17 Fun

I placed 50 stat points into Wisdom, and my eyes shimmered with expectation for the skills I will be granted, but then that was replaced with pure horror.

[The skill, Sage's Protection, has been created as Wisdom increased over 100.]

[The skill, Sage's Wisdom, has been created as Wisdom increased over 100.]

Nooo! Change the names! Take it back! I want new ones! I don't want to be a sage! Nooo! I don't want to die alone! Please, at least change the name!

My ability didn't listen to me, and the names were left unchanged.

[Sage's Protection(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user is a Sage, protected by all kinds of mundane things. Magic Resistance is increased by 50%. Negative status effects last half as long.]

No! I don't want to be protected from mundane things! I want a girlfriend!

[Sage's Wisdom(Passive) Lvl. Max: The user is as wise as a Sage. MP regen increased by 50%. Casting speed is increased by 100%. The user can now cast 3 spells at the same time.]

The skills were great, my MP regen was through the roof now, my Magic Resistance was over 25%, and I was able to cast 3 skills/spells at the same time, but did they have to be named Sage?

To relax, I opened two portals in front of me and gave myself a back rub.

Feeling better, I put on my clothes as I prepared to go to school. The new clothes I had purchased were baggy since I prefer dressing like that, it was just comfier.

They were also useful for hiding my improved physical stats. I didn't look super buffed or anything like that, but I was visibly ripped at this point. I looked like a person who had kept his body in perfect shape for his entire life. That gave me relief and hope that I might find a girlfriend in the future.

This would be a slight problem in the near future as summer was coming up.

School was a simple matter to me at this point. I was able to memorize and process everything taught in class with ease. My high mental stats worked wonders in that regard.

During our lunchtime, I had to go to the toilet first before I went to the school cafeteria. Jean and Kurt were already there sitting on the table we usually occupied. When I sat down, Kurt excused himself, saying he needs to go to the toilet and left me alone with her.

Awkward. The last time we talked, it had ended on a bit of a weird note. No biggie, I thought, I can maybe use this chance to try to apologize.

"I'm sorry.." We both said at the same time. It was a bit embarrassing, but we chuckled at that.

"Sorry, I was just trying to joke around and didn't realize it could've been taken as me making fun of you," Jean said.

"It's okay, I thought as much, but I acted petty about it. I'm sorry about that."

"Uh-oh, you said, "it's okay," that just makes me even more nervous," Jean said with a laugh, trying to brighten up the conversation, and possibly trying to get me used to her type of humor.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it," I said, and we both laughed it out.

I'm getting better at this talking thing.

"So, what happened with that pizza that is supposed to change my views on food?" Jean asked.

"I'm working on it, and I'm making good progress if I say so myself. Cooking has been a joy to learn, and I can probably get a job as a chef in the future if nothing else is available."

That was true. My Cooking skill was already at 19, and grandma praises my meals every time I present them to her. I understand that she would do it even if they weren't good, but she sounded genuine when she praised me.

Grandma had also told me a few times that I could easily find a part-time job as a chef somewhere. However, I was thinking she was also hinting at me to start looking for ways to sustain myself.

Both of my parents had worked good jobs, my father had worked as an engineer and my mother as a doctor. Before their deaths, they had left me a good amount of money for me to live until I finish school.

I hadn't used it extensively since I wasn't much of a spender. At most, I would grab about $5 for school, and the most I had spent was on my computer, which cost me about $1000. Still, it wasn't anywhere near enough to get me through college, but I hadn't even planned to go to one.

"Really? That's impressive. You must be talented," Jean said, to which I just nodded.

I wasn't talented in any way. There was literally nothing special about me. In school, I wasn't called a nerd for being book smart or something like that, I was called a nerd because I only played games in my free time.

Kurt returned shortly, and we talked for a bit, joking around. I figured I was getting better at this socializing thing. I had even managed to make a new friend recently. That should be good for a few months, or maybe a year. I had no plans to try and force that since I didn't think I would luck out as I did with Peter.

Before we returned to our last classes, Kurt asked. "Hey, vanna hang out after school? I'm free today."

I had almost forgotten about that. It would limit my grinding time a bit, but I was now able to work the entire night without much issue. I figured relaxing for a bit should be okay.

"Why not?"

"Nice!" Kurt excitedly said.

"Can I come too?" Jean asked, and I turned to her with surprise written on my face.

I also saw Kurt looking as if he had expected that from her.

"Sure," he said, and I felt I would be an ass if I refuse, so I said the same.

"Cool, ve can meet up after school and go somewhere together," Kurt said, and we returned to classes.

After we finished, we waited for Jean in front of the school. She arrived shortly, and a few of the X-Men were with her.

Now, I didn't mind hanging out with Kurt, and maybe even Jean, but I didn't want to hang out with the entire X-Men crew.

Thankfully, that wasn't going to happen. Jean told them goodbye and walked towards us. Warren looked at us a bit unhappily, but didn't say nor do a thing.

Scott, however, didn't seem pleased in any way with that after he saw me and walked after her.

"Where are you going?" Scott asked her.

"Not your business, Summer," Jean coldly told him and continued on her way.

"As the..." Scott was even about to reach out to her when Jean turned around and stared at him.

"I said. Not. Your. Business. When I want to hang out with friends, I will, and you have no say in it." Jean turned around, not sparing him another look or word.

Scott looked at me and looked downright murderous as if I had kicked his dog repeatedly right in front of him. As we walked away, I felt him staring at the back of my head the entire time. I'm pretty sure he was even considering using his powers on me.

I mean, I know Scott was madly in love with her, but this was straight up obsessive. No wonder they had a big fight.

The three of us talked for a bit about where to go, and we decided on the arcade. Jean wasn't too fond of that idea, but it was 2 against one, and if she wanted to hang out with us, she had no other option.

On our way there, I got a call from Peter. He wanted to know what would be a good time to schedule are meetings, and I figured tomorrow would work. Saturday and Sunday weren't a good time for me since I wanted to return to Kamar-taj if that was even possible. I'm still unsure of what was going on there.

Both of them heard my conversation, and Kurt looked visibly surprised, so he asked me who was that.

"That's a friend I made recently in a book store. I was looking for cooking books and bumped into him as he was checking out some about science. He's a bit of a social hazard like me, but we hit it off pretty well, and we agreed to meet each other from time to time," I lied through my teeth.

[Lying has increased to 16.]

I was glad they stopped asking questions there since I didn't know what else to tell them.

We reached the arcade. Kurt and I b-lined towards the Street Fighter machine after getting our tokens at the counter. How could we not? There was no better arcade game.

I was having a blast, wrecking him as we cursed at each other. We had already played a few rounds when I noticed that Jean stood behind us, watching us quietly and looking somewhat bored.

Even I, with my meager social skills, knew that she wasn't having a good time. I looked around to see what I can do to change that, and my eyes lit up.

Normally, when I think about arcade games, I think Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and etc.

However, there were a lot more machines in the arcade, and I had spotted a particular one, Treasure Quest. It was a very simple where you just had to spin a wheel, and it will land a number, which will be the number of tickets you receive from it.

I decided to make it a competition to see who can win the most. They agree, and we had lots of fun.

I was the unluckiest of the three of us. Usually, I hit only the lowest numbers, but from time to time, I will hit one of the higher ones, and I would grin like a person that had just won the jackpot.

How could I not, when I heard the ding sound followed by an increase of 1 to my Luck.

Kurt was in the middle ground. Not as unlucky as I was, but nowhere close to how lucky Jean was. That lasted until my Luck passed 15, and I started getting better rewards.

This was marvelous. At first, I had thought that I would be relaxing and losing time, which I could've spent grinding, but I still ended up grinding.

At one point, we used all of our tokens, but I went and got us more. They did object, telling me I shouldn't use my money for them, but I had plenty to spare, and I will be getting even more after I start grinding.

We moved on to different luck-based games to make it more entertaining. Gold Fishin, Yahtzee, and etc. we played every single one in the arcade.

I had a shit-eating grin by the end of it. We had won a lot of tickets, but I didn't care about them at all. The substantial increase to my Luck was my true reward. I also got to spent a lot of time with Kurt and Jean, which was a lot more fun than I had believed it would be.

Kurt and I didn't care about the tickets, so we gave them to Jean, who got herself a large plushy bear that cost 30 000. Yeah, we played a lot.

All in all, it was a big win for me, and I even offered them to do it again when they had free time. They agreed, and we separated, going back to our homes.

I got back to my house and informed grandma that I had been to the arcade with friends. After I assured her that I had indeed not been alone, which I've done in the past, she gave me a happy smile. A quick meal and a massage later, she went to sleep, and it was time for me to start grinding for the night.

[Name: William Williamson

Mutant Power: The Gamer

Level: 34 Next Level: 26%

Title: Apprentice Sorcerer]

[HP: 799

MP: 2,605]

[Strength: 23 + 16.56

Vitality: 29 + 20.88

Dexterity: 31 + 22.32

Intelligence: 101 + 74.74

Wisdom: 101 + 74.74

Luck: 22]

[Stat Points: 3

Cash: $40 654.70]

[Skills:

Cooking(Active) Lvl. 20/100 (+1)

Massage (Active) Lvl. 10/100 (+1)

Lying(Passive) Lvl. 16/50 (+1)

Sage's Protection(Passive)*

Sage's Wisdom(Passive)*]