Ted breathed in and out. Well. Even if Physical Fitness reduced how tired he got, that was still EXHAUSTING. He sat down in the gymnasiums bench. At the very least, he had enough rope climbing experience that he could now, theoretically, go through with his plan.
...At least he hoped he did. He REALLY didn't want to splatter against the pavement. Next, to assemble his means of traversal. First, the rope. Luckily, the gym supply closet had a spare, as Ted wasn't 100% sure how he'd get away with stealing the one that was already attached to the ceiling. Now, for the hook! To the workshop!
Ted banged his head. Good news was, the shop did in fact have metal-working tools! The bad news was, Ted was utter GARBAGE at this. He had to make sure the hook was sturdy enough to crumple under Ted's weight, and so far, his attempts had been less than...satisfactory.
He sighed. That was...nice, Ted guessed, but not nice enough to make up for his complete USELESSNESS when it came to devising his escape route.
This would probably take awhile. Ted glanced at the clock on the wall. At least he had plenty of time. He buckled down and prepared for a long evening.
Ted blinked. Right. Scrounger had leveled up. He looked at his latest attempt at making a hook. It would do, he supposed, for now.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The selection was...interesting, as was the word-choice. So reaching level 5 in his secondary class offered special bonuses? That was...informative. Would the same thing happen at rank 10, 15, and so on? Ted hoped so.
As for the choices themselves, Ted frowned. Spells....like magic? It sounded intriguing. VERY intriguing!
...
But not, sadly, useful, going by the option. Skeleton Key served the same purpose as his lockpicks, and there was no garuntee it was more efficient. Further, there was the fact that even if it was, he had no real way to use said spell, since he didn't know how magic worked.
Ferromagnesis was...Well, Ted wasn't sure WHAT it was. How did one magnetize themselves? The best guess he could come up with was iron consumption, and from what little he knew about anatomy, he was pretty sure the amount of iron needed to become magnetic was poisonous.
That left Travellers Blessing. With hesitance, Ted picked that one. After all, it was autumn. In a few months, it would become winter, and Ted wasn't confident in his ability to survive in the freezing snow. Being able to resist that sounded like it would be VERY useful.
Right, two new perks, two new points. Ted mulled it over, and put a single point in Travellers Blessing. The other point? He put into Looter.
The reasoning was simple: while his prior investment had been...fairly useless, there was a chance, albeit a small one, that another point put into it would actually pay dividends. Perhaps Ted was engaging in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy a bit, but at the very least, raising Looter couldn't HURT.
Ted blinked, rubbing his head as, instinctively, he realized he knew where EVERY item of value in the shop was. It went beyond just having memorized their locations: even if they were moved, he'd know where to find them. He could almost...
Smell them. I can smell treasure. Thats...
He paused, and took a deep breath. Right. Right. That...could come in handy. Well. Thats...that's handy. The LUK bonus when exploring was also nice. It meant when he wasn't at home, his LUK total ALMOST hit 10! He grinned.
Things were turning up Ted!
His grin immediately fell. Which means that whatever sadistic god is watching is probably just WAITING for the other shoe to drop.
Right. No resting on laurels. Back to work.
It had been three more attempts before he created a hook he was well and truely satisfied with. Looping the rope through the hole in its base, he looked over his creation with satisfaction. Rats try and trap me? I'll build a grappling hook!
The former officeworker yawned, and once more glanced at the clock. Right. Nap time. He stood up and began the brief trek to the principles office, locking the door behind him and settling into the chair. He spotted Tortoise sleeping in his cage again, the bunnys sides gently rising and falling. Probably had a fun day, running around.
Ted shifted, trying to get comfortable. Right, tommorow, steal some cushions, blankets and what-not. Sleeping at a desk: not the most comfortable. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come.
