Quirk (1)

Chapter 6

Title: Quirk (1)

….

|–3 years later–|

Inside a grand room filled with toys, a silver-haired cute boy wearing pyjamas was sleeping on the bed while hugging a body-sized teddy bear.

With sunlight shining on his face, his eyelids trembled while his body twisted as he released a yawn. 

"Um… it's mornin already?" The boy spoke in a weird Japanese tone, as he released the teddy bear from his hug and rubbed his eyelids.

Of course, it was 799, or now known as Neji Hado.

Neji then looked at the digital clock on the wall, which showed the time: 07:09.

"I'm up early today…" he mumbled, as he sat up while scratching his stomach.

He wasted 2 minutes sitting on the edge of the bed, as his sleepiness faded away gradually. After that, he got up and walked towards the bathroom.

As he grabbed the bathroom doors handle, the door opened from the other side making him step back in surprise.

Creak!

The door opened as a little girl wearing ash-coloured sleepwear pyjamas came out of it. She had periwinkle hair reaching her waist along with an oval face. 

Her eyes shone while the silver-haired boy looked at her weirdly. "Oh, oh, Neji, you are up too!"

She grabbed Neji's shoulders and shook him lightly. 

"Did you have a good night's sleep? Are you still sleepy?" She asked in a voice filled with curiosity as the little boy stared at her face silently. “Why are you silent, Neji!? Are you feeling sick?!”

<Nejire Hado; Tier 1 - Human>

This message was floating above her head, something exclusive to Neji himself.

[Observe (Passive); Lvl 7

Effect: Provides information on the target. When the level is high enough, more options will be  unlocked.]

Something that surprised him, a Passive Observe skill. This made Neji realise that his Gamer System wasn’t the OG one, it was rather inspired by different fanfictions too. He did remember quite some fics that used a passive Observe skill.

Anyway, 'This is the cheerful Nejire Hado. My big sister. The first time I met her, I was completely convinced which world this was.' Neji sighed.

He then said, "What are you doing in my bathroom, Onee-chan?"

Neji was still not used to the Japanese culture of using honorifics after names, so he felt cringed out. Though it mattered little in the long run.

Nejire shrugged as she let go of his shoulders. “So you can talk... I just like it here, though.” She then gasped the next second. “Could it be, you want to cast your Nee-chan out?!"

In her response Neji shook his head and just walked past her while mumbling, "Isn't your school supposed to begin in less than an hour? Get out and prepare quickly."

While suppressing her giggle, Nejire hummed. "Hmm, okay~ But I will be back soon, and then we will play all day! Bye, Neji!"

She then walked away in quick steps. Meanwhile, Neji stared at her back.

….

'My existence didn't change much of her personality, that's a good thing, I guess.' Neji thought and walked inside the bathroom and started brushing his teeth while still thinking about Nejire.

'She is five years old now, but she still hasn't unlocked her quirk yet. Makes me wonder if is this an AU?' If that was the case, things might be fucked up. 'The good thing is, she doesn't seem to worry much about this.'

Neji worried little about this. Both his parents are rich, with his mom being a famous fashion designer because of her quirk and his father being a rich corporate owner.

His mother, Gara’s quirk is called <Turn>, she can make any object spin in a corkscrew or wave motion. Because of this, she took up sewing as her career. She can control up to 10 needles at a time, allowing her to create designs that shouldn't be possible by a normal human.

With this, she naturally became one of the top fashion designers in Japan and even the entire world. Neji even guessed Gara also made Canon Nejire's Hero Costume.

And his father, Aiko Hado’s quirk is called <Energy>. Whenever he is connected to an electrical source, he can create power surges and even release them from his body. He can control the amount of energy, he just has to be touching something like a light or a computer for it to work. 

Using this, he became a famous engineer, and he even owns a big tech company with branches all over the world. 

So in the end, even if this is an A.U, and Nejire doesn't get her Quirk, she could live a peaceful life.

'My new parents are also good enough to not push their preferences on me or Nejire.' It was truly a blessing, at least to Neji, who didn’t have good luck with his previous life’s parents.

'Anyway, enough with these useless thoughts.' Neji said internally as he washed his face with water. 

He walked closer to the towel hanging and wiped his face. 'Let's talk about my progress.'

'Status!’ Mumbling under his breath, he watched as a half-transparent page appeared in front of his retina.

[                              <1/2>                               ]

[Status:

Name: Neji Hado

Age: 3

Class: The Gamer

Title: N/A

Level: 6

Race: [Human]

HP: 150/150

MP: #/#

STR: 10

END: 15

DEX: 10

INT: 20

WIS: 20

CHA: 11

LUC: 16

Health Regen = END x 5

Stat Points: 11 ]

These three years, after crawling hard and doing other stuff, Neji was able to gain 3 points in all STR, DEX, and END. 

He also got to level up 5 times. ‘This might seem pathetic for 3 years, but levelling up is a lot harder in this system than the one in the manhwa. There are some differences between these two systems, it seems.’

Anyway, the 5 levels granted him 5 points in all stats and 25 free Stat points. He spent 10 points in Luck and 14 in STR+DEX+END and kept 11 points for emergency use. (10 points from UnknownGamer69's gift.)

'Luck is the most important stat for me. It doesn't matter if I reach 1000 points in STR, if the Gods find me, I am dead. UnknownGamer69 said it can buy me time, thanks dude. So I would rather put most in Luck and hope for a miracle.' That's the plan. However, he also has to worry about the dangers in this world, so he was also spending points where he should.

Being rich, there were guards with strong quirks guarding this mansion he’s living in, but nobody knew when a disaster might strike. So Neji was being as cautious as he could.

'Other than that, I got three more active skills.’

<Fast Crawl>: Crawl (level) percent faster.

<Fast Walk>: Walk (level) percent faster. 

<Fast Run>: Run (level) percent faster. 

‘Now, the OG gamer didn’t have these skills, so I assume I got these skills since I had to re-learn these things.’

But… 'The thing is, I can't use any of these skills without mana.' 

Yes, his life has been easy, but his mental health has been worsening because of this shit. He couldn't use any active skills without mana!!

Neji looked at his reflection, he could see his face, contorted in a deep frown. 'It's crazy. I assumed physical skills would be consuming my stamina and let me use the skills, but who knew it also needs mana!'

“Fuu…” He sighed suddenly. ‘No good in getting heated up.’

‘Anyway, I also have a new passive skill.’ Neji thought as he mumbled, “Skill Page: Physical resistance.” Immediately another hologram appeared in his retina.

[Physical Endurance; level 3—

The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken. 

Effect: 3% less damage is taken from physical sufferings]

'It's quite good, to be honest. I gained this when I was trying to learn to walk and kept falling on my face.' Neji thought, standing in front of the mirror inside the bathroom.

‘This skill doesn’t need any mana since it’s passive. And that’s my plan, to build myself passively.’ That way, he can surely surpass even All Might, and ensure his own safety.

His current motto was this: survive at all cost and until he gets a substitute for mana, he will keep building himself passively.

-

After that, Neji changed his clothes and wore a white T-shirt with Spongbob printed on the front and khaki sweatpants. He then went to the drawing-room of the mansion, where his family was gathered at the dining table.

"Oh, Neji is finally here." The voice of a mature woman entered his ears as he looked forward.

<Gara Hado; Tier 2 - Human>

Neji stared at the message above her head for a second before shifting his gaze to meet her eyes. 

The other something different about this <Observe> skill was the tiers system, something it used instead of levels. While Nejire was Tier-1, his mom was Tier-2, his dad was Tier-3 even! This was enough proof that his father’s quirk was decently powerful when he is close to a source of electricity.

'Now, that's a pretty good thing.' Neji felt safe around him.

The only problem with the Tier system was, Neji couldn't compare himself with others. His power system was "levels" while everyone around him had the "tier" power system. It was annoying, to say the least.

His mother, Gara got up from her seat and walked closer, hugged him and rubbed her cheeks with his chibi ones. Neji enjoyed this type of treatment, mostly because he didn't get them in his past life.

"Baby, did you have a good night's sleep?" Gara asked as she withdrew her face and stared at his eyes.

Neji’s face immediately gained a child-like smile on it as he burst out, "I did, I also had a fun dream. In that dream, Onee-chan, you, daddy and me went to the beach! It was very fun!" Neji replied in joy. Of course, only to make it seem he was still a child. Not only did he not have such a dream, but it also seemed he was incapable of dreaming because of the Gamer’s Mind.

Gara then stood up with him in her arms. "Oh, you like the beach? We will go there once you grow up, alright?"

She kissed Neji on the forehead and went to an empty chair. She placed him on that chair as she also went and sat on another.

Meanwhile, Neji looked at the food in front of him. It's been a while since he stopped eating baby food, so he was looking forward to his meal every day. 

It was then that Aiko clasped his hands together and said, "Okay, since Neji is here too, let's start eating everyone!" 

Hearing him, Nejire cheered, "Yes, yes! Let's eat! Hey Neji, have some meat!"

Neji accepted her offer as Nejire then went back to eating.

However, just as Nejire took a bite of the meat from her chopsticks, something happened.

Whoosh!

“Ah-” A golden aura jumped out of Nejire's body as a golden light shone from her palm which was directed towards her face.

'Wait…!'

Neji immediately shot up in his chair and jumped up at the table, he grabbed her palm and pointed it towards the ceiling.

Immediately, a golden spiral wave left Nejire's palm and rushed towards the ceiling.

Boom!

The wave hit the enormous chandelier above them as the mansion shook slightly. Immediately, Aiko jumped from his seat and pulled both siblings closer to him.

Then the big light chandelier trembled in the ceiling and dropped where the two siblings were standing!

Zhhng-Boom!

It dropped, and the shattered glass spread throughout the room, making Gara gasp in fright.

Neji stared at the chair that was riddled with shattered glass while he noticed the tremble from his side, he looked and found Nejire's eyes watery.

"Waaaaa!" With a shout, Nejire then started crying. 

Neji sighed. 'Fuuu, that's her quirk, alright. So strong even though she just awakened it.'

The next second, midway in her cry, Nejire’s eyelids dropped as she lost her consciousness, seemingly exhausted.

Trying to keep his baby facade, Neji also broke out crying.

«…★...»

–Neji Pov–

[Title: Fearless

Effect: 10% Attack boost when being brave.]

I got a title out of my recklessness. So not a complete loss...

My body moved on its own when I saw her hand shine. It was clear she was about to use her quirk subconsciously, and it would have surely seriously injured her if her face was hit by it directly.

But… Seriously, I shouldn't have done that. If not for Aiko, I would have lost many HP and might have even died.

...Anyway. After that incident, Aiko called Nejire’s school and let them know that she won’t be there today. After that, he brought us to a hospital and currently, we were inside her cabin, waiting for Nejire to wake up.

My head was on my mother's chest, hugging her tightly while my body was trembling. Of course, I wasn't scared or anything since I have "Gamer's Mind". But since I am a child, after surviving such an incident, I should be too scared to separate from my mother. So I chose the best option and kept hugging Gara while burying my face in her soft chest.

Nejire was sleeping peacefully on the bed, and my parents were standing on the side, talking with a female doctor.

"Aiko, it's nothing to worry about. It seems she unlocked her Quirk. She is just a late bloomer." The female doctor said to my father who was worrying excessively.

The doctor had red hair tied to a ponytail, with two bangs hanging from both sides of her forehead. She had a slim body with a nicely developed chest and sweet cherry lips.

She is the wife of the doctor who was there at my birth, her name is Jasmine, I think. I have met her before when I visited their house once.

The doc continued, "Though it seems her quirk is not like any of you two, it's a mutation. We can only see what it is about after she wakes up with my quirk."

'Oh yes, she also has an interesting quirk.' I mumbled internally.

While the doc finished talking with her arm crossed in front of her chest, I heard a yawn coming from Nejire's side as I looked back.

"Um… mom, dad, Neji?" 

Her call caused everyone to turn her way as my father was the first one to run toward her. He went close and hugged her tightly. 

“Oh, my Nejire!” Aiko said as he hugged her tighter.

Meanwhile, "Hey, dad… you are strangling me," Nejire said in a weak voice, causing Aiko to jump back and smile awkwardly.

This guy… I guess it's true that mothers love their sons more and fathers love their daughters more. Good for me, I guess. I don't want a dude hugging me at each meeting.

The female doctor then walked closer to Nejire and patted Aiko's back, causing him to back off. 

She then sat on the bed beside Nejire and rubbed her cheeks. "Nejire, baby, are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"

Nejire slowly shook her head. She looked cute like that.

The female doc then smiled. "Alright, then look at aunty's eyes. I will see if there is anything wrong with you, yeah?"

Nejire nodded as she stared at the doc's blood-red eyes with her blue pupils. 

Slowly, the doc's red eyes shined golden for a second but they returned to normal immediately. 

She then stood up from her seat and looked at Aiko, Gara and me, her gaze becoming soft looking at my scared complexion.

"She's fine. It really is a quirk awakening, and as I said earlier, it’s a mutation.” She said, piquing my interest. I knew Nejire’s quirk, in canon, it was called “Wave Motion” or “Surge” but I don’t know its details.

The doctor continued. “Her ‘Quirk’ lets her turn her stamina into energy and release it from her hands and feet in the form of spiral shock waves. The reason she lost her consciousness is that she used all her stamina in her awakening, it just so happened that the food she took had enough energy to make her burst out." She explained as I recalled the name of the doctor’s Quirk: "Quirk Analysis". 

But that didn't interest me at all. What interested me was… 'A quirk that turns stamina into energy…?'

Energy! Energy can be anything, electricity, plasma, nuclear energy, AND mana, divinity, chakra, chi, anything!

What was this? A chance given by fate itself?

'If I unlock the same quirk, then I can surely produce energy that can be used for a substitution of mana and let me bypass this curse!' Yes, there was a chance that it won't allow such a thing as it is now, but with the Gamer system, every "skill" can evolve, so shouldn't Quirk be evolvable too?

'In that case, after awakening and evolving my quirk, I should surely be able to replicate mana!'

My excitement reached its peak and. I assumed only 'Gamer's Mind' stopped me from forming an ear-to-ear grin.

I just need to wait for a year or two and see if I get this quirk or not. But even if I don't, I would study hard to become a scientist to experiment on someone with a similar quirk.

Many quirks have similar properties, and since I don't want to experiment on my sister, I just have to find someone else entirely. Yes, this might not be the most heroic thing to do, but a few sacrifices aren't worth remembering if it helps me.

So… it's only a matter of time.

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