Aggro 4.4

Meditation was weird.

No, really.

It was.

Aside from the fact that time seemed to pass much faster while he was 'in a trance', so to speak, it also seemed to do something weird to his emotions.

Similar to Gamer's Mind, it calmed his thoughts and almost forced him to dwell on himself, allowing him to not only think about the energies in his body worked but also how his own mind functioned. In a broader sense, at least.

He didn't like it.

Not one bit.

That sort of introspection wasn't his thing and it made him feel all uncomfortable. A little self-reflection never hurt anyone but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

You have gained 1 WIS.

You have gained 1 INT. Mana Awareness Lvl Up!

5→6

Willpower Awareness Lvl Up!

4→5

Meditation Level Up!

8→9

Well, he did enjoy that.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Blue eyes snapped open, Greg leaping to his feet in an instant as an alarm went off by his head. His chest was heaving, not from exhaustion or any real exertion, but simply because of the sudden shock, his adrenaline already rushing through his body.

His eyes shot from side to side, landing on his computer chair just a meter away where Sparky sat, a bowl of ice cream in his friend's grip and a spoon in his mouth. "Yo," was the muffled greeting he received.

Shoulders slumping, Greg let out a sigh. "Is that my…"

Sparky smirked as he removed the spoon from his mouth, the plastic utensil licked clean. "Yeah."

Another reason he hated meditating was how it made him feel for a few minutes after. Apparently, being in tune with your mind and body meant that he was a lot more... more after a round of meditation. His skin felt warmer, his heart seemed to beat like a rabbit's and his senses…

Well, his senses were on overdrive. All of them seemed to be at their peak for the ten minute period after his meditation, each one clamoring for his attention like a neglected child. That included his sense of hearing, touch, taste, sight… smell.

Greg sighed again, his nostrils flaring as the scent of vanilla hit him. "That's my vanilla ice cream…" Tilting his head, he took another sniff of the air, wrinkling his nose slightly as he did so. "...with sea salt."

"And real Madagascar vanilla, I know. I read the label too." Sparky rolled his eyes. "I said 'yeah', didn't I?"

"You know what?" Greg shook his head as his friend continued to eat his ice cream, uncaring of Greg's reaction. In his opinion, it was really a testament to their closeness that he wasn't dropkicking Sparky right now. That ice cream was expensive, considering it was made from imported ingredients, after all.

To be fair, Greg didn't spend a dime on it himself. Something like that would be an insane luxury and an allowance can only go so far. Still, the basement fridge full of the stuff had been a gift from his godfather and Greg had a tendency to guard it selfishly. "I'll just let it go."

"You do that." His friend glanced up from the bowl, staring at Greg from underneath brown bangs. "Sea salt and vanilla? Mmm. That's some Caucasian shit if I ever heard it but this is delish, so..." His words trailed off as he ate another spoon of ice cream.

Sighing, the blond cast a glance to his bedside table, his alarm clock already silent.

4:20

"I was under for the whole hour and a half?" Greg asked aloud, more to himself than Sparky. A slight frown accompanied the words, Greg struggling to understand exactly how he felt about that. He was aware that time seemed to pass faster when he was under but… That's a little much.

"Yep," Sparky answered through a mouthful of ice cream. "Honestly thought you fell asleep after a bit."

"Huh," Greg pulled a face, shrugging slightly. "Doesn't matter, I guess. Meditation is still super helpful." His hands crossed across his torso, grabbed the bottom of his shirt and Greg pulled it up over his head, tossing the black 'Level Up!' shirt onto his bed without even looking at it. "Think I figured something out, by the way."

'Hmm." Sparky's gaze lingered on Greg's chest for a scant moment, quickly glancing up at his face as he pulled the spoon from his mouth again. "Is it how to take off a shirt like a boy?"

"What?" Greg's head tilted, giving Sparky a curious look as he tried to parse the odd question.

"Nah, it's… heh." His friend's lip quirked, taking another spoon of ice cream as he shook his head. "Nothing. Continue."

"Oookay." Greg turned to fully face his friend, his forearms bent at a ninety-degree angle. "So, I was thinking about what you said last week…" At Sparky's curious look, Greg tried to elaborate. "Y'know, about trying to get a work-around to aerokinesis?"

"Maybe, I might have said a passing sentence about something like that…" The long-haired teen nodded, placing the empty bowl next to Greg's desktop. "Yeah?"

"So, I was kinda thinking about it while I was meditating." Greg frowned slightly at that. "Well, I didn't mean to think about it but the thought came into my head and my brain kinda went with it but…" he clicked his tongue, casting a glance at his forearms, "I think I know what to do."

Without even giving Sparky a chance to speak, blue wisps of light began to flare from Greg's body, his torso surrounded by a far denser aura than the rest of his body. "See, I was being stupid. I thought…" he paused, narrowing his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly, "...I thought that all I had to do was push the air around, y'know?"

Sparky watched, eyes widening as air began to flutter around Greg's upper body, wind visible as it buffeted his hair upwards.

"All I was doing was pushing the air out of my hands out of my body and trying to move it. I could do that and it could work but it'd be way harder. It'd take so much more time, y'know?" Greg shook his head, speaking more to himself than Sparky at this point. "The skill says I can exert the force of air in an area of around five meters around me. Obviously, I'm not actually controlling the air."

"Obviously?" The mixed teen raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously," Greg said with a grin. "What I'm doing is controlling my mana to control the air so if there's none of my mana in the air," He closed his eyes, the wind in his room picking up as his body began to let off torrents of air, similar to a large fan, "there's nothing for me to control. But now, just like that," his hands rose to his chest and the wind picked up, sending a quick gale throughout the entire room, forcing Sparky to blink.

Basic Aerokinesis Skill Unlocked

Minor Aerokinesis → Basic Aerokinesis Basic Aerokinesis Lv 1

"Winds, guard me!"

Exert the force of your air control over a range of 7.5 meters. (80 mph)

Cost: 10 mp per second of sustained use

"I'm an airbender!"

Laughing, Greg brought his palms closer to one another, rotating his hands as a funnel seemed to form around his hands, his face lighting up with glee as the air within his grasp became denser, almost visible the longer he held it. "And the best part is… listen to this," the blond cackled, "since I'm not using the full force, I use like a fraction of the mana but I can control it so much better. Ha!"

Greg's face broke out into a manic grin, his hair flying upwards like some demented mad scientist. "You see this, Sparky? This is so awesome!"

His friend didn't reply for a few seconds, simply staring wide-eyed as Greg kicked up a wind around his room, his eyes lacking the raw excitement of Greg's.

"Y… you ever think you might be doing too much?" Sparky's question came out of nowhere, cutting off the flow of conversation with just those few words.

"Huh?" Greg opened his eyes to glance at his friend, letting the blue glow of mana fade from his upper body along with the strong breeze he was kicking up as he dropped his hands back to his sides. "What do you mean, Sparks?"

"Like, your powers. You think... Ugh, how do I put this?" Sparky clicked his tongue, shaking his head as he did so. "Everyone knows capes are a little… off, you know?"

Greg shrugged. "Yeah, I guess." For the most part, that was pretty much a given when it came to capes. They were a little weird, almost every cape having idiosyncrasies that were only made more obvious due to how outlandish costumed heroes were in practice. "Why?"

"Well," the long-haired teen tilted his head with a sigh. "Think about it, brah. You've been acting a bit more… you than usual lately."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Not exactly but," he paused, glancing up at Greg, "like, you're a lot for a person, if you know what I mean… no homo."

"No homo." Greg nodded in agreement.

"And lately," Sparky continued with a heavy sigh, "you've been getting cocky, brah. Like, very cocky."

"I mean, why not be cocky?" Greg grinned, poking himself in the chest with a thumb. "I'm awesome! I got powers, Sparks! Like, I literally have magic!"

"Yeah, that…" Sparky gave a visible wince at the word "magic" but shook his head and soldiered on. "I'm not going to say what I think about… that whole situation but I feel like you're letting the idea of this being a game, I dunno, get to your head a little, brah."

Mumbling incoherently, Greg gave Sparky a noncommittal shrug. "I mean… I don't think so."

"You don't really think all that often, though, do you?" Sparky raised both eyebrows for a moment before dropping them as he shook his head. "Brah, I'm not saying you're dumb or nothing. You're straight-up smarter than me. Always have been in everything except math."

Greg nodded at that point, raising a hand to his chin. He did hate doing math, although it was getting a heck of a lot easier the past few days. Maybe I should try and grind INT or something. What can I do? Fix a car or something? I'll find out.

"But, brah," his friend continued, "you really don't use your head. Like," the mixed teen paused, licking his lips, "you beat up Shadow Stalker and you just brushed it off like a joke."

"Technically," Greg raised a finger, sucking in a breath as he did so, "I did try to settle it with words. She just wasn't having it. Sucks for her, right?"

"Really, brah?" Sparky narrowed his eyes. "Was that because you didn't want to fight her or because the quest gave you the option?"

"...mmm." Greg opened his mouth, before closing it with an audible 'click' of his teeth. "...little of both, really," he replied with a nervous smile. "What's wrong with that?"

"...Mal." The single syllable fell from Sparky's lips after a long moment of silence.

"Huh?"

"You got a quest to fight Mal, too. Didn't you?"

"...yeah."

"So, would you have done what you did without the quest?"

"I…" Greg blinked, opening his mouth again and leaving it like that. He wasn't sure he wanted to answer that question, to be honest. Hell, he wasn't sure he wanted there to be an answer to that question. "Does it even matter?"

"Yeah, it matters," Sparky said, staring at Greg disbelievingly. "You told me about these quests and you honestly don't think they're fucking with your head, brah?"

"You sure about that?" Greg frowned. "I mean, if we were talking about Gamer's Mind, I'd get it but…"

"G, forget about Gamer's Mind for a f-" He bit back a curse, licking his lips as he tried to get his thoughts in order. "Your unconscious is what's giving you these quests, I'm guessing. You're letting your unconscious thoughts change your behavior and puppet you around. You don't see anything wrong with that?"

"Y'know what?" Greg walked over to his closet, turning his back on Sparky as he pulled out a new shirt. Slipping the "Be Excellent to Each Other" shirt on quickly, he gave his friend a glance over his shoulder. "You're absolutely right, best buddy."

"Buddy?" Sparky's expression fell, his head shaking slightly.

"Yepparoo."

"Dude, I get that you don't wanna talk but you don't gotta use that weird old-people speak you do when you're nervous," Sparky dropped his gaze. "It's just weird."

"I do wanna talk but... let's pencil this for later. Right now, we're going shopping," Greg stretched out the last word with a slightly forced grin, pulling on a jacket as he spoke. "And don't worry, I'm paying."

"You're seriously gonna just ignore everything I just said?" Sparky blinked as he watched Greg flit around the room, throwing on clothes as he prepared to head out. "Seriously…"

"I promise I'll meditate on it." Greg lifted his head from tying his shoes to wink at his friend. "How about that?"

"You're… proving my point right now, you know that, right?."

"I mean," The blond shrugged. "I guess but can we talk about this later? This is crunch time."

"Crunch time," Sparky echoed, his eyelids falling as he gave his friend a blank stare. It wasn't a question and they both knew it.

"Yeaaaah,' Greg said with a snort. "I'm heading down to Warren's Hardware first then Joe's Pawn Shop, then Jock's Sporting Emporium. We got a whole shopping list to get through. Can't forget the spray paint and pads too, right?" Glancing at his friend's disheveled and underdressed state, the blond shook his head. "Come on. Get ready, man. You're gonna help me pick out the other stuff too."

"Other stuff? What other stuff? Why?" The questions, albeit simple, were extremely pertinent, in Sparky's opinion.

"My stats are way too low to pull off an Assault build right now, so I gotta do an Armsmaster."

With that odd statement, Greg walked out of his room, obviously headed down the stairs. Sparky remained where he sat, unmoving from Greg's computer chair. Lowering his head into a single palm, he let out a long sigh. "Why do I even…"

"Come on, Sparks!"

The teen in question raised his head to see his friend's face poking in through the doorway, face as eager as always.

"Hurry up, man! We gotta get this done today."

Sparky sighed, cupping his chin as he gave his friend a long-suffering stare. "Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?"

Greg sighed, having the gall to appear as if he was the one being stressed out. "Well, me and Emma have a thing tomorrow and the pawn shop closes at 5:30 today. Besides, they only have a couple swords left in store and I want to grab at least one of 'em." With that, the blond's head vanished around the corner, his voice trailing off behind him. "Come on already!"

Shaking his head, Sparky sat up from the ergonomic chair, picking up the bowl of ice cream in one hand and walked forward only to freeze after a few steps, hazel eyes widening as Greg's last words fully landed.

"Did you say swords?!"

Spoiler: STATUS Greg Lucas Veder Age: 15 (and three-quarters!) Title: Ninja - In Training Level 8 Experience 710/16350 Health 410/410 Mana 210/210 Willpower 175/175 STR 40 SPD 26 (+2) VIT 24 INT 29 WIS 12(-80%) CHA 17(+9) (-90%) Stat Points: 0 Perk Points: 0 Cash: $562.57 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)

Perks

Baby Steps (1/3) [Ranked Skill]

With Catlike Tread...

Allows very light movement across surfaces, allowing you to move or stand on surfaces that would normally not support your weight.

Lifegiver (3/10) [Ranked Ability]

Health is more than just not getting sick.

Every time you gain a level, you gain an additional 5 HP for each rank of this perk.

Danger Sense (1/10) [Ranked Skill]

My common sense is tingling.

You gain a sixth sense that allows you to sense the presence of incoming danger.

Not Quite Dead

People die when they are killed… usually.

Survive after your HP sinks below 0 and a harmful status effect is active.

10% Chance to recover with full health when HP drops to 0.

Skills

Gamer's Body (Passive) Lv. MAX

Allows you to live life as if were a game.

Sleeping restores HP, MP, Will and removes most negative status effects.

Gamer's Mind (Passive) Lv. MAX

Grants immunity to mental status effects, emotional and mental trauma and severely dangerous emotional states.

Dash Straight Lv 4 (XP: 15%)

Force equals Mass times Acceleration.

You may suck at physics, but you know that much.

By combining Power Sprint with Angry Straight, you smash your fist into a target while moving at high speed. Damage scales based on distance Power Sprinted. (1.25x Damage Cap)

Cost: 7 Will + 2 Will for every meter power sprinted

Mana Glitter Lv 4 (XP: 65%)

Sparkle like the pretty bishounen you were always meant to be. Or a princess. Or a pedophilic slightly-rapey vampire. Who's judging you?

Release particles of mana from your body in the form of iridescent sapphire sparkles. Max Range increases by 25% with each level. (2.5 meters)

Basic Aerokinesis Lv 1

"Winds, guard me!"

Exert the force of your air control over a range of 7.5 meters. (80 mph)

Cost: 10 mp per second of sustained use

Observe Lv 3 (XP: 65%)

A skill to find out basic information relating to the chosen object.

Cost: 1 MP

Raging Combo Lv 2 (XP: 55%)

A blistering barrage of belligerent blows built to batter baddies.

By repeatedly using weaker forms of Angry Straight, you pummel your target with raw frustration and anger. (6 Hits)

Damage: 60

Cost: 10 Will

Reinforcement (Novice) Lv 14 (XP: 20%)

A discount version of the Kaio-Ken for the squishy wizard.

Increase your effective strength, speed and health by 2% per level with this technique.

Does not increase actual points of vitality or willpower.

Cost: 2 Will per second

Warning: Overuse will lead to HP damage.

Surface Adhesion Lv 2 (XP: 35%)

You ever wanted to be Spider-Man? Don't lie. Of course you did.

This skill allows you to stick to walls and hang on to ceilings and vertical surfaces without a risk of falling. While not denying gravity, this allows you to adhere to surfaces unaided.

Cost: 2 MP per second

Structural Analysis Lv 5 (XP: 35%)

Judging the concept of creation, Hypothesizing the basic structure...

Grants the ability to gain a rudimentary understanding of the internal structure and functional design of simple, non-living objects.

Cost: 2 mp per square half-meter of object.

Weapon Charge Lv 1 (XP: 95%)

Boosts weapon damage x 2 for 1 second.

Length of charge increases by 1 second for every level.

Damage multiplier increases by .20 with every level.

Cost: 8 MP

Abilities

Acrobatics Lv 5 (XP: 35%)

Parkour!

An ability that enables you to pull off backflips, frontflips and any manner of jumping-based ground-movement technique with greater ease.

Awareness: Mana Lv 6 (XP: 35%)

Mana, magic energy, magicka, prana, ether, thaum, spiritual energy, magatsuhi or even chakra… Call it what you want. It's all the same in the end.

You have gained awareness of Mana, the spiritual energy found within the human mind and soul. Gaining awareness of your magical energy has given you some semblance of control over it.

Awareness: Willpower Lv 5 (XP: 25%)

Willpower, ki, chi, qi, stamina, aura, mantra, physical energy, life energy, od, or even hamon… Call it what you want. It's all the same in the end.

You have gained awareness of your Willpower, the physical energy found within all living organisms. Gaining awareness of your physical energy has given you some semblance of control over it.

Basic Anatomy Lvl 5 (XP: 85%)

Anatomy is to physiology as geography is to history.

Gain a basic understanding of the human body.

Increases [Critical Hit] damage by 10%.

Beginner Combat Lvl 3 (XP: 55%)

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

The next level of combat, Beginner Combat is a fusion of fighting and footwork into the ability to learn new styles of combat, fusing them into a novice martial combat capability.

Breath-Holding Lv 6

Asphyxiation is a terrible way to die.

Increases time able to stay conscious without air by 30 seconds per level.

Bullshitting Lv 5 (XP: 75%)

First, you tell a lie; then you believe it; then you become it.

Increases chances that any lie you tell is successful by 2% with every level.

Disarm Lv 3 (XP: 25%)

Take their weapon from their warm, living hands.

Increases chance of disarming the enemy by 2% with every level.

Kissing Lv 5 (XP: 75%)

Looks like practicing on a peach actually paid off.

Meditation Lvl 9 (XP: 60%)

Breathe in the good shit. Breathe out the bullshit.

By finding your inner focus, you push out all earthly distractions and enter a state of mental and physical harmony, allowing a greater understanding of your mind and body. While meditating, your Mana and Will recover at a rate of 10% faster per level into this ability. You retain this bonus for a period of ten minutes post-Meditation. (40%)

Parry Lv 4 (XP: 60%)

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 2% with every level.

Reflexes Lv 7 (XP: 55%)

DODGE!

Increases your innate reaction speed by 10% per level.

Resistance: Blunt Force Lv. 29 (XP: 65%)

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 0.75% with every level from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Resistance: Cold Lv 6 (XP: 80%)

The cold never stopped bothering you.

Increases resistance to cold temperature by 1% with every level.

Resistance: Electricity Lv 8 (XP: 25%)

Everyone knows electrocution is harmless.

Increases resistance to electrical damage by 1% with every level from attacks less than 100% of your health. (8%)

Resistance: Heat Lv 5 (XP: 35%)

"You have to respect anything that can just stand there, on fire."

Increases resistance to heat damage by 1% with every level from attacks less than 100% of your health. (5%)

Resistance: Piercing Lv 8 (XP: 50%)

The thrust or stab is risky because it can kill and yet not stop.

Reduces piercing or stabbing damage by 0.75% with every level from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Resistance: Slashing Lv 6 (XP: 90%)

The cut will stop but not kill.

Reduces slashing or cutting damage by 0.75% with every level from attacks less than 100% of your health.

Seduction Lv 1

I didn't mean to turn you on… or did I?

Manage to draw the attention of a member of the opposite sex using your innate attraction skills. Increases chance of [Critical Hits] on enemies by .5% every level.

Sneaking Lv 11 (XP: 20%)

Ugh… stealth missions suck.

Allows for quieter movement while trying not to be heard.

Stamina Lvl 8 (XP: 15%)

Whatever I lack in talent I have in stamina.

Increase Will by + 5 with every level.

Taunt Lv 5 (XP: 10%)

"And this! Is when I taunt you!"

Draw the attention of a target through nonsensical, idiotic, but occasionally piercing, verbal attacks. Increases chance of Critical Hits on enemies by 2% with every level.

Thrown Weapons Lv 4 (XP: 75%)

Throwing your sword always works. Except, you know, when it doesn't.

Increases the skill, range and force by which items and weapons can be thrown by 2% with every level.