Waking up in a hospital bed is a shock to anyone. Waking up in a hospital bed with a 300 pound man standing over you getting berated by your mother, is a shock that no one could see coming.
As Angelo sat up he looked around at where he was. How did he get here? How long had he been out? Where was the Grimiore? These questions raced through his head. He was about to say something when his father noticed he was up.
"Loretta, stop attacking the man. He's up."
His mom turned around and nearly knocked Angelo off the bed, "My boy. My poor boy. Are you hurt? We made sure that we got you the best healer money could buy."
Angelo wanted to feel happy at this affection but then he noticed the cameras outside the hospital room. It was a front for the press. Of course it was. As soon as they were gone she'd lecture him and say he was making them look bad.
"Mom, I'm fine", he gently pushed her off and sat up straight.
Mac came over to him, "Are you sure kid? You screamed so loud they heard it in the parking lot. By the time I found you, you were out cold so I called your parents. I'm sorry I wasn't there sooner."
Angelo reached forward and patted his arm, "Don't worry about it big guy. I'm ok, promise. You did the best you could."
Mac looked at him and smiled slightly before backing away and allowing his father to approach the bed. A tall man he looked very thin but could probably lift more than Mac. He wore rectangular glasses with thick black frames. He was dressed in a suit as he always was, same way his mother was always wearing a brightly colored sundress, with heels and thick sunglasses.
"Good to see you awake. Doc said you have no injuries. It was most likely the heat that made you faint. He said it was a bit strange that there was no marks but your fine", his dad said non-chalantly.
Fighting the urge to roll his eyes Angelo replied, "Thanks dad."
The doctor came in just in time to cut through the silence that followed, "Ah, I see that our young fainter is up and well."
"Yes, sir."
The doctor came over and began putting on his gloves. His hands began to glow a very faint baby blue as he passed his hands over Angelo. Angelo held still, knowing that this was the doctor using his magic to check for any injuries. Once he was done, he pulled off the gloves and stood up.
"Welp, you seem to be all good to go. Make sure you're drinking water and staying out of the sun", he told Angelo with a smile.
"Thank you sir, will do."
The doctor left and a nurse came to remove the IV in Angelo's arm. After a while they left the hospital and, as he expected, once they were in the car his parents lectured him. He stared out the window and tuned them out. Once they were home he went straight to his room and, locking the door, he flopped onto the bed. He should've known to not get his hopes up. The stupid "Cursed Grimiore" was....
But his thought was cut off. In front of his very eyes was a bunch of words floating around. As they focused in they seemed eerily familiar. That was when it hit him, he grabbed a copy of his favorite RPG game and looked at the picture. He was right. It was a status screen.
Before he could try anything a notice appeared, "Dear user, congratulations on bonding with the Grimiore and being able to access the system. Please ensure you complete the tutorial for some bonus XP. To take a closer look at your stats, check your upgrades/equipment, and or check your missions, simply say the thing you want to see and it will appear. Good luck."
Angelo was frozen with shock. He hadn't expected this. He tried pinching himself and even running to the bathroom to splash water in his face. The system was still there. So, he did what anyone would do. He locked the bathroom door and quietly said, "Character Creation."
Immediately a screen appeared showing his figure. He figured if he was gonna do this, then he would do it right. This meant starting with his hair. He hated the reminder of his failure as a Pyro. So, he changed it to same color of his character in his game, a shiny obsidian black. Next he changed his eyes, they were no longer a dirty brown, now they were like quicksilver.
The changes happened immediately with no pain and looked as if they'd always been that way. Finally he changed his physique. He never minded being thin, he was slippery and could fit through small place. So, he just gave himself a bit more lean muscle.
"Warning", the system blamed, "This change will change your stats( Strength 4-5, Dexterity 4-6). This change will be irreversible and will stop the character creation."
Better stats, and he didn't even do anything. Angelo was liking this already. He double checked everything else and, satisfied, said "Confirm." Almost immediately he felt his muscles grow. He looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised.
If this system could do this then he wondered what kind of magic he could do. First though, he checked the tutorial. As expected it was teaching him how to interact with all the screens. First stats, than abilities, finally equipment. Once that was completed the system gave him 50 XP which was followed by a "ding" ringing through his ears.
He had leveled up just from that. He checked his stats again...
_Strength-5
_Dexterity-6
_Constitution-5
_Intelligence-7
_Charisma-5
Assuming that 5 was a base level person with no powers he wasn't doing to bad. It seemed like the system to his constant cardio and studying into account. He decided to put another point into Intelligence and looked at his status screen.
Angelo Helleck
Lvl. 2
No Class
_Health-10
_Stamina-10
_Mana-0
_Strength-5
_Dexterity-6
_Constitution-5
_Intelligence-8
_Charisma-5
No class? Zero Mana? He wondered if that was because he had no magic. He looked at his abilities and, sure enough, there was no abilities and no magic. He was very disappointed but it made sense. If this was like a video game then he'd have to earn it.
For now, he had some things to test. He yawned and looked at the time. It was already 9:30. He decided to get some sleep and head to the junkyard after school the next day, to perform his tests. As he played in his bed, he smiled at the thought of having magic now, before falling asleep.