This S.O.B. System

Asher woke up to a text from the group, well guild now. It felt odd to be in a guild. Felt so online gameesque, not real life. 

 

-NON-MANDATORY MEETING 

AT CHURCH TONIGHT

5:30 PM-

 

With nothing else to do he didn’t see any reason not to go. Once out of bed he got ready for school. The dungeon was still fresh in his mind, but his life was nothing if not weird since awakening his System. This felt like any other day now. 

 

Asher spent the day thinking mostly on Tiffany and Zora. He went through the school in a daze, his eyes unfocused as he tried to figure out his feelings. Replaying the last few weeks in his mind it had been one whirlwind after another. A part of him still loved Zora. He had expected the feeling to fade with the persona of the Roleplay. When he thought of the future he could see himself being happy with her in his life. 

 

Did he feel responsible for her? Maybe. Ash admitted that she was her own person and responsible for herself, but he still thought of her as that short girl that needed saving. In all honesty, a part of him felt like she was his. Not that he owned her, but that she belonged with him and no one else. That neither of them could be happy without the other. 

 

They still text now and then. Always random, never planned. When he saw those texts before dating Tiffany he felt elated, but now he felt dread. Phone in hand, he began to write a long text to her. It was paragraphs long, explaining his thoughts and feelings. What he wanted out of life. But most of all what he felt about her. Then it divulged into a play by play of what he felt for Tiffany. 

 

He read it over once. Noticed he repeated himself often. Then deleted it. Sending only: 

 

-Thinking of you- to her. 

 

He had only known Tiff for a couple of weeks, but their relationship couldn’t feel more natural. Her humor, the things they shared in common… and that was it. He really didn’t know too much about her besides what she liked in bed. Asher didn’t know who her mother was, what her favorite movie was, or favorite color; though he guessed it was pink or blue. He also didn’t know those things about Zora, but he still felt love for the girl. 

 

This wasn’t normal. He knew that. His parents met, were engaged within a month, and married within 2 more. Maybe a part of him always expected the same for himself. That desire to be with someone no matter how short of time you spent together. That feeling that Asher felt for Tiff and Zora. 

 

Tiff had asked him for an answer about his feelings. He still didn’t have one. She said she’d break up with him if he went behind her back, and he didn’t see a problem with that. He could literally control his libido now, though he hadn’t tried it. Saying no to someone wouldn’t be hard. But if he thought about breaking it off with Zora completely, he couldn’t see that happening. 

 

-oh you’re still alive? Thought you died- Zora text him. 

 

Asher laughed out loud at her text. If he spent more than 2 days without texting she usually replied with a text surprised he was alive. Since she spent days not texting either he didn’t take it to heart. 

 

“Mr. Whitmore, please pay attention,” his teacher said.  Asher put his phone away and did his best to become distracted. 

 

—-

 

Amadeus practice was canceled. Mr. Heath had something to do. Days spent on the production and still over a month to go, everyone was happy for each break they got. With nothing else to do he went to the church. 

 

Or was it Guild Hall now? He thought. 

 

The parking lot was mostly empty. Tiff had originally said people hung out even if there was nothing to do. He hadn’t had a chance to test that till now. 

 

Walking in he noticed there were a few people sitting at chairs around the room. Either sipping on coffee or chatting away. None he knew, but he planned to eventually. Just not now. His eyes locked on Anthony the Merchant and he practically ran over. 

 

“Ah Mr. Whitmore. I have new wares if it interests you,” the jolly old man said. 

 

“Get a new shipment in?” he asked. 

 

“I did,” he confirmed, surprising Ash. 

 

“How’s that work?”

 

“Well, you all were so flush with Sysco yesterday that I made quite a few sales. I get experience with each. Finally, I was able to level and access a new category,” he finished. 

 

A screen popping in Asher’s view he noticed, “oooh, accessories.”

 

SYSTEM STORE

Food

Armor

Weapons

Accessories

Storage Items

Potions

Ingredients

Currency

Pets

Maps

Spells

Scrolls

Auction

Miscellaneous

 

Asher looked down the list. Reading each one he eventually remembered the Custom tab. Near the bottom once again was what he was looking for. Though expensive, he still felt it was worth it. 

 

Kvothe's Bloodless
Cost	x500 Syscos
Capacity	8 charges
Enchant 1	Bullet Stop
Enchant 2	Auto-Recharge

 

A white light shone and a necklace appeared in hand. It was a brass colored old timey candle lamp on a thick black chain. The item was an amazing accessory that stopped arrows from hitting people. It was invented by the lead character in the Kingkiller Chronicles, a famous book series. If Asher remembered right the accessory had 8 charges in the book series too.

 

Once the necklace was around his neck he felt a little more confident with his chances. Goblins had knocked him out in the elf dungeon. Also the more he thought about it, the luckier he was that Aleksi and his men didn’t have guns those weeks ago. This would hopefully take care of that problem. The Auto-recharge enchant helped with the sting of Syscos leaving his wallet. 

 

After he reviewed the System Shop one more time he settled on some sunglasses. 

Inspection Glasses
Cost	x 350 Syscos
Enchant 1	Level Inspection (+2 Own Level)
Enchant 2	Species Inspection

 

In video games you could see most everyone’s level. It let you know if you had a chance of beating them. He didn’t think it bothered him before, but once he saw the glasses he had to have them. There was another that showed within 5 levels. Those were restricted to your own species though. Asher planned to do more dungeons, and felt these would help. 

 

The sunglasses quickly appeared in hand. Black lenses, thick frames, they were the most nondescript sunglasses he had ever seen. Trying them on he was surprised that they only dimmed his view a little bit. 

 

Anthony in front of him, Asher saw his species and level over his head. 

 

Human

Level 10

 

“Neat,” he said. 

 

“Mind if I try them on?” Anthony asked. As the seller he had access to all transaction records. “If anyone asks then I can at least tell them if they work.”

 

“Sure, but if you get an upgrade again I want to know asap,” Asher said, handing them to him. 

 

Anthony looked Asher up and down. “So you are over level 12?” He asked. 

 

“Yep,” he said. He really didn’t want to tell people his level, and they could fork over the Syscos if they wanted to find out. 

 

“Interesting,” Anthony said, passing them back. Asher put them back on and looked around. He saw mostly low levels. They ranged from 5-7. Which was a good reason they weren’t on the raid the day before. 

 

“Nice shades,” a voice said beside him. Asher turned to see Abby Fitzgerald beside him. 

 

Human/Saiyin 

Level ???

 

“Thanks, they’re new.”

 

“They the new inspection glasses?” She asked. “Jeez, how many Syscos do you have?”

 

“Enough,” he said with a smile. Staring at her large muscular arms he remembered her last request of him.  “I know you’re dying to try them on. I’ll let you, for a favor.”  

 

She thought about it and nodded. Putting them on Asher regretted it. They looked way better on her than him. Her short black hair, purple Trunks jacket. She was ready to jump on a jet and fly out of there. 

 

“Level 14?” She asked. “I thought you just awakened,” she said, biting her lip angrily. 

 

“I mean like a month now,” he said. “Why? What are you?”

 

“18. And I just leveled with that last red quest,” she said, growing madder. “I’ve been awakened for 2 years now. Bullshit.” 

 

“Been lucky with my quests I guess,” he said awkwardly. He didn’t know what was normal for leveling, but he did know it got harder the higher up you were. Asher knew not to piss off a Saiyan so he didn’t say anything. 

 

Abby eventually calmed down and began to look around. When she was cooled down she turned back, “so you wanted a favor?”

 

“Yeah. Weeks ago I tried measuring my strength with weights after the System. Now my strength stat is almost double. I was curious how you trained it.”

 

She looked Asher up and down once then turned saying, “follow me.”

 

“Hey Abby… the glasses,” he said following her. 

 

“You mean my glasses? Call it silver spoon tax,” she said walking out. 

 

—

 

“What was your strength stat when you awakened?” She asked. Asher had followed her back to her place. Abby only lived a few blocks away from the church so he didn’t worry about getting back in time for the meeting. It was a large 2-story, 3-car garage. Abby had said her mom owned the home and she rented the garage while living upstairs. Also she did eventually give back the glasses. 

 

“12,” he answered. It felt so long ago. “Now it’s 30.”

 

“Jeez. You’re spreading your stats out right?” 

 

“Of course,” he answered. He felt comfortable telling her one stat, but not all. 

 

“Ok. So how much could you bench press before the system.”

 

“About 200 a few times. Then I tested again when my strength was at 17 and I could bench 350,” he said. 

 

“Sounds about right,” she said. “Lay down and bench this bar,” she said pointing to a heavy duty bench press. The bench itself was taped together, but the metal supporting it and the weighted bar were heavy duty steel. 

 

Asher laid on the bench. The bar looked like a standard 45 lb bar. He picked it up, and though heavy, it wasn’t unbearable. “Do as many reps as you can,” she said. She hadn’t bothered to spot him as he began raising and lowering the bar. 

 

When he was done he set it back down and sat up. “How much did that feel like pre-system?”

 

“150?” He guessed. 

 

“That is 1,000 lbs,” she said flatly. Asher stared at her shocked. She didn’t bother to spot him. “Haven’t taken a look at the shop’s miscellaneous tab much, huh? There’s a whole group of dense metal weights. That bar cost 75 Syscos. The red dumbbell cost 50 and weighs 750 lbs. The green one next to it is 500 lbs and cost 25. This is where pretty much all my Syscos go.” 

 

Asher noted the weights but also the normal dumbbells and weight discs scattered in the room. “And honestly you could bench a lot more kid. You see, our minds have told us this weight is impossible. It’s taken a lot of training for me to get past that mindsight.”

 

Asher was still dizzy by the fact he had benched half a ton. And for some reason he felt like she was right. He could do more. “Soooo,” he asked slowly. “How much to use your gym?” 

 

She laughed and thought about it. “For you 1 Syscos a day. But 10 to start. You know. Membership fees and all that.”

 

He laughed and said, “fine. But I want the first one free.” Mentally sending her a transfer of money, 10 Syscos left his account. 

 

“Pleasure doing business with you,” she said with a smile. 

 

Asher felt like it was a good deal. He hadn’t had a good workout in a while, and he wanted to test himself. With that they began to move some weights. Asher did more sets with the barbell, eventually he moved to the dumbbells.

 

While they worked out they chatted and spotted one another. “What did you do before the System?” He asked. 

 

“I was studying business,” she said. “My mom’s a real estate developer. Kind of a family thing. I woke up the System, had never watched Dragon Ball Z before. Had to google what a Saiyan was. Honestly, I didn't do much with it at first. Level here. Level there. Then when I hit 5 that drive started happening. That need to work out. Like an itch. I had never worked out in my life before that. Heck my first quest was to do a bunch of push-ups and sit-ups. Took me weeks. Now, I don’t start my day without a 10 mile run with one of these bad boys strapped to my back,” she said, dropping the green weight. 

 

“Cool,” Asher said. “If I could have picked my System it probably would have been yours.” 

 

“Not the first time I’ve heard that,” she said. After some time she asked, “So Tiff said you weren’t joking about your skill.” 

 

“Oh yeah, forgot about that. Not something I can actually control. So far it’s been simple stuff like turning Monopoly money real. The most technological things I made were some video tapes I think. But my power may have just teleported them from one place to another. For a gravity machine I don’t know what we’d need. Something close to it, maybe…” he said thinking. 

 

“You know what? I’ve been buying all this enchanted gear. Do we have any Enchanters in the guild?” 

 

“I think there’s 1. Why?” She asked. 

 

“McKenzie in our group. She’s a Gravmancer. She controls gravity. Maybe there’s a way to enchant a piece of something to use her power,” he said, getting excited. “I mean, I don’t know anything about enchanting. But it sounds plausible.”

 

“Huh,” she said. “Never thought of that. Worth a shot.”

 

“Heyoo,” a voice said, stepping inside the garage. 

 

A tall man, almost Asher’s height walked in. Muscular, with a stubble on his chin, he had a very handsome face. Wearing a blue button down shirt with the sleeves cut off it showed off his thick muscular chest. 

 

“Evan, you’re finally back eh?” Abby asked, dropping her weight and heading toward him. The weight clanged on the ground hard, Asher cringed from the sound.

 

“Abs, it’s good to see you. You look stronger,” the man said in a booming voice. 

 

“You look weaker,” she remarked. “They coddle you during the raid?”

 

The stranger ignored the comment and looked to Ash. “New training partner?” 

 

“Kind of. This is Asher. He took your place in Hawk,” she said. 

 

“Asher Whitmore,” he said, dropping the weight. 

 

When they clasped hands the other man said, “Evan Miller. Hawk founder.”

 

“Ah so you’re the one Joan talked about. They said you were going on a raid. How’d it turn out?” He asked nonchalantly. He guessed his time with Hawk was out. Not that it bothered him too much. He had some good memories with them, but bad ones too 

 

“Pretty good,” he said, dropping his pack. “Took way longer than expected, as they often do. It was some underwater planet. Took us a week just to find the targets. Then spent another couple of weeks holding our breath to dive down and attack em. Would not recommend. How about you all? Haven’t talked with anyone much. Hawk finally beat that dungeon?” 

 

“We did…Sunday I think it was,” Asher said. “So much going on lately, I kind of forgot about it.” 

 

“Not only did he beat the dungeon. He slept with their queen, and the way I hear it, her entire army,” Abby said with a smile. 

 

“Where’d you hear that?” Asher asked. His face turned red in anger and embarrassment. 

 

“George likes to gossip when he heals people. Entire raid knew about it by the time you joined back up,” she said with a smile. 

 

“Fucking George. It was one guard,” he said, putting up one finger to emphasize. 

 

“So the queen was a lie?” Abby asked. 

 

“No. And she was a Chieftess. They were kind of a package deal,” he admitted. 

 

“You’re fucking kidding me,” Evan finally cut in. “That blonde elf MILF? She threw us out before we got a word in,” he said angrily. “I don’t believe it,” Evan said. 

 

“Believe if you want. You can ask the others. There were a lot more goblins to kill than the quest implied.” Asher’s phone alarm went off. “Hey I’m gonna go to the meeting. Thanks Abby. I’ll be back. Do I just knock or how do I get access?” 

 

“Just text me,” she said, then recited off her number. 

 

“Will do. Nice meeting you, Evan.”

 

“You too, Casanova.” He said deadpan.