Chapter 6: Oh, no
Picking the skill he’d wanted, another system pop-up phased into Aiden’s field of view.
-
› {Type designing} – [2 LP].
└ Claim using voucher?
-
’Yes.’ Aiden responded and instantly, the skill was added to his repertoire.
What he hadn’t expected though, was the wooziness he’d feel immediately after.
Next thing he knew, he’d slumped onto his bed, streams upon streams of information funneled into his brain.
Though the experience wasn’t painful, it was almost like his body had decided to shut down to compensate for the sudden influx.
As Aiden laid right there on the bed, his body seemingly limp, he remained vaguely aware of all that he was experiencing and the rapid information he was retaining.
Then, practically five minutes later, he shot back up, regaining total control over his body.
"That sucked," he hissed to himself, finding the experience genuinely unpleasant.
Yet, he couldn’t tell himself he’d never do it again.
Afterall, there were two other skills he had decided to spend his Life Points on.
The only difference?
Aiden found himself back in the {Intermediate} section, resulting in a halving of the points he needed for the skills when compared to the {Advanced} section.
-
{Digital Illustration} – [0.2 LP]
└ Claim using 0.2 LP?
-
’Ah shi-’
Aiden slumped right back onto the bed, his mind aware but his body unresponsive.
This time though, he shot up faster, regaining control roughly two minutes after.
Yet,
-
{Drawing} – [0.5 LP]
└ Claim using 0.5 LP?
-
The third time, he didn’t even bother complaining.
He simply allowed the system to do its thing.
Then, two minutes after, he regained control again.
Sighing to himself in resignation as he leaned back up, Aiden wondered if there would be any way to bypass the reaction.
What if he was in a pinch and he needed to purchase a new skill on the fly?
Would he have to subject himself to the aftereffects in the midst of it?
Clearly, that wouldn’t bode well for various reasons.
’Unless,’ Aiden stared at his Mind attribute, wondering if it could improve it.
Almost immediately, his ⸢FAQ⸥ panel responded to his intent;
-
What is the Mind attribute?
└ Mind attribute accounts for host’s intelligence and memory.
Does the Mind attribute influence skill assimilation?
└ Yes. The higher the Mind attribute, the faster the assimilation.
-
’How very handy,’ Aiden nodded approvingly of the system’s ⸢FAQ⸥ function.
Unfortunately, considering he only had [0.4 LP] left, there was no way for him to test it out.
’Speaking of the Mind attribute though,’ his gaze flicked over to his daily quest, his expression turning sour.
As much as he hated the idea of studying, largely in thanks to the boredom that came with it, he knew better than to skimp on it.
Not just because of the life points he’d be awarded if he didn’t, but because he didn’t want to relive a future where he didn’t get into his college of choice.
Slotting all the excitement and curiosity that came with testing his new skills out, Aiden moved towards his desk.
Before he proceeded to read a thing, he scribbled down his GPA, staring at the disappointing 3.2 that stared right back at him. Not because it was terrible--because it was in fact objectively above average--but rather because it wouldn’t net him the admission into the extremely popular Pacific Heights University in California like he wanted.
Thankfully, as hopeless as things seemed, Silverlake High had a weighted GPA system. So, if he played his cards right and buckled down, he could very well cinch a 3.5 GPA by graduation.
Scrunching his nose, Aiden began doing the math.
A few minutes later, he sighed, realizing the sort of workload he’d have to deal with to get his GPA up.
’Two AP classes. Straight A’s all around for the entirety of final year.’
"I am so cooked..." he groaned, his head slumping onto the table with a soft thud.
Yet,
[Ding!]
[Time-limited Quest Updated!]
-
Slowly raising his head, Aiden opened up the panel.
-
⸢Time-limited Quests
› Hot diggity dog:
└ Make $5000 before the end of the summer break – [1 LP]
› Am I cooked chat?
└ Achieve a 3.5 GPA before graduation – [1 LP]
-
Twitching his lips at the naming of the darn quest, Aiden dragged his palms down his face in exasperation, wondering if he could even do it.
Almost immediately though, he slapped his cheeks, the sound rippling through his room and his cheeks red and stinging from the sensation.
’Don’t you dare wimp out, Aiden! Not with the future ahead of you!’ he roused himself.
Gritting his teeth, his jaw set with determination, he pulled out their school’s handbook from one of the desk’s drawers.
Locating the page where the scheme of work for the core subjects of his senior year was, he proceeded to begin with mathematics, his favorite subject.
Retrieving his textbook, a notebook and a pen, he began reading, his focus snapping into place.
As for Richard whom had heard the slapping sound, he’d walked up the stairs to check on his son.
Imagine his surprise when he saw the youth reading.
’Seriously, is that my son?’ he couldn’t help but ask himself with widened eyes as he peered through the slightly ajar door.
Yet, it did nothing to mask the pride on his features. Choosing not to disturb the youth’s flow, he proceeded to leave quietly, leaving Aiden to his studying.
Roughly an hour later, Aiden closed his books and leaned back into his chair, a tired sigh escaping his lips as his head hung slightly over upper ridge of the chair.
-
[Quest Completed!]
⸢Daily Quests
› Road to College:
└ Read and assimilate a page from next year’s curriculum – [0.01 LP Awarded!].
-
Leaning forwards a couple seconds after though, Aiden excitedly flipped his book over, a pencil in his hands as he began a rough sketch of his name in a typeface.
Type design. The art of creating typefaces... or in simpler terms, fonts.
Though the art was practically seen everywhere--from fine prints, to magazines, to invites, logos, posters and so much more--very few people actually delved into the craft of it.
And who could blame them really? It was an art form that required extreme specialization, a seriously steep learning curve, and a shit ton of time to master.
Yet, to Aiden, it all came so naturally--all the fonts, glyphs, punctuations, spacing, coordination and precision his hands needed to take to deliver a masterful work reflected on his paper sheet.
Staring at the finished work that looked like something only a veteran could accomplish, Aiden grinned shamelessly.
Though he felt bad for the people whom would spend years before becoming even remotely good at the craft, he couldn’t help the exhilaration he was feeling.
Quickly, he pivoted and began sketching a comic book character this time, testing his drawing skills.
The results of course, were marvelous, earning another exhilarating grin from the youth.
Sorting out his desk a couple minutes later, he then switched on his laptop, rubbing his palms together in excitement as the device booted up.
A pretty modestly-spec’d device, one Aiden mostly used for assignments, it had all the manpower to run all the software he would need to begin his journey as a freelancer.
Yes, after mulling it over in the car, he had come to a decision to go down that route to make up for the last $1000+ he needed to hit the quest goal.
And though he was well-aware that the path to shore up that amount wouldn’t be remotely easy, he was pretty confident he could make it work... as long he was equally ready for the staggering amount of rejections he would get upfront.
Downloading each respective software he needed, Aiden simply tapped his fingers atop the table, looking away from the device as if it would ramp up the download speed.
Whilst waiting for the digital illustration app to install first so he could equally test out the last of his newly acquired skill, he heard his dad call out from below;
"Hey, Champ! How’s chipotle sound?!"
"That’d be great, Pops!" Aiden responded.
Now that he thought about it, he was quite famished.
"The usual?" Richard asked.
Aiden was almost about to give his dad the go ahead when his system blindsided him.
-
[Ding!]
[Daily Quest Updated!]
-
Without looking at the panel to check the updated quest, Aiden was already having a bad feeling.
"Oh, no," he muttered.
"Oh, no," his face contorted helplessly as he pulled open the system.
"Oh, no," he continued as he mentally scrolled down the interface in denial.
Then,
-
⸢Daily Quests
› Road to College.
└ Read and assimilate a page from next year’s curriculum – [0.01 LP Claimed!].
› Eat Your Broccolis, Champ.
└ Eat a healthy meal within the first half of the day – [0.01 LP].
-
No sooner had Aiden seen it, tears brimmed on his eyes, the betrayal hitting far harder than he’d expected.
"Champ? Carnitas Burrito with standard toppings, right?" Richard tried to clarify.
"No. No, today..." Aiden’s voice broke, his fists clenched in defeat as he stared at the traitorous quest.
"Today, I’ll have some salad." he finally let out, earning a confused frown from his father who couldn’t help but question himself for the umpteenth time today;
’That’s my son, right?’
