{A/N: Hello people I have finished my exams and can write again. A few things first, 1. it might take be a bit to get back into the flow of writing, 2. Yes I changed the history of the world, deal with it. 3. If something seems off about the characters I'll explain it in time.}
October 22nd, 2414 — Musutafu District 2 — Musutafu, Japan
A dry summer breeze ruffled Sage's mid-length slicked-back hair as he walked through the city streets. The setting sun cast long shadows across the darkening pavement while warm air pressed down on him like a suffocating blanket. He reached up to peel his sweat-soaked collar away from his neck, internally regretting his decision to walk home today.
Shaking out his arms in a futile attempt to cool down, he found no relief as his school uniform slowly cooked him alive. With a resigned sigh, he decided to ignore the discomfort and return to his thoughts.
Over the years since first awakening his memories, he had made tremendous progress—learning new skills, completing quests, and growing stronger. But recently, he found himself without a major goal. Sure, the main quest still loomed ahead, but that would take considerable time to complete.
With all his accumulated skills, he stood at a crossroads. One path led to society's expectations, demanding he conform to their restricting rules. Another offered the hero's path—something he'd considered multiple times, though he simply wasn't the type to selflessly sacrifice himself for others.
The final option involved taking over his parents' company when he came of age. Of all these potential futures, he found himself paralysed by indecision, internally hating the idea of settling for something he didn't truly want.
Turning at a traffic light, he began walking toward the ocean while considering what he actually enjoyed. Over the years, new quests had exposed him to countless activities. Of those many experiences, he found himself most drawn to inventing and creating things in his male form, and fighting in his female form. He also loved helping and teaching people while building upon his own knowledge.
The sound of his footsteps on pavement gave way to the crash of waves as he reached the seaside. His expression soured as he took in the sight before him—mounds of garbage multiple stories high smothering the beach beneath.
'It's disgusting. Why must people be so lazy and trash everything?'
Grumbling in annoyance, he found a spot where he could see between the trash mounds and sat down on the raised ledge separating sand from path. Looking at the towering waste, he felt deep anger swelling within him. Stamping down the rising emotion, he focused on the water beyond while mentally blocking out the garbage.
In his years in this world, he hadn't researched much about the political landscape since quirks emerged, but what little he'd discovered only fuelled his anger further.
Initially, when quirks manifested, the government did what it did best—tried to suppress them. This worked at first, but eventually quirk users appeared too quickly to contain. Countries initiated martial law and imprisoned anyone with a quirk.
The tension reached a breaking point twenty years after the first quirk emerged. Angry at their treatment, quirk users waged a civil war, after recruiting allies worldwide their combined forces began overwhelming conventional armies. The conflict escalated over five years until trigger-happy politicians launched nuclear strikes on occupied cities.
After that point, Sage couldn't find any more documents about the aftermath, though the results were obvious enough. The old governments eventually won after irradiating several cities, then immediately enacted new laws to pacify the population. The war's consequences remained visible years later—radioactive patches still scarred Australia, Europe, Russia, and other countries.
Following that conflict, governments seemed to abandon climate goals entirely. Pollution had escalated ever since.
A faint ping echoed in his head, tearing Sage from his brooding. Mentally calling up his quest menu, he examined the newest entry.
[New] Side Quest: The Ocean's Lament
Since the beginning of the age of quirks, society as a whole has turned its back on the world. Centuries of constant neglect have caused the oceans to become toxic wastes with only small clear patches. With the oceans slowly dying, the world will follow shortly after if nothing is done.
They have the technology—they just don't care.
Goal: Develop a solution to the deteriorating biosphere.
Reward: 100,000 XP, Skill — Water Manipulation, Skill — Purify, Item — Heart of the Sea, [???]
Sage straightened, studying the short eight-word sentence displayed in deep green letters.
'What? I've never seen anything like this before. Why is it different?'
He attempted to use Appraisal on the strange text, but it only generated a panel about the system itself. Swiping the results away, he focused on the quest's actual contents.
'I suppose I could do something about that. Actually, I definitely can.'
As he pondered the challenge, a figurative fire ignited in his chest. Ideas poured through his mind while he gazed out at the setting sun, his thoughts churning with possibilities. When the last rays crested the horizon and night's chill began settling, he finally snapped from his reverie.
Looking at the ocean, his eyes reflected unwavering determination as he stretched his limbs. Before standing, he decided to check his status for the first time in weeks. Glancing down at his hand, he activated Appraisal.
[Sage Durand]
Title: Amateur Swordsman, Jack of Trades
Level: 21 (100/330 XP)
Stats:
Body: D+ (C-)
Mind: C (C)
Soul: D+ (D+)
Skills:
Body — Smooth Moves, Fast Twitch, Hardened Bones, Flexibility, Balance, Parry, Slash
Mind — Enhanced Intellect, Advanced Computations, Sword Talent (C), Eidetic Memory
Soul — Analysis, Omnilingual, Glide, Quick Swap, TPOF (2), Reinforcement, Vanity
Quirks: Restoration, Enhanced Mobility, Speed Enhancement
Sage briefly noted his increased stats and the few new skills he'd gained. Surprisingly, after the first few quests, he'd begun receiving more items than skills—most relatively useless but some like the band of regeneration he wore around his wrist were useful.
As he swiped the menu away and moved to stand, the hairs on his neck suddenly bristled and his instincts screamed danger. Reacting instantly, he slid forward under the railing and onto the beach as a knife sparked against the bar where he'd been leaning.
Dropping into a combat stance, he turned toward his assailant. There, on the raised concrete sidewalk, stood a blonde girl slightly older than him.
She wore a dirty school uniform dotted with rips and bloodstains. In her hand, she gripped a chipped box cutter with traces of blood on the blade. Her dirt-covered face split into a crazed smile, revealing elongated canine teeth.
Meeting her yellow eyes, Sage used Appraisal as she jumped down to the sand. An opaque panel appeared instantly, displaying the girl's name, quirk, and brief description.
His eyes widened slightly as recognition dawned.
Himiko Toga hopped happily while squealing, a chilling gaze radiating from her eyes as she slowly assessed him. Deciding to confuse him, she spoke first.
"Hello! I wasn't expecting you to dodge my knife. Can you stay still so I can stab you?"
Sage kept his guard up while watching the floating HLN-A approach the crazed girl. Suddenly, a cloud of steam burst from his body as it shrunk several inches and his mind changed subetely.
Brushing away the vapor, Sage—now in her female form—looked at the other girl as a bloodthirsty grin slowly split her face. Himiko shook off her confusion before grinning back.
"That was weird. Weren't you a guy?" She tilted her head. "Either way, it doesn't matter as long as I get some blood."
Himiko dashed forward, kicking up sand as she approached. Smiling widely, Sage quickly addressed HLN-A while sidestepping the lunging girl and pushing her over.
"Hela, wait to the side for a bit. I want to have some fun first."
Pulsing orange, HLN-A deactivated her taser but expressed concern. "I'll trust you for now, Sage. Just don't get hurt."
Sage nodded and twisted to fully face Himiko. One hand moved behind her back, and as soon as it was out of sight, she instantly switched one of her rings for a large blade received from the system.
Spinning the weapon, she brought it up into a guard before looking smugly at her opponent. Himiko's eyes bulged as her mind temporarily shut down at the sight of the nearly two-meter-long sword made entirely of plants. She quickly rebooted, though, and pouted.
"What the hell is that! This isn't fair!"
Smirking, Sage began circling Himiko with blade in hand.
"Don't complain about fairness when you tried to stab me in the back," she said. "Now you won't get to leave until either I get bored or you lose both hands. As for the sword, it's called the Blade of Grass, and it's pretty nasty because the blade naturally excretes poison. I'm not the best with great swords, so you'll be my training dummy for now."
Finishing her mini-rant, Sage dashed forward and swung toward Himiko's chest. The blonde easily dodged, jumping back from the blade. Chaining her swing, Sage moved forward and drew the sword up faster than before. Caught off guard, Himiko couldn't dodge and could only try blocking with her tiny box cutter.
The flimsy blade shattered instantly as one of Himiko's fingers went flying.
Humming in annoyance, Sage watched Himiko fall to the ground clutching her bleeding hand as nearby veins turned toxic green.
"That was absolutely pathetic," Sage growled, walking over to retrieve the severed finger and a random doorknob. Swapping the doorknob for one of her smaller swords, she approached the sobbing girl and crouched in front of her. "What is your quirk?"
Feeling Sage's cold gaze, Himiko froze and stopped sniffling. Slowly looking up from her bleeding hand, her blood ran cold as she met Sage's eyes and noticed the blade mere centimetres from her face.
"Wha... what? My quirk?"
She repeated the question confusedly while staring at the blade. Letting out a sound mixing disappointment and annoyance, Sage dropped the knife onto the sand and placed her hand on Himiko's head.
Channelling her quirk, a soft green glow enveloped the injured girl as the wound where her pinkie once was slowly regenerated and closed over. Done healing, Sage stood and walked several steps away before turning back.
"I can fully heal you later. First, though, I want to see you fight."
Eyeing the knife, Himiko slowly picked it up and rose to her feet, cautiously regarding Sage and her giant sword. She decided not to reveal her quirk.
"What's your deal, girl? I just wanted some blood, and you're over here doing some death sport shit." Stepping back, Himiko tried distracting Sage to create an escape opportunity.
Sighing, Sage shot her a hard look before moving forward.
"First, you started this. Second, I want to test my sword. Third, I'm not trying to kill you—I can heal any mild injuries. Now, how about you fight a little better this time?"
Finishing her sentence, Sage brought the sword down in a heavy swing. Panicking, Himiko reacted by sidestepping and knocking the blade off course with her knife, then lunging forward to stab Sage.
Seeing the incoming attack, Sage smacked the flat away with the back of her hand, stepped back, and lifted her blade again. Turning to face Himiko, she offered guidance.
"If you're lunging at someone with a dagger, try getting closer. You telegraphed your attack by swinging too early."
Swinging again Sage and Himiko fell into a slow rhythm that continued for several exchanges. Sighing in disappointment, Sage planted her sword in the sand and leaned against it after barely thirty seconds. Opposite her, Himiko breathed heavily from their brief bout, multiple cuts marking her body as they slowly turned a sickly green.
"That was completely disappointing," Sage said. "I thought you'd have better instincts, but apparently not. Anyway, I'm done fighting for now because it's no fun. Come here so I can heal you."
Turning slowly, Himiko gazed at her with unfocused eyes as her knees buckled. Grumbling, Sage left her sword and walked over, crouching beside the fallen girl to begin healing her wounds. As she did a distinct clink of metal on metal rang out.
Looking down, Sage saw Himiko's blade stopped against her clothes—exactly as expected. In truth, her current outfit was merely a fancy projection overlaid atop her real attire by the Vanity skill. Beneath the illusion, she wore a full set of platinum plate armour received from the system.
Rolling her eyes, Sage disregarded the assassination attempt and easily snatched the blade before continuing her healing. After the last wound closed, she moved back to retrieve her sword, hiding it behind a nearby refrigerator and swapping her ring back.
Returning to the small clearing where they'd fought, she found a relatively clean piece of trash to sit on and waited. After several minutes, Himiko stirred awake from her blood loss-induced unconsciousness. Slowly she sat up whilst rubbing her head in pain, not noticing Sage sat behind her.
Smirking, Sage grabbed a tiny metal bead from her a pouch built into the strap of her wristwatch and switched it for a rubber ball. Gently, she tossed it so it bounced off Himiko's head and back into her hand.
Startled, Himiko turned quickly to look at Sage, who maintained a neutral expression while gesturing toward a piece of debris beside her.
"Take a seat. I want to talk to you."