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[Challenge]
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…
After returning from school, Taka curiously checked his gains for the day.
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[STATUS PAGE]
▸ Strength: 50
▸ Defense: 100
▸ Aura Projection: 0
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Total Aura: 9
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Skills: None
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Without overthinking it, he ordered the system to allocate all his Aura into Aura Projection, bringing the stat up to 9 points.
Rummaging through his backpack, he pulled out the same pen he had used earlier to shut up one of his classmates.
"Alright, let's see… 9 should at least be enough to lift it, right?"
Since both of his physical stats were in the 50-100 mark, 9 points were pitiful in comparison, but they should be able to lift a pencil at least, shouldn't they?
He squinted and pointed a finger at the pen—not because it was necessary, but because it helped him focus... and because he thought it made it cooler.
Gotta enter that mindset, you know?
Immediately, the pen lifted into the air, floating above his hand and moving in sync with his finger. Like a director in a band.
The only difference from earlier was that it felt incredibly heavy for a pen.
"At least seven times heavier." Taka snorted before stopping the technique and stuffing the pen back into his bag.
With his little experiment complete, he quickened his pace, eager to get home and rest.
But as he crossed the street, he ran into a huge crowd blocking the sidewalk. Their attention was fixed on the road, where a chaotic fight was unfolding. Several heroes were ganging up on a single massive villain, a guy with bulging muscles and antler-like horns sprouting from his back.
As Taka's eyes landed on the scene, an unexpected chime rang in his ears.
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[This evildoer can't get away! Help the heroes, and establish your heroic presence early before officially taking on the path of a true Aura Farmer.
Conditions for completion:
▸Help the heroes capture the villain.
Reward: Gain Aura. The amount increases based on your performance.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
Taka blinked, then glanced back at the villain.
"GET AWAY OR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!" the guy roared, flipping cars and cracking the pavement as he charged forward. He swung at a hero, sending him flying straight through the window of a nearby shop.
—CRASH!—
The impact happened barely a meter away from Taka. The hero passed by him like a rag doll before piercing the glass.
Taka smirked and closed his eyes—the image of effortless confidence.
Of course, that wasn't what he was thinking.
"Aw hell naw."
Yeah, he might've gained a Quirk, or a system—whatever this thing was—but he was not about to jump into a fight with this guy and die.
Without hesitation, he turned around and started walking away.
But just as he did, a screen flashed in front of him, blocking his way. Despite being intangible, it felt like a roadblock.
"Hah?" Taka frowned, then glanced at the fight from the corner of his eye.
That's when his eyebrows shot up.
"Oh."
For a moment, he stayed silent, simply spectating the battle from a safe distance, with his eyes squinting as if in great doubt.
Then, his eyes turned to the rewards of the mission, licking his lips almost by instinct—only to shake his head furiously the next second.
'Come on Taka, don't let greed blind you! If you screw this up, you're not ending up in a hospital but in a coffin!'
For a while more, he looked torn between dipping out of there or taking on the challenge.
Ultimately, however, he fell for his primal instincts.
'Alright, let's get that aura baby!'
Leaving those resolute words—more because he wanted to placate the unease in his heart rather than to express his greed—Taka began making his way back to the crowd, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead as he approached the chaotic scene.
Once he returned to the dreaded place, he dived right into the crowd of people, blending in just like an excited teenager wanting to see heroes in action.
Then, when he finally reached the front row, where he had a vast view of the whole battlefield, he began rummaging through his backpack... until he took out what he was looking for.
The pencil.
'Dunno if this will do anything, but I suppose it's worth a shot.' He swallowed hard, then opened his status page, sending the system a command.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[STATUS PAGE]
▸ Strength: 50 → 10
▸ Defense: 100 → 10
▸ Aura Projection: 9 → 139
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Total Aura: 9
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Skills: None
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Instantly, he almost fell to his knees, gathering a few looks of concern from the people around him who weren't that focused on the fight.
"You alright, kid?" A woman asked, looking at him with concern.
Taka nodded, trying his best to maintain a straight face as he pushed himself to stand again. "Yeah, I saw a coin and bent to pick it up."
An old man from nearby clicked his tongue. "Lucky kid."
As the attention shifted back to the fight to the death between the heroes and the villain, Taka exhaled exhausted, gritting his teeth as he struggled to stay on his feet.
'So this is what happens when I take away points from my strength stat… I can barely maintain myself on foot.' He swallowed and breathed hard, almost as if he were performing an extremely difficult exercise. 'Not to mention that now I feel like the punch of a little kid would be enough to break one of my bones.'
Shaking his head, at least mentally since he didn't know if he had the strength to perform such an extenuating task, he decided to put his complaints for later and got right into action, releasing his hold on the pencil, and dropping it to the ground.
However, as it fell, it suddenly stopped before it touched the ground. Then, it quickly began moving swiftly through the crowd, circling around the fighting area like a snake waiting to strike.
Taka's gaze darted between the pencil and the villain, gauging the perfect moment to make his move.
Then, his eyes widened.
One of the heroes, a woman with hammers for hands, began sprinting towards the villain, raising her hand in preparation for a powerful blow.
However, the villain caught wind of it pretty quickly and rapidly prepared to intercept the hit—either to block it or to counter it.
'Now!'
However, before he could take his stance, a small blur shot from the crowd, moving like a bullet in his direction.
Right as he prepared to intercept the hit, the villain felt a sharp pain in the back side of his knee, bending it slightly for a moment, and distracting him for a brief moment—one that lasted enough for the hero to make her move.
-Clang!-
"—Uck!"
The woman swung her hammer, and with a nasty hit, snapped the villain's head to the side as some teeth, spit, and blood escaped his mouth.
The blow sent the giant straight to the floor, his head spinning like never before.
"He's down, restrain him!"
"It's our chance!"
"Don't let him move!"
Right away, most of the heroes present moved to restrain the villain while he was down. Putting some high-tech cuffs on his wrists.
"...?"
However, as the heroes restrained the man, one of them noticed a peculiarity.
A pencil, embedded right into the man's back of the knee.
But just as he was kneeling down to inspect it—
-Squelsh!-
—The pencil janked itself free and flew back to the crowd, disappearing from his view in an instant.
Frowning, the hero marched toward the crowd.
"Hey, who used their Quirk to attack unauthorizedly?"
On the other side, Taka smirked faintly as he maneuvered the pencil through the sea of people, letting it weave and dart between them until it reached his side. The hero's suspicion had been successfully misdirected to a group of people away from him, leaving Taka scot-free.
With his work done, he exhaled deeply and immediately restored his stats to their original state. His body nearly jumped as the sudden increase in strength hit him, but he forced himself to remain steady.
Then, quickly yet discreetly, he tossed the pencil back into his backpack, careful not to touch the blood on its tip. The last thing he wanted was to give the angry hero in the distance a clue about his involvement with the criminal pencil.
Just as he secured it, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[COMPLETED!]
[This evildoer can't get away! Help the heroes, and establish your heroic presence early before officially taking on the path of a Hero!]
Conditions for completion:
▸Help the heroes capture the villain.✔
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
<+65 Aura!>
Taka scoffed. "Alright, alright, Sekiro."
Despite his grumbling, a grin crept onto his face as he glanced at his reward.
65 additional points of Aura—that was enough to keep him from draining his basic stats too much and nearly collapsing like before.
At least he hoped so.
However, just then, his smile froze as a familiar chime rang in his ears.
<[+5 Aura]>
"Huh? Wha—?"
He turned in confusion, his gaze landing on the old man from earlier. The elderly man was smiling at him, giving him a firm thumbs-up.
Taka blinked before offering a wry smile in return. With a slight bow, he quickly slipped away from the scene, vanishing into the crowd and then quickly running away, taking another way to this house.
The last thing he wanted was for the old guy to snitch on him with the heroes, despite seeming nice.
After a while of running and being out of breath, he finally stood in front of his house.
Without hesitation, he opened the door and entered.
Uncaringly and evidently fed up, Taka didn't even bother to leave his shoes neatly at the entrance. He simply shook them off with a kick and left them sprawled over there.
However, as he made his way inside, ready to go to his room and plummet onto his comfy bed, a figure appeared and blocked his way.
"Oi, Taka… I heard quite the interesting news today while I was working."
Taka's smile twitched, and he glanced at the person who stood before him.
A blonde man, sporting a ridiculous monkey costume like it was the most natural thing in the world, stood proudly in front of him with both hands on his waist.
"Your school called me… What's this about having a Quirk?"
Murata Seiji, a Professional Hero—albeit infamous—called Super Monkey… And Taka's guardian.
...
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: I was wondering who would fulfill the mentor's role, because it's a fun trope to write, and, voalá, I came across this image. Hence, I had the idea of makjing a character like that.
->
So yeah, that's Seiji. Inspired by the goat GTO.)