Kindergarten graduation.
Not all that dramatic, honestly.
Adam was half expecting the system to scream a new reward.
'Host has achieved the title "Survivor of Kindergarten".' I wouldn't be surprised, but glad it didn't happen.
Rachel was ecstatic until she saw Selena in the crowd.
Adam clocked her a second later, a frown forming as he saw a police officer next to her.
Seems she's here for business this time around.
Adam took a half step towards Rachel. "Find your Dad. Stay next to him."
Rachel nodded as she left the stage in a hurry.
Adam gave Selena a glare from his seat on the stage.
Selena saw Rachel leave the stage and furrowed her brow in confusion, then her eyes landed on Adam and his glare.
She raised a brow but then smiled.
Adam could practically feel the condescension roll off her.
She thinks I'm a normal child, that's her mistake.
Adam got up from his seat and marched off the stage deliberately, drawing attention.
"C'mon everyone! We're out of here!!"
Dozens upon dozens of kids behind Adam yelled and surged forward, each finding their own parents or guardians.
Immediate chaos erupted as the auditorium was filled with movement and noise.
From his vantage point on the stage, Adam saw his parents look at him strangely.
Ignoring the stare, he just pointed towards Mr. Morgan.
His Mom, the smarter of the couple, nodded and pulled her husband towards Mr. Morgan.
Seeing them move, Adam refocused on Selena and the officer.
"Are you having trouble? Almost like you don't belong~"
Selena practically growled as she stomped towards the stage. "You little brat! You think this little setback will stop me? It just delays it."
"Eh, that was the plan." Adam shrugged.
Selena turned red in the face, turning to the officer. "Todd, do something!"
Todd, the apparent police officer, looked around like this suddenly got a lot more complicated.
"It's a kid's graduation. Nothing to do, darling."
Oh, Darling? She's either dating the officer or has him wrapped around her finger.
"Officer, don't you know it's probably illegal to mix business and pleasure in your line of work~?"
The officer didn't know to be baffled by the accusation or the person who said it.
"Don't worry, I won't tell if you won't." Adam shot a wink as he hopped off stage, slightly stumbling.
Damn, ruined the landing.
"See you another day, Ms. Ward~ let's not ruin Rachel's first graduation with your petty bullshit."
"You little!!!" Selena tried to surge forward but Todd grabbed her arm.
"Not a child, Darling."
Selena huffed, pulling away from Todd then proceeded to storm out of the crowd.
Todd sighed, watching her back as she left.
"Oi, officer. Next time pick the side that's not a problem."
Adam did a mocking half salute, disappearing into the crowd.
Let's thank the lack of patience of 5- to 6-year-olds for this chaos.
Adam navigated the crowd with relative ease, being small had its advantages.
Soon he saw the four people he was looking for.
"Adam!" Rachel shot at him with a hug.
"Aurgh!!" Adam fell with the added weight.
I dodged all those people only to be taken out by Rachel.
"Rae… let me up."
Rachel just hugged tighter.
Great, this is where she rebels. Affection.
***
Adam had forgotten consequences existed in the moment.
The school had a VERY stern talking-to with his parents.
He wasn't sorry in the slightest to the school.
But his parents? He had a little guilt.
Mr. Morgan had actually laughed when Rachel told him why Adam had acted up.
Seems I've earned some points with Mr. Morgan.
Not to mention all the notifications he ignored from the system about "Inciting a local Mutant horde."
Charisma, Agility, and Intelligence had gotten a decent bump.
Tempting to go all rebel and incite more "hordes."
Adam chuckled at the thought as he waited in the car for his parents.
Rachel and Mr. Morgan had left earlier, much to Rachel's disappointment.
It was kinda adorable.
Adam sighed as he looked out the car window.
"Start of the summer, huh?"
The car doors opened, his parents slid in.
"Buddy, that was some crazy work." Dad said with a small laugh.
"Can't believe our son incited a kindergarten riot." Mom said but her eyes held amusement.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up folks. At least it's something to tease me about when I'm older."
Mom pouted playfully. "Spoil sport. Taking all the fun out of being parents."
"Part of the job description of being a kid." Adam teased back.
"Ha! Got you there honey. We were such-"
Mom clasped a hand over Dad's mouth.
"Not until he's older. We have to keep up our authoritative image!"
"It's rapidly crumbling, Mom."
"Nooo!" Mom gasped dramatically.
Dad started the car as he lightly bit the hand covering his mouth, which was immediately retracted.
"If we're done with the dramatics, let's get home."
***
Summer picked up exactly like Adam expected with the sole exception of more Judo classes.
Adam found out that they did extra optional lessons over the break.
Good way to grind out Hand-to-hand, maybe try and see if picking up another martial art is good for progression.
He had theories on how the system's skills worked. Especially since specific martial arts didn't gain a skill just for them but were included in the Hand-to-hand skill.
If you study and retain multiple teaching methods, does that speed up the progress?
He'd already technically tested it with his Academics skill but the boost he already received to that skill made results a little unreliable.
I could watch Karate tutorials to see if it procs anything. Or literally any other martial arts.
Adam stood and grabbed his tablet, loading up a basic karate tutorial on MyTube.
If it does work, I can test if self-study is as good as professional teaching.
Once the video started, Adam tried his best to dissect the movements.
[Host is observing a demonstration of Martial Arts. Based on Intelligence and Perception the Hand-to-hand combat Skill increases.]
[Hand-to-hand combat increases by 0.4% towards the next level.]
[Hand-to-hand combat increases by 0.3% towards the next level.]
[Hand-to-hand combat increases…]
Adam ignored the notifications once he realized it was working.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but he clicked video after video. Only stopping when he felt his eyes burn.
Blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes, he began thinking.
Okay, observation is viable for skill growth. But there has to be a plateau for it. Otherwise anyone could become an expert by paying attention.
Unless the system compensates? It hasn't shown it yet.
Adam sat his tablet to the side, now rubbing his temples.
Shit, I'm too young for migraines.
He looked at the first notification, noticing the new wording of Intelligence and Perception.
Observational learning's plateau might be influenced by these stats, along with the obvious individual increase.
Adam took a deep breath. "No use thinking about it. If it happens, it happens."
Though I'll keep this training up.
***
There was a lot Adam suspected that would happen over the summer.
Judo training? Check.
Having Rachel over every other day? Check.
But for some reason, camping wasn't on the list.
Closest I'll probably get to actually being in an apocalypse.
Mr. Morgan and Rachel couldn't join due to his work schedule after taking ownership of the auto shop.
Something that Adam overheard from the phone days prior.
I wonder how long that's been a thing. Could be a reason the bitc- Selena… is bothering them.
Rachel had practically begged him to show cool pictures and bring back something awesome.
He, of course, had to now.
Probably be a neat rock or something.
The car came to a halt, bringing Adam out of his thoughts.
"And we're here! Ready to disembark." Dad said with a grin as he looked over.
"Disembark? What are we, sailors?"
Mom giggled at the father-son banter.
Both Adam and Dad looked over to her, she promptly stopped putting on a calm mask.
"What? C'mon slowpokes." Mom opened the door and stepped out.
The father-son duo looked back to each other, then moved to follow.
Minutes later, Dad was carrying things as Mom and Adam surveyed where they would camp.
"Mom! There's a spot over here."
She moved over to Adam, looking over the spot.
It was an obvious spot where other campers had previously been.
The area was more tamed than the surroundings, even having a shallow hole where a fire pit was most likely used.
[Perception increases by 0.5% towards the next level.]
Oh, this trip might actually be great for grinding.
And like that, the Cross family's 3-day camping trip was started.
Adam took to the campsite to expand his list of skills. Helping his Dad with the tent, his Mom with cleaning up the campsite, even setting up the fire pit himself.
By the end of it, the system didn't disappoint.
[Host has gained the Skill - Survival - Level 0 - 0.00%]
Quite the broad skill. Let's see how much I can increase it before the trip ends.