Jack woke up at four the next morning after only resting for a little over six hours, and fumbled for his phone which was charging on the night stand next to him. Despite the small amounts of sleep he is getting, he usually wakes up fully refreshed and ready to start his day even if he was exceedingly tired the night before. Jack’s phone lit up as he unplugged it, and Jack squinted to read the letters on the screen.

[Hey, Jack! Someone complimented you! Click here to-]

Jack clicked the ‘mark as read’ tab below the message, and put his phone on the bed next to him as he sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes. He heard some movement coming from outside his bedroom door.

“Val must be up.”

Val required less sleep, if it was sleep, than Jack, and was usually up and moving around before he was. Jack stood up, and as he did, the door to his room opened, revealing a slim figure wearing a black military uniform and a sleek tinted mask.

[Hello, Jack, I-]

Val paused upon seeing Jack, looking down slightly before quickly exiting the room, and slamming the door shut. Jack stood there, dumbfounded for a second before looking down to see what Val was looking at.

“Ah...”

Jack was naked. The previous night, he got the crap beaten out of him and was exhausted, so he just took off everything he was wearing and crawled in bed, though he didn’t quite understand why Val was bothered by it. Could it be there was someone under that mask? If so, they were likely in desperate need of a shower.

“Speaking of which.”

Jack grabbed some clothes, and headed toward the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist just in case he ran into Val on the way.

Jack took his time in the shower, enjoying the free time he got from his new, more efficient body until he heard a light tapping on the bathroom door.

[Jack, there is food for you on the table when you're ready.]

The same mechanical voice that Jack was getting used to sounded from the other side of the door, with some information that Jack was genuinely happy to hear.

“Thanks, Val. I really appreciate it.”

He normally only got home cooked meals on the rare occasion Jenny came over to visit, aside from that, he usually only ate food that had ‘instant’ in the title, so he meant it when he said he appreciated it.

Several minutes later, Jack got out of the shower, and dressed before heading towards his living room and the delicious food awaiting him. What greeted him was a plate of what looked like charcoal, but had a slightly purple-ish tint to it, next to mortar. Jack looked up at Val, who was proudly tossing a spatula up and down, then back at the food in front of him that seemed to emit a powerful bloodlust aura.

Jack smiled nervously, and picked up a fork, slowly reaching towards the plate while trying not to catch the attention of the beast residing on it.

Jack gave in, quickly scooping a lump of the charcoal-like stuff, and sticking it in his mouth. He had expected many things, but was still caught off guard when it was crunchy on the outside, and sticky on the inside, kind of like a burnt marshmallow, except it tasted like horse shit.

(Oh my god, it looks like someone already ate it!)

“Urg.”

Ellis comes in at the perfect time, nearly causing Jack to vomit with one of her snappy comments. Jack looked at Val, who was staring expectantly at him, who was trying to resist his gag reflex. He eventually choked it down with as little noise as possible before giving his report.

“It’s good. I don’t recognize it, what is it?”

Jack was asking just in case he needed to call poison control, and he was not being dramatic either, he was genuinely worried.

[I don’t know. It was in your fridge, so I assumed it was food.]

“Ugh.”

Jack had to keep his body from rejecting the food, he was a bachelor and there were a lot of things in his fridge that were no longer edible no matter what you did to it. Jack tried to keep his mind from drifting to the mayonnaise bottle that had been in there since he moved in, and that’s when something tugged at his mind.

“Val, are you a robot?”

Val, who had started washing the dishes without water, turned toward Jack.

[No.]

“What is your gender?”

[I am not going to tell you.]

Hmm. No matter how Jack looked, he didn’t seem to see any breasts, however Val definitely resembled a girl. Maybe it’s just a feminine guy? Either way, if Val wasn’t a robot, he didn’t want to keep saying “it”.

“Do you mind if I treat you like a girl? I would rather call you ‘she’ and ‘her’, rather than ‘it’.”

[Do What you like.]

Val returned to the dishes, and Jack snuck away before Val could catch him and guilt him into eating more.

(You really know how to pull on a girl’s heartstrings.)

‘Please don’t tease me.’

Jack had never had any sort of romantic relationship in his nineteen years of life on this planet, due to girl’s general disinterest in him, and his inability to pursue a girl romantically since Jenny rejected him.

(You’re dense, you know that?)

Jack shrugged of Ellis’s observation and continued out of the building. He was lucky he got such an early start, his car was still smashed up and probably got towed for sitting in the park for too long, so he had to run to school. He was really fast, much faster than he realized, and didn’t get tired as easily as he used to. He thought about what it will be like next time he “upgrades”.

‘Hey, Ellis.’

Jack weaved the through the park, running at the speed of an Olympic athlete while dodging the various people and objects that were scattered around.

(What is it?)

‘Do you think I can do the “upgrade” thing again?’

(Upgrade sounds like a video game, call it “magical enhancement”!”

Ellis had spent too much time in his head, and was developing eighth-grade syndrome.

‘Am I ready yet?’

(Call it “Magical enhancement”!”)

‘Why would I do that?’

(Because it sounds cool! Now, say it before I add “of love” on the end.)

Jack sighed.

‘Fine, am I ready for the “magical enhancement” yet?’

(No.)

Jack vaulted over a small fence that was used as a border for the park, and continued along the sidewalk by the road.

‘Why not? Didn’t you say “in a few days” a few days ago?’

(Yes, but you have injuries still, and forcing magic through your body could make those injuries worse. Wait until you’ve healed.)

‘Fine...’

Jack wanted to get stronger as fast as he could to avoid death by pissed off archangel, however he wasn’t exactly looking forward to experiencing the enhancement process, so he decided to listen to Ellis.

Jack arrived just before his first lecture at 5:30, although the teacher still wasn’t here, and had probably overslept, so most of the students that arrived late were still fine. Around 5:40 Jenny walked in, and spotted Jack, who was sitting on the far side of the room in the back row, and approached him at a rapid pace.

“Hey, Jack! How did you get here? I came to pick you up, and you were already gone! Your not hiding anything, are you?”

Jenny approached Jack until her face was inches from his, searching his eyes for any slight sign that he is lying. She knew him well enough to tell whether or not he was lying, so Jack didn’t lie.

“I ran.”

“All the way from your apartment?”

“All the way from my apartment.”

Jack matched Jenny’s gaze and didn’t let up no matter how those blue eyes tried to pry.

“Hmm? What about my other question? Are. You. Hiding. Any. Thing?”

(Ooh, you so busted!)

Ellis chimed in, loving every moment of Jenny’s interrogation.

“Excuse me, everyone, please sit down.”

The teacher, professor Newgate, showed up just in time, and Jenny released Jack from her stare, and sat down next to him while crossing her arms, leaning back, and making a cute pouting face. She typed something down on her IPad, then showed it to Jack.

[You’re going to explain everything.]

Jack just nodded nervously, and pulled out his own iPad, opening it up to his textbook as professor Newgate began his lecture. Jack’s mind was like a sponge, and witching fifteen minutes, he had finished reading, and understanding the section the professor was covering, and was now bored.

‘Hey, Ellis.’

Jack turned to the once goddess of love to cure his boredom as the teacher continued his explanation.

(Yes?)

‘Will I be able to use magic in a way other than just “physical enhancement”?’

(Yes, you already can, actually.)

‘Why didn’t you tell me!?’

(Because you didn’t ask.)

Jack shook his head while thinking back to how handy magic would have been in a couple of situations.

‘How?’

(It’s actually pretty easy now that you can already sense and control your magical power, all you need to do is focus on one small point, and push some of that magic out.)

Jack looked over at Jenny, who was completely distracted with her studies, and not paying attention to him before holding out one finger in front of his face. He concentrated for several seconds, focusing on the stream of magic inside of him, and focusing it on the tip of his finger. There was a small burning sensation which disappeared in an instant, followed by a small, pink string that was barely visible to the naked eye extending out of his finger.

(Tadaa!)

Ellis exclaimed as the three-inch-long string flicked and flowed as if dancing to an inaudible rhythm as Jack looked at it feeling disappointed.

‘What am I supposed to do with this?’

(Watch what happens when it touches something.)

Ellis responded with a excited voice. Jack brought his hand down causally, while looking around to make sure no one was watching, then let the thread touch the unoccupied chair next to him. He watched as the string sliced through the wood while releasing a small wisp of smoke without any resistance. Jack watched in awe until the chair broke and fell to the ground with a small, but disruptive crash. The professor glanced in his direction for a second before returning to his lecture, while Jenny stared for a little longer, but eventually returned to her notes.

‘What was that?’

(Hu hu hu. You now have a taste of my immense power! What you did was create a small thread from pure energy, I call it the String of Love!)

Ellis proudly explained the phenomenon, even going as far as to give it a name.

‘Ah, I see...’

Jack studied the thread with interest for several minutes, occasionally letting it drift into nothingness, before creating it again. He repeated this process over and over again until he thought he could call it up with relative ease. The class passed by in a flash, and Jack picked up his iPad and prepared to go home, thankful that he only had the one lecture today, when Jenny turned toward him.

“I have another class to get to, but I’ll head to your apartment later. Be ready to explain yourself.”

Jenny was more than slightly intimidating, and Jack couldn’t help but to swallow nervously at her words.

“Don’t worry, I’ll explain when you get there.”

Jack really didn’t want to involve Jenny in everything that was going on, because she couldn’t do anything about it and would just end up worrying. He packed his stuff up, and began his walk home, walking this time so he could practice creating the magical thread. He arrived at about 9:00, and was greeted by Val, who looked like she was about to leave.

[Hello, Jack.]

Val was standing by the door, clearly on her way out.

“Hey, Val. Going somewhere?”

[There are a couple of furies that have been acting up near here, I am going to take care of them.]

Jack stepped to the side to allow Val to pass before inquiring.

“Can I come?”

Val walked by Jack and paused, then looked back.

[You may, however it may be dangerous.]

“I don’t mind, I need real fighting experience anyway which is hard to get in a safe environment.”

Val turned away and began walking, while Jack followed closely.

[The furies you fought were all lower-class, and one mid-class. Make sure to keep alert because today there was a reported hive of twelve lower-class, nine mid-class, and likely one upper-class.]

Jack didn’t quite understand what the classes were, but remembered the furies he fought, and his the one that was wearing the employee hat was on a different level than the three old men. Despite his training, Jack was certain he’d die if he took them all on at once, and felt thankful that Val was there. The two exited the building through his back window, and Val turned invisible, which caught Jack off guard, but, he figured that made sense, since all that gear was likely not just for decoration. Jack listened to Val’s steps, and could sense her movements, so he was able to follow, although he got some funny looks when people saw him climb out his window.

The pair took off running down the sidewalk at an impressive speed.

‘This is going to be fun.’

(Please avoid doing something stupid...)