Chereads / XP Grind / Chapter 4 - "Charmed"

Chapter 4 - "Charmed"

8:00PM

Marcus arrived at his house, exhausted from his surprisingly eventful day.

As he walked to the door, he heard shouting that was getting increasingly louder in volume. It was his siblings Joshua and Julie, who often argued over even the most minor disagreements.

As Marcus entered the door, he found twins arguing and clamoring over a small object. The two had even begun to throw things at each other. As something flew past Marcus' head he decided it was time to test his new ability.

"Hey, what's going on?" he asked the two intending to calm them down.

Surprisingly, his voice had come out softer than ever before and was able to soothe the twins long enough for them to acknowledge him.

"What are you two arguing about this time?" he interrogated.

Julie was the first to speak. "We were trying to decide who should get to choose the channel on the TV by playing Super Smack Bros, but Joshua's a sore loser and demanded a rematch!"

She glared at Joshua, but instead of backing down, he began to explain to his brother that she can't consider it a win since she used projectiles and ran away the entire time.

After listening to both sides of the argument, Marcus decided it would be the perfect time to test the limits of Charm.

He proposed an idea to the two that they would never accept. "How about this, you both play against me and if you can take even one stock, then I'll forfeit my computer for the night."

Normally, the twins would have ignored him and started yelling at each other again, but today he had used his Charm ability, and the twins were left practically unable to refuse him. "Alright, we'll take you up on your offer." Joshua said, looking at Julie once more to confirm their stance on the matter.

9:00PM

Marcus had been watching one of his favorite shows with his siblings for nearly an hour. He had changed the channel after quickly beating his siblings, but they didn't complain about losing for once.

Marcus assumed that as long as he stayed within a certain limit, the two would agree with what he asked them to do.

He tried to test the limits by asking Joshua if he could have his new gaming console, but Joshua was able to refuse this outrageous request.

Marcus decided to check the Skills menu to see how much XP he had gained from using charm. He was saddened upon learning that Charm had not leveled up, but it had gained 87XP from his usage of it.

Without closing the menu, he turned to the television once more as the main character made a joke. He laughed along with his siblings for a while and eventually turned back to the Skills menu.

He noticed that there was 88XP now. Upon noticing this Marcus couldn't help but wonder if Charm was actually a passive ability that was always in effect when he interacted with another person. He quickly remembered that his interactions with Joey had not affected the ability though.

The only other solution Marcus could come up with was that it was an ability he turned on and off with a command, probably the word "Charm" that he had used prior to his conversation with the twins.

A smile swept across his face as he realized that by leveling this ability, he could get his way in any social situations. He quickly closed the menu, but decided to leave Charm active as he bid his siblings good night and went to bed.

He fell asleep thinking about his future, and the abilities to come.