Chapter 9. A New Quest

On one of the walkways of Midtown High School, where Noah was a student, crowds of students gathered, heading to class. They were chatting and laughing, enjoying their youth. Today, Noah was also on his way to school. He attended the same school as Spider-Man, Peter Parker.

Today, Noah wore a long shirt to hide his newly gained muscles. It was difficult to explain how his body had transformed so much in just two days. Later, he could chalk it up to working out. At that moment, two voices called out to him:

"Hey, Noah, good morning!"

"Hey, Noah, good morning!"

"Oh, Peter, Ned, good morning," Noah responded, turning around to see Peter Parker and his friend Ned Leeds. Both were good friends of his.

"Hey, did you see that broadcast yesterday? Iron Man—Tony Stark—was racing and then fought Whiplash! It was awesome!" Peter began excitedly, being a huge Iron Man fan.

"Whiplash? Is that what you're calling him, Peter?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, cool name, right?" Peter confirmed enthusiastically.

"Yeah, really cool," Noah replied with a grin.

Ned joined in the conversation too. Though he wasn't as big of a fan as Peter, he liked Iron Man as well.

Seeing how engaged they were in their discussion, Noah picked up his pace.

"Noah, slow down, wait for us!"

They caught up to him and switched the topic to their plans for the upcoming holidays. The school year was coming to an end, and summer break was just days away.

"Noah, what are your plans for the break? Ned and I are going to the Stark Expo, organized by Tony Stark. Want to come with us?" Peter offered.

"Sure, I'm interested," Noah replied, thinking it would be a great opportunity to get a Class B quest. The place would be dangerous, but he could keep an eye on his friends.

"Awesome! Maybe we'll even get to see Tony Stark himself!" Peter exclaimed.

They continued chatting as they entered the classroom.

...

Three quiet days passed, and the holidays began. During the day, Noah attended school, and in the evenings, he searched for criminals. The first two days of his search were fruitless, but on the third day, he found two small gangs committing crimes. The system managed to create a quest, but it was only rated as Class C. Frustrated, Noah used his powers to swiftly deal with the criminals.

However, this quest earned him 200 Essence points, more than his previous Class C quests. Over three days, he accumulated 400 points—he still needed 500 more for the next summon.

On Thursday evening, after returning home, he heard a notification from the system in his mind.

[Summoner, the system has detected a Class B quest. Please check the quest panel.]

This was the result of his request to the system to notify him about Class B quests. He was surprised that the notification came while he was at home.

"Could something important be happening nearby?" Noah thought as he opened the quest panel. The following information appeared on the screen:

[Class B Quest: Investigate the Suspicious Individuals] [In recent days, a group of suspicious individuals has been observing the Summoner. Find them and determine their intent.]

"Surveillance? Could it be S.H.I.E.L.D.? But why is such a simple task classified as a Class B quest? Maybe my theories about Marvel characters being involved are correct?" Noah wondered. He suspected that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents might be tailing him, as his actions had likely attracted their attention.

Although he had tried to avoid cameras, there was another "hero" in Hell's Kitchen besides Daredevil, and S.H.I.E.L.D. might have taken an interest in him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is probably still infiltrated by Hydra. Let's see what they want," Noah decided. He remained neutral toward S.H.I.E.L.D. but understood that Hydra could cause problems if they tried to learn the source of his powers.

He started thinking about how to explain the emergence of his abilities.

"Hmm... What should I go with? Alien technology? Mutation? A found artifact?" Noah pondered, realizing it wasn't wise to jump into conflict with government organizations right away. He wasn't afraid of them, thanks to the system and the Resolve Rune, which had strengthened his body. He knew he would only grow stronger over time, possibly becoming like Superman with an invincible body in a few years.

"I've got an idea!" Noah thought as he accepted the quest. He stepped out of his house, ready to take action.