Chapter 8

The crack of dawn struck the horizon not long after harry woke up, laid on his bed with eyes blearily staring at the dim yellow lighting on the ceiling. A week since he'd started staying with Kara and he was already able to sleep for a longer time.

Heaving a breath, his attention went to the system notif that he knew would be present. It always did, at this day of the year– 31st July.

[Happy Birthday: You are now 10 years old]

He didn't know what the system was exactly, but he was glad for its presence. Not only was the system the only being to ever wish him on this day, it was also the only reason that he knew when he was born exactly. Hydra hadn't known of course, and Dursleys didn't care to tell him.

It was only when he was 5, and the system's notifs flashed, did he truly know about it. This single msg had gotten him through some tough times, and he will forever be grateful for it.

Harry was surprised to note that it wasn't the only msg this time though.

[Puberty Stage Activated]–

[Perk Leveled Up: Enhanced Growth (Passive)]

[Perk Leveled Up: Super Soldier] Lvl 3

Puberty...he was unfamiliar with the subject. He simply knew it had to do with a human growing up and becoming self sufficient, which was always a good thing.

He'd like to get independent as soon as he can.

Super Soldier Lvl 3, on the other hand, was a much more joyous news. He quickly opened up his status to see the new effects.

'Status'

Harry Potter

Age: 10

Race: Wizard

Level: 23

Mana: 390/390

Health: 290/290

Stamina: 290/290

Stats

Strength: 20 (9)

Speed: 21 (9)

Dexterity: 21 (9)

Vitality: 20 (9)

Endurance: 20 (9)

Intelligence: 30 (9)

Wisdom: 29 (9)

Points: 23

Muted excitement spread through him as he took in his stats. His physique was now easily above professional athletes and weight lifters. And it will keep growing more and more. Soon, he may even come to match the winter Soldier physically.

As the first rays of light tricked in through the window, Harry got up from his bed, ready to start the day with a nice hot shower.

Another luxury that Harry experienced for the first time after arriving here. In Hydra, he had to take bath with icy cold water, even in winter. But atleast he felt clean back then. His homeless tenure had forced him to go without bathing for quite some time.

Which is why, when he says that he appreciated the hot shower, he absolutely meant it.

Coming out of his bathroom, he quickly decided on what to wear. Kara had brought some new clothes for him a couple days earlier, with a promise to take him shopping once she gets some free time. Harry didn't care, he was happy with what he got.

While he normally didn't treat birthday as some special occasion, he was currently on the quest to experience life, so he carefully selected the more fashionable clothes for today; a black hoodie that Kara had described as 'stylish', and a...yellowish-brown, sort of potato-coloured cargo pants that looked crumbly to his inexperienced eyes but were apparently quite fashionable nowadays.

By the time he was finished dressing up it was 6:30 on the clock and kara was still sleeping. Unusually late for her.

They both had different rooms and bathrooms, Shield having promoted her to a suite at his insistence to stay with her.

Why his insistence? Because he did not trust Shield to not eliminate him should he be alone. The only person he even remotely trusted was Kara, who was seen as a valuable Shield member. So he could atleast sleep reassured that Shield wouldn't blow up the entire suite with their own agent still in it, just to eliminate him.

His feets crossed the kitchen and the living room to reach Kara's room. She still wasn't up so he must do his job and wake her.

It won't do to be late for work now would it?

He decided to be a good boy and banged on her doors.

"Kara!" He yelled over the thump thump thump of his fists. "Wake up! It's over six already!"

He didn't get a response. So of course he repeated his screaming. "Wake up or I'll be locking the door behind me!"

Still no response.

Frowning, he twisted the knob and to his surprise and disappointment, the door clicked open. What a reckless Shield Agent.

The scene that was revealed to his eyes made him grimace. There, lying on her bed facedown, was the body of Kara the lazy. Still dressed in the same cloth as yesterday, with a half-eaten pizza box on her table. She even had her high heels on.

He sighed. "Weekends are too dangerous to leave her alone. I will remember this."

But as he walked over to her, he strangely felt his eyes scanning her figure. Which was abnormal considering he didn't see her as a threat anymore.

Even if she carried a weapon he wouldn't care too much. He paid an especially close look to the curvy bottoms, sticking out like high grasslands in her tight black dress, the big bubble made by her behind stretched her dress to its extreme ...and her wide thighs that showed off milky white skin through the side-cut on her dress...

He shook his head with a frown. What was wrong with him? He was wasting time.

He climbed over her bed, turning the wasted woman to reveal her face, before rearing back his hand and giving a tight slap on her cheek.

The woman woke up with a gasp, her hands scrambling for weapon. "Attack! The base is in danger!"

Another slap shut her up.

"It's almost seven. You're going to be late." Harry stated, climbing down.

"...Harry?" She asked, rubbing her eyes. "Did you just hit me?"

"Of course not." He lied. "Must've been a dream."

Kara gave him a suspicious look before nodding. "What time is it anyway?"

"Almost seven." He repeated.

"Oh." She said, before her eyes widened. "Oh shit! Today's Monday!"

"Good luck." Harry waved at the woman as she scrambled for her bathroom.

He was just turning around when her yelled at him. "Can you remove my uniform please!? It's on the hanger!"

Harry sighed again. Sometimes he wondered who was the adult in this house.

-----------------------------

The Shield headquarters was a massive building located in the streets of New York.

But then again, there were dozens of massive buildings in New York so that doesn't narrow it down at all. Which was most likely why they chose it, hiding in plain sight and all that.

The building had multiple segments of Shield divisions, though the only one that Harry current had access to was the gym. Apart from their suite of course, which was on another floor.

Today was supposed to be a special day. Not because of his birthday, but because most of the Shield agents were going to return to the base. Apparently they've been hunting after Hydra bases since the fateful day of his freedom.

Harry couldn't careless. He'll thank god if they ended up killing each other. Except for perhaps Kara that is, but she usually stayed in the base so he didn't worry too much. No, he simply followed the same pattern he'd been doing for the past week.

That is, training. And completing daily quests.

[Quest [The Daily Grind] in Progress]–

Running (0/10Km)

Push-ups (0/100)

Sit-ups (0/100)

Squats (0/100)

Weight lifting (0/100)

Ever since his first Story Quest's completion, these daily quests once again became an important part of his training, due to the rewarded Xp increasing by 5 times.

With Hydra they'd been practically useless. Not just due to the mere 10 Xp they gave, but also because he couldn't complete them most of the time. Hydra did not believe in the effectiveness of his system's exercises, so they'd barred him from doing anything outside of their parameters.

Now? Now he could take his sweet time to complete these quests, while also enjoying the 50 Xp that he received every day. According to his calculations, he will roughly need to follow this regime for a month and a half to level up, even after adding in the fact that the required Xp to level up increased each time.

It was utterly unfathomable. 8 full levels in a year? Winter Soldier would be nothing in front of him, should Harry survive into the adulthood.

Of course, 'Survive into Adulthood' has always been his main objective anyway.

He finally arrived at his destination, walking through the open doors.

Shield's Gym was a little old school compared to what Hydra facilities had, but it did the job. The first thing he did was complete his quest for push ups, sit ups, and squats. They took very little effort, especially weightless squats, so he enjoyed finishing them quickly.

Then came the weight training. The last time he was here, he was able to lift over 260 kgs.

The unusual thing about gamer's body was that his strength was almost equal in all of his muscles. So his deadlift, squat, and bench press were quite similar in number. All around 250-260 kgs.

Harry smiled as a familiar sense of excitement spread through him. He was quite looking forward to find his new level of strength, though he already had a theoretical estimate on the numbers.

Starting small from 60 kgs, he kept adding more and more weight as his quest numbers increased at a steady pace. Until finally, he started feeling the pressure.

One thing was easy to notice instantly; he was definitely stronger.

The amount of effort it took to bench or deadlift over 250 kgs just yesterday was absurd, and he usually never attempted the former alone. Couldn't risk the weight falling on his throat now, could he? Not that he'd be helpless of course, he had his magic afterall. Still, it was a risk not worth taking.

Now? He was lifting over 260 kgs, his previous maximum, without hitting his limit. The difference was easy to notice. In the end his theory was proven correct when his new deadlift limit hit 290 kgs. The conclusion? Each point in strength equalled 10 kgs of lifting.

So 29 Str points meant 290 Kgs.

Maths aside, he had to admit being strong brought with it an amazing feeling of safety. While he was getting accustomed to these sweet delicious bouts of emotions, he still enjoyed simply basking in the warmth they spread through him.

Even more excitement came from the fact that he will only keep growing with every level.

Soon, he finished the weight lifting part, and moved on to the next; running. He will also need to do a speed test, to see his max limit.

There was a row of treadmills towards the back, and usually it would be occupied by other people in the gym but Harry had selected this time carefully. No one visited the gym at this time of the day. And so he was free to use it however he liked.

The only part of training he didn't like was using these treadmills. For some reason, most of the American treadmills only had a single unit for speed; miles/hour. While Hydra had forced him to learn both units of measurement, he still found Km/h more comfortable to use. Not simply due to his system, but also because he thought mile was an unnecessary unit. It literally meant 1600 meters, compared to the neat 1000 that Km had.

Unfortunately, he was in America. No point in feeling unnecessary frustration.

Again, he started slow. Going 8-9 m/h, or,12-15 km/h. He kept on increasing and increasing until he reached his limit, sprinting at a breathtaking 30 km/h. A full 3 km/h increment. It was easy to conclude that 1 stat in speed meant 1 km/h.

A good thing the system was smart enough to use the logical measures.

Quest [The Daily Grind] in Progress–

Running (X)

Push-ups (X)

Sit-ups (X)

Squats (X)

Weight lifting (X)

Reward: 50 Xp

Finished with his quest, Harry spent the next half an hour punching the air out of the boxing bag.

Bare knuckle boxing might be one of the most lackluster idea he'd ever had, but Harry still kept up with it. With his current lack of training aids, this was the only way to level up Unarmed Combat.

"You're a little too young for this, don't you think?" A voice interrupted his assault on the defenseless target.

Harry turned around, and came face to face with a small old blonde man. He stood around 5'7 to 5'8 at most, and looked more like a retired stick figure than a fighter. Certainly not the fearsome god of war that laid waste to multiple Hydra bases.

Of course, harry knew better than to underestimate Steve Rogers. He'd seen his stats afterall.

"Ares." He greeted the man, slamming the gamer's mind to keep his nerves calm. "It is...a pleasure to meet you."

"Really? I heard something different from Agent Palamas." The old man smiled slightly. "Why, she almost threatened to neuter me if I give you trouble."

"Well then you better not, right?" Harry smiled lightly, but his words were quite serious.

If the man was looking to interrogate him then he'd be in for some frustrating time.

Ares laughed aloud. "True. I'll try not to. Though most people seem to dislike me from the start, trouble or no."

"I think the word you are looking for is 'intimidated', Captain." Another voice cut in.

The man that came from behind Ares was less than half his age, probably around Melinda's, though he did look the part of it.

'Observe'

Phil Coulson

Age: 35

Race: Human

Level: 23

"Hello, mister... Harry." The man finally settled on his name. "Agent 33 had a lot to say about you. All good things I assure you."

"Of course." Harry drolled out. "I do keep her rooms cleaned after all."

The man chuckled politely. "I'm sure that helps, but no. I was talking about your decision to rebel from the grasps of Hydra. I must admit to being sceptical at first."

"But?" Harry prompted when the man didn't continue further.

"But the footage of your fight is unquestionable." Ares replied instead. "That was an impressive display of skills and power."

Harry carefully observed both the men; Captain Ares' relaxed but assertive posture, with both hands at his sides. Phil Coulson's more reserved posture, polite but aware with both hands in front, one clasped by other...

"Are you here to interrogate me, Ares?" Harry asked bluntly.

He had no plans to play their games.