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….
Percy finally found the exit. It wasn't a magical portal or a swirling vortex; it was literally a heavy steel door at the back of the theater with a glowing neon-green "EXIT" sign above it.
"You have got to be kidding me," Percy muttered.
He pushed it open and trudged up three flights of concrete stairs, emerging through a maintenance door right under the principal's window.
The transition was jarring. One minute he was in a cavern of undead nightmares, and the next, he was standing in the cool, quiet night air of Yancy Academy, the crickets chirping as if nothing had happened.
He didn't waste time. He ghosted along the wall to the main building and located Mr. Brunner's office window. It was still unlocked.
Percy slid the sash up and hauled himself inside, landing silently on the rug. He moved with practiced ease now.
He uncapped Riptide one last time to admire the blade, then tapped the cap to the tip, shrinking it back into a harmless pen.
He placed it precisely where he had found it on the desk, angling it to match the dust outlines. He retrieved the heavy bronze shield from his inventory and wedged it back behind the shelf, hiding it from view.
"Perfect," Percy whispered, dusting off his hands. "The perfect crime. Mr. Brunner will never suspect a—"
"Good morning, Mr. Jackson."
Percy froze. His blood turned to ice.
He turned around slowly. Sitting in the shadows of the corner, previously invisible to Percy's adrenaline-fueled senses, was Mr. Brunner in his wheelchair. The old teacher's face was unreadable in the dim light.
'Oh fuck,' Percy thought, his heart hammering against his ribs. 'I am in so much shit.'
"Oh, hey, Mr. Brunner," Percy said, forcing a casual grin that felt plastered onto his face. "Fancy seeing you here. In your own office. At... 2 AM."
The teacher rolled forward, the wheels creaking softly on the floorboards. He picked up the pen from the desk, examining it closely.
"I would advise you, Mr. Jackson, that next time you need a writing utensil, you ask Mr. Underwood. Breaking into a faculty office is a serious crime, even for a student with your... track record."
Percy leaned against the windowsill, deciding to double down. If he was going down, he was going down swinging.
"Yeah, well, I would have, Mr. Brunner. But Grover keeps eating his pens. And besides, I didn't just need the pen. I needed the sword, too."
Mr. Brunner paused. He looked up at Percy, his expression one of polite confusion. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, Mr. Jackson. Sword?"
"Oh, cut the act," Percy said, his grin sharpening. "Chiron."
The teacher didn't flinch. "Percy, I assure you, given my current condition," he gestured to his paralyzed legs covered by the blanket, "I am hardly a centaur. Though I am flattered you think of me as a legendary trainer of heroes."
Percy narrowed his eyes. 'Observe.'
[Chiron's Magical Wheelchair]
[Rank: Epic]
[Description: A magical construct designed to conceal the user's true form. It contains a localized pocket dimension that houses the user's lower half. Chiron is very fond of this chair and will shoot an arrow up your nose if you scratch the paint.]
Percy laughed. "It's a pocket dimension. Your horse half is inside the chair. That's actually really clever."
Chiron's eyes widened a fraction. The mask was slipping. "That is a very... creative theory, Mr. Jackson, but—"
"I've also seen Grover's legs," Percy interrupted, ticking points off on his fingers. "And I saw Mrs. Dodds turn into a leather-winged hag. So, unless the cafeteria food is hallucinogenic, the Mist isn't working on me, Mr. C."
Chiron's mouth opened slightly, looking like he'd been slapped with a wet fish. He quickly recovered, his voice stern.
"Percy, you are tired. Imagination is a powerful thing, but I assure you, I am not Chiron, Grover is not a Satyr, and Mrs. Dodds is certainly not Alecto."
Percy smirked. "I never said she was a Fury, Mr. Brunner. And I definitely never said which Fury she was."
The room went dead silent.
Mr. Brunner froze, realizing his mistake. "Ah. I simply meant to imply—"
"—Save it," Percy said, pushing the window open. "If you guys want to keep playing pretend, that's fine by me. But I know what I know."
He swung a leg over the sill. "Later, Mr. C."
Percy dropped out of the window and sprinted into the darkness, leaving a stunned, legendary centaur staring at the empty space where his student used to be.
'Ding!'
[Skill Leveled Up & Created!]
[Lying - LVL 4 (75%):]
[- 20% success chance.]
[New Skill: Bullshitting - LVL 2 (10%):]
[Description: The art of mixing truth, lies, and sheer audacity. You looked a millenia-old teacher in the eye and bluffed him into submission.]
[Passive Effect: People are more likely to believe your nonsense if you say it with confidence.]
'Ding!'
[Sneaking - LVL 5 (15%):]
[Passive: You move like a ghost.]
[- 30% chance to remain undetected.]
[- 30% critical strike chance.]
Percy finally reached his dorm, his body heavy with exhaustion. He climbed into his bunk, careful not to wake the snoring satyr above him. It was 2:15 AM. He closed his eyes, and consciousness slipped away instantly.
...
'Ding!'
[You have slept in your own bed.]
[HP and MP fully restored.]
[All ailments cured.]
Percy woke up feeling like a million bucks. The soreness, the stress, the fatigue—it was all gone. He stretched, his joints popping satisfyingly.
He looked up at the top bunk. Grover was still asleep, probably exhausted from his late-night Iris Message with Juniper.
Percy moved quietly, getting dressed for class. His mind was racing. Yesterday's dungeon dive had been a wake-up call. His stats were a mess.
He realized now that spending precious points on Strength and Dexterity was a waste—he could grind those up just by working out. But Intelligence, Wisdom, and Luck? Those were harder to come by naturally.
I need a build strategy, Percy thought. No more random point spending.
He had about twenty days left of school. He couldn't exactly start bench-pressing desks in the middle of class without raising questions.
But once he was back in New York? He could train for real. It would give him a solid excuse to stay out of the apartment and away from Gabe.
But first, he needed fuel.
He headed to the cafeteria. It was 6:00 AM on the dot. The lights were humming, and the smell of bacon grease hung in the air, but the room was completely empty.
Percy walked up to the serving line. The chefs were in the back, prepping lunch. Sitting on the counter, unguarded, was a massive, fresh stack of pancakes and baskets of whole fruit.
Percy grinned. It was free real estate.
He focused on the fruit baskets.
'Observe.'
[Red Apple]
[Effect: Restores 5% HP.]
[Orange]
[Effect: Restores 4% MP.]
[Banana]
[Effect: Restores 3% HP and MP.]
'Ding!'
[Observe has leveled up!]
[Observe - LVL 5 (30%):]
[Unlock: Now displays target's opinion of you.]
Percy didn't hesitate. He opened his inventory interface, expanding the grid until it was as wide as his arm span.
He swept his arm across the fruit baskets like he was playing Supermarket Sweep, dumping everything into the blue void.
Then he turned to the pancakes. He positioned the inventory window horizontally, hovering it directly over the steaming stack.
He lowered it slowly, like a UFO abducting a cow, until the entire tower of flapjacks vanished into his storage.
He closed the window and sprinted out the side door before the chefs could come back out and realize they'd been robbed by a phantom glutton.
He checked his haul as he walked to class:
[50 Pancakes]
[7 Apples]
[6 Bananas]
[10 Oranges]
….
If you want to read ahead by 20+ chapters you could take a visit on my patreon Or check it out.
http://patreon.com/SageOf016