Disclaimer: I don't own Highschool DxD nor The Gamer. I own nothing, really.
Chapter 2 - What He Don't Know
[Fake Ritual Magic Book
Rank - F]
'Of course,' Joshua thought, sighing and setting the book back on the shelf.
[Appraisal has gone up a level.]
'Bright sides and all that, right?' He added with a small smile, turning and looking around. He had used the skill on everything already, and everything was either fake or real, but not actually magical. 'Well, here's hoping the other shop actually has something.'
Ignoring the annoyed look of the guy behind the counter, Joshua walked right out the door and mulled over the idea of going over to the other magic shop that he had found. As he did so, he also called up Appraisal's screen, just to check.
[Appraisal – Lvl 5/100
Determines the user's ability to appraise objects, creatures and people according to level.
Has 5% chances of finding a weakness.]
'No new effects, huh?' He wasn't that surprised. None of the skills he had gotten and leveled seemed to change as they grew. Which isn't to say that they wouldn't, since they were pretty low still. 'It's no Observe but it's better than nothing, at least,' The man thought as he dismissed the screen. He had gotten the skill while on his first trip to the magic store when he was checking the merchandise.
The first of many trips where he found absolutely nothing. The employee had a reason to be annoyed, after all. Here was hoping he had better luck in the second shop. Which brought him back to that idea…
'Nah, I'll go check tomorrow, I think,' Joshua decided in the end.
As it turned out, being a Gamer wasn't as easy as it was in the original work or in the fanfics he had read. Or, at least, not for him since he had a different system. The man had been in this alternate reality of his world for two weeks and he could safely say that not much had happened. No quests, no random encounters, no strange happenings. Nothing at all, just him, his nerfed system and a pretty… normal life, really.
'Which suits me just fine, not gonna lie,' Joshua admitted in his mind as he made his way back to his apartment. With as slow a progress as his skills and stats had, he didn't want to imagine how badly things would have gone if he had met trouble right from the beginning.
Opening the door to his apartment, he decided to get started with dinner right away. That way he could do a bit of browsing and then go straight into Meditation grinding, as usual. Out of habit, he pulled up the screen for Cooking. Not for any particular reason other than the fact that he always had this little bit of excitement course through him when he interacted with the system.
[Cooking – Lvl 5/50
Determines the user's ability to cook.
Increases food preparation speed by 10%.
Increases the quality of cooked goods by 5%.]
He had recently decided not to take offence with his skill levels. His cooking wasn't bad, as evidenced by his job at the café. With that evidence on his side, Joshua had decided to simply accept his 'skills' as more of a boost over his already existent capabilities. The 'Determines the user's ability to cook' still bugged him a bit, but he already had his theory and he was sticking to it. He had enough headaches as it was trying to find out which of the infinite possibilities of anime he was in.
If he was in one at all and wasn't in some kind of completely unknown world.
'Now, that's a scary thought,' He shuddered as he set his plate on the table and pulled out his phone. It was a sad sight, the one of Joshua sitting alone with a plate of food and a phone in his hand. He realized this fact too, but he didn't care much. He could try to make friends after finding out which kind of messed up world he was in.
It didn't have anything to do with his problems socializing. No, sir.
Evidently, his social improvement back when he had woken up had been a temporary thing.
And so he searched, in the browser of his phone. He really wanted to know where he was. Every second that he remained ignorant was one where shit could be happening without him knowing. Every moment was one where he could end up dead by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
To his ongoing frustration though, his research came up with nothing. The most he had found were stories extremely similar to those he knew in his old world but with name changes and the like, as if someone was trying to avoid copyrighted names. That was Joshua's biggest clue that this was a world from a work of fiction. Granted, it could still be alternate universe bullshit, but there was no way in hell that was enough to justify Dragon Ball's name changing into Drag So-Ball, Joshua refused to believe that.
At some point during the last week, he had even started searching on other sources too, thinking that maybe his assumption that it was anime might have been hasty. Movies, books, series, cartoons, games, anything that could be remotely related to the world he was now in. Even possibilities that weren't very probable, such as medieval themed plots and such, he had searched, just in case of alternative universe scenarios. That was how much Joshua wanted to know where he was.
'Still nothing,' He lamented as he set down his phone, resigning himself to yet another unsuccessful search.
[}-o-{]
On another equally peaceful day, Joshua found himself showering while checking over some of his skills.
[Running – Lvl 3/50
Determines the user's ability to run.
Increases Speed while running by 6%.
Decreases exhaustion from running by 3%.]
Running, the very first skill that he had actually set out to get. He had gotten it after a minute or so into a run during a weekend. It had been a particularly good incentive as he set out to do some exercise to try and increase his stats.
Granted, it wasn't much, especially at the moment, but he could see it becoming something very good. Like with all his skills, he had noticed. They had low percentages, but once they were maxed, or even just midway through their levels, they should be very good.
The skill had also been quickly followed by another.
[Physical Conditioning – Lvl 3/50
Determines the user's ability to train their body.
Increases Strength and Vitality growth speed by 6%.
Increases recovery rate from training by 3%.]
He really liked Physical Conditioning. Not only did it increase growth of two stats in general, but it would also, eventually, help deal with the not so pleasant side effects of it too.
From there, he had also gained one more skill. The one Joshua considered his most useful one at the moment, probably.
[Unarmed Combat Mastery – Lvl 3/100
Determines the user's ability to fight without weapons.
Increases damage output when fighting without a weapon by 3%.
Increases Dexterity when fighting without a weapon by 0.75%.
Increases Strength when fighting without a weapon by 0.75%.]
He had gained that one after watching tutorials on the internet about martial arts and copying the stances and such. Officially, it was to save money instead of wasting it on classes, since he had to system to help him out. Unofficially, he hadn't wanted to interact with people even more than he already had to at his job. Never mind the fact that he would have most definitely embarrassed himself in front of everyone by not knowing shit about fighting and being in terrible shape at his age.
Yes, Joshua knew it was unreasonable to expect himself to do well at first, but he had already given up using logic against his social problems. He was proud of his increasing ease while dealing with clients at the café and he was content with just that. He would take what he could.
Nevertheless, Joshua had never been one for sports or physical training of any kind. Which is why he found himself staring at this particular three screens. The visual feedback of his training, almost physical proof that he was achieving something with his efforts, helped a lot to keep his motivation up.
That and his status screen, obviously.
[Joshua Davis
Title: None
Race: Human
Strength: 4
Speed: 6
Dexterity: 4
Vitality: 5
Perception: 3
Magic: 1]
Predictably, Strength, Speed and Vitality had gained a level during his exercises. Perception though, had been a pleasant surprise during one of his scouting at the magic shop. Dexterity, for its part, had also gained a level while he was cooking, which had instantly made Joshua's day. Now he just needed to keep at it and have some luck with a way to increase (and use) his magic. He had tried the manhwa version of magic to… disappointing results. And everything else he tried regarding that had been an equally big failure.
Letting out a long sigh and trying to vanish wishful thoughts from his mind, Joshua stepped out of the shower. He could be meditating instead of just wasting time. The peacefulness of his days was making it easier and easier to lower his guard. But he wouldn't.
He couldn't.
'Dying once was enough, thank you very much.'
[}-o-{]
And predictably enough, his peaceful and somewhat boring days ended during his third week.
However, it wasn't that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, or that he found some magic item or another. Neither did he save someone or crash against someone on the street. He didn't even witness something from a distance or watch something happen on the news. Granted, all this is because what happened wasn't anything magically related at all. Or so he thought at first. What had happened?
He found a cat.
Joshua had been just walking back to his apartment, tired after a long day of working, training and searching, just like he usually did. He had, however, had to stop when he heard a pitiful whine coming from the side and turned to see the aforementioned cat. It was truly a sad sight to see, the poor animal lying there, bleeding as everyone else walked by, not that there were many people around.
The thing was, apparently, white with black splashes here and there, one of which was on its head painting an ear and the area around an eye in said color. Now though, there was also it's right hind leg that was covered in dark red blood from an injury that the young man couldn't quite see. Its slit pupils seemingly turned at the attention it was receiving from the young man and amber eyes locked with his blue ones.
Joshua, apparently stunned by the visage, blinked dumbly. A second later, he snapped out of it and his mind, in a flash of concern, tried to remember if there were any vets close by. Sadly, as is often the case in times such as that, he couldn't, for the life of him, remember any such place being close by.
Groaning out loud, he knelt next to the cat, his heart clenching in worry. He had always been a sucker for animals, after all. In a desperate effort, he went on a limb and used Appraisal on the little thing.
[Cat
Title: None
Race: Cat
Gender: Female
Strength: F
Speed: F+
Dexterity: F
Vitality: F
Perception: F+
Magic: -
Perks: 2
Skills: 2
Altered Status: 2]
'It's different,' Was his first thought as he looked over the screen.
'I can actually see things,' Was his second thought, since he had tried to use Appraisal on other people and animals before and he would be greeted with a simple 'Human' or 'Dog' or similar things, if he didn't know their names in which case that was what appeared. Besides that, he also got a Rank, just like with objects, which he took now as it being his targets overall stats turned into a letter rank. That was his best guess, at least. And it would be the theory he would stick to until it was proven wrong.
Gulping down, he picked the animal up, silently praying that it wouldn't lash out at him. Fortunately for the man, the creature did little more than squirm futilely and whine. Instead of being a relief, it worried Joshua even more. Was the cat too weak to even do something? Had it lost too much blood?
'I can think about this later,' He told himself as he looked over the screen, lightly holding the cat against his chest, careful not to do even more damage, and walking as quickly as possible towards his apartment. He didn't dare make a run for it and hurt the cat more though. He had a medkit that would hopefully be enough to save the little thing's life. 'Altered Status? That's new,' He noted, mentally pressing on that part and making a new blue box appear.
[Curse of Weakness
Decreases all the user's Stats.]
[Blood Loss
Decreases all the user's Stats.]
Joshua almost tripped on his own feet at the first text. It wasn't detailed, but it told him enough. Enough to bring a million questions to his head, that is. 'Why would anyone curse a cat?' He thought disturbed, his blue eyes darting to the animal in question and back to the screen. 'I'm not getting involved in something by helping it-… her, right?'
That last question kept coming back as his steps quickened and his heart drummed in his chest. He really, really wanted to just drop the cat down back on the sidewalk and just go away. At the same time, his heart twisted and turned, rebelling against the idea. Memories of his mother, playing with cats of neighbors despite not wanting to have a pet of their own and his father and his eternal wish for one but unwilling to go against his wife.
'It can't be that bad,' Joshua reassured himself as he pushed his door open and rushed in, quickly settling the cat on a towel and getting the medkit. He was lying to himself, and he knew it.
With a grimace, he started cleaning the wound, finding out that the poor thing had a rather nasty cut on the upper part of her right hind leg. After he was done with that, he treated the damage as best he could. Which wasn't very fast, unfortunately, since his hands refused to stay put and not tremble like a leaf on the wind.
Throughout the whole thing, the cat kept twitching and snapping its claws at Joshua, hissing and once it literally threw itself at him, biting his arm, before he could catch it. It was unpleasant business, but-
[Physical Resistance – Lvl 1/100
Determines the user's ability to withstand physical damage.
Decreases the damage received by physical attacks by 0.75%.]
Yeah, that helped him keep going without complaining… much. It was also a bit of a letdown though, since it implied that he would at most get it to be a 75% reduction on all physical attacks against him. But he guessed 100% would be too much to ask for. Still, for all the cat's willingness to resist what he was doing, Joshua found himself having little trouble addressing the wound. He chucked it to both Altered Status effects, making the cat barely able to try and put up a fight. It was sad, but at the moment it was also helpful.
Eventually, he was done with it and sitting tiredly on the floor next to the cat.
[Skill Unlocked: Treatment]
[Treatment – Lvl 1/50
Defines the user's ability to treat wounds.
Increases wound treatment speed by 2%.
Increases treated wounds recovery speed by 1%.]
'Good, I guess… Really wish it was higher leveled though,' He thought with a sad smile as he turned to look over the cat. The thing, contrary to how it had behaved through the whole process, was simply sitting and staring at Joshua with its piercing amber eyes.
"Well, we are done here," He offered with a weary smile. The creature simply continued staring without answering, not that Joshua had expected it to. With that said, he pulled up the cat's screen once more, half out of curiosity and half out of desire to evade the thing's eyes
[Cat
Title: None
Race: Cat
Gender: Female
Strength: F
Speed: F+
Dexterity: F
Vitality: F
Perception: F+
Magic: -
Perks: 2
Skills: 2
Altered Status: 2]
'Letter value instead of numerical,' He noted first of all. 'Skills and Perks are part of the screen too, which is also different… Wonder if Altered Status is also separated in my system or if I have that screen at all… Altered Status?'
His answer was an empty but clearly existing screen. He nodded thoughtfully.
'Can I check its Perks and Skills like the Altered Status?' He wondered.
[Superior Senses
Increases the user's Perception.]
[Night Vision
Increases the user's ability to see in the dark.]
'Good to know that Perception is related to senses,' Joshua mused before being surprised as a screen appeared on its own.
[Appraisal has gone up a level.]
'Nice,' He dismissed that screen quickly and called for the cat's Skills.
[Bite – Lvl 1
Defines the damage the user can do with their jaws.]
[Scratch – Lvl 1
Defines the damage the user can do with their claws.]
'No surprises,' He sighed and turned to the animal in question, which continued staring at him. It was starting to unnerve the man, even if he was reticent of showing it. 'Guess I should find something to eat for the poor thing,' He decided and with a groan, he stood up and went looking for food, both for the cat and for himself. 'And I also need to change my clothes, I'm covered in bl-'
[Quest Complete: Rescue the Cursed Cat
Rewards:
+3 Treatment Levels
+3 Healing Magic Levels]
'Wow wow wow, pause!' Joshua sat straight up as he stared at the new screen. 'Quest? But I didn't receive anything of the sort? Is it like… a hidden quest? But it doesn't say so anywhere. Are quests like this with this system?' As usual though, there were no answers for his questions.
'Ok, so… ignoring the random appearance of a quest screen, a few more levels on Treatment is nice and… Healing Magic?!' He did a double take at the last part of the message. 'Healing Magic!'
[Healing Magic - Lvl 3/100
Determines the user's ability to utilize Healing Magic.
Increases magic potency while utilizing Healing Magic by 3%.
Increases magic efficiency while utilizing Healing Magic by 1.5%.
Healing Spells: 0]
'Wait… 0 Spells? I… need to get spells to actually use the magic?... That sucks!' He whined internally. 'I got all excited for a second there, motherfucker!'
And with that, he slumped back against the wall and let out a long, annoyed sigh.
[}-o-{]
"You are entirely too comfortable here, you know that, right?" Joshua asked the cat a week after finding her. If anyone else had seen them during their days, they would have instantly assumed the pair were master and pet. Especially since the animal would be close by all the time while he was in the apartment, either rubbing herself against him or just sitting on his lap. One time the cat had even climbed on his shoulder, perching herself on it.
'Why do I get the feeling that I'm not gonna be able to get rid of her?' He wondered, although there was a lot less reluctance than he thought there should be at the idea of keeping the cat. The Curse of Weakness still remained on her though, even if Blood Loss had been removed recently. The former was an apparently permanent reminder that there was more to the feline than one would think at first. 'I'm not even sure I'm allowed to have pets in here,' He complained internally.
A mewl of the cat sitting on his lap made him roll his eyes before he started petting her.
"I got myself into this mess, I guess," He muttered under his breath. "I guess I… should give you a name, if you are going to stay here. I'm getting tired of calling you cat."
His only response was the stare of amber eyes. He sighed.
"You know… I was never good at naming things," Joshua admitted with a grimace. And his expression only got worse as he looked down at the cat, who was staring at him once more. Those brilliant eyes never failed to unnerve him a little… "Chesire. I'll call you Chesire."
His response was a purr of the newly named Chesire as he continued petting her.
"Here's hoping I don't get you killed and you don't get me killed, Chesire," He said wearily.
As if trying to reassure him, the cat pushed her head against his hand affectionately.
He smiled.
[Skill Unlocked: Bond]
[Bond Unlocked: Chesire]
'Huh?' Joshua thought as he blinked at the new screens. 'Bond?'
[Bond
Chesire - Lvl 1/10
Determines the user's bond closeness with Chesire.]
'Huh, kinda reminds me of the Language skill screen,' The man noted interestedly. 'Ten levels maximum though, that's by far the lowest I've seen so far… Wonder what'll happen when I max it.'
Pushing those thoughts aside, he settled for absentmindedly petting Chesire. He wouldn't have to wait long to find out, he guessed.
[}-o-{]
[Apprentice's Notes
Rank - ?]
'Well… I had actually given up finding anything in these stores,' Joshua thought while looking at the book in his hands. He had found the thing in the magic store, and it was… very unassuming.
Granted, it looked like something that had actually been used, although it didn't look particularly old. It was a simple notebook with a leather cover and some note-like papers sticking out here and there. The text inside had been written by hand and all. Still, those weren't exactly new things to Joshua. The young man had found several such objects before too and those had turned out to be fakes…
This one though, had to be the real deal. That question mark in the Rank proved it to him. Taking another look inside, he couldn't quite make out what the magic was about, but he knew it was magic. That was enough for him.
'I can't buy just these though,' Even if the store owner didn't know what he was selling, someone else might find out. And he wasn't ready to deal with anything like that just yet.
Thankfully, he had thought about that weeks ago when he had started his search. Keeping his face neutral, he picked up the book and some other rather realistic books he had found. It would hurt his wallet some, to buy useless things, but that was a sacrifice that needed to be made.
For a moment, he lamented his families economic situation. He also grimaced at the reminder that he had never helped with that, always making half-hearted attempts at studying to avoid working and when he didn't he made excuses. He sighed.
His alternative self hadn't helped matters though, staying in that hotel for as long as he had, letting money just disappear because he didn't care anymore. The only thing that Joshua didn't hate about what his other had done was the fact that he didn't even know what happened with his family's house besides that it had been given to a relative. He really didn't want to see that place again… he didn't know what he would do with himself if he was reminded of what he had lost.
Joshua shook his head and focused on the matter at hand. The magic book he was trying to get for himself and the other items that he wanted to use as covers. Hopefully it would help keep him out of trouble.
"I was starting to wonder if you were actually going to buy anything one of these days," The man behind the counter commented, his tone telling Joshua that he was joking and not genuinely annoyed. That already made this guy much better than the one from the previous shop in Joshua's mind.
"I was just checking," The young man answered. "Wasn't sure if I would buy something myself, but here I am."
"From nothing to all these?"
"Well, they look cool," That wasn't a lie. "And I just got my hands on the cash to actually pay for them," That was a lie.
"Good for you," Joshua was very grateful for the uninterested hint in the man's tone when he said that. A minute later, Joshua was leaving the shop with a heavy bag in hand and a lighter walled in his pocket. Regardless of that last one though, he was very satisfied.
Not long after, the man that hadn't quite been able to die was sitting at his apartment's table with the Apprentice's Notes in front of him. He was disappointed though, when picking it up and tried to interact with it through the system gave very little besides the screen he had seen before. 'It's not a Skill Book, huh? Or are Skill Books not a thing here?'
Regardless of the questions in his head, he opened the notebook and started reading through the content. Apprentice's Notes seemed to be a very accurate name for it, really. The thing was filled with writings that detailed Spatial Magic and a Storage Spell in texts that seemed very similar to notes taken in a class.
Joshua was very grateful for, A, the quality of said notes, and B, the spell itself. It was basically a hammer space, really. A pocket dimension used to store whatever the user wanted through magic. The young man found it very interesting that the spell required a circle, either drawn with magic alone or physically placed on a surface of any kind. The second method was the one that caught his attention the most since the notes said that it would help save up on magical energy.
Since Joshua had a measly Magic level of 1, he very much liked the idea of saving up on it. He really didn't want to find out what happened if his magic energy level was too little to cast the spell. 'It would suck if I die because I didn't have enough energy,' He thought with a grimace. Thankfully, the writing said that the spell didn't require that much to be cast.
[Skill Unlocked: Spatial Magic]
[Spell List Unlocked: Spatial Magic]
[Spell Unlocked: Storage Spell]
'Well, would you look at that?' Joshua thought proudly after a few days of reading through the notebook. It had been much longer than he anticipated, with him having to get through a lot of theory and calculations that the spell required to be cast, not even mentioning the complexity of the circle itself that needed to be perfectly drawn for it to work, which meant that Joshua had memorize the whole circle with all the details. 'Magic is a lot more difficult than I thought.'
'Anyway,' He shook his head, tired but smiling. 'Spells?' He grinned at the screen that appeared, that currently held only one tab dubbed Spatial Magic. 'I probably have to get a Healing Spell for it to actually appear here.' Mentally clicking that tab, it opened to reveal the only spell he knew as of that moment.
[Storage Spell – Lvl 1/50
A Spatial Spell which the user can use to create a pocket dimension to store inanimate objects.
The user can create a storage space of up to 1 square.
Consumption with circle – F
Consumption without circle – D]
'Those consumption values really don't tell me much,' He thought, clicking his tongue in annoyance. For all he knew, F was completely outside his capabilities. Or maybe 1 magic was enough to use it without a physical circle? 'Fuck if I know,' He thought with a groan. '1 is definitely not enough to pay for D though, I'm sure of that,' He guessed dejectedly.
It was a real shame that he hadn't found a way to increase his Magic stat yet. He had had hopes for Meditation to do the trick, but considering how all his stats increased except that one even though it was his lowest… Yeah, Joshua had already given up on that idea. 'It would have been nice though,' He thought wistfully.
'The 1 square thing is weird too,' Joshua noted, going through the description once more. 'What is that even supposed to mean?' He frowned as his mind tried to theorize what the measure unit could be about. In the end, as it was becoming a habit now, he gave up and decided that he didn't have enough clues to actually come up with a solid enough idea.
"What to do, what to do?" Joshua mused out loud, blue eyes fixed on the similarly colored screen. He really didn't want to risk it with the spell. Dying while trying to do just this would suck. On the other hand, when would he come across another spell? He was pretty sure that he would be hard pressed to find another one in that store.
Also, this particular spell sounded especially good after the disappointment of not having an Inventory function in his system. And with it he could pull off the steal under people's noses trick, just like all those other gamers in fiction, if he needed to. Granted, this would be a lot less inconspicuous than those, since it used actual in-universe magic. But it should be useful enough around normal people. And he wouldn't need to empty his wallet everytime he found a book like Apprentice's Notes again since he could just hide them inside the spell, so that was a plus.
'I'm gonna do this, aren't I?' He thought wryly, realizing that even his own thoughts were trying to convince him.
"What do you think, Chesire? Do I go for it or wait to find a spell with lower consumption?" He asked the cat that was sitting on the table next to where he had been studying the notes. He didn't actually expect an answer, but when he got one, he could only blink stupidly.
Chesire had decided to reply with a long mewl before she proceeded to nudge his arm with her head.
"I take it that is a 'go for it'?" Joshua asked, smiling awkwardly. When he got the same response, he paused and then frowned down at the notebook. "You know what… Yeah, I'll go for it."
[Bond: Chesire has gone up a level.]
The man smirked at the screen before mentally nodding.
'Now, let's go about this dumb idea in a smart way at least.'
With that decided, he got to planning.
The first thing Joshua did was decide to try the spell on a weekend. That way, if things went south for whatever reason, he would at least have a few days to set things straight again or… recover if he needed to. The second thing he did was think about how to go about using the spell and things he wanted to try.
He would also have to draw the circle perfectly too…
'This is gonna take time.'
[}-o-{]
[Drawing has gone up a level.]
'Just in time,' Joshua thought while letting out a tired sigh. Then he looked down at the paper sheet in front of him, the perfectly drawn circle that greeted him back filled him with pride. 'Better not to think of all the sheets I had to throw away,' He added while chuckling to himself.
He was ready now. It was friday, he had the circle ready and he had even had a nap beforehand to be as well rested as possible for the test.
He mentally called for the new skill he had developed for this, his mind trying to buy as much time as possible.
[Drawing – Lvl 5/50
Determines the user's ability to draw.
Increases drawing speed by 10%.
Increases the quality of drawings by 5%.]
'Pretty good,' He noted, although his focus wasn't in that.
He sighed.
'Let's do this.'
"Wish me luck, Chesire," He said out loud, looking at the cat that sat in her now usual place, on the table next to him. Her response was a simple mewl. "This was your idea, it better go well."
The cat replied with what he assumed was a deadpan and he chuckled weakly.
"Let's do this," Joshua repeated, this time out loud.
Picking up the paper with the circle, he mentally called for the Storage Spell to be cast.
A second later, he felt a previously unnoticed energy inside his body moving through him towards his hands while the circle shone in a dull grey light. His body growing tired by the second as if he had been exercising all day and just now he was noticing the exhaustion. There was even a dull ache of his muscles that slowly increased all over him.
All this filled the young man with dread, but he persevered. He didn't know what cancelling the spell would do, and he had resolved that he wouldn't try that unless he felt true danger coming his way. 'I can handle this much,' He decided.
The weariness though, continued growing on him and his thoughts started feeling sluggish as the spell continued sucking the energy out of him.
Then his eyes registered something. Right over the circle appeared a grey box not unlike his own system screens but with an obviously different color. A corner of his mind noted that it was the same color the circle had shone with.
What called his attention was that in the middle of the pseudo-game box was a smaller, slightly darker square. A second later, an idea struck him and he picked up the pen he had been using to draw the circle. He had decided to test the storage with it anyway. Nervously and with his hand shaking due to how tired he felt, Joshua pushed the pen onto the smaller square and…
It vanished, the square changing to depicture a pen diagonally over it.
'Just like how Inventory should be...' He thought to himself.
And then all turned black.
[} Chapter End {]