A Hero's Quest

Dave looked down at the map. It was noon and he went out with Ayano to grab something to eat.

They spent the whole morning training his abilities and stats. They even created a new training regimen for him.

After he had no way to train his agility, strength, and stamina yesterday Ayano made him do physical training while he created and manipulated bubbles all around him.

In the process, Dave even learned how to harden his bubbles. At some point in time, they went even so far as to create a huge bubble around himself.

He had to lift the bubble from the ground and run as fast as he could. That was Ayanos idea of combining 'Agility' and [Bubble Control] training. Dave only felt like a hamster in a hamster wheel. Fortunately, his mana only lasted for 30 seconds because creating a giant bubble, hardening it, and lifting it plus him from the ground was a damn hard job.

When the bubble burst open after he ran out of mana he rolled over the floor hitting a wall.

His bruises were then treated by Ayano's heal ability. They disappeared practically immediately, when she touched them.

But all the hard work was worth it. Dave's stats and abilities reached new heights. Of course with Ayano's generous help. After all, she sponsored another batch of Light Blue Mana Pills.

Strength: F -> E

Agility: F+ -> E+

Stamina: F+ -> E

Wisdom: D- -> D

Intelligence: E+ -> D-

Charisma: F -> F+

[Bubble Control]: D+ -> C-

Still looking at the map, he could summon using the system, he finally activated [Newbie Hero's Radar]. A blue circle appeared on the map with Dave as its center.

'This must be the 200 Meter radius mentioned in the skill description. Shouldn't there appear some question marks or something like that?!?'

Dave didn't know exactly how this ability was working so he decided to move around a little. Ayano was waiting in a queue for their food. Dave told her before that he wanted to test the ability now.

After he walked 300 Meters down the street in one direction, a question mark appeared suddenly visible on the map. He clicked on it and a window popped open.

[Hero's Quest: Save the cat] [Difficulty: E]

[A young girl needs your help. Her cat climbed on a tree and got stuck there. Trying to save her beloved animal she tried to climb the tree. Unfortunately, she got frightened by the height and got stuck next to her cat. If you want to save her you have to be fast, she might fall at any moment.

Quest clear condition:

Save the girl and the cat.

Success:

Charisma F+ -> E-

Heroism: +1

Newbie Hero's Radar [E]

Failure:

Charisma: F

Heroism: -1

Accept or Decline]

Dave pushed the Accept Button and started running in the direction of the girl. He was still 100 meters away when he turned around a corner and entered a side road. At the and of the street he could see the tree with a girl sitting 10 Meter high on a thick branch.

He ran faster. He didn't expect that the girl would be 10 meters above the ground. 'Shit don't fall. I can't let again someone die. Not this time!' He didn't expect to feel this kind of pressure. Of course, this girl wasn't in any way related to him but the fact that he accepted the quest made him feel as if he took the responsibility for this little girl. He knew it was crazy to feel like that but he couldn't shake that feeling off.

With high speed, he neared the tree. It was still 30 meters to go when suddenly the girl lost balance and fell. "AAHHHHhhhh!" A desperate scream came from her and Dave's mouth at the same time.

Without thinking any further he shot a big bubble in her direction. The bubble stopped under the girl and she fell into it. The bubble dramatically deformed and Dave had to use all his skill to find a balance between hard enough to withstand the force of the fall and soft enough so that the girl wouldn't be injured. Luckily he achieved his goal. While the girl was still confused he shot another bubble. This one headed for the cat still sitting on the branch of the tree. It encompassed the pet and brought it safely down to the girl's side.

"Ptcht! Ptcht!"

Dave let both bubbles burst and disappeared as fast as he could leaving behind a happy girl with her cat licking her face.

He didn't want to explain to her what happened just now. That was why he tried to disappear without her noticing. Pulling his always present hood over his head, he read the quest window.

[[Hero's Quest: Save the cat] cleared. Rewards are distributed accordingly.

Charisma F+ -> E-

Heroism: +1

Newbie Hero's Radar [E]]

Happy about his success and extremely grateful that he made it in time he returned to Ayano.

She was already waiting for him a paper bag filled with food in her hands, when she asked, "And? Were you successful?"

"Yeah more or less. I nearly died from a heart attack. I didn't expect the quests to be so serious."

Dave and Ayano went to the lakeshore in the middle of the island. It was a different place than where he was with Mike last time. He didn't want to go there yet, he wasn't ready for all the emotions that would hit him there.

On their way, Dave explained the situation to Ayano.

"Dave I think you should be really proud. Without you, I mean if you didn't have this ability and used it then that girl would be dead right now. You saved her parents from a tragic fate through your intervention!"

"I know but I start to fear my ability. Imagine you had a map that would show you every person, who needs your help. Knowing that they exist and that I can safe them, makes me responsible for them. After all, I have the power on me right now to change their fate. Is it right for me to sit down and for example eat a burger or take a nap when I know, that I could save a life at the very same moment? Do you understand my problem?"

A contemplating look appeared on Ayanos face. "You are right Dave. I can understand your dilemma but it is you, who can decide if this ability is a curse or a blessing! For the beginning, I have an idea, how you can handle it. You will simply do everything in your might for 3 hours every day to help the people using this ability. Then you turn it off."

"I can't..." stuttered Dave.

"No, no, no. You have to see it the right way. Then it is much easier for you to justify your usage for your ability in front of yourself. Your view right now is simply to narrow...", said Ayano shaking her head.

"What do you mean?", asked Dave confusedly.

"Resting, training, and having fun are part of your path to true strength. If you forbid yourself from having fun, if you lose your reasons to live, then you won't be able to save other people in the long term. Your view on the world will change and ultimately your character will change too."

Dave sent Ayano an unconvinced look.

"Okay, it might be difficult for you to understand that right now because you aren't long enough in this situation yet but never underestimate the power of experience. Having a strong ability is nice and all but you need the experiences of life to use this power the right way, to feel empathy for other people and to understand their feelings. Only then can you become a true hero. The job you picked will end up giving you hard choices to make. Sometimes you might even have to decide, who lives and who not. Dave, think about the day I had to decide if I would heal you or Mike. Ultimately you will have to make decisions like these." When Ayano said this a sad look entered Dave's eyes.

"And a more practical reason is that you need time to train. Greater power will enable you to save more people after all.", she said this with an understanding look.

"You didn't think about this right now for the first time, did you?",Dave said jokingly.

"No, I thought about this for the past 10 years. Don't forget that we are sitting in the same boat. My healing abilities would allow me to theoretically heal every person in need...Nevertheless, I am not doing it out of similar reasons to you. I can't count how often I had to decide, who lives and who dies. You know my power is not endless... I can't even save a fraction of those, who need my help."

Dave didn't like the sad mood the both of them were in.

"Let us do this afternoon some more quests together. Your ability might be helpful!" said Dave trying to change the topic.

5 hours later Dave and Ayano went back to Nakamura labs satisfied with their achievements of the day. They cleared 15 quests, one C- grade, two D grades, ten E grades, and 2 f grades.

The C grade quest wanted them to save a biker, who was stuck under a bus after he was run over by it. Dave had to lift one side of the bus and pull the biker out. He had no mana left after he finished it even though he only needed 3 seconds for it. Then Ayano used her heal ability to bring him back from the brink of death.

The other quests were a little less demanding.

Happy about their achievements Dave looked at his status window to see the difference in his stats.

Strength: E

Agility: E+ -> C-

Stamina: E -> D+

Wisdom: D -> C-

Intelligence: D- -> D+

Charisma: E- -> D-

Heroism: 2-> 52

[Bubble Control]: C- -> C+

[Newbie Hero's Radar]: F -> C

The practical usage of his body and his skills combined with the pressure the quests created made his stats rise dramatically.

But even better than these, where the physical rewards Dave got.

[Apprentice Hero's Cape]

[Slows your fall if you jump down from big heights. The wearer might still injure himself.]

2 x [Red Mana Liquid]

[A liquid that helps you with your meditation.

Boosts your mana regeneration by 60% and the mana cleansing speed by 200%. As a side effect, your skin quality improves, tremendously. High chance to improve your charisma.]

10 x [Light Blue mana Pill]

Except for the two F grade quests Dave always got some kind of physical reward. Ayano didn't want any of these even though she was curious, why his ability produced these. The reason for this was pretty simple. First of all, these were created by Dave's ability so they were his property, and secondly, she was the heir of the Nakamura family. If she wanted any of these, she could simply buy them in a store.

With this, another successful day ended for Dave.