HP 4

The phone rings for the third time, and an elderly lady clears her throat before she answers.

"H-hello?" She asks loudly.

"Hello, Mrs. Mabel. I saw your ad for the apartment and I'm interested in learning more about it."

"Oh, hello!" She cheers up. "You know, my son moved away to the US last year. He always wanted me to rent out the apartment. I miss him so much. And did I tell you about my dear friend Margaret? She passed away recently, and I miss her terribly."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mrs. Mabel. Can you please tell me about the apartment? I'm in a bit of a hurry and I need a place to move into as soon as possible." I immediately understand that this talk will be an annoying one.

"Oh, the apartment is lovely! My son used to live there before he moved to the US. You know, he always said it was one of the best apartments in the building."

"That's great to hear. Can you please let me know the rent and any other details about the apartment?"

"Well, my son always said that we should charge at least 600 pounds a month, but I don't know. You know, he's doing really well in the US. He's making a lot of money. And Margaret, she was such a dear friend. We used to go for walks in the park together. Do you like going for walks in the park?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Mabel. I need to know about the apartment details, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and whether it is furnished or not. Can you please tell me?" This telephone call was already going on my nerves.

"Oh, yes! It's a one-bedroom apartment with a big living room. And it's furnished. My son left some of his things behind when he moved to the US. Maybe you'll like some of his old furniture? It's really nice."

"That's nice, Mrs. Mabel. Can you tell me when the apartment is available for move-in and whether any utilities are included in the rent?"

"It is. You know, my son always used to take care of these things. He's really good with numbers and dates. And the rent doesn't include utilities, but you know, Margaret always used to say that it's better to pay for what you use. Do you agree with her?"

"Yes, I do." I say while facepalming. "Maybe the best would be if I just came over to see it with my own eyes. Are you free right now?"

"That would be lovely. I'll make cookies and put on some tea."

"There is no need for that ma'am. Could you confirm the address is Chester Street 15, apartment 3?"

"Yes, yes, that's where I live."

"That's fantastic, ma'am, but is the apartment in the same location?"

"Yes, it is. But why do you ask?"

Taking a deep breath, I try to calm myself down, and after a moment I quickly reply. "I'm coming over to see the apartment and I might end up renting it. I'll be there shortly. Goodbye."

"Oh! Oh, it was lovely talking to you. You know, my son always said that I should talk to more people. And after Margaret left, I rarely do. I'll go and put the kettle on. Goodbye!"

"For fucks sake..." I say putting down the telephone handset and shaking my head. "I'll check the place out, but it might not be worth the hassle."

I exit the telephone booth and call a taxi, give him the address, and enjoy the silent ride for the next ten minutes. As soon as the taxi stops at the address my headache returns.

The apartment complex didn't look half bad, and across it, a nice little park was located. I walk up to the interphone and find the bell for apartment number 3, which was Mrs. Mabel's apartment number.

"Hello?" Answers the confused elderly lady after letting me wait for quite a while.

"Hello, Mrs. Mabel we just talked on the phone, it's regarding the renting of your son's apartment."

"Oh, do you know my son? He just mov-" but I stop her mid-sentence.

"No ma'am I do not know him, I'm here to look at the apartment and rent it. We just talked on the phone. Could you let me in and show me the pace?"

"I'm sorry, but I'm already waiting for someone to show him around, I've set a kettle of tea to the side for them."

"Ma'am, it was me who you talked to."

"Was it? I'm sorry I'm forgetful."

"So... Could you let me in?"

"Just a second dearie. I need to find where this damn button is. I know it's supposed to be here somewhere..."

"Please check next to the phone..."

"Ah! Found it." The front door buzzes and mutes half of her next sentence about how her son marked everything for her.

I enter the building ignoring her rant. The place was tidy and looked as stylish as an apartment complex hallways do. Quickly locating her apartment number, I could hear her still talking through the interphone. I sigh and knock on the door.

"A minute!" She calls out before she says goodbye and shuffles to the door. Opening the door ajar, she looks through the gap.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Mrs. Mabel. I'm Andrew Thompson, here to look at your son's apartment." After a few minutes of back and forth, and her explaining to me, how her son's life was going on. I successfully redirected the discussion toward the apartment, and thanks to the notes her son left, I found out everything I needed to know and even more. The apartment was the 33rd and located on the 3rd floor. After a few minutes of annoyance, I got her to show it to me. We took the elevator, and I had to listen through her rant on how these contraptions were actually death traps and how one of her friends spent 3 hours in it after accidentally pressing the stop button. Finally, reaching the apartment door, she started fumbling with the keys, and I was already on the end of my nerves. Just as I was about to give up and leave her, the door opposed to us opens.

A petite curly dark-haired woman, in her early twenties, with modest breasts and a great figure, exits it. Her outfit consists of a long, white sundress adorned with a flowery pattern, complemented by high heels. The big round glasses she wears give her a cute, nerdy appearance. A handbag rests on her right shoulder, and in her left hand, she holds a book tightly. As soon as she closes the door she hugs the book with both of her hands and notices me standing across her.

[IMG]

Our eyes lock and it feels as if a bolt of lightning has struck me. My heart races, and I'm left speechless, failing to greet her. She raises her hand to her curly hair and tucks it behind her ear, and while tilting her head to the side gives me a sweet smile. After greeting the elderly lady, she strolls down the hallway, and my eyes are drawn to her every move, and I can't help but admire her every gesture. She's aware that I'm watching her, and her exaggerated hip movements are a clear indication of that.

"Wow." I mutter, not realizing that I've spoken out loud, prompting the cutest giggle I've ever heard.

Just before she disappears right around the corner, leading to the staircase, she looks back at me and our eyes meet. The wink she sends my way, made my mind go blank.

Mrs. Mabel's muttering pulls me out of my stunned state, and the only thing I could say to her was.

"I'll take the apartment."

She looks at me confused, then looks back down at the lock.

"Have I already shown you the apartment?" She asks confused.

Realizing I'm an idiot, I chuckle at myself and shake my head.

"You're right, it seems like I'm also a bit forgetful."

In the next hour or so, she showed me around the apartment, and after we agreed on the rend and signed the lease, she gave me the key and left me to my own devices. However, to get to focus on this, I had to agree to visit her quite often for cookies and tea.

The apartment as stated prior was fully furnished, it had decorations, cutlery, and even plates. There was nothing missing from it and the 600/month rent wasn't too bad. The place had a bedroom, a kitchenette part of the living room, and a modest bathroom with an actual bath. The place was small but homey, and I wasn't planning to spend a lot of time in it, as most of my time will be spent inside of the trunk, anyway.

After ensuring the old lady was safely out of the apartment, I headed to the nearest convenience store and stocked up on food, snacks, and refreshments. Laden with my purchases, I returned home, eager to delve into the almost a hundred books I had recently acquired. But before diving in, I finally selected the class I had been meaning to take for so long. Although the selection of available classes was extensive, the magical ones were the only ones that caught my attention.

Mage 0/25

+1 DEX, +1 INT, +1 WIS per level

50% increase in the learning speed of magic.

25% increase in damage dealt with spells

20% reduced damage received from failed spells.

Allows a better understanding of magic.

Wizard 0/50

+1 DEX, +2 INT, +2 WIS per level

80% increase in the learning speed of magic.

25% increase in mana regeneration.

40% reduced damage received from failed spells.

Allows a better understanding of magic and its fundamental laws.

Although the Mage class had enticing benefits, I ultimately chose the Wizard class due to its superior abilities, including the increased learning speed and mana regeneration, as well as the reduced damage received from failed spells. Additionally, the better understanding of fundamental laws of magic offered by the Wizard class was a valuable asset. While I suspected that the mage class may unlock further benefits after being maxed out, the benefits offered by the wizard class were too valuable to pass up.

With that settled, I turned the soundproofing of the trunk to one-way, allowing only the outside noise to enter, and eagerly turned to my collection of books, ready to embark on my reading adventure.

But before anything else, my thoughts couldn't help but drift to the girl I had seen earlier. My body's response to her was unusual, even for me. Despite not being a virgin and feeling comfortable talking to girls, the reaction I had could have been influenced by something else.

However, it must be stated that the girl met all the criteria on my checklist, especially in the looks department. To me, the girl was a flawless ten with her petite and nerdy appearance, complemented by her captivating green eyes concealed behind her large round glasses. I'll have to talk to her in the following days.

The rest of the day was spent delving deep into the secrets of the first-year charms book until I eventually fell asleep inside the magical trunk. With the help of my wizard class, I was able to augment my understanding and learn new spells after only a few attempts. As my comprehension of the topic grew, so did my speed in picking up new spells and by the end of the day, I had acquired two new skills and unlocked a new class.

[Skill: [Reading] unlocked.]

[Skill: [Charms] unlocked.]

[Class: [Bookworm] unlocked.]

[Reading LVL:1/100]

- Increases the speed of reading by 5%/LVL

[Charms LVL:1/100]

- Increases speed and efficiency of casting charms by 1%/LVL

Since I possessed two skills that could be specified as magical ones, I decided to generate a new group on my status screen, while relocating the grimoire section to a distinct tab. After all the changes were finalized I gave my status screen a quick glance.

Status

[Global LVL: 46 XP: 72,390/79,180]

[Class: Wizard LVL: 0/50 XP: 0/440]

[Titles: [Zombie Slayer] | Race: [Human Wizard] | Tier: 1]

[WP: 1,911] [UC: 477.40]

STR: 4

VIT: 10

DEX: 58

AGI: 29

PER: 34

INT: 47

WIS: 49

Skills:

Defence:

[Sneak 16] [Muted Steps 18] [Dodge 44] [Pain Tolerance 6] [Counter 13]

Offence:

[Small Blade Mastery 32] [Large Blade Mastery 16] [Gun Mastery 5] [Dual-wielding 7]

Magic:

*[Mana Manipulation 1>2] *[Charms 1]

Misc.:

[Deception 6>10] [Drawing 4] [Writing 2] *[Reading 1]

Today, I had no plans other than reading and maybe doing some light exercise, so I made breakfast and returned to my secluded spot to continue my magical explorations. The wizarding system of magic fascinated me, particularly the fact that wands controlled mana, and that the various gestures and wand movements directed it to specific parts of the body to accomplish various tasks. When I tried to do it on my own and without the help of my wand, however, it only resulted in pain and a light backlash.

Fortunately, the wizard class provided some relief, as it reduced the damage I suffered when attempting to manipulate mana all by myself by almost half. Though I still felt some discomfort, I knew it could have been much worse.

As I played around with my newfound knowledge, my [Mana Manipulation] skill leveled up twice, which made me realize that my skill level was probably too low for the things I was originally trying to accomplish. I decided to try something that even wizarding children were capable of: wandless magic, also known as accidental magic in the wizarding world.

On my first try, the delicate mana strands shattered under the weight of the test dummy, an unaware lamp sitting on a shelf. The second attempt caused it to wobble but stay put on the shelf. It wasn't until the seventh attempt that I finally made some "progress". The lamp levitated and as I tried to bring it closer, it suddenly flung towards me and hit me right in the face.

I couldn't tell if the system had a sense of humor or not, but it was suspicious that it chose that specific moment to notify me that I learned a new spell.

[Spell: [Telekinesis] learned.]

Unlike skills, spells had no apparent limit to their level progression. As they advanced in levels, spells gained additional benefits such as improved mana efficiency and range. Additionally, each level increased their overall potency by a few percentage points, enhancing their effects even further. So similarly to skill, leveling up spells was quite beneficial, but at the same time quite a time-consuming task.

Rubbing the place, I was just hit by the now broken piece of furniture, I shook my head and decided to leave my experimentation at that, well at least for today. I went back to my comfortable sofa, dragging along a package of chips, and immersed myself in the secrets of first-year transfiguration.

Transfiguration was a branch of wizarding magic and a truly fascinating aspect of matter manipulation that would leave any scientist pulling their hair out and weeping in a dark corner. The strange thing about transfiguration, however, was that if we take into account that transfiguring a smaller object to a larger one, consumes more resources, not just mental, but also in the form of mana. With that Transfiguration doesn't actually break the law of Conservation of Energy.

If we disregard the fact that the resulting transfiguration is seldom permanent, and requires constant mana upkeep from the wizard that performed the transfiguration. This branch of magic is actually pretty good for combat-oriented specialists. Transfiguring a floor into a death trap, or just creating projectiles that vanish after impacting a certain target can be deadlier than a spell that could be dodged.

Practicing transfiguration also brought a new skill to the table, and similarly to Charm it only focused on its own aspect of magic.

[Skill: [Transfiguration] unlocked.]

[Transfiguration LVL:1/100]

- Increases speed and efficiency of casting transfiguration spells by 1%/LVL

Picking up the skill allowed me to gain proficiency with that aspect of magic at an accelerated rate, and by the end of the day, I could transform my pants into training shorts and my shirt into a t-shirt, allowing me to go for a run to clear my head. Keeping up the pants and shirt transfiguration wasn't so bad, the upkeep still consumed more mana than I generated, and I could feel it slowly ticking down, but with my current capacity, the spell could stay active for a few hours without any issues.

As I step out of my apartment, I take a deep breath and stretch my arms, ready for a quick jog. Just as I begin walking down the hallway, a wavy dress, followed by the girl I saw yesterday, appears around the corner.

Surprised by her entrance I miss my step and end up tripping on my shadow. In an attempt to play it off cool, I awkwardly rest my forearm on the wall and offer her a wide smile. We share a brief moment of silence before she bursts out laughing, and I can't help but join in.

Once she catches her breath, I decide to strike while the iron is hot and try out one of my pickup lines. I try to remember one of the cheesiest ones in my repertoire, one that would be perfect for a situation like this, and within moments come up with the impeccable one.

"I must be a shooting star because I just fell for you." I say and an unladylike snort leaves her mouth, while at the same time, the system notification for acquiring a new skill pops up in my view.

[Skill: [Seduction] unlocked.]

How the hell did that count as seduction? I had no idea, but the bright smile on the girl's face told me it has inexplicably worked.

"Hi, my name is Andrew Thompson, your new neighbor, a teacher, and a spare time acrobat." I introduce myself.