My Hero Academia: Aura Farming

[The Synonym]

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[The Legendary Aura Farming System]

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…

My day was going as usual, just following my daily routine while hoping to win the lottery one day—even though I never bought lottery tickets.

Sleep, shit, eat, go to school, eat, go back home, eat, homework, shit, eat again, and then sleep.

Truly, one of the days of all time… Or at least it was… until I saw him—or rather, it—on my way home.

"The hell?"

I met it just a block away from my house, right after I turned a corner. Since I was listening to music and was a bit lost in my own world, I didn't quite notice it at first.

But when my eyes went up, I saw it.

A truck… No, not only a truck… A driverless truck. One that was parked in the middle of the sidewalk with its front pointed directly at me, funnily enough, like it had been waiting for me.

At first, I thought nothing of it. A truck in the middle of the sidewalk? Weird, sure, but maybe it was just the truck of some idiot who didn't care about blocking the way to other people and parked it there.

-Beep, beep!-

However, the moment it beeped at me, I stopped walking.

'How the hell did it do that?'

It was as I asked myself that question that I realized something.

Right after it beeped at me, everything in my surroundings seemed to have silenced completely.

There was no chirping of birds, no sound of people walking or talking, and no sounds of faraway cars speeding towards work… It was like the entire city had become desolate from one moment to another. Like an apocalypse.

The people I swore I had seen around, or even on the other side of the street, all had disappeared as well.

I was alone.

No.

It was now me… and the truck.

—BROOM!—

The bad feeling I had only intensified when its engine roared into life in a threatening tone, like it was saying, "I've been expecting you...". Making cold sweat roll down my back like a waterfall.

It was as if something within me knew… I wouldn't be making it back home today.

-Gulp-

As the realization settled in, we locked eyes—well, I locked eyes with its headlights.

Both of us stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. My forehead prickled with sweat as I narrowed my gaze.

"..."

It was like a standoff from a Wild West duel. Except in this case, I wasn't a cowboy, and my opponent could squash me flat the moment it decided to charge.

For a moment, I considered all this to be part of my imagination, maybe a sign that I had schizophrenia or something, and tried moving away from its path. After all, it was an inanimate object. If I moved out of the way, it wouldn't hit me.

But the moment I tried moving, the fucker simply adjusted its direction and kept blocking my way, like saying, "Where do you think you're going?".

"Hmph…"

Once I finally realized that this guy wasn't going to give up on me, I snorted and smiled in resignation 'So, this is how it ends, huh?'

It seemed like this was the end of my story, overrun by a fucking supernatural truck that seemed to have picked me over anyone else to fuck with.

As the absurdity of the situation sank in, my mind started to wander. What were the chances this was one of those scenarios? The ones where you die and wake up in another world?

Maybe after this passed, I'd be getting reincarnated as some badass hero destined to defeat the Demon King. Or maybe I'd just get dumped into a random fictional universe.

Or, well, maybe I'd just die, plain and simple.

I had no idea what came next. But one thing was clear:

"I ain't goin' down without a fight, no sir," I muttered, determination flashing in my eyes.

So, I stepped forward, facing the death-made truck without fear.

Maybe these ol 'fists of mine would do nothing but dent its stupid bumper—Maybe not even that—but if there was a thing I knew for sure, it was that I wasn't going down without a fight.

That was the right thing to do—the honorable way to go out.

-Crack, crack!-

So, cracking my neck left and right, I rolled my shoulder and prepared for the fight that'd decide my destiny.

-Bam!-

And so, I kicked the ground, ready to begin with this last danc—

-Slip-

Sadly, as I was charging toward the truck like a hero in an action movie, I suddenly slipped on something.

"Eh?"

Then, as my world turned upside down, I felt my head hit the floor, hearing some kind of crunch not long after.

-Thud!-

-Crack!-

And just like that, it was over.

I lay there, blood pooling around me, my vision swimming around, confused.

My neck? Probably snapped like a twig.

And as my life slipped away, I saw it. The true cause of my demise.

A banana peel.

…

In the distance, the truck's engine roared again, and then, slowly, it turned around and began rolling away, almost like saying, "My work here is done."

'...W-what the fuck?'

But before I could process the fucking absurdity of my end, something new appeared in my vision.

[Due to the lame and pathetic cause of your death, you've been granted the Aura Farming System. May you have lots and lots of Aura in your next life.]

Man, shut the hell u—

…

°

°

°

|Years later, somewhere else…|

…

As I finished recalling the memories of my previous life, I couldn't stop myself from facepalming. Really? That's how I died?

My name was Takahashi Fukumoto, and just a few seconds ago, the floodgates of my past life's memories opened wide.

Why now? No idea. I didn't hit my head, and there was no dramatic moment of revelation. I was just pouring some All Might's Puffs into my breakfast bowl, and bam!—a vivid replay of my death by some random banana peel in the middle of the road, along with the memories of an alternate self.

There was, however, one other revelation that completely overshadowed the rest:

"This world… is from an anime?"

My local ass was utterly baffled by this discovery. I'd lived a completely normal life in this world, unaware that this Earth—or My Hero Academia World, as it was called back there—was supposed to be a fictional creation.

Which kind of annoyed me a bit now.

It was like someone had called Earth in my previous world as… I don't know, Harvard World.

It kinda crammed the world into a single organization.

My foreign ass, on the other hand, was equally stunned.

I had reincarnated into a fictional universe? Did that mean the multiverse was real?

I sat frozen, staring at my breakfast. A storm of emotions churned inside me:

Shock at discovering my new reality.

Sorrow over leaving behind an entire life.

Envy toward the broccoli-haired protagonist for hogging the spotlight in my world.

And, strangely enough, excitement at knowing a bit about what the future might hold now that I possess all this knowledge.

After processing all of that, I eventually let out a single, profound response:

"Damn, that's crazy."

Satisfied with my deep reflection, I picked up my spoon again and resumed eating. After all, you can't have an existential crisis on an empty stomach, right?

<Beep!>

<Host's memory recovery detected.>

<Initiating system…>

And of course this was here… The infamous Golden Finger, or whatever younglings called it these days.

Normally, I'd be over the moon about having a system, but its name killed any enthusiasm I might have had.

<Aura Farming System initiated.>

'The hell is that?' I couldn't help but think.

Still, what kind of manners would I have if I didn't at least greet it?

"Sup." I nodded at the floating text.

<Greetings, Host.>

"So, uh… you're a system, huh?"

<That is indubitably correct.>

"That's crazy…"

After a short silence, I scratched my cheek awkwardly. This moment was way less exciting than I had imagined.

"So… uh, what do you do?"

<Thanks for asking, dear Host. Due to the abysmal amount of Aura you lost at the moment of your death, I was assigned to you to restore balance to your Auratic universal value.>

What kind of word was Auratic?

<Thus, my primary objective is to enhance your ability to farm Aura, allowing you to accumulate as much as possible during your lifetime in this world.>

<To facilitate this, I will provide various functions that will aid you… Here's your status page, for example.>

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 50

▸ Defense: 100

▸ Aura Projection: 0

─────────────
Total Aura: 0
─────────────
Skills: None

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

I blinked, a bit confused by what I was seeing. "...So, uh… What am I looking at?"

<These are your current stats, determined after a full-body scan. You will be able to increase them by harnessing Aura and distributing it accordingly. The Strength stat enhances the force behind your movements, while the Defense stat reinforces your body against incoming attacks.>

My eyes widened slightly. "Damn, so it's literally like an invisible Aura cloak around me?"

<Indubitably. Although with certain skills, you may eventually make it visible.>

I nodded, a small smile tugging at my lips. It sounded really good.

But then, my eyes landed on the third stat, making me frown slightly before voicing my confusion.

"What about this 'Aura Projection' stat?"

<Ah, yes, unlike the other two, Aura Projection represents the amount of Aura you can harness externally. Think of it like mana in a fantasy setting—you'll use it for things beyond raw physical enhancement, like magic… Of course, within the constraints of what your Aura can do.>

My smile turned into a full-on grin, it was obvious by now that I was pretty excited about what I was hearing.

<Like previously stated, you'll be able to pour the aura you gain eventually into your stats to increase them. However, as an energy source over which you have absolute control, you'll be able to take away or move the aura between your stats depending on what you feel is better, meaning your stats won't be rigid.>

Now that gave me a lot of ideas. This thing was amazing, wasn't it?

"Haha, you had a stupid name, so I figured you'd be a pretty lame system, but I gotta admit, you are kinda cool."

<I can leave if you want>

I nearly fell off my chair at that. "C-come on, I was joking, man!"

This system sure didn't have a sense of humor, huh?

"Ahem!"

After clearing my throat and regaining my composure, I asked another question that surged as I stared at the status page.

"...Hey, this might sound stupid, but how do I actually gain Aura?"

<[-10 Aura]>

"Oh, come on!"

<That was a joke, Host>

My smile twitched.

I was wrong, it seems this system is quite the comedian.

I kinda wanna punch it.

<Aura is gained by performing awe-inspiring actions in front of others. These actions must elevate the perception others have of you. The greater the shock value and the more spectators present, the more Aura you will gain>

"So I have to act cool to get stronger?" I winced at the thought. The idea of posing like some edgy badass just to power up made me cringe. I had no problem with getting stronger, but being cool? That wasn't exactly my strong suit.

<Do not worry, Host. Over time, I will issue various missions that will grant you skills and unconsciously refine your actions. Eventually, you will farm Aura naturally—without even realizing you are doing so>

I made a prayer gesture. "Lord hears you, system."

-Ding!-

However, a cheerful sound snapped me out of my devoted pose, making me raise an eyebrow as I turned back to the system.

<Now then, let's start with your first mission!>

"Uh, what?"

…

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Change that horrible appearance of yours and make yourself presentable for your next day of school!]

Conditions for completion:

▸Learn proper hygiene and skincare techniques.

▸Style your hair appropriately.

▸Present your improved self to your classmates.

▸Maintain this lifestyle for at least one week.

Reward: +100 Aura | Gain the skill [Clean]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"…Damn." I grimaced at the mission panel. "Isn't splashing some water on my face in the morning enough?"

<Looking good is the first step to making an impression!>

"Alright, alright…" I sighed, leaning back in my chair, looking as enthusiastic as I was when I found out school existed. "I guess I don't have a choice."

For a few moments, I sat in silence, letting it all sink in.

Until—

"But first, I'm gonna go rub one off."

There was no better way to destress, after a—

<[-10 Aura! This time for real.]>

"Oh, come on! There's no one here!"

<I'm here.>

"...Damn it."

…

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-To be Continued…-

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(A/N: Here's the first chapter. Originally, this was a setup for another idea I had where the protagonist had to perform various actions in order to stack up boosts. Like eating a bread gave you a 5x in strength, and so on, but I realized it'd be too chaotic and hard to administer, as well as to reach a good power level with just that, so I ended up changing to the idea you have now.)

 

[Lorsïthrorung]

You had me at aura farming.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJaoTmAt51M

 

[Unoriginal_Nick]

"Tch, this guy isn't half bad... He might just be able to beat Michael Jackson in the next Aura Farming Tournament."

 

[MrSplashy]

You got me at Aura but you hooked me with Farming. Watching this.

 

[The Synonym]

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[Goals]
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| Next day's morning… |

…

"Damn."

Takahashi sighed as he stepped out of the barbershop, running a hand through his newly trimmed hair. It wasn't anything drastic, just a neater cut—less of a jungle than before.

He never really cared about his hair, but apparently, the system did. So here he was, looking slightly more presentable.

"At least I can finally see in front of me," he muttered, a wry smile forming on his face. Then, his gaze shifted to the bag in his left hand.

Inside, a variety of skincare and hygiene products lay neatly packed.

A single tear rolled down his cheek as his expression twisted in despair.

"Goddamn it… all my savings, gone just like that."

He quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve, suppressing the overwhelming sorrow of his financial loss.

"Never mind that. It's an investment, Takahashi. It'll be worth it… I think."

With that feeble attempt at self-comfort, he shook his head and resumed his walk home.

The trip didn't take long. The mall wasn't too far from his place, just a few minutes away.

As soon as he stepped inside, he kicked off his shoes carelessly, and while he did that, his eyes scanned the entrance, noticing something.

"Home alone again, huh?"

Rolling his eyes, he carried the shopping bag to the bathroom and started unloading the products one by one.

Before long, the sink counter was cluttered with dozens of bottles, tubes, and containers—most of which he had no idea how to use.

"Alright… system, how the heck do I even use all this?"

<[-1 Aura]>

"Wha—why?!"

<For depending on me like I'm your mother. You're a functional human being, host. Figure it out yourself.>

"What are you, my mo—ugh, forget it."

Clicking his tongue, Takahashi picked up one of the bottles and turned it around, scanning the label for instructions.

It didn't take long to find them, so he followed along, applying the products one after another.

…

As he did that, a brief silence hung in the air.

Takahashi squinted at his reflection in the mirror, suddenly aware of how he looked.

"I feel kinda girly, system."

<You do look kinda girly with how you're applying them.>

"The heck?! I'm just following the instructions!"

<Instructions mainly written for a female audience.>

"…Goddamn it."

Takahashi resisted the urge to drop to his knees and contemplate his life choices.

"All this just for a damn mission… What does the 'Clean' skill even do?! I swear, if I'm doing this for nothing—"

<I can't tell you.>

"Ah, whatever."

He clicked his tongue in frustration. Then, staring at the remaining products with growing resentment, he resumed applying them—though this time, with much less finesse.

Rather than carefully dabbing and rubbing them in, he practically smacked the creams onto his face.

At least that made him feel a little better.

…

°

°

°

| The next day, at school… |

…

Takahashi sat at his desk, staring bleakly at his teacher as he entered the classroom. His shoulders slumped, and his expression tired.

'Taking care of one's skin is exhausting… And I'm supposed to do this for a whole week? Ugh, I hate this. Should I just give up on the mission?'

As if responding to his thoughts, the system's mission panel popped open.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[Change that horrible appearance of yours and make yourself presentable for your next day of school!]

Conditions for completion:

▸Learn proper hygiene and skincare techniques.✔

▸Style your hair appropriately.✔

▸Present your improved self to your classmates.✔

▸Maintain this lifestyle for at least one week.

Reward: +100 Aura | Gain the skill [Clean]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

'I could get 100 Aura points, though…' Takahashi grimaced. 'That's basically tripling my strength if I put it all into that stat, or doubling my defense in the other case…'

-Thud-

Realizing the reward far outweighed the suffering, he sighed heavily before slamming his head onto his desk. He'd just have to endure this torture for the next week.

While Takahashi—or rather, Taka for short—continued sulking, the teacher finally made it to his podium, his expression serious.

"I've already reviewed your printouts regarding your desired career paths… and I have to say, it's about time you all started taking this seriously."

The class immediately fell silent.

The teacher's gaze swept over the students like a hawk, his expression stern—until, suddenly, a goofy grin spread across his face.

"Come on, kids. You all want to be heroes? Are you crazy?"

Laughter erupted throughout the room. Some students excitedly activated their Quirks, showing off as if proving their potential.

In an instant, the serious atmosphere had shifted into one of excitement.

At least, until the teacher's gaze landed on Taka, whose face was still glued to his desk.

"Well, everyone except Takahashi."

The teacher sighed before sending a scolding look his way.

"Hey, Takahashi! Snap out of it and write a serious answer!"

Taka barely lifted his head, just enough to respond while keeping his forehead pressed to the desk.

"What's wrong with my answer?"

The teacher snapped a finger at him. "What's wrong?! You wrote that your life goal is to win the lottery and make love to thousands of women!"

Taka raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"You know what's wrong! Write a proper career goal, or I'll inform your guardian."

Groaning, Taka reluctantly took the paper back.

'I was serious when I wrote this… Though I suppose I could choose something different now.'

Without hesitation, he scribbled something down and handed it back.

The teacher gave him a long, skeptical look. "You didn't even think about it for a second. Just what kind of nonsense did you write now?"

Still frowning, he glanced at the paper—and his eyebrows shot up.

"UA? You want to go to UA and become a hero?"

Taka didn't say a word. He simply leaned back in his chair, hands in his pockets, exuding an air of indifference.

Laughter erupted across the classroom.

"Hahahaha! Did you hear that? Takahashi actually wrote UA!"

"I know he's kind of a joke, but isn't that a bit much?!"

"For a Quirkless guy, he sure has a great sense of humo—"

-CRACK!-

A sharp sound echoed through the room.

A pen had shot across the classroom like a dart, embedding itself right into the center of the desk of the student who had been talking just now with unnatural precision.

The whole classroom froze.

Eyes widened in shock.

No one in class had a Quirk capable of something like that. Which meant…

Slowly, all heads turned toward Taka.

He was still sitting back in his chair, one hand in his pocket. However, the other one was pointing directly at the embedded pen, like a king commanding his subject. His gaze was cold, unreadable.

"Think again."

A heavy silence fell over the room at his words.

Taka allowed himself a small glance at the status page floating beside him.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 50

▸ Defense: 100→30

▸ Aura Projection: 0→70

─────────────
Total Aura: -11 (Currently in debt. Requires 11 points before new allocations can be made.)

─────────────
Skills: None

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead.

'Thank god that worked… I wasn't sure if I could control the Aura right away, but it seems like I'm a natural.'

Next, his eyes moved to the changes in his stats, ones he had caused himself.

'Since the system said I could move points between stats without them being permanent, I wondered if base stats were included in that too… Apparently, yes.'

Letting out a huff, he flicked his finger, and as if responding to his command, the pencil unembedded itself from the desk and flew back into his hand.

Taka stared at it for a second, lost in thought.

'So this is aura projection, huh? I can't physically feel anything changing, but with just a mental command, the aura envelops whatever I want and lets me control it with ease... It's almost like telekinesis.'

With that thought, he put the pen down and sighed.

'The stat is cool... but I should revert my stats to normal, I'm feeling weak as hell... Is this the side effect of taking points from my physical stats?'

Feeling like he would crumble onto his desk at any moment, but maintaining a tough front, Taka quickly ordered the system to revert his stats. In an instant, his body returned to peak condition—at least by his standards. He wasn't exactly an athlete, after all.

After shifting his stats back and losing all points on Aura Projection, his control over Aura disappeared, but at least he wouldn't be knocked over by a strong breeze anytime now.

'Phew…'

<[+20 Aura]>

A goofy grin almost broke through when he heard the notification, but he suppressed it before it could show. He had an image to maintain, after all.

'Good thing I was never a social guy. These idiots don't know me well enough to tell when I'm acting.' He snorted, closing his eyes for dramatic effect like some brooding anime protagonist. 'Perks of being ex-Quirkless, I guess.'

Since Taka had his eyes closed, he didn't notice the teacher walking toward him. It was only when a loud slam hit his desk that he snapped them open—slowly, as if he didn't care.

…Not that the sudden noise had startled him or anything.

"Takahashi, you have a Quirk?!" the teacher blurted out, echoing the question on everyone's mind.

"I awakened it yesterday," Taka replied nonchalantly. He paused for a second before adding, "Apparently, I was a late bloomer, not Quirkless."

"Hah…" The teacher ran a hand through his hair, clearly in disbelief. His gaze drifted down to Taka's career form.

"UA, huh? Well… good luck, I suppose."

Taka snorted, his eyes glinting with amusement. "I don't need luck."

Silence filled the classroom.

Taka almost raised an eyebrow, expecting to hear the sweet sound of another Aura gain notification.

But nothing came.

'Maybe that was a little too much. I should tone down the edge—just a bit.'

…

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Figuring this site out. It's like a forum but not quite, so it confuses me a bit.)

 

[To-be-hero-X]

<For depending on me like I'm your mother. You're a functional human being, host. Figure it out yourself.>

Click to shrink...

Ngl system roasting him was hilarious

 

[Hyperionthetitan]

'Maybe that was a little too much. I should tone down the edge—just a bit.'

Click to shrink...

No No No! Thats how you got stronger aura ,Embrace the edge. Starting by carrying round the katana

 

[MrSplashy]

You need to be like Vergil! Get a Plastic Chair! Aura Farm during the UA Exam and get the Top Spot!

 

[Neondagger]

Almost forgot to watch before I left, great start!

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[Challenge]
────────────────────────

…

After returning from school, Taka curiously checked his gains for the day.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 50

▸ Defense: 100

▸ Aura Projection: 0

─────────────

Total Aura: 9

─────────────

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.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[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.

<Don't get discouraged, Host! You don't necessarily need to fight the villain.>

"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

─────────────

Total Aura: 9

─────────────

Skills: None

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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· ─────── · ·

<Calculating Reward…>

<+65 Aura!>

<Note: While your procedure and execution were flawless, your hesitation early on allowed some heroes to sustain injuries. Next time, be more decisive, for the true Aura Farmer knows hesitation is defeat.>

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.

...

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(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 making a character like that.

->

So yeah, that's Seiji. Inspired by the goat GTO.)

 

[Mgunh1]

<Be seen with Super Monkey in public: -1000 Aura>

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[Examination]
────────────────────────

…

The doctor in front of them stared at the pair with wide eyes, his glasses almost falling from the shock. "You say young Takahashi here awakened his Quirk? At 15 years old, nonetheless?"

"That's right, tell him, kid!" Seiji—now out of his monkey costume and sporting a simple white t-shirt and black shorts—patted Taka's back, laughing loudly as he did so.

The teenager simply gave the man a look before nodding at the doctor. "Yes, I got it yesterday."

Before the doctor could ask about its function, Taka pointed his hand at an empty coffee mug lying on the doctor's desk, and, in an instant, the mug flew straight into his grasp, making the doctor widen his eyes and lean forward to inspect the mug and Taka's hand more closely.

"So it's true! What an unprecedented case! From the looks of it, it's some kind of magnetism, telekinesis, or cup-attracting Quirk. Do you know what might have triggered it, young Takahashi?"

Taka scratched his cheek, acting clueless. "Not really. It just came to me when I was having breakfast."

Technically, he wasn't lying. The Quirk—if it could be considered one, as he honestly had his doubts about what kind of existence the system truly was—had come along right the instant he awakened his previous life's memories, which had been mid-way through breakfast.

The doctor scratched his chin in wonder. "How strange… Maybe it needed some sort of time requirement… Is controlling cups from afar all it can do, or is it not limited only to cups? If so, how much weight can you control?"

Taka raised an eyebrow.

For a moment, he considered what he was about to say.

Should he reveal the full potential of his new Quirk, or should he just downplay it?

He recalled his previous life's memories about this world. There was supposedly some evil potato-headed guy in a suit out there looking for powerful Quirks to add to his collection.

So, in hindsight… it didn't seem like a good idea.

Still, his Quirk made flexing his source of power, so acting like a weakling would be a wasted opportunity to show off and gain some aura.

'Let's just… show what I can do at the moment. I'll leave its potential out of the talk for now.'

With that plan set in mind, Taka turned to the doctor, his voice cool and his expression impassive.

"Is there somewhere I can show you?"

The doctor instantly perked up. "Ah, yes. We have a room with equipment specialized for this!"

He then proceeded to lead Taka and Seiji to what looked like a mental asylum room… only bigger, and filled with all sorts of tools and devices.

"Over there we have the barbells, they come in different shapes, so pick whichever you like."

Taka nodded, and keeping his mysterious and enigmatic silence, he made his way to the barbells.

Once in front of them, however, he paused.

'Crap…' His eyebrow twitched.

He just realized that he didn't know which one to pick.

He hadn't measured the exact amount of weight each aura point allowed him to lift.

For all he knew, he might pick the 10 kg one, and he'd fold instantly.

He had only used it on a pen, after all.

'It's a gamble…' He mused, his eyes inspecting each barbell with an unsure look, before closing them enigmatically… Only to open them the next second with determination.

'But so is life, I'm going all in bitch!'

Right after, he opened his status page and began moving most of his stats to Aura Projection, boosting the stat from 79 to a whopping 199 points, while leaving both his strength in the 20s and his defense on the 10s, neither on 0, as he didn't want to collapse mid-examination.

As expected, a wave of weakness hit Taka's body right after that, but he dismissed it quickly. He could still stand, after all—and that was all he needed.

The next second, Taka raised his hand with the demeanor of a king commanding his subjects, and pointed it at one of the biggest barbells there.

The one with the big 500 kg imprinted on it. (About 1k pounds)

And so, with his objective locked in, Taka gave the order.

To move.

'LET'S GOOOOOOO...—!!!'

…

'—OOOOooo… ooo… oo… damnit, move!'

Sadly, even after a few seconds had passed, the barbell did not budge.

No matter how much he pressed, it didn't even do as much as twitch.

Seeing he had met his first insurmountable wall, Taka relaxed his grip on the tool and discreetly began moving his hand to a less heavy one.

Hopefully, the two behind him wouldn't notice he had failed pathetically.

And so, he tried with 250 kg.

It twitched, but didn't budge.

'Damnit.'

He moved his hand again and pointed it at the 150 kg one.

It moved a bit more, but ultimately, it still remained glued to the floor.

'Come on... how come 200 points is actually this weak…?'

He eyed the 100 kg one with hesitant eyes and aimed his hand at it.

'This one's moving!'

Taka's eyes brightened in delight as he felt the object finally budging, though he kept his composed face.

Then, he began lifting it more properly into the air… albeit, with still a lot of difficulty—something he didn't show on his face.

As a result, after a few seconds of it rising into the air, the weight began swaying and moving around in the air like a UFO.

"Hoh...!"

Seeing the 100 kg barbell fly through the air with fluidity, the doctor nodded, surprised.

"Amazing, it seems you got a really good Quirk!"

Seiji, by his side, nodded with a grin. "That's at least an adult man he is lifting."

"Can you lift more?" While Taka struggled to keep the weight on the air, the doctor threw such a question as if it was completely natural while he tapped on a notepad, probably writing information about it.

'You want more…?' Taka blinked, and sweatdropped with a troubled expression.

It seemed his stunt hadn't been impressive enough to get him some aura.

This guy was expecting even more than this!

'Damn.' Taka clicked his tongue. Unfortunately, it seemed he'd have to swallow his pride this time and walk home with no gains. This was his limit, after all.

"No, this is as much as I can lift."

The doctor nodded after hearing his words, but he didn't stop with the questions.

"Is there any reason why? Does your Quirk stop responding if you go beyond your limit? Or do you suffer any pain if you do?"

Taka considered for a moment before deciding it didn't matter much if he revealed a bit.

It'd make for a more believable Quirk, having "weaknesses" and all that.

"... Well, the more I push it to its limit, the weaker my body begins to feel."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it was enough truth for the moment.

"Oh? So your Quirk works by consuming physical force? How long does your body take to return to its normal state, then?"

Taka released the weight, causing it to fall to the padded floor. Then, he began closing and opening his fist, as if demonstrating he still had strength in him—of course, he moved all his stats to their normal state for that.

"As soon as I stop using it, or diminish the force I'm applying, the strength returns to my body."

"I see, a very interesting Quirk indeed." The doctor nodded as he wrote on the pad. Next, he signalled Taka and Seiji to follow him. "Come, I'll do you some more tests. After that, you can go back home."

Taka nodded with an uncaring face.

Though…

'Damn, he looks like he sees this stuff daily.' He discreetly glared at the doctor's unimpressed face and heaved a sigh. 'Maybe I overestimated my chances of standing out in a place that reviews all sorts of Quirks daily…'

Then, as the doctor opened the door of the room, leading them somewhere else, Taka reviewed his status page once more.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 50

▸ Defense: 100

▸ Aura Projection: 79

─────────────

Total Aura: 79

─────────────

Skills: None

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

'It seems I have a long way to go before I can begin flexing my skills.'

Maybe he'd need about 500 points before thinking about impressing anyone.

…

°

°

°

|An hour later…|

…

-Cling-

Both Seiji and Taka walked out of the clinic, their expressions completely different from each other.

"Who'd have thought you'd get a Quirk one day? Eh, Taka? It seems you can finally stop using the excuse that you don't get girls because you're Quirkless."

"Shut up."

"Hahaha—no, but really, you get your Quirk, and you're already acting all serious and broody. What happened to the little prick that I've been taking care of until now that liked to oogle at my porn magazines when I wasn't looking?"

Taka squinted his eyes, stuffing both hands in his pockets coolly. "You are misremembering. This is how I've always been."

Seiji simply looked at him with skepticism, arching one of his eyebrows to its limit. "Sure… Though your internet history doesn't say the same."

Taka stopped for a moment, turning to him with a blank expression. "Wha—what do you mean?"

The older man grinned. "I'm the one who pays the bills, kid. I can get that information pretty easily."

"..." The young aura farmer seemed a bit lost after receiving that information.

"You have a refined taste if I say so. Big tittied—?"

"Argh, shut up already!" Fortunately, that seemed to have done the job of snapping him out of it.

Seiji laughed out loud with a mocking grin. "Hahaha! Come on, kid, I just wanted to say that I almost can't believe we are not related by blood. We are not so different, you and I. You see, the other day, I almost got a date with a heroine with huge—"

"I don't care!"

Seiji glanced at Taka with suspicion in his gaze. "What, are you in your edgy phase? Maybe your Quirk needed you to enter puberty or something like that to finally kick in."

Taka gritted his teeth. He was trying to stay in character, for god's sake.

Though, that story about the heroine sounded really interesting…

—No!

Fortunately, it seemed Seiji was finally gonna stop fooling around, his tone turning a bit more serious.

"Anyway, kid, since you now have a Quirk, any plans for the future?"

Taka glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I asked if you wanted to be a hero like other kids, you said that as long as you remained Quirkless, that'd be a waste of time."

Taka raised an eyebrow before looking away, reminiscing about those times.

'I was like 7 at that time, this guy sure has a good memory.'

In the end, though, he didn't see any reason to hide his new intentions.

"Sure, I was planning on trying to go to U.A." He replied, keeping his tone casual and calm.

"Damn kid, you're striking high!"

Taka simply nodded.

-Whack!-

"...?!"

Suddenly, he got slapped hard on the back, making him wince slightly and look back at Seiji with dissatisfaction.

A look that the man disregarded without a care. "Hahahaha! It seems you finally decided to follow my steps, huh? Do you want me to contact the hero agency I work at so that they can make you a costume similar to mine? You can try and be Super Monkey Jr!"

"Please don't."

Seiji clicked his tongue. "You don't know what's good, kid."

After the guy's words, black lines appeared on Taka's face, his face turning faintly grim. 'Ain't no way I'm going out on a costume similar to yours, that'd give me like -1,000,000 aura points the instant I get seen or recorded.'

Honestly, he simply couldn't figure out how this guy even had fans. His monkey costume was lame as hell.

It was an outright terrorist attack on decency and dignity.

"Anyway, be sure to clear your schedule for all evenings." Seiji's voice suddenly chimed from the side, snapping Taka out of his thoughts.

He looked at him, confused. "Huh? Why?"

Seiji grinned, though, unlike previous times, this one seemed to hold a hint of savagery on it. "What do you mean, why? You heard the doctor, your Quirk seems to run on your physical force, so if you want to have any chance at U.A., you better start training right now so you don't get whooped like you did today by that 500 kg barbell!"

Taka's face darkened. "So you noticed…"

Seiji patted him on the shoulder. "Yeah, so I'm gonna be personally training you from now on until the exam's time comes, so that you don't screw up when you're at U.A.'s practical exam."

Taka grumbled, annoyed at how abrupt this was.

Sadly, Seiji didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"Be grateful, for I, the great Super Monkey, am gonna be personally mentoring you, kid!"

Taka looked at the endless sky with a vacant expression.

"This sucks…"

…

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(A/N: The conversion rate in terms of lifting capacity is 1 aura point in Strength and Aura Projection is about 1 pound, or 0,5 kg. At least, that's how I get an estimation of what the numbers mean. Don't expect it to be perfectly consistent; it's a bit hard to know what certain amounts of strength are capable of doing and what not when they get too high.

Powerscaling is not my forte, for I am not a physicist.

Also, as you might have noticed, Taka isn't exactly cool material. But that's what the system is there for.

Aura Farmers aren't born, they are built.

Or something like that.)

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────
[What's with these missions?]
────────────────────────

| A month later… |

…

"Come on, Taka, don't tell me you're going down already?" Seiji shot Taka a disdainful look as the kid now lay on the ground, sprawled and beaten. A cigarette flicking at the corner of his lips.

Taka groaned as he pushed himself up, looking at him with an annoyed glare. "Shut up man, it's not my fault a damn Monkey Quirk can be so stupidly overpowered."

"This is called hard work." Seiji scoffed, taking his cigarrete away from his mouth and tapping it twice, letting the cinders fall. "When I was your age, the only thing my Quirk gave me was these big ass hands and a long ass tail to whack people with. So quit your whining and get here, don't tell me this is all you can do after an entire month of training?"

Taka stood up while grumbling under his breath, looking at Seiji with an annoyed gaze.

"You say it like it was a long ass time. It's only four weeks damnit! How the heck am I supposed to master all the shit you taught me, especially when after each session you leave my body aching like hell?!"

"Skill issue, kid. All I am asking is that you fight properly, not excellently. Or don't tell me you think it's fine to try and become a hero with the skills you had in our first class? You tripped yourself after throwing a punch!"

"Kgh!" Taka clicked his tongue like a dragon ball character, and naturally, his eyes drifted to a floating screen beside him.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[This is the start of your Aura Farming Path, and as is to be expected of you, you must be prepared for the many hurdles ahead. Endure the brutal training, and ascend—ready to carve your path to glory!]

Conditions for completion:

▸ Do not use your Aura to boost your physique in any way during training.

▸ Complete at least one month of training without missing a single session.✔

▸ Get your fighting skills acknowledged by Murata Seiji.

▸ Get your physical condition acknowledged by Murata Seiji.

Reward: +200 Aura | Gain the skill: [Trouble Radar]
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

A month had already passed, and as such, he had fulfilled the first two objectives of the mission. Albeit one of them would receive its check mark once the mission was over.

The other two, however, had no time limit to be fulfilled. They all depended on Seiji and his opinion on his progress.

He couldn't even boost his physical stats using his gained aura so far, since the quest specifically told him not to.

He could only do this fair and square.

The horror.

With a scoff, Taka put his hands up once again, ready to begin throwing once again.

And he threw, yessir.

-Bam!-

Less than ten seconds later, he was easily thrown to the ground by Seiji, who simply tripped him. Not even using a lock or throw on him.

"Damn it!"

Seiji knelt beside Taka—who now lay on his back on the ground, staring at the air like questioning his life choices—and threw him a dissatisfied look.

"Look, kid, I don't think you're focusing right now. You're throwing punches just to throw."

Taka groaned, giving him a side eye. "What's that even supposed to mean?"

Seiji sneered, flicking the cigarette on his mouth to the other corner, before tapping into Taka's temple with his feet like a woodpecker bird.

"It means thinking properly about what I'm going to do, and what you should do in response. That's the use of all those flashy moves I've been teaching you so far… They're the responses, you use them when it's time, not when you feel like it."

Taka didn't say anything, watching silently as Seiji let out a sigh and stood up, giving his back to him as he walked away.

"Whatever, kid. Let's do this again tomorrow. Be sure to practice today so you don't suck as bad tomorrow."

"Wait." Taka quickly stood up.

Seiji turned, a sly smile appearing on his face.

"You're not him, kid." He said, smiling mockingly as he shook his head. "Stay on the ground, just cause you got motivated doesn't mean you're gonna do any better."

"That's not it," Taka said, pointing at Seiji's crotch. "You got your zipper down."

Seiji's face instantly fell, and in a hurry, he turned down to fix his improper state.

—only, his zipper was fine.

"This kid—!" Seiji's eyes widened, and he lifted his head back in a hurry, watching as Taka lunged at him with hands open like claws.

In a hurry, he sent a palm strike to Taka, trying to keep him away—only for his attack to get deflected to the side the instant it had been about to make contact.

Then, mid-movement, as his palm was pushed aside, Taka lowered his stance, and with his remaining hand, fingers curled like the nails of a dragon—

—CLANG!

He struck Seiji's nuts.

"Ugh—!"

Seiji's eyes widened like saucers, cold sweat pouring down his back as he glanced into Taka's cold, unyielding eyes. His mouth trembling as he spoke.

"Monkey grabs the peach… You copied my signature move."

"Indeed."

Taka closed his eyes solemnly, retracting his hand as he turned his back on Seiji—who was already dropping to his knees, both hands clutching his crotch, face twisted in agony.

"Now… fall."

Leaving those words behind, Taka walked away, hands coolly stuffed into his pockets.

< [+5 Aura] >

Suddenly, Taka lifted an eyebrow and looked back over his shoulder.

Seiji, despite his scrunched-up face of pain, was giving him a thumbs up.

"That was a cool one, kid. Write that down. It'll make the ladies go crazy."

Taka looked at him weirdly for a second before he gave a faint nod.

"Will do."

Then, for real this time, he walked away—ignoring Seiji as he collapsed fully to the floor and had his soul ascend into heaven.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[COMPLETED!]

[This is the start of your Aura Farming Path, and as is to be expected of you, you must be prepared for the many hurdles ahead. Endure the brutal training, and ascend—ready to carve your path to glory!]

Conditions for completion:

▸ Do not use your Aura to boost your physique in any way during training.✔

▸ Complete at least one month of training without missing a single session.✔

▸ Get your fighting skills acknowledged by Murata Seiji.✔

▸ Get your physical condition acknowledged by Murata Seiji.✔
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

<Calculating Reward…>

<+200 Aura!>

<+Skill [Trouble Radar]!>

<Note: Although an unconventional path to achieve those last two conditions, it was well thought out. Stand proud, for your path as a professional Aura Farming is about to start!>

A small smirk curled on Taka's lips as the notification popped up beside him.

…

°

°

°

| Minutes later… |

…

In his room, Taka now lay sprawled on his bed, checking out his new gains with amusement.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 61

▸ Defense: 122

▸ Aura Projection: 215

─────────────

Total Aura: 215 → 415

─────────────

Skills:

▸Clean

▸Trouble Radar

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Now this is what I call good progress."

He grinned as he dumped all of his newly gained Aura into AP, making the stat shoot up to 415.

Next, he opened his new skill, already dying to know what it did.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Trouble Radar] (Active)

Description: Real life can often be boring and uncool as heck, making it difficult for an Aura Farmer like you—someone who thrives on attention and shines through impossible odds—to grow smoothly on your path to becoming the ultimate Aura Farmer. With this skill, you'll never miss those rare moments when an Aura Farmer can truly stand out.

▸ Grants you a sixth sense that can be toggled on or off at will. It points you toward the place where trouble is most likely to begin brewing, or to immediate danger coming your way.

▸ Can also faintly gauge the level of incoming trouble—from minor inconvenience to world-ending catastrophe. Fate is unpredictable; tread with caution.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Huh…"

Taka raised an eyebrow.

Another skill he wasn't sure how to feel about.

Sure, it seemed like it'd be useful for powering up until U.A.'s practical exam in nine months. But the idea of actively being on the lookout for trouble… that was something else.

Especially because trouble in this day and age usually meant one thing:

Villains.

Like the skill warned, if he didn't tread with caution—especially now, with his Aura basically in its baby stage—dying wasn't off the table.

In his parallel life, he might've scoffed and jumped into things without thinking. After all, this was a world from an anime, and villains didn't seem that bad when you were just a viewer.

But now? Now that he had a whole second life in this world, and memories of his past one? That illusion had long since faded.

Dealing with villains here was like messing with terrorists back on Earth.

Yeah. Not exactly appealing, huh?

Cold-blooded people with no qualms about killing—at least the serious ones, not the occasional purse-snatcher. That's what villains were.

So yeah, he had every right to eye the skill with a healthy dose of caution.

Still… if he wanted to power up, there was no way around it.

'Though, if the trouble seems too much, I'm just dipping out.' Taka nodded to himself, reassuring his ego. He wouldn't overestimate his ability. If it got too hot, he'd just leave it to the pros.

That's what heroes were there for, weren't they?

With that resolution, he finally let out a breath of relief.

It hadn't really hit him until now, but after a month and a half of non-stop training missions, he was finally free.

He could focus on doing other things—maybe even relax a bit—

<New mission!>

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Now that you're capable of holding your ground—barely—it's time to focus on other aspects of being the perfect Aura Farmer. Not everything in life is about fighting, so sharpen your other skills and avoid becoming a one-trick pony! Aura farming is everywhere in life, so broaden your view.]

Conditions for completion:

▸Practice a type of art for a month.

▸Dominate the basis of said art.

Reward: Gain Aura depending on your performance beyond what is asked of you | Gain the skill: [Connoisseur]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Taka blinked at the floating screen, thoroughly unamused.

"What's with these missions, man?"

He flopped back onto the bed, already regretting jinxing himself.

What was even the point of learning art? How was that supposed to help with his aura farming? Sure, people would like what he did—for example, drawing—but would simply liking his drawings grant him aura?

As far as he knew, the feelings of people had to go beyond that for there to be any cashable aura.

So it seemed really unlikely any art would be worth the trouble of learning, considering the time he'd need to master it to a level where aura would just then start being gained.

For that, he could just fight some random ass villain in the street to show off, and get done with it.

He scoffed and glanced at the mission description again.

'Maybe I can just ignore this mission. Even the aura to be gained depending on performance may be a small amount, considering it is not specified.'

For a moment, he looked at it with a tired expression, already fed up with having to go out of his comfort zone purely for the aura points.

But then…

His eyes twitched. A certain thought popping into his head.

"Aura farming is everywhere in life." That line stuck with him. It echoed for a moment, like guiding his train of thought as a certain idea began brewing.

Until it fully formed.

"Say, System," Taka smiled, looking slyly at the screen floating beside him. "...when aura farming… do people necessarily have to be physically near me for me to gain the aura? What if I'm being cool online? Would the aura still reach me, even if they are kilometers away?"

[Analyzing question…]

[Answer: Your Quirk draws in the energy produced by awe and relatively similar feelings from people near you. The system's function is to harness this energy and prevent it from dispersing. If people are too far away, the energy may dissipate before the system can absorb it. However, if the number of people generating such feelings is large enough, the energy may persist long enough to reach you. Note: A significant portion of said energy will likely be lost in transit.]

Taka frowned, looking at the screen, thoroughly confused. "What do you mean by my Quirk? I thought I was Quirkless. Are you referring to yourself?"

[Negative, you have always possessed a Quirk. However, due to its nature being practically indetectable as you could do nothing with the aura you gathered, and you not drawing awe from your peers often at all, there was never a concentration high enough to be noticed by you or anyone around.]

"Ouch."

Taka's eye twitched at the jab. That hit a little too close.

Yeah, since he was a kid, he'd basically given up on getting along with people once he got labeled as Quirkless. Never bothered to put on a good face, and never tried to impress.

He didn't get bullied, but he for sure wasn't especially liked.

So… yeah. The math checked out.

Loner = No Aura.

Still, he couldn't help but feel speechless at the revelation that he was never Quirkless to begin with.

He actually had a quirk!

'Albeit a useless one—if not for the system here.' He deadpanned, though this time, he gave the screen a slightly more appreciative look.

As he slowly came to terms with this new truth—not world-shattering, but still something—his mind circled back to that earlier idea.

A small smirk curled on his lips.

"So I could actually gain Aura online…"

His eyes gleamed with interest, the idea of a video going viral and aura raining from the sky practically making him giddy.

Okay, maybe not giddy. But interested, very.

Though his enthusiasm dipped slightly at that whole part about most of the energy dissipating, it still didn't kill the idea.

This could be another viable method of Aura farming… one that didn't involve nearly dying for the cool factor.

His eyes drifted back to one of the conditions from the mission.

'Practice a type of art for a month…'

If he combined this assignment with his new plan to go viral?

Yeah.

He might be onto something.

…

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Plans are forming, and gains and growing.

Check that one out. Just thought about it now.)

 

[To-be-hero-X]

Shut up man, it's not my fault a damn Monkey Quirk

Click to shrink...

Hey for your information a monkey beat up gods like daddy beating up his useless son

This is called hard work." Seiji scoffed, taking his cigarrete away from his mouth and tapping it twice, letting the cinders fall. "When I was your age, the only thing my Quirk gave me was these big ass hands and a long ass tail to whack people with. So quit your whining and get here, don't tell me this is all you can do after an entire month of training?"

Click to shrink...

There it is the back in my day talk older people use XD

So I could actually gain Aura online…"

Click to shrink...

Gotta go be influencer

 

[The Synonym]

(A/N: Just realized I skipped a chapter, this one was supposed to be chapter five, not the one from yesterday)
────────────────────────
[Clean]
────────────────────────

| A week later… |

…

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[COMPLETE!]

[Change that horrible appearance of yours and make yourself presentable for your next day of school!]

Conditions for completion:

▸Learn proper hygiene and skincare techniques.✔

▸Style your hair appropriately.✔

▸Present your improved self to your classmates.✔

▸Maintain this lifestyle for at least one week.✔

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

<Calculating Reward…>

<+100 Aura!>

<+Skill [Clean]!>

"Huh?"

The notification popped up the moment Taka applied some shady and supposedly hydrating ointment he had bought at a Chinese store to his face.

He immediately dropped the product like it was toxic, before tossing it into the never-to-be-touched-again corner of the bathroom. His usually deadpan expression broke into a bright grin.

He was free.

Sure, his skin did look cleaner than it had ever been… but he couldn't care less. The effort it took was simply not worth it—at least for him. There may be weirdos out there who are willing to put up with it, but not him. He simply wasn't one of them.

Now that the quest was finally over, he could stop wasting his mornings applying weird goop in front of the mirror for hours and instead do—uh, well, anything else.

What exactly? Taka himself had no idea.

But free time was free time.

So, sighing in relief, Taka smirked confidently at his reflection and pulled up the status page, dumping all the newly gained Aura into Aura Projection—or AP for short, since typing the whole thing out is starting to get annoying.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 53

▸ Defense: 106

▸ Aura Projection: 179

─────────────

Total Aura: 179

─────────────

Skills:

▸Clean

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Taka grinned. His AP was now almost back to what it had been during the Quirk test a week ago. Lacking just 20 points, but that much was negligible.

"If I throw in my other stats as a backup in case I need that extra aura… I should hit over 300 points in AP. Wonder how much I'd be able to lift then?"

He raised a hand, counting on his fingers.

"If 199 points barely let me lift that 100kg dumbbell… that means each kilo needs about 2 Aura (1 Aura = 1 pound). So with 300 AP, I should be able to lift that 150kg (300 pounds) one I could only make twitch before."

Finished with his math, Taka nodded, satisfied.

A 50% strength increase in just one week. That was massive.

Next up: the other reason he endured the whole grooming quest in the first place.

His eyes darted to a specific point on his status page.

The Clean skill.

"I swear, if it's something useless, I'm gonna...—uh, well, I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I'll do something, that for sure."

So, with the resolution to do "something" in the case the skill let him down, he tapped on the skill, and a new screen popped up with its description.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Clean] (Passive)

Description: A proper Aura Farmer can't go around dirty and unkept. This skill grants your Aura cleaning and purifying properties, so you can be clean at all times.

▸Automatically keeps all parts of your body clean at all times.

▸Dirtiness does not stick to your body for long.

▸Impurities no longer surge on your skin.

▸Aura Projection can be used to apply this effect to clothes as well.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

"Hah…?!"

Taka stared, dumbfounded, as he let out a loud exclamation.

He wasn't mad, despite what his earlier tone might've implied. Just… confused. This definitely wasn't what he expected. Though, to be fair, he didn't even know what he had expected from a skill called clean.

But still…

"It looks… useful?" He raised an eyebrow.

Still a bit unsure, he ran a hand through his hair.

"Whoa."

It felt like he had just stepped out of the shower—smooth, light, and grease-free, even though he hadn't bathed since yesterday.

Next, he glanced around the room with squinted eyes to make sure he was alone... despite being in his own bathroom.

When he was sure no one was watching, he raised an eyebrow, cleared his throat, and looked around innocently… while one hand slipped into his pants.

A few seconds later, his hand came out—and went straight to his nose.

"Damn."

With extremely raised eyebrows, Taka washed his hands and left the bathroom like nothing happened—leaving behind a crime scene with no witnesses…

…except for the unfortunate few still reading this.

With a confident stride, he made his way into the living room, where he came across a wild Seiji, sipping morning coffee on the couch while bobbing his head to music only he could hear.

The instant he stepped into the living room, Seiji noticed Taka and shot him a mocking smirk upon seeing the young aura farmer's satisfied look.

"Well, don't you look good? Maybe I should amp up the training?"

Taka deadpanned. "No, please."

Ever since a week ago—after Taka underwent the Quirk test and had both the doctor and Seiji think his "telekinesis" worked by consuming his physical force—Taka had been forced to undergo special training to build up his strength by Seiji.

Naturally, Taka had tried to refuse at first. He wasn't exactly the training type.

He didn't get a rush of dopamine each time he pushed his limits; the only thing that came after each "Plus Ultra" was a wave of nausea.

A light one, but nausea nevertheless.

Unfortunately, like the obedient little system slave he was, all it took to change his mind was a shiny new Quest.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
[This is the start of your Aura Farming Path, and as is to be expected of you, you must be prepared for the many hurdles ahead. Endure the brutal training, and ascend—ready to carve your path to glory!]

Conditions for completion:

▸ Do not use your Aura to boost your physique in any way during training.

▸ Complete at least one month of training without missing a single session.

▸ Get your fighting skills acknowledged by Murata Seiji.

▸ Get your physical condition acknowledged by Murata Seiji.

Reward: +200 Aura | Gain the skill: [Trouble Radar]
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

After that damned quest notification popped up, Taka had given in and started training without complaint.

A week had passed since then, and after all of it, his Strength and Defense stats had gone up by 9 points total. Strength 3 points, and defense 6.

He wasn't sure if that was fast or not, but seeing his stats rise without spending a single point of Aura? That was a pleasant surprise. It motivated him to endure the training, as that way, there would be more "emergency use only" aura points to spend.

Of course, that didn't make the training any less brutal.

Taka had never worked out so much in his entire life. Seiji really went all out with the planning of his training.

Not a single muscle was left untouched after each session.

"Hahaha, come on! Seeing your dying face yesterday was amazing!" Seiji chuckled.

Taka grumbled and turned away. "Fuck you."

He grabbed his backpack and made for the door.

But just as he was about to leave, Seiji called out to him.

"Hey, Taka."

"What?"

"Have a nice day."

"...?" Taka raised an eyebrow.

"'Cause I'm increasing the intensity of your training once you get back."

"..."

Black lines appeared on Taka's forehead.

Without saying a word, he simply opened the door and left the house.

…

°

°

°

| Hours later… |

…

'The hell is this…?'

Taka found himself cornered by three of his classmates.

The day had been going smoothly. He was no longer ridiculed for being Quirkless, and after his power move last week, most of the class just ignored him.

But then these three suddenly popped up next to his seat after class ended, and asked(forced) him to follow them to a hidden corner of the school.

Not that it was shocking. These guys weren't exactly model students, and everyone knew they had ties to shady guys. So… yeah, it wasn't exactly a surprise when they pulled something like this out of nowhere.

"Oi oi oi, Takahashi, you've been acting all smug this past week, haven't you?!"

"Yeah, it's already starting to piss us off."

"Just 'cause you got a Quirk now doesn't make you better than us! Wipe that smug look off your face!"

Taka raised an eyebrow, confused.

This was just his normal face.

Unfortunately, it seemed his "normal face" was exactly what pissed them off.

"Hey Takeo, this guy's seriously getting on my nerves."

"Yeah, Toshio, he's still looking smug even after our warning… What should we do, Aniki?"

The biggest of the three, Shoji, sneered. A vicious grin spread across his face. "I think we should show him why he needs to learn to keep his head down."

At that instant, his two minions smirked and moved in to grab Taka by the arms, locking him in place.

With his target restrained, Shoji grinned wider, then slammed his knee into Taka's gut, folding him in half. His cronies chuckled like it was the funniest thing they'd seen all week.

Sadly, their smiles didn't last.

Taka slowly unfolded himself, completely unbothered, and stared at them with an unreadable expression.

"You done?"

The three froze, shocked by the calmness in his voice.

Wasn't he supposed to be gasping for air right now?

Taka, meanwhile, glanced at his status window.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 53

▸ Defense: 106→285

▸ Aura Projection: 179→0

─────────────

Total Aura: 179

─────────────

Skills:

▸Clean

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

'This thing's seriously convenient.'

Smirking widely at how effective the stat interchanging was, Taka then gave the two still-in-shock delinquents on both sides a look and poured all his Aura into Strength with a savage grin, boosting it up to 232—basically multiplying his raw strength nearly fivefold.

Then, with one casual swing of his arm—

"Woah!"

"Aagh!"

—he sent the two goons grabbing him flying like potato sacks.

"Wha—?!"

Shoji could only gape as his friends hit the ground in crumpled heaps. But his pride wasn't about to let him back down.

"You dare?!"

With a roar, he charged, fists erupting in flames.

"Taste the difference between our Quir—!"

He didn't get to finish that sentence.

Taka raised his hand in the blink of an eye—and Shoji suddenly found himself floating several meters in the air. His so-loved Quirk useless as in the air he was completely at Taka's mercy.

"W-what the?! Put me down!" he screamed, flailing like a brat whose mommy had said no to him for the first time.

Taka just smirked, thoroughly amused.

And then he started spinning Shoji. Fast. Like, blender-on-max fast.

"SsSssTOooOoOp!"

By the time Taka graciously returned him to the ground, Shoji was green in the face—and instantly threw up his lunch.

-Blergh!-

Still smirking, Taka turned to the two goons lying on the ground, who were now staring at him wide-eyed, utterly speechless after witnessing their "leader" get absolutely decimated.

Still, the fire in their eyes hadn't completely gone out.

They got up, rage written all over their faces.

Then—

"Sorry, Aniki!"

They turned and bolted, leaving Shoji alone with Taka.

"..."

"..."

The two stared silently at the fleeing duo.

In the end, Taka gave the still-nauseous Shoji a pat on the shoulder, then turned around and began to walk away.

"Just leave me alone from now on."

Shoji didn't respond. He looked like he might throw up again at any second.

With that, Taka casually walked off.

He paused, however, when a notification popped up in his vision.

<[+30 aura!]>

He raised an eyebrow, confused.

Then, as he turned the corner—

There they were. All of his classmates. Just standing there, awkwardly trying to act nonchalant, pretending they hadn't seen anything.

'These guys were watching…?'

He deadpanned. Seriously, didn't they have anything better to do?

'Well… I was having trouble finding moments to be cool. I guess this works too.'

Pleased with the unexpected bonus, he instantly redirected all his new points into AP—bringing the stat up to 209—and strolled past his classmates, keeping his expression cool and unbothered.

At this rate, by the time U.A.'s entrance exam rolled around in nine months, it'd be a walk in the park.

Or rather…

'A perfect aura farming spot.' Taka smirked deviously.

…

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(A/N: Fair warning, most skills Taka will gain will be for Aura Farming, not for increasing his power. This isn't a power fantasy... or maybe it is, but you know, the main focus is flexing as much as possible. Of course, I might always change my mind if I feel like he needs more power.)

 

[The Synonym]

────────────────────────

[I Need More Power]

────────────────────────

| A month later… |

…

"Well, this idea sucked," Taka muttered, glancing at the laptop in front of him with dissatisfaction.

He had, in fact, not been onto something.

It had already been an entire month since he had received the new mission of learning a type of art, and after very little deliberation, he chose the guitar.

Why? Because if he wanted to aura farm, it was the best instrument. You don't see chicks going crazy for the pianist, drummer, or bassist, right? The one getting attention was always the guitarist.

Of course, singers were also pretty popular, so it was also a choice, but his voice honestly wasn't very melodious.

So, he just chose the guitarist path.

As for where he got a guitar, considering he was out of funds after spending all his savings on skin care?

Well, Seiji seemed to have one taking dust on a corner of the house. When Taka asked him for it, the guy just shot him a disbelieving look before waving him off as he muttered, "So you're at that age, huh?"

And like that, he got a guitar.

A month passed since then, with him practicing with the instrument and learning not to suck.

During it, however, Taka decided to try uploading his process on QuirkTube. Awaiting the moment his videos would explode in popularity, and aura would begin raining like crazy.

Sadly, as may be evident from how he complained earlier, that didn't happen.

Not to mention that he forgot to account for the fact that him just showing his progress on learning it wouldn't generate much aura—if any at all.

To top it off, he also barely received any visits on his videos.

He had gotten, like, 10 subs throughout the span of these four and something weeks.

Truly, a disappointment of a project.

"Who could have thought becoming famous would be such a hassle?" Taka grumbled, turning his laptop off and glancing at the ceiling with a lazy expression.

Of course, his attempt at going viral was secondary. His main concern was the mission, which was going fairly well.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Now that you're capable of holding your ground—barely, it's time to focus on other aspects of the perfect aura farmer. Not all in life is fighting, so be sure to sharpen your other skills so you're not only a one-trick pony! Aura Farming is present in all actions.]

Conditions for completion:

▸Practice a type of art for a month.✔

▸Dominate the basis of said art.

Reward: Gain Aura depending on your performance beyond what is asked of you | Gain the skill: [Connoisseur]

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

—If it weren't for that last condition that he had yet to fulfill...

"What does 'the basis' even mean? I'm pretty sure I already learned most of what there's to know." Taka grumbled, squinting his eyes as he glanced at the mission screen.

If he had to say so himself, he already could play fairly well… When not rushed or under pressure.

And he might sometimes make mistakes.

And he might forget the notes from time to time.

But he could play, and that was all that mattered.

So he didn't know what this damn system wanted, but he assumed all that was left for him to do was to keep practicing until he eventually fulfilled that last condition and took that aura and skill with him.

"What does 'connoisseur' even mean anyway?"

With a grumble, he got up and left his room.

He walked into the living room, meeting once again a wild Seiji reading a newspaper with an amused expression.

Noticing him, Seiji smiled and pointed at the newspaper, showing it to him like it was some incredible discovery. "Hey, kid, look at this. Some kids your age just did something crazy!"

Taka raised an eyebrow and took the paper, eyeing it with curiosity—until he saw the cover.

It was an image of Bakugo trapped inside a mud monster, and Midoriya running after him to save him.

His eyes squinted faintly.

The article explained pretty much what had happened in the anime, with All Might helping them at the last minute and saving them from the mud villain.

Besides that, it didn't offer much information. Just a few declarations from All Might, the list of crimes of the mud villain, and the usual spicy stuff to anger someone.

None of that mattered to Taka, however.

His mind was focused on something else.

"That guy is already hogging the spotlight, huh?" He clicked his tongue, eyeing with annoyance the green-haired kid in the image.

Without a word, he returned the paper to Seiji, who looked at him with an odd expression.

"What's wrong, kid?"

"Nothing." Taka ignored him and walked to the door. "I'm going out."

Seiji tilted his head. "What? Where are you going so suddenly?"

"To buy stuff, I'm hungry," Taka replied without looking back.

Seiji scoffed, shooting him a deadpan look. "Already spending your allowance? The month is barely starting, kid. Try to make it last."

"If you gave me more, it'd last longer."

"Hah, you wish."

With a mocking smirk, Seiji lifted the newspaper and proceeded to ignore Taka, who looked at him with an annoyed glare.

"Stingy prick." With a curse under his breath, Taka opened the door and left. Swearing in his mind to one day find something to blackmail Seiji to increase his allowance.

Minutes later, as he walked through the street, Taka let out a quiet grumble, glancing up at the sky with a scowl.

"My time is running out…"

As he mumbled that, he pulled up his status screen with a displeased frown.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[STATUS PAGE]

▸ Strength: 66

▸ Defense: 132

▸ Aura Projection: 430

─────────────

Total Aura: 430

─────────────

Skills:

▸Clean

▸Trouble Radar

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

There were only ten months left until the U.A. entrance exams—until the anime's main events began unfolding.

Right now, he was way stronger than he'd been two months ago. And by the time the exams came around, he'd probably be even stronger.

With Seiji's training still underway, his physical stats were steadily increasing. So he'd probably be pretty fit by then, even without using his aura to boost his physical stats.

And his AP, well, it was unnecessary to mention it was his favorite stat. Being able to use telekinesis was awesomely convenient.

When he was in bed and needed to stand up to pick something, he could just use his AP to bring it to himself.

—And that was pretty much the only use he was giving it.

But well, regardless of the menial tasks it was being subjected to, its growth was undeniable, and Taka would probably continue pouring his aura on it whenever he got more.

If he had already gained over 400 aura points in around three months since getting his system, how much higher would it get by the time the exam happened?

Would he reach the 2000 points? Maybe even more?

He was awaiting it expectantly.

Suddenly, Taka's look full of anticipation turned slightly more moody, glancing ahead with a squint of eyes.

'But will it be enough?'

Midoriya would enter U.A. practically powerless. Total baby-tier. But within a single year, the guy would shoot up to All Might levels.

Taka would have a head start, sure. He'd be strong right from the beginning if he reached the 2000 aura mark by then. That was a ton in terms of force, after all.

But who was to say he wouldn't be outpaced?

He didn't know how strong All Might was in terms of stats, but judging from his feats, he was sure the guy was pretty far ahead of his current self. Maybe in the hundreds of thousands? in the millions?

So, for Midoriya to reach that guy's level in merely a year—Taka couldn't help but ask himself, would it be possible for him to also have that level of speed in his growth?

Would he really be able to keep up with the protagonist of this world?

Cause if he didn't, then his entire plans of aura farming would come down as Midoriya hogged the spotlight all to himself.

He needed to stay on top—mark the difference clearly from the very beginning.

A difference the guy wouldn't be able to cross, even with that protagonistic luck of his.

Taka narrowed his eyes, then finally closed them.

'In that case... I guess I should start taking this a bit more seriously.'

With that resolution, he commanded the system to activate "that".

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

[Trouble Radar] (ACTIVATED!)

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Instantly, Taka felt something, a faint, eerie sensation in the vicinity… not too far—actually, it was just around the corner.

Opening his eyes, he quickly made his way toward the source. Not wanting to miss anything.

When he arrived, though, he saw nothing.

Just the usual bustling street he sometimes passed through.

"Hold up…"

He squinted.

A hero had just stepped into the street, quickly gathering attention as people surrounded him, asking for autographs.

If he recalled correctly, the hero's name was Force Kick, a colleague of Seiji.

However, what truly caught Taka's attention was that despite the crowd surrounding him, the hero's eyes scanned the area intently, as if looking for someone specific.

Taka immediately picked up on what may be happening, and with the quickness of a normal teenager with no vision-enhancing Quirk, he began scanning the crowd himself, eyes sharp.

It took him a while, and nothing seemed out of order.

But then—he saw it.

Someone in the crowd shifted, their appearance warping for a split second. A flash of reptilian features surfaced before the figure morphed into another look entirely.

Taka's eyes widened.

That was it. These two were about to fight!

Maybe he was being mutantphobic, but judging from how the guy looked like he was hiding, and the hero being on the look out for something, plus his trouble radar telling something was about to happen here, Taka immediately came to the conclusion that the reptile-like guy was a villain escaping, and that soon Force Kick would discover him, giving place to a fight.

That, or a car crash would happen. That was also possible.

But for now, he was gonna lead into his first supposition.

"But what should I do…?"

This didn't feel like a high-threat incident. Nothing catastrophic. So there was no need for him to jump in.

But that didn't mean there wasn't an opportunity.

What was the best way to aura farm from this?

Attacking the villain right away was an option—except he wasn't completely sure the guy was a villain.

Plus, Taka would get in trouble later if he attacked with his face and identity exposed. He didn't have a hero license, after all.

So, yeah, for now, that was discarded.

…For now.

'Damn… Aura farming really is troublesome…'

He groaned, rubbing his chin with a deep, thoughtful expression.

Until—

His eyes lit up. A spark of inspiration hit.

"That's it!"

Without another word, he turned on his heel and bolted back home, a wide grin stretching across his face.

…

°

°

°

| Minutes later… |

…

Just like Taka had predicted, the hero eventually spotted the chameleon-quirked guy, and a fight broke out.

Force Kick's Quirk consisted of producing small bursts of energy from his feet, which could be used for both mobility and for combat, enhancing his kicks and his running speed.

The chameleon's Quirk, on the other hand, not only let him copy people's appearances—as it'd be expected of such a Quirk—but also gave him enhanced agility and a long, powerful tongue that he could use to attack.

Both combatants were… fine. Nothing special. Middle-of-the-road power levels.

But that meant the fight lasted a while.

Neither side gained the upper hand. The hero held his own, but the villain wasn't being overwhelmed either. The chameleon's only real threat was that more heroes might arrive and tip the scales.

For now, though, he held his ground.

All he needed was the right chance to slip away—

—CHA-KA-CHAN! —

But then, the sound of an electric guitar strummed sharply across the city block, cutting through the noise of battle.

Both combatants were startled mid-motion, halting just before their next clash. They looked around, confused.

Then they saw him.

Perched atop a building, overlooking the fight with both legs crossed and an electric guitar in his grasp, was a figure dressed in a black hoodie that cast his face in shadow. A dark mouth mask obscured the rest of his features.

The only thing visible were his eyes—sharp, black, and fixed directly on them.

Behind him, a compact kit of amplifiers stood humming softly, making sure every strum of his guitar echoed powerfully across the street below.

Both hero and villain glanced at the newcomer in confusion, darting looks at each other every now and then, as if asking, "Can you believe this?".

The crowd around was just as stunned. What was this guy doing?

Fortunately, they would get their answers right away.

Without a word, the figure tightened the grasp on his guitar and…

Began to play.

────────────────────────

-To be Continued…-

────────────────────────

(A/N: I don't know how to play music, so don't expect perfect realism... and while at it, I also don't know how to do many things Taka will do, so the same applies for that.

Whatever unrealistic part, let's simply attribute it to the great System.)

 

[CornCorn]

Overall, meh. Overall feels like not much actually happens in the chapters and something about the MC feels kinda cringe at this last bit here.