AN: Second chapter. A bit of world building for my version of this reality and some other minor stuff. Next chapter will get super dark though, be warned. I'll also have a warning on the chapter itself when its posted.
"Sieg! It's time to wake up sweetie. You don't want to your birthday cake to go bad do you?"
The gentle voice of my mother, coupled with the light shaking of my body, woke me from my slumber. Turning to my mom I mumbled a good morning, though considering I was half asleep and was speaking Swedish it sounded like I was trying to summon an elder god rather give than a morning greeting. Yes, I was, in fact, living in Sweden. Or rather the New-Nordic States. Apparently the advent of Quirks, and the chaos they caused to society, caused a lot of restructuring of the modern world, from countries to political systems to even religions.
Yeah old polytheist religions like Asatru, followers of the Tuatha Dé Danann and followers of the Greek gods made a comeback in this world. Apparently many of the old faiths not only referenced Quirks, in the form of blood-gifts, divine parentage and the like, but had predicted the Quirk epidemic as well, in detail. Nothing quite proved your religion was real like being right and having proof. Of course Catholicism still existed in the Theocratic State of New Rome along with various scattered believers in other countries. Kind of hard to put a major religion down just like that, it was why there were still Muslims and Jews around (albeit in fewer numbers) despite the Middle East, and the whole of Africa, basically wiping each other out during the chaos.
Apparently giving a large number of assorted superpowers to a continent rife with tribal feuds, ethnic cleansing, religious disputes and genocides was life's way of giving up on them all. It was a dark thought but true enough, though apparently the loss of an entire continent was enough to make the survivors finally stop hating each other and live peacefully in their new countries. Honestly I wasn't sure if the anime had glossed over how much worse the breakdown of society had been, and how little "Villains" contributed to it, as a future plot point, because it was simply too dark or if the "realism" of the world changed things to make more sense.
Honestly most of the chaos arose from the almost universal civil wars that took place around the globe rather than any singular Villain or group of Villains. Most had led to the dissolution of the country they started in and the formation of a new one in its place such as with the New-Nordic States and the Theocratic State of New Rome. The second most common result were shifts in political systems such as with the return of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and the reinstatement of monarchy/nobility to power in Britain. The rarest results were countries that survived the crisis relatively unchanged such as the US and Japan, well, the latter had the issue of All for One but he hadn't technically become the government during his "reign" so I didn't count it. Of course there were also odd balls like China that had split into three separate countries that were (technically) still at war with each other even to this day yet acted as one entity internationally. Honestly the amount of news that resulted from their posturing and dick measuring contests almost equaled that of the coverage on Heroes.
Speaking of, apparently the top ten heroes that I knew of from the series, or at least the few that were around at the moment (main plot events were roughly 10 years away by my reckoning), were simply the top ten heroes in Japan only. The only current exception being All Might who, at least in popularity and power, was number 1 in the world though his results fighting crime only put him in the top five. This was a clear deviation from "canon" and made me question just how useful my supposed knowledge was actually going to be.
Somehow, while my mind was caught up in its heavy thinking/regurgitating of facts I already knew I had managed to get out of bed, get dressed, wash my face, brush my teeth and sit at our small dining table cum countertop without my realizing. I couldn't help but stare blankly at the cake (an actual cake!) that was sitting on the table before me along with an assortment of new books and toys.
"Happy 4th Birthday Siegfried!" My mom shouted in excitement, her tail wagging madly behind her as if to punctuate her joy at celebrating my birthday.
Thanks to my adult mind/knowledge I knew how much a cake like this could cost (it was store bought and not homemade), not to mention the price of 4 actual new looking books and what looked like the world's fluffiest wolf and dog plush toys. By a similar vein I also knew our family's financial situation which, even with my infrequent "donations" and "lucky finds", was poor to say the least. So I couldn't help but wonder just how hard my mother must have pushed herself, how much overtime and "extra" services she had needed to perform in order to scrape up enough money for both the cake and presents. It wasn't the first time she had done this however, she had the same thing on both my other birthdays as well, so I was able to force the dark thoughts into the far corners of my mind where they would go untouched, but not forgotten, thanks to ease of practice. My mother wanted me to be happy after all, and I'd be damned if took that simple desire away from her.
"Wow! Thanks mom, you're the best!" I shouted happily, my voice full of (only partially faked) childish delight.
My mother glommed me at that point. "Hehe, and don't you forget it. Now, close your eyes and make a wish as you blow out the candles."
I did just that and, just like I had the previous two times, I wished for a better life for my mother. One where she didn't have to work as a stripper while maintaining two other part time jobs just to get by. This time however, unlike the past two times, when I blew out candles I actually received a response. The world slowed to a complete stop, the leaky spot on the roof showing a drop of water suspended in midair just a few center meters from its source, a nearby fly pausing in mid flap of its wings and my mother, unmoving, unblinking and without any signs of life beyond her body heat and my own instincts telling me she was fine.
[User has reached pre-determined age. Initiating system start up]
'What?' I thought in confusion, as my attempts to speak met with failure due to the lack of moving air particles.
[System now online. Now synchronizing with host]
'I swear to fucking god, Odin, Buddah and everything in between that if this is a god damn The Gamer cliché crossover type event…'
[Synchronization now at 100%. Unique Authority, 'Setting Intervention', acquired]
[Host has been deemed as a 'Native'. Stats not reset, adjusting program]
'Well…at least it's not The Gamer, though it's still an RPG-type system.'
[Siegfried Yagi] [Current SP: 170]
Stats
[Variable Stats]
Strength: 1.4
Stamina: 1.5
Speed: 1.5
Perception: 1.8
Vitality: 1.3
[Invariable Stats]
Intelligence: 5.810/10
Perseverance: 6.630/10
Luck: 5.780/10
Charm – 7.455/10
Points: 10 (Will disappear in 10 days if not used)
Quirks
[Reading] [Null] [Static]
-Any time you want, you can read the status book without a medium. Status book can also be accessed through any electronic medium the host choses.
-You can read the descriptions of inanimate objects
[Lycanthrope] [High Grade] [Static] [Restricted: 0.1%]
- A mutation of One for All after it combined with the wolf mutation Quirk of [Elsa Schäfer].
- As a result of mutation, ability to store further power has been lost.
- As a result of mutation and alternate method of obtaining Quirk 'One for All' the total stored power has been reduced by 25%
- Bite of the Werewolf
- Every full moon user can grant a lesser version of this quirk to one other person. Ability to transfer the full Quirk is lost as a result.
- Feral Nature
-As higher percentages of Lycanthrope's power is used the more wolf characteristics appear on host and the more like a wolf their thought process becomes. At 75% user is transformed fully into a large wolf. At 100% user is transformed into a massive wolf.
Arts (0/3)
X
Physique (0/3)
X
Setting Intervention[Authority]
- Using SP, you can modify or add settings to a non-living target.
- Using SP and relating to target 'Siegfried Yagi, you can modify or add settings to stats, Quirk, Art, and Physique.
*Intermediate Consideration: Once only, you can create a Physique and Art worth 1,000 SP and 500 SP respectively.
*SP (Story Point): As Siegfried Yagi's importance increases in the world or changes the destiny of people and events of the story, you gain more SP. You can exchange Points with SP.
?
Will be unlocked when the main story completes.
[Note: Host can only change Invariable Stats through the use of SP and the Setting Book within the next 10 minutes. Ability will be permanently removed after that.]
[Note: An average adult from Host's first world have variable stats of 2]
[Note: An average adult from Host's first world have invariable stats between 4-5]
'First of all what the fuck? Second of all, while I applaud your decision to use the system from The Novel's Extra, whoever you are, instead of The Gamer my question is why? I'm not even the author of the series so having setting intervention is a bit weird. Also why the changes? Shouldn't I get the ability to create a Gift, or in this case Quirk, worth 10,000 SP? Also there is no Observation ability.'
[Host has been deemed a 'Native'. Possession of Inherent Quirk precludes Novice Consideration. Host is not the Creator of this world, Observation has been removed]
'Well…I guess that explains that.' It was at this point that what I had just read caught up with me. Siegfried Yagi, One for All. I was the son of fucking All Might!? Where the hell was the bastard then!? THAT MOTHER FUCKER! I'M GOING TO RIP HIM TO FUCKING SHREDS WHEN I SEE HIM! HE WILL FUCKING BURN FOR ABANDONING MY MOTHER AND ME TO THIS LIFE!
[Warning! Host has broken through Restriction set by system. Forced shut down of Quirk 'Lycanthrope' commencing. Host's mental state deemed too volatile to make important decisions within the next 8 minutes 46 seconds. Shutting down non-critical emotional subroutines of host's brain]
And suddenly, as if by magic, I was calm. More than calm I was…empty? I felt nothing. The only thing that existed in my brain were my purely logical and rational thoughts. I knew I should be enraged, and horrified, by the System being able to mess with my existence like that but I wasn't, something I knew was also an issue. None of that was important however. There are only…8 minutes 7 seconds left to decide what to do with my stats.
I already knew thanks to reading The Novel's Extra that Invariable Stats were important. The "MC" of the novel used his slightly over 9 points in luck that he bought with nearly all his Points to reap massive benefits in everything he ever did. And I was going to emulate him.
Without hesitation I converted the points into SP and then, one at a time, I added SP into my Luck stat. This was done because I remembered from the novel the MC adding 100 SP at a time and getting lucky extra increases as he did so. I figured doing it one at a time would get me a similar result, if not better. Thankfully the process of adding points happened at the speed of thought otherwise I would have never made it considering 1SP is equal to 0.001 stat points on average. I found that the conversion increased exponentially in tandem to the rise in a stat though so it was only a guess however. Which made sense if this "system" followed the same logic as the novel it's based on in that 8 in an invariable stat was the very peak of human ability while 9 or more was beyond the limits of humanity.
In the end I raised my Luck stat to 9.1 for the price of nearly 9,800 SP. A slightly better conversion ratio than the MC of The Novel's Extra got considering my luck started at more than half a point less than his. This left me with a little over 380 SP and, also following in the footsteps of the MC, I put 300 of those points into Perseverance, bring it to 7.55 thanks to the fortuitous events my beyond human luck caused. I then put my remaining 84SP into my Intelligence, bringing it up to 6.13 thanks once again to my Luck.
When it was all over I still had 1 minute 53 seconds until my deadline. My enforced calm state hadn't ended yet however. Instead of questioning why I merely got to work once more, this time making use of my Intermediate Consideration. First off my Art, which was a fancy way of calling activities or rather hobbies, that anyone could get good at with enough practice, albeit with some slight supernatural elements on top if you were proficient enough. I figured the MC of the novel the system was based on had the right idea for his first art in my mind, which was Parkour, and I wasn't above ripping him off. But with 150 more SP to work with than he used however I was able to upgrade it slightly.
[3D Movement] [Proficiency 0%] [Low-mid rank]
-Grants flexible, agile and shrewd movement.
-Is not affected by terrain features and can use terrain features like walls and obstacles to freely run, jump, and climb.
-Can use air resistance and rebound forces from movement to aid in running, jumping, climbing and acrobatics.
-Ability to maintain awareness of surroundings in 3D environments regardless of spatial position.
-Speed and application of the Art depends on the strength and speed stat.
It may or may not seem like a big deal but in my mind it was very, very useful. I was imagining Air Gear, parkour, free running and the 3D maneuvering gear from Attack on Titan when I made it so that wasn't surprising. Sure the system adjusted everything and reduced what I had initially due to costs (though my Luck brought some of it back) but god was it OP. In the Novel's Extra, Parkour, which was a grade lower than this and didn't have all the same options, let the MC magically stick to any surface without falling off, bar those that were completely vertical. Not to mention how it improved his speed while running and aided him during combat.
Now that my first Art was set, next up was my Physique. In its source material Physique was almost the same as Gifts (Quirks in this case), only they were related to the physical body rather than a supernatural "outside" power like fire manipulation. Well...there were a few physical buff abilities as well but it was easier to imagine it that way. But that world and this one were different. In this world Quirks were what caused absolutely everything and a Physique of Iron Body for instance would simply be a Quirk related to hardening the body. So, the question remains, how does Physique work and how does it differ from Quirks?
[Host has identified potential error with the System, processing]
How quaint…quaint? Does being without emotions automatically make one pretentious or a douchebag? How odd.
[Resolution: Physique remains separate from Quirks, price algorithm recalibrated to compensate for similarities. Range of options limited.]
So basically you did nothing? Whatever. The time I had spent waiting for the system had been used efficiently to create the Physique I wanted.
[Perfect Healing Physique] [Low-mid rank]
Body has no risk of infection from healing injuries
Body will readjust out of place bones, organs and other body parts into normal position during the normal healing process.
Injuries won't leave lasting damage that impair body functions so long as material for repairs are sufficient.
Speed of readjustment is determined by treatment, severity of injury and the Vitality Stat.
Amount of nutrition required by body to sustain itself has grown to facilitate Physique.
Injuries are not healed at an increased rate from this Physique, speed of readjustment can only match the bodies healing speed of normal injuries.
[A hidden Blessing has been activated due to host's Luck]
Within a certain chance healed injuries result in permanent resistance towards similar injuries.
To say nothing of how great the base Physique I created was, especially for people who take training seriously or possess certain body wrecking Quirks like mine could turn out to be, but the Hidden Blessing was almost broken. Almost because, for one it wasn't a guaranteed increase, two, I doubted the resistance was anywhere close to, or ever will get close to, immunity to a type of injury and three, it required that I take damage before (possibly) working. It was also more of an amped up "natural" phenomena rather than supernatural. Broken bones (so long as they are broken in certain ways) become stronger once they heal even in normal humans after all, this just meant that even improbably broken bones might get a bit tougher if I was lucky.
That being said, now what? Time still seemed to be frozen but I had nothing else to do with my status panel. Maybe I'm supposed to deal with the source of my volatile mental state prior to the suppression? Makes sense and, even if it's not the case, it's a good idea to confront the issue now anyways.
First step, look at the situation logically. Fact one, my status panel heavily implies I am All Might's son. Fact two, I have never seen the man in person. Fact three, All Might as a character would not abandon even a stranger to this kind of life let alone his own flesh and blood. Fact four, my mother has never mentioned my father nor has she ever shown, in my presence, any looks to denote the fact that he abandoned her. Fact five, there is no evidence of who my father is in the apartment or at my mother's job.
Second step, put it all together. Logically speaking it's clear that All Might doesn't know of my existence. Logical deduction, my mother might not know who my father is or, potentially, knows but never told him about me before leaving him or looked for him after he left her when she realized she was pregnant. I was either an accidental conception, the result of a quick fling or a brief romance, or something else happened to separate them that prevented them from reuniting. Conclusion, hating All Might for not being in our lives is both pointless and without just cause.
And as if that was the magical key to solving the puzzle my emotions came back to me in a flood. Even with the logical thinking and conclusions I came to however I still raged against my father and the world at large for several minutes. Even when I was finished I still felt some resentment but that was fine. Emotions don't just magically disappear and three years of pent up negativity wouldn't disappear quickly after I had gained, and then lost, a viable target for it in such a short time span. Thankfully time was still frozen while I sorted out my mental state and only resumed once I had full control of myself. It would have been awkward to explain myself to mom otherwise.
Seamlessly, as if none of what I had just experienced had actually happened, time resumed and I was blowing out my birthday candles while my mother nuzzled the top of my head in happiness. We shared the cake after that, my mother doing her best to make me smile by pretending to eat messily and occasionally flicking icing at my face. It was nice, a soothing balm to further ease my agitated mind, but eventually it was over and my mom needed to go to work. Now that I was a bit older she didn't need to take me with her everywhere she went, though she often still did just because the neighborhood wasn't very safe. Still, the mornings were safe enough and her early job was the most inconvenient one to bring a child to so I had been left home alone during this period of time quite often for the past year or so.
I knew my mother worried however. Even though I was clearly more intelligent and more mature than a four-year-old should be I was still a child, her child, and I knew she wished she could afford to send me to preschool rather than be alone for so long. At least next year I was starting kindergarten, which was the start of the free, mandatory education system in the country. I wasn't too enthused about it considering I had gotten a college degree in my last life not to mention how it would cut into my personal time but oh well. I'll just skip grades after that so I don't need to be as stifled.
"Ok, I'm going to work sweetie. Be good and remember what I always say." My mother chimed with a sing-song voice.
"Don't talk to strangers, don't acknowledge solicitors and hide from the landlord. I know." It was a sad motto but a practical, and necessary, one none the less.
My mom smiled indulgently at my dull tone before she ruffled my hair before crouching down to give me a peck on the cheek. I returned the affection with a hug that my mother savored for a few moments before letting go.
"Mmm Now I'm fully charged and ready to take on the day." My mom chirped in an over exaggerated manor, striking a 'guts' pose, which caused me to smirk slightly in amusement. I prayed she never lost this attitude of hers.
After one last round of quick goodbyes my mom swiftly left the apartment leaving me alone for the next few hours. Usually this was either the period of time I worked on my reading/writing skills or I went on to con or filch some people out of their money/possessions. I generally saved my daily exercise for around lunch time so that I don't eat more than three meals a day, which gave me about two to three hours to do as I wished. Today I wasn't going to do any of my usual activities though (beyond working out). Today was going to be different.
The important question before I did anything however, was what did I want out of my life? I obviously wanted to make it so that both my mother and I didn't need to live in poverty, especially so that my mother didn't need to work her demeaning jobs. But that was something that could technically be accomplished in several ways, even more now that I had the system from The Novel's Extra at my disposal. But what about after that? What did I want to do, what did I want to be? It was something I hadn't thought about as I focused more on getting through each day but it was something I needed to contemplate now.
The only response I got as I looked deep within myself however was simply a desire to be free. Not an unsurprising wish considering the act of being trapped, bound or imprisoned was the only thing I ever actually feared in both my lives. But what did it mean to be free? The ability to do what I want whenever I want would make me a Villain in this world as, included in that overarching "power" to do as I pleased, was the ability to ignore the laws of society. But I wasn't a bad person at heart. I would help people if it didn't inconvenience me or if their life was in jeopardy and no one else could do it. Not to say that I wanted to be a Hero or even thought I was Hero material (personality wise at least) but I wasn't one to wantonly ruin other people's lives either if I could help it. So did that mean I should live a normal life?
The thought didn't sit right with me either. I had an amazing ability coupled with an even more amazing "cheat" system on top of it. Could I stand for mediocrity? Of having a normal, boring career and an unexciting life? The answer was no, no I could not. I don't mind the idea of occasionally doing something mundane or even having a normal family life, but for my entire life to be simply average? It was unacceptable to me now that I had such a clear and obvious way to avoid such a fate and had access to real power.
Which still left the question though. What did I want to do and where do I go from here? The only answer I could think of was to be neither a Hero nor a Villain. I wasn't interesting in fighting crime full time or committing crime fulltime. Being a Vigilante was an option but something I could only see myself doing part time and only if I got bored. A Mercenary maybe? The MHA world didn't have such an occupation as far as I knew, someone who would do any task, good or bad, for the right price or if it interested them. Which meant I would need to make it a thing, start my own organization and somehow not get stomped on by Heroes and Villains alike in the process.
The idea wasn't daunting despite how extremely difficult I knew it would be. In fact, the idea of creating my own organization, my own type of super-powered profession, excited me. I even had the perfect name for my future group as well. The Phantom Troupe is just way too cool not to copy, as both a name and an organization.
To be honest once I had firmly made that decision and felt passionate fire blossom in my chest I had half expected for a quest notification to pop up. Sadly, the system I had possessed no such things. There were no levels either for that matter and Points were something that were akin to legendary equipment from its source material in their rarity and difficult of obtainment, so I likely wouldn't get those either. Still, the tradeoff was more than worth it simply for Setting Intervention alone. Speaking of I needed to find a way to generate myself SP. I had a vague feeling that the only reason I had as much SP as I had in the beginning was because of being All Might' son, even if no one but me (and possibly my mother) knew that fact.
It wasn't the most difficult of tasks to think of ways to get SP but they required either things I did not own or actions I did not want to perform, for one reason or another, at the moment. I couldn't do anything about the latter but for the former, well, all I had to do was find somewhere, or someone, who did have what I needed. Whether or not my obtaining the use of said thing, in this case a computer or other device with access to the internet, involved me doing something illegal depended on the compliance of the people at the local public library. Some of the librarians were overly difficult and a local gang had declared the building as their "turf" as well. which made obtained the use of a computer dicey at best. Hopefully neither were there today.
Destination set and with a rough plan in mind I left the house, pulling on my sole oversized and ratty jacket as I did so. Wolf quirk or not it got cold here, especially since it was winter at the moment. As I trudged through the snow I let my eyes dart about taking in everything and anything in view. The underground slave trade was alive and well in this world, thriving in fact, and a cute kid like myself who was walking all by himself was a juicy target. Yes, I was a bit narcissistic but my stat page agreed with my self assessment so bite me.
Luckily I made it to the library without incident, the only interruptions during my long walk through the snow were casual greetings with some of the friendlier neighborhood punks and business owners. I was also lucky in that, when I reached the library, not only was there a computer free but there was no one else there besides me, and one of the few decent librarians, either. I wondered if it was coincidence or if my Luck stat was truly that godly. Either way I was happy with the result.
Booting up the computer the first thing I did was open up my status screen on the desktop. There were no changes to it from when I had done it mentally but it was good to make sure it was indeed possible like the ability description said. Luckily it was as I would need a medium if I wanted to use SP to hack into a bank or two for some money as I was planning to do. Honestly obtaining SP was the hotfix for every problem I was having in my life right now. Which meant I better get started.
Like the system had stated there were only two ways to obtain SP, raise my importance in the world or change the predetermined plot points. Thankfully both those covered a very wide range of activities through the interpretation of the system. Which meant I could do something like this.
[Get Woke: All Might is the worst piece of trash in existence and he stages all of his so called heroic] [acts to look better. He's a total fraud who secretly wets the bad at night. Also he has sex with male pigs on a regular basis.]
Post a toxic comment about All Might on the discussion board of his biggest fan club's website. Almost instantly I watch the number of replies sky rocket past the 1,000 mark and only continue to rise at ever increasing speeds. I didn't read any of them. I didn't have to; I knew the general gist of what was going to be said after all. Besides, the point of my post was to get people to pay attention to it and, by extension, me, not argue with people on the internet. The fact that no one knew it was me making the post combined with the fact that the attention would be short lasting and not very meaningful meant the point gain was minimal. It was so low in fact that, despite now having over 10,000 replies to my post, I had only gained 4 SP.
I had expected such low results however so I wasn't bothered. I could just do the same thing on the fan sites of other popular heroes after all. Something I was already in the process of doing. In just under 30 minutes of creating accounts and making shit posts on various websites I had gained 42 SP. Not a bad haul for what basically amounted to doing nothing, though I had noticed that the rate of my earnings quickly slowed down, such that what used to give me 1SP now only gave me less than half of that. I was guessing as the system didn't deal with fractions for SP, unlike with stats, so I wasn't completely sure of the ratio. Which was why I was only going to make one last post before seeing if I had enough to hack into a bank.
[Luck applies. 20 SP is obtained]
A nice little bonus but one that I could have done without. Luck applying in this situation meant someone either noticed the comments all came from one person, they found it was me who made the comments, or someone important paid attention to them. None of the above were particularly good as I currently was, as in weak and a four-year-old. Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk. I just needed to be more careful next time. Now it was the time to see if I had earned enough to complete my next step of the plan.
Wait…my Luck was beyond the human limit why was I wasting my points like this? All I needed to do was buy a few lottery tickets and I'll be set for life. The best part is I can simply give them to my mother and say I found them or something. It'd be much easier than trying to explain how I suddenly had a bank account that had hundreds of thousands of dollars in it. And yes the dollar was the collective currency of the world. It didn't have the faces of US presidents on them (they were famous Heroes from the chaotic period) and they were printed by a joint bank operating under the United Hero Association and Public Safety Commission but it was still called the dollar and was worth about as much as one as well.
Getting back on topic I felt like face palming myself for the oversight. It wouldn't have been the worst mistake I could have made but it would have been wasteful, especially since I figured SP would be hard to come by for me for at least a few more years. The only issue with my current plan was that I had to buy the lottery tickets. Considering I was all of 1.1 meters (3'7") in height and looked every bit the toddler I was that meant I needed to spend even more money to bribe the convenience store clerk to actually accept my purchase. Good thing I kept a small portion of my "earnings" on me at all times. It would wipe me out but it would be worth it if this worked.
A quick trip to the convenience store later and I was the owner of 40 lottery tickets. I figured that, insane Luck or not, there was no guarantee my first pick of numbers would be a winner so why not increase my odds? Now all that was left was facing the berating of my mother once she found out I left the apartment and then wait for the Christmas lottery results to be announced, which was a couple weeks away, and things would be golden.
As lost in my thoughts as I was it shouldn't have surprised me that I tripped, but it did anyways. I frantically pin wheeled my arms in an attempt to stabilize myself but it was no good, I was going down. Thankfully there was a rather thick snow mound on the ground so me face planting wasn't too painful, just cold and annoying. Both feelings didn't even last long when I found out what was buried in the pile of snow I had just scattered. It was a smartphone, an untouched smartphone still inside its packaging. What are the odds of… right. Well finders keepers and all that.
After carefully tucking the package underneath my jacket I walked the rest of the way back to the apartment without incident. I still had several hours before my mother came home however. So I decided to fiddle around with my new ability.
[Pear]
[Slightly rotten fruit]
[Partially satiates hunger, small chance of sickness]
About what I expected, let's see what I can do with it.
[Pear]
[Slightly rotten fruit]
[Partially satiates hunger, small chance of sickness]
*Contains all the nutrients needed for an entire day of hard work
[SP Cost – 6]
[Confirm: Would you like to make this change?]
I replied with a no and the change left the pear. I quickly put a new one in its place.
[Pear]
[Slightly rotten fruit]
[Partially satiates hunger, small chance of sickness]
*Permanently enhances eye sight by a small margin determined by Luck
[SP Cost – 100]
[Host possess insufficient SP]
I ignored the message as I removed the change and made a new one, and again, and again as I tested the limits of my ability (there were seemingly none beyond cost) and to get a general feel of what different SP costs gave me in terms of benefits. All useful information but I wasn't done with just that. My next experiment was testing to see if the quality of an item had any effect on the cost of a change. Luckily I found a Pear that read as "slightly fresh fruit" in our pantry which made such a comparison much easier.
The results of that experiment showed that there was a difference for certain changes. Changes in similar vein to the first one I had tested were slightly cheaper if the quality of the item was better but was the same for extra abilities, such as having the pear turn into a bomb for instance. Which then made me wonder if the type of an object also played a rule in the cost of changes. Again, after a few rounds of testing, the answer was yes though much like with the Pears it was only a small difference for things that Pears were related to, conceptually. The point of a Pear was to be eaten and provide nutrition, thus those kinds of changes cost less as the Pear wasn't completely altered into something it was not. The same went for the knife I had experimented with. Changes related to its cutting power or durability cost a bit less than the exact same change on a spoon.
That being said I had 65 SP on hand at the moment and I needed to figure out what to do with it. Putting it into stats wasn't even considered, I could train to increase them all after all. Saving them was an option but it was such a small amount, compared to the cost of a decent Quirk, that it wasn't really worth it in my opinion. Saving it for an Art or Physique would take less time but again, it involved sitting on them and I didn't feel like doing that at the moment. That left me with only one option then, make a change to an object. Luckily I already had an idea of what I wanted to do.
[Soft Wolf Plushie]
[A stuff animal in the form of a wolf made of soft material]
*When within 30cm of Siegfried Yagi or Elsa Schäfer while sleeping fatigue is recovered at a quicker rate
*When within 30cm of Siegfried Yagi or Elsa Schäfer while sleeping no nightmares can occur
*When held by Siegfried Yagi or Elsa Schäfer stress levels are reduced slightly
[SP Cost – 60]
[Confirm: Would you like to make this change?]
Without hesitation I confirmed the change and almost immediately a beam of light shot out from my head and into the plushie, creating a faint line of blue on the wolf's belly as it faded away. Deciding to test out my creation I picked up the wolf, noting that as I did some muscles I didn't even know were tense loosened up slightly. Neat. Hopefully the other changes worked as I hoped as well. I was planning on letting my mother hold on to it for a while, knowing how much her daily life took out on her mental state. Hopefully the special effects would make it a bit more bearable until the lottery results got announced.
I still had 5 SP left though and with them I decided to pull another page out of The Novel's Extra's MC and make one last change.
[Worn out sneakers]
[2nd hand children's sneakers that have seen better days]
*When the wearer desires, energy and stamina recovery is enhanced for 1 hour. After use, this effect cannot be used again for 24 hours. This 'effect' disappears after one month.
[SP Cost – 5]
[Confirm: Would you like to make this change?]
A useful effect for a cheap price. The fact that it had a limit of one use a day and that it would disappear after a month didn't matter. I would have new shoes by that point and I would only need the effect once a day for my daily workout anyways. Speaking of…
Putting on my most worn out clothes I proceeded to start my daily workout routine, activating my sneaker's effect as I did so. I wasn't quite sure how much an effect it would provide but a boost to my stamina and energy recovery, no matter how small, meant I could push myself just a bit harder during my workout. As I had no weights or exercise equipment (not that I would use any considering my body was still developing and I didn't want to stunt my growth, though my Physique might prevent that from happening) I simply did body weight exercises. Combined with some more intense stretching techniques, practice punches and kicks, and playing around with my ability to perform acrobatic/free running tricks my work out was actually quite intense. Thanks to my sneakers I was even able to go for an extra 30 minutes after the effect wore off thanks to not being as tired as I usually was.
The fruits of my labors were fairly meager however, not that I expected much different, and were as follows. Strength + 0.02, Stamina +0.03 and Vitality +0.03. My speed didn't increase as I couldn't do any running or sprints in the small apartment but that was fine. Let's see, at this rate it will take….50 days to increase Strength by 1 point and 33 to do the same for Stamina and Vitality. Which means in a year I would get 7 points in Strength, and 10 in Stamina and Vitality. Or I would if my gains remained consistent, which they wouldn't. If things are like the original, then once I pass 2 points in a stat the amount of points gained from training will slow down. Once I reach three in a stat even a 0.01 increase to it will be hard to obtain in a single day, or even two days. Four slowed the gains even more. At five it could take an entire week, maybe 2, to get even a 0.01 increase. And so on.
There was no upper limit on variable stats so that wasn't why the gains slowed down. It was simply that each point represented quite a leap in ability and to reach higher numbers normal training will eventually not be able to cut it for improvement to occur. Thankfully there are other ways of increasing stats, like using SP for instance so that wasn't a major issue. Besides I'm fairly certain that the boost my Quirk should give me is not included at all in the numbers. Speaking of, I hadn't actually tried to use it yet have I? Well, no time like the present.
Thankfully it seems like Quirks are inherent abilities that don't need any particular knowledge or secret technique to activate. You simply willed it, and it worked. Or at least that was how it was for me. Probably another benefit of the system or maybe its status as my birth Quirk.
I took a moment to examine my body for any changes but found none that I could notice with the naked eye. Next up was testing out my physical prowess. There was where I found a change, albeit a minor one. I guess the "Restricted 0.1%" box meant that I can only handle 0.1% of my Quirk's full power and potential currently. Hopefully that would quickly change as my body grew and my stats increased. Speaking of… nope my stats don't show any change despite using my quirk. Odd, and a bit annoying to not have that information, but it wasn't something I couldn't live without.
*Grrwwuue*
I looked down at my stomach absentmindedly, only now remembering the fact that I had just had a heavy workout session and it was time for lunch. A quick rummage through the pantry and fridge latter and I had myself the most nutritious meal I could make myself without using more food than our current budget allowed. A difficult task but I've had plenty of practice.
After lunch I opened up my new phone and, after stealing some electricity from the neighbors, turned it on. It was completely factory fresh however and, without a data plan or access to Wi-Fi, could only serve as a medium for my status page. Which meant I only had my books to pass the time with. We couldn't afford a TV and the old radio we had only seemed to catch news channels, which I wasn't feeling at the moment. Luckily I had just gotten some new books to read instead of having to reread my old ones for the Nth time.
The one I chose to read out of my selections was a history book (my mother knew of my interest in that field), leaving the two science fiction and lone fantasy book for another time. Time passed by in a blur after that and soon enough I heard the door to the apartment opening, signaling the return of my mother.
"Siegfried! I'm home sweetie!" She called out brightly as she walked inside, though her voice betrayed her exhaustion to my sensitive ears.
"Welcome home mom." I said as I walked up and gave her a hug.
My mother returned the hug with a smile.
"So… what did you do?" She eventually asked while still maintaining the hug.
How the hell did she find out I did something? I gave nothing away.
"Mother's just know sweetie." She stated as if reading my mind.
I didn't think she was telling the truth considering how she never noticed my stealing habit. Unless she knew and didn't say anything? I guess it doesn't matter either way.
"Well… I kinda, maybe left the apartment to go outside for a bit." I said acting the part of the abashed child with practiced ease.
My mother's arms tightened around me at the admission, both out of concern and maternal anger.
"and what else?" Her voice taking a slight warning edge as she spoke.
"I found some things."
"What things?"
"Well…."
"Siegfried…" She said warningly.
"A phone and some lottery tickets."
"…you didn't steal them did you?" My mother asked with real concern in her voice.
I was quick to disabuse her of the idea; I actually hadn't stolen either of them after all…this time.
"Of course not mom! I was coming back from the library when I tripped and fell into a snow mound. I found the phone in its box under the snow along with the lottery tickets." It was even mostly true as well and my mother readily accepted the explanation because of it.
"That's good. I know things are a little rough sweetie but I don't want you to become a criminal. You have the potential to do a lot of good, to be an amazing person, and I don't want you to ruin it be becoming a thief." My mother said in relief, making me feel guilty. I didn't have the courage to tell her I was already a thief and likely never would stop being one at this point. So I swallowed the feeling and forced myself to smile.
"I know mom."
"That's my little man."
"Now, what do you want for dinner?" She asked as she released the hug, not mentioning trying to find the owners of the phone or lottery tickets at all. Not that I had expected her to, she was a good person not a stupid one. You didn't let go of neat little windfalls like that in this part of the city. The phone could be sold for a decent price and as for the lottery tickets, well she'd keep a hold of them "just in case".
"Hmm…Ham sandwich or slightly different Ham sandwich…I can't decide." I replied cheekily as I pretended to contemplate on the decision. I received a cuff to the back of the head for my troubles.
"Sorry mom. Anything is fine, you know I'm not picky." That neither of us could afford to be was left unsaid.
"I know but it is your birthday sweetie and I thought I'd let you decide what we're having for once."
I just shrugged. I hadn't been entirely joking when about what I had said earlier. We didn't really have a lot of options for food at the moment after all. Still, mom tried always her best and this time actually made a fairly tasty sandwich for her trouble. As we were eating together I took the opportunity to gift her the stuffed wolf she had just given me that morning.
"Here mom." I said as I all but shoved the stuffed toy into her arms.
She looked down at it for a moment before looking up at me in confusion. "What's wrong sweetie? Do you not like it?"
I shook my head. "No, I love it. It's very soft and comfortable. It even makes me feel better just by holding it. Like you're hugging me all the time."
"If you love it why are you giving it back to me?" My mother asked in honest confusion.
"…because you look tired and I want you to feel better."
My mother stiffened noticeably and panic flashed through her eyes at my statement, both of which I tactfully ignored. I didn't want to appear too abnormal after all.
"…Thank you sweetie…I love you so much." She whispered as she pulled me into a tight hug, and once again I tactfully ignored the fact that her tears were dropping down onto my ears.
"I love you too mom, I love you too."
