Xale got up out of bed and went downstairs, their house was a 2-story house where all the bedrooms were upstairs.
As he was walking down the stairs he took his phone out of his pocket to read the time, 7:53 AM it read. He already assumed this as he could smell cooking from the kitchen, his mother cooks breakfast before leaving for work.
His dad was a rank A hunter so he left the family with a good amount to live off of, but it was only enough to last 3 and a half years. Luckily Xale's mother was an intelligent lady who knew how to be a nurse so she got a job after realising that they could not live off her husband's savings.
Xale's father was only a rank A hunter part time, it was too risky a profession to have a family with. So the amount of money was not as much as one would think, each time he went on a raid he held back 50% of it for savings in case he died.
But of course, he didn't expect to die so soon. Especially not by his friends Yuna and Terrance.
Anyway, they were still at a decline in finance but they expect that to change once Xale goes to the academy and receives free accommodation and a decent allowance from the government.
'I promise to bring in as much money as possible once I start doing raids. I promise.' Xale made that one of his primary goals as soon as he received the system that would change his fate.
Walking into the kitchen he called "Hey. Whatcha cooking?" joyfully, surprising his mother.
"Jesus dear. You scared the hell out of me- Wait a minute. What are you doing up!? W-where are your injuries!?" She looked Xale up down while rubbing her eyes, making sure that what she was seeing was real.
Then she noticed something, 'Is that a smile? That's rare for him.' she was more surprised about that than his injuries magically disappearing, one has to remember that this world was full of surprises.
Xale didn't smile often after his 16th birthday, to be honest, he already didn't smile much since his father died so it got worse. The only times he ever smiled was around Quinn and Zander, but she knew that it was just to not worry them.
Xale had a therapist because he was depressed. He visited her every week for the past 2 months, 45 minutes a session. He quite liked therapy, he could just vent without the stress of his mother or siblings getting worried for him.
After hearing his mother, he looked down at his body and realised, 'Shit, I forgot to ask about that, I still don't know why I'm okay.'
"I um... I don't really know?" Is all he could say as he had literally no clue how he was healthy.
Xale's mother walked up to him to check that he truly was okay, "Well, strange things happen all the time so I'm not too~ surprised. All that matters is that your okay." She said while going back to attend the pan she left on the hob with a bright smile that in turn made Xale smile more.
"Ha, yeah I guess so." he chuckled as he laid on a couch with his arms behind his back.
'What's going on? He's even chuckling, Xale only does that with the other 2.' her curiosity got the better of her as she asked,
"What put you in a good mood? You seem to be all smiles this morning."
Xale then touched his face and realised that he was actually smiling, he hadn't noticed before due to the overwhelming amount of information and excitement he felt after looking at the system interface, 'What the hell, ha. One good thing happens in my life and I'm this happy, spose its only natural though, literally nothing goes well in my life. But not anymore, I will get stronger!'
He could once again only say "I don't know... Maybe a good dream?"
"Do you think it's the therapy's doing?" His mother asked, incredibly curious if the therapist she paid for was making things better.
"Hmm, it could be, although she said it would take longer for a case like me. So I'm not sure, but we can put it down to that for now."
"I think we shall." She concluded, "Anyway, your breakfast is scrambled eggs on toast this morning. Could you please fetch your siblings? If Zander isn't feeling well tell him to stay in bed. Shortly after you went to sleep yesterday, we got a call from his friend's mother saying that he was home sick and would like to come home." She asked of Xale.
"Is he alright?" Xale was concerned, he cared more about his brother than he did himself.
His mother knowing this, "Oh please, don't worry. Everybody gets sick especially 11 year olds. Now go."
"Sorry, sorry." He said while getting up to go knock on the doors of his siblings. He used to just walk in but know that his sister was 14 years old it was a bit inappropriate and she needed privacy so he just knocked.
*knock knock* He knocked on his sister's door and called, "Quinn! You up?" With which he got a grumpy response,
"Do you have to be so loud~? What time is it anyway?" She asked drowsily not even bothering to open the door.
He checked his phone before replying, "First off, It's my job to be loud and second, it's 10 past 8 and mum's making breakfast, so get up. You've got school later."
"Ugh, fine I'll be down in 5. Go get Zander, he came home late last night after we dealt with y- Wait a second, how are you up!?" she shot up and opened the door and looked Xale up and down like his mother did.
"I don't know and mum doesn't either so just accept it. Anyways, since when did you move so fast in the mornings?" Xale teased.
Embarrassed, she slammed the door in his face and yelled, "Go get Zander!" trying to change the topic.
Laughing, Xale leaves her and goes to the door next to her room and gives it a knock.
*knock knock* "Hey bud! You okay?" He said in a softer voice than when he did it to his sister.
When he heard no response he asked again, in a slightly louder tone, after he didn't receive a response he opened the door, 'Is he really that tired? He's usually so energetic...'
Entering the room he saw a young boy laying on his bed curled up into a ball under his duvet with only his head peaking out on a pillow.
Curious, Xale walked forward to check his temperature by putting his hand on Zander's forehead and noticed that he had a hot forehead, he also noticed his face rather pale in comparison to his temperature, 'Seems like a bad illness.'
One of the benefits of having a mother that was a trained nurse was that she could deal with these sorts of things.
Even though he was ill he still needed to drink some water and take some medicine to calm his fever so Xale gently shook him awake.
"Hmmmm? Xale?- ouch." His voice was rough which seemed to indicate a sore throat.
"Heya, I know you're ill and all but you've got to wake up to settle your fever and take some pain relief. Do you have a sore throat too?" Xale said with a smile.
"Yeah, a bit. What time is it? *cough* ow..." Zander coughed after talking, which hurt his throat more.
Xale turned on the lamp in his room, "Around 10 past 8 in the morning but it doesn't matter since you're not going to school. Get yourself sat up while I go get mum."
"Okay" Zander said while Xale was leaving.
When Xale got to the kitchen he saw his mother finishing up cooking.
"Hey. Zander is still ill and he's got a sore throat now, it seems like a pretty bad illness." Xale informed his mother of Zander's situation.
"Alright, we don't have too much medicine left so after you eat your food could you go get some from the pharmacy?" Nova asked.
'Perfect' he thought.
"Yeah sure, I was planning on going out anyway for a bit." He said, it wasn't unusual as Xale spent most of his time outside because of the therapist's advice.
Xale's mother smiled, "Alright well. Eat food first and then you can go out, not letting you go on an empty stomach, it's quite the distance to the nearest pharmacy."
Xale knew this and was precisely why he wanted to go, if he ran it would count as his exercise task.
"Okay"
***
After eating breakfast he went to his room and picked out some gym wear-ish clothes and started to try do some push-ups it was only after 20 he started to realise how un-fit he truly was.
*Pant* *pant* "Holy shit, this is *pant*, so much harder than it should be."
He had to take several breaks but he eventually finished 100 whole push-ups.
[ Objective: 100 push-ups - Complete! ]
As soon as he saw this he dropped onto the floor hyperventilating and felt like he was dying.
Xale was in immense disbelief currently, "It took me... *pant* 30. Fucking. Minutes. To do just do 100 push-ups. *pant*"
'30 whole minutes. I'm really this pathetic? This is ridiculous.'
For the next hour he wasdoing the other exercises apart from the running which he was going to do later on the way to the pharmacy.
He currently hated himself.
Why didn't he train his ability? Was he really that ashamed of it? No, he did. But it didn't do anything for him, literally nothing. He could only put it down to the fact that his power is not borrowed but his own. Meaning he doesn't have the privileges of the other ability users.
But that doesn't excuse him from the elephant in the room. He didn't put any effort into himself or even try to be in shape through alternative methods. Just because training did it automatically, that didn't mean that exercise didn't do anything. He was blinded by the simplicity of training an ability that he didn't notice that he could just exercise to get into shape.
Of course, there was a limit exercising could have done for him, but he wouldn't be struggling so much right now if he had.
'I'm so stupid. Why am I so dumb.' he mind sighed. He was too tired to actually sigh.
After half an hour of recuperating he decided to have a shower and get dressed into a different outfit since the previous one was drenched in sweat.
He tied up his running shoes and called out before he left, "I'm leaving for the pharmacy!"
When he got outside he put his Air Pods in started jogging in the direction of the park.
The pharmacy was around 4km away from his house so it would be 8km to get there and back meaning he had 2km to spare. He felt like running through the park for a the running paths.
Although exercising was strange in society, running was seen as normal since stamina was something that could be increased outside of ability training, it was common seeing people jogging and running in the park.
"What a nice day." Xale commented, it was a sunny day in Elis and the park he was running in was known for being incredibly beautiful in sunlight, it was a shame it was winter because most of the trees had no leaves.
Around 14 minutes later he had finished 2km and was paying the price with yet again more panting for air.
Yet he was used to it, so he didn't complain. That would only make him more depressed about himself.
After taking a break he pulled out his phone and chose a route to the nearest pharmacy and started running.
30 minutes later he had made it all the way to the pharmacy, with a few breaks, which he stayed outside to catch his breath before going inside and walking up to the counter.
"Hello, sir. What can I help with today." the store clerk smiled brightly while greeting the tired Xale, who had his head down.
'He's pretty cute.' is what she internally thought.
Xale looked up and asked, "Hi Miss. I'd like to buy some Extramol for my little brother and some Strepsils." trying his best to hide how exhausted he was.
The clerk picked out a box of Extramol and a packet of honey Strepsils for him, "Here you go sir, that would be £5 please."
Xale picked out a £5 note and handed over before saying, "Have a nice day!" as he left and started his journey back.
And, finally after another 30 minutes. He finally made it back while feeling like he wanted to die due to fatigue, yet he didn't give up, which he was proud of. He got in his house, chucked the box of pain relief and strepsils on the kitchen counter, went up to his room, and fell onto his bed and heard the sweet sound of,
Ding...!
[ Daily Quest Complete!
- 100 push-ups: Complete!
- 100 sit-ups: Complete!
- 30 minutes of plank: Complete!
- 10km of running: Complete!
Gained 2 attribute point! ]
He also received a pleasant surprise...
Ding...!
[ Hidden Quest Complete!
- Complete First Daily Quest
- Difficulty: Hard
Rewards:
- Ablyssful Slumber Passive Skill! [ A side-reward for such determination. ]
- Abys...
Xale didn't even manage to read the rest before he fell asleep right then and there.