Chapter 52

Dan felt like he’d been hit by a truck. Alright, well, not as much as that event, but he still hurt. He’d been sore when he fell asleep, which had happened immediately upon returning home from Ice Cream with Peter but had figured waking up would magically make it all go away. Apparently, that was not the case though.

Every bit of him was sore, and as he sat up he couldn’t help but groan. He hadn’t felt like this in a while. Sure, when he ranked up his ability it was always painful, but that was a fire burning through you as everything was magically improved and tweaked pain. This was you just ran a half marathon after sitting on your butt and not working out for the past year kind of pain. The kind of pain that said you’d done something your really, really shouldn’t have.

Uh, yeah, what did you think was going to happen? Syn’s snarky response, this early in the morning, should have been expected. Oh, hold on. Syn’s comment led to a moment of partial silence, while Dan heard something in background about almond milk and whip cream. Was he ordering coffee?

Anyways, Syn said after the pause, the sound of him lightly blowing on something, followed by sipping it, confirming Dan’s suspicion. The jerk was definitely getting coffee. Which continued his question of just who and what Syn was. Was the being currently hanging out somewhere on Earth?

Pushing your body like you did, while your Stamina was so low, had consequences. You tore pretty much all of your muscle fibers to some degree, and while nothing critical happened, you know for sure you took some damage. It will be a day or two till the pain subsides, but lucky for you, you can still operate at 100 percent, just with a little, reminder to stay within your limits.

“You’re telling me the auto-battle feature has more negative drawbacks?” Dan shook his head. Peter had shown him the video of his awesome play on the field, and he couldn’t believe that had been him. It had been impossible. Surely it would have been an ESPN highlight if it’d been during an actual game. Yet, even so, he wasn’t a fan of all these additional bits of baggage pulling that stunt off had.

Well, duh. Syn said with a snort. You’ve got magical powers, but you’re not a God. You’re still very much so a living, breathing, pile of flesh and bone. Meaning, if you abuse that little vessel of yours, it’s going to have consequences. Granted, the stronger you get, and the more you rank up, the less those consequences pop up, and the less you’ll be impacted by them.

“Good to know,” Dan said, wincing as he got out of bed. A hot shower would definitely help sooth his muscles. And, while waking up had definitely sucked, he couldn’t complain too much. His last day with the soccer team had seen some nice physical trait gains when he woke up. His strength, dexterity, and constitution had all bumped up another level.

Honestly, most of the actual adventurers who get such powers just grin and bare it. After all, what’s a little pain when you can run around at inhuman levels of ability, and also not even have to think as your body does whatever the task is you’re trying to accomplish.

“There’s probably a bit more at stake for those individuals.” Dan turned on the water, waiting for the temperature to change. He was just an average Freshman in high school. There wasn’t a ‘fate of the world’ riding on his shoulders. He didn’t have to fight in life-or-death battles. There wasn’t some Demon King or whatnot for him to face. Meaning, the pain was more of an annoyance than the actual gain. If he was being honest.

It’s all a matter of perspective. The voice in his head said. After all, I’m sure everyone around you would kill to have your powers. Imagine how awesome Peter would be if he had your powers. Oh, there’s an idea. Syn went quiet and muttered something about Truck-kun.

“Do not even attempt to try and hit Peter with a truck.”

Party pooper. Syn sighed. But no, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m stuck with you for now. So do try and put on a good show.

“Top of my priority list.” Dan said dryly. He climbed into the shower, letting the warm water sooth his body.

“While I’ve got your attention though,” Dan started, his mind shifting once again, doing his best to ignore the fact Syn was now ordering a McGriddle. “What happened with Sam yesterday?”

Oh, she totally wants you. The voice said with a chuckle. Like, way to go. First step towards the ever amusing yet completely unnecessary harem development.

Dan choked at that. He’d seen that trope in plenty of anime. “Harem?”

You know. Lots of girls, all into you, that type of thing.

“I know what a harem is.”

So, where’s your confusion?

“Why did it happen? It was like some sort of switch went off, and suddenly, she was acting like a completely different person.” Which Dan had to admit, made him really uncomfortable. He’d like the old Sam. If she was going to be that…forward with him from now on, he wasn’t sure how safe it would be to be around her. She was his coach, and he didn’t want her to get in trouble. Plus, there was the whole, age gap thing. Though, his teenage mind was already all for that. Hormones.

It’s your Charisma and Relationship skills. Given your heightened Charisma, social interactions are already improved for you. Which is lucky on your part, since let me tell you, you are one awkward kid.

“Syn.” Dan said firmly.

I digress. Any who, the higher your charisma, the stronger your ability to, affect someone’s personality and the way they view you. When you reach Excellent with someone, your Charisma skill then starts to work overtime. Depending on the person and their relationship with you, this can lead to extremely strong bonds being formed.

“So, everyone I get close with is suddenly going to change like that?”

As funny as that would be, no. Remember how your Relationship Monitor tabbed showed you likes and dislikes and such?

Dan vaguely remembered that. “Yeah.”

Right, well now, you can see what type of bonds triggering those will cause. Some people have certain things they look for in friends. Others have things that will instantly trigger a more…intimate feeling. You accidently triggered one of Sam’s biggest turn-ons so to speak. That is, she’s got a thing for athletic soccer players with skills that seem greater than hers. That challenge, to her, is, er, exciting. So you showing off, plus your increased relationship with her, plus your charisma modifiers, put her into the ‘interested in you’ category.

Dan’s mind was racing with the possibilities this knowledge opened up for him. On one hand, it could be easily abused. And he had a feeling using his powers in this way would create some negative outcomes. That being said, it was like a cheat code in a dating sim, and he couldn’t help but be intrigued by it. But only if it was something he had control over, not something which triggered instantly.

“Is there any way to turn it off?” Dan asked hopefully.

Well, you could try being a jerk to her. Or, Syn paused, nope, don’t do that. Honestly though, yeah. You can mentally pull up her information, and toggle off romantic as a relationship option. Doing so will ensure everything you do that’s positive towards her, and would normally win her over, stays safely in the boring, platonic section.

He was already pulling up his information as Syn said that, and quickly selected Sam from his relationship tree. There, he did as Syn mentioned, setting it at Platonic, and noting that before he had, it was showing Relation as Coach/Love Interest. Disabling the love interest option, put her back at just Coach, though thankfully, it didn’t seem to change anything else.

“And that’s it?” Dan asked once the task was completed.

Yup. Next time you see her, it will be like none of that happened. And, fun fact, you can always toggle that back on if you want, as long as your charisma is at the appropriate level to win her over, and you’re still on Excellent terms with her.

“Good to know.” Dan said, knowing he would never, ever, do that. Or at least, not in the near future. Er, never. He shook his head and turned the water to cold. It was going to be a long day.

Oh yeah, Syn commented. Might want to hurry up your shower too. Peters at your house.