Checking the time, he still had about an hour until he'd need to make his way home. Michael estimated that he'd be able to clear out the rest of the starting quest chain before he went home for the day. He'd now acquired a set of basic gear - wand, robe, and crystal focus - and it had boosted his stats by a reasonable degree. He smiled a bit, considering how his day-to-day life had started to look more like a game over the past few days.
"Now, if only I could sling spells like this, too..." he mused.
<
"I'm aware of that, System. I was just--"
<
"... wait, what do you mean?"
<
"..."
<<...>>
"System?"
<<...Awaiting Subject's query.>>
"Is magic real?"
<
"System... that's too cruel."
---
Michael left a little later, while Valeria and Jeremy continued on. He made plans to meet up with Jeremy after class tomorrow to make his way over and start the work, and began the walk from the cafe to home. He pondered a few different ways he could phrase a question in order to get more information from the System on the latest topic.
"System, is it possible to create a mission to unlock the knowledge of what I'd need to do to learn more, at least?"
<<...System is evaluating Subject's proposition...Mission Generated.
[Mission: Empty your Bowl]
Description: Sometimes, having too many things on the go at once can prevent you from being able to perform any of them truly well. Reach a state of all missions completed in order to unlock a new potential avenue. Failure in any mission is not permitted. Note that it is possible that additional missions will be created before this mission is completed.
Reward: [Mission: Road to ???] unlocked.
Optional: Advanced placement in [Mission: Regional Games] will unlock additional information, and potentially further related rewards.>>
Michael was stunned. This was... a huge ask! Originally, he had been planning to place somewhere in the middle, enough to pass the class and the mission but not have to overexert himself too much. However, the opportunity to learn about magic -- REAL magic! -- quickly crushed those plans. This was just too enticing! Michael knew that there was something to the system's claims, since even the most advanced science he could think of wouldn't be able to put something like the system into his brain.
"This is a lot to process... but at least I've got something to work towards," Michael mumbled as he continued on his way. He decided to start planning his approach after dinner.
---
<<[Mission: Road to a Healthy Body] updated. Completion (2/7).
Physique-??? => +0.002
Physique-??? => +0.001
Physique-??? => +0.001.
New Route "Cafe to Home" recorded. Current time is 43 minutes 26 seconds.>>
"I'm home!" Michael called as he walked in the door. He saw his parents standing in the kitchen moving things about as his sisters finished setting the table. His mother was carving up a roast while his father was pouring a couple of glasses of wine. This surprised Michael a bit, as his parents normally only drank on special occasions. "Something good happened here, too?"
His father grinned as he poured. "We got the contract - a brand new internal system for the entire factory! Your mother was amazing - she had them eating out of her hand by the end of the last presentation." The person in question scoffed a bit as she finished plating the roast. "They weren't eating out of my hand, Flavius. But yes Michael, we did get the contract, and it looks like I'll have some work for you! Though, what did you mean by something good here, too?" she asked.
Michael grinned at the prospect of making even more money in the near future. He always enjoyed the challenge of the practical work he did with his parents - and the extra money that came with it! He'd worked for them for two summers, now, though they'd discussed the potential of him spending a small amount of time during the school year to do so as well, as long as it didn't affect his studies. He then made his own announcement.
"I've found a small contract of my own! An internet cafe a new friend of mine's family is in charge of is looking for a part-time technician - they're opening this weekend and need someone to patch and update their machines. It's only a few hours work tomorrow and Friday night, and I've made sure that I'll be home for dinner tomorrow. Friday night I'll take a cab back if needed, and I've already calculated the costs. It's not much work for now, but it might mean some ongoing hours in the future if it goes well. I could use your help putting together a contract for Friday?" he concluded.
His parents looked at each other, smiling at their son's entrepreneurial spirit and agreed, since it sounded like he'd already figured out what their concerns would be and allayed them. With that, everyone sat down at the dinner table and shared the rest of the events of the day. His sisters regaled the rest of them with their escapades with their neighbourhood friends, and his parents gave the kids the details of the rest of the meetings. Finally, Michael shared his plans for his English project, and told them the story of his experiences at the cafe - though he glossed over exactly how much time he spent adventuring with his mage. He then made plans to work on the contract, hear about their plans for the project, and discuss his thoughts on putting the bathroom in downstairs with them tomorrow after dinner. Tonight, he had to get his Latin homework done for the next day's class, as well as take stock of everything on his to-do list.
---
After dinner, Michael rushed through the cleanup and made his way downstairs. He disregarded the notification of minor gains to his cleaning skill and placed his textbooks and materials on his work desk. His Latin homework was just some basic grammar, and the optional work just included some additional questions, so he couldn't use his new Enhanced Focus skill (as it only worked for Reading at the moment and could only be operated in hour-long intervals). However, he felt it would still be pretty straightforward.
Making a note to ask the System about what would be required to upgrade his Enhanced Focus to include writing, he continued to work through the homework taking advantage of the 'Organized Mind' bonuses available in his workspace. He was able to complete it all in 45 minutes. Still, between dinner, cleaning up, and his homework, he only had a few minutes left before he needed to head to bed to get the full benefits of the overnight improvements he'd been seeing. Considering the competition he determined he'd be facing in just his own class, he knew he needed to improve his physical skills as much as possible.
With that in mind, he quickly dismissed the <<[Mission: Latin Homework] complete.>> notification that appeared and went upstairs to brush his teeth and wash his face. He then said goodnight to his parents, went back downstairs and sat at his desk again. He moved all of his books to their proper locations - the supplemental books weren't called for in class, so he had dedicated a space on one of his bookshelves for them, while his actual Latin textbook went back to his bag - and sat down with a crisp pad of ruled paper in front of him. Then, he began to try to organize his thoughts. He tried to couch things in more ordinary terms, so that if someone came across his list it wouldn't look as odd.
1. In order to create a calmer mind, I need to complete all of the tasks I currently have on my plate.
2. The items on my list are:
- Improve my Body
- Keep up with my Algebra Homework
- Keep up with my Chemistry Homework
- Keep up with my Latin Homework
- Keep up with my English Homework
- Complete my English Assignment
- Complete my Computers Assignment on the history of the world since the beginning of the Common Era
- Compete in the Regional Games, and do well
- Submit my Proposal for the basement bathroom, and prepare the funds for the difference in budget
- Complete the IT upgrade project for the Cyber Cafe.
- Complete the Internal System project for Mom & Dad's company.
At this point, he took a step back and let out a deep breath. Things were really starting to pile up, and it was only the third day of school! After staring at the ceiling for a few moments while he sorted out his thoughts, he continued.
3. In order to continue, here are the specific actions I can take.
- Doing well in the Regional Games will require me to drastically improve my physical fitness, as well as improve the specific skills involved. In order to improve, I should:
1. Continue to work on my physical fitness through my new daily routine, and improve it as time goes by.
2. Research and develop a better nutrition plan.
3. Complete the basement bathroom as quickly as possible, so that I can take advantage of the available facilities and features.
4. Research ways to get more practice on each of events included in the Games.
- Completing the upgrades to the bathroom, getting new ingredients and upgrading training equipment/facilities is going to cost money. I need to focus on the projects I have and also look at ways to make more.
- At the same time, I can't let school fall behind. I'm going to need to take full advantage of all of my available time.
Now that everything was written out, Michael felt much better. It seemed like the system approved of his actions, too.
<<'Organization' skill => +0.01
Intelligence-??? => +0.001
Willpower-??? => +0.002>>
However, while having everything listed helped to ease some of the noise in his mind, Michael was faced with a new problem - there just didn't seem to be enough hours in the day!