Preparing For The Upcoming Examination

After Jake had completed the quest to lift 30kg dumbbells, he had dropped them and told Hank he wanted to take a little break which Hank had agreed to after seeing him lift 30kg dumbbells to his chest 15 times.

Reading all the system messages after sitting, Jake was excited. He was close to levelling up again after levelling up recently because of the amount of exp he got from making direct contact with sunlight. 'Why does that happen though?' Jake thought, 'Why do I get exp from staying in the sun?Well, I won't think about that now. As long as there are no side effects, I'm good.'

Getting up and deciding to finish his tutorial for the day, Jake called Hank, who had gone to help out another person. "You good?" Hank asked when he reached Jake. "Yeah I'm okay. Give me the 40kg dumbbells." Jake said. "What!" Hank almost shouted in shock. "Dude you just lifted 30kg dumbbells 15 times and now you want to lift the ones of 40kg?" "Exactly." Jake replied still waiting for the dumbbells. Lifting them from the rack and handing them to Jake, Hank was starting to get a little worried. Sure he could lift the 40kg dumbbells but he was much bigger and more muscular than Jake. Putting in more effort to lift the dumbbells 15 times, Jake dropped them in a bit of a hurry. Quickly taking them from Jake, Hank kept them back on the rack. Take it easy kid, you could really hurt yourself if you keep doing this."

Back on his seat, Jake was taking deep breaths to give his body more much needed oxygen. 'Whoa, I didn't expect it to be that heavy. Even with my newly added stats it was that heavy, how about if it was a normal person lifting it. No, a normal person won't lift 30 and 40kg dumbbells at a stretch. At least that's one new quest down.' Looking at his new system messages, Jake could see he was now level 3. 'Awesome. Another level up.' Jake thought smiling to himself.

[Quest Completed:Lift 40kg dumbbells 15 times]

[Strength +5, Endurance +3, +35exp received]

[Congratulations, you are now Level 3]

[You have been rewarded with +1 to all stats]

[Jake Cayden]

[Level:3]

[Health:120/120]

[Species:Human*]

[Strength:22]

[Speed:15]

[Endurance:22]

[Mental Moxie:11]

[Mana:17]

[Magic:12]

[Element:None]

[Exp:0/400]

"Are you okay?" Hank asked. "Huh?" "You've been sitting there smiling for a while." "Oh, I'm okay. I just spaced out for a second." Jake replied.

Finishing his tutorials, Jake thanked Hank. "Thanks for helping me out." "No need to thank me," Hank replied, "it's my job." "Maybe I'll come back again." "You should." "See you around." Jake said, walking towards the section where Sky and Cole were. Reaching the section, he saw Sky lifting weights and Cole spotting for him. "Hey you guys done." Jake said as he got to where Sky was lifting weights. "Yeah we're done." Sky replied keeping the weight back in its rack sitting up. "How'd it go?" Sky asked Jake. "Was actually pretty good. I might come back some time." "Really? I said it you were gonna go home with a membership card didn't I? Maybe not this time but it's probably gonna be next time." "Whatever. Let's go."

Going home together, Cole went his own way while Jake and Sky continued on their way. "Hey, I thought you were going to jog home." Jake said to Sky. "Why would I jog home?" Sky asked him. "I don't know. Aren't you some kind of exercise freak who wants to stay fit forever and have muscle in every part of his body?" Jake asked, relishing in the moment of teasing Sky. "Ok first, with the way I am currently, I can remain fit for at least a year without doing anything, all I have to do is jog once in a while. Second, I don't want to have muscle in every part of my body, only the parts that count. Third, do you really think I would stress myself by jogging home after sweating my butt out in the gym." "Okay." Jake said try to resist the temptation to tease him more as revenge. "But you know, a simple 'No' would have sufficed. There was no need for your sermon back there." Jake told him, giving in to the temptation and teasing him once more. "Wow." Sky said. "I see what you're doing. This is payback right? For all those times I teased you since you came to stay with us?" "No, of course not." Jake replied, "This is just the beginning, for now. You started it lil bro, I'm gonna help you finish it." "Oh it's on. Let the teasing war begin." "Sounds childish. Don't you think?" Jake asked him. "Whatever you say man. Just face forward and walk will you?" Sky told Jake because Jake was looking at him and smiling in a smug way.

***

Entering the house first, Sky saw Andrea in the living room drinking his morning coffee. "Hey dad, good morning.." Sky greeted. "Good morning dad." Jake greeted next after entering the house. "Morning boys." Andrea responded. "How was the gym?" he asked. "Same old stuff, though I heard this son of yours lifted 30 and 40kg dumbbells consecutively." Sky answered. "Really?" Andrea asked with a surprised look on his face. "I didn't know you could do that." "Neither did I. Sky how'd you know about that?" Jake asked. "A little birdie told me about it." Sky replied with a shrug. "You mean Hank." "Yes I mean Hank. Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna go take a shower." Already climbing the stairs heading to the bathroom, Sky turned around and asked Jake "How did you lift those dumbbells?" "I dunno. I just lifted the first one a few times and I wasn't worn out, so I lifted the other." 'Something's not right somewhere.' Sky thought climbing upstairs, 'He looks different again, a little bit muscular. Just like the night he came back from the date. I might have to get to the bottom of this.'

***

"Hey, I just called to find out if you're still going to come to the mall today." Cat asked Jake over the phone. "Yeah I'm still coming. When are you guys going?" Jake asked. "Um hold on. Cassie? When are we leaving for the mall?" "At 4" Cassie replied. "K. Jake, we're leaving at 4." "Okay. See you then." "Bye." "Wait Cat hold on. About you tutoring me for the upcoming examination, when do we start?" "How about we study at your place on Sunday. I'll come to your house." "Ok but do you know where my house is?" Jake asked her. "I'll ask Cassie. She knows how to get to anybody's house." "Thanks for helping me Cat." "No need to thank me. It's no problem at all." "Well, bye." "Bye."

"You really gotta stop smiling like that anytime you're on the phone with that guy." Cassie said walking into the room. "He's not even that cute. Average at best." "I told you I don't care about that." Cat told her. "I like him for who he is not how he looks." "Yeah. So I've heard." Cassie said while rolling her eyes. "Cassie how do I get to Jake's house?" Cat asked. "You wanna go to his house?" Cassie asked with a surprised look on her face. "Yes but just to help him study because the examination is coming up." "Are you sure that's the only reason you're going to his house?" "Yes. Why else would I want to go to his house?" "How am I supposed to know that? Anyways just check the school platform. You can find the address of any student there." "Really? Thanks. I never knew that." "That's because you don't socialise like I do." "You call moving from one house to another socialising? That makes me wonder, how do you pass your exams? I don't see you reading and frankly I don't think you have time to read. So please enlighten me on how you pass your examinations." Cat said to her with a suspicious look on her face. "Oh snap out of it. I don't need you to see me read, I might not seem like the smart type but I know when to get my priorities straight and turn all my attention to my books." "Okay." Cat said while texting with one of her friends.