NOVEL NEXT Grind 2.1
Grind 2.1
"[Observe.]"
Micah Toomes
Student
Lvl 2
Boring kid. Nothing to really see here. Super snooze-fest of a person, really. Likes the oboe.
What kind of a weirdo actually likes the oboe?
Repressing a snort, Greg turned his head slightly, locking his gaze on the girl a few seats across from Micah.
"[Observe.]"
Janet Barry
Student - Cheerleader
Lvl 2
Huge boobs. Real annoying voice, though. Called you a "mucho creepazoid" in Freshman year after you asked her to Homecoming. Kind of a bitch.
Has a crush on Empire wannabe, Mal Duncan.
His head lolled as he rested his chin on an upraised palm, glancing away from the busty bitch of a cheerleader before she noticed him staring. That was a situation that he didn't want to have to deal with again. His head turned listlessly to the side and locked on another girl.
Ever since his little outing yesterday afternoon, Greg had gotten only one more quest and that one almost wasn't worth it. Only getting 75 XP for cleaning up the mess he made in the garage was kind of a letdown, but Greg didn't let it bother him too much. Instead, he decided to spend the rest of the day grinding his stats, to mild success.
However, that was when he was at home.
At school, he couldn't exactly do pushups until his body gave out to level STR (+2) and neither could he slam a pan into his face over and over to bulk up his VIT (+1). In class, there was nothing for Greg to really do as he sat here, especially considering Sparky had been suspended since last week.
So, Greg simply sat there with nothing to do, barely listening to the teacher as she went over something related to the chapters of some book they were supposed to have read over the weekend.
Nothing to do, except power-level his [Observe] skill, of course.
Madison Clements
Student
Lvl 2
Tiny and cute. If life was an anime, she'd be the loli-est loli of them all. Desperately wishes she had gotten into Arcadia High School. Terrified of Sophia Hess.
Greg raised an eyebrow at that description but didn't pay it much thought, turning aside to someone else. "[Observe.]"
Nina Barry
Student
Lvl 3
The bitch's fraternal twin. Less annoying voice. Actually kinda nice. Has a girl-crush on Glory Girl. Big cape geek. Wants to be a parahuman more than anything.
"[Observe.]"
Kyle Danning
Student - Basketball Player
Lvl 4
Likes pineapple pizza. Also, a weirdo.
After all, he likes pineapple pizza.
Greg held back a snort. "[Observe.]"
Andy Manns
Student - Chess Team
Lvl 2
Some dick that acts like being on the "Chess Team" makes him better than you.
Has only one ball. Is very sensitive about it.
Greg blinked, his head tilting as his gaze tilted downwards towards Andy's waist. A moment later, he shook his head, shuddering. I really didn't need to know that.
Observe Lvl Up!
2→3
Nodding at the screen's message, Greg glanced towards the back of the room, eyes glazing over as he spotted a familiar head of beautiful, brown hair. An earnest smile immediately leapt onto his face as she lifted her head and caught his eye, the same smile dimming slightly when she simply stared past him like he didn't exist.
Greg sighed slightly, before shrugging his shoulders at the usual behavior from her. "[Observe.]"
Taylor Anne Hebert
???
???
Great hair. Meganekko and prime waifu material.
Never really talks to you, though. Best girl.
Wait, what? Greg did a double-take, not at Taylor's… interesting description, but at the fact that her level and class were hidden behind a wall of question marks. The question marks themselves were doing a great job at drawing his attention away from the super embarrassing color commentary his [Observe] had given him. Where's her stats? I've never seen anyone have question marks before.
"Weird." Greg pursed his face. Maybe I need to level up [Observe] more?
"Mr Veder!"
Greg flinched, jerking back to attention at the sudden shout of his name. Glancing up, he spotted his English teacher glaring at him over her glasses.
"Uh…" Greg froze as he realized that the whole class, sans Taylor, was staring at him, most of them with mocking smiles on their own faces.
"Uhhh… yes, Ms Gherry?" Greg gulped as the look on her face seemed to tighten. Ms Gherry was apparently in one of her moods. Most of the time the woman was distant and barely paid attention to the class except to read from a book. On other days, she was a complete battle-axe.
Greg guessed her anger issues stemmed from man troubles. He also doubted her ability to keep a boyfriend when she add anger issues, causing her to keep looking for another one. A vicious cycle, really.
"I was just about to go over the homework and I noticed you were busy paying attention to something else with no assignment even on your desk." The woman folded her arms over her chest, slowly walking over to Greg where he sat at the corner of the room nearest the entrance.
We had an assignment? Greg winced.
When she reached the front of his desk, Greg was forced to crane his head up especially high to stare at the statuesque woman. He bit his tongue, the first words on his lips almost being, "Speak louder. I cant hear you from up there."
"Mr Veder, I have to ask if you did the homework I assigned?"
"The… the homework," Greg blinked, trying his hardest not to phrase it like a question. He glanced at the desks surrounding him, his heart dropping into his stomach as he realized everyone else had papers on their desk, either written or typed. "You're asking me if I did it?"
As Ms Gherry raised an eyebrow, Greg hurriedly answered. "Of course! Of course, I did it. It's just… I left it at home." Greg spouted the lie, doing his best to sound like he believed it.
New Ability Gained!
Bullshitting
First, you tell a lie; then you believe it; then you become it.
Greg did his best not to twitch or even stare at the screen that appeared over his teacher's bust, locking his eyes directly on her face.
"Tell me, Mr Veder." Her steely eyes narrowed, and Greg found himself tilting backwards in his seat as she leaned forwards, clasping a manicured hand around the corner of his desk. "Be honest with me. Did you even do the reading of Part 1 of the Divine Comedy? The Inferno? The same reading I assigned on Thursday?"
Greg could hear snickers and the sound of muttering wafting throughout the class, before Ms Gherry snapped to face the other students, quieting them down with a stare.
"What? Come on, Ms Gherry," Greg scoffed, averting his eyes for a moment. "Of course I read Dante's Divine Comedy."
Greg knew very well that the book sat on top of his dresser, unopened since he brought it home. "I loved it. It was a great book. I just forgot the homework – that I did do – at home." You sit on a throne of lies!
Ms Gherry seemed to relax slightly, unfolding her arms as she stared down at him.
Greg, taking cues from her, released a breath he wasn't aware that he had been holding and let out a relieved sigh.
"You know, I was considering giving you detention for being the only one in the class not to have completed either the reading or the assignment," Ms Gherry began. "However, since you claim to have completed the assignment and read the Inferno, I'll give you credit for both."
Greg's jaw dropped. "Really?"
The teacher's announcement was met with loud jeers from most of the class, the students vocally upset about an arrangement they considered unfair.
"Quiet." Ms Gherry only had to raise her voice just slightly to shut down the noise, the iciness of her tone conveying the message well enough. "I wasn't done speaking." Turning back to Greg, she gave him a slight smile, the facial expression making Greg tense slightly. "Now, Mr Veder, I'll give you full credit for both assignments," she held up a finger, "on one condition."
"And the penny drops," Greg muttered to himself.
Ms Gherry's smile turned cold as she stretched her arm out, gesturing toward the front of the classroom. "The condition being that you give a short presentation – an oral report, to be exact – on everything you wrote, the summary of part one of Dante's Divine Comedy and what you felt it means. If you can't do it, then you have detention… for a week."
Someone in the class let out a soft "Oh, damn."
Wincing, Greg raised a finger. "D… did you say a week?"
"A week, as in seven days. Starting today and ending next week Wednesday. But all that is just a formality, really." The teacher continued smiling coldly, her eyes showing how little she meant it. "After all, you said you did the work."
Quest Created!
Pull Something out of your Butt
Details: Get through this presentation any way you can.
Success: Increased reputation with Nicole Gherry. 500 XP.
Failure: Decreased reputation with Taylor Hebert, 7-Day Detention
If you're gonna screw me over that badly, you freaking Amazon, you might as well take me out to dinner first. Greg closed his eyes and let out a quick breath before opening them a moment later, flashing his Literature teacher his brightest grin. "No problem, teach. I can handle this."
As he stood up from his desk, Greg began to plan, his mind whirring as he tried to find a way to get through this. Dante's Divine Comedy. Dante's Divine… Comedy. Why does that name sound familiar? Where do I know this from?
As Greg faced the class, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Ms Gherry was just standing up against the wall, eyes firmly on him.
He opened his mouth. "Hey, guys. Umm… today, I'm going to talk about Dante… Dante and his Inferno." I swear to God that name sounds familiar.
"Dante," Greg continued, "I mean… Dante, we all know who Dante is, right?" He spread his arms out as he gestured toward his audience, receiving nothing but bored and amused faces in return.
"Yes", interrupted Ms Gherry from her position on the wall, "yes, they do. They did the work. This is about your knowledge, Mr Veder."
Greg laughed, his voice cracking slightly as he tried his best not to sound nervous. "Yeah, of course. I know that. Engaging with the audience is just part of a presentation, Ms Gherry."
Bullshiting Lvl Up!
1→2
"Uh-huh," the teacher's smile tightened, "Engage less. You do realize, that when you get detention, I will be calling your mother."
Wow, not if. When. God, she's not just screwing me over. She's going in dry too. "G-got it," Greg replied.
Turning back to the class, Greg began again. "Dante's Inferno is about… is about..."
Greg paused, familiar memories hitting him. Memories of nearly four straight days on his console playing and replaying a great game. Holy Hell, that's it! Dante's Inferno! How did I forget? I played the story mode so many times.
Greg smiled at his classmates, mulling over what little he remembered of the game's plot for a moment.
Then, he spoke.
"Dante's Inferno is about a man named Dante who enters Hell through a crack in the ground. He enters Hell to go and find this girl named Beatrice, I think, who died," Greg said, shrugging.
"Anyway, Dante really loves her 'cause she's his girlfriend or wife or something. So, the guy heads into Hell and ends up at this big river." Greg paused, holding up a hand. "Actually, before he gets to the river, he meets this dude named Virgil and then he gets past a gate or something to get to the river, I think.
"Anyway, the river is where souls cross into actual Hell and Dante has to get across. To be honest, I didn't get why there was a lake in Hell. Bad writing, maybe. Even if there's a lake, why can't he just swim, right?" Shaking his hand, Greg continues. "Forget the swimming part. So, he goes through Hell, and basically, Hell is divided into like nine areas or, I think, circles or something? And it goes like," Greg held up nine fingers and began counting down.
"Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger… uhh, Heretics, Heresy?" Greg shrugged again, shaking his head. "And… uh, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. I also didn't really get why violence was separate from anger and greed was separate from gluttony. Why add two extra circles when you could have just had seven, am I right? Like, save yourself the time. Oh, yeah, there was also a city in Hell, which was really weird because who's gonna live there? Demons? Why would they need a city? They're demons."
Greg couldn't help but emphasize this part as it never made sense to him in the game. "Who's the mayor of Hell? Lucifer didn't live there so it couldn't be him. Does the city have a stable economy? Do they pay taxes? I'm assuming this was kind of a type of fanfiction of the Bible but since I don't ever plan on reading the Bible, I'm gonna assume it is." Greg nodded, turning back to his teacher. "That's it. That's basically all I remember from the ga-"
Greg's eyes widened as he caught himself from ruining his whole speech. "That's all I remember from… from what I wrote. That's all of Dante's Inferno that I can remember."
Ms Gherry stared at him with half-lidded eyes, her smile long gone. After a few seconds of tense silence, she let out a deep sigh. "You know, Mr Veder. I'm surprised that you weren't actually lying."
"Me? Lie?" Greg made a raspberry noise, averting his eyes again. "I'm a terrible liar."
Ms Gherry nodded in agreement. "I know. That's why I said I was surprised. Full credit. Now get back to your seat."
Quest Success!
Gained 500 XP.
Gained Increased reputation with Nicole Gherry.
Bullshiting Lvl Up!
2→3
By being extremely convincing, your CHA has increased by 1.
Through recalling long-forgotten but relevant information, your INT has increased by 1.
Flashing his teacher and the class a shit-eating grin, Greg walked over to his seat. "Anyone wanna give me one up top for that awesome presentation I just pulled off?" Greg grinned at the three people sitting closest to him, raising a hand to be high-fived. "Andy? Janet? Madison?... No?"
Greg shrugged. "Fine, be haters. I'll high-five myself."
And he did.
It felt awesome.