Author's Note: This chapter will have unfamiliar terms to most readers so please refer to the footnotes provided below. I suggest you to click the links for pictures and music. I'll be doing this from now on to enhance the reading experience.

Chapter 4: Boston Tea Party

“Alright… Stop!”

“Okay…”

“It’s almost morning.” I said to Claire.

“Sure… I’m tired anyway.” Claire shrugged.

“Be sure to clean this mess up.”

Claire nodded and stood up from her seat. She grabbed a towel and wiped the blood on the floor.

I thought she wouldn’t stop. We’ve been doing this for hours and yet it felt like an eternity. Fortunately, with my new skill [Masochism] and title [Masochist], the pain has been lessened by lot.

We also tested her skill [Charm]. At first we thought it didn’t work because nothing’s happening to me but we confirmed that it was working as intended as she noticed that the skill consumed her MP. It’s just that I was already harmless when she used it.

I also learned that [Heal] could also regenerate blood loss because from the amount of blood I’ve spilled, I should’ve feel weak but I wasn’t. My HP also increased by 10 according to the SYSTEM.

About the MP regeneration, I still didn’t know the exact math but it took me at least 15 minutes to completely regenerate to full MP. I also learned that when you exhaust MP and regenerate it, you will gain 5 MP. I exhausted my MP three times so my MP went up by 15.

I’ve been thinking. How did Claire get a skill without a skill book?

In my theory, Claire obtained [Sadism] along with the title [Sadist] as a reward from the SYSTEM similar to how I obtained [Masochism] and [Masochist]. When I got [Bash] and [Blunt Mastery], the SYSTEM informed me that I gained a new skill but it didn’t say I got it as a reward.

After Claire wiped the blood on the floor, she gave me a wet towel to wipe the dried blood stains on my body and she did the same to herself.

Few hours earlier, Claire suggested that we should take off our clothes in order to keep it clean. She didn’t hesitate to get naked in front of me. I hesitated but she insisted and forced me to take it off. We’ve been doing the rest of the skill levelling wearing nothing but our underwear. Did I get turned on? Normally, I would but that wasn’t a normal situation. Would you be turned on if you’re being sliced with a knife by a naked girl? Of course not. It may sound kinky but if you’re on the receiving end, it isn’t. It’s all for the purpose of research and experiment. 100%

“Get dressed. We don’t want them to see us like this.” Claire said. “I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell others about it.”

I nodded as I put my shirt on. I told her to wake the others so that we can briefly discuss the plan and to prepare ourselves for the journey.

As Claire went upstairs to wake them up, I checked my Character and Skill Screen.

Name:Miguel ArevaloRace:HumanLevel:2HP:155/155MP:102/375SP:70/70EXP:81.30%STR:13WIS:22AGI:7INT:23VIT:12LUK:9DEX:8CHA:7Satiety:HungryStatusNormalUndistributed Attribute Points:5Title(s):Masochist: +10% Pain Tolerance and HPPerk(s):N/A

Unique Skill(s):Quick Learner Lvl. 1 Max (100%)Active Skill(s):Observe Lvl. 2 Beginner (65.93%)Heal Lvl. 2 Intermediate (5.07%)Bash Lvl. 1 Beginner (25.23%)Passive Skill(s):Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 1 Beginner (56.16%)Masochism Lvl. 1 Intermediate (1.87%)

Masochism [Passive] Lvl 1 Intermediate

Effect: Increases pain tolerance and HP by 1%. Increases by 1% each level.

Current Bonus: 11% pain tolerance and HP

Heal [Active] Lvl 2 Intermediate

Effect: Heals wounds and other types of injury such as, but not limited to, broken bones. HP restored depends on how much MP is applied and amount of WIS;

[Heal] cannot be used to cure diseases. Each level of [Heal] will increase HP restoration by 0.05 per 1 MP consumption.

HP restoration to MP cost ratio: 1.32:1

As much as I hated to admit, the torture session with Claire came with a good result. After reaching level 10 in Beginner, the skill would be Intermediate. [Heal]’s HP restoration was 1.32 instead of 1.30. Is it because of +1 WIS from the SYSTEM reward? Let’s try adding 1 point to WIS.

Name:Miguel ArevaloRace:HumanLevel:2HP:155/155MP:102/380SP:70/70EXP:81.30%STR:13WIS:23AGI:7INT:23VIT:12LUK:9DEX:8CHA:7Satiety:HungryStatusNormalUndistributed Attribute Points:4Title(s):Masochist: +10% Pain Tolerance and HPPerk(s):N/A

Heal [Active] Lvl 2 Intermediate

Effect: Heals wounds and other types of injury such as, but not limited to, broken bones. HP restored depends on how much MP is applied and amount of WIS;

[Heal] cannot be used to cure diseases. Each level of [Heal] will increase HP restoration by 0.05 per 1 SP consumption.

HP restoration to MP cost ratio: 1.34:1

Looks like I was right. Each point of WIS would increase HP restoration of [Heal] by 0.02 per MP spent. I think INT would be much more beneficial for Mage type build because of additional 5 MP. It was said that Mana Control has something to do with WIS so I better save these points for later.

I opened my inventory and took the slice of pizza I stored earlier. I noticed that it was still cold as if taken out of the fridge. I ate it quickly with gusto as it may be one of the last pizzas left in the world. God was right though. We can use the SYSTEM to our advantage but what did he mean that our access to the SYSTEM was restricted?

“It’s still dark… Why did you wake us up?” Dianne complained.

The others beside Claire were still yawning.

“So what’s this meeting about?” Melissa asked.

“We’re here to discuss about the plan. We also need to prepare for our journey.” I said to them.

I discussed to them my plan to go to Camp Aguinaldo. It is a military base located in Quezon City. We have two main route options: We can travel from EDSA or we can use C-5 road. Although I prefer C-5 road than EDSA, they prefer EDSA because Claire and Eric lived in Cubao and they wanted to rescue their family along the way.

It made me think about my family too. Our house is in Pasig and according to the text I received from her yesterday, she didn’t go to school because she felt sick. I didn’t know if Mom is still in NBI main office in Manila but I should save my sister first since Mom can handle herself. She will probably go to Camp Aguinaldo as well.

I told them the party formation again in case we have no choice but to fight. Eric and Melissa in the frontlines, Claire and I in the rear and Dianne would be ahead of us to scout.

“Why am I in the frontlines again?” Melissa asked.

“Because your skill needs a long range weapon and you don’t have one.” Eric replied.

“What’s a long range weapon again?”

“Bows and javelin, anything that can throw a projectile.” I said.

“How about a sling shot?” She asked.

“Do you have one?”

“Yes, I grew up in Palawan and I used to shoot monkeys with my sling shot.” Melissa said. [1]

“Why do you shoot monkeys?” Dianne asked.

“They steal food and they steal bananas from our trees…”

If PETA could hear her statement, she’d probably be skinned alive just to save those monkeys. I didn’t want to ask why she brought that sling shot here in Metro Manila since there are no monkeys here. Girls are cruel.

“Sure, bring that sling shot with you and you’ll be in the rear. Anything else?”

“Are you sure we’ll just avoid monsters? I mean, according to Eric, we can get strong by killing them.” Claire said.

“Well, yeah but I don’t…”

“We can just avoid strong monsters and we can pick off the weaker ones or if they’re alone.” Claire said. “Besides, Dianne would be there to inform us if there are strong monsters in our way, right?”

“Yes, I’ll do my best…” It looks like Dianne was getting fired up too.

Claire made a point but is it really possible to change overnight? Yesterday she was fidgety when she saw a goblin and now, she wanted to kill monsters. Is it because of her title [Sadist]? Girls are indeed cruel and scary.

“I agree with Claire. We don’t know what we’ll encounter on our way to Camp Aguinaldo. If it comes to the point where we have no choice but to fight a strong monster, it is best that we’re prepared.” Eric said.

“Okay…” I nodded.

They made a point. As much as we wanted to avoid monsters, time will come when we would have no choice but to face one in battle. Besides, I’m in the rear and I’m the healer. I won’t be doing much of the fighting like Eric and the others so I’m safe.

“Now that we’re clear about the plan, let’s take everything here in the restaurant that we can use.” I said. “By the way Melissa, you mentioned that your father lived here too?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I was just wondering if I could borrow some of his clothes.”

“Sure…”

Eric and I went upstairs to Melissa’s father’s room. I had to change clothes since mine was stained from blood when I killed goblins. When Eric and I stored the spare clothes to our inventory, we noticed that clothes didn’t stack. I had an idea and we put the clothes in a bag then put it in inventory. Surprisingly, it worked. We only have 15 cells in inventory so it’s wise to save these spaces as much as possible.

We also found four steel pipes about 4 feet long near the toolbox and obviously, it’s a better weapon than a chair leg. We stored the other one as spare and we also took the toolbox just in case we needed it.

Eric, using the toolbox we got, made an improvised shield from the chair I broke so that he can tank properly. He also made two improvised spears by attaching the daggers we got from the goblin to the steel pipe. I opted to use a plain steel pipe so he gave the spear to Claire and other dagger will be used by Dianne.

I told Melissa to get all the food and store it in her inventory. I had a theory that food can be preserved when you put in inventory. I just don’t know for how long but it’s better to store it just in case. She also stored two Super Kalan and other utensils for cooking. It was also surprising that we couldn’t feel the weight of the items we stored in our inventory.

For water, we stored drinking water in a 5 gallon slim water container and stored it in our inventory. The restaurant had 10 water containers filled with drinking water. We Filipinos usually store water in a drum container for bathing [2] but unfortunately, we cannot drink the water that came from the faucet since it wasn’t potable. We have to boil the water to make it safe to drink but we had enough drinking water to make us last for at least 20 days.

Melissa put all of her clothes in four travelling bags and stored it in her inventory. I told her to bring just one bag but she told me that Claire and Dianne needed clothes too. Girls will be girls.

Lastly, Claire and Dianne stored pillows, beddings and bed sheets. I told them as a joke to bring tables and chairs so we could have a tea party too.

After two hours, we swept the whole place for everything we can use. We were ready to set out and the sun has risen.

“There one more thing we forgot: A party.”

“Right… So what’s our party name?” Eric asked.

“How about Orgy? Orgy Party…” I replied.

Eric and I laughed as we high fived and both of us agreed. Melissa and Claire weren’t laughing and they quickly disagreed with the name.

“What’s orgy? What does it mean?” asked Dianne the innocent.

“It means tea… in Norwegian.” I was trying my supress my laugh.

“Since I like tea then I agree. I love orgy!”

Eric and I couldn’t help but laugh. Dianne was confused as to why we were laughing. Claire approached Dianne and whispered something in her ear. Dianne’s face glowed red in embarrassment.

“Noooo! I don’t like orgy! It’s disgusting! I disagree with that name!” Dianne said.

Claire and Melissa gave the two of us a sharp stare. As soon as we saw it, we stopped laughing.

“Ermmm… Since we’re talking about tea… How about Boston Tea Party?” I suggested.

“Ohhh… That’s a clever name.” Eric said.

“I thought you hate history? I agree with that name. At least it’s decent.” Claire nodded in agreement.

“So it’s settled then?” I asked them and they all agreed. It’s a shame though. I really liked the name Orgy Party.

“Create Party: Boston Tea Party”

“Invite Party: Eric Reyes”

“Invite Party: Claire Roque”

“Invite Party: Dianne Duria”

I stopped. “Er… What’s your last name Melissa?”

Melissa mumbled something and I didn’t catch it.

“What?”

“Panis…” Melissa said looking embarrassed. [3]

“Hahahahaha!” We were all laughing hard including Claire.

“Invite Party: Melissa Panis” We just couldn’t stop laughing.

After the creation of the party, we agreed to share EXP equally. We tested the Party Communication System and it was amazing. We could speak to each other telepathically.

[Can you hear me?]- Miguel

[Loud and clear]- Eric

[Yes, I can hear you] – Melissa

[Me too] – Dianne

[How about you Claire? If you’re hearing this, show me your tits.]- Miguel

[Fuck you!]- Claire

[Alright, let’s go!] - Miguel

Before we left the restaurant, Claire gave each of us a pair of sunglasses to make us look badass.

Cue the music!

[Let the game begin!]

[1] The monkeys that Melissa’s talking about are Crab-eating Macaque. I hate those fucking monkeys.

[2] Most of us don’t use showers for taking a bath. We use tabo and a bucket full of water.

[3] Melissa’s surname: Panis means spoiled or rotten. Usually the word is referring to food (Spoiled food) but the word can also refer to other things such as saliva (Panis na laway literally means spoiled saliva but it actually means dried drool.)

Panis is also expression which means that you either got owned, butt hurted, or broke/lost in an argument. So when you say: Melissa Panis – it means Melissa got owned. Panis ka means you got owned that’s why Miguel and the others were laughing.