"Is this… real?" Yaoyorozu asked, her eyes still puffy as she waved her hands through the holographic boxes. It made Izuku laugh, remembering how he'd done the same when he first saw it.
"I guess it depends on how you define 'real,' but if it's any indication, I took on an entire E-Rank Dungeon by myself. I'm way stronger," he responded.
"Then what is it?" Yaoyorozu's cares began to fade as her curiosity took over. "Is it a late Quirk Manifestation?"
Izuku immediately went to respond with "no," but stopped himself short. Quirks only ever manifested in Awakened Humans, but very few ever got them. There was no limit to when they could appear. Some got Quirks immediately upon Awakening, others had to wait years or even decades. One of the oldest Heroes didn't even get their Quirk until they were around 80 or so and was already retired.
Quirks defied all logic, even logic relating to Awakenings, which pushed humans past what physics considered possible. Quirks, like Endeavor's, made his flames have virtually limitless heat as long as he could supply Mana. Whereas other Heroes with flame magic had a very stanch limit on what they could output.
By that logic, there was no reason that this System couldn't have been a Quirk. With the way it broke all rules of Awakening, it wasn't out of the question.
"But it's too complicated for a Quirk…" Both Izuku and Yaoyorozu muttered to themselves at the same time. Looking up, they held a tense staredown for just a moment, before snorting in laughter.
"I feel like I'm losing my mind," Yaoyorozu said, an enormous grin stretching across her face. "These past few days have been so insane that I just…" She trailed off, the face of the giant creature momentarily reappearing in her mind. So she got back on track and asked. "Does it have any sort of intelligence?"
"Well it doesn't respond to questions, but it acknowledges verbal commands and comes up with these abilities I'd never even thought of before, which means it's not basing its behavior or powers off my own memories or creativity. It's coming up with this stuff on its own."
"So like it's… preprogrammed?" The two glanced over to the green boxes, a shudder running through their body.
"By whom?" Izuku lowered his chin, muttering to himself. "That giant thing was trying to kill us. Then again, the System was tied to that Gate. Maybe it wasn't trying to kill us… but just toying with us, making a big show of things. Perhaps it was just a puppet."
Yaoyorozu ignored him. She wasn't being rude, or even trying to avoid the memories of the Gate, it was just that her focus was now directed at a new box. "What's that?"
[Secret Questline Initiated: Inner Circle]
[Inner Circle Part 1: A Trusted Partner has been completed!]
[Rewards:]
1. Quest: Inner Circle Part 2
2. E-Rank Elemental Gem of Player's choosing.
3. B-Rank Instance Dungeon Key
[Secret Quest: Inner Circle Part 2: A Fellow Warrior]
[Requirements:]
1. Complete the B-Rank Instance Raid key given to the Player with the Player's trusted confidant.
Awkwardness shot through the pair as they read the word "partner," but it passed as Yaoyorozu was more focused on the second part. "I- No…"
Izuku didn't have to ask what she meant. "I understand. There's no way I could drag you back into a Dungeon after all this." He was disappointed, but hid it well. The two had obviously grown closer and Izuku would've loved to have an A-Rank like her as company, especially with her newfound knowledge of the System. "I…" He gathered his words carefully before speaking, not wanting to upset the girl. "You don't have to answer this, but… why did you take on Hero Work?"
She averted her gaze and gave a bittersweet smile. "I have to atone for all my parents have done… for what I'm responsible for. Raiding is all I can do." She said no more, which Izuku accepted with a nod. Not because his curiosity was tamed, in fact, he really wanted to know the details, but because her answer was pretty noncommittal in terms of her future. If anything, it seemed like she was still determined to right some wrong(s?) of her past. She wasn't totally giving up on Hero Work. If there was someone Izuku trusted to have by his side throughout all of this, it was her and he really hoped his assumption was correct.
"Go Beyond," He said, chuckling.
But Yaoyorozu just tilted her head, like a confused puppy. "What's that?"
Izuku turned bright red, embarrassed that his reference hadn't gotten through to her. He felt like one of those chuunibyou who acted like they were anime characters. "Uhm… it's nothing…" Apparently, Yaoyorozu was not as obsessed with the Hero world as he was in terms of fandom. He decided to not let slip that he kept track of UA alumni like some sort of creepy internet stalker.
But instead of reacting with discomfort like most, she just smiled and gave a small giggle. "Some things don't change I suppose. So, what will you do next?"
"What will I do next?" Izuku repeated the question back to her, pondering it before laughing. "Well, first thing's first… I gotta make rent!"
"That'll come out to around 50,000 yen," The teller took Izuku's bag of Villain Cores as the money was transferred into his account.
"That was everything from the E-Rank Gate and that giant centipede thing. Between rent, mom's medical bills, and the other assorted costs of living, this might cover half of the month."
Thanks to Raiding, other assorted jobs, and a not-so-insignificant amount of debt, he'd just barely managed to stay afloat with his sister, with Raiding providing most of it. Even without the student loans that put most of the young people in Japan into debt, Izuku stood far above (below?) them when it came to the amount of money he owed.
The last E-Rank Gate had been entirely cleared on his own, and yet the Villain Cores, magical stones imbued with Mana that could be used for the crafting of weapons and other materials, had been worth far less than other E-Rank Cores he'd collected before.
He briefly debated selling other parts of the System, like materials, weapons, armor or the new Fire-Type Elemental Gem he had gotten from the Inner Circle Questline. But in the end, decided that if he was going to take on more Gates, he needed all that to earn more money.
"It's just like a temporary investment… just gotta put enough power into my stats and then I'll be strong enough to sell off more valuable things." Izuku walked out of the Hero Safety Commission trading office, his head down as he mumbled to himself. "I might be able to take on a D-Rank Gate right now, but I don't have any keys, nor do I want to just show off the power I've accumulated to everyone. I could join a Raid team, but that would limit the amount of Levels I can get from it. I wonder if-"
"Hey watch out!" A girly feminine voice called out, activating Izuku's flight or fight response, but in the world of Heroes that he lived in, it was almost always fight.
Izuku's body, despite not spending all that much time fighting humanoid opponents, had spent a great deal of time becoming accustomed to fighting styles that would give him the slightest edge in combat. That, in combination with his body's ability to act before his mind could even catch up, was what had narrowly saved his life many times in the past. This time was no different. Not that it saved Izuku's life, it just made it a little easier.
Izuku didn't even need to look in order for his hand to snap out, catching someone by the wrist and using their momentum to pivot. He flipped them forwards, giving them a hard landing on the pavement of the sidewalk.
Izuku almost panicked for a moment fearing that he had injured an innocent man without a second thought. Thankfully, the man in question was not only holding a firearm, but a handful of Villain Cores.
Somehow, even in the age of fantastical weapons like swords, spears, and maces, which Heroes were allowed to open carry, guns remained outlawed without exceptionally specialized licenses. It was borderline impossible to find someone with one outside of high-ranking Heroes like Snipe or Lady Nagant. This guy didn't fit that bill.
"Woah! Nice moves!"
Izuku looked over to the source of the voice, finding a curvy girl with long pale-blue hair. Spirals of yellow energy were curving out of her body. She wore what looked like an elegant armored dress that spiraled just like her Quirk, giving her an almost surreal appearance.
"N-N-Nejire Hado…" Izuku was stricken speechless by the sight of the gorgeous up-and-coming Hero.
"Oh? Do you know me?!" Her question was filled with delight, as if she'd never had a fan before.
"You're one of UA's Big Three! An S-Rank Hero Student who was instrumental in the recent A-Rank Chiba Prefecture Raid!"
"Oooh, you know quite a bit! With moves and knowledge like that, could it be that you're gonna be applying for UA yourself?!" She jumped forwards, getting remarkably close to Izuku.
"TOO CLOSE!"
"Uh… I'm just an E-Rank."
Nejire cocked her head to the side. "Really? Your energy seems a lot different than an E-Rank… not like any other Rank I've seen though…"
The man on the floor groaned, beginning to recover from the move Izuku pulled. It saved him from the sudden curiosity from Nejire.
"Can't forget about you!" She said, grabbing him under the arms and heaving him up like he was a toddler. For an S-Rank, he was likely no heavier than a feather. She cuffed him, forcing him to drop the Villain Cores and gun. She exerted just a tiny amount of her S-Rank aura, forcing the man to go unconscious.
"Thanks for the help!" Nejire said to Izuku. "I can't let my full power go without damaging the buildings and I'm no good in alleyways. He was a surprisingly nimble little guy!"
"She couldn't catch him? She can't be that slow right? No… I can feel it coming off of her. She's serious business. She could erase me with less than a thought. Is that my Sense Stat letting me know I'm in front of someone that powerful?"
"I guess I rely on my energy detection a little too much!" She giggled. "I got so used to tracking Villains and Anti-Heroes that I forgot that normal humans don't have Mana." Anti-Hero was in reference to Awakened Humans who used their powers for evil. Technically, Anti-Heroes by definition were good guys, but just like gun laws in Japan, the name Anti-Heroes for Human Villains stuck.
"Uhm… no offense Miss Nejire, but-"
"Just Nejire-Chan!"
"Oh… uhm, okay. No offense, but why are you out here chasing this guy?"
She flashed a gleaming smile. "Well I can't just forget about the little guys! Heroes like Endeavor or Hawks are always going around with these big shows of power! I wanna be a Hero who can be relied on for any situation! This one was good practice to remind me that I still have a long way to go!"
"So bubbly," Izuku thought to himself, an uncontrollable smile pulling at his lips. "Most S-Ranks are so superior, I didn't expect her to be so humble."
"Well, I hope I didn't get in your way!" He said, bowing as a show of respect to the senior Hero. But if anything, that only upset her.
Like a toddler, she pouted, a display that any onlooker would call adorable. "Stop being so formal! You were the one who stopped him!"
"Heh, I kinda stumbled into it…"
"Well that just means you deserve even more thanks for it!" To anyone else, the S-Rank might've seemed patronizing, but Nejire was painfully earnest. It was behavior you expected from All Might, one of the few exceptions to the rule of S-Ranks being high and mighty warriors with no time for the "peasants."
"How about this!" She declared. "This guy was stealing from a Hero Pawn Shop. Help me bring back the stuff he stole and I'll buy you something from the old man working the place!"
"Oh I couldn't ask you to do that Miss- er, Nejire-Chan!"
"Nonsense!" Nejire chimed, grabbing Izuku's wrist as she hefted the criminal over her shoulder. "I'll get you whatever you want!"
"Ah…" Izuku realized that in some ways, Nejire was no different than some other S-Ranks. She was determined to get what she wanted, and her grip wasn't exactly something Izuku could break out of. "Well… I guess I have no choice." He chuckled to himself.
With the criminal still slung over her shoulder, Nejire introduced Izuku to the shop owner as he handed back the Villain Cores.
"These are worth a pretty penny!" The man said, clearly happy to see the Cores back. "Just a few of the Nomu Cores recovered from Jeju Island!"
"I promised I'd get him something for helping me! Is it okay if we browse for a bit?"
"Haha! Only you'd ask a storeowner if it was okay to give him some business, Nejire-Chan." The two were somewhat acquainted apparently.
At first, Izuku intended to dodge the issue of owing such a powerful Hero, but then he spotted something on one of the store's shelves. "What's that?"
"Oh that?" The elderly man walked over to the shelf, reaching up to grab the display case that held an ornate looking key. "Some fellow in a robe sold it to me. Apparently it was carved from the scales of Escath. Not sure what purpose it holds aside from being eye candy."
"Escath?" Nejire asked.
"It was one of the first B-Rank Boss Villains to break out of her Gate. A Lamia that nearly destroyed half of Germany on her own in the early days of Awakenings."
These days, it was exceptionally rare for anything less than an S-Rank Gate to break and cause damage to the real world, but back before Awakenings were common and Hero Society was built up, even a B-Rank Boss Villain was virtually immortal in the eyes of humanity. As such, despite being far weaker, Escath came to be known alongside names like Kamish, Orion, and Diablo as one of humanity's biggest threats.
[Item: Dungeon Key]
Item Class: C-Rank
Item Type: Key
Description: May be used to open an Instant Dungeon at Joren Falls in the Izu Prefecture.
Of course, neither Nejire nor the old man could see the display of the System.
"How much?" Izuku hesitantly asked.
The old man stroked his beard, then smiled. "Well… it hasn't sold in over a decade of business. For your help today and for Nejire-Chan… it's yours."
There were dozens of other valuable items in the shop, but none of them could compare to the worth of a Dungeon Key, something that only Izuku knew the true worth of.
"Cool!" Nejire did her best to clap her hands together without dropping the man over her shoulder. She didn't seem all that perplexed by his choice, which made Izuku wonder if she was just that positive of a person, or if she had deeper insight to it thanks to her status as an S-Rank. "Well I've gotta drop this guy off at the police station and sort through the paperwork!" She said it as if it was a trip to Tokyo Disney. "It was nice to meet you…! Oh… I never got your name!"
"Izuku Midoriya."
"Well Izuku, I hope I get to see you at UA soon! See ya later!"