Primary Deviation Identified
Latin class passed rather uneventfully - there was a minor amount of classical history discussed, but it was prior to the start of the Common Era, so the system wasn't as interested in it. They passed their homework up to the front, received a new assignment, and Michael had a new mission generated. With that, they departed class.
Michael made plans with Valeria and Jeremy to meet up in front of the changing rooms after Gym to head over to the cafe like yesterday, and then went down to the Computer Lab. He only had a few minutes before the bell rang - not enough time to do any of the research that he wanted to - so he decided to get a head start on pushing forward his typing.
The rest of the class piled in quickly, and everyone else sat down and started to do the same thing. Michael seemed to get into a kind of zone, and the time went by very quickly. He was still incrementally increasing his abilities, and the system noted some minor increases accordingly. His Limit Pusher title crept forward a little bit more, as well.
After that, the teacher gave them all some time to focus on their projects. Michael opened up Encyclopaedia Romanica and began his research. Considering the goals for his Extra Credit mission, he decided to start from the beginning of the Common Era, with the formation of the Empire. He quickly pulled up articles on both that event and the first Emperor, Augustus.
"Augustus reigned from the age of 35 until his 99th birthday. It was on this Day that he ascended to join his father as the second Divine Emperor, to be succeeded by his daughter, Julia the Eternal..." he muttered to himself as he read.
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"Sure...", Michael agreed, and entered the search terms.
"It looks like he did visit Nola that year, and had been ill for several months leading up to it. However, his health improved while he was there. Unfortunately, after a visit from his daughter Julia and stepson Tiberius, Tiberius passed away due to a sudden illness of his own."
<<... System has noted the events. Please hold on additional searches in this vein for the time being.
First stage of Extra Credit mission completed. Unlocking associated rewards.
- Enhanced Focus: Writing unlocked. Ability can be used in conjunction with Enhanced Focus: Reading.
- Sleep Optimization (tier 1) unlocked. Subject's Sleep efficiency has been improved by 50%. System will require minor modifications to user's sleeping facilities in order to enable this function.>>
Michael's eyes lit up at these rewards. Extra Credit was really worth it!! He wasn't sure why the system valued this information so much, but it looks like it was willing to shell out quite a bit for it. Taking the system's advice, he decided to close down these windows and focus on more of the general history as he began to summarize the years of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Once they entered free time, Michael quickly searched up the prefabricated bathroom components he'd been thinking about. He followed the system's suggestions on dimensions for a standing shower and separate bathtub that would be large enough to fully submerge in. The cost was a bit high, but he thought that between the existing budget his parents had allocated, his savings from work earlier that summer, and the money he'd be making soon, he'd be able to afford it.
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Soon the bell rang again and it was time to head over to the library. By this point, Michael's stomach was growling quite a bit - it seemed like all of the extra exercise was starting to increase his appetite! He walked in, waved at Mr. Maddox, and went to sit down. Between Lunch and Free Period afterwards, he had two hours in the Library. He started to go through the options for how to use his time.
He could spend time on English, Chemistry, the latest Latin homework, or something else. He still needed to research nutrition plans for the system, and he also had some thoughts about doing some research on fitness and physical development, since it seemed like doing proper research on things was one way to unlock access to items inside the system.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "System?"
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"Would the library qualify as a location to use Enhanced Focus abilities?"
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Michael resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. He'd have to remember that for future use. Today, however, he had other plans. He quickly finished his lunch while skimming the next section of the novel for English class, and then decided to knock off his Chemistry homework. Research could wait a little bit, since he no longer had the ability to take books out of the library. Besides, this information was for the system, not him, so he could just skim through it like he did the index on the first day.
He finished his Chemistry homework, including the supplementary sections as usual, in a little under an hour. During that period of time, the bell had rung, signalling the start of his free period. Counting both the time spent on both his Chemistry work and that spent on eating and skimming the novel, he had about 50 minutes left before the end. He went over to the index and did a quick search for books on sports nutrition.
Finding several that seemed useful, he retrieved them from the shelves and brought them over to the table. Then, one after another, he methodically flipped them over, page by page. He left just enough time for his eyes to cover the whole page before turning the page again. To anyone looking, this would be an incredibly odd sight - and he did attract a few curious glances before they went back to their own work.
Mr. Maddox looked over momentarily, but simply shook his head and went back to his work. He was started to get used to the odd behaviour of this kid, and since the books weren't being damaged, he wasn't concerned. He was one who wanted to let people have their idiosyncrasies.
Michael made it through all of the books with a few minutes to spare before the end of free period. Since the next class was gym, he decided to head over a bit early and get ready.
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Once again, class began with laps. Once again, the class quickly sorted itself into three groups - the stragglers, the larger group of students, and finally the top five. Michael, Jeremy and Valeria once again found themselves at the front of the larger group. After his morning run, Michael felt his state was a little different than normal - he felt a bit more energized than usual. Maybe that's why he decided to throw caution to the wind and do something that, in hindsight, was rather dumb.
He started pick up his pace, closing the four metre distance between himself and the five. Quickly, the distance started to shorten. From four, to three and a half, to three... however, this did not go unnoticed. The group in front seemed to notice someone catching up, and just as Michael got to halfway between them, the five picked up their pace, almost as a single unit. Soon, the distance was once again three metres, then four, then five. Michael lost any chance of catching up, and with his lungs burning and his chest heaving, his pace started to slow down again.
Soon he was back at the front of the larger group. Shortly after that, he was somewhere in the middle, as the crowd split to swallow him and his slowing speed. Finally, he found himself trailing at the back of the group, right in front of the usual trailing group. He tried to increase his speed a couple of times, but despite his best efforts, his body simply couldn't maintain it. He started to get quite frustrated.
By the time the class had finished their first laps, Michael found himself smack dab in the middle of the trailing group. While the rest of the class followed the Tesserarius to the archery targets set up at the far end of the field, Michael found himself weakly shuffling his feet to complete his supplementary laps. It looks like his exercise regime was really taking its toll on him. He started to think that the system's mission requirements were over the top.
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Michael snarled at that, but knew that it was his fault. He'd let his emotions get the better of him and he had to pay the price. This meant that he'd have to play catch-up on archery - a skill that he knew he would have to gain some proficiency with in order to place well in the Regional Games. The standard Pentathlon was scored as a whole, and while it was weighted slightly higher than the other individual events, he'd have to do pretty well in several of the individual events in order to get a decent total.
Finally he and the rest of the stragglers made their way over to the targets with the rest of the class. As he approached with his head staring down at the grass in front of him, his eyes still full of frustration, Michael could feel someone looking at him, but when he lifted his head he couldn't tell who it was. He managed to get a couple of tries with the bow, but he wasn't very familiar with it, and he couldn't hit the target half the time. If it weren't for the fact that snickering would have been strictly punished by the Tesserarius, he was sure he'd be hearing some right now.
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Back in the changing room, Jeremy was trying to cheer his friend up. "I was sort of into archery for a bit when I was younger, so my dad bought me a bunch of books on it. I can bring them tomorrow! You can borrow 'em for a while, no problem." Michael grunted in acknowledgement, but he still seemed quite frustrated, and was dragging his feet.
"Come on, we don't want to keep Val waiting. I gotta ask, man. What possessed you to try to catch up to those five?" Jeremy asked as Michael finished tugging on his shirt. Michael stopped, and looked around. Seeing that there wasn't anyone else left in the changing room, he sighed. "I guess I'm just tired of chasing their backs," he admitted. With that, he and Jeremy made their way out to meet their friend in the hall.
A few moments after they left, the door that led to the field opened up, and a figure stared at the hall entrance with a thoughtful look on its face.