Chapter 3 - Perks.

Staring longingly at the sheet of paper, scribbled in it was a rough drawing of Phillipi the Grand Magus and his lists of abilities.

"Mary!" he teared up a runny nose of slimy green to add salt to his 'sad', as he still longed for the moment he had first laid eyes on the paper but what soon came into his mind was his horrific past, a thing he had always hated.

Always cursing himself right after, faulting himself, blaming fate for picking him as the sole survivor.

It was a daydream and a nightmare, a horror which rained on his day over and over.

He shuts his eyes closed, twitching his brows with every scene that played out in his mind.

"If only I were stronger back then.... I could've.."

His thoughts were then disrupted by the voice which was now his new perk, the system Aeyai which he renamed again.

<Master Phillipi is now stronger than before. Do you want to view your Stats?>

At the most opportune of moments when Phillips was in need, like a concious soul comforting the wounded.

"...System?" he cracked slowly.

"Yes.. Aeyai!... and Phillipi!"

His eyes of blue beaming as he figured he was not powerless anymore, he now had a perk and be it bittersweet it was his late sister's design.

.....

Moments later.

In the blue screen Phillips saw a list of things which popped up when he with direction from the system shouted,"Stats!"

To which Aeyai replied with,

<GOOD!>

Close to scoffing, forcing Phillips to make a priceless dumb stare at his wall of empty, bland canvas.

<Showing Stats:>

HEALTH - 20

MANA - 20

STAMINA - 10

AGILITY - 10

STRENGTH - 08

DEXTERITY - 30

Points : 20 remaining.

Phillips was comfortable and familiar with the whole stats menu as he knew Mary designed or more accurately drew this system using the RPG games he used to slaughter.

"So these are exactly like those games huh?"

"Buttt... whis is my strength only 8??" quick to burst with reddend face and shouting at the screen, if temper was a plant Phillips just and always grew unwanted weeds.

"Oh! it's because I'm brought back to being only thirteen years old. Hahah!"

His temper then was twice removed by a quick and sudden dumb smile, a volatile see-saw of brisk swift mood-swings.

<CORRECTION : THE STATS ARE DERIVED FROM YOUR 30 YEAR OLD BODY.>

"....."

"Nope!!! You're way off your analysis."

<Correction: No! Master was below average physica...>

"ANYWAYSSS..." he interrupted, clearing his throat.

"My dex is 30.. as it should." forcing a cough.

Phillips felt as if the system was just another soul, one without a physical manifestation who was quite rather sassy unnecessarily.

"I mean, these eyes can see sounds ya know....hahahah!" both arms in his waist, he stood boastfully, shutting one eye and the other staring above hopefully to poke at the system.

<Will you spend your remaining points?>

"Sure!"

"Let's see..."

"I'll take 2 on health, another 2 on mana, 3 on stamina because reasons...." he was cheeky with eyes that were slanted.

"Give 3 for agilities and.... the rest will be..."

"ALL ON STRENGTH!!" like a maniac his eyes widened with a wide smile to match.

<WARNING! Master Phillipi has not yet accepted The First Quest. Declining it will lead to a Status Debuff.>

"There's the nagging!" again with a cheeky smirk, Phillips was waiting for the system to react but it was rather silent.

"Whelp!! Debuffs are never good."

"What's the quest again?"

<Quest : Drink Water.>

<Drink 8 glasses of water>

<8/8 Remaining>

<Time period : 12H 39M 09S>

"So there's a period huh?... I have a solid clue to what will happen if those run out."

"But this is quite easy Aeyai! and Accept." reaching for a flask where he would often put cold water.

<Quest accepted!>

<Notice : This Quest Is for beginners, especially!>

"There's the hot headed girlfriend... I wonder if you have periods too?" asked a rather annoyed Phillips to which Aeyai remained silent.

"Silent treatment?"

His eyes peeped where he assumed Aeyai would be sassing as his fingers grasped the flask.

"Woah!"

Shocked eyes were impressed as his fingers sank into the aluminium covering of the flask.

"The fuck?!!"

He paused for seconds, no sound but just a couple of rapid blinking.

"I'm hella strong!"

Phillips spent mintues enjoying and testing out his new found strength all thanks to his now new perk.

He find himself more agile, to which he got the idea of doing blackflips, frontflips and all flips that were warned from action movies and stunts but jumping as curiously high and quick as he might, the landing and rolling motion needed while in the air were never there.

And as an inevitable result, he more than once crashed a face first on his wooden floor, sometimes on his back and neck but to his smile of an aloof fool with every failed crash he was more eager and was seemingly moving to an even more rapidly crash inducing instinct.

Unbeknownst to him, he was now uncharacteristically overzealous with the flips, his eyes now blinked absurdly wider, maniacal - perfectly capturing the image of the blue sky circled by white clouds with his rather shifty smile captivating his love for the thrill.

As though he was possessed by extremity.

His harmless smile grew to a more malicious grin, which were wide as a crescent moon arc - Unbeknownst to him, he reeks of a youngling viking berserker.

He would have never stopped his maniacal flips until the -thuds- from a woman below and Aeyai intervened at the same time.

<Quest Active : Drink Water!>

"Oh! right.... damn man.... I really enjoyed that!" he chuckled, his raspy voice sounded more thirstier as droplets of saliva drooled from the corner of his grin.

"I'm sorry Miss Rebecca!" yelling from his tall slender window to the apartment below.

Rebecca a middle-aged lady who was with a silver simple and plain gown with hair that were stressed by many rollers was surprised to hear a child's voice,'Did he brought his nephew?' she pondered with a broom she armed herself with.

"Nevermind child just keep it down a notch... tell Phillips to eat something!" she yelled back.

'Oh right!' he thought looking at his reflection from the window.

'Little Phillips.' he smirked.

"Okay Aunty!" he yelled back, playing the part of his now younger self.

But then he realised whilst he took a second glance, his blonde hair was now with a small patch -of soft rouge pink coming from the right end side of his head.

'Pretty sure it was all blonde.' he thought,'I should asked Aeyai...'

"Yo!! Aeyai?! whats with this little pink hairs all of a sudden and why is it going away?" scrubbing his patch of pink, which was slowly yet visibly shrinking strand by strand.

<Master Phillipi's Third Perk Adrenaline Rush - Activation will alter appearances slowly, It also slowly drives Master Phillipi to Berserker Mode>

"Does berserker mode sounds like what I think it is?"

<Aeyai is a System, Aeyai cannot read thoughts unless it is related to Quest or the functions properties but yes it is exactly like what it sounds.>

"You could've just said yes.."

<Aeyai is designed to be absolutely descriptive.>

"Right!!! that really comes as a surprise!" sarcastic in tone and in the eyes, rolling it back.

"Wait... you said second perk right?"

<Correct Master Phillipi has in total four perks>

"Four?... I never heard of any power-born with more than one perk.... sure some may have many abilities but they're all from a single perk... even The Captain with his superman like powers have only one perk."

<The circumstances in having multiple perks is unknown. My knowledge is limited to Master Phillipi's own Knowledge.>

< ... >

<Regrettably!>

"Descriptive and professional, she says!"

"Whatever! tell me all my perks... If miss descriptive could describe them all."

Folding his now little arms demanding answers.

<Master Phillipi has three perks beside Aeyai>

<The second is Gluttony>

<The third is Adrenaline rush>

<The fourth is Time Of Anubis>

"...." standing a statue, making the great Thinker's pose.

"Aeyai!" calm and slow, "How and why?" as gentle and most fragile as he could tenderly speak.

<Reasons unknown!>

<NOTICE : Aeyai is limited to Master Phillipi's knowledge!>

"Enough with that... and look the pink is almost gone!" scratching his hair.

<Scanning Master Phillipi's body, it showed a significant surge in Adrenaline and the rouge pink acts a meter for determining the perk : Adrenaline Rush>

<Aeyai probability function notes that Master will have limited uses on his other perks the more Master uses his other perks.>

"So it's like give and take huh?! Well it doesn't really matter why and how I got these babies, all that matters is.... fucking revenge!!"

Eyes of blues were brimmed, as his slumbering thirst for vengeance awoke while a cold wicked smirk curved his lips.

Phillips knew in that moment that he would finally get vengeance to the ones with powers who view themselves as the pinnacle, disregarding the rest of the mundane folk as nothing but mere live-stocks.

On his mind in particular were two power-borns, like an oasis in the dry desert they stood out, the ones who caused the incident, the ones who were left unpunished.

That incident, the one where Phillips lost his -ALL.

"Aeyai what skills do I have at level 1." with a look of pure determination

<You have four abilities>

<Blink, Hex, Fire Ball And Ice Bolt>

"Good, that'll do for now." with confident eyes of focus he claimed while grabbing the now deformed flask, gulping down unseen waterfalls and the system reads,

<Quest : Drink Water>

<In Progress : 7/8 Remaining>

"Stats, levels, skills, Aeyai plus the others..... Mwahahahahaha!" he laughed loudly and all too suddenly, at times like this you would be right to assume that even Phillips himself was never expectant of these sudden explosions of, 'Vibes!" a term he had coined for his outbursts.

Just a hair's moment after, shouting as thunderous as his little lungs would allow,

"I'M OP!"