The rat was actually around the size he expected it to be.

But expecting a rat to be huge, and actually seeing a huge rat, were incredibly different things. Izuku's hand flew down to his waist to make sure that the [Ratbone Dagger] was firmly in place, and then up to his neck as he tested the clasp of his [Rat Leather Cloak].

Drawing his sword, he watched as the large rat stared him down. It was a bit unnerving, but Izuku held its gaze. As he watched it, he spoke.

"Identify"

Duke of Rats

Sub-Boss, UA Dungeon

A large [Rodent] that blocks the passage to the rest of the Dungeon.

HP: 150 | Mana: ? | Stamina: ?

Izuku frowned at the block that showed up. It was pretty much stuff that he already knew. And the fact that he couldn't see the [Duke of Rats]'s Mana or Stamina meant that it was on the very edge of Danger Rating 2.

The [Duke of Rats] didn't seem to like being scanned, releasing another of its squeaky roars. If it hadn't started charging Izuku right after that, he might have laughed at the noise. Diving to the side, Izuku tried to slash at the rat with his sword, grunting as it stopped its charge with surprising agility.

Izuku jumped to his feet and avoided the [Duke of Rats]'s counter-attack, a swipe with its dinner-plate-sized paws. Or at least he tried to, the tip of the [Duke of Rats]'s claws slashing along his hip.

[8] Damage Taken!

Hissing as pain shot up his side, Izuku swung his sword at the [Duke of Rats] now that it was closer, cutting a line into the side of it, around as long as the blade itself.

[14] Damage Dealt!

"Shield!"

Izuku cast [Shield] on himself as he took a step backwards, but he didn't need it as the [Duke of Rats] missed, the pain from Izuku's attack throwing it off a little bit. "Double Strike!"

While the [Duke of Rats] was distracted, Izuku dashed forward and swung at its head, the shimmering copy of [Double Strike] following along with his swing. His sword lodged into the neck of the [Duke of Rats], and he heard something crack after the second attack landed.

Critical Hit!

[74] Damage Dealt!

[Duke of Rats] is suffering from [Bleeding 2]!

[Duke of Rats] will take [4] Damage every [30] seconds.

He was about to let out a yell of joy at such a successful hit when something impacted his right arm, throwing him against the wall of the arena.

[12] Damage Taken!

"Arrgh!" He had forgotten about the tail. Damn, it packed a punch! He checked his menu as he got up, and nodded to himself. His HP was at 55/75. He had almost 3/4 of his HP left, and the [Duke of Rats] was down to less than half.

He only needed a few more strikes or one more big attack like before, and he would win! Actually, with the [Bleeding 2] effect that he had inflicted on the [Duke of Rats], he would only have to wait 7 and a half minutes for the remaining 62 HP it had to run out.

But Izuku didn't want to wait like that. This was his first (sub)Boss fight! He couldn't win it by waiting it out! He had to win it! He went to grab his sword, but his hand closed on empty air.

Looking around the arena, he saw it behind the [Duke of Rats]. He must have dropped it when he got slammed by the tail. Damn. While his sword wasn't an option until he got past the [Duke of Rats], he wasn't out of options!

Reaching down to his belt, he pulled out his [Ratbone Dagger]. The sight of him holding the dagger seemed to have an effect on the [Duke of Rats], making it visibly angry as he brandished it.

It let out another squeaky roar and started to charge at him. Izuku smiled and held the [Ratbone Dagger] out in front of him.

"Double Strike! Lunge!"

Izuku saw a ghostly copy of the [Ratbone Dagger] appear next to his hand as the rest of the world blurred around him, and he swung downwards. The world cleared up again, and he found himself right where he wanted to be, directly over the [Duke of Rats].

Both of the daggers slammed into the top of the [Duke of Rats] as Izuku pushed downwards, and [Duke of Rats] let out a screech, before suddenly dropping to the floor, its legs giving out. Izuku was standing on top of its back, a smile on his face.

"Woooooo!"

Izuku's cheer echoed around the small arena, and he slid down the side of the [Duke of Rats], landing on the ground with a thud. He walked over and picked his sword up, cleaning the edge by wiping it on the side of the [Duke of Rats] before putting it back in its sheath.

He took a deep breath, the smile on his face not fading as he held up palm up to the roof. "Alright menu, show me what I earned from this!"

A small 'ding' appeared in his ears and the menu popped up.

Floor 1 Sub-Boss, the [Duke of Rats] has been slain!

XP gained from Sub-Boss: 400XP | 12 Copper

First Clear Bonus: 200XP | 4 Silver

Superior Difficulty Bonus: 100XP | 1 Gold

Izuku stared in awe at the screen, another cheer tearing from his throat. 700 XP from a single fight, and more money than he had ever had at one time! He had a gold coin now! "Heck yea!"

His celebrations didn't end there, though. As another ding appeared, and a second screen popped up.

Congratulations!

You have reached Level [10] for the class: [Fighter]!

Elemental Affinity is available!

Please select from the following:

[Flame Knight] - Fire

[Earth Quaker] - Earth

[Oceans Blade] - Water

[Wind Weaver] - Air

[Shining Sword] - Light

[Night Striker] - Dark

Izuku smiled as he read over the list. He had been waiting for this moment ever since he got his first level of [Fighter]. The time when he would get to take the next step in his path towards becoming a hero to all.

He had read so many books on the different paths and their pros and cons, and he had a fairly good idea of what he wanted out of his upgraded class.

With a grin on his face, he reached down and pressed his choice.

The class system that the menu followed was fairly simple.

When you were a kid, usually around 4 years old, you would get your traits. The XP boosts wouldn't come into play until you either gained a class naturally or got to age 10 when you chose one of the starter ones the menu offered.

You levelled up normally, gaining a few basic abilities, usually starting with one and getting one at levels 3, 6, and 9. But once you hit level 10, things changed slightly. For combat classes, getting a class to level 10 earned you an [Elemental Affinity].

There were a lot of [Elemental Affinity]'s, but it meant that your attacks and abilities would gain some properties of that element! [Fire] made attacks burn on contact, and had a chance to ignite foes, [Dark] had draining features, where you could heal yourself by dealing damage, etc.

Each of the elements had its own benefits, but they also came with some downsides, as well. Usually, each element had one that it was powerful against and one that it was weak against.

Powerful monsters were able to align themselves with elements as well, meaning that these downsides would show themselves once you started fighting stronger monsters. Someone with only [Fire] themed abilities wouldn't fare very well against a red dragon, for example.

Personally, Izuku had been bouncing between choosing the [Earth] and [Light] affinities for quite some time, and he would deny it if you called him a fanboy for going with Emperor Yagi's favourite elements.

He had made his choice though, and he knew what his plan was. Like the element it represented, choosing [Earth] would be a good foundation for him to build his strength.

The [Light] elemental affinity was next though, that he promised himself. But for now, his choice was made.

He had become an [Earth Quaker].

Emperor Yagi felt something stir deep within his core, but he couldn't tell what.

It had been bugging him for the last few weeks, but all of a sudden it had burst, becoming stronger for a moment before settling down again. Like something was pulling on his soul, trying to show him something. His royal [Spiritualist] wouldn't be able to reach the capital for another few days, so he wasn't able to know if it was a spirit or ghost or whatnot.

He had his hopes about who could possibly be trying to tell him something from the afterlife, but it was best not to expect to much, lest he be disappointed by reality.

Still, this feeling of discontent wouldn't go away. Donning his armour and grabbing his helmet, made from gold-coloured metal with a large 'V' on the top, he stepped out of his bedchambers to see one of his advisors waiting for him.

"Mirai, what is it you need?"

The man was incredibly tall, with dark green hair, highlighted with yellow streaks, the result of coming too close to an acid spitter when they were younger. With a short bow, Mirai spoke. "Sir, you have a magical message from David. It seems his daughter has created a rune. He is requesting that you help to spread the word about it."

Yagi's eyebrow rose, it was an odd request, but he was glad for any distraction from the odd feeling inside him. "What kind of rune is it? I trust Young Melissa's brilliance, but I need to know what I'm telling people about!"

Mirai's hands glowed, and a Rune Yagi hadn't seen before appeared in the air, forged out of the yellow light in between his advisor's palms. "The system acknowledges it as [Melissa Shield's Skill Efficiency]. It is a Utility Rune that gives a 25% boost to any ability channelled through the item it's engraved on. It's quite remarkable."

A smile grew on Yagi's face as he slapped the man on the back. "Mirai! It's more than marvellous! It's magnificent! Something so simple, and because it is a Utility Rune, it's able to coexist with a Combat Rune on the same piece of equipment!"

With this excellent news in hand, Yagi strode towards his throne room. "This is amazing news! We will make any and all Craftsmen and Craftswomen aware of this rune, and I shall have it placed on my own equipment as well!"

Mirai's eyes widened. "That, sir, is quite possibly the greatest compliment you could give Miss Shield, I'd say. I will get to marking your gear with the Rune as soon as possible."

Yagi smiled, patting the man on the shoulder. "Thank you, old friend! Now, where is Torino, I wish to know if my schedule will be empty anytime soon. I'm swamped these next few weeks, but I want to take a trip down to the old UA Dungeon and congratulate Melissa myself, I think!"

Mirai nodded. "I'll tell Sorahiko that you're looking for him, sir. Is there anything else I can help with?"

Yagi paused for a moment, wondering if he should worry Mirai with the odd feeling he was getting. He decided against it. "Not at the moment, thank you. Now! I will go out and start to spread the word about this new Rune!"

Waving goodbye to Mirai, Yagi entered his throne room to see a line of people waiting to petition him for various things. But instead of sitting on his throne and going through them all straight away, he clapped, sending a slight shockwave through the air, ruffling some hair in the crowd.

"Citizens of Mightia! I have great news!"