Lenny's phone buzzed softly in his pocket as he and Daniel walked out of their general studies class together. The early tension from that morning had all but faded. Daniel was grinning, clearly impressed by Lenny's performance.
"Man, that answer you gave about neural threading and AI mapping? That was clean! You've always been smart, but now you're sounding like a whole professor," Daniel said, giving him a playful shove on the shoulder.
Lenny chuckled. "I happened to read it by chance."
They strolled down the hallway, the buzz of students filling the air. Lenny knew their schedules would soon pull them in different directions. Daniel was taking a robotics major, while Lenny's focus was Systems Engineering—a shared first class, but mostly different tracks moving forward.
"You got CompSys next?" Daniel asked, looking at lennys phone which was showing his next class.
"Yeah, it starts in fifteen. You?"
"Intro to MechAssist," Daniel said, grimacing. "Boring stuff, but gotta get it done."
They paused outside the building. Daniel pulled out his phone and tapped it against Lenny's, exchanging numbers through the magnetic ID feature.
"Hit me up after classes. We could grab lunch or something."
"Sure," Lenny nodded. "Thanks for earlier."
Daniel waved it off. "Forget it. That was nothing. Catch you later, warrior."
Lenny chuckled again at the nickname, then turned and made his way toward the cafeteria.
The smell of roasted coffee beans hit him before he even stepped inside. The cafeteria was still fairly quiet—most students were in class or rushing between them. Lenny ordered a small black coffee and sat by the window, sipping slowly. The heat was grounding. His body still ached from the earlier workout, but it wasn't unbearable.
"System Interface," he thought.
The familiar translucent screen popped up in front of him.
Name: LennySpecies: Human [enhanced by the system]Level: 3Health: 100/100Exp: 45/80Strength: 26Speed: 20Agility: 15Intelligence: 32Endurance: 20Charm: 1Stat Points Available: 3
He hadn't forgotten about the three stat points he earned after leveling up to 3. After a moment's thought, he decided to spread them wisely.
+1 to Strength
+1 to Speed
+1 to Intelligence
New Stats:Strength: 27Speed: 21Intelligence: 33
The screen flickered and confirmed the allocation before fading out. He could already feel a difference—his body wasn't as sluggish, and his thoughts felt clearer, sharper.
He finished the last of his coffee, threw the cup away, and made his way to his next class.
The Computational Systems lab was on the second floor of the tech building. The moment Lenny walked in, he noticed how different the vibe was—everyone here looked sharp, focused, and oddly competitive. There were fewer students compared to the general studies class, and most were buried in their tablets or whispering in pairs.
He spotted an empty seat near the middle and took it. The instructor walked in shortly after. She was tall, wore rectangular glasses, and had a calm but confident air about her.
"Good morning. I'm Miss Lilly. I'll be taking you through this course. If you're expecting an easy ride, I suggest you change majors now."
A few people chuckled nervously.
"Now, let's begin with a basic question. Can anyone explain how quantum linear equations are applied in adaptive machine learning models?"
The room went dead silent.
Lenny's hand rose, slowly but steadily.
Miss Lilly raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
Lenny took a deep breath and answered. The moment the words left his mouth, he knew he was nailing it. He explained the equations clearly, gave an example involving behavioral AI filters, and even mentioned some improvements that had been made in recent years.
By the time he was done, Miss Lilly was nodding, impressed.
"Very good… Mr…?"
"Lenny. Lenny Jones."
"Noted. Thank you, Mr. Jones."
A system notification popped up discreetly in his mind.
+20 XP+1 Intelligence
New Stats:Exp: 65/80Intelligence: 34
The lecture continued for another thirty minutes, then Miss Lilly paused for another question.
"This one is a bit trickier. Let's see who's really paying attention."
Once again, no hands went up… except Lenny's.
Miss Lilly smiled faintly. "Confident today, aren't we, Mr. Jones?"
Lenny gave a small grin. "Just trying to stay on top."
He answered again, this time even more smoothly than before. The moment he finished, a few students turned toward him, whispering. Among them were a group of girls sitting in the corner. One of them, a curly-haired brunette with sharp, blue eyes , gave him a curious look.
+20 XP+1 Intelligence
New Stats:Exp: 85/80Intelligence: 35
Ding! Level Up!You are now Level 4!+3 Stat Points
Lenny barely kept his cool as the message appeared. He dismissed it quickly before anyone noticed his dazed expression.
As class wrapped up, Miss Lilly handed out an exercise for everyone to complete and turn in. Emma, the girl with the curly hair, stood up from her seat.
"I'll collect them and bring them to you, Miss Lilly," she offered.
Miss Lilly nodded without looking up.
Emma strolled around the class, gathering the papers with casual ease. When she reached Lenny's desk, she smiled at him—not a wide grin, but a subtle, teasing smirk.
"Mr. Top Student," she said, eyes glinting playfully. "Trying to make the rest of us look bad already?"
Lenny raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you should try keeping up."
"Oooh," she said with mock offense. "I like this attitude. Confident, but not too cocky. I'll be watching you."
She winked before turning to collect the next person's sheet.
Lenny blinked. That... was unexpected.
He looked down at his stats again before the interface faded.
Level: 4Exp: 5/100Stat Points Available: 3Intelligence: 35