Hidden Benefits of the System

5:30am, September 7th, 2000 CE

<<[Mission: Road to a Healthy Body] updated. (6/7) complete.>>

Michael nodded in satisfaction as he walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water, mixed his supplement, and walked upstairs. When he drank the supplement before his run yesterday, the sensation of it sloshing around in his stomach had been a little unpleasant. He drank it down and stepped into the shower.

After that, he went downstairs and started preparing his breakfast. It was too early for the coffee maker at this point, so Michael poured himself another glass of cold water and started cooking. According to the meal plan outlined by the system, breakfast was a half-dozen eggs, chicken breasts, as well as various greens - a lot of them. In fact, that was most meals. If not for several comments from the system confidently stating that this plan would significantly help his growth, Michael would likely not be able to choke down this food. He suspected he might get very sick of it soon. Regardless, he pulled out a pan and started cooking.

By the time he'd finished cooking, eating, and washing up, the coffee's timer had gone off and there was now a fresh pot. He poured himself a cup and went downstairs to get started on his essay. There were still a few hours until he could use his Enhanced Focus ability again, but he intended to get started well beforehand.

He found it easier and easier to get into a focused state, even without using his Enhanced Focus ability. He found it hard to believe that this was simply a product of practice, and suspected that the System might have something to do with this. He decided to ask.

<<Subject's hypothesis is correct. Part of the System's mandate is to maximize the effectiveness of Subject's efforts. While the System is unable to generate effects without any effort, the System is able to guide and enhance recovery and repair functions. This requires a certain amount of energy - which the system is initially able to provide. The System is also able to convert other forms of energy and materials where possible, in order to maintain and improve it's functions. The System would like to congratulate the Subject on discovering this, as this information needs to be discerned and can not be volunteered.>>

"So, if I hadn't asked, I never would have known, huh? Interesting. Is that why I can run every day with just feeling a bit sore? I normally read that that's not good."

<<Correct. While not impossible, it does require strong recovery abilities. Normally this is only available to those with a particular 'talent'. Subject can interpret the System as providing these 'talents', as long as sufficient energy, materials, and efforts are available.>>

Michael nodded to himself. It was not uncommon to hear about people who were naturally gifted in one thing or another - someone who could run for longer than people normally could without being hurt, or had a better memory than others. Some of these things seemed to just 'happen', while others couldn't be reached without an insane amount of training. Hard work couldn't be discounted, of course, but there was also something to be said for 'talent'. He had always been a pretty clever kid, curious, and an avid reader. Maybe those could be considered 'talents', but they might also just be a byproduct of his habits.

In a way, the System was his talent, now.

Michael shrugged his shoulders and got to work. He thumbed through the novel as he worked on the first section of his essay, making references to various sections and themes, flipping back and forth to the related topics based on his memory. Soon, it was around 10:30. He decided to take a bit of a break, go upstairs for a snack, and maybe try to snag another cup of coffee. His parents and sisters were at the table enjoying breakfast, so after he made himself a plate with a few slices of cheese, nuts, and berries, he went over and sat with them for a few minutes.

His parents asked about how his project was going, and he talked to his sisters about their school, which would be starting back up tomorrow. He then asked his parents if they'd be willing to review his first draft after dinner, which they agreed to. This gave him another incentive to complete the draft before dinner. Shortly before 11 he made his way back downstairs and enabled his Enhanced Focus. Two hours flew by very quickly, and he had finished the portions of the essay related to the main novel and a large chunk of the supplementary sections. He decided to take a break at this point, though, since his brain had that foggy feeling once again.

Since it had worked yesterday, he decided to clear his mind by going for a walk, and then having a late lunch when he got back. The new nutrition plan had him eating every 3-4 hours, which felt excessive but seemed to be required in order to "consume the appropriate amount of calories and macronutrients", according to the system. Since he didn't need to go to the grocery store, he decided to instead walk towards the nearby park and take a look around.

As his family had only moved to this area over the summer, and he was a bit of a home-body, he hadn't really explored the area much. The park was rather large, and only about 15 minutes away from his house. Part of the park backed on to the nearby river, which was large and deep enough for smaller cargo ships to navigate as they made their way to and from some of the larger lakes further inland in the territory. The furthest section of the park actually backed onto a large wooded area, which then led up into the hills outside of town. Michael walked a circle around some of the paths, seeing kids playing and couples enjoying the relaxing scenery as the colours changed and fall started to creep in. He found it quite soothing.

Refreshed and re-energized, he made his way home to grab lunch and tackle the rest of his draft. His cooking over the past day or so led to minor incremental improvements, as expected, but since they were so minuscule he didn't really pay attention to them. He was curious, however, about what changes might occur when any of these skills actually increased to the next level. As he made himself a plate of cured meat, fried wild greens, and a couple of hard boiled eggs, he asked the System.

"System?"

<<Awaiting Subject's query.>>

"How do I increase the speed of improving these skills, and what happens when they actually level up?"

<<Subject's question is slightly flawed. An increase in the whole number value of a skill indicates that Subject's proficiency has achieved the next degree of expertise. While certain additional abilities might be unlocked by these improvements as part of missions or other locked achievements, the whole number value itself indicates that the Subject's abilities have improved. In regards to Subject's skills - learning related techniques and proper practice and development of those techniques will lead to improved growth. Current incremental growth is related to subject implicitly practicing related techniques.>>

He understood. It wasn't that increasing the level of the skill would suddenly make him better, but that the skill would level when he got better at it. This made sense. It wasn't a game, after all.

"But just like the guidelines when chopping, or correcting my form when I'm exercising, you're able to make sure that I practice correctly, right?"

<<Affirmative. The System is able to provide objective and external feedback of Subject's performance. Monitoring Subject's growth and performance is one of the System's primary directives.>>

"...Well, not really external, right?"

<<...>>

"That was a joke, System."

<<...>>

---

Around 5pm, Michael had finished writing out his first draft. He took it over to his computer, opened up his word processor, and typed it out. Since he didn't need to think about it and could just copy his writing over directly, the process went pretty quickly, and by 6:15 he had a printed-out stack of double-spaced pages to hand over to his parents. He grabbed the three books as well and went upstairs to help out with dinner.

"That was surprisingly fast, Michael! You finished this in a day?" Flavius commented, noticeably impressed.

"Yep. All the references are listed, and I brought up the books so you can check them. Thanks again, by the way. I'm not sure if I can ask the teacher to review the draft before I hand it in or not, but I'll find out tomorrow," Michael responded as he washed the lettuce for dinner. Since his father wasn't using the oven for dinner tonight, he also took out a container of chicken breasts he had previously cooked and set them in the oven at a low heat to warm up.

"Great. Your mother and I will look over it first thing after dinner," his father confirmed. Michael thanked him again and went to set the table.

After dinner, he washed up and silently rejoiced at the fact that his double-duty was now over. He then went back downstairs to work on his proposal for the cafe.