Skull-Faced Man

[Apprentice Hero's Belt] [Size: 0/10]

[You can store up to 10 different items in the belt. Consumables are stackable up to 10 times.]

Before Dave and the others left to eat some burgers, Dave decided to first check his new item's information.

The belt was colored with a mix of blue and red. A golden belt loop decorated the front. He just had to touch the belt loop with his hand and could easily retrieve or put in whatever he wished.

Seemingly, he could store 10 different items in his spatial belt and consumables could be stacked up to 10 times. This meant that he could, for example, take 10 health potions with him. They would be stacked and only take a single space.

Furthermore, since they were in a subspace, he didn't have to worry about them getting destroyed in a fight.

Dave filled the belt hurriedly with his wallet, the [Sensory Seahawk Feather], a Jacket, his smartphone, and various pills for training.

The earlier empty belt had now 8 of 10 spaces filled.

So Dave decided to store Anna's and Ayano's jackets as well, which filled the last 2 remaining slots.

The girls thanked him happily and after having arranged everything, they headed for Kowalski's.

While on their way Dave decided to check his status window for the first time after a very long time.

He wanted to see black on white his achievements and how his status changed.

'Status'

Name: Dave Davidson Age: 21

Title<?>: Wanne be Hero

Class<?>: Man, who plays with bubbles Rank: 1 Star

Class Evolution<?>: Transcendental

Attributes <?>

Strength: ULTIMATE

Agility: ULTIMATE

Stamina: SSS

Wisdom: SSS

Intelligence: ULTIMATE

Charisma: ULTIMATE

Heroism: 91.227

Seeing the improvements he made over the last couple of days made Dave feel refreshed.

The high Heroism count was good as well. If everything went smoothly, he wouldn't need to farm anymore before he broke all 6 limits.

'Only two left. I wonder what 'Class Evolution' will change to by then. What comes after Transcendental?

Right now I broke as many Limits as the best human ever did. What will happen after I broke through all 6 of them.'

Dave couldn't wait for it to happen. Achieving something nobody had done ever before would probably turn into one of the highlights of his entire life.

The group of three reached the lake in the middle of the city and stood soon in front of Kowalski's. Seeing the place that was connected to so many good and bad memories again was as expected as hard as last time.

But Dave decided that he wouldn't keep avoiding this place. He might have wanted to forget the bad memories but losing all of the good one's as well, was a price too heavy to pay. From now on Dave would use the bad memories to fuel his desires and wishes.

He decided that he wouldn't keep amassing regrets. It was time to change his life, to change the way he lived.

'How often did I say to myself I should have done this or that differently during my time as a backup player. If I had gone in head first, I might have made it and become a true pro, but now I will never know because I didn't dare to back then.'

Dave clenched his fist.

This would never happen again.

Seeing the distress on Dave's face, Ayano patted him on the shoulder.

"This time is on me, Dave. Eat as much as you want."

Hearing this Anna hopped up and down like a child in an amusement park. "And what about me? Can I too?"

Ayano shot a cold glare in her direction.

"Of course dear, IF you did anything worthy. Let's take a look, I passed the task on to you to look after Dave while I was away and what exactly did you do?" A mocking tone sneaked into Ayano's voice.

"That's unfair!" Shouted Anna. "Was I supposed to knock him out as soon as he came back?"

Hearing both of them squabble with each other, Dave felt his mood lifting. He knew that they were doing it intentionally to shift his attention to other things than Mike. He was truly thankful to have found in such a short time so good friends.

After all, the 21 years before it was always only him and Mike!

Sometimes fate was really funny!

After eating their fill and remembering that neither Anna nor Ayano had their wallet with them, it was after all poor old Dave, who had to pay.

Who was he to mention that Anna's store was right next door?

After their bellies were filled they entered Anna's store.

"It looks as if everything is alright." Said Anna and was just about to turn around and leave, when suddenly the door to the Underworld opened and a man in his thirties stepped out of it.

He wore disheveled clothing, had shoulder-long brown hair, and a 3-day beard.

"Hello everyone." Said the man in a cocky tone.

"Ahh, hi Dan. How is it? What are you doing here?" Asked Anna in a completely natural way as if she just saw an old friend again.

Dave looked in Ayano's direction to see how she reacted. To his surprise, she had a contemptuous look in her eyes.

Before Dave could exchange any secret signal with Ayano, another man stepped into the room.

Dave couldn't see much of him tho. To cover his face, he wore a metal skull mask and a long black robe, his height was about the same as Dave's.

"Oh, you came with a friend. What's his name? I think I never saw him before." Said Anna curiously.

"Oh he, I call him Skully." The man called Dan said this while laughing loudly.

Dave mustered the new man and to his surprise, he did the exact same.

Seemingly startled by what he was doing the skull-faced man pulled the hoody of his robe deeper and stepped back into the shadow of the door to the underworld.

"Oh, no need to be shy. Come let's go." Said Dan to his colleague, who was still looking, concealed by his hoody, at Dave.

The man clothed the door behind him and came forward. While he passed Dan, he punched him lightly in the side just under his ribs.

Dan jumped up slightly and rubbed the spot.

He nodded one last time in their direction and followed the skull-masked man out of the store.

Just as fast as they came they were already gone again.

"What was that about?" Asked Dave curiously. "Who was he?"

Dave looked from Anna to Ayano. Both of them had completely different looks on their faces.

"That was Dan. He is an extremely strong ability user and one of the top dogs of the underworld. Besides the president of the Agency and his right-hand man, you will have a hard time finding someone stronger here. He is most likely the strongest person currently residing on New Asia, who is part of the Underworld!" Explained Anna to Dave.

Ayano's only response to her words was a disbelieving snort.

Dave decided it might not be a good idea to ask further questions and said. "Well, if everything is alright now. We could head back home!"

Anna nodded. "Just let me check if he clothed the door. I don't want anyone else coming here while I am away."

Anna opened the door to see if the light was turned off on the staircase and froze in place.

Just when Dave wanted to ask her what happened, the loud sound of sirens started reverberating through the city.

Ayano caught onto the situation faster than Dave, stepped forward, and looked over Anna's shoulder down the dimly lit staircase.

In contrast to Anna, Dave could see from the side her face, which turned paperwhite immediately.

He swiftly moved forward as well and had to suppress the desire to vomit with a hand, he hastily pressed onto his mouth.