Chapter 2 School and Stats!

[Ding! For continuous study you have gained + 1 INT]

"Hmm.... two INT stats for just under an hour of study. Not good, but definitely by no means bad", Akira sat down on his living room couch rubbing his chin in thought as he looked at the translucent blue screen in front of him.

[Status].

[Ding!].

[Name: Tendo Akira] [Title: The Gamer]

[Level: 1] [Experience: 00.00%]

[HP: 100/100] [MP: 130/130] [SP: 100/100]

[STR: 10] [VIT: 10] [AGI: 10] [INT: 13] [WIS: 12] [PER: 10] [LUC: 10]

[Stat Points: 0]

[Money: $0]

The Gamer hummed for a moment before smiling realizing the extra stat points in INT and WIS came from the [Meditation] skill.

A skill like that would be good not just to accumulate addition stat point which by extension also increasing his MP capacity, but to improve MP regeneration rate. If his Wisdom stat eventually reached a certain level, his mana regeneration rate might exceed his ability to spend mana.

If something like that were to occur he would be able to dish out high level magic spells and skills without even having to worry about his MP falling below a certain threshold.

Akira frowned and scratched the top of his head as he looked at the checklist on his phone once more.

"I do have to decide whether what type of [Class] I want to pursue. An assassin-type character? One built for long range attacks? A close-quarters combat type warrior? A tank? Or a pure intellect build were sheer magical power trumps skill or defense.....".

He leaned back and closed his eyes while rubbing both temples at the same time.

When it came to [Classes], Akira had played pretty much every available build for every single [Class] imaginable. Experimenting with stat points and builds and skills to create a fusion of [Classes] that most of the time ended up being absolutely garbage, or completely mediocre.

That wasn't to say that some of his experimental builds were horrible. In fact, from an MMORPG that he used to play actively while in middle-school, a build that he created reached the very top of the leaderboard in terms of solo playing.

He released it to the public on a stream one time and the amount of donations and viewers he got after that was incredible.

Speaking of which.....

"That build.... a build meant purely for solo players. Minimizing the potential damage dealt to the player by increasing the maximum range of spells to its utmost limits. Damage was impacted by quite a bit after increasing the range and mana regeneration by so much, but it didn't really matter considering I could spam more spells than I could set to a shortcut..... My [Skylight Stream Paragon] Build..... maybe that could work?", Akira thought about it for a moment before shaking his head and letting out a deep sigh.

"I can't be too hasty about this. I can gain stat points not just from leveling up. If I want to stick to a build right now, I will have to dedicate everything towards gaining points for that [Stat]. That includes activities which can help boost skill proficiency and stat point grinding. I'm not going to half-ass this!".

Akira let out another deep breath before crossing his legs assuming the lotus position once more.

Meditation wasn't just good for boosting stats and mana regeneration, but also organizing and clearing the mind. It allowed for him to slow down, not remove his heightened state of mind like [Gamer's Mind], but to calmly, and slowly make a decision.

[Gamer's Mind] was something that helped during battle, against enemy mental attacks or mental illnesses like PTSD or anxiety. Sure it allowed him to calm down, but it was usually only used during battle.

[Meditation] was for just the opposite. Either before or after a battle in non-combatant conditions. to sort out mental processes calmly and decisively. It was a skill based on self-reflection and spiritual understanding after all.

'I don't want to rush this. Dedicating myself this early in the game is a mistake some people make when crafting their character. By the time late game roles around they decide their is a better route and try to restart wasting all that time and energy.....', Akira focused on the small pool of white colored energy in his body letting it be molded like clay with his mind.

With this little amount of mana, Akira could probably use some mundane level skill like [Run] or [Punch] with mana infused into it. High level skills like [Instant Movement] which allowed one to move short distances almost in an instant or [Fire Punch] which imbued Fire-attributed mana into the fist, allowing it to fire damage to an opponent.

"Those are mob skills. Absolutely useless and completely impractical in battle. High quality skills are what I'm looking for, giving better passives while also being able to be used actively in battle. But how can I get skills like that?.....", the 17 narrowed his eyes as his gaming knowledge rolled around constantly in his mind. People usually gained skills when they changed their classes from the basic [Adventurer] class to the novice classes like [Warrior] and [Mage].

'But there are no places where I can-!'.

Akira jumped off his couch with wide eyes and instantly picked up his phone typing in the details for this places location.

He reckoned that even someplace like Kuoh despite being an outer suburb of Tokyo would have a place like this, even if this country's main religion still predominately was Shinto and Buddhism.

The search engine stopped, and a location roughly 7-8 kilometers away popped up. The picture in the photo looked old, but he was willing to take his chances if he could get some sought of passive skill out of it.

"Even in games cannot escape the concept of religion. Having to go to Church's and pledge one's faith in order to become a Holy Knight or a Paladin or a Saint did pay off. There were even Dark Church's were one can become a Unholy Knight or an Demon Saint which was pretty cool.....", Akira smiled as he put his phone in his pocket and started washing his bowl in the sink. Everything seemed to be going right in that moment except for the fact that he forgot-.

[Ding!]

[You have received a quest!].

An eyebrow raised as he saw another tab appear on top of the original two.

[You're Late!].

[At this rate you'll be late for homeroom! Arrive before the final bell rings in order to get out of trouble!].

[Mission Timer]: [15:00]

[Rewards]:

[50 Experience]

[100 Yen]

[Increased reputation with the Student Council]

[Increased reputation with the Kuoh Academy Students]

[Increased reputation with Souna Shitori]

[Punishment]:

[Decreased reputation with the Student Council]

[Decreased reputation with the Kuoh Academy Students]

[Decreased reputation with Souna Shitori]

Akira's mouth dropped slightly as he turned his head and looked at the analog clock on the wall. Considering that the school gates closed at 8:30 and that the time on the wall showed that it was after 8:15, it meant that-.

"Sh*t! I'm late!".

Not even caring to wipe the water on the bench Akira ran towards the front door putting on his shoes and satchel as he opened the door and locked it within the span it took to take a breath. Since his shoes were the fancy type that one usually wore to parties, they were surprisingly easy to slip on, but not exactly the best to perform physical exercise in.

With his current stats, Akira estimated that he could probably reach Kuoh Academy before it closed down, taking the side streets and back alleys between houses, avoiding cars and major intersections in order not to slow down his speed.

'Crap! Fifteen minutes! I usually walk and it takes me more than twenty-five to get there! More than that considering I stop and look at the game store near the train station!', Akira moaned internally as he increased the speed of his stride.

[Ding! For continuous physical strain you have gained + 1 AGI]

The corners of my mouth raised slightly as I felt my body speed up a tiny bit as I ran down the various side streets of Kuoh.

The city wasn't built on any river or hillside like most cities, having most flat roads and streets allowed for many houses and shopping districts to be built in the area. The train station, which sat in the heart of the city, was also one of the largest stations in the area. Considering it was a station that connected the Tokyo Line to the Expression Train to Kyoto, it was much large than normal.

'Stop thinking about that for now! You've got like two minutes before the quest timer runs out! C'mon Akira! Do you really want to sit detention with that witch of a Student Council President!'.

The image of an average height girl with porcelain skin and piercing violet colored eyes came to mind. Despite her Japanese sounding name, her features were the best combination of eastern and western beauty, in addition to the bob cut hair and glasses, was undoubtedly a beauty of the highest tier.

'And also for being a witch who started new game plus with all her stats carried over! Despite her beautiful face, she's sadistic as hell to anybody who breaks the rules! I even saw her bring a teacher into detention for smoking on the roof! After school even!'.

A shiver ran down Akira's spine at the very thought of spending two hours with her after school. If it was any other girl maybe he would've had something to look forward to, but with Souna Shitori? You've got a better chance of rolling a 6 star ascended character in a game where their drop rate is below 0.0001%.

"It'll be a cold day in hell when "she" does something against the rules.... Aha! With thirty seconds to spare!".

Just as a smile rose up on Akira's face, a stern yet bemused voice echoed out from beyond the school gate.

"You're just on time Tendo-kun. Looks like you won't be joining me in detention after school today....", he tone while suggestive, was anything but enticing.

Akira's eyes narrowed as the violet eyed figure crawled out of shadows cast by the massive trees lining the walls. He could almost imagine the boss music playing in the background as the Student Council President smiled gracefully while nodding towards him.

"..... By your tone its almost as if you'll miss me not attending your after school detentions. Raise any flags with you while we spent time together did we?", me sweetly tone may have sounded pleasant to anyone else, but was meant to attack at the shields that Souna had put up.

She rolled her eyes and straightened her glasses to hide the fact.

"Hardly. I was just pleasantly surprised you weren't late because you were playing games again all night. Otherwise what would that be.... the 21st time you would spend detention with me? Considering you have only being here a year, I would call that a record or something", she smirked, crossing her arms while raising her head back slightly as if to appear more dominant despite her shorter physique.

I countered with my own eye roll. And didn't try to hide it.

"You know me. I am to be the best. And for your information, I didn't pull an all nighter", I lied through my teeth, "I just found a more interesting game to play. One that involved me getting to school earlier than well.... 8:30".

Her left eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch before her gaze turned to the phone I had in my pocket.

"If it is a mobile game, and I catch you playing it, I'll take your phone off you, Tendo-kun". I smiled at her words.

"Don't worry Shitori-senpai, this [Game], is so much more than just simple mobile game....", I gave her a knowing smile before walking off to class. I could almost feel her eyes staring at my back as I proudly, and confidently walked to the second year classrooms.