Commander Abraham sighed
He once again reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out another piece of paper, but this time he just handed it over to Izuku to read. Izuku unfolded it, laying it out on the counter.
Dear Mr Izuku Midoriya.
We, the current council members governing Mustafu, acknowledge your claim to 85% of the unidentified [Dragon] corpse laying in the town square, as required by ‘Monster Claim Laws’ section ‘Reward Splitting and Shares’. Under ‘Reward Splitting and Shares’, as the one who killed the unidentified [Dragon], you are entitled to first claim on your spoils.
The further 15% has been split between Rumi Usagiyama, Sir David Shield, and the Guardsmen of Mustafu.
If you have any issues with this outcome or wish to receive further information about the process behind this decision, please contact the office of Sir Naomasa Tsukauchi, Royal Constable.
Izuku read the letter once.
And then twice.
And then a third time, just to be really sure that he was reading it right. And then he turned it around and let Rumi read it because he couldn’t believe what he was reading. But when she nodded her head to him, giving him a subtle thumbs up, it sunk in.
Izuku was getting official credit for the death of the [Dragon]. Official credit. He had pretty much been expecting a visit from some nobleman or woman to say that they were going to cover up the aberrant [Incursion], but that didn’t seem to be happening.
Rumi snorted. “Pfft, you should see your face, Izuku. You look like someone just told you Emperor Yagi was gonna sign your sword.”
Izuku put down the letter, folding it back up. “This… this is just... I’m really sorry, but I’ve been here less than 2 months, and already everything in my life has exploded like this… I’m a little overwhelmed.”
Rumi’s smug look softened a bit, but Commander Abraham just clicked his tongue. “Yes, yes, the adventurer lifestyle is rather insane, you are correct. Now. Can you come with me to the town square? We really do need to get your [Earthspike]s gone, and I’d prefer it to be before Master Shield wakes up.”
Izuku nodded. “Yea, just let me… let me get dressed, or at least figure out how to, and I will meet you there.”
Commander Abraham rolled his eyes. “Fine, but be quick about it.”
He then turned on his heel and marched out of the Hatsume forge, off to go do… whatever it was that he was doing. Izuku didn’t really care. Rumi shook her head, as the door swung closed, her arms crossed.
“God I fucking hate that guy. 5 gold says that if I wasn’t here he would have tried to trick you into lowering your loot share.”
Izuku just nodded, still, a little disorientated from the whole [Dragon] corpse reveal, which seemed to be the stick that broke the camel's back on all the stuff he had experienced in his short time in Mustafu.
Small tears escaped his eyes as his forehead hit the countertop. “Why is everything so crazy? Why can’t I just… get a break? First, it was just the bells! They were weird but fine. Then it was [Heroic Surge], and whatever the hell that void was… and now its a whole [Dragon] corpse that I get to claim most of…”
A small cough-sob thing escaped him, and he felt Sir Ratsudon brush it against his leg. “I went from a village kid that nobody wanted to [Party] with, to killing dragons in less than a month. I don't know why all this crazy stuff is happening around me and now people like Sir Shield are getting hurt.”
He jolted in surprise as he felt a hand on his back. “Look, Izuku, I ain't about to say that any of the shit around you is normal. I don't know what bells you’re talking about, but even with only like, a week of being around you, I can tell shit is pretty weird for you.”
She sighed. “But I reckon Shield is fully fucking aware of that. That's probably the whole reason he hired me to ‘guard’ you. Ha, a fat lot of good I ended up doing, eh? Never had a client end up protecting me before.”
He pushed up against the countertop with his hands and looked at Rumi, who’d taken a seat on it. Once he was back sitting in his chair he tried wiping a few tears away and made eye contact with her. Rumi coughed, turning away from him as her ears folded down slightly.
“Anyway. Shit might be weird, but you’re tough. Tougher than I thought, even, and I already had a pretty good impression of ya. And not only that, but you got people backing you. That pink girl, Shield’s daughter, Shield himself… and your [Party], alright?”
Rumi smirked. “Hell, if you’re nervous about having a whole-ass [Dragon] corpse, why not just give it to me?”
Izuku’s mouth gaped as he sputtered a bit, causing Rumi to burst out laughing. “I’m kidding, Izuku, damn. God, I’m upset I’m getting a share of it to begin with! That thing knocked me flat on my ass in one go, so in my eyes, I don't have any claim to it.”
Rumi hopped off the counter, landing on the hardwood floor silently. “Now, let's move on past all this and get you dressed!”
Izuku froze at that. “W-what? What do you mean?”
Rumi just gave him a look. “Dude, you're rolling around in a chair on wheels. I can tell you can’t use your legs right now, so I’m gonna help you get dressed so you can fix that fuckheads issue. Then we can go do something fun!”
Rumi hopped the counter and physically picked up the chair he was sitting on, effectively showing that he was going to be helped, no matter what. He glanced at Sir Ratsudon, who was giving him the closest thing to what he could imagine a rat considered smirking.
“Traitor!”
Rumi cackled as she moved past the forge area, and Sir Ratsudon padded along behind them both.
“Alright! Now that we're done with that shit, let's go check out your new shit!”
The two of them were leaving the town square. It had actually been pretty easy for Izuku to allow their magic to affect the [Earthspike]s. One of Commander Abraham’s [Earth Mage]s had welcomed them and coached Izuku in how to do it, and all up, it only took about 10 minutes for Izuku to ‘authorise’ all of the [Earthspike]s for demolition.
Izuku looked up at Rumi, who walked alongside him as Sir Ratsudon pushed the rolly chair. He looked up at Rumi, who was walking alongside him with her hand on the back of her head.
“What do you mean?”
Rumi glanced down at him, her ear twitching, as she gave him a look that said he had just said something very stupid. “Dude… you killed a fucking [Dragon]. One that took Shield and me out in one go. If you’re not [Level 20] or above by now I’ll eat my fucking belt.”
Izuku was about to respond to that when he realised he hadn’t actually checked his stat screen either time he had woke up. He had meant to, but got distracted by his notifications and then by Sir Shield’s situation.
“Huh. I just realised I haven’t checked my menu yet. Everything had been pretty hectic recently, it must have slipped my mind.”
Rumi clicked her tongue. “Fair enough. Let's head to that training area where you broke the fence. We should be able to use that to check out your new stuff without damaging anything further.”
Izuku sighed, having a look around. There wasn’t really anything for him to damage. The [Dragon], alongside the weather it had brought with it had done a number on the wooden buildings, many now sporting semi or completely collapsed rooves, and even the stone buildings had taken a beating.
The walk/roll to the training centre was done in silence, and even though Rumi seemed calm, he felt like he could tell she was keeping an eye out around them. Wait… that was it! He grinned to himself as he saw her ears twitching slightly, moving around her head as they walked.
The guard at the training area gave Izuku a look that contained more pity than he had ever seen from another person when they arrived, glancing down at Izuku’s rolly chair. Rumi threw the man a silver, and he opened the gate, letting them through.
Rumi rolled her shoulders as Sir Ratsudon deposited Izuku and his chair across from her on the field. Izuku glanced at how she was preparing and had to admit he was panicking a little. “Hey, Rumi… you’re not… expecting me to spar with you, right? You kicked my ass even when I could move my legs, let alone now”
Rumi glanced at him. Then at the chair. Then at him again. And then, after a pause that made the truth clear, she coughed. “No, uh, I wasn’t. We’re just gonna go through your menu and check out the new stuff of course!”
Izuku rolled his eyes and held his palm up, allowing his menu to appear as Rumi stepped in closer to read.
[Trait (loading) Gained!]
(Loading): unable to create a description at this time.
Will be updated as soon as information is available.
[Notice!]
[Some abilities have undergone changes due to the extreme amount of Mana and Level bonuses present during their use. Would you like to review these changes?
[Yes] | [No]
He saw Rumi shake her head in surprise. “Yea, these first two are the ones I already knew about. I tried to go see Sir Shield to get his opinion on them, but well… know.”
Rumi didn’t respond, just nodding instead, her eyes glued to his menu as he scrolled down past them, and into the next section of notifications. He felt chills go down his spine as he read down it.
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [14]!
+2 [Strength] | +2 [Endurance] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [15]!
+2 [Agility] | +2 [Intelligence] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
Izuku grinned ear to ear as he read through the notifications. Rumi had been right! He did get some level-ups from fighting the [Dragon], and it didn’t look like the list was done just with those two.
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [16]!
+2 [Strength] | +2 [Luck] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
You’ve unlocked [2] new abilities!
[Arcane Armaments] and [Quicksand]
Another two abilities? Was that normal once your class got into the double digits?
“Yea, after [Level 10], you usually start getting a pair of abilities, one passive, one activated, every 3-4 levels, depending on your class.”
Izuku’s free hand clapped up to his mouth as Rumi spoke, his cheeks reddening a bit. It was slightly embarrassing that his old habit of mumbling had slipped through, but at least he had gotten some information on the system from someone more experienced with it than him!
Izuku tucked that knowledge into his head, and went back to scrolling, the list just continuing on…
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [17]!
+2 [Endurance] | +2 [Agility] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [18]!
+2 [Luck] | +2 [Intelligence] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [19]!
+2 [Strength] | +2 [Luck] | +5 HP/Stamina/Mana
You’ve unlocked [2] new abilities!
[Stone’s Endurance] and [Tectonic Surge]
Izuku was just stuck with his mouth agape as he scrolled down the list, especially at this point. He would check the new abilities out later, when he went to his full status screen, but just…
The idea of so many level-ups at once, with 4 new abilities… if he hadn’t been in the [Heroic Surge], would he even have survived the massive amounts of a sudden change to himself? Or maybe because he was able to survive [Heroic Surge], he could survive 7 levels at once?
How good would such an influx of strength feel if he wasn’t already bursting at the seams with raw power at the time? ‘Does it really matter? It’s not like I can go back and double-check.’
He scrolled down a bit further, and finally, just after the notification about [Stone’s Endurance] and [Tectonic Surge], he came to the bottom of the notification section of his menu.
And at the very bottom, was the message that excited him the most.
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [20]!
+2 [Strength] | +2 [Agility] | +2 [Endurance] | +2 [Intelligence] | +2 [Luck] |
+5 HP/Stamina/Mana
Congratulations!
You have reached Level [20]!
You may now select your second class!
[Open list of available options?]
[Yes] | [No]
Izuku saw Rumi pump her fist next to him, a grin on her face. When she spotted his confused look, she burst out laughing. “Nothing, just happy that I don’t have to eat this belt! It was expensive.”
Izuku just stared at her for a second, before laughter escaped him as well with an ugly snort. The last week had been horrible and hectic, but being able to laugh like this, at a stupid joke like that?
Izuku would take it for now.
