A Message After a Time Skip

True to her prediction, all hell broke loose when the news that Darren Mannis had been kicked out of Hero's Stand broke out.

Following the news, several women who've had previous interactions with the cyclist came forward with their harrowing experiences with him that included stalking, pressuring and one claim of usage of a date drug.

Not even Mannis' top-tier PR team could handle the torrent of questions and investigations.

Time passed, and I continued my workouts and training with Alan and Penny. Penny had moved from teaching me basic hand-to-hand combat to training me with weapons. I chose a staff to start with, and when Penny asked why, I sheepishly told her that my favourite teenage mutant ninja turtle growing up was Donatello.

She made fun of my nerdy choice.

On a separate note, a week after the 'board meeting', right after the Darren Mannis scandal came out, I remembered that I had managed to save up 5PPs from the daily Fortitude training.

Whilst I was on the treadmill, completing the 10km task, I decided to quickly invest the PPs into my Thaumaturgy attribute. I nearly tripped and hurt myself badly when an unexpected message popped up in front of me.

I turned the treadmill off and stepped down and read the message again.

[CONGRATULATIONS!

The Player has used their PPs to reach their innate limitation in the Thaumaturgy Attribute!

Thaumaturgy has reached a new grade!

Thaumaturgy: N/A!]

[ERROR!

Due to an unknown circumstance, the Player's Thaumaturgy Attribute has refused to improve even after investment!

The Player continues to be unable to use magic.

As compensation, all of the Player's other base attributes have improved!

Fortitude: D*

Aptitude: C

Thaumaturgy: N/A

Vitality: D+]

A familiar wave of energy washed over me. I experienced it when I gained the Low Kick ability, only this time, it affected my whole body. I assumed it was because I gained a significant boost in my Fortitude Attribute since I felt lighter and stronger.

I took a look at my Status screen and frowned when I saw that even though my Thaumaturgy attribute remained as "N/A", the asterisk that indicated that improvement is available disappeared.

Did I waste the 5PPs that I spent weeks saving up? The lack of visual change in my capabilities hurt my work ethic. I shook my head in the hopes of clearing it.

I had to stay focused. After the first couple of months of working out, I started to feel good about myself! I hadn't been this "skinny" for so many years, and it's now come to the point where if I didn't at least walk 10 kilometres that day, I would feel sick.

I still hadn't reached my goal weight. Reaching the goal weight meant that I would be able to try out the AR training room as Alan promised.

So, I continued to do my best.

***

Just over six months after I Registered, I stepped on the weight scales in the guild gym. Alan and Penny stood next to me, excited to see if today was the day that I finally hit that 80 kg (176.3 lbs) goal that I set for myself.

"Even if you don't hit it," Alan said, "Just remember that losing around 110 lbs in six months is a massive ask."

Penny elbowed the man, and he groaned in pain, "So much for having faith in Eric."

"I'm just trying to be realistic here!" Alan defended.

The numbers jumped up and down for a bit as it slowly calibrated itself until it settled on 80.43 kgs (177.32 lbs) and, truthfully, I deflated in disappointment.

I had been fluctuating around 81 kgs (178.5 lbs) for the past week and yet again, I couldn't break through to under 80 kgs.

I stepped off the scales and felt a wide palm slap the hell out of my upper back. The shock made me hiccup and I cried out in pain. Though Alan wanted to comfort, he couldn't control his strength.

"There there Eric," He beamed proudly at me, "Though you didn't exactly hit the weight you aimed for, you still did a fantastic job over the past six months!"

Penny nodded, "I think we should celebrate! What do you think Alan?"

I still wasn't feeling too celebratory, "No, it's okay guys. We don't have to…"

I realised that the people around us suddenly hushed and stared in our direction intensely. I turned around and jumped when I realised that Penny's Dad, Edward, had approached us.

"Dad!" Penny said, surprised.

"Eddie," Alan nodded to his colleague.

"I'm here to talk with," Edward paused as he looked down at me, "Him."

"What's this about—?" Penny stepped in between me and Edward, but was cut short when Alan suddenly pulled her back and started to walk away.

As Penny protested, Alan turned and nodded at me which gave me some confidence.

"Come."

Edward flicked his wrist in a circular motion and I found myself transported to the AR training room.

"What? Where—?" I stuttered as I realised where we suddenly were.

"I have to admit," Edward spoke as he ignored my confusion, "You have your father's determination."

At the mention of Dad, I stiffened and glared at Edward who had turned his back on me whilst he was fiddling with the console in the control room.

"Go into the training space," Edward ordered, "No need to put on the AR suit."

Not knowing what else to do, I followed his order and entered the massive, panelled area. I stood near the window over the console and waited silently as I watched Edward place his hand on the part of the console that looked like a hand scanner. His hand radiated a light blue light.

Behind the panels, all around me, a whirring started to grow louder, and I tensed on the spot.

"What's happening?" I asked as a slight panic started to rise in my throat, but Edward ignored me once more.

As I looked through the window, I noticed that it seemed that Edward was pushing his mana into the console, as if to power it up.

The whirring kept going as I noticed the flow of mana that came from his hand disappeared and he rummaged through his expensive suit pockets for something. After a moment, he brought out a plain wedding ring. Even though the ring didn't have any obvious identifiers on it, I recognised it to be my father's wedding ring.

I was always told that nothing of Dad's was recovered from the accident that ended his life. How did Edward end up with Dad's wedding ring, and why had he never given the ring back to Mum?

"Why do you have that?" I yelled as I pounded on the glass.

Once again, Edward ignored me and dropped the wedding ring into a slot on the side of the console, once the same light blue light of his mana looked like it had covered Dad's wedding ring.

I raced over to the sole exit to the training room, the door that connected to the section with the AR training suits, but it seemed to be deadlocked somehow. I ran back to the window and slammed my fists on the surprisingly sturdy glass.

"What are you doing?" I yelled, "Let me out of here!"

The whirring of the machinery behind the panels of the training room reached a new high and hummed before it suddenly stopped.

"What's happened?" I called out, but Edward simply stood still.

Where was he looking? He wasn't looking at me. I realised that he was looking at something past me — behind me.

As I turned, I heard a voice that I never thought I would hear again. A voice that I last heard over two decades ago that assured me that it would be coming back safe and sound after a routine Dungeon Clearing Quest.

It was Dad's voice.

"Hello, Eric," said the almost-too-realistic projection of my father said.