Somewhat nervously, Klay takes her hand and shakes it as he replies, "I'm Klay… thanks for letting me rest here for a bit."
Quickly waving goodbye to her husband, Mrs. Lorde hurried Klay inside to get him out of the sun. "There is a bathroom with a shower in the upstairs hallway, and I got Lucian to put some of his ol' clothes in there for ya. He's probably in his room doing his science stuff, if you feel like ya need to be around someone your own age." Mrs. Lorde spoke to Klay cheerily, gesturing with her hands whenever she spoke.
"Science? Is he studying or something?" Klay asked her curiously.
"Oh no, he's just obsessed with all that. He just does it for fun when he's not working with his pa out on the farm."
Nodding, Klay thanked her and began his slow ascent up the wooden staircase, keeping his groans of pain to a minimum. The walls had several picture frames along the wall, some painted by hand with an amateur style. Others were photographs, showcasing a family of three at different stages in life.
The older man and woman in the pictures remained mostly the same, with their faces only showing a bit of aging and different clothes. Between them, however, was a small child that grew with each picture. His head was adorned with long, white hair that was kept around shoulder length. After a few of the pictures, when the boy looked around twelve, his hair was tied back in a loose ponytail.
Looking over the pictures, Klay entered the hallway. It led straight ahead, with three doors spread throughout the space. As he started towards the first door on his left, another door opened up down the hall.
A boy the same age as Klay stepped out and paused as he saw Klay. "Oh… I have the clothes for you to switch into. They explained the situation a bit, but they were acting weird about it as well. Something about taking care of your feelings." He spoke with an accent similar to his parents, but had a more natural tone with each word. "I'm Lucian. Don't worry about my parents, they're just a bit too congenial." He chuckled lightly while handing the clean clothes over to Klay.
"It's fine, at least that explains why I felt so awkward around them," Klay smiled thankfully and walked into the bathroom. The space inside was fairly small, with a mirror and sink next to the door and a shower across from it.
Setting the clean clothes down neatly, Klay pulled out his phone and sat on the covered toilet. His face creased into a frown as he saw that the screen on his phone had a few cracks along the screen.
Damn it, one of those bastards must have managed to hit it at some point. At least it still works.
Klay sent a few texts to his father, telling him that he was alright and that he would be home at the usual time. He set his phone on the counter without waiting for a reply and stripped slowly, doing his best not to irritate his bruised and broken ribs.
He took a long shower, partially to fully clean his body of the dried dirt and blood, but also to relax from the unrivaled exhaustion of everything he went through the day before. From being confronted in school by Thomas, who reportedly is related to stronger bullies and even a police captain, to getting Strike and having to fight all the students in the dojo. And just before he got to rest, he had to rush to the Harseph Barn and fight off a bunch of bullies and Alp, the strongest bully in their sophomore year and one of the strongest in the school.
Oh yeah, I saw a lot of notifications that I didn't look over from the system. Can I see those again?
"[You managed to defeat three new enemies and one old enemy. This leveled you up twice and put you at Level 5, where you received two free stat points for reaching a benchmark level.]"
Oh, I was wondering about that yesterday. What else?
Several panels appeared before Klay in response.
"[You have pushed your body through its limit beyond reason. Congratulations! You have unlocked the Stamina hidden stat, along with the Hidden Stat page! Additionally, your stamina will receive a bonus to your Stamina hidden stat of 10%, along with a free hidden stat point.]"
[Level 1 Strike ability has improved to Level 2]
[Level 1 Contortion ability has improved to Level 2]
[Level 3 Regen Focus ability has improved to Level 4]
[Stat increase: +4.6 to Strength, +0.6 to Dexterity, +4.1 to Flexibility, +0.8 to Senses, +1.6 to Stability, +0.2 to Regeneration, +0.4 to Stamina]
[Name: Klay Wynne (Street Fighter)
Rank: Peasant (Base tier)
Exp: Level 5, 1/10
Stat Points: 0
Stats:
[Strength: 21 (20.5)
Dexterity: 18 (17.5)
Flexibility: 20 (19.9)
Senses: 14 (13.8)
Intellect: 20 (20.3)
Stability: 17 (17)
Regeneration: 5.4]
Abilities: [Observation Level 2], [Regen Focus (Passive) Level 4], [Strike Level 2], [Contortion Level 2]
Additional Pages: Titles, Hidden Stats]
Klay looked over these changes, somewhat disappointed that nothing else happened but overall felt fine with what did. Out of curiosity, he opened the Hidden Stats page next.
[Name: Klay Wynne (Street Fighter)
Hidden Stat Points: 1
Hidden Stats:
Regeneration: 5.4
Stamina: 1.0
Additional Pages: Titles, Hidden Stats]
Tsk, damn system. Still won't tell me about the other hidden stats, I presume?
"[Indeed. The Regeneration System can only explain knowledge that you have a basic understanding of. If more hidden stats are unlocked, they can be explained in more depth by the Regeneration System.]"
Fine. The hidden stat points work the same as the other free stat points, right? Put it into Stamina, I don't want to be as worn out as I was last night ever again.
[Adding 1 free stat point to Stamina hidden stat. 1.0 → 2.0]
Klay nodded and finished up his shower, drying himself off with a towel that was handed to him with the clothes. He tentatively changed into the clean clothes, still being wary of his bruises and how he moved. He looked in the mirror and saw that the set of clothes mostly fit him, despite being a bit baggy compared to his body size.
System, do you know how long this scar on my arm might take to heal? It's pretty conspicuous compared to any of my other injuries.
"[Based on your current abilities, rank, and Regeneration stat, the scar along your forearm would be fully healed in approximately sixty days.]"
Damn it. That's two whole months, and it will be a while before I can speed it up to a point that would make the cut unnoticeable.
Sighing, Klay pocketed his phone and stuffed his ruined clothes into the bathroom trash can. He stepped out into the hall and walked over to the door Lucian had come out of earlier.
"Hey, Lucian. Is it fine if I just hang out with you for a bit?" Klay called through the door.
"Sure, as long as you're fine with me asking you some questions." Lucian's light voice returned the call, bringing some worries into Klay's thoughts.
Questions? Has he somehow figured out that I have this power? Or something else equally bad?
He steeled his nerves, pushing open the door to a small bedroom with a window shining in on Lucian sitting at a desk, surrounded with several notebooks as he wrote constantly.
"Sit anywhere, I don't mind. You go to a public school right?" Lucian began his questioning quickly and without turning away from what he was writing.
Deciding on the bed as a good enough place to sit, Klay nodded despite Lucian not being able to see him. "I do, yeah. Copper High. Why do you ask?"
Finishing his rapid scrawling in the notebook, He set his pen down and swiveled his chair around to face Klay. "I'm just super curious. My parents have me homeschooled and won't let me attend public school at all, no matter how I try to convince them," he explains with a sigh. "It's annoying, since both my family and I know that I'm far smarter than what they can teach at home. Maybe that sounds cocky, but it's the truth."
Klay breathes a sigh of relief. "Your mom mentioned that you were 'obsessed with science', is that what she meant?"
"Ha! Maybe, but I just channel any extra energy into science. That's actually what I'm writing about in these notebooks."
"Science?" Klay asked.
Lucian smiled and grabbed one of the notebooks from the many on the desk, opening it as he slid his chair next to Klay. "Sort of. Just theories and questions I have. My folks don't really like television and such, so I have to wait a week or two for when I visit the library in town to find things out."
Klay nodded along, having quickly warmed up to Lucian. The two teens continued to chat, discussing the many questions Lucian had for Klay. After a few hours, Klay checked his phone and decided that he had rested long enough, leaving the Lorde's house and farmland as he walked south, towards home.