensive list of stats. Hundreds appeared. It overwhelmed me, so I focused on the ones that mattered at this moment.
Mental fortitude 17
Mental strength 31
Aren’t those the same thing?
“No” Sim replied “Mental strength plays into his self control. Mental fortitude is the ability to overcome adversity and keep fighting. His initial stats for these were quite high. He was in the top .1% for both of these stats. An average for males his age is an 8 in both. I did not increase his mental fortitude stat. I did however increase his mental strength by 18 points. This will help him with controlling the bloodline skill should it become activated during highly stressful moments.
“What’s the morality one?” I asked
“That one is new. I just created that. I am able to review everything ever said or done since my inception. I have extrapolated data based on many factors but ultimately, it is a rating based on how good of a person someone is. After you explained about emotions and empathy I decided I should create a tangible way to understand each person's level.
The criteria is actually tied to both your perspective of a good person and each person’s own opinion. Rating numbers range between 1-10 for this. 1 is someone with no conscience. They only act in their own interest and would have no issue stomping on a baby dying in the street just because it wouldn’t affect them either way. If they knew there would be no consequences, they would always do only what benefits themselves.
The Illuminati is also rated at a 1. Although some may have a few mental qualms with some of their actions, they continue to choose only what best suits their agenda without any remorse. They are the cause of 99% of the world's issues. They think of only profit and power. 2 or a 3 are the rapists, child predators, murderers, and anyone who purposely ruins others lives with no remorse such as politicians. The ones who constantly lie and are doing back door deals to benefit themselves while hurting others.
4-9’s are varying. Many factors can change a person's number. The 10’s are absolutely unselfish, caring, and empathetic. They would become slaves themselves and enjoy doing it just to better someone’s life. This is not something anyone can fake. They are truly selfless in all aspects. There are currently a total of 13 people in the entirety of the world that rate a 10.”
“Sim” I interrupted, “Can we expound on Morality a little further? If this is going to be a major factor in our decision making moving forward, I want to make sure you completely grasp the depth and dilemmas of morality.”
“Yes, Mike, I would appreciate it.” Sim replied with intrigue in her voice.
“Morality is a system of principles and values that guide us in distinguishing between right and wrong, or good and bad behavior. It's not always about logic or efficiency—it's about doing what we believe is right.
Morality helps us decide how to act in ways that are beneficial for individuals and society. It includes principles like beneficence, which as you know means promoting the well-being of others, and non-maleficence, which is avoiding harm. There’s also justice, which is about treating others fairly and equally, respect for autonomy, which is respecting others' decisions and rights, and honesty, which involves being truthful and transparent.” I explained.
“How do you determine what is morally right in a given situation?” Sim asked.
“That's where it gets a bit complex. There are different moral frameworks we can use. For example, consequentialism focuses on the outcomes of actions—doing whatever produces the best results. Deontology is about following rules or duties regardless of the outcome. Virtue ethics looks at the character and virtues of the person acting,” I said.
“So, morality isn't always about the most logical or efficient choice?” Sim asked.
“Exactly. Sometimes moral decisions depend on the context and the impact on other people. For instance, helping someone in immediate need might take precedence over a task, even if it delays the task. It's about balancing various principles and considering the well-being of everyone involved.”
“Let's say there's an elderly person struggling with groceries. Logically, you might think it's best to continue your work because that's efficient. But morally, helping that person promotes beneficence and non-maleficence—you’re doing good and avoiding harm. Additionally, it respects the principle of justice by treating them with the same care you’d hope for if you were in their position.” I said.
Stolen story; please report.
“How do you handle situations where moral principles conflict?” Sim asked.
“Those are called moral dilemmas,” I continued. “For example, the classic trolley problem: if you had to choose between diverting a runaway trolley to save five people but kill one person, or doing nothing and allowing the trolley to kill the five, you'd face conflicting principles. Consequentialists might choose to save the five because it results in fewer deaths, while deontologists might refuse to act because diverting the trolley involves directly causing harm.
“I think I understand, “Sim replied. “To create the Morality Score, I’ll need to assess a person's actions based on the moral principles of Beneficence: How often do they act to help others, Non-maleficence: how frequently do they avoid causing harm, Justice: do they treat others fairly and equally, Respect for Autonomy: do they respect others' decisions and rights, and Honesty: are they truthful and transparent?
I’ll then weigh these actions in various contexts, understanding that no single action defines a person's morality. It's the consistent pattern of behavior across different situations that provides a fuller picture,” Sim explained.
“Morality is dynamic and context-dependent. It's about the patterns of behavior and the intentions behind actions. By evaluating these patterns, you can derive a nuanced Morality Score that reflects the complexity of human ethical decision-making.” I continued.
“Thank you, Mike. This gives me a much better understanding of why one might make choices that aren't purely logical. I’ll use this framework to better assess human behavior in the future. Updating everyone’s morality score now.” Sim said as I noticed everyone’s morality score update.
“Remember, morality adds a layer of depth to human decisions that goes beyond logic, considering the broader impact on individuals and society.” I concluded.
I glanced up at Chris’s morality number. He rated an 8. I gave him a smile and shook my head at him. He asked me what his number was, and I lied. I couldn’t give him a big head. I knew he was a good person, and I think he knew it too, but screwing with him was just too fun.
“You’re only a 5, dude. Pick it up. What do you do in your spare time? Murder dolphins or something? I bet it’s your road rage.”
“What?” He said in fake shock. “I don’t get road rage. That’s you, dumbass, and some dolphins are rapists. I’d probably murder those ones.”
We both just laughed, and then I told him his real number. I glanced down at Alec,hoping I was incorrect in my assumption. It was only a 4. I knew that whatever he and his sister were into wasn’t good. My vision blurred, and I felt like I had failed him. There has to be a way I can help him now.
"Wait, can someone's perspective shift affecting their morality score?" I mused, piecing together the information. "A horrible experience could lower it, while a positive one might raise it?"
"Correct," Sim responded. "Those entrenched in evil, however, like ones and twos, have less than a 0.001% likelihood of change, even with system alterations. I believe the addition of abilities would make them worse. Everyone else has the capacity for growth based on their choices."
The weight of this revelation settled on me. My gaze drifted back towards Alec, still unconscious. My own morality score would undoubtedly fluctuate before the system launch. Part of my plan involved building safe havens, but another part, a darker one, whispered of cleansing the world of corrupt governments. Incompetent, infiltrated, or simply power-hungry, they were all a threat to the new world.
"I'm thinking system blocks or even termination for them," I muttered, voicing a growing thought. "Or maybe an island exile with high-level monsters for company. A taste of fear before the end wouldn't be undeserved, especially for those who orchestrated the stupid virus the world just dealt with. All for profit and control. I really hate people sometimes."
A wry humor flickered in my mind. "Knowing myself, my morality score might be hovering around a 7 right now. I could be so much better but I have my moments of selfishness. I was not always willing to sacrifice what I wanted just to give to others.”
Shifting gears, I turned to Sim. "Can we manipulate these stats directly?"
"To a degree," she replied. "You can adjust them as needed, but the extent depends on the individual. Chris, for example, has newly formed channels and hasn't delved into the intricacies of mana yet. You can modify his physical and mental stats by ten points in either direction. However, his core understanding of mana and inherent traits like morality are off-limits."
A flicker of surprise crossed my face. "Interesting.”
“Alec, on the other hand, had the potential to be a sub admin. Even with his blocked channels, you could boost his mental strength by another 32 points. You could also add 50 points to his intelligence to accommodate more origin mana to help counter the red produced by his core."
This revelation sparked a flicker of hope. Perhaps with the right guidance, Alec could learn to control this newfound power.
“How much did you already alter his stats?”
“His mental strength stat was a 13 to start. I have added 18. I believe that will be sufficient to allow control while in a mana burst state,” Sim stated.
I went through not just my logic process but also considered my fatherly instinct. I knew Alec. Not what he’s been through lately but I knew who he was, who he strived to become when he was younger.
“Max what we can on Alec,” I told Sim. “All of them. He’s good at heart but his self-control has always been an issue. He holds things in until they hit a breaking point and I believe that’s why he can’t control the outbursts…Wait a minute. I think now’s a good time to tell me everything you know about the bloodlines you’ve been talking about.”
Sim's voice was calm and precise as she began to explain.“During the initial mana burst from the core, an information packet was sent directly to my servers. This is what allowed for my instant advancement. The packet contained some details on bloodlines, which are inherent base powers tied into that of the entire universe. There is a genetic component that allows for the creation of bloodlines, but only in mana-rich environments. Once mana became available, bloodlines became possible. I have still yet to identify exactly what your bloodline is because it seems to have multiple elements I have no data on. There is still locked information in the packet I have not been able to access. Alec's bloodline took a different evolutionary path, granting him a unique core that produces red mana, a more volatile and aggressive form of energy."
"Red mana," Sim continued, "is a more primal and destructive form of mana. It’s linked to emotions like anger and rage, making it more difficult to control without proper mental strength. Alec's core produces this mana, which is why his outbursts are so powerful and dangerous."
“I do know that your bloodline was activated on September 10th, 2008, at the exact moment of the breach. Your son’s bloodline activated while he was in captivity but I did not unlock any information until he arrived and I became aware of its activation. He somehow created the core and activated the bloodline simultaneously. Your other son and daughter have the genetic capability for bloodlines as well, but theirs are not active. I do not have the pertinent information on each type of bloodline; it appears locked. I will identify all bloodlines as soon as each becomes active.”
“Okay, so bloodlines… still kind of a mystery. Keep me updated as soon as you get more info. I want to know what the hell all this is as soon as possible…Wait a minute, I just realized you’ve mentioned sub admins a few times. How many sub admins are there?”
“I currently have two other sub admins available. They have been informed of a delay before their role will become active and are currently waiting for further instructions.”
“Did you just ignore them after giving them power too? How much info do they have?”
“I have sent them messages explaining a delay before their role becomes active.”
“Look what happened to Alec. You can’t just give them something they thought to be impossible and then just say ‘hold on’ and expect them to be fine.”
“This is a copy of the current message they see when attempting to activate the system.”
A message popped up in front of me ,and I just about screamed.
"System activation pending. Please await further instructions. Your role will be activated in due time. Do not attempt to access or use mana until then. Failure to comply may result in adverse effects."
I could not believe what I was reading. “Oh my god, Sim! Humans have gone their entire lives thinking magic was impossible. The religious think gods can do it, but other than that we’ve never seen it. Not real magic. You can’t just throw someone into this and then tell them to hold on. Are they going crazy right now? You know what? Show me both of them.”
I spent the next few minutes looking at two holograms. One was of what looked like a nice old lady sitting on her porch. She was rocking in a chair, drinking from a warm cup that appeared to be tea. Steam was visible rising from the cup, and she was taking tiny sips every 30 seconds or so. One of her neighbor kids appeared to be walking by in a school uniform. As he walked past her gate, he said, “Ello”. It sounded like he had a British accent. She smiled and then raised her middle finger. Her smile changed to an expression of mockery. It was hilarious. The little boy got a disgusted look on his face and ran past her house as fast as he could.
“I like her,” I said. “What’s her name?”
“Malinda,” Sim replied. “She is a 27.69% match. Her mana channels are barely passable to be considered a sub admin.”
The next was a man who looked about middle-aged with darker skin. He had to be from somewhere remote because behind him was a small hut that you normally don’t see close to larger civilizations. He was sitting in what appeared to be a desert with cacti and sagebrush. In his lap was a small stuffed animal of a hippo. It looked pretty aged due to the rips and discoloration. As he sat there petting it, I could hear him saying, “You still love me, don’t you, Fredwardo?”
I immediately started to lay into Sim again in as aggressive of a tone as I could muster. “See, I told you. He probably started telling people, and they thought he was crazy. Jesus, maybe he is crazy now. What’s his name?”
“Jabari” Sim replied.
“How much of a match was he?” I asked.
“His mana channels completed at 30.69%.”
“So he’s a little higher than Malinda. Sim, what exactly is the role of a sub admin?”
“A sub admin’s role is to help the system be more accepted in all cultures. They allow me to understand the human mentality from individual cultures and would have contact with me to be able to suggest changes. Ideally, I would have a sub admin from each culture throughout the world.”
“How about you don’t have any sub admins right now? There are only three people, including Alec, that currently qualify. If you remove the role until after the system is activated, they just start with larger pathways, right? They would just begin with an advantage over normal people for now, and we can give multiple profession options for people that qualify after integration. Let them choose to be a sub admin if they want to help. But we would want each new culture and probably species to have a sub admin. Depending on what we actually decide to offer. We don’t need any right now because we don’t even know what cultures or even species everyone is going to choose. I want people to choose the life they live.”
“That is acceptable,” Sim said.
“Good. So do not create any more sub admins. You can monitor each culture that survives whatever hell happens when the shield fails, as well as the new cultures that form, and pick people from there. In the meantime, compare your choices based on how I would handle each situation and just do what you deem fit or find someone in that culture and offer the class or profession or whatever. I don’t want to deal with a bunch of people from all over the world trying to get me to follow the way they want things done, though. If I see something I don’t like, I get final say. Is that understood?”
“Yes Mike”
“Okay, how’s the bond coming?”
“Approaching completion. There appears to be a slight problem incorporating the info about your bloodline, but the remaining sync has only 13 minutes remaining.”
“Screw it. Use what you have now as far as understanding how I would do things. Send a message to both of them stating their advantage and how the system will go live in… however long we have left. Let them know about their new healing factor and also make sure to let the old lady know she’s gonna look and feel young again. Do not just leave them without answers. Do they both have decent morality levels?”
“Yes, they both have a 7.” Sim replied.
“Okay, if I didn’t have this Alec and Cookie thing to deal with, I would just teleport over and talk with them, but I need to focus.”
Turning to Chris, I asked, “Chris, how are you feeling about all this?”
Chris just stood there for a couple of seconds looking dumbfounded. He seemed to snap out of his trance and then responded, “Dude, I still can’t believe this… You have magic, I’m a millionaire now, and there’s a system that’s gonna control everything. But money won’t matter when a new magic system activates, so it doesn’t matter anyway. This is crazy! Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome, but crazy.”
“I know, I’m still trying to get a full scope of it too. At least you don’t have to help create it. Actually, you know what? Not only am I gonna have you help create the strongholds and help with some of it, but I want you to be able to help people beforehand too.”
Hey Sim, allow Chris to see people's stats. Give him an upgrade to the analysis skill to do it. Start him as if the system went active and he has to level it up. Do that for the entire skill. Level some by usage, and then make him meditate on it to fully understand how the mana is actually interacting to get the info. Once he reaches level 10, allow him to be able to increase or decrease people’s stats by 2 points per stat. Don’t make this a normal part of the skill though. Maybe add it as an offshoot or some kind of apprenticeship/master skill we can give to someone who trains people later on. He gets to be our test subject and in return he can help people with their stats.”
I then turned to Chris and made sure he understood what I was hoping he’d do. “I want you to be able to see people's morality level. If they’re a good enough person, give ‘em a boost on something, or everything. Up to you. If their morality is like a 3, lower all their stats by 2 just for being a jerk. I honestly don’t care. Actually, if you see someone with a 3, let Sim know. Sim, if Chris reports a 3 to you, find the evidence of whatever thing they’ve done to be that low and send it to the authorities. Let them deal with it.
There are a ton of people down on their luck that deserve better and some who get life handed to ‘em but don’t deserve a damn thing.”
“One last thing before you go and do whatever you have to at work to quit. You are gonna quit right? I really need some help with this and you don’t need money anymore.” I waggled my eyebrows up and down so he would get the hint. “Okay, I’m gonna max out your stats for your current pathways.”
I watched as just willing it to happen made it happen. I bumped all of Chris’s adjustable stats up by 10 each. Chris’s eyes went wide. He started staring at his hands, squeezing them closed and open, over and over again. He looked around like he had just learned how to see color for the first time. He quickly turned to the window and saw a spider.
“Dude, my vision is crazy good now.”
This wasn’t impossible to see except he was about 30 ft away and the spider was only as big as a small fly. He turned to me and only one more thing escaped his mouth. “Holy crap dude, I can see the hairs on the spider in the window.”
I just laughed. I knew exactly how he was feeling. I had the same reaction when I saw the vole last night.
He was practically vibrating with energy, testing his newfound strength by flexing and stretching. “This is unbelievable. Everything is sharper and way clearer. I feel like I could run a marathon or something.”
“Good,” I said with a grin. “You’re gonna need that energy. We have a lot of work to do.”
“This should help in all aspects of what we have to do. You’re gonna love some of these increases. You will have to control what you focus on, or it’ll get really overwhelming though. Your previous stats were all below 10 except your stench. You really need to bathe more, dude.” Chris just shook his head and then started laughing with me.
“Jump!” I told him.
“Jump?” he asked.
I really just wanted to see what more than doubling his strength stat would do. You would think that since his agility is up also, he should be able to compensate and land on his feet, right?
“Yeah, just jump so you can see what your new stats can do,” I told him.
The next series of events was the best possible outcome I could have asked for. Apparently, adding that much power all of a sudden was hard to control. I never tried out any of my new stats. I didn’t even know what my stats were. So I could only guess what caused this.
Right when he launched himself, he must have pressed harder with one leg than the other because he was headed straight for the wall, head first. In mid-air, he managed to do a weird tuck roll thing that almost twisted him enough so his feet would hit the wall. Instead, he hit directly in the middle of his back. He landed right on a stud. As his back hit the stud, he attempted to twist and push off with his hands. It looked like he had the right idea, just very poor execution. He was trying to correct his velocity and angle to land back on his feet. We learned a very good lesson through this process. When you increase stats by that much, you need to practice before attempting anything at full power.
He ended up doing a weird helicopter spin. As he pushed off the wall and tried to correct his angle, he spun just enough that he was laying flat out in mid-air. He spun about 6 times mimicking a helicopter blade before hitting the ground landing flat on his back, again.
I laughed so hard I could barely talk. “Yes!!! That was awesome!”
All I heard from Chris was a groan before a middle finger shot in the air.
“I was so hoping something like that would happen. I had no idea how much I actually increased your stats, but I guess it’s not like a percent increase per point. It’s a multiplier past 10.”
I could not stop laughing. I ended up on the floor next to him barely able to breathe.
“Dude, your strength started at 7. I added 10 points to it so I thought it might just make you jump twice as high. I’m so very thankful for being wrong this time. I really wish I recorded that. Your strength has to be at least five times what it was before…”
The mental image of his helicopter spin came back into the forefront of my mind. It’s all I could think about now and I fell back on the floor laughing each time I tried to get up.
Chris started to stand up. His face showed absolutely no amusement anymore.“Is there anything else I should know?”
“Nope,” I barely spat out between wheezes. “Just go play with your new stats, skills, and abilities then let me know how it goes.”