Mob

"Being attacked by kobolds as the Azure Dragon is kinda… y'know?" I ran next to Dabi, Flying across the street in one swift move. I spun through the air for the fun of it before landing of the tips of the toe box of my shoes. "I'm saying it's sorta weird."

"Yes, I caught that," Dabi growled, running ahead of me without any of the flashy moves, which I thought was boring but expected. "Just shut up and try not to get me killed."

"Try not to get you killed? Please, I don't think you could die even if you wanted to. We should be more worried about getting caught," I peaked at my Map, noting the fifty red dots behind the two of us, with a blue dot besides me and another one to the right of the red dots. I took a sharp right, rolling into an alleyway before sliding to a stop.

"…Is Manami on the building?" Dabi questioned, ducking into a tight alleyway immediately after me.

"Yeah, she's fine," I grinned. "What are you worried about her or something?"

I could feel the annoyance radiate off Dabi without even seeing his expression. I could hear the short monsters shuffling in behind us, getting caught on one another because of the sudden shift to a smaller space.

"Just making sure I don't roast her alive. More importantly, why isn't anyone out? Is this a side-effect of your Quirk?" Dabi grunted, jumping from one wall to another, and flipping directly over me. He landed in front of me without breaking a sweat, as if the move were nothing to him.

He's certainly a scary bastard alright.

"I don't think it is. We're sticking to the shadows for a reason. Come on, we've got a few more streets!" I threw out half a dozen Pop-Off balls behind me to slow down the kobolds who were chasing us. They were fast for sure.

I huffed as I saw Dabi running ahead of me, so I Flew into the air, pulling my bat from my inventory and ledging it into one of the many holes in the nearby bricks. Using it as a makeshift bar and swinging high into the air, pulling the bat out in an unnecessary spin before I realigned myself and, with my feet firmly placed at the bottom of a windowsill, I leapt between the two buildings, landing in front of Dabi with a somersault. I broke into a sprint before our enemies could catch up.

[Due to a specific action, a new skill has been created. Skill: Parkour.]

I couldn't see Dabi, but his voice certainly had a grin to it. I swiped away the notification as a grin grew on my face.

"You're such a showoff."

"I'm pretty great, I know."

Despite our jokes, I was focused, clearing a street in one jump before Dashing into another alleyway. Dabi was right behind me without even a lick of hesitance. Checking my Map, I noticed that Manami was falling behind quite a bit, but she was still within my Map's range, so it was fine.

"You ready?" I asked Dabi, not even looking back to him as I readied myself, drawing into the position that was beginning to become ingrained on my very being.

"I'm not doing anything anyways. I'm just insurance," Dabi sounded nonchalant, and I took that as my right to proceed with our plan.

I punched directly through the wall in front of me, Dashing into the large building as dust, dirt, and cement flew into the air. I made sure to not inhale any of it before I emerged from the cloud. I spun around, giving my enemies my full attention as Dabi jumped high into the air. With some light propulsion from his flames, he landed on one of the steel beams without a cinch.

The biggest problem with training is that we could be exposed by it. We were trying to keep a low profile, but even a few knocked over trees―in a forest of all places―resulted in a Pro-Hero coming to check things out.

The dungeons we planned to run into aren't some places that stopped everyone in the real world from noticing our presences. We could still very much be caught, and I didn't have a disguise up yet, so we couldn't risk being caught at all.

So, I used every piece of information I had to my advantage. I figured out where was the most abandoned part of town, called the most nearby agency to check out the location of a fake nearby crime, and I found the best location to fight in―which happened to be a rundown stone storage building―so I was feeling fairly confident in my abilities to win here.

The thing was that our enemies were far more numerous and durable than the skeletons I'd faced only a few days ago.

Kobolds didn't have any armor, but they didn't need a whole lot either. Due to being distant relatives to dragons, their scales could take a beating on their own. They used simplistic weapons, like stone daggers and short swords, so I didn't find much point in worrying about that either.

The thing that reassured me―even more than the situation I set up―was that they were creatures driven by anger and simplistic desires. They could plan but weren't much of a threat if you could overpower them.

I slid to a stop as kobolds rushed through the hole I created, and while the dust should have given them some cover, it didn't.

[Due to experiencing danger time and time again, you have developed a new skill. Skill: Sense Danger.]

Skills, new and old, such as Sense Bloodlust and Sense Danger, warned me of the kobolds' intentions, even with the dust flying around in the air. Because of the skills, I could tell when someone wanted to harm and when they wanted to kill, even if they weren't specifically aimed towards me.

Even if they both had a certain range to them―about 40 meters for Sense Danger and about 60 for Sense Bloodlust―they still provided me with information that would be rather spotty without the skills. That information allowed me to locate the monsters without my sight on its own.

I Dashed into the dust cloud, closing the distance between me and my first victim. I reached out, using the kobold's limited vision against it, and wrapped my hand around its throat. With some Mana Empowerment, Talons of the Azure Dragon, Crush, and Tear, I felt the kobold's scales and skin break before I felt a strained and frantic pulse. With a shockingly easy pull, I tore the kobold's throat out and felt the creatures blood spurt onto my arm as its life ended.

My first kill of a creature with blood. I wish I could say that it meant something huge, but it didn't at all. The creature died before I could even think twice about it.

I Flew towards the next kobold as the first one's head began falling. I did the same I did to the first, tearing its throat out without a lick of hesitation.

In a situation like this one, hesitation was the same as defeat.

A third and fourth went down just as easy, if not easier. I Flew backwards, pulling additional MP towards my hands with Mana Empowerment. If things were gonna stay this simple, I could kill all the monsters with my bare hands before they even knew what was happening.

[Due to pulling additional mana towards your hands, you have received a new skill. Skill: Mana Blast.]

The skill gave me a few interesting ideas, so I switched up my plan on the fly.

To my surprise, several kobolds pushed through the hole in the wall and made to surround me, seven of them doing so. The others were still filing in, but I wasn't trying to give them any chance to make their moves.

I felt both Senses go off in three directions, one in front of me and two behind my left and right shoulder. The kobold ahead of me charged towards me, its dagger aimed directly towards my chest. I could feel the other two move, but I didn't focus on them.

I pushed towards the clear target, but I launched a Mana Blast to my other two approaching foes with my two open palms. After warding them off for a moment, I grabbed the kobold's dagger with two fingers, reaching past its inferior arm length and crushing its neck.

Upon actually seeing how easily I killed one of their allies, I was shot with warnings from all around me, the six kobolds.

I ducked under an attack that was aimed for my head, grabbing the kobold's tail and treating him like a weapon. I applied Mana Empowerment, Slam, and Power Strike to the monster's body, swinging it into two of the monsters before the body went flying from the tail, killing the monster.

I was stricken by how gross holding a kobold's tail was, so I dropped it before elbowing one of the oncoming monsters. As the two I had stopped originally got up, injured but not killed from the Mana Blasts, I leapt towards them―not using my skill this time―and slammed my bat into their heads with one swing.

The last one leapt at me, but I could tell it wasn't trying to kill. Sense Danger was going off, but Sense Bloodlust wasn't. It was probably trying to knock me off balance and leave the finishing blow for another kobold. The attack was aimed towards my torso, with the monster throwing its entire body towards me. Its body was curled into a ball, so I jumped back and―in a move I wasn't sure about but did anyways―received the monster's body as if it was a volleyball.

The monster uncurled upon being launched high into the air, but I grabbed its tail before it could do anything and Flung it into two more kobolds that entered the building. I threw out three Mana Blasts just to make sure they were dead as I Flew backwards.

37 kobolds left, but my MP was starting to run out. My MP running out was the biggest worry I had in these fights. I had a lot left, but as I used it in an actual environment like this, I realized how faulty it really was. Still, I didn't want to rely on Dabi for something like this. He was already strong, but I needed strength in times like these ones.

I cracked my neck and smiled.

12 more kobolds approached, rushing towards me with clear killing intent. I Flew into the air, coming down with some extra force with some electromagnetic help. I came down on top of one of the kobold's head, killing it as it was crushed underneath the soles of my shoe.

Five were quick to move, attacking my head, torso, knees, and ankles in synchronization, but the other six were running around, waiting for their respective times to strike.

I Slammed my fist into the jaw of the kobold aiming for my head, killing it as it's brains flew into the air. Which, while gross, didn't faze me in the slightest. I took a few steps back to avoid the kobold coming for my torso, but the monster's aimed for my ankles and knees gave me a few scrapes. The pain wasn't anything to fret about, and Physical Damage Reduction assured that the HP drained from the attacks wasn't anything to worry about either.

One of the kobolds that landed its blow leapt up from the ground, trying to come for my head. The other two stabbed towards my crotch and waist, and I could feel two of the six from earlier aiming towards my back and head.

I took a step to the left, causing my first attacker to scratch the side of my face before I grabbed its short sword at the blade, broke the blade with my enhanced hand, and stabbed it deep in its chest with the piece of the broken blade. As I pushed the corpse away, I kicked both of my feet forward, causing the rest of my body to fall to the ground. The two kobolds ahead of me were pushed away by my legs, but certainly weren't killed, rolling away before hopping back up.

The two kobolds aiming for the back of my head and my back flew over where I was standing, subject to any of my attacks before they could land. I kept a firm hand on the ground, holding my position with Talons and Crush, and kicked the two flying kobolds in their heads. The four were only knocked away, but I didn't plan to keep it that way.

With my free hand, I pushed away from the ground, Tearing away a chunk of concrete. I flew through the air, and with careful precision, I landed on top of the soaring kobolds' heads, crushing them with some help with Electricity Manipulation.

I broke the concrete in two before throwing the two pieces at two kobolds, causing the rock to fly through their heads.

The other four leapt forward, but I moved faster. I tore their throats out before they could dream of reacting, probably a sign of my increased skill levels. I grabbed their weapons, storing a rusty dagger and stone short sword into my inventory, and looked towards the whole.

25 left.

I flung the two daggers within my hands towards two of them, killing them instantly as the daggers ran through their head and neck respectively. I Dashed towards the closest kobold, stabbing through its mouth with the stone short sword in my Inventory.

It was dead before it could react, but I didn't want to wait to pull the sword away. I twisted the handle and broke it, throwing the handle and the broken sword towards another kobold, killing it.

I pulled the dagger out, stabbing the closest kobold in the chest before I threw the still-dying kobold towards its allies.

I Flew towards six more, using their weapons against them and slamming them against nearby metal crates to kill them.

12 left, and I can kill them quickly.

They were bunched together, and above them was certainly a convenient metal crate. I took one of the stone shields―which ended up being useless against my speed―and Flung it towards the rope keeping the crate up. The metal crate fell, killing the 12 kobolds in one fell swoop.

I took a few deep breaths but stayed focused. I was missing something.

Where was the boss?

As if responding to my mental question, a monster burst through the wall.

Dawning the body of a half-snake and half-human, a naga slithered towards me. It was fast, closing the distance between the two of us in an instant. It threw a punch towards me, and with its powerful looking gauntlets, the punch hurt.

The punch sent me soaring through the air, causing me to slam into one of the metal beams before falling into a group of boxes. I could feel my arms pulse with pain, but the bones weren't broken. Azure Dragon's Scales held up under the pressure.

I was disorganized for a moment, but I rose from my spot and shook my head.

I would lose to a physical fight against this thing, that was for sure. But if that was the case….

I Flew up next to Dabi―well, at least where he was a few moments ago, holding my hand up into the air.

Something I think a lot of people forgot was that distance in a fight was important, incredibly so actually. I certainly understood why people liked boxing and super powerful punches, but if you couldn't reach your opponent, there's not a lot of point in your strength.

With the lower body of a snake, a naga wouldn't be jumping up to me anytime soon, so I created a Mana Blast, but continued to fuel Mana into it.

The seconds took seemingly forever as the naga screeched at me, either too stupid to try and find a way up or too determined to think about anything after my death. As I felt my MP approach zero, I looked at the creation within my hand.

It looked like a perfectly purple javelin. It was light to hold, but I could tell it was heavy as well.

I didn't waste any time and let the javelin soar from my hand, Flinging it towards the head of the naga. The mana construct flew faster than I thought it would, and it tore directly through the monster's head, killing it in an admittedly anticlimactic end.

I took a few deep breaths as any pain I felt faded away and I was filled with energy due to levels and new skills. I looked over to my notifications, which some I had ignored in the heat of the earlier fight.

[Due to a special action, you have received a new skill. Skill: Dagger Mastery.]

[Due to a special action, you have received a new skill. Skill: Short Sword Mastery.]

[Due to a special action, you have received a new skill. Skill: Dagger Throw.]

[Due to extensive and specific use of mana, you have created a new skill. Skill: Mana Javelin.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

[You have leveled up.]

Ignoring the new skills and new levels, I moved onto the other ones. The other ones were far, far more interesting.

[You have defeated 50 enemies with the ancient arts of Seiryu!]

[Due to this, you've obtained the title "The Dragon's Child!"]

[You have defeated 50 monsters!]

[Due to this, you've obtained the title "Amateur Monster Hunter!"]

"I'm surprised you did it. I thought I'd have to step in and help at the end there," Dabi's voice was flat, but he wasn't lying about being surprised. Granted, suddenly showing up behind me scared the wits out of me, but whatever.

"Yeah, I was worried too. But still, I made it regardless. It was a good test though. It showed me that I can win against a crowd of small fries, if I'm provided with the right environment," I shrugged, looking around as the monsters' bodies began fading away, similarly to how the skeletons' did.

"True, but also it's a good show that you're not afraid to kill either. You were relentless there," Dabi noted, but I didn't know how to respond to his words.

True, I didn't hesitate about killing the monsters, but they were also… monsters.

"I won't kill a human if I don't have to," I shook my head, receiving a nod from Dabi.

"It's only a last case scenario," He agreed. "Still, human opponents are crafty, and they won't just wait for you to charge up an ultimate attack."

I shrugged at that comment.

Some humans totally would, but I didn't think it was worth mentioning right now.

"You wanna go grab Manami while I look at these drops?" I asked, receiving a nod from Dabi before he dashed from the building.

I jumped down from the steel beam, landing near the boss's body.

"What are these…?" I momentarily ignored the skill book and money as I grabbed what looked like some clothes and a mask.

[You have received the equipment, "Vasukak."]

[You have received the equipment, "Ishikori."]

The former was a mask, while the latter was some armor.

Vasukak was a white mask with two holes where the eyes should be and seven additional holes alongside the forehead. Lightning like patterns ran from the eyes to the edges of the mask, painting the white mask with some powerful yellows. The mask lightly came out at the nose, stopping with smooth edges near the bottom. It would probably leave the bottom half of the face visible.

Ishikori was an almost stunningly white cloak, with pure black emblems on the shoulders and back. It looked rather… inconvenient to wear in a fight. Too baggy to actually use efficiently.

I Observed the two items, my eyes growing in surprise at their descriptions.

[Vasukak – Rank: Mythical]

A mask infused with the power of a naga, a creature of myth. The Mask of Death and Reincarnation.

???

[Ishikori – Rank: Legendary]

A cloak of pure white, putting materials like titanium to shame. While worn, greatly improves the user's Dexterity and electricity affinity, giving the user the ability to control the currents of electricity, potentially even turning into pure electricity.

Try not to fry your devices.

Passive Skill: Electricity +.

I clicked my tongue at the lack of information of the former item.

Should I… put it on?

It was stupid, I didn't need my 51 Intelligence and 20 Wisdom to know that. On the other hand, if the mask were as useful as the cloak was, wouldn't it be worth trying on, even with the risk?

My status effects were cured after sleep, so if the mask absorbed my face or something, would the effects just be gone after some sleep?

The worst thing that could possibly happen is that the mask either turns me into a rampaging monster or straight up kills me upon wearing it. For the former, Dabi was far stronger than me and could put me back in my place if he needed to, assuming that those effects even go through Gamer's Mind. For the latter… I'd just have to take the risk.

With the equipment being something as ominous as "The Mask of Death and Reincarnation," I could assume it would kill me and bring me back to life, but would my Quirk really do something like that?

No, it probably wouldn't. I think that applies to both worst-case scenarios too.

My Quirk had yet to put me in a situation I couldn't handle, and with so many safety nets to fall back on, I could afford to take such a risk, couldn't I?

I steadied my resolve with deep breath and put on the mask, equipping the cloak with it.