"You got to meet Nejire-Chan?!" Kei hounded Izuku, following close at his heels as he went to grab something to eat from the fridge. "Izu that's not fair!"
He laughed. "Not fair? It's not like I went searching for her without you like some creep! We just stumbled into each other."
"The universe isn't fair," She grumbled, crossing her arms and pouting. "You gotta let me meet her."
"It's not like we exchanged numbers, Kei," Izuku responded, trying not to grow red at the thought of something like that with someone as popular as Nejire. He hadn't even exchanged numbers with Yaoyorozu. "Hmm… should probably do that…"
"Duh! If you get her number though, you need to give it to me as well."
"Huh?" Izuku looked back at his sister. "No, I wasn't talking about Nejire."
She rolled her eyes. "Eyes on the prize, Izu!"
"My eyes are on the prize," He clarified. "We're just not looking at the same thing you and me," He said with a grin.
"Dad wouldn't let you get away with this," She teased back.
"Heh, I suppose you're right." Before their mother had slipped into the Eternal Slumber - a state where a normal human accumulated too much Mana in their body and forced them into a coma - she had told them plenty of their father's exploits as his friends' go-to wingman. "If he was still alive, he'd probably be hounding me just as much as Kei…" He kept that one to himself as he looked over to the System's readout of the new Instant Dungeon key he had gotten.
"I'm gonna be heading out later today, Kei. I could be gone for a while."
"More Raids?" She asked suspiciously.
"Just a little one," Izuku lied, choosing not to look directly at Kei. "I don't see myself being gone more than a day."
"The last one was a little one too," Kei remarked.
"That was a fluke," Izuku promised, actually meaning it this time.
Kei pursed her lips, suddenly looking a lot older than a high school student. "Don't be stupid okay? Dad was an S-Rank… and even he…"
She needed to say nothing else. Izuku rested his hand on her head as she teared up. "You've got nothing to worry about." He sighed. "Man this is gonna become an open-secret if I'm not careful."
"I'm gonna be okay? Ya know why? Because I have a little secret to tell you about."
After enough time spent explaining the System to his sister, Izuku managed to get the green light to head to Joren Falls and use the key. This time, he wasn't able to choose whether or not to show her the System. Apparently vision of its game-like screens were a Quest Exclusive thing. However, after a quick demonstration of his strength, lifting the fridge up by one hand, Kei was convinced he was stronger. Even an E-Rank would struggle to do something like that with such ease.
And really, when it came down to it, Izuku wasn't one to tell such flippant lies. It didn't take long to convince Kei and before Izuku could even ask her to keep it a secret, she came to the same conclusion.
"The monetary benefits from this alone are huge… not to mention the threat it poses to the National and XS-Ranks position of power. If there's no limit, then… wow… You'd better not tell anyone about this, not unless you seriously trust them." That was Kei's thought process and it made Izuku proud. He'd not continued his education, and in the months leading up to the end of high school, his grades had regrettably started slipping. But Kei never let up, and pushed her intelligence past her brother as she continued to study, not only at school or home, but online, taking several extra classes and constantly learning about the world.
Izuku was worried she'd push herself too hard. That was one of the biggest problems for the youth of Japan after all, and too many had committed suicide because of the strenuous studies.
But even when Izuku told her to slow down, she refused. If anything she only pushed herself harder. Whether or not she really was flourishing, or just hiding the stress, was unknown to Izuku. Regardless, there wasn't much for him to do about it.
After taking a bus and then hiking up a trail, Izuku arrived at a small clearing, where massive and majestic waterfalls crashed into the white wake of a shallow lake that flowed into a stream some distance away.
These were the Joren Falls, a beautiful location that Izuku had always wanted to visit but never had the time or money to. Now he'd get the chance to become completely immersed in the terrain. If it was anything like the last Instant Dungeon, he'd get put into some sort of decrepit version of the lush forest. It was sad that was the version he'd have to experience, but he could always walk around and appreciate the bliss of nature once he had cleared the Dungeon.
"Okay… it's a C-Rank, which is a step up, but if I continue to grow during it… it'll be fine…" Izuku muttered under his breath as he pulled the key from his Inventory. He'd come all this way, and he felt there was no turning back now. Plus, he'd had two extra days of his Daily Quest, adding onto his Strength Stat.
Inserting it into the air in front of him, he felt it lock into place. With an unnatural smoothness, he turned the key, and it vanished from his hands. And yet… no Gate, or any sort of dimensional disturbance occurred before his eyes.
Izuku's brow scrunched up, and he looked around. Finding nothing, he was about to start searching the forest, but before he could begin, every inch of his body lit up, screaming DANGER at him.
He looked to where his Sense Stat pointed him, eyes widening at the torrent of flames heading for him.
Without a second thought, he equipped his gauntlets and punched the ground just in front of his feet.
[Skill: Echo Attack (Earth) has activated.]
Izuku jumped back, just in time to avoid the dozen or so spikes of stone that ruptured the earth beneath him. They formed a makeshift wall, obscuring Izuku from the massive blast of fire. The flames wrapped around the pillars, licking at Izuku's clothes and skin, but only managing to singe him. Within half of a second, the heat vanished, replaced by the coolness of the fall's air.
"Damn… that was close," Izuku let out a sigh peeking around the side of the pillars. He couldn't see whatever had thrown the flames, but what he could see was a new System Notification for a Quest.
"It's just handing out these like candy," Izuku cautiously went to examine it, but a shrill scream stopped him short. His blood went cold. It wasn't a Villain's shriek. It was a human.
[Quest: Be a Hero]
[Requirements:]
1. Save as many people as you can.
[Rewards will be determined based on the Player's performance.]
"No… wait!" Izuku shouted at the air, realizing what had just begun. "Cancel Quest! Cancel Dungeon!" There was no response, so he took off running in the direction of the scream.
"Nononononono!"
Izuku had no qualms about putting his own life on the line. He'd been closer to death more times than he could count. Maybe that was why he was so reckless in using a C-Rank key. But there was one thing he couldn't stand. The thing that made him feel so worthless. The thing that made his stomach churn.
When he was still the Weakest Hero, he would do his best to not get injured, to not become a liability to the Raiding Party. Of course, he always ended up being tended to by Yaoyorozu while the other Heroes fought. It was something that carved right through his soul. His heart sank whenever he put people, even Heroes, at a slightly greater risk, and now, he'd unleashed hell upon the serenity of Joren Falls.
"HELP!"
[Skill: Speedstrike has activated.]
Speed poured through Izuku's frame as he burned away at his Mana. So much so that he was having trouble maneuvering through the trees and thicket. And it wasn't long before he was charging headlong into a sturdy trunk without any way to stop or avoid it. So he crashed right through it.
Like a shotgun going off, the tree fractured into a thousand splinters, with Izuku rushing past them before they could even hit the ground. Within just a few seconds, he crashed through two more. The felling of each tree hurt him internally. He didn't want to cause so much damage, but saving the lives of others came first.
Thankfully, he didn't have to destroy many more before coming into a clearing, where a woman was running from an undulating beast.
[Flame Salamander]
The crimson salamander looked no different than any average salamander, except for the fact that it was larger than a Great Dane with a maw full of fire. And that maw was aimed squarely at the woman's back.
"I won't make it!" Izuku inwardly curses, one hand snatching out to grab the Elemental Gem from his Inventory.
[Skill: Speedstrike (Fire)]
Toggled Skill
Mana Cost: 2 per second
Description: When this Skill is active, the Player will move 75% faster and will be immune to any environmental or debuff slows. The Player's attacks will also be imbued with Fire Elements when this Skill is active.
Even with the boost in speed, and the decrease in Mana, the Salamander's breath would beat him.
"NO!"
It was a sensation he hadn't felt since the Gate that started this all. The thin strings of life dancing between souls. His was stronger than ever, a thick carbon steel threading. But the woman's was little more than a frayed piece of silk.
"I don't just want to fight for my family anymore. I want to save everyone I can. I want to grow stronger for the sake of everyone who has suffered because of the Gates…"
Izuku's own words filled his head, and his heart. And like a cable snapping, he blurred forwards, calling upon his Hero's favorite catchphrase.
"SMASH!"
The Salamander didn't even have time to register that it was decapitated. All it saw was its body walking around in confusion before death caught up with it.
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have acquired Title: Hysterical Strength of a Hero. When pushed to the limits, the Player has the chance to access more strength than their body can handle, effectively doubling their Strength and Agility Stats for a single strike. This title can only be invoked every 30 minutes.]
Izuku skidded to a stop, the forest path behind him a burned husk from his speed. He clutched at his thighs in pain. The muscles were rebelling against the display, in fact, every tendon or ligament in his body was unhappy with Izuku.
"It's fine… I can handle it," He told himself as he spun around to look for the woman he'd saved.
[Bystander has been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 1]
"Well that's handy… But it doesn't say how many people are in trouble…" Izuku grumbled under his breath, spreading out his Sense Stat as far as it would go. But since it could only pick up on Mana, and since the only people in the forest were normal humans, Izuku would have to rely on the positions of Villains and go through them as fast as he possibly could.
[Mana: 300/375]
"150 seconds of Speedstrike." Izuku let out a heavy sigh as he crouched down into a sprinter's pose. "It'll be enough. It has to be." Then, he took off.
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 3]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
Izuku no longer bothered waiting for the alerts. There was no time to waste. The faster he went, the stronger he'd get. He couldn't stop for even a moment. He needed to go faster. He couldn't let a single person suffer. He had to save them all.
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 6]
The Salamander's were no match for him. They weren't fast enough to keep up with him. Their defense was low. And their senses were dull.
"Even the E-Rank Dungeon was more difficult than this!" Izuku shouted, carving through half a dozen more Villains. He almost felt bad for them. But he recognized that the difficulty of this Dungeon was not the monsters. Rather, it was the people he aimed to save.
[Mana: 280/450]
Thanks to his increasing Level, Izuku was burning through his Mana storage at a snail's pace. As long as he didn't run out of Villains to fight and people to save, it would hold steady for him.
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 8]
Izuku couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. Nothing could stop him. Hell nothing could even slow him down. But that wasn't the reason for his smile. Izuku was no longer the bystander, the liability on the battlefield. He was the Hero who saved people with a smile.
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 13]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 20]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 25]
By the time Izuku managed to comb through the forest, the Salamanders, which he killed in droves, were no longer giving him all that much experience. Which made sense, since they were pretty weak to begin with.
Izuku shook his head at that thought. "Just a week ago, I would've seen them as impossible foes to beat… now they're weak?" He felt like berating himself for such an analysis. "So this is how the S-Ranks became the way they are." He mused to himself. "Gotta be careful then. Can't let this go to my head…"
[Player has reached Level 30]
[Special-Level Based Rewards have been distributed.]
[Rewards:]
1. One Random Q-
Izuku's attention snapped away from the System, his Sense Stat lighting up like a rich house on Christmas. "That's the Boss… And… people…"
Having grown over 10 Levels, his Sense Stat not only increased the range at which he could Sense Mana accurately, but it also expanded his physical senses. Now, the quiet sobbing of a dozen people filled his ears.
[Skill: Speedstrike (Fire) has activated.]
If his Senses were right, this was the final challenge, the last Villain and the last group of bystanders. Only once they were safe, would Izuku's guilt die down.
"This System… I can't trust it… If it puts these people in danger so easily… what else is it capable of?"
It was an undeniable fact that Izuku needed the System, for his own growth, for his family, and for those he wanted to protect. But, up until that point, it had only presented Izuku with threats. Now, the rules of the game had changed.
Izuku now gave no thought to the trees before him, crashing forwards with abandon. He hoped that the noise of the trees snapping would draw the Villains attention away from its victims. He was correct.
An explosion of force emerged at Izuku's side, blasting him off course and slamming into a nearby rocky wall.
"Ow…" He groaned, pulling himself from the wall to look up at what had hit him.
[Toxic Flames, Rasaka.]
The creature was a long royal-blue snake, with fangs the size of Izuku's forearms.
"Rasaka… Wait… wasn't that the name of Anok's mate?" Izuku recalled the E-Rank Dungeon's Boss Villain. "There's no way it knows I was the one who killed it… right?"
The snake unhinged its jaw and let out a hiss that was closer to a roar. There was clear rage in its slitted eyes.
"Okay I guess it does."
[Rasaka is affected by Buff: Vengeance.]
[Rasaka's Speed and Strength will be enhanced by 50% and Rasaka will feel far less pain.]
Izuku could still barely hear the cries of civilians, and Rasaka's belly wasn't bulging, as it would if it ate a whole human being like a normal snake. Which meant it hadn't gathered the people to eat.
"You… set a trap?"
It was hard for Izuku to hide the amazement in his voice. He'd heard of Villains setting traps before. Orcs and Goblin-types tended to do so. But they never took hostages, never corralled them in order to trap more Heroes.
This Villain wasn't just brute force like the others. It had a sense of the battlefield, the wants and desires of others. It was intelligent. And Izuku could respect that.
"I'm sorry," He bowed his head to the snake. It was foolish from a battle standpoint, but Izuku couldn't help himself. "I underestimated your emotions. I didn't realize I'd hurt you that badly. I had no choice but to kill Anok. However, that doesn't mean it was right. I have people I want to protect as well. This world is cruel…"
Rasaka's hiss was more subtle this time.
[Buff: Vengeance has not faded.]
[Rasaka has permitted the bystanders to be teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders have been teleported to the safe zone.]
[Bystanders Saved: 39]
[All bystanders have been saved.]
[Rewards have been dispensed based on your performance.]
[Performance: Perfect]
The System went on displaying messages, but Izuku ignored them, staring directly into Rasaka's eyes. "Thank you."
Izuku may have just imagined it, but he could've sworn the snake bowed its own head in return. Even still, there was no ignoring the rage pouring off of it. It was no animal, but it was also not so easily swayed to forget the ache in its heart.
"Then I'm sorry. I have no choice but to fight you to the death as well, and I don't intend to abandon my family."
Without another silent exchange between them, the snake curled in on itself before snapping forwards. With Speedstrike active, Izuku could only barely avoid the attack.
Rasaka's head smashed into the same rock wall that Izuku had, but unlike the teenage Hero, it showed no sign of slowing, bouncing off the rock like it was made of gel.
"Is it bleeding?" Izuku dodged another strike, getting a glance at its forehead. It was indeed spilling a gross brown blood from its head. "I can use its resistance to pain against it."
Rather than fight the Villain head on, Izuku began positioning himself between the snake and the environment. Under normal circumstances, something as simple as a rock wall wouldn't be able to injure a Villain. But because the Villain was using all its strength to slam against it, its own body was slowly accumulating damage. Damage that the Villain couldn't feel.
Izuku remembered stories of CIPA patients, people born with the genetic defect that kept them from feeling pain. They could slice open their skin, or dunk their hand in boiling water and not feel a thing. And therein laid the downside, they couldn't recognize injury, so if they weren't careful, they could end up killing themselves.
And Rasaka was no different. Throwing its whole weight into attacks had begun to deform its own skull, crushing itself in the process.
"I'm sorry," Izuku murmured. "I'm not sure if there is such a thing as an afterlife, but I hope there is." He felt a kinship with the Villain. They were both doing what they thought was right to protect or avenge those they loved. "I hope you get to see your mate again."
This time, when Rasaka charged, Izuku didn't dodge, but charged head-on, dropping to slide along the ground at the last second. Because of the head injury, Rasaka was beginning to slow, their thought process and reflexes dulling. They couldn't react in time as Izuku's fist aimed upwards, right at the bottom of Rasaka's chin.
[Skill: Echo Attack (Earth) has activated.]
Rasaka's head was launched straight up from the force, its slithering body whipping around in a panic, striking Izuku and knocking him through several trees. Unfortunately, for the creature, it was already over.
Thanks to Izuku's Hide Piercer Title, the scales around Rasaka's head had become cracked and weakened. Which meant that when the stone spikes rose from the ground, they skewered Rasaka like it was nothing.
[You have defeated Boss Villain Rasaka.]
Izuku lowered his head out of respect. "I'm sorry…" He muttered again, the glimmer of tears at the corners of his eyes.
Grunting, he pulled himself to his feet, wiping away the tears. "Well, I suppose I shouldn't be upset, no one got hurt."
[You have obtained Items from Rasaka's body:]
1. C-Rank Elemental Enhancement Gem (Poison)
2. Concentrated Venom
3. C-Rank Boss Villain Core
4. Scale Smashers (Gauntlets)
[Special-Level Based Rewards have been distributed.]
[Rewards:]
1. One Random Quirk
2. One Random Rune Stone
[Rewards have been dispensed based on your performance.]
[Performance: Perfect]
[Rewards:]
1. One Random Quirk
2. +40 Stat points
3. Hero's Amulet (Artifact)
Izuku's eyes went wide at the mass of rewards he had been given, but they went even wider when they presented him with Quirks. He immediately wanted to comb through every last drop of loot he had been granted. However, with sirens approaching, and a mysterious Gate Break, he didn't want to remain for any longer. The situation had been his fault, but if he stayed, the authorities would only be confused by his explanation, possibly even try to apprehend him.
If someone had been killed, Izuku would've owned up to it and accepted the blame, but since no one had died, he felt it was okay to leave the rest to the cops and paramedics.
Taking one last glance at Rasaka's corpse, still held high by the stone pillars, Izuku vowed to never again take the life of a Villain so lightly. They were monsters that threatened humanity, but they weren't without empathy. Izuku had never thought of them as creatures of emotion, just unfeeling killing machines. That was a mistake.
"Rest well with your mate," He offered to the empty air. "Maybe the world after this one isn't so cruel."
A/N: Finally got another chapter out! Traveling and my page has kept me pretty damn busy. I'm not excited to start school again at the end of Winter Break lol! Hope you all enjoyed! I really liked this chapter, not just for all the juicy loot, but I enjoyed adding depth to the Villains and Izuku's own struggle with killing them without remorse. Don't panic and think he's gonna become TOO soft, it is a Solo Leveling story after all, but we all know Izuku isn't exactly devoid of empathy, even for Villains.
See ya next chapter!