Poor Man Reborn

The Pull And Push Of A Heart

Lavender stood in front of me, angry for some unknown reason. I was at a loss as to what I should do at that point. So I tried the direct and straightforward approach.

"What's wrong?" I ask a bit hesitantly.

"You! How did you complete a quest while in the bathtub? Or did you get it from tricking me into thinking you didn't want a bath when you getting a bath was the real quest!"

"That's not it at all. You act like I know what I'm doing. I got this notification when I got to the house from helping Miss Grace get her purse back. I got five-hundred experience from the world quest and a name change. I didn't know I would get older and wasn't sure who I could talk to about this quest stuff," I finish with a gasp, hoping I would get it all out before she tried to interrupt me.

Some of the heat seemed to drain from Lavender's expression. Lavender's hands unclenched, and her face returned to its pretty lightly tanned complexion. She drew her hands behind her back and walked over.

"It's fine. I'm sorry for barging in on you. So now we are the same level. What did you pick for a class?" Lavender eyed me as she asked me the question.

"Random."

"Random? That's a choice? There are only five choices. How did you get random?" Lavender was leaning close, and I could almost see...

"Honestly, I think it because of," but then a terrible pain ripped through my body.

I heard Lavender scream as I hit the floor, convulsing, and then darkness.

I woke up to the smell of chicken soup, and I tried to open my eyes. The light came from the sun as it set, and as my eyes adjusted, I noticed Lavender, Tilly, and Miss Grace standing around a bed. The three women looked concerned, and Tilly held the soup on a fancy tv tray of some sort.

I was back in the room Lavender had shown me before dragging me to the shower and then the hallway incident. What made me hurt? I tried to tell Lavender about Destiny, and the system stopped me. I guess NPC's aren't privy to all information.

Tilly sat the try in front of me and said she would get buttered bread and another bowl of soup for me.  When she left the room, I began to eat as Miss Grace talked.

"It seems you were over-hungry, and that should have been our first priority, but this is now, and we can only go from here."

Miss Grace's words made sense, and I ate as the two women sat down on the bed. Lavender had changed into a white ruffled top and burnt orange skirt. Miss Grace sat in a causal green dress that was form-fitting in a way that made me feel a bit different than when my seven-year-old mind had looked at the woman. Once I finished my first bowl, Miss Grace spoke again.

"So I see you gained a lot of experience and you have reached the same level as Lavender, this is wonderful! We have a private tutor that you will join Lavender in studying. Since you are the same age, what did you take for a class? Yes, I know you got random, and I can hardly believe it, but I'm curious to know what class you got?"

I waited before speaking and looked at both of them, each in turn, and looked away.

"Hero," I quietly say away from them.

"Hero? That one I've never heard at the basic level. Let me take a look. Hold out your right hand with your small finger out only, palm up," Miss Grace showed me how to do it, and then she put her left hand over mine.

My AVATAR card popped up above her hand, and she began to examine it. Lavender even crawled across my legs to get closer to see. Both hummed at what they saw, and both finally drew back.

"That is interesting, and this also confirms what I said about Destiny," Miss Grace said with a confident tone. "Tomorrow, you will train and learn with Lavender with Professor MTK."

"Who?"

"MTK is a Galaxsor Techknowledge. He has a weird name, but MTK is just a super smart bug in a humanoid Exosuit," Lavender laughed as she explained like this was the most normal thing in the world, and maybe it was.

Both of them got up and left me to finish the last bowl that Tilly had brought in. I was exhausted, and my STATUS bar was finally sitting at Satisfied. When I finished eating the rest of my food, it was dark, and I didn't even remember falling asleep.

I woke up to the sound of Trina's voice.

"Trina thinks you should wake up now, Dave," Came the cheerful voice as I opened my eyes.

"What time is it?" I ask, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"Time to go explore those rooms before everyone else! Trina bets some good things are hiding behind one of those doors. Let's go!"

"Alright, let me get dressed first."

It was still early morning, and the sun was just coming up on the other side of the manor. I got my clothes on, and Trina and I quietly opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. The door filled corridor was silent as I crept down it.

"What door do we choose? They all look the same, but room seventeen was the bathroom, so what do I pick?"

"Trina thinks you should just pick a door! Destiny will pick a good one!"

"Well, let try this one then," I say, standing across from my room at door number eleven.

The door looked the same as the rest, and the smell of torches greet me as I open the door. Two torches lit a small empty room with a door at the end. Trina flew in ahead of me and looked around the room, the walls were made of dirt, and the room seemed underground.

"Trina thinks this room is safe; let's go farther!" Trina persisted as I walked into the room.

The atmosphere changed when I walked into the room, and I left the door open behind myself. The feeling of being far below the surface pushed down on me as I got closer to the next door. By the time I was at the door, I could smell and feel the dampness coming from behind the door, and all feeling of being above ground left me, replaced by a creeping sense of claustrophobia.

I am gripping the door hand because I've come this far and can't turn back now. I turn the nob, and the door opens up to a room with an island in the middle. Torches ringed the room, and the flickering lights danced across the dark water reflected on the ceiling.

Trina flew around the dome as I walked forward. There was a narrow path across the water to the island that looked safe. At the other end on the isle, a golden looking chest sat unlocked but unopened. I walked to the island and headed to the chest, but the sound of moving water makes me stop and turn around.

The fifteen-foot bridge I had just walked across had disappeared into the water, leaving me stranded on the island. I sigh, turning back to the chest and approach it. The trunk is golden, and it has only the embossed image of a strange-looking gauntlet. Trina comes over to hover behind me as I open the chest.

Inside the chest lay a rose gold colored small metal gauntlet. It looked nice but not overly special, but I noticed a star flashing in my HUD's top left. Before touching the metal glove, I decided to check the alert first, and I open it up.

WARNING!!! CHALLENGE ROOM!

This room is rated above your current level. Once you enter the island, the CHALLENGE will activate, and the bridge will drop. Pick up the item in the chest to begin.

"Uh, Trina, this alert says this is a challenge room, and it's above my level."

"Hmm? But you can't leave, so what are you gonna do?"

Trina had a point, so I reached in a picked up the gauntlet. Immediately the atmosphere changed, and the water started to move around us. The auras of evil could be felt rising as the water roiled and frothed.

A "!" icon popped up, and I quickly opened it up. It was a description of the item I just picked up. I read over it as I put the pink gold gauntlet on my left hand.

GAUNTLET OF THE HEART

(Legendary Class Item)

This item uses attraction and rejection like the heart. Use an open hand and the command PUSH to force others away, or close your hand with the command PULL to drag them closer.

As I close the window, I'm starting to see black shapes rise from the water. Every one of them has a slight black mist surrounding them like a cocoon. I could feel the evil from them, and my hackles began to rise. The thirst for combat rose within me.

"LIGHT BLADE!" I call out loud because somethings are just meant to be spoken, and I step forward.

Growls and hisses explode around me as a sword of pure light filled the dome, sending moving shadow to cast on all the walls. Black amphibious things surrounded, but it was like my body was more electrified, and my blade brightened as the evil came closer.

I ran at the closest group and tore into them with the blade of light. As I butchered the demon Fishmen, I listened to their guttural cries and screeches. The blade I held gave no resistance as it slid through the inky flesh like snow. No blood came, and the bodies seemed to disappear when I killed each.

If they surrounded me, I just used PUSH and sent them flying. The creatures felt endless at first, but the intensity of their attacks was slowing. Soon, there were only ten or fifteen left, and I was panting hard from the exertion.

I had given off three flashes of light during the fight, and I opened and closed each notification. Each time I grew and became more potent and faster. The last monsters circled me warily, and I was about to rush them when I heard a female voice.

Lavender's voice!

"Dave! What are you doing? I told you not just to enter any room," but Lavender noticed two monsters creeping up behind her.

She screamed and ran forward and not observing her step, Her foot caught, and she began to fall into rocks. I threw my left arm up and called PULL to Lavender, closing my fist. At the same time, my right and golden blade severed a Fishman in half. The force stopped Lavender's fall, and instead, she fell towards me, into my arms.

The force knocked me back a step, but I was fifteen now and could easily hold her weight. Lavender looked up at me, confused. I set her down and then used PUSH to throw back some to close creatures. I grab her by the shoulders and turn her to me.

"Are you ok?" I asked, looking into her blue eyes.

Just then, the water began to move in one spot this time, and the Fishmen let out hoot and cheers. We both turn to see a massive shape that was coming out of the water. The black mist poured from The giant beast.

"Uh-Oh," came Trina's voice from beside me.