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….
Percy clutched his left arm with his right hand, his teeth grit against the throbbing pain. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind the searing reality of Alecto's claws.
[HP: 130/200]
[MP: 83/100]
He didn't wait to see if she would come back for round two. He sprinted for the library, the dark building looming like a sanctuary.
He leaped for the first-floor window, his fingers hooking onto the ledge. With a grunt of effort, he hauled himself up and tumbled inside, quickly shutting the window and locking it.
He pressed his back against the wall, listening. Silence. She wasn't pursuing him. Not yet.
Percy looked down at the cheap plastic pen in his hand. It wasn't covered in blood, but in a strange, golden dust. Monster or not, she could bleed.
The realization hit him: he wasn't helpless. With the Son of Poseidon buff active, he hit harder and moved faster than any normal human. But he needed to heal, fast.
He opened his inventory and pulled out the stash of pancakes he'd stolen that morning.
They were still piping hot, steam rising from the syrup. He wolfed them down, one after another, feeling the warmth spread through his chest not just as fullness, but as knitting flesh and mending skin.
After four pancakes, the deep gashes on his arm began to itch. He watched in fascination as the skin stitched itself back together, leaving not even a scar behind.
'Ding!'
[Physical Endurance has leveled up!]
[Physical Endurance (Passive) - LVL 3 (80%):]
[Your body's durability has increased.]
[- 9% damage taken from physical attacks.]
'Ding!'
[New Skill Created!]
[Critical Strike (Passive) - LVL 1 (60%):]
[A precise strike that hits a weak point, causing massive damage.]
[Damage Multiplier: 300%]
[Chance: (LUC + DEX) = 8%]
'Ding!'
[Quest Completed!]
[Midnight Scholar: Sneak into the library at night and read some more!]
[Rewards: +1000 EXP, +1 Stat Point]
Percy dismissed the notifications, wiping syrup from his mouth. He was fully healed, hidden, and stronger than before. He looked at the rows of books stretching out into the darkness. He had a long night ahead of him.
He grabbed the nearest stack and began to read.
Hours blurred. Usually, Percy's brain would have turned to mush after twenty minutes, the words swimming off the page.
But Gamer's Mind kept him focused, a cool clarity overriding his ADHD.
He read through history, mythology, and literature. He read until the moon set and the gray light of dawn crept through the blinds.
'Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!'
The notifications had been chiming softly all night, a rhythm to his progress. Finally, as he closed a thick volume on Shakespeare, the final one appeared.
[Language: Modern English (Passive) - LVL 14 (30%):]
[Reading Level: College+]
[Effect: You have overcome your limitation. You can now understand complex texts perfectly. Dyslexia penalty removed.]
Percy stared at the box, his eyes stinging with tears that had nothing to do with exhaustion. He did it. He had actually done it.
For the first time in his life, the words on a page stayed where they were supposed to. He wasn't "stupid" or "lazy" anymore. He could finally be the student his mom deserved.
He checked the time. 6:45 AM. The library would be opening soon.
Percy snuck out the way he came, slipping back into the dorms just as the sun broke over the horizon.
Grover was still snoring, oblivious to the world. Percy quickly changed, looking fresh despite having pulled an all-nighter, and headed for breakfast.
He restocked his inventory with another heist of pancakes, you could never have too many healing potions, and spent the hour before class back in the library, this time targeting books on logic and science.
[+2 INT]
[INT: 8]
Percy smiled. He felt sharper, his thoughts connecting faster than before. He walked into his first class just ahead of the bell and slid into his seat next to Grover.
"Hey, G-man!" Percy whispered, grinning. "I think I'm finally getting somewhere with all my reading. The words aren't floating anymore."
Grover smiled, looking relieved. "That's great, Percy! You're really turning things around, I bet you'll, "
Grover froze mid-sentence, his face draining of color. He was looking over Percy's shoulder.
Percy turned slowly. Mrs. Dodds was standing there. Her leather jacket was back, her hair was tight, but her eyes were the same cold, dead orbs from the night before.
"Mr. Jackson," she said, her voice a low, dangerous purr. "I see you have injured your arm."
Percy's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained impassive. She was fishing. She knew she had slashed him, but she hadn't seen him clearly in the dark.
"Injured?" Percy asked, feigning confusion. "No, Mrs. Dodds. I haven't injured anything."
"Really?" She raised a skeptical, manicured eyebrow. "Please. Show me your left arm."
The class went silent. Grover looked like he was about to faint.
Percy calmly unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up his sleeve. He presented his forearm to her. The skin was smooth, tan, and completely unblemished, thanks to the miracle of magical pancakes.
Mrs. Dodds stared at his arm. She grabbed his wrist with a grip like iron, her sharp nails digging in, pinching the skin, searching for a cut, a scar, anything to prove he was the boy in the courtyard.
There was nothing.
She released him, her expression shifting from triumph to suspicion. "Very well, Mr. Jackson."
She spun on her heel and stalked to the front of the room.
'Ding!'
[Lying has leveled up to LVL 3 (40%)!]
[- 15% success chance.]
Percy rolled his sleeve back down and looked at Grover. "What's her problem?"
Grover didn't answer. He just smiled nervously and looked resolutely at the blackboard, refusing to meet Percy's eyes.
Percy shook his head and focused on the lesson. For the rest of the day, he was a model student.
'Ding!'
[Due to sustained focus in an academic setting, you have gained +1 INT!]
Percy leaned back in his chair as the final bell rang. He had survived the day, gained stats, and kept his cover. He decided to give himself the afternoon off from the library grind.
He walked the perimeter of the campus, letting the fresh air clear his head. As he strolled along the north-facing wall of the administration building, something caught his eye.
Painted discreetly below the principal's window, near the foundation, was a small blue triangle. A Greek Delta.
To anyone else, it was graffiti. To Percy, it seemed to glow with a faint, eerie light.
'Ding!'
[Dungeon Discovered!]
[Entrance to The Labyrinth]
[Difficulty: Dungeon LVL 5]
[Do you wish to enter?]
[YES / NO]
Percy stared at the prompt. The Labyrinth. He knew enough mythology now to know that was Daedalus's maze, a place of madness and death.
Level 5 sounded low in game terms, but considering Mrs. Dodds was Level 49, 'Level 5' probably meant 'Deadly for Beginners'.
He wasn't ready. Not even close.
He pressed NO and walked away.
He headed for the cafeteria, but not for food. He went around back to the recycling bins. He dug through them until he found half a dozen empty plastic water bottles. He rinsed them out at the courtyard fountain and filled them to the brim.
He stashed the bottles in his inventory.
He had his healing items (pancakes). He now had his buffs (portable water). Now, he needed a weapon. A pen wasn't going to cut it next time.
He waited until dinner time, when the faculty lounge would be full. He crept to the side of the main building, locating the ground-floor window of Mr. Brunner's office.
Percy checked his surroundings. Clear. He slid the window up, it was unlocked, thankfully, and slipped inside.
The office smelled of old books, chalk dust, and tweed. It was dim, lit only by the fading sunlight. Percy moved silently, his sneakers making no sound on the rug.
"Observe!" He then snuck around the office using Observe on everything incase a weapon was being hidden in the form of something else.
….
If you want to read ahead by 5+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016