BXBX NOVEL Chapter 24: The Benefits of Leveling Up!
Chapter 24: The Benefits of Leveling Up!
Frank sat down on his bed as he began to recall the strange and bizarre dream, he just had last night, where he was met by a beautiful woman that called herself the \'Earth\' or even \'Gaia\'.
Although she seemed oddly immature and annoying, she was also incredibly knowledgeable of what Frank had been doing since then, perhaps being the only one to know so much about him and his Abilities.
She also explained a few things while also generating countless more questions for Frank\'s mind, and in the meantime, she asked him to fulfill the mission of simply… \'saving the world\'.
Really, Frank was already having troubles managing his time and schedule now that he had to go to a second world, but now he had to go to multiple ones as much as he could to create \'echoes\', connecting Earth with such worlds and through that, making the world recover by assimilating the energy of these worlds.
It was all really confusing, and if such a thing actually happened and was possible, Frank could not help but wonder…
"Then those worlds aren\'t simply data inside of my phone? These are worlds not created by the system either, right? Then how? What are these worlds really? And why do they connect to these Apps? Are they really just like them? Well, obviously not, Terra is not at all like the Farming Town App, but that is understandable by seeing how in that App you did not explore any world nor talked with any people aside from a few NPC\'s, that were all humans… but what about the other games? Are they really alike? Well, Ruby is just like the starter fire-attribute monster pet from the Monster Catching game…" thought Frank as his mind flashed with many thoughts at the same time, since he woke up that he felt his mind clearer and more precise.
"Is this because I leveled up more? But what does increase intelligence if there is no intelligence stat? Perhaps increasing my affinity with magic through the Magic Stat produces this effect? Or maybe increasing my HP makes my entire body feels stronger and healthier, making my mind feel clearer as a result. There are many possibilities of what it could truly be, but if I cannot appraise my own stat descriptions, it is useless to waste more time thinking about it. Anyways, this is not the point but the dream… And what is the point of the dream? I already got the mission and now… I have to pretty much do what I have been doing since yesterday anyway. She said that even the smallest of things creates echoes that can help her, and she said that I had a lot of time to do things without feeling pressured by time…" Frank considered.
Gaia had told Frank that she did not need him to rush through worlds… although she had stated that she was \'dying\', she never said the actual reason other than \'because of various factors\'.
She had also said that although she was dying, time goes by slowly to a human compared to her and that the little time left for her might end as an eternity where many generations of humans live and die, so even at a slow pace, Frank was doing a good job already.
"At the very least that the last sentence reassured me a bit. But just simply thinking about the world actually dying and… what would happen with humanity then? The life and… everyone? Everything would simply end and that is it? I cannot simply leave that happen, no way, my family lives in here and- wow, I am already beginning to talk like a protagonist, these powers are really making me cocky. Okay, calm down… This fast thought process is making me think way too much, which is annoying, I will go take a bath to relax. Today is my second day at high school, let us make it good," thought Frank, moving away from the concerning thoughts for some time and deciding to simply resume his daily routine, the one that always makes him relaxed. Despite having discovered yesterday that Earth is not simply just a world without magic or monsters but completely the contrary.
As Frank took a bath, he relaxed while checking his body… the first thing he noticed was that his often weak and slim complexion seemed… a bit more toned?
He did not have enormous muscles or anything, but his slim and weak arms seemed firmer and harder, his belly was not soggy but similar to a rock, although he did not have biceps nor anything of that… yet. His shoulders were rather wide as well, and his legs seemed to be capable of running a marathon if he desired…
"So this is the power of leveling up… How more muscular would I get if I were to level up more? Wait, what would happen if I reach level 100? Would I become a mass of muscles? I hope not, that wouldn\'t be fitting of seventeen-year-old anatomy…" thought Frank, getting out of the bathroom, wearing new clothes, and then getting downstairs to have breakfast earlier than other times, surprising her mother, father, and sister.
"Eh? You woke up early today, Frank, I often have to yell at you! My son is becoming more mature, perhaps?" asked Frank\'s mother, Amelia.
"I just sleep well, that\'s all," said Frank.
"Maybe he found a cute girl at high school, but he doesn\'t want to tell us about it…" muttered Frank\'s stepfather, Okita Katsumi, while glancing at the news on his laptop.
"Not exactly…" muttered Frank while recalling Harumi, she was cute… but deadly.
"A girl! Is she cute, onii-chan? Is she cuter than me?" asked Frank\'s sister, Kamei.
"Kamei you shouldn\'t be worried about that…" said Frank while sipping some coffee alongside eating a sandwich that his mother had just prepared for him this morning.
Frank\'s stepfather then opened a video on his twitter, glancing at the notices of a tv channel of Japan Tokyo.
"Today it has been reported yet another deceased person, seemingly assassinated by the same and bizarre methods of the previous victims the last week, experts had begun to suspect that there could be a serial killer using the same killing method as a mark of its crimes. The police are doing their best to find more clues, but the method of assassination and the little evidence left in the crime scenes are dim…" said the woman at the news videos.
"Geez, dear! Don\'t put that news when we are having breakfast, what a way to ruin a beautiful morning!" said Amelia, who was often disgusted over such news as knowing how people died horribly each day wasn\'t very good to start the morning with energy and enthusiasm.
"Ah, sorry about that… Well, it was a bit intriguing. What if such a crazy guy is nearby? We have to be prepared and know about him," said Okita.
"We live in a pretty costly neighborhood, so the security here is high, thanks to the gods. Those crimes were only happening around the central areas of the city" said Amelia.
"Okay, okay, sorry for worrying…" said Okita.
Amelia kissed Okita\'s forehead as she served him the fluffy pancakes with syrup that he always liked for breakfast.
"Here, cheer up with this," she said.
"I swear, these pancakes are my only reason to live… and well, all of you, haha" laughed Okita while enjoying his breakfast.
"You\'re so childish with your pancakes…" muttered Frank.
"Oh? Someone is envious that he didn\'t get some" said Okita smugly.
"Eh? I am not envious…!" said Frank.
"Don\'t worry, my son, here, I made some for you and Kamei because I know that you two love them too, fufu" laughed Amelia as she served fluffy pancakes made with a Japanese recipe to her beloved children.
"Pancakes!" said Kamei, digging in immediately after receiving them.
"Haahh… Thanks, mom" said Frank as he began enjoying breakfast with his family, most of his concerns gone from his mind… although the thought of such a bizarre criminal lingered on his mind for a bit.
"Strange killing methods… could he be someone from the underworld?" he wondered.
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Author\'s Note: If you like the story please give any powerstone you could spare, if we reach a nice number there will be bonus chapters at the end of the week, it all depends on you!
Thank you very much for reading!