Locking In With My Life System

Chapter 31: Extra Credits

The boys’ locker room was rowdy as usual, many gunning for the bathing stalls while others simply remained on stand-by, chatting and discussing all the possible mundane boy talk one could imagine.

Amidst it all, Aiden was seated on one of the benches, a towel slung over his head as he seemingly stared at the ’ground’, a thin smile on his lips.

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[Aiden North] – Life Points – [2.84]

⸢Stats

› Mind — C

› Strength — E

› Stamina — D- » D

› Agility — F+

› Charm — B-

⸢Skills

› {Type Designing - A}, {Digital Illustration - I}, {Drawing - I}, {Cooking - I}, {Brewing - I}, {Singing - N}, {Dancing - N}, {Writing - N}.

⸢Shop

› Browse Catalogue.

⸢Daily Quests

› {Expand}

⸢Exclusive Quests

› Pending Update.

⸢Time-limited Quests

› {Expand}

-

⸢FAQ⸥

-

To everyone else, they simply assumed he was resting after the strain of the PE session had finally caught up to him. Not that it stopped his buddies and teammates from patting his back and shoulders at intervals in shared camaraderie.

They were also quite right in the former regard, all things considered.

Aiden was indeed tired.

Yet, he was more content than he was tired as he gazed at his stats and his LPs.

Though it was largely in thanks to adrenaline, Aiden figured the bump to his stamina also came in clutch with winning the game.

Mulling over which stats to improve though, Aiden opted to prioritize his Mind attribute.

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[Aiden North] – Life Points – [0.84]

⸢Stats

› Mind — C » B-

› Strength — E

› Stamina — D

› Agility — F+

› Charm — B-

-

The reason for this was rather simple.

Given how much more time he’d be spending with his nose buried in his academics these coming months, it was the best course of action.

That said, Aiden suddenly felt lightheaded, his vision blurring a bit.

It also didn’t help that the growing din and chatter in the locker room bled into his ears in the very same instant, every noise practically ballooning within the confines of his skull.

Yet, upon shaking his head once and blinking his eyes, everything suddenly felt that much more, tactile and sharper.

At the moment, Aiden was more than certain of one thing.

Not only did he feel that his rate of assimilation had long crossed the threshold of average by leaps and bounds, he could also intuitively feel his thoughts flowing faster.

In fact, the sort of things he felt he could recall now... it wasn’t even an understatement to say it was snappier than his fingers snapping thrice in succession as long as he focused hard enough.

Yet, it wasn’t at the level where he had a photographic memory. That, he assumed, would probably happen after he reached or crossed the A-grade threshold.

Still...

-

[Quest Updated!]

⸢Daily Quests

› Road to College.

└ Read and assimilate three pages daily from your academic curriculum – [0.03 LP].

-

’Upping the ante, are we?’ Aiden couldn’t help but poke at the system as he internally chuckled.

Not that he wasn’t glad to see it, or he hadn’t been expecting it.

With this, he was now bound to be snagging over 2LPs monthly. That also meant he had a bit more wiggle room to invest his Life Points as he would instead of constantly hoarding them like he’d been doing thus far.

"Good game, man." Kevin whom had just stepped out of one of the stalls walked over to him and offered a fist bump, a sportsmanly smile on his lips.

Raising his head, Aiden reciprocated the gesture, his lips curling into a light, competitive smirk;

"Thanks, Kevin. You were great, too. Looking forward to next semester’s face-off."

Aiden would’ve never expected himself to have ever said something like that three months ago.

Yet, here he was, completely in an element of his own... an element he had never quite realized he had.

Competitive spirit.

Aiden had to admit. Asides from the whole quest thingy, he had actually enjoyed the dodgeball match now that his stamina could actually keep up.

It was... fun. Very fun.

It was also why he was really looking forward to it again.

As a result of that shift in mindset...

"Hoho! My boy’s getting bolder!" Casper avidly chipped in from behind with pride, a remark the star quarterback couldn’t help but laugh in response to while grinning much the same;

"You’d both better keep your prayers up! Trust me, I won’t ever be underestimating you, ever again."

"We’ll be ready." Aiden replied without backing down, his olive-green irises holding Kevin’s inky-blacks.

"Bring it on! We’ll crush you much the same!" Casper pumped his fists into the air, only for him to immediately snag his towel before it slipped off.

Naturally, most boys in the room caught that.

As a result, the entire room was filled with amused cackles and laughter a second after.

...

...

...

A free reading session usually came immediately after PE session at Silverlake High, which was then followed up by their lunch break.

Given how vigorous the sessions usually were, the school’s PTA had deemed it necessary to give their kids and students a breather before they continued on with the rest of their classes for the day.

As a result, most students, instead of actually reading during the session, often used it to sleep, gist and generally get up to various hijinks and unimportant things.

Theo, on the other hand, despite how tired he was, had once again slipped out of class and made his way to the computer room.

As for the studious students, they were more than glad to take advantage of the opportunity.

Aiden was not typically the studious kind.

Yet, in an effort to check just how much faster he could assimilate in real-time, he picked up the textbook of his most hated subject.

Chemistry.

Casually, he began flipping through its pages and reading through it, his back reclining into his chair with a scholarly air.

To his pleasant surprise--even though he’d expected it--he was still stoked by how it only took him a little over five minutes before he was done assimilating a page.

By the time he was done reading the next two pages, barely twenty minutes had passed.

-

[Quest Completed!]

⸢Daily Quests

› Road to College.

└ Read and assimilate three pages daily from your academic curriculum – [0.03 LP Awarded!].

-

Instead of simply tucking the book aside, Aiden kept reading, a thin smile on his lips as he decided to cover more ground... at least until the period was over.

As for his buddies, well they were completely spent, all of them sleeping soundly like hibernating bears.

Not that it stopped them from jolting awake the moment the bell for lunch break rung.

While Casper, Larry and Benjamin stretched out their limbs, Benjamin was already walking out with a yawn, one hand covering his mouth while the other rubbed and patted his slightly chubby belly.

"Hello, Panda." Aiden poked fun at him as they all made their way to the cafeteria.

Shamelessly, Benjamin puffed up his chest in pride and smiled while gesturing with his palms;

"Hohoho! Don’t tempt me. I know kung-fu!"

"’Course you do." Aiden chuckled to which his buddies joined in.

"Benjamin, the Dragon Warrior!" Larry exclaimed as he slung an arm over his neck.

"Take me as your disciple, Master..." Clyde lazily yawned, his expression amused.

"Great warrior. I would like to spar with you sometime," Casper did the bow, a faux expression of respect on his features.

"Prepare yourself! Our battle... will be legendary!" Benjamin got completely into it, his arms rising up in a reaction that led the gang to chuckle and simper lightly.

Moving with the chattering crowd which was moving to the cafeteria though, Aiden caught something from the corner of his eye in the opposite corridor.

Casually, he informed his buddies;

"Save a seat for me, guys. I wanna see what Megan’s pinning to the board." he broke off to which his buddies casually nodded in agreement without much thought.

It probably had to do with something for Homecoming and Spirit Week. Recruiting volunteers for the committee, they believed.

Though they didn’t need the extra credits that often came with it, they knew their buddy did. That was why they weren’t all that surprised by his words or actions.

Soon enough, Aiden had wadded through the crowd to arrive before the bulletin board, his hand already retrieving a pen from his pocket.

Much to Megan’s surprise though, she watched as a hand wrote his name onto not just one flyer, but all the flyers for recruitments she’d pinned.

"You can’t be serious." the caramel-haired lady remarked, her forest-green irises a mix of baffled yet concerned.

Given she was the President of the Theatre Club and was also the secretary of the student council, she was usually very heavily involved in all the proceedings for Homecoming and Spirit Week.

It was also because she was in the thick of it, that she knew it was practically madness for a student to think they could sign up for all the volunteer roles without tapping out before the end of said week.

Yet,

"I’m dead serious." Aiden flashed her a small grin in response.

Then, he snatched the last poster from her hand.

Without so much as a flourish, he wrote his name onto it and pinned it onto the board like she’d been planning.

Only after did he wave her goodbye, his form disappearing into the crowd a few seconds after.

As for Megan, she couldn’t help but mutter in perplexed confusion;

"The hell?"