Jake appeared before Erie, tilting his head, not saying a word. "Was he watching me the entire time?" Erie thought.
Jake remained expressionless, his face calm. Inside, he began to think, "Well, he managed to beat one of my copies that I made of that guy," Jake was amused. "That's quite impressive considering that guy was a level 2." Jake was getting ready to speak to Erie. "So you..."
Jake was caught off guard as Erie interrupted him. "What are you doing here?" Erie calmly asked Jake. "If you were here the whole time, why didn't you help me?"
Erie was skeptical about Jake, and this just proved it. Jake would be an onlooker as Erie fought his battles against more vigorous opponents. It was clear to him that Jake wouldn't intervene and stand up for his roommate.
But there were other problems. Erie's biggest concern was Jake, who was always invisible and showed up at random times. First, it was the apartments, then the library, and now the entire battle that Erie had fought. "Can I trust this guy?" Erie began to think. He noticed Jake standing there, watching him, not saying a word.
Erie, feeling irritated, spoke up again. "Well, Jake? Are you going to answer me?" He paused, giving Jake a chance to respond.
Jake's expression remained stern as he allowed Erie to speak. There was a slight pause between replies. Finally, Jake broke the silence. "Are you finished, Erie?" He waited for a moment, and when there was no response, he continued. "Well, I just wanted to see how strong you were. Considering you have some talent and even a nice little skill there."
Erie tilted his head. "Skill?" he replied.
Jake nodded, crossing his arms. "Yeah, a skill. You struggled to use it, but it helped you pull through. Anyway, my time's up with my ability—I can't use it anymore." Jake patted his chest as he spoke. "Do you want to walk back to the apartment now?"
Erie hesitated while answering Jake. "Uh... Sure..." He needed clarification. All day, it seemed like Jake was avoiding them, and now, all of a sudden, he wanted to walk back with Erie to the apartment. Erie looked back to find Larry Scuff, but he was gone; no trace of him was left. "Did he leave when he saw Jake? Or was he even real?" Erie wondered.
As Erie settled into bed, he couldn't stop thinking about Jake's abilities. "What is his ability? He was vague when he was explaining it," Erie pondered. The silence between them on the walk back had been heavy with unspoken questions.
Once back at the apartment, they both went to their rooms for the night. Erie lay in bed, staring at his system interface, examining the little reward he had received.
[Quest reward: 75 exp]
[75/100 exp]
[Level one]
[Quest reward: you can now gauge enemy health during the battle]
"How does this system work?" Erie thought. "From what I've read, my system is similar to an RPG-like game. This will grant me skills, bonus quests, and missions." Erie sat up from his bed in a meditation pose. "is there an end game to my system, or does it gradually make the quests more difficult based on my level?
Erie then took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He started to drown out his thoughts. Initially, it was difficult for him, but he quickly learned to silence the noise in his head. "Now, to complete this meditation quest. I saw that girl taking deep breaths so that I will do the same."
As Erie was breathing heavily, he received a notification.
[Meditation detected]
[You are now entering your dreamlike state]
[Congratulations, you have unlocked meditation mode]
[Congratulations, the system can now clear the mind during meditation mode]
[Congratulations, you are now level 2]
[Meditation mode has now begun: 30 minutes remaining]
The notifications were ringing in Erie's head. Still, he was sent into a building before seeing the last few meditations.
"Mo... Mother?" Erie rubbed his eyes as he saw himself bringing some oranges from the orange grove in the backyard to his mother. "Are these my memories?"
Erie began to walk around the house. He then walked to the kitchen counter, where his mother used an orange squeezer to extract juice from the oranges.
"You see, Erie!" his mother said. "When you get them fresh, they produce more juice. This will make a great orange cream cake!" Erie's mother loved oranges; Erie could even say she was obsessed with them because that's all she ate. Everything was orange for her, including her furniture.
He heard a noise outside and was transported from the room into the city. " Almighty judgment!" a voice cried out. A pure white light began to shine over the city. The last thing he heard was screams.
Erie woke up from his Meditation, gasping for air. He grabbed his chest, trying to slow down his heart. "What was that?" he muttered, shaking his head to dispel the trauma he had just witnessed. Was it a vision? Or a dream?
Erie then heard another notification sound off in his head.
[Daily Quest complete: Daily mediation]
[Daily quest reward: 50 exp Has been granted, 50/200 EXP]
[Level 2]
[HP: 100/100]
[Agility: 22]
[Speed: 18]
[Strength: 7]
[Stamina: 26]
[Skill: Locked]
[User has no ability; please proceed to learn an ability.]
Erie checked out his stats. "So, I guess I am faster than stronger?" he thought. "I need to find a fighting style that matches my speed. Or maybe an ability, then?"
When Erie finished checking out his stats, he rolled over in bed. There were a few more things he wanted to check out, but he thought that he should get some sleep, considering the next day was the first day of class. After all, he didn't want to be late.
So he set his alarm on his watch, and Erie drifted asleep.
After Erie fell asleep, a distortion was still present inside Erie's room. "Erie sunheart." I hope you're ready. If not, this whole thing saving you would be in vain, and the distortion would be left.