Waking up the next day, the first thing Peter did was check his calendar. This was an action the young man wouldn't usually perform, especially so early. However, he had a reason for doing so today.
'It's just as I thought. In a week from now, the Annual Scouting Tournament will begin,' Peter thought to himself.
The AST, for short, was a yearly event held to discover those who had talent, thereby accessing who would make a beneficial addition to the military. Earth's military system had evolved ever since the Great Awakening, and some would call it a blessing the structure no longer entailed detailed and meticulously-planned ranks and titles.
Peter, although not interested in Earth's military, has a goal in mind, and with his Necromancer System, there were very few obstacles limiting him from attaining his goal.
There was his duty as a son, his online job and classes, and his best friend, who was still living in the same neighborhood as him.
Although Peter had his goals in mind, the thought of living with his loved ones, even though it was just for a while, made him sick to his stomach.
'Still, the event is a couple of days away, I should use this time to watch some Patha videos,' having made his decision yesterday, the young man decided he would use the time he had today to learn to control his emotions. Although Peter knew such a thing couldn't be achieved in a single day, he believed he still needed to start somewhere.
Completing his morning routine, Peter sat comfortably on a study chair in his room, propping his phone against a stack of books, a video began to play.
The video was of a young twenty-three-year-old woman teaching the art of meditation.
"There are more to emotions than we realize," the video started. "Our emotions may stem from deeply-rooted childhood traumas, keeping us from reaching a potential never thought possible.
"We may wish to do something, but this nagging voice in our head tells us we can't. That is the manifestation of the pain we might have experienced earlier in life, trying to keep us safe from being hurt again. But what it doesn't know is, it's hurting you by keeping you limited."
It was a sixteen-minute video. During the video, Peter assumed the lotus position the woman had. Meditation was never really Peter's thing. Although he had tried it a couple of times in the past, he always dropped it after the third or so day of practice.
Closing his eyes, taking and releasing deep breaths, Peter tried to fully comprehend what the woman was saying. As the video progressed, Peter would open his eyes, checking how far the video had gone, until he even saw fifteen minutes had passed, and a smile appeared on his face.
Once the video was over, Peter kicked off his legs against the floor, almost knocking down the phone being supported by the stack of books now on the floor.
Heaving out a sigh of relief, and picking up the phone, Peter went on to select another video. Having not experienced his desired result from the first one, he thought he would perhaps have to watch a bunch of them before he could finally control his emotions.
Five videos later, Peter was still in a rut. Having exhausted a great chunk of his internet subscription, the young man thought it wise to refrain from watching Patha videos for a while. Besides, after watching five videos, Peter was beginning to think he was only wasting his time, but still, he didn't wish to give up.
'This is getting annoying. I thought that I could learn emotional control by watching all these videos on emotional intelligence on Patha. But still, I feel like I'm getting nowhere.
'All these videos have so many views. The least popular among them I've watched has over a 59million views.
'Is there something I'm doing wrong? Am I missing something? I need to browse this and find out. But wait, I'm almost out of an internet subscription. From the looks of it, I only have 100PN remaining.'
PH is short for Purchased Network. Among other things, it had become a value representing the amount of internet access one could have, not only in the Red Continent but the whole world.
'Oh well, since there's nothing else I can do, I better go do my homework,' and with that, Peter switched into student mode, fishing out his school books, researching online with the little PN he had left in search of answers, after which he would write the main points of his answers on his books, then explain them further in a worksheet software on his phone, before ultimately forwarding it to his teacher online after he's done reviewing it and all.
Noon had dawned once Peter was done. Placing his phone aside to charge, the young man decided to catch some Zs with this free time he had. He intended to continue his daily routine once it was 2:00 pm. However, for now, it would be nothing but sleep and relaxation.
'I can't stop thinking about those videos. Why couldn't I grasp the knowledge they were spitting? It was not like they were using some sophisticated English, or teaching something I couldn't understand.
'As a matter of fact, I understand everything they were saying, but still, I just can't relate to it. I feel like the information doesn't resonate with me. But why?' Peter was finding it difficult to enjoy his short period of peace, his mind trying to calculate the reason why he was finding it hard to apply the knowledge he had learned.
In the end, the young man began to get a severe headaches. Swallowing some pain killers, Pete just could get his mind over the situation, no matter how hard he tried.
'This is pointless. Let me see what I can do to distract my attention. Although I could use my Necromancer powers a little bit, I don't want to get carried away and use more energy I can replenish.
'And also, there's an issue with my HP.'
The reason Peter had in mind was this.
[HP: 90/100]
Although consuming food could replenish his Energy Bar, the same couldn't be said for his Health Bar. Since when he had injured his fist, the young man had been extra careful when it came to getting injured. Scratches, bruises, unfortunate hits, the young man ensured he avoided them all, at least until he could find a way to get his HP bar back up to 100.
'If only this obnoxious system would give me another Quest, I could perhaps help my HP department if it has something to do with me improving my Health.
'I just hope it doesn't give me a Quest like the previous one. I can still feel chills from it. Of course, the dead squirrel allowed me to practice with my powers, being so close to dead people I don't know for a long time isn't exactly good for my mental health.'
Thinking about this, the young man remembered how the system had helped him during the completion of his first Quest. Trying to find something more relevant to think about, a sudden 'ding' sound, suddenly sounded in his ear.
Grinning from ear to ear, the young man couldn't help but feel an uplifting sensation from within, as though he was being especially favored in life. He couldn'tcontainn his excitement, and stared intently forward, waiting for the system message to appear.
'Finally! Gosh, I thought this system would make me wait longer till it gave me another Quest. Now, let's find out just what this new Quest entails. Hopefully, it might be something I find more suitable to my liking?'
After a few moments, a set of notifications appeared, reading through them, Peter wasn't sure how to feel.
[A new feature has been added]
[Error?]
[Host must complete his tenth Quest to unlock it]
'...'
Peter was left speechless. After all the hype he had given the system for finally dropping him with a second Quest, he found himself shell-shocked from receiving this set of messages.
Clenching his fist, before he would do something he might regret in the future, the young man quickly laid down in a lotus position, taking in, and giving out deep breaths, letting his emotions flow freely. However, the procedure was more painful than he had earlier anticipated.
'Damn! I feel like I'm trying to swallow fire!' Peter thought, trying his best not to lose his mind from the intense emotions bubbling within him. After over thirty minutes in that position, Peter finally opened his eyes, and a smile appeared on his face.
'I seem to finally be getting this. Wonderful. Now, if I could only keep this up, I would fully grasp control over my emotions in no time at all.'
While he was thinking this, a 'ding' sound was heard, however, it wasn't what he initially expected. Walking towards his charging phone, Peter took a look at his phone screen and found a message on it.
'Who the heck is Danny Vinton?' Peter thought, unplugging his phone.