Alex stood there in confusion. Why would someone he just met help him like this? He looked at John with real skepticism. He wasn't sure if this was real or not, if this was because the increase of his charm stat or if he had just run into a great dude. Alex looked at John in stunned silence while John started to sweat slightly. "I mean it's not all certain. I will still have to ask my wife Sarah if it will be okay and I will still have to make some prep but even if she doesn't want you here i'm sure I could get her to let you stay a few weeks so I can figure out something to help you out." He said looking rather worried.
"I don't want to overstep my boundaries. We just met, and your inviting me into your house." Alex said his piece as he looked at the worried john. "That may be so Alex but you seem like a good kid and my mother taught me when I was growing up always to help those who deserve it. If anyone is overstepping there boundaries it's me Alex. If you don't want to stay here I won't insist, but at least take some cash to help you out" he said as he slowly grabbed for his pocket. "Forget about it. I'll take you up on your offer." Alex said as he finally let his body relax. Something about John just reeked of innocence and kindness. He seemed like he genuinely had the best intentions for Alex.
John exhaled as he slowly got his keys out. He stepped towards the door and quickly unlocked it before wavering me in. I arrived in the cozy living room of the house. It was much larger than I thought they would be but none the less a cozy place to rest. A large flat screen TV was set on a metal stand by the end of a wall with large windows near the entrance. A large sofa covered in blankets was near the center of the room while the rest of the space was covered in bookshelves except for a small corner where a small desk was. The Desk had many pieces of paper on it that all had small notes and drawings on. On the desk there was also a small picture of John and who I guessed was Sarah. Sarah stood out as she was much shorter than John but had this intense glow about her, it almost seemed to spark through the picture.
John put the keys he had in his pockets up before stopping at the sound of a voice from further in the house. "John, Is that you? I thought you were heading to work?" said a sweet voice. John looked ahead through a doorway and said "I was but, I ran into someone. I think we need to talk Sarah." A short blonde haired woman walked into the room with a smile. As her eyes spotted me she chuckled before saying "Honey, who is this?" John looked at her with a smile before saying gently "It is a very kind boy I found on the street this morning. His name is Alex and, though this may seem sudden, I have invited him to stay at our house for some time. You see he doesn't really have anywhere to go from what I understand and I thought that it would be nice to have some company here."
Sarah looked between John and Alex with a shocked expression before slowly smiling and saying "This is quite sudden John. And you say that you just met Alex?" She asked quite politely. "Yes but he is a truly kind and polite kid and I think helping him out would be the least we could do." John said softly once more. Sarah looked at John dead in the eyes before slowly releasing a deep breath. "John I know you have good intentions but this seriously has to be the last time. It's awesome helping people and all but it isn't a good idea to invite strangers into our home. But..." she said before looking at Alex with soft eyes. "He is a kid. A young one at that so it would be right of us to help him out." she said finally.
John slowly looked at Alex and Sarah before releasing a long sigh of release before slowly looking at me and saying "There is a guest bedroom upstairs. You can't miss it. Go ahead and rest awhile while I talk with Sarah."
Alex looked at the couple with a strange feeling in his stomach before slowly heading upstairs. He saw a large door with the words 'Guest' on them plainly and he slowly opened the room up. Inside the room was a comfy looking bed and a small desk as well as a dresser and a large mirror. He slowly sat down on the bed feeling himself sink into the mattress. It felt amazing yet... uncomfortable at the same time. He slowly looked around him before thinking about the day.
'I was about to rob the person who just took me off the streets. It feels almost.... fated. I hadn't even used my new power before he lit me up with conversations.'
Alex slowly took his hand up as he tried to trigger the power he had gotten. After a few moments of concentration a small ball of shadow appeared out of his palm. It wasn't a full shadow, it almost looked like it dimmed the light slightly. But the more he thought and focused on it the more the shadow seemed to solidify and darken. After a few minutes the orb in his hand was pitch black. After a few more minutes he felt something dripping on his face and as he looked up at the mirror in his room he completely lost focus as he saw the massive nosebleed that had started on his face. The Ball of shadow completely dissipated after I lost focus. It was strange but he felt very drained after creating the shadow orb.
Alex quickly went downstairs looking for the bathroom before seeing John and Sarah hugging gently in the front room. "I know he is just a kid John but... we can't keep doing this. If we do this again I don't know what i'm gonna do." Sarah said gently. John slowly said "Don't worry about it Sarah. This is the last time, I promise. The kid needs help and I think we can be the one to help him." Alex stood there in silence after realizing the stress Sarah must be going through. It seems that John had helped a lot more people then just Alex. At least his heart is pure. "Um... where is your bathroom?" Alex asked quickly. Sarah and John turned around in a hurry and noticed the blood streaming from my face and Sarah quickly reacted. She quickly said "Oh dear, Come here I will help you get cleaned up." After a few minutes Sarah had Alex in a gently colored bathroom were he proceeded to dye the floors and sink red with his blood.
After a few minutes the bleeding had stopped but he felt a dull ache start to throb in his head. The ability really took it out of him and he only practiced it for maybe ten minutes max. "Alex you should go upstairs and rest. I will clean this mess up and get you some food. Hopefully that will help you feel better." Sarah said quickly. "No Sarah it's fine I can clean up this mess." I said quickly before slowly grabbing a rag and some hand soap. "No. Not in this house you won't. You just had a massive nose bleed and any overexerting and you might go feinting next. Just go upstairs and lay down, I will bring some food up shortly." Sarah said with determination. Alex slowly walked upstairs feeling strange at having somebody do something for him. He slowly fell asleep on the bed.
He awoke in a start as he found it pitch black in the room he was in. A slight ringing started coming from the watch on his wrist. He looked down and found that it was lit up with a small bell. After a few seconds the bell dissipated and went to the home screen where there was a new icon. A small checklist appeared and had a red glaring 1 written by it. Alex quickly clicked the button before seeing a projection appear from the watch and slowly come up towards his eyes. It was a strange sensation seeing a screen pop up from seemingly no were.
Welcome to The Race Artifact Wielder #1.
This months objective will be for you all to find the most common artifacts out there. In Total there are 99 of you. Each with there own unique artifact and powers. The common artifacts that have been equally distributed across the world are nothing like your artifacts. They are much weaker and don't have much uses. There are many different rarities of artifacts but currently only two types have been distributed. Common, and Uncommon. This months challenge is to get the most common artifacts you can get. You will be able to see who is in the lead and which continent they are currently on. The reward for this challenge will be 1 common skill and who ever has the most will get an additional uncommon skill as well.
Good luck and remember, It is a race.
Alex read the message in an eerie silence. After a few moments a new window popped up.
Artifact Wielder #1, Alex Blackshine.
Current progress: 0 Artifacts, currently tied for first place with all other Artifact Wielders.
Alex felt a rush of energy enter him. It seemed like this so called race had finally began.