Chapter 132: Empowering

Aiden’s surprise morphed just as quickly into realization as he pulled into the driveway.

Afterall, seated right next to Casper were two bags; a simple backpack and a mid-sized travel bag.

Stepping out the vehicle a moment after, Casper greeted, still seated on the porch and still propping his chin on a palm;

"Hey, man."

"Hey, buddy. What’s up?" Aiden replied as he naturally would whilst closing the vehicle.

"Oh, you know... I’ve gone and done it," Casper replied with a light grin, clearly relaxed.

"Now, I have nowhere else to go." he casually threw in with a pout of his lips.

"Bullshit," Aiden countered with a grin of his own.

"As long as you’re fine with stacks of Death Wish falling on your head once or twice over the course of the next one month, I’d say you’ll be dandy." he joked, twirling his car key on a finger.

"That’s all I have to live with?" Casper playfully remarked, his gaze perking up.

"And a shit ton of cold if you’re feeling particularly up to it. We fixed the AC recently, remember?" Aiden gestured with a slight tilt of his head, a knowing smile touching his lips.

"Sign me fucking up please." the blonde-haired youth waved a hand into the air vaguely, a small chuckle escaping him.

A natural silence descended between both youths after that, both of them looking into the distance briefly.

Then, slowly pocketing his car key and leaning against the side of his car, his arms gently folded across his chest, Aiden asked;

"What triggered him?"

Letting out a deep breath as he rose to his full height, his hands briefly adjusting his vintage-brown leather jacket and slipping into his pockets afterwards, Casper casually replied;

"Told him I’d never follow in his footsteps even if gramps rose from the grave and asked me to do it."

"Oof..." Aiden winced.

"Yeah..." Casper’s voice trailed in clear disappointment directed at himself, one of his hands scratching the back of his head as he added;

"Had to pull out the big guns."

Much like Aiden treasured his late mother’s memory, Casper treasured his late grandfather’s.

Afterall, the man was the only proper father figure in his life growing up and was about the only one who could get him to do anything if he asked.

And yes, that meant even inheriting the empire his ancestors had built over the years. That said, Casper’s gramps had never once asked of anything of such from him.

In fact, about the only thing the man had ever asked, was for him to live a happy, contented life. That, essentially, was the creed he’d been living by.

It also didn’t help that Osborne and his father never once saw eye to eye, even till his dying breath... one Casper knew his father regretted to this day as it was in fact one of their heated arguments that pushed the man’s weak heart to the brink.

"Honestly, makes me feel just as scummy of a human being. Like I’m no different from him." Casper let out a deep breath through the nose, his arms now akimbo as he paced back and forth.

"But, if it was what it took to get myself disowned... well, I guess it was worth it," he audibly muttered.

"Still doesn’t make it feel any less distasteful, though--"

"I think the fact that you feel bad about it already makes you inherently different from him," Aiden cut him off as he walked over and picked up the travel bag.

"And maybe it’s not my place to say, but I think your gramps would’ve approved," Aiden moved towards the door, producing the key from his pocket as he slipped it into the lock.

Then, as he twisted and the door clicked open, he angled his head slightly to the side as he said;

"Weren’t his last words to you to live a happy and contented life? Don’t you think his soul would feel at peace wherever he his, knowing that you’re no longer caged and tied down?"

Watching his buddy make his way in after that, Casper couldn’t help but slowly look down to the floor, a bittersweet smile touching his lips.

Then, upon letting out another deep sigh that carried a resigned sense of acceptance with it, his expression took on a relaxed demeanor as he picked up his bag and made his way in as well.

Soon enough, both youths had set up the guest room, the very same place Aiden had been lodging his beverages at.

All of his prior jokes aside, Aiden actually wouldn’t need to have them deliver it to his residence anymore, so Casper could rest easy knowing tallboy cans of sparkling water wouldn’t bury him alive.

With SlurpPAK now taking up the distribution of Death Wish, they would be handling small-scale distribution of his product around New York for the meantime.

Once they’d settled the construction and had secured everything they needed for their distribution service though, they could then progress into large-scale production and distribution.

Pending that time though, they would just have to go at it steadily.

It was also why Aiden had informed them of the site he built during their meeting, one they’d been genuinely grateful for as it would make their lives that much easier pending that transition.

All the youth just needed to do now, was incorporate their details into the site later today and forward its link to them.

In any case, it didn’t take long before Aiden informed his Pops of the situation, while Casper informed his girlfriend and the gang that he’d be crashing at Aiden’s place for the meantime.

Currently in the living room, the blonde-haired youth lay on the long couch, getting some much-needed sleep.

Though he wasn’t sure, Aiden presumed it was from the psychological toll of everything he’d had to deal with in the last twenty-four hours.

Having made himself some sandwiches though, Aiden pulled out one of the bottles of homemade brandy from the fridge and settled onto the stool to eat some lunch as he was feeling a bit famished.

At the same time, he casually tugged on his system, the familiar panel settling into his field of view. It was high-time he upgraded some of his stats.

-

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [5.565]

?Stats

? Mind — S

? Strength — B+

? Stamina — B+

? Agility — B+

? Charm — A-

?Skills

? {Type Designing - A}, {Digital Illustration - A}, {Drawing - A}, {Cooking - A}, {Brewing - A}, {Singing - I}, {Dancing - I}, {Writing - I}, {Lettering - I}, {Driving - N}, {Programming - A}, {Riding - N}, {Video Editing - I}, {Directing - N}, {Web Designing - I}.

?Special Skills

? {Insight}, {Midas Touch}.

?Titles

? {Expand}

?Achievements

? {Expand}

?Shop

? Browse Catalogue.

?Daily Quests

? {Expand}

?Exclusive Quests

? {None}

?Time-limited Quests

? {Expand}

-

?FAQ?

-

Considering three weeks had passed since the last time Aiden upgraded his {Programming} skill to the Advanced grade, he’d racked up 5.25LPs.

That in addition to the former 0.315LPs leftover was what netted him his current amount.

Without a second thought, Aiden evened out his attributes.

-

[Aiden North] – Life Points – [2.565]

?Stats

? Mind — S

? Strength — A-

? Stamina — A-

? Agility — A-

? Charm — A-

-

As usual, there was a tingly wave of energy that rolled over Aiden’s being upon upgrading his stats.

At the same time, a new notification phased into his field of view.

-

[Achievements Updated!]

-

Pulling it up almost immediately as he’d been expecting it, Aiden assessed it briefly before claiming the Life Points he was awarded.

-

?Achievements

? {Mirror, mirror on the wall...} – [Claim 2 LP?]

└ Take all attributes to grade A.

-

Rolling his eyes briefly at it, Aiden then dismissed the panel with a thin smile.

Now that he’d finally reached a level he was more than satisfied with across all of his own stats, it was time he also began investing some LPs into his own people and empowering them.

With college resumption just around the corner, it was even more important that he did so.

Afterall, not only would they be juggling classes, lectures, their social lives and everything in between, but they would also be working on both their joint and respective side hustles at the same time.

More than that, Aiden genuinely wanted his friends to succeed. It was also why, he immediately pulled up Casper’s stats.

Now that the youth was sleeping, it was the perfect opportunity to upgrade his skills.

-

[Casper Callaghan]

?Stats

? Mind — B-

? Strength — B-

? Stamina — B-

? Agility — B-

? Charm — A-

?Skills

? {Writing - A}, {Novel Writing - I}, {Script Writing - N}, {Calligraphy - A}, {Acting - N}, {Driving - I}.

-

Having already assessed his stats beforehand, Aiden didn’t even bother spending any time on his actual attributes.

Instead, his eyes settled on his skills and he immediately pulled up the one he felt was most crucial to the youth.

No sooner had he, {Midas Touch} reacted, a new notification phasing into place.

-

? {Casper Callaghan} – [2 LP].

└ Upgrade {Novel Writing} to Advanced?

-

Following through on it, Aiden watched as a blob of green energy exuded from his being, then suddenly shot across the room, right towards a sleeping Casper in the living.

Like a specter, it seamlessly slipped into him and Aiden reassessed the youth to ensure that it did improve his skills.

Nodding to himself in satisfaction, the youth then dismissed the panel and proceeded to do the dishes.

Now all he had to do, was find an opportunity to accordingly improve the attributes or skill of the rest of his buddies as well in the coming days.