"Violet?" Teresa said as she knocked on the door to Violet's room and went inside then saw two magical portals up in the air. Ignoring the portals in the air, Teresa said "Dinner is ready, would you care to join us Jake?"
"Thank you ma'am, but I should start heading home now. It's getting late." Jake said.
"That's alright." Teresa said as she left the room.
"Good choice." Violet said to Jake. "My mom's cool but you don't want to spend up to an hour eating dinner with my dad. For you it will be like torture."
"I get that your dad is overprotective, but I'm pretty sure if I ate dinner with him he'll like me. No one can resist my charm."
"If you're so sure about that, why don't you stay for dinner?" Violet asked.
"Because I wasn't lying when I said I should start heading back home. Do you know how long it's going to take me to get home even though I'll leave now?"
"So if you know the distance between our houses is very far, why did you still come?"
"Well first, I didn't know your house was in another district when I decided to come pay you a visit. Second, I came because if I didn't come now, I might not see you again till it's time for me to join an academy." Jake answered.
"Thanks for coming all the way here to see me." Violet said.
"It was no problem. If I have time, I might see you again before you leave for the academy."
Heading outside Violet's room, Jake saw the dining table already set and Violet's family were sitting down to eat.
Seeing a boy who appeared to be ten years old, Jake said to Violet quietly "You didn't tell me you have a little brother."
"You didn't ask. He's very annoying." Violet responded.
"What's your last name?" Jake asked.
"Why are you asking?"
"So I'll know what to call your parents."
"Good thinking, it's Cruzo. Come on." Walking with Jake to the dining, Violet said "I'm just going to walk Jake to the gate then come back."
"Be fast about it." Violet's father said.
"Honey, she's only going to walk him to the gate. It's not like their going to start kissing in front of the security guard." Teresa said.
"Thank you mom, but the kissing part was not necessary." Violet said.
"Goodnight Mr and Mrs Cruzo." Jake said and acknowledged the presence of Violet's brother with a nod in his direction to which the boy smiled then Jake left with Violet.
"Will you be able to find your way back?" Violet asked as she and Jake walked to the gate.
"Why not? I got here by myself didn't I?" Jake replied.
"True, but are you sure? I can walk with you to the spot where you'll find a Seetle."
"Thanks Violet, but seriously I'm good. Besides, I don't think your dad would like that."
"You're right." Violet said, smiling.
"And thanks for your help with getting me that bag."
"You mean the bag with the magical dimension?"
"Yeah, my girlfriend really loved it." Jake said.
"It was no problem, I also got one for myself."
Reaching the gate, Jake hugged Violet and she hugged him back. "Bye Violet." Jake said as he left her.
"Bye Jake." After waving at Jake as he left her house, Violet went back inside and headed to the dining table to have dinner.
"Dad you know you need to stop doing this." Violet said as she sat down.
"Doing what?" Violet's father asked.
"Whatever it is you think you're doing when a boy comes to visit me in the house."
"I don't think I'm doing anything. I simply don't like it when a boy goes into my daughter's room and stays with her behind closed doors. And you haven't introduced any boy to your mother and I as your boyfriend."
"That's because I don't have one yet. And it's not like a boy comes to visit me everyday, it's only two boys that come in like, a week. Mom back me up here."
"She's right honey, you're not going to marry your daughter are you?" Teresa said. "She's going to leave one day and you should be spending time getting to know her, instead of being a grunt to her friends."
"Alright, you're right. My baby girl's growing up, so fast, and right in front of my eyes. I'll try to be more welcoming to your friends."
"Thanks Dad." Violet said.
Still walking to the stop for the Seetles, Jake remembered he hadn't completed his last quest. 'Why would the system give me a quest this difficult to complete? If I could just find a place with fire.' Jake thought while looking around.
Not seeing anything useful to him, Jake kept walking to the stop for the Seetles.
***
Now back in Ansteria, Jake got down from the Seetle and walked home. Getting to his house, Jake opened the door and saw the whole place was dark. Tapping the wall next to him twice, the lights came on and Jake walked into the living room. 'That's strange, why were the lights off? Is no one home?' Jake thought.
"Dad? Sky?" Calling out and getting no response, Jake confirmed no one was home and walking into the kitchen, Jake saw a note on the refrigerator which read "You're reading this because you got back before me. Dad had to rush to work and I went out for a while. I'll be back soon. Sky."
"So I'm the only one at home? How convenient is this, finally I can complete the quest without the need to worry about someone interrupting me."
[Quests]
[Hold an object with a temperature of 100°C for 10 mins= Endurance +5, +30exp]
Grabbing a spoon from a cabinet, Jake heated it with the electric cooker and waited. "How am I going to know when it reaches a hundred degrees though? And do I need to heat the spoon? The electric cooker is an object and I can simply touch it when I see hundred degrees on the scale on the wall."
Removing the spoon from the electric cooker, Jake waited till the scale stopped at 100°C before he took in deep breaths, set a ten minutes timer on his watch and stuffed table napkins into his mouth to muffle the noise if he screams, then put his palm on the electric cooker.
Screaming in pain, Jake was trying his best to not remove his hand but the pain was so unbearable and he had to take his hand off the electric cooker. 'I didn't even hold it for up to five minutes.'
Looking at his palm, Jake saw his skin had been burnt completely and he could see his flesh already healing. He was still in pain but it was reducing as his palm was healing.
'I have to do it again, I need to complete the quest quickly before Dad or Sky comes back.'
Jake waited for his palm to heal completely before putting his palm on the electric cooker again.
This time, trying not to shout and biting down as hard as he could on the table napkins in his mouth, Jake was able to keep his hand on the electric cooker while his hand healed as it got burned.
Looking at his system screen, Jake saw his health points reducing as it healed his burning palm.
[Jake Cayden]
[Level: 4]
[Health:123/140]
[Species:Human*]
[Strength:30]
[Speed: 25]
[Endurance:33]
[Mental Moxie:16]
[Mana:22/22]
[Magic:23]
[Element: None]
[Ability: Magic mimicry]
[Exp: 295/800]
Hearing the beep from his watch, Jake immediately took his hand off the electric cooker.
[Quest Completed: Hold an object with a temperature of 100°C for 10 mins]
[Endurance +5, +30exp received]
[Endurance: 38]
[Exp: 325/800]
'So after going through all that pain, my endurance increases only by five? This system does want to kill me. But if it was that painful for me, how painful will it be for a normal person?'
Looking at his palm which had completely healed, Jake heard the entrance door open and close.