When I woke up I was looking up at a white ceiling. I quickly realized I must be in the infirmary, and that I was knocked out from the fight. I felt my body ache all over, but I didn't see any bruises or the likes. I opened up my system panel while I waited for the nurse to return and check on me.
[Quest complete.]
[Djinn's Physique skill learned.]
[Emily Jones will now be unable to control her emotions towards you.]
[Interception of Igni System's rewards established.]
[Fire Manipulation skill learned.]
[Fire Affinity skill learned.]
[Physique improved slightly.]
I then felt a heat rise within my body, causing me to begin sweating, before it disappeared without a trace. I then felt much better, even more energetic than before. I then moved the curtains around me, to look to see if there was anyone else nearby, and since I didn't see anyone in the nurse's office I closed it back up. I then began to summon the power of fire. Thankfully, I wasn't reliant on Igni to use Fire Manipulation, but that definitely made the power weaker.
The magic flowed easily, however the flames were difficult to control. They played around, teasing me by being compliant then suddenly rebelling from my control. I snuffed the flames out, and began to inspect my body. My knowledge of the skills I gained let me know that my body had indeed improved slightly. As I now had a six pack just barely visible, and muscles began to poke out. I was not muscular, but I had definitely lost weight.
Then there was the problem of Djinn's Physique... I could become ethereal, and pass through the physical plane. I would become entirely made of magic, my own magic, and physical attacks would be useless against me. However if someone hit me with enough magic, and my mana reserves ran out, I would take a fatal hit.
I was happy with that though. Being able to become ethereal was very helpful, since my physical body was still lacking strength.
It was while I was thinking these thoughts that I heard a few steps coming towards me. I just stayed sitting on the edge of my bed, and used Network Scan.
[Detected one vulnerability.]
[Quest: Steal a kiss from the nurse.]
[Reward: +1 Druid System's skill.]
"What the fuck...??" I whispered under my breath.
However at this very moment the curtains were drawn back and there stood a tall attractive blonde. She had a white lab coat on, and glasses on the top of her head. She seemed surprised that I was awake, but put on a sweet smile.
"Hello Praetorian, how do you feel?"
"I feel good, but you can just call me Pray. Are you the one who healed me?" I asked, I was looking her deep in the eyes while we spoke to each other. She seemed to sense my intentions so she broke off eye contact.
However my enhanced brain was able to catch the micro expressions she showed.
"Let me listen to your breathing real quick, and once I'm done you can go back to your classes." she then came close to me and pulled a stethoscope from around her neck. She leaned forward to place the stethoscope on my back, and while we were sharing the same breath, I leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss.
At least that was my intention, but it felt as though she was holding me there. We exchanged saliva for a few more minutes before she finally pulled away from me. She was panting, but then she took a deep breath to collect herself.
"Student Pray, I think you should um.. Head back to your classes now. Try not to get hurt again... But if you do... I'll be here." she then smiled seductively, and sent me on my way.
I left the office while checking my rewards. The quests like this one... I preferred them over the ones that involved me getting my ass kicked by a girl who, mentally, was almost half my age.
[Quest complete.]
[Nature's Beauty skill learned.]
The skill simply made me more attractive. I looked at myself in a mirror on my way to my next class, and noticed I had gone from a 7/10 to a 7.5/10. The skill was a passive one, which would improve as time went on having a more profound effect on my looks. However a little clause I noticed, was that the more time I spent in nature the faster the improvement in my looks.
I guess I should spend some time in the school's garden. I eventually made it to my next class, Weapon Mastery. The class went fairly normally, since all we did was practice using our weapons while our instructor corrected our form or offered advice.
I didn't have any quests I could finish, so I just focused on learning how to use different weapons. It was incredibly enjoyable, so I really liked the class. I also ignored Emily' Jones's glare, but my system did tell me that as long as she made progress I would receive the same progress. I was now in a position where I would want to nurture her growth, but with the penalty of her not being able to control her emotions towards me, I was not in a position to be her teacher.
For the moment I put that thought away, and headed to lunch. The cafeteria was really nice, and the food was made by actual chefs so it was better than anything I had ever made.
I spent a lot of time eating the food, while searching online for magical technology. I was able to find some things I thought were fairly interesting, but a little expensive. Although I could afford them, they were still going to take a large chunk from my bank and that didn't sit too well with me. For now I wasn't in desperate need of augments to my body.
However I then had the brilliant idea of using my system to make my own stuff. I looked through the Academy's database, and began to look through all the students' special abilities, looking for one who was gifted in creating magical artifacts.
I found one by the time I made it to my general study class, a Dylan McClain. Student in B2, who was able to make magical artifacts, currently studying to become a full fledged artificer. I would look for the kid later, but for now I would focus on my classmates. Such as Ryan Hakket, who's mission was difficult since he had a Level 4 System which had good defenses.
The way for me to get access to his system was to win his undying trust. To be recognized as his blood brother. Can you believe how fucking difficult that would be? I didn't know the guy, and honestly I couldn't really help him. I didn't have the strength to be of any use to him, so I had virtually given up on his system for now.
I used my bio-computer to cheat and answer all the questions from my History class. I was also suddenly viewed as a sort of genius when it came to my studies. It was during this class that I once again felt Emily's gaze. I turned and looked at her from across the room.
I just felt like messing with her so I decided to pretend to be oblivious to my own misdeeds. I looked at her and gave her an innocent smile. I waved at her and it seems to just infuriate her even more. I swear I could almost see the steam coming from her ears.
I simply moved on and kept practicing my Fire Manipulation skill under the desk. I did simple things like making the flame different sizes, maintaining those sizes, then moving them in circles. The skill was slowly becoming something I could control, but I was at best almost at the level of a novice.
However I noticed Emily's gaze on me had changed, she was surprised. I knew she could see me playing with fire under the desk, because I did that on purpose. After the class ended, I was hanging out waiting for the next professor, like everyone else. When Emily walked up to my desk.
"We need to talk, come with me." was all she said before she walked out of the room.
I debated for a moment before following her. I decided it would be fine, maybe it was an opportunity.
I followed Emily to an empty stairwell, where she turned around and began to ask me questions.
"Do you have the power to control fire?"
She was standing with her arms crossed, and I knew she was trying to exert some pressure on me. Trying to intimidate me? It was just funny to me. I simply smiled and nodded.
This angered her.
"Why didn't you use it in the spar earlier? Were you taking it easy on me? Do I look like I need your pi-"
"I didn't use it because I am not very good... Not as good as you at least. I admired your fighting style, so I was asking questions that would help me improve. I'm sorry that I made you angry, I just respected you so much I reacted poorly."
Emily Jones's expression froze.
****
'I-I-I-WHY IS HE SAYING THESE THINGS?!'
I had originally brought him out here because he had hidden one of his abilities in our spar, but then he basically confessed to me.
'DOES HE HAVE A CRUSH ON ME?! BUT WE JUST MET? Oh no, don't tell me, LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT? Is my charm that deadly? I mean... He doesn't look too bad... I would actually say he is pretty handso-'
"Class is going to start soon, we should head back. I don't think it would do if you were to miss class, my lady."
My face flushed red, as he said those words without any change in his expression, he was even holding his hand out to me.
'HE WANTS TO HOLD HANDS?!! ALREADY?! WE HAVEN'T EVEN GONE ON A DATE YET, WHAT IF... WHAT IF HE TRIES TO GO FURTHER?!'
"I-I-I don't need to hold your hand! I'll see you in class!"
With that I ran off to the classroom, hoping other people wouldn't notice my red face.
****
'What an odd child. Is this the effect of not being able to control her emotions around me? I guess that includes other motions too. She seemed... Flustered. Like a teenager in love.'
I walked back to class, while devising a new plan. Maybe she would make a good ally...
****
The rest of my classes were pretty simple, with no problems or chances to do any quests. A lot of the quests required me to reach the top 3 rankings for the class, but I wouldn't be able to accomplish that for a while, it felt like. I was competing with monsters in the bodies of children.
After class ended I found the boy, Dylan McClain, and spent some time around him in the library while my system looked for an exploitable vulnerability. I was reading a book, well pretending to read a book, at the table behind Dylan. I was actually watching a comedy movie while I waited.
[Detected two vulnerabilities.]
[Quest: Execute a bash script on Dylan.]
[Reward: Access to Grand Artificer System's skill library. +1 Grand Artificer skill. Dylan will be afraid of you.]
[Quest: Sponsor Dylan, solving his financial issues at home allowing him to focus on making better artifacts, rather than worry about money.]
[Reward: Access to Grand Artificer System's skill library. +1 Grand Artificer skill. Dylan will be your life long friend.]
It was easy for me to choose the second choice. While I could eventually produce the same products as Dylan, I was lazy, so I would rather him owe me and make shit for me later on.
"Hey, Dylan right?" I asked, after getting up, and walking around the library to make it seem like I was running into him.
"Huh? Are you... talking to me?" he had thick glasses and an air of awkwardness about him.
I smile softly and continued.
"Yeah, I heard you were a really impressive Artificer! I had wanted to talk to you and learn more about the things you make." I sat down, not asking for his permission. I then began to point at all sorts of different things and ask him about them.
After a while, he began to become enthusiastic and happy to talk to me when I began to suggest interesting ideas. They were mainly different applications of technology from my past life.
"So... Why haven't I see any big inventions come from you? It is more than apparent that you're capable, but you haven't released any products that have revolutionized technology." I asked, and my concern was genuine.
Because after talking to him I was really impressed by the things he had in front of him. A few I wanted to take away with me even, but I refrained from doing so because he would need them to make the finished product.
"Oh... That... Well, simply put my family doesn't have a lot of money... My little sister is sick, so I make artifacts that sell well, since I need the money more than the need to express myself." Dylan explained with an awkward smile.
"I'm... Sorry to hear that... Have you ever considered sponsorship?"
Sponsorships was a relatively uncommon situation, since the sponsor would essentially take complete financial responsibility in exchange for the production of goods or services. Often times it was similar to a slave contract for the sponsored, so it was not often that people accepted.
Of course I knew all of that.
"I- I've tried but the people who have offered wanted me to make what they wanted, or they would require me to stay under them for ridiculously long terms... But I might need to accept even an unfavorable contract at this rate.."
"Let me sponsor you."
Dylan was taken back by my sudden suggestion.
"Why would you do that?"
I smiled and pointed at the items on the table.
"You're a genius, Dylan. I hate to see you wasting your potential, just because you don't have money. I have money. Let's help each other... How about these terms? You can just focus on school, and I'll settle your family's bills. I'll pay for your sister's treatment, and another allowance for your mother's monthly needs. In exchange, I hope you can help me learn artificing."
"I-w-why would you do that? It just sounds like a loss... And I don't know about being a genius, I have a bit of talent but who knows how far that can even take me..."
I put my hand on his shoulder, and he looked up at me.
"I believe in you. Just believe in me."
I didn't even have to hear Dylan's response, because I heard the system notification.
[Quest Complete.]