Darion hasn't taken three steps away from the little girl's house when a new popup screen appeared in front of his face.

Congratulations! Due to your diligence, you just leveled up!

Current level: 2

You gained: 2 Hero Points.

Darion groaned to himself. Now what? What the hell is this hero points for?

He went to his character screen and observe that nothing has changed except for his level, which is now two, and that he has two available hero points.

He reviewed the last message and focused his eyes on the words "Hero points." He was right, the words turned green, and he was now able to click it for more information.

Hero Points:

Represents the overall learned knowledge and capabilities of an empowered being and the path he/she wants to pursue.

Hero points are used to increase any existing skills, abilities, or upgrade to customize the power of the hero. The higher the abilities, the more points needed to upgrade it.

Darion took a moment to understand what he just read, and then he decided to open up his character screen once more. He focused on his skill "Telekinesis," and sure enough, a plus sign now appeared next to the ability. The moment he clicked on it, the prompt immediately asked if he wanted to spend one hero point to level up Telekinesis. He decided No, and then tested "Basic Enhanced Senses" as well. That skill also needed one hero point to upgrade the skill to level 2.

He nodded to himself. It's like a skill point you can add to specific "powers" that you have in order to improve it. But Darion did not use it for the moment. He has the distinct feeling that he can actually increase these "skills" the old fashion way, which is to grind it out through hard work. He reread the info on the hero points, and there is no info about any expiration date. So he can just keep the points for now.

Now that he has decided to keep his points, he went directly to the experimentation stage. Again the only way to find out if you can also get points through grinding is to actually just try it.

So he took a deep breath, stomped his sneakers, adjusted his hoodie, and then he started jogging. He threw imaginary jabs and made a twist and turn with his feet. When he judged that he was limber enough, he started to sprint at his top speed.

Six minutes later, he was heaving on the concrete floor. His lungs were on fire, and he has a hard time breathing properly. Luckily, there was a nearby fountain, and he drank some water and splashed some water into his face to cool down. When his pulse went down a bit, he started jogging again, and then once more, he sprinted full hilt.

Ten minutes after that, and he was barely conscious. He collapsed on someone's lawn as he struggled to take in some fresh air. It was like his lungs were not functioning anymore as liquid fire burned him from within.

Three more minutes, and he had his breathing and pulse under control. He stretched out as he sat on that lawn and hoping against hope that the place where he rested his face is not the favorite location the local dogs normally poops.

He stood up as he felt his own body. Nothing seems to be too sore, although his joints are crackling. He did a few more stretching, and then he jumped in place. When his knees started to get numbed, he dropped down and did fast pushups emphasizing how many reps he could do under a minute. When his arm grew tired, Darion jumped to his feet and he started jogging again. 5 minutes after that, he was running full tilt.

Darion sprinted continuously until he felt his lungs will burst. When he couldn't move anymore, he gave himself about 30 seconds to rest and catch his breath. Then he was back to the dirt and pushing the earth for all he is worth. When he couldn't feel his arm any more he jumped up and started running again.

Fifteen minutes later, and he slowed down as he stared at the front gate of his house. His jacket was soaking to the brim with sweat, and he is breathing hard, but to his complete astonishment, he felt that he could go for a few more miles.

Just to burn his excess energy, he jogged in place and then did a few more stretching exercises. That wasn't really satisfying, so he went ahead and did a hundred pushups. When he finished that, he did another 100 reps since he felt he is still okay.

Now he was frowning. It is as if his body adjusted and is able to compensate for the heavy exercise. Just to be sure, Darion laid on his back on their own lawn and started doing sit-ups.

His dad parked the car in front of his garage. He stared in confusion out of the window on why his son was doing pushups in the middle of the driveway. Darion was way into his third rep of a hundred pushups each when he noticed his dad staring at him.

There was an awkward silence between them.

"I just want to beat your record," Darion said lamely.

"Uh, huh," His dad said, one hand still holding ice cream, and trying his darndest to look convincing that he understood the statement. But both of them can see him being puzzled by his son's actions.

"Wow!" Darion said all of a sudden to break the tension. "That exercise sure does whet the appetite, huh." And then he walked inside the house.

Darion noticed his sister walking outside. He mocked hug his sister, who is just coming out of the kitchen while he was soaking in sweat. "Come here you!" Darion said with a half craze look in his eyes.

"Ewww! Gross! Get off me!"

Mr. Libinski watched blankly as the two siblings fought while he absently ate his ice cream. Well, at least Darion's mood is better, he thought idly.