" do you agree to my offer? "
" I refused "
Izuku resolutely rejected the Hyakki boss's offer. The boss's face contorted at Izuku's answer but a smirk formed on his face. As if expecting a battle to occur, the Hyakki boss told him his name.
" fine, my name is Baruka, what's yours? "
" Izuku "
Battle once again broke out. The shadow soldiers fought Hyakki's army. Izuku along with Igris and Iron came forward to face Baruka head-on.
Clashes between weapons were heard throughout the battle, sparks formed whenever their weapons clashed against each other. The fight between Izuku and Baruka is temporarily a series, considering that the weapons they wield are the same.
Izuku retreated to make a distance, and signal Todoroki to attack. Baruka's body was shrouded in Todoroki's blue flames, Igris appeared from behind the fire, trying to attack him, but Baruka was faster and able to avoid Igris's attack.
Izuku reappeared behind him, attacking him using Rasaka's Fang, the effect of the dagger had given him an effect, however, because the enemy's resistance was higher, the effect was lost.
" you trash are quite persistent "
" You're not in the position to say such a thing, how about looking around you? "
The army led by Baruka was successfully suppressed by Izuku's shadow soldiers and there was almost nothing left of them.
" Is that all your soldiers are capable of? "
" YOU BASTARD...! THOSE SOLDIERS WILL BE GONE IF I GET RID OF YOU! "
Izuku threw the Knight Killer at Baruka, he increased the speed of the dagger using the 'Dominator Touch' skill. Baruka tried to block it which make his dagger shatter. Iron emerged from behind and then held Baruka's body in his arms. Izuku retreated as fast as he could then turned his gaze to Todoroki and the magicians.
" Todoroki-San NOW! "
A pillar of fire formed where Baruka was. The resulting temperature was no joke, the layer of snow around the fire pole immediately melted and dried up. With Todoroki's magic and the magicians combined, there should be no survivors of it. But they couldn't let their guard down considering how their opponents were able to deal with Izuku and Igris's attack alone.
The fire dimmed, revealing Baruka's figure covered with burn marks all over his body.
" you bastard, I'LL KILL YOU ALL... "
Before Baruka could do anything, Izuku was already there, stabbing Baruka with his dagger while using the 'Stealth' skill to avoid his detection.
" looks like this is the end "
" WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE FACING..?! "
Baruka took Izuku's hand, he then quickly shook it off, walking away and letting Iron deliver the final blow. Thanks to Iron's heavy blow, Baruka's body lay lifeless under Izuku's feet.
" I told you, this is the end "
ring~
[The dungeon boss has been defeated]
[You leveled up]
[You leveled up]
After a sigh of relief, Izuku stared at the body of the boss he had just defeated. He took a step closer and said the command line.
" Arise! "
ring~
[You have successfully extracted the shadow]
[Please choose a name for this soldier]
" Baruka "
[Baruka LV.1]
Rank: Knight
Once again an army of shadows was formed from the monsters he managed to kill. With this Izuku's combat power has increased. If this continues, he will be able to complete B-rank gate or above.
After dealing with the boss and dropping items, Izuku drew his shadow soldiers back into his shadow and approached Todoroki who was sitting on the snow.
" Todoroki-san, are you okay? "
" apart from running out of mana, nothing else, that last blow consumed all my mana "
Izuku opened his inventory and gave Todoroki a bottle of recovery potion.
" Should we get out of here, since the boss has been killed, it won't be long before the gate will be closed, the other teams should also be finished by now "
" Okay "
Izuku offered his hand to Todoroki, he then accepted it because he was too exhausted due to the previous fight. The two of them headed towards the entrance of the gate with Hunter's body on their backs.
When they arrived at the entrance, another group had already gathered there. They also managed to find the missing Hunter, and could only bring back his body. As expected, there were no survivors.
Ichirou sees them and approached them, he then asked them a lot of questions.
" Izuku! Todoroki! fortunately, you guys are fine, are you guys probably encountering a dungeon boss during the search? I can feel strong mana coming from the direction you guys heading "
" yes, but we managed to kill him somehow "
" May I know what kind of boss you guys are fighting? "
" it was Hyakki "
" huh?!, you guys fight that monster? "
" yes, it was a tough fight, but with the help of Todoroki-san, we won somehow "
" um.. that's good, now let's leave here before the gate closes "
They all went out of the gate and the gate was closed as soon as they came out. The bodies of the Hunters were temporarily housed in body bags while waiting for the ambulance that would take them to the hospital.
As a Hunter, the risk of death will always loom as long as you enter the gate. It is not unusual for incidents like this to happen, after all, the first rule and what the Hunters always emphasize is that anything can happen in the dungeon.
Hunter's profession is different from Heroes, their job is to kill and they are closer to death than they seem. All the Hunters under the association already knew this fact, still, they were willing to enter the gate. Considering how much profit they gained after one raid.
Some may enter to earn money, but some enter the gate because they feel the pleasure of killing monsters and seek the thrill of fighting. But of all those reasons, the most common reason is that the gate is where they are. They used to be nothing before becoming hunters, but after receiving awakened they could feel the power and wealth.
Izuku is no different, put aside the wealth, he just looking for a place that will accept him as he is. It's hard to find a place that will accept you're quirkless.
It didn't take long for the ambulance to arrive and take Hunter's body to the hospital. After finishing the report and sending off the dead Hunter, Izuku goes to the dormitory but he is stopped by Todoroki. He almost forgot to give him an explanation.
" I'll explain it as soon as we get to the dormitory, I'm so tired, please "
" tch, fine "
The two of them headed to the dormitory and stopped by the park in front of the dormitory to talk. Todoroki was sitting on one of the park benches while waiting for Izuku to buy a drink. Izuku came over with two cans of soda in his hand, he handed it to Todoroki and sat down beside him.
" so what do you want to know? "
" everything, starting from how you talked to the monster and how you got the black army "
" for the first question, I'm still not sure how it happened, for now, I'm just assuming that it might have something to do with the power I possess, for the next question I think I'll have to tell you about how I gained power "
Izuku started talking about how he was trapped in a double dungeon after being beaten by his sister and childhood friends, how he rolled around trying to survive in the dungeon, and then about the journey of how he became strong up until now. He didn't tell him about the system's existence since it was the main base of his power.
Todoroki remained silent as Izuku spoke, he remained silent as if he was thinking about something. Izuku glanced at him to confirm his response.
" Well, it's more or less like that, to be honest, I'm not sure what exactly the source of my power is and why it chose me, I believe the answer will appear someday. What I can do now is to continue to become stronger, while understanding my strength little by little "
" you have a life like garbage there "
" I do not deny it, being born in a family of heroes is very difficult when it comes to fame "
" wait, your family is a hero? "
" It was my father, my mother was just an ordinary person but she had high self-esteem. My parents put my existence aside and only focused on my twin sister thanks to her strong quirk, my sister also hated my existence for being quirless, she always beat me with her friends during her time at school if she had the opportunity "
" I think compared to your life, my life is still better, at least my younger siblings don't hit me "
" you have siblings? "
" a younger sister and two younger brothers, the youngest of your age if I'm not mistaken "
" It must be nice if you can get along well with each other "
" well, not all my siblings get along well, at least not the youngest, our father separated him from us and my other younger siblings so that dad could train him to be a hero the way he wanted "
" wow it must be hard for him, is your father the kind of person who has high self-esteem or what? "
" Unfortunately... "
" what about your mother? "
" Well, she... got a lot of a hard time thanks to my father "
" I'm sorry for your mother...
You know after hearing your story, I realized one other fact about the heroes "
" what is it? "
" they may succeed as heroes, but fail as a family "
Todoroki was silent for a while and then began to laugh at Izuku's words. Izuku also laughed at this fact.
" hahaha... you have a point "
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. Because of awkwardness, Izuku then tries to break the atmosphere. There was a question that bothered him a little a long time ago, this is also a question for himself.
" Todoroki-san, do you hate your family? "
Todoroki thought for a moment before finally answering
" no, just my father, I blame him for putting me in this state, also for destroying our family just because of his stupid ambitions.
What about you? seeing the way they treat you is not so surprising if you hate them. "
" to be honest I'm not so sure, instead of hating I'm more disappointed by how quickly they turn their back against me. I decided to give up my surname so I could move on from those sad days and live a new life "
" you said you were reported missing, is your family ever trying to find you "
" they did, but gave up in the end, I thought they already regarded me as a dead person. And now I'm just a wandering ghost.
Is it the same as you? "
" Almost, except for the fact that I was dead. There was a big fire on the mountain where I used to train, I was waiting for my father to show him the development of my quirk, but no matter how long I waited for that day, he did not come. Just then suddenly a gate appeared out of nowhere and pulled me in.
I was dragged to the gate and had to survive on my own. I used my quirk too much, causing it to become unstable until it started raging and almost burned the entire area after I got out. I lost my right arm in that accident and half of my face was burned. I was able to survive thanks to Sugimoto-San who got there on time. If he hadn't come that time, I don't know what I would be now "
" is that how you became a hunter? "
" Yeah "
A thought suddenly flashed through Izuku's head, an extreme thought he had as the worst-case scenario, the thought of revenge.
" Todoroki-San, have you ever thought about revenge? "
" yes, I want to see that person fall, after all, I always blame him for every misfortune that befalls me. He burned his obsession with me until I ended up like this.
My dream of becoming a hero also comes from him. The only thing he taught me anyway was how to start a fire.
How are you? never thought of revenge? "
" yes I have, but then again everything is still vague to me. I'm still not sure if it's necessary, because I no longer have any feelings for them, not even anger or hatred "
Izuku was leaning on a park bench, looking up at the moving clouds in the orange afternoon sky. He was lost in thought, reflecting on his family. But he then erased those thoughts, he just didn't want to care about what happened in the past.
He looked at Todoroki, he knew that the two of them had some similarities since the first time they met. His gaze was similar to him, it contains the same hatred, although in different directions. Izuku is to himself for being weak, while Todoroki on his father who put him in this situation.
Izuku assumed that he could make some kind of connection with him somehow. Todoroki often avoids this kind of conversation with others and simply leaves. He smiled that he could talk to Todoroki comfortably, it was nice for Izuku to have this kind of conversation with Todoroki, just like having friends which was a rare thing for him.
" you know, it seems that we have more in common than we thought "
" where did you get that conclusion from? "
Izuku then lifted the soda can and pointed it at Todoroki. Todoroki just glanced and then asked what this was about.
" for what is it? "
" I just think that we should toast "
" what for? "
" I don't know, for work had to try to survive in this crazy world "
Todoroki smiled acceptingly, he then lifted his soda can as well.
" Cheers "
" Cheers "
.