Combat [4]

I couldn't hold back my excitement and ended up sprinting back home. Feeling the wind rush against my face was awesome, especially because the city was alive right now. I got back home out of breath and found two notifications I wasn't expecting.

[Due to rigorous physical effort, VIT has been raised by one.]

[Due to rigorous physical effort, DEX has been raised by one.]

Huh. So even exercise was a valid way to increase my stats. I'll have to keep that in mind as a good alternative to using points on those stats. I got into the house and quickly made my way to my room, sitting down with a small huff.

I absorbed the skill books I'd… generously borrowed from the library.

The books were all passive "Mastery" skills. Kick Mastery, Run Mastery, Throw Mastery, Read Mastery, and most importantly of all, Etiquette Mastery.

Yes, with Etiquette Mastery was the most important because it'll help me eventually get a girlfriend, and really, that's all that truly matters.

After all the knowledge settled, I pulled off one of the purple spheres from my head and activated Manufacturing. In an instant, the sphere became a disk, and it was promptly Flung against my wall. I repeated the process, and when I got a good steady hang of it, I let my mind drift.

Unlike before, I now have Quests I can search for. And furthermore, they're all connected to girls! And that's awesome! Now, it's just a matter of which ones are safest, easiest, and most useful to go to.

So, with my free hand, I scrolled across my Map, clicking on some of the red dots. The information of several of the Quests were hidden, which promptly told me I had no business doing it anyways.

Some of the Quests were simple things, like "Help Anna With Groceries" or "Play a Game of Chess with Rikko." They were nice and, well, unproblematic. I put those easy Quests on the top of my to-do list.

Then there were slightly more complicated ones, like "Train with Mirko" or "Internship at Midnight's Agency" or "Hold a Conversation with Mt. Lady." They were Quests that had some conditions to complete before I could complete them.

And then there was a single blinking dot on the Map. Confused, I pressed it, and my blood went cold.

[Getting the Girl: Suki's Savior]

[Suki Kagaku is in grave danger; a rampaging villain is putting her and several others at risk. Assist her to continue her Quest line.]

Um.

Now, I know I'm no Pro-Hero or anything. Shoot, I'm not even a Hero-In-Training because I failed my entrance exam.

But someone was in danger, and I could help them. I didn't even finish reading the Quest before I was rocketing off. I snatched up the few Pop-Off disks I managed to Fling and threw them in my Inventory before shooting out of my house.

Which, I admit, wasn't horribly logical.

But… I knew it wouldn't feel right if I just sat aside when I was aware there were people in danger. No one else would know, it was just my Quirk informing me, after all. However, in this situation, no one else matters.

I'd know, and I'd know I turned away instead of trying to help. And I couldn't face my mother, a reliable Pro-Hero, if I knew I'd just turned away from someone who needed help.

I was a block down the street before it'd even occurred to me that I could've just called the police, or Pro-Heroes. Ugh, stupid.

Whatever, I was already this far. Even if I didn't have to go to combat, I could inform the authorities of the state of the villain, hopefully allowing them to send a Pro-Hero out.

I pulled up my Map, noting the location of the flickering marker. My Map found me the fastest past and I took it. Not even three minutes passed before I could hear the chaos in the distance. I was huffing and puffing, but I didn't stop.

I didn't bother sneaking around because the screams and constant mummers of the building crowd was enough to mask my approach. I took the alleyways to avoid getting slowed down and saw the situation from afar. One of the larger crowds was to my left, but I was hidden from them for now.

A massive, four-armed man, with completely black skin — not brown, or even dark brown like normal people of different races may have, it was just black, like obsidian — towered over a group of buildings which was a small mall.

[Colossal Trigger Addict]

[Lv. 50]

[Mario Kugutsu]

I mean, sheesh. I was Level Seven. And here's a super powerful villain. Powerful enough to be a big no-no for even slightly standing up against.

So why was I still moving forward? Ugh, I'm a moron.

Okay, step one, I need information.

I Observed the absolute hell out of everything regarding the situation. And my God, it was not a situation I loved seeing.

Suki was in one of Mario's four hands, a guy that looked about my age was in another, and the other two were currently swatting at a swinging Pro-Hero. I Observed them and got absolutely nothing. Which was… fun.

However, I didn't need to Observe him to really know who he was.

He was Kamui Woods, a Pro-Hero whose debut was roughly a year ago. I could barely see his name above his head because of all his movement, but I caught it eventually.

[Pro-Hero Kamui Woods]

[Lv. ???]

[Shinji Nishiya]

So, like my mother, I couldn't see Kamui Woods' level either. I'd just have to assume they're too high-leveled then. In that case, Kamui Woods was a reliable teammate to have right about now.

Unfortunately, that was all the help I'd get, and even then, he was clearly preoccupied.

Tendrils of wood shot out from his arms, wrapping around several civilians, and dropping them off at a safe location. He was working quickly, but with Mario making such a mess, I doubted that he could do it all on his own.

Was that why my Quirk gave me this Quest? Would people be injured if I didn't do anything?

I don't know. I don't even know whether more thinking would've told me or not. But honestly, it didn't really matter.

Kamui Woods was handling the few civilians left on the ground, and the only ones left were the ones in his hands.

Okay, game plan time.

All I've gotta do is save Suki and that other guy. Once I've done that, Kamui Woods should be able to focus entirely on Mario. I scanned over Mario's information, but his Quirk, Playtime, had enough information to build a plan from.

However, I didn't need too much info. After all, when you're that big, most weaknesses are pretty obvious.

Lastly, I opened my status screen. I had 25 points after Suki's first Quest. 25 points was enough to make a difference, but I didn't know where it should go. And genuiniely, I didn't have enough time to painstakingly go over each stat just to come to a conclusion.

There were only two real options.

Option one was Dexterity. I'd already put points into it, and it allowed Pop-Off to be… stretchier, more flexible? Either way, I could do more with it. That extra versatility may be exactly what I needed right about now.

Option two was Intelligence. Now, I admit, part of wanting to put points into it was because I knew that would eventually allow me to use the skill book sitting in my Inventory. However, that was a fairly small portion of why it was an option.

That skill book showed me that Intelligence had something to do with mana. Maybe that would give me even more versatility with Pop-Off. Or maybe it wouldn't.

Then, the real question was what I needed. Right now, it wasn't Vitality or Strength. And I was pretty sure this was already unwise, so Wisdom wasn't gonna help much. Luck seemed… fickle, and with lives on the line, I'd rather not.

But that still didn't answer the question of what I need.

Okay, okay.

I looked back up at Mario, Observing Suki and the guy's — Shoto — states. They were both losing HP because Mario was squeezing them pretty hard.

I looked at their Quirks, constructing as good of a plan as I could've. Well, rather than Quirks, I should say "Quirk."

Suki Kagaku was Quirkless.

That didn't mean anything crazy, but still, that meant I couldn't rely on her Quirk for any help. It also couldn't screw my plan up.

I took a deep breath before letting it out.

I'd need more MP to use in case things got hairy and I'd need more flexibility for Pop-Off. So, both Dexterity and Intelligence. I'll put ten into Dexterity and 15 into Intelligence.

I went to my Inventory and equipped my running shoes.

I didn't wait to see the changes before I started dashing forward. It was just running, but with my increased Dexterity and Running Mastery I was blazing forward compared to just a few days prior.

I heard some yelling behind me. With everyone talking at once, it was impossible to get anything coherent out of it. However, it was pretty clar the idea of, "Don't do that" was in their voices

As I got closer to the scene, I was able to actually see more. There wasn't much destruction overall, which was pretty surprising. Mario was huge like this, after all. I was approaching his feet when he looked down and laughed at me.

Playtime apparently made him slightly more childish, and with Trigger activated, it wasn't very slight anymore. I probably looked like a minifigure rushing towards him.

Well, good for me.

He bent down to grab me, smiling wide. And wow, he was pretty fast. I extended both arms to the sides in a completely unconscious movement and pulled several Pop-Off balls from my Inventory. I threw them to the ground and bounded off them, turning suddenly and abruptly into an alleyway.

"Huh?" Mario drawled — his deep voice having an odd double to it — but I was still moving. Taking and throwing my spheres up the walls of the alleyway, I bounced from side to side. About halfway up, my throws weren't precise enough and I just hit the brick wall, hard.

And before I got the Gamer, I could move pretty fast when I bounced off my Quirk.

So, yeah, it hurt.

But I pushed forward, not having many other options. The pain didn't linger for very long, possibly because of adrenaline. I caught the lip of an open window and hauled myself into the room.

It looked like an office space, but I didn't bother much with looking around. In the corner of my eye, I saw Mario rising and I threw myself to the ground.

"Where did you go, Lego figure?" Mario huffed, sounding dejected. "If you don't come out, I'll just find you myself!"

Without warning, the top of the building was pulled clean off, a whole floor just… gone. The bright sky shined down before it was blocked out my Mario's huge head blocking it. When he saw me standing there, somewhat dazed, he smiled. "There you are!"

Honestly, that moment was terrifying. It was something so much bigger than me looking at me with a terrifying grin, how else was I supposed to feel?

And yet, I smiled back.

I smiled back.

"Here I am," I threw two of my orbs on the ground and bounced off them, shooting straight up.

[Due to the special action of jumping off your Quirk's creations, you have received a new skill!]

[Continuous jumping has created the skill "Leap" to help your leaping capabilities!]

I ignored the notification because I was only feet away from his eyes. I reeled my right arm back, taking a Pop-Off disk out of my Inventory.

Mario jerked his head back, seeming to understand what I was gonna do. Truly, I had no plans throwing it at him, since I had no idea what kind of damage an adhesive like my Quirk created could do to an exposed organ like that.

However, Mario didn't know that, and that was the important part.

He swatted at me with a free, open hand, and I swallowed. Holding no reservations back, I pulled Pop-Off balls from my Inventory and Flung them at his palm. About eight hit him before his palm hit me. IT didn't hurt as much as it probably should've, but that didn't mean it was easy to take either.

He hit me in a scooping motion, because I wasn't falling towards the ground, I was soaring.

[Due to the special action of enduring pain and damage, you have received a new skill!]

[Through pain and damage, the skill "Physical Endurance" has been created to help you endure pain!]

Someway, somehow, I managed to figure out which way was down, and which was up. I say Mario looking at me with childish frustration in his eyes. He swatted at me again, and well, I just repeated my earlier actions, covering his hands in Pop-Off balls.

However, this time he did hit me towards the ground, and at the force he hit, I doubted I'd survive the fall. I tried to turn around to create a landing platform of Pop-Off balls, but at the speed I was going at, I wouldn't have enough time.

And then, what must've been a second before I was going to hit the ground, my abrupt descent became a swing. Wood roped around my leg and swung me instead. I still hit the ground, but it was more like a roll instead of a… splat, so I was happy with it.

I looked up to see Kamui Woods swinging, and we made eye contact. I couldn't tell much of what he was thinking, a downside to his mask, I suppose. But he nodded to me, and I nodded back, so I considered us on the same page.

Mario looked at Kamui's swinging figure and tried swatting at him, but he missed, hitting a nearby building. And the hand he swung with was already covered by my Pop-Off balls, so his hand was completely stuck.

Confused, Mario tried using his other free hand to get it off, but that only stuck the two hands together. Now becoming angry, he just straight-up dropped Suki and Shoto, as if they meant nothing at all.

Suki screamed while Shoto was silent. He was either very stoic or mute, although on remembering his status screen, it was probably the former over the latter.

Either way, we couldn't just let them hit the ground. I began dashing forward, throwing my Pop-Off balls on the ground and crossing the distance in a matter of seconds. However, the two were still high in the air.

With Mario's two hands freed now, it would only be a matter of time before he broke free of my Quirk, and well, then we'd be screwed. I also couldn't just make a platform for these two to land on, because then they'd be stuck, and I'd have to manually take every ball off them.

Well, it didn't matter much, that wasn't the plan anyway.

"Shoto, freeze a slide!" I shouted, desperately hoping that he heard me. I didn't hesitate to Fling a Pop-Off ball towards him.

He understood me perfectly, which was beyond awesome.

He reached out and touched the orb, ice immediately crawling over its surface. However, the ice didn't stop there. It continued past the orb, a massive wall of ice forming just close enough for Suki and Shoto to fall on it, sliding to safety instead of hitting the ground directly.

See, Shoto Todoroki's Quirk was called Half-Cold Half-Hot. It was a pretty powerful Quirk that allowed him to create fire from one side of his body and ice from the other side. However, it had some restrictions. One such restriction was that ice couldn't be created without physically touching something. Thus, I threw my Pop-Off ball.

I could understand why he hadn't escaped earlier. With Mario's hand wrapped around him, he'd just be creating a prison of ice. And he couldn't use his fire because if Mario dropped him, well, he wouldn't be in a good situation.

Although, with a Quirk like his, I imagine there would've been a few other opportunities to run. Well, for whatever reason, he hadn't. Not that it really mattered now.

I didn't even get to catch my breath before Mario let out a roar, pulling his hands apart and freeing himself from my trap. I traded frantic glances with Suki and Shoto before shouting, "Run!"

I ran with all my might, keeping up with Suki and Shoto. However, I couldn't risk throwing my Pop-Off balls down because of them. If they accidentally hit one, I'd have to stop and personally take it off them. Shoto may've been able to freeze it off, but Suki definitely didn't have any options like that.

We ran for about a minute before I received a notification, nearly scaring me out of my skin.

[Quest "Suki's Savior" completed!]

Abruptly, I realized I hadn't even seen what the rewards of the Quest was. Well, one thing was clear at least.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

I mean, goddamn.

Seven levels?! I mean, I'm not complaining, since I think I got pretty close to death there, but I wasn't expecting seven levels from that.

Regardless, the Quest was completed, which meant that Shoto and Suki were safe, I think.

We ran for a little longer before stopping. Suki leaned over, her hands on her knees. She huffed tiredly, not even bothering to speak. Shoto was in fairly good condition, only looking a bit out of breath.

I was closer to Suki's condition than Shoto's, but I'd live.

I looked back to see Kamui Woods still fighting Mario in the distance, the colossal villain seemed to forget all about us in the little bit of time it took us to run away.

"Are you guys good?" I asked after catching my breath.

"I'm okay." Shoto responded succinctly. Suki simply responded with a thumbs-up, still panting heavily. Shoto looked at me, seeming confused. "Thank you for the help. But how did you know my Quirk?"

"I've seen you around. You're Endeavor's son, right?" I asked, going with the safest option.

I'd prepared for this eventual conversation, but I didn't really feel like sharing the nitty-gritty details of my Quirk right now. I went with his connection to his father, because it was something noteworthy in his background.

His features cooled, nearly going stone still. "…Understood."

I looked away from him, not quite enjoying the empty stare he was giving me. His father was a sore spot for some reason, but I mentioned him anyway. Does that make me an ass? Probably.

Regardless, it didn't slow me down much. "Pro-Heroes should be on their ways pretty soon. So, we should get out of here."

Shoto was already walking off before I was finished. He was definitely the cold and reserved type. Still, everyone had their own lives, and I couldn't judge him on the little bit I'd been able to see.

"Wait," Suki huffed. She wasn't specifically talking to Shoto, so he either ignored her or didn't hear her. Either way, he continued walking and she continued speaking. "Kamui Woods is back there, right?"

I nodded before realizing she was still looking down at the ground. "Yeah, he's still back there. Why?"

[A Quest has been created!]

Ah, shit, here we go again.

"We can't just leave him back there on his own, can we? He's a Pro-Hero, yes, but that man injected himself with Trigger. He's dangerous," Suki explained. She looked up to me, her eyes wide. "We have to help him."

"Before it was different. That could be considered like… like, defending ourselves. Sure, maybe a few people saw me, and I'll get a slap on the wrist, but this is different. We'd be purposefully going back into the fray. Kamui Woods is a professional, we're not, we should leave it to him," I argued, staring hard at the Quest.

"Listen, Mineta, I… this is my fault. I'd recognized Mario from a few years ago when Instant Villains were beginning to become more common. I asked him about it, and he freaked out. This whole situation wouldn't have occurred if I kept my mouth shut, but… but I can't do anything! So please, Mineta, I'll do anything! Just please go help that hero!"

[Getting the Girl: Suki's Request!]

[Suki Kagaku admitted her involvement with the giant villain's appearance. Asking you for help was her only option, and her desperation is palpable. Assist Kamui Woods in taking down the villain!]

[Time Limit: Ten Minutes.]

[Completion Reward: 75,000 EXP, Massive Increase in Closeness with Suki Kagaku, Favor from Suki.]

[Failure Penalty: Decrease in Closeness with Suki Kagaku.]

I really am an idiot. Truly I'm the worst.

I confirmed the Quest.