And here comes the next installment. This chapter, along with Hero of Hard Work, are coming straight to you all as I finish them as my gift of the New Year to you all. AND, I am reworking how Pa-treon shall work with me. No longer will regular stories such as this be held back early for certain dates, as that hasn't really been helping me, but instead I shall be mocing back to my original goal, of supplementing my writing time, so I could actually 'afford' to make all of this wonderful content.

I also have just gotten my first Patron, so I'm riding a high like few other. Validation as a writer! Ahhh, yeah. Better and cheaper than crack. Still, disclaimer.

I own none of the properties I write about here. I don't claim to, nor have I ever. What I do own is the time I use to write however, and any bits thrown towards me help me write for longer, as well as eat while doing so. Available here and here, or my profile for those curious, are links to my P A treon, and the second is to a fund, for commissions or if you think I could use a little something extra.

Thank you all so much, and enjoy the carnage you shall bear witness to.

Chapter 18: First Party

OR

It's Dangerous to Go Alone, So Don't

The day had finally come. The Cabbages were upon the horizon, and would be within regular sight within the hour.

Adventurers large and small stood gathered for the coming battles, some cheerily brandishing rows of knives to throw, a few smarter groups huddling around nets to trap and stab as many as they could, but the students and teacher of UA were easily standing out.

To start with, gone was the lackadaisical or near missing armor sets most Adventurers ran around with depending on need, now each member looked ready for war.

Izuku, the Lich, had undergone the deepest wardrobe change, abandoning the simple white shirt and pants for a deep green robe, the typically flowing material held tight to his arms and legs by white bands of bones, as he maintained a look of concentration beside a giant skeletal hand. Beside him, anchoring the hand, was Sheer, where he was wearing nothing but thick pants filled with pockets and bandaliers of hatchets across his chest, a determined face of his own. Megumin, sitting comfortable and primly in its giant palm didn't help with matters either, looks having changed the least by now with glints of chain-mail flashing in the light here and there.

The last three were also up to weird things as well. Chris, now in a half-black half green one-piece looking suit covered with small studs, ran side by side with Ivy in her own restricted robes, dragging behind them what looked like giant paint brushes while Andrew yelled directions to them, holding a massive brush of his own and covering nearly his entire front white outfit with dripping ink.

Indeed, it looked like they had a plan, if one no one else could guess.

"Are you sure this'll work Bastard-Sensei?" Andrew asked wearily as he redipped his brush, carefully forming the smaller half-circle in front of his teacher.

"Not a bit. And please stop calling me that, it's mean...and gives people the wrong impression." Izuku took a moment to pout before his face went back to calm, concentrating in front of himself.

"Hmph! I for one enjoy the name! A suitable warning to those who think they can handle your tutelage! Imagine, even I, the mage who graduated top of her class in the Crimson Demon School of Magic fear you so! What a terrifying reputation it will be~" Megumin chimed in from above, nearly toppling over had a small arm not extended itself from a 'finger' to catch her.

She was returned to her position with a small huff, and a flick to the head.

"Again. No reputation of fear, no warning other people about how scary I am. I'm just teaching you how to be the most effective you can be. Nothing more yet." Izuku calmly interjected as he finally took his hands off of the arm, immediately gasping for air and half-collapsing to his knees.

The tired pants broke out into a small coughing fit, but within a minute or so he steadied himself, even as a slightly sweating Chris and all out-choking Ivy made their way before Izuku, carefully connecting their own lines to Andrew's half-circle.

"O-ho! Okay! We're done! A complete parallel line across the field pointing toward the Power-Pointer! Perfect!" Chris cheered with a small jump in place, doing interesting things that Izuku made sure to turn away from.

"Yaaay~" Ivy half heartedly cheered from her place face-first on the ground, but didn't complain as Izuku lifted her up and passed her a small juice.

"You both did a wonderful job. Everything should be set up now, so all we need to do is be ready...also, Power Pointer? Really?" Izuku asked with no small amount of incredulousness, making Chris, and though he couldn't see it Megumin, pout.

""You didn't like any of our other names!"" The two rang out together, making Izuku sweatdrop but concede the point.

In his defense though, some of those names included but were not limited to 'Death's Hand', 'Polite Greeter', 'Low Five', and 'Finger Gunner of Supreme Destruction'.

"Fine...I guess. Power Pointer it is. Until we think of something better." Izuku muttered off to the side as Chris gave a massive smile at this, running over to Sheer's side to poke and prod him various ways towards where Andrew was still scrawling, having finally removed his hands from the bone structure and Megumin demanded fruits to be thrown up at her by Ivy.

Izuku felt a new smile grow on his face at the sight. A 'battle' was upon them in a short amount of time and he felt incredibly proud of how far his students had come in such a short time. If he hadn't wanted to be a Hero, STILL, wanted to be a Hero, Izuku could have solidly agreed that being a teacher was something he would have aimed towards. But back home, and even here, there might not have needed a distinction between the two...

'Thoughts for another time.' Izuku shook his head for a moment, drawing himself back to the present, looking through the field now and finally taking note of everyone else gathered there.

Honestly...he could see and hear what they were planning, and still be disappointing. The closest thing he could see to teamwork was the use of nets, and even that was more so people nearby planning on taking advantage. There was no synergy to skills or people in groups, just single Adventurer's hoping to earn as big a chunk of EXP and money as they could for themselves.

Izuku would be making a few enemies today, but what it meant for the future and potential allies far outweighed the former. So, it was with a steady and determined smile as he watched the vegetables crest into view, sheer numbers moving shadow across the ground like a green cloud.

"Andrew! Ready!"

"ALL CONNECTED, SENSEI!"

"Ivy! Chris! Sheer! Ready!"

"All Set!" "Good to Go." "Hashon!"

"Megumin! Comfortable?"

"OOOH! I CAN'T WAIT!"

As one, wide smiles grew on their faces. An arm was dropped, and the plan was in action.

"START!" Izuku yelled.

"Sacred Lines!" Andrew roared into the air he completed the circle at his feet, making a massive line of energy fly through the ink lines previously drawn on the ground, encasing the battle field. Izuku felt his grin grow at the sight.

Sacred Lines, was a Writer's Skill used to anoint books and pages with lines to prevent obstructions or damage to the paper or material it was used on, most typically as literal lines for the user to write on. It did this by creating a barrier between the 'material' and the rest of everything else. The only thing that made it such a low-tier skill was that it only lasted while the Writer pay's attention to it, or until they are physically hurt.

But with a massive barrier sealing in all of the cabbages who entered the landscape, along with a separate private circle of protection around the user? It wouldn't be dissipating till everything was done.

"STUDENTS! FELLING GIANT!" Izuku ordered as he threw an arm out to the side, bit of bone flying up to clear away other Adventurer's as well as shoot down any cabbages attempting to fly over the barrier.

They wasted no time with words.

"GROWTH!" "WOOD BREAK!" "POWER KICK!" The three yelled out their Skill names, moving in tandem to achieve something Izuku was proud to call their own.

In an instant, three massive oak trees sprouted from the Earth from where Ivy had thrown her Acorns, specially treated with Herb Growth to grow as fast an large as possible before finally dying. In the next moment, Sheer was moving past each one, a hatchet in each hand felling them at the base with such speed that disks of wood shot off throughout the area, allowing more to form wherever they landed. And last, but certainly not least, came Chris, flying straight at the trees Sheer was finished with and sending them rocketing forth into the air with a Luck powered Kick, knocking the vegetables down by the dozen.

"COMBINATION TECHNIQUE!: FALL ARRIVAL!" They roared as the attack continued, the Adventurer's Izuku had been blocking finally stopping their attempts to break through and instead watching with awe.

Izuku nearly felt the same, but it wasn't time yet. He could feel the mana from the spirits within the veggies filling the air, tasting like fresh grass and ozone to his tongue, and decided it was time to drop the literal bomb.

"FALL BACK!" Izuku yelled as he pushed his fists together and placed them on the ground, concentrating with all he had now.

The mana from the Cabbages was explosive and heavy, feeling like it was filling the world around him. Izuku felt what mana touch him and enter through the hands and lungs. He focused on the sensation, willed it to his very bones.

Then...he directed it downward.

The mana of Earth and Wind did so with glee, returning to its home as its natural process was want to do. It did not stay there however. Upon meeting its new place, it was drawn into thin, bone white roots threaded all throughout the area, eagerly absorbing the new mana into itself, and directed it...towards the hand Megumin was standing in.

It's massive fingers grew taunt and began to glow with a mysterious shade of blue, leaving what looked like Will O' Wisps in the air around her.

Megumin did not care. She stared at the fallen woodland before her, felt the magic in the air, and, with a single nod from her teacher, broke into the biggest smile she had ever had, as she. began. To chant.

"Crimson Devil who walks a Heroic Path"

"Create a Shine that None Shall Contain"

"Oh Force of Creation, Bend and Break Beneath My Words."

"Oh Calamitous Ruin, Rise up and Become Whole Once More"

"Gather Upon My Voice, And Scatter."

"Explosion Magic: Detonate."

And the world ceased to be.

In a single instant, if not for the barrier and a hasty retreat by the others, it would have been death for the others. There was no fire. No sudden beam of light. Just a small, unassuming sound like rolling thunder in the distance as they all blinked, and everything left in the barrier no longer existing. Just a barren, ashy field, not a spot of green, cabbage or otherwise in sight.

Izuku, wide-eyed and jaw agape, turned back slowly to Megumin, who had her own jaw agape, before slowly, hesitantly, raising a V sign with one hand, and then falling forward to be barely caught by nearby Chris.

Well. You won?

END OF CHAPTER

This was fun to write. And I'm still so god-damn excited! Want to see what else I do if MORE people commit? Because I sure would. Cheers.