Grind 2.2

"Taylor!"

The hallways at Winslow were always hectic but during the various lunch periods, they were magnitudes worse.

"Hey, Taylor!"

Being as bad as they were, most students had learned to move with the current of rushing students, simply heading to the cafeteria before heading off anywhere else, if only to avoid nearly getting trampled by the horde of hormonal, horny and hungry horrors known as teenagers.

Even heading down one of the lesser-populated side hallways like this could be bad enough, especially if you were trying to catch up to someone who already had a head start.

"Taylor, wait up!"

English Lit had been over for almost a minute now, Taylor vanishing through the back door of the classroom the moment the teacher dismissed the class to their lunch period. Running out into the hallway, he caught sight of Taylor's distinctive black hair only to immediately lose sight of her again as students poured out from their respective classes, some heading to lunch while most began moving to another class.

Greg kept heading in the direction he had last seen Taylor in, walking in the opposite direction of the crowd even as people tried to push him back. Sliding against the wall, Greg pushed past the onrushing crowd, sliding into a relatively empty hallway.

His eyes lit up as he saw her in front of him again, her steps somewhat hurried as she headed towards the stairwell. "Taylor!"

She froze. For a moment, at least. Then, she started moving again, seemingly moving even faster this time.

"Hey, Taylor! Wait up!" His jog turned into a full-bore sprint and in a few seconds, he was at the girl's side, moments before she would have headed into the stairwell. "Taylor, it's me. Greg?"

Taylor shot him a look, one that Greg was familiar with. It was the one that very plainly said 'Are you retarded?' "I know," she began, her voice low. "We've met. I've had class with you since last year."

"Oh, well," Greg let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the base of his neck with one hand, "I didn't mean it like that. You know, that you… heh… didn't know me. I just… uhh, I didn't think you heard me calling you."

"No." Taylor continued staring at him, her expression tinted with just a hint of frustration. "I heard you."

"Ooooookay? How come you didn't even slow down or turn around… or anything?"

"I was going somewhere." Taylor's response was blunt, her voice dull as her hand grabbed hold of the rusted handle to the stairwell door. "I didn't feel like waiting."

"Fair enough," Greg replied with a slight laugh, "No worries, I'm not gonna take it personally or anything."

"Yeah, that would be a shame," Taylor replied, deadpan. "Goodbye, Greg." Taylor pushed open the stairwell door in a rush, her stride already hurried again as she nearly ran down the stairs.

Greg blinked as the girl he was talking to suddenly took off as if being chased by something. Running down to meet her in the wide area that was the stair landing, he shouted out, "Taylor, wait!"

The girl stopped and glanced back at him, brown eyes somewhat cold. "What?"

Slightly shocked at the harsh way Taylor bit out the word, Greg blinked. "Uhhh, I just… I wanted to ask you if you want to eat lunch with me in the library. Today, I mean. Like… like now?" Greg grinned, trying to end this mess of an invitation on a high note.

Taylor shot him that same look one more time, only this one was mixed with disbelief. The girl let out a sigh, shaking her head before hitting Greg with that same expression for the third time in the same day. "No offense, Greg, b-"

"Hey there, Hebert."

Taylor froze up, her knuckles turning white as they gripped the stair railing, a familiar voice echoing slightly in the stairwell.

"Dammit, Greg."

Greg glanced at Taylor as he heard her muttered words. "Wait, what did I do?"

"Look who it is," A different voice came clear and strong from the top of the stairs, echoing across the empty stairwell. "Little Taylor Hebert hiding off in another corner of the school like the rat she is and… is that Greg? Hi, Greg."

Greg glanced behind him to see a stunning redhead with her back to the door, her spine arched backwards like the door was an expensive car and she was a bikini model. Which was pretty darn fitting, now that Greg thought about it, considering Emma Barnes was an actual model.

Being model-pretty, Emma was at the very top of Winslow's social elite and considering Greg was at the bottom, their paths had never really intersected that much. Greg had never really paid that much attention to her and only noticed her every once in a while, mostly because she seemed to be around Taylor a lot.

Someone had told him they were friends but now, he was starting to doubt it. What kind of friend says something like that?

"Uhhhh… hey, Emma." Greg tore his gaze away from the ginger to give Taylor a questioning glance only to see the girl with her head down, hands tight at her sides.

What?

"Hanging out with Hebert, Veder?" The familiar face of Sophia Hess popped out from behind the door, Emma making way for her friend to step through. Behind the dark-skinned girl, Madison Clements followed, looking as demure as always. The three of them began to make their way down the stairs, their movements oddly in sync. "That's a new low for you. I didn't think you were desperate enough to follow around a Merchant skank."

Greg gaped while Taylor, at his side, seemed to shrink into herself.

"Hey, y-you can't say that to her!" Greg moved up to Sophia, staring down at the shorter girl with a fierce glare that she answered with one of her own. He turned his glare on Emma, the redhead simply smiling blithely at him in response.

"Veder, get the fuck out of here before I shove my foot up your ass." Sophia's tone was as harsh as it always was but the hint of actual anger in her threat was enough for Greg to take a step back. "We're here for Hebert, not you."

Quest Chain "The White Knight!" Created!

The White Knight Rises!

Details: Defend the honor of thy Lady Hebert, Sir Veder, and in doing so, attempt to earn thy Lady's tender affections!

Success: Increased reputation with Taylor Hebert, 300 XP

Failure: Severely decreased reputation with Taylor Hebert

Barely even glancing at the notification, Greg took a step forward. "What? You want me to leave and let you pick on Taylor?"

Emma huffed, brushing her hair back behind her shoulder before responding. "Why do you even care, Greg? She's fucking trash."

Greg's face flushed but instead of answering, he shot back with, "Why are you even picking on her in the first place?

Sophia snorted. "I get it. The little boy wants to get into Hebert's pants. Just pay her and she'll probably let you do whatever you want, Veder."

Emma smirked at Sophia's words. "Sophia's right, Greg, and Taylor knows it. After all, that's what cheap hookers do."

"Sh-sh-shut up, Sophia! Emma!" Greg's face began resembling a tomato. "How can you say something like that about Taylor? She didn't even do anything to you and she definitely isn't a cheap hooker!"

Sophia let out an annoyed groan. "Just admit you wanna fuck her and stop being such a little pussy, Veder."

Greg fumed, taking another step forward. "Why don't you stop being such a giant bitch, Hess?"

Quest Success!

"The White Knight Rises!" Completed!

Gained 300 XP.

"So, it's gonna be like that, Veder?" Sophia said, still smirking. "Fine. Don't act like I didn't warn you."

Greg's frown grew confused. "What?"

Sophia's hands balled into tight fists and she began to walk down the rest of the stairs. Suddenly, she stopped, turning around, as the door at the top of the stairwell opened.

Greg's gaze rose to the top of the stairwell as a tall, dark-skinned figure walked out of it, a letterman jacket visible on his body.

"Hey, Cal?" Sophia called out, surprising Greg slightly. "That you?"

The tall figure stopped, glancing down as he heard Sophia's call. "Yeah."

"Come over here."

The guy shrugged, before beginning to walk down towards them. "A'ight."

Greg frowned as the football player walked. Why does she want him over here? That's kinda weird.

The person identified as Cal met Sophia on the stairs, Emma and Madison parting slightly to give him space.

Greg narrowed his eyes, letting out a whispered, "[Observe]".

Calvin Younger Lv 8

Varsity Lineman

HP: 300/300

A junior. Star lineman for Winslow High School. Loves kung-fu movies. Also, he is a giant dick. Scratch that. He HAS a giant dick. Overall, a decent guy.

"Yeah, Sophia? What you need?"

"Him." The track star smirked, jerking her thumb in Greg's direction. "Teach him a lesson for me."

Greg's eyes widened as the lineman turned to face him, a contemplative look on his face. "Any particular reason I'm doing this?" he rumbled, the four-syllable word coming out odd in Calvin's deep baritone.

"He called me a bitch and I don't like him," Sophia calmly replied.

Calvin blinked, the look on his face clearly unsatisfied. Yet, he just gave a shrug. "A'ight."

Quest Created!

Stand Your Ground

Details: Show "Cal" that you're not a pushover and send him running.

Success: Increased reputation with Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes, and Taylor Hebert. 300 xp.

Failure: Increased reputation with Taylor Hebert. Decreased reputation with Sophia Hess, Emma Barnes, and Taylor Hebert.

"No hard feelings, kid," Calvin said, walking over to Greg. "I ain't got beef with you but Sophia told me you need to learn a lesson and a couple of us owe her a favor so…" The rest went unsaid. Meaty hands came together, a loud crack sounding out as Cal popped his knuckles, the sound obviously intended to scare Greg.

It didn't work.

Fists already up, Greg ducked into the junior's reach. His fist snapped out twice in quick succession, striking soft flesh before the taller teen could react. Two sharp blows to his face sent him reeling, a slight spray of blood flying from his nose. A third jab struck hard to the junior's chest.

Eyes wide, Sophia stepped back as Cal stumbled backwards into the wall and fell to the floor, the football player clutching his nose.

The large junior stared warily at Greg, shock and fear written all over his face before he slowly began to calm down. With slight shakiness, the football player picked himself up off the ground, his back scraping against the wall as he stared at Greg, still in his stance. "Nope."

Greg blinked, dropping his fists to his sides. "What?"

"I'm not doing this. You see, I got a game tonight, man. I'm not trynna walk out on the field all busted up. You can fight. I don't wanna. No hard feelings?" Cal held a hand up in the air even as the other clutched his nose, blood already beginning to drip from between his fingers.

"No, I'm okay." Greg blinked, tilting his head to stare at up the much taller teen. "...I guess we're cool then?" The statement ended up as a question, Greg rather unsure of why the football player still wasn't trying to beat him up.

Quest Success!

"Stand Your Ground" Completed!

Gained 300 XP.

+ 75 XP

"Cool." Glancing back at Sophia, the football player shook his head. "Yo, Hess. No offense, but I'm not here to get folded by some kid who spends all afternoon with Mr Miyagi." With that said, the football player turned away to walk up the stairs, leaving a few droplets of blood behind with each step.

As Cal's back disappeared over the top of the steps, Sophia's eyes snapped to Greg, staring at him as if just seeing him for the first time. Emma did the same, her green eyes locked on him.

Taylor just seemed confused, her confusion becoming even more apparent as Greg gave her a grin and a thumbs up. As she began backing away from the scene, the other girls' attention still on Greg, Greg's face began to fall. Don't go. C'mon, Taylor. Wasn't that awesome? I did that for you! C'mon.

Greg sighed as Taylor disappeared down the other side of the stairs, off to do whatever in her rush to get away from them.

"Veder?" Sophia finally said as she walked down on to the landing, her shock fading. "How the fuck did you just do that?"

Even though Taylor not even smiling back at him left him feeling somewhat down, Greg turned back to face Sophia and allowed himself a smirk, winking at the track star as he dropped into a stance. "I know Kung Fu."

Sophia's surprised expression tilted down into a frown, the track star's expression darkening further as she shot Greg a dark look. "You think so?"

"I know so," Greg replied, still smiling.

The dark-skinned girl threw a punch at his face, simple but fast.

Greg hadn't actually expected it but he reacted all the same.

Snapping his wrist to the side of his face, he slapped the strike away with the back of his hand, pushing Sophia's fist to the side so her knuckles just grazed the side of his head.

-1

Sophia, surprised by the unexpected counter, tipped forward slightly as she over-extended herself from her punch. Taking advantage of her unsteadiness, Greg jerked forward and knocked his shoulder into her chest, pushing Sophia back into the stairs where her two friends still stood.

Greg grinned as Sophia jumped back, the look on her face a mix of surprise and wariness. Her eyes narrowed. "Nice moves. You know I was just playing around with that last punch, though?"

Quest Created!

Spar with Sophia

Details: Show off your fighting skills in a playful match with Sophia Hess. Watch your back, though. She's a feisty one.

Success: Increased reputation with Sophia Hess and Emma Barnes. 500 XP.

Failure: Decreased reputation with Principal Blackwell.

Greg kept smiling even as the pop-up appeared. "Thanks, Sophia. Playing around or not, it was still a good punch."

Sophia frowned. "That wasn't a compliment, retard. So, stop fucking smiling."

Her frown turned into a snarl as Greg's grin only grew. "The fuck did I say, Veder?"

He couldn't really help it, to be honest. It was actually kinda fun riling her up. "Sorry, Sophia. It's just that when you growl like that, you sorta look like an angry kitty cat." Greg's smile dimmed as Sophia's expression turned murderous. Okay, maybe a bit too far.

"You little sh-"

Greg interrupted her with a snort, smirking in the shorter girl's face as he blocked another punch to the face. "Little. You keep calling me that, you know? For someone that's 5 foot three at the most, you have a lot of nerve."

Sophia lunged at him and Greg's hands went up again, instincts shifting his body in preparation to block her rising fist.

-9

Greg gasped as a hard knee slammed into the spot between his legs, knocking the wind out of him and bringing tears to his eyes. As he instinctively hunched over, something hard struck him right between the eyes.

-15

-7

Even as he stumbled back, the pain was already beginning to fade, and he flashed Sophia another smile, albeit a strained one. "I'll give it to you, that kinda hurt."

The dark-skinned girl growled again.

"I'll wipe that shit smile off your goddamn face, Veder!" Sophia pivoted at the waist, her right hand raised in a fist and Greg moved to block it.

Later, Greg would like to say that he saw it coming and was just too slow to defend from her other fist, as it slammed into the right side of his head.

The truth is, he didn't even see it coming.

-13 [Critical Hit!]

A hard right to his jaw.

-7

A powerful headbutt.

-9

Another strike to his chest.

-6

A firm hand grabbed his wrist, harshly twisting his flailing arm.

-2

A foot hooked around his leg, sweeping him of his feet in one smooth move.

-2

Greg landed hard on the linoleum floor, his face pressed down against the cold material while his arm was pulled back. Before he could get up or even to try to move, a hard sole pressed into his back, digging into his spine.

-3

"See, here's the thing, Veder," he heard Sophia's voice, her tone sweet in that mocking way girls liked to use sometimes. "I know Kung-Fu. You don't know shit."

"I thought… we were just… ow…" Greg tried to get a sentence out, his teeth gritted as Sophia seemed to be doing her best to pull his arm out of the socket. "I thought we were… playing around, Sophia."

"We are, Veder," Sophia laughed, the sound making Greg blush in embarrassment. "This is playing around. I just happen to play real rough."

Greg groaned, twisting as he tried to push himself to his feet. "Nghhh… Let go… of me."

"Not gonna happen." Her foot dug deeper into his spine as she tightened her grip on his wrist, making him groan. "At least, not yet, Goldilocks. First, you got to tell me that you're sorry."

-3

Greg's face began to redden even further, especially as he heard Emma giggling at the position Sophia forced him into. He tried once more to pull his arm free, only for Sophia to wrench it again, harshly jerking his wrist to the side. "Fine. Nggh… I'm sorry."

-4

Sophia smirked, letting go of Greg and stepping back. "That's better."

Spar with Sophia: Quest Failure!

Through enduring a serious beating, your VIT has increased by 1.

Ability Level Up!

Blunt Force Resistance Lv. 17 (XP: 80%)

Going from punching yourself in the face to actual self-mutilation?

Bold move, Veder. Let's see if it pays off.

Reduce all blunt force damage by 13% from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Brawling Lv 3 (XP: 15%)

[Basic Fighting] variant

I'm whatcha call a street fighter, a knuckle brawler.

Grants limited knowledge of dirty fighting techniques.

Increases damage of knee and elbow strikes by 2%.

Basic Fighting Lv 3 (XP: 25%)

The best fighter is not a Boxer, Karate or Judo man.The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style.

Basic Fighting involves the understanding of proper stances as well as the correct way to throw and block a kick or punch.

Increases damage of punches and kicks by 2%

Basic Footwork Lv 3 (XP: 5%)

Everyone has a plan until they get kneed in the dick.

Basic Footwork involves keeping your balance and controlling your positioning during a fight.

Increases chance of dodging a punch or kick by 2%

Parry Lv 3

To deflect an attack is a double-edged sword;

Risking more damage for the chance to inflict the same.

Increases the effectiveness of any attempt to divert or deflect a physical attack by 6%.

Greg pulled himself to his feet, shooting Sophia a mocking grin as he reached his full height, towering several inches above the dark-skinned girl. "I wasn't done. I meant to say, 'I'm sorry that the only way you can have fun is by hurting other people, you demented sicko.'"

This time, Greg did see it coming.

He just wasn't fast enough to do anything about it.

-10

Spoiler: STATUS Greg Lucas Veder Age: 15 (and three-quarters!) Level 4 Experience 1300/1800 Health 150/150 Mana 75/75 Willpower 54/54 STR 5 SPD 3 VIT 6 INT 7 WIS 7(-80%) CHA 2 (+9) (-90%) Stat Points: 7 Cash: $31.50 Traits

Nerd-Geek Hybrid: Your obsession with video gaming, computers, fantasy/sci-fi literature and 80’s/90’s pop culture has left you in the rare middle of two circles; the obsessive fandom-loving geek and the intelligent, knowledge seeking nerd. Sadly, your hobbies have left you with an aversion to physical exertion. (50% bonus to INT gains, -50% penalty to STR, SPD & VIT gains.)

Ambiguous Disorder: Ever since you were a little kid, you’ve always been a little bit off. Impulsive, obsessive, socially obtuse and emotionally needy, you’re a bit of a weirdo. It was easily written off as normal behavior when you were younger but now you’re fifteen. Yet, you still come off as someone over five years younger. Maybe Mom should have had you tested like Dad said? (-80% reduction to overall WIS, 90% reduction to overall CHA.)

Casanova Bloodline: As a Veder man, you have a great smile, natural charm and a confident approach to life that draws the ladies in like a moth to a flame. Your great cheekbones don’t hurt either. It’s how your dad got your mom to go out with him while dating at least three other girls and sleeping with two others, at least that’s what he always told you - even when you didn’t ask - all the time. (+9 CHA)