I do not own BNHA or D&D
For Izuku Midoriya, it was like any other night, laying in bed and staring at the latest videos of All Might on his phone. It was a little more than 11 months until the tests for UA would happen, even if he did train his body, could someone without a Quirk even get into that school? Izuku tried to shake those thoughts from his head and slowly drifted into sleep as thoughts slowly dwindled in his mind until there was nothing.
Suddenly Izuku felt strange, like he was abruptly woken up from his sleep but he didn't feel tired at all. He opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness around him but felt like something was watching him. He could move and see his body but it felt like there was nothing beneath him, like he was floating in air.
'Is this...a dream?' Izuku thought looking around at the void surrounding him. 'Or is someone using their Quirk on me?'
"It is...Weak..." Izuku jumped as he heard a strange voice say from all around him, a voice which sounded like several masculine, feminine and gender-neutral voices at the same time. A green light suddenly appeared and dimly glowed in front of him, the light shifted and formed a still shape, it took him a second to realise that the shape looks like a featureless silhouette of himself.
"It is...Defenceless..." The voices said again as more still shapes of light, this time a brighter red, surrounded him and his light double. The shapes looked strange, some looked like people with mutant quirks but others looked weird, like a large floating sphere with eye stalks sticking out of it or what looked like a huge eagle with a stag's head.
"It is...Powerless..." The voices said, this time causing him to feel a little bad after being called these same things so often. The green silhouette suddenly moved, shoving it's hands out in front of it desperately at the motionless red figures around it. Izuku wondered for a moment if this was his subconsciousness' way of telling him he can't be a Quirkless Hero, he felt a twinge of sadness well up inside of him.
"However..." The voices said again snapping Izuku out of his thoughts as all the figures vanished. The scene suddenly changed to the Izuku silhouette but smaller standing in front of 3 red figures with it's arms out defending a blue figure on the ground, he vividly remembered this moment from his childhood. "It has bravery." the scene shifted again to an Izuku figure reaching out to a blue figure of Katsuki fallen down in a stream. "It has compassion." the scene changed once more to the green figure once more, this time animated as it struggles to stand up after getting knocked down in front of a red figure of Katsuki. "It has resolve."
The scene changed back to the Izuku silhouette surrounded by red figures. "If it accepts the gift," the green figure suddenly has a pure while glow in it's chest and it's green glow grew brighter until the other figures were dull by comparison. "It could save more than it ever imagined." The green figure held it's hands out and shot beams of green light which caused the other red figures to fade away.
Izuku looked at his glowing copy, 'Accepting a gift? What does that mean? I swear my dreams keep getting weirder.' he thought before seeing something other than a figure made of light, a brief glance at something green-blue in the corner of his eye. He turned around quickly and saw nothing. He paused and it happened again, this time multiple colours, when he turned he saw nothing but a single large feather drift down to where the ground would be right in front of him. It looked beautiful, more vibrant than any bird feather he had ever seen, so light he could barely feel it's weight in his hands and so much softer than anything he had ever felt before.
"Accept the gift, Izuku Midoriya. And you will not only save this world, but worlds your kind hasn't dreamt of in millennia, from a great evil." Izuku suddenly saw something fly overhead completely silently, he couldn't believe his eyes. A beautiful but subtly scary vision hovered in the air, a dream made flesh, winged but unflappable. It's serpentine body whirled and drifted effortlessly like a trail of smoke made of glittering cyan scales. Amid the intoxicating kaleidoscope of shining scales and vibrant feathers two pure white eyes hold still, focussing all attention on him, their gaze expressing perfect calm and infinite compassion but still expressed an incredibly intimidating aura leaving Izuku frozen at the sight.
Izuku's mind told him that what he saw was 100% real, but if this thing was real then what was even happening?
"Do you accept the gift to you, Izuku Midoriya?" The giant winged snake asked, despite not moving it's mouth, the voices echoed around just the same.
Izuku looked at the creature then looked down, thinking intently before speaking. "I want to be a Hero, a Hero who can help everyone with a smile on my face. Refusing you means I wouldn't be strong enough to be able to save people all over the world..." Izuku clenched his fist and stared up at the giant snake with a look of determination "What kind of Hero would I be after that! So I accept your "gift"! So that I can be a Hero who saves the world with a smile!"
The winged snake stared at Izuku intently with cold, pure white eyes before speaking again "Very well, Izuku Midoriya, you shall be given this divine gift. You will remember this dream and more once you wake." the snake spoke before spreading it's wings wide and flying upward before turning in the air and divebombing straight for Izuku. Izuku braced in panic but held his ground as the snake's body glowed a bright holy white and collided with Izuku's chest.
Izuku awoke suddenly and sat up with enough force to knock him out of his bed, he grabbed his chest as his heart rate had sky rocketed and gasped for breath. Izuku slowly caught his breath and realised that something felt different, he felt a weight in his chest but not the kind he usually felt when sad, it instead gave off a warm, comforting feeling. The warmth slowly pulsed through his body before coming back to his chest as he breathed in and out.
Izuku focused, trying to figure out what could have caused the feeling, nothing about the day before was out of the ordinary, then he remembered his dream. He almost never remembered his dreams, if he did they were just scrambled memories, but this one he remembered so clearly it was disturbing. The weird figures, the giant snake, the deal he made, he remembered all of it.
Then he remembered something else, something that didn't happen. A weird hand gesture? Words in a language he didn't understand? Izuku knew he had never seen or heard either but the memories felt just as real as the dream. His curiosity got the better of him and he slowly tried to copy what he remembered, moving his hands in ways that felt oddly familiar and saying unknown words he felt like he could almost understand.
Dull green light coated Izuku's right hand as he gestured and spoke, with one last movement he brushed his left hand over his right and the green light slid off like a glove. Now a green spectral copy of Izuku's hand floated in front of him, he was absolutely stunned. He tried moving his right hand closer to it but it drifted away, Izuku figured he could control the spectral hand with his right hand and used it to try to pick up one of his many All Might action figures and was able to, although the hand was a little shaky.
"...What...what is this?" he asked himself, stunned at what he saw.
'The effect of the gift. The gift of power to the powerless.' the voices from Izuku's dream said inside his mind causing him to almost fall over again from shock.
"W-What?"
'The gift of pure magic to a world with only fragments.'
"What!?"
'In your world's terms, You have been gifted a "Quirk".'
"WHAT!?"
The door to Izuku's room was suddenly burst open by his panicking mother, "Izuku! Are you hurt!?" I heard-" she stopped shouting upon seeing her son's wide smile, teary eyes and a floating green hand holding one of his action figures.
"Mom...I...I have a Quirk."
After a crushing hug, many tears shed and a confusing conversation, Izuku sat alone in his room talking out loud in hope the voices were listening. "Ok, so your "gift" is "magic" but also a Quirk?"
'That is partially correct.'
Izuku was a little surprised at the quick answer "Which parts?" he asked.
'What you have is not a Quirk in the traditional sense. Your soul has been infused with magic."
Izuku blinked silently for a second "...Magic, you say that...but...but magic doesn't exist."
'Then how would you explain the voices in your mind? Your dream? Your "Quirk"?'
"...I...but..."
'Magic had existed on this world before, but time has faded such magics from your kind's memories. 200 years ago however, magic began to bloom once again. Like flowers growing on dead land'
"You mean Quirks? But Quirks aren't magic, that was one of the first theories on Quirks and was disproven as fast as it was spread."
'Your kind has many theories on what Quirks are, don't they? However, there is only one truth, one related to why you were chosen to bear this power.'
Izuku was sceptical about this, he could forgive the weirdness in a dream but now he didn't know what to believe anymore. Was magic real? Are Quirks magic? Is he having a mental breakdown? "Tell me."
'As was said in the dream, with this magic you will save your world from a great evil. An ancient undead who strived and failed to achieve godhood. 200 years ago this Lich caused a ripple of magic to flow through your realm, or universe as your kind would say. When it tore a hole between the realm you inhabit and the one he did as a desperate escape. He has since scoured your universe in search of life to rule over and now has found your world. Unfortunately for him, he has been tracked the whole time to your planet.'
Izuku stared blankly, still trying to process everything he was told "I...What...So...Let me get this straight. You are something from ANOTHER UNIVERSE which gave me LITERAL MAGIC to fight an evil GOD!?"
'He is NO God!' The voices sounded angry for the first time since Izuku started hearing them before going back to it's normal tone 'And he is weaker than he once was, this also benefits you. With the magic you have been gifted, you can defeat him. You can become a Hero to your own world and countless others.'
That last phrase stuck in Izuku's head, something he always wanted to hear, even if it wasn't from his Mom but from a giant alien snake, it still filled a hole left in his heart. He would probably be crying tears of joy if not for the VERY weird situation.
"Alright, I'll do it...um...what and who are you exactly?"
The voices were silent for a moment as if pondering 'A name unpronounceable by your kind. You may use a name which your kind have used before. Couatl."
"Ok, Couatl, I will use your gift to become a Hero and stop that undead Villain!" Izuku shouted, his heart burning with determination, but still felt very confused about everything that has happened today.
'It seems you were the right choice. First your magic must be trained, you are still at your weakest. According to your memories there is an abandoned beach not far from here. That is where you will learn how to weave the magic inside you into spells.'
"Wait you can see my memories?!"
[Eldritch Blast]
Green energy crackled around Izuku's arm and shot out at a pile of trash, knocking it down and blasting apart some of it. Izuku ran across the sand and around deliberately placed trash piles until he saw his next target glowing with his Light spell. He got within range and started casting, light surrounding him as he focussed on a glowing broken microwave. [Sacred Flame] The light around Izuku coalesced and shot out at the broken microwave, breaking it further with flame-like light.
Izuku had been at this for several hours now, he finally got the hang of casting while moving. He was starting to get exhausted, which was weird because if Izuku started running around this beach yesterday it would have taken around 5 minutes for him to get tired but he had been running back and forth setting up targets with Light then running back and breaking them for hours.
He moved his hands around and whispered, weaving a floating green hand in front of him. [Mage Hand] The hand flexed for a moment and moved down to pick up a chunk of trash as Izuku commanded, he brought it close to him and placed a hand over it with a short whisper. [Light] it began to glow like a flashlight, the green hand lifted it into the air before vanishing in a puff of green smoke. Izuku launched another Eldritch Blast causing the chunk to explode before it hit the ground.
'Well done, Izuku Midoriya, you have quickly grown used to using magic. Even at your weakest, one could compare you to one of your kind's Heroes.' Couatl said in Izuku's mind in it's multiple voices.
"You think so? It feels crazy, each one of these spells could be it's own Quirk so it's pretty incredible to use just one of them. It's weird to think I've been able to do all this only hours after learning it. It feels so natural to cast the spells too, like a reflex almost. And I'm only now getting tired after all of this, is that from another spell or is it-" Izuku started to rant before being interrupted.
'Izuku Midoriya, you are rambling again.'
"Oh, sorry, I'm just so excited to finally have a Quirk, or something like a Quirk I guess. You don't have to call me by my full name either, Izuku is fine since you're in my head and all, it would make me feel a little more comfortable."
'Very well, Izuku. You have grown used to your weakest spells, now you must learn to use your strongest.'
"So all of those spells were the weakest ones? How do I cast the stronger ones?" Izuku felt a slight pulse of warmth from his chest as he suddenly had memories of being able to cast 4 more spells, a little more complex in hand movements and vocals but still doable. "How do you keep putting these in my head anyway?"
'In accepting the gift, minds and souls were linked, forming a bridge between you and your magic. It has also allowed access to your mind and memories.'
"Oh...I mean is that last part really necessary?" Izuku asked, slightly uncomfortable with the idea of someone messing with his mind.
It is, if not done then communication from such a great distance would be limited to your dreams. It would also allow the Lich to magically locate you or affect your mind if you became his problem. The mind of a Couatl is guarded like no other, now your mind will be guarded the very same.
"Ok then, so pretty necessary." Izuku looked on the new spells in his mind before picking one and starting the incantation. "I guess I'll start with this one." Izuku spoke in an ancient tongue and waved his hands in a new pattern while focussing on a nearby fridge, 'The spell should be stronger so a bigger target should be good to test the damage.' Izuku heard a gentle hum in the air as he finished and held his hands out in front of him.
[Thunderwave]
An incredibly loud boom shocked Izuku as he was barely able to keep focussing on the spell, thankfully he was used to explosion sounds and wasn't too stunned by them anymore. He looked in front of him and saw the front of the fridge had completely crumpled in on itself and the heavy fridge had been knocked a few meters away from him, as well as the now shredded smaller garbage surrounding it.
"That was so cool!" Izuku shouted in excitement, pulling out his latest notebook for his new magical knowledge and scribbling as he thought out loud. "It seems like it's purely destructive but could also be used to clear large pieces of rubble from disaster sites, although the sound is a bit too loud to be used around people who are sensitive to loud noise and- Why don't I feel that warmth in my chest anymore?"
'That warmth is the presence of raw, unfiltered magic. It will come back with rest. It will be your guide as to when you have access to your spell slots, meaning when can use your higher level spells. What you had cast was a 1st level spell, they will only get stronger as you grow, as will the amount of spells you can cast.'
"Alright, what now?" Izuku said, excited for some more lessons on magic.
'Rest for an hour, then you test another 1st level spell.'
"Aww"
After a long day of exhausting Izuku's new found stamina after learning magic was real, then actually using magic, and Couatl in general to top it off, Izuku was ready to sleep. Once he had finally fallen asleep he found himself in the void he was in last night. He didn't feel weightless this time and felt like he was standing on a solid floor, but he looked around and saw nothing around him again. However he did see a white light glowing from his chest, the light flowed out and shifted, forming the unforgettable body of the giant winged serpent several times his height.
"We're back in my dream? Why?" Izuku asked.
"Indeed, here you shall be trained mentally." Couatl said, their voice of many voices echoing all around once again without moving their mouth. "All aspects of your dream can be manipulated, including you. A prefect controlled environment for your training."
"Physical training when I'm awake and mental training when I'm asleep, I guess I do need a lot more training than everyone else does." Izuku said looking out across the infinite void as Couatl vanished from sight and a featureless, red figure of light appeared in front of him with a sword and shield also made of red light.
"This shall be your first lesson. Are you prepared?"
"I guess so."
Without a moment of hesitation the figure went from completely motionless to sprinting at Izuku with killing intent. Izuku naturally panicked, trying to run but found himself much slower than his opponent. He frantically but carefully waved his hands around and shouted the correct incantation as magic slowly crept up around his body. [Expeditious Retreat] Izuku's body absorbed the magic around him and he begun to move much faster, he continued to run but found he just barely outran the figure who was in full sprint.
In a desperate attempt he turned around as green energy crackled around his arm. [Eldritch Blast] The energy shot out and collided with the figure but it didn't slow down. He stopped in fear, tensing and closed his eyes as he felt the sword pierce his body, it hurt more than anything he felt before, and then he felt nothing.
He opened his eyes in a panic and saw he was in the same void, he checked his body and saw no stab wound or hole in his clothes, and he could even feel the magic in his body even though he had cast his only 1st level spell.
"What was that!? Did I die!?" Izuku shouted at the void, Couatl appeared out of nothing in front of him and spoke.
"You did die, in the dream at least. That was the first lesson."
"I...Bu...What kind of "lesson" is KILLING me!?"
"The first lesson is death."
"...I..."
"That helpless, powerless feeling you felt. When you were moments before death. Do you know what you did?"
"...I froze."
"You hesitated, hesitated in the face of death. That is a wall you must learn to break, you cannot ignore that fear, instead you must push past it and use it. Even when you fear death, you must commit, a second of hesitation is all it takes for you or someone else to die. When you fight you must keep this lesson in your mind. Win, and live. Lose, and die."
Izuku looked down, this was going to be much harder than he thought. But he can't give up, All Might probably trained a thousand times harder than him, if Izuku needed to do this harsh training to become a Hero then he would take every lesson thrown his way.
"There was another lesson to be learned here, do you know what it was?"
Izuku tried to think but the thought of him getting run through with a sword was the only thing he could focus on, "No."
"You thought that a single spell would defeat your opponent. That because you have magic, that makes you strong. You may have more power than others but you are not yet strong. Underestimating an opponent you don't know is a fast way to die. Learn everything you can about your opponent before you strike. Even a wall of diamond can be broken at it's weakest point.
"Are you sure that this isn't a little too extreme." Izuku said a little overwhelmed by only 2 lessons.
"Your training is not without purpose. Magic is complex and unstable in its pure form, you must learn to hone your mind to wield it like second nature. You must hone your body, the constant flow of magic has given you more energy than before, so you must learn to use it. Magic affects both your mind and body, you must not fight the flow of magic but guide it to strengthen both. Others before you had been given more time and less training, but time is not your ally this fight and you must build up your strength faster than normal."
"So everyday will be like this?"
"Indeed, though the difficulty will be lowered, otherwise you will learn nothing but to flee."
"How considerate of you." Izuku said sarcastically
The red figure appeared again and ran at Izuku as Couatl vanished, "Villains won't give you countdowns, now fight."
The Next Morning
It was a peaceful day on Nabu Island like every other day. As usual the few Heroes that were assigned there relaxed until they were needed for something small. The citizens went about their normal routine, children laughed as they played with their parents and tourists enjoyed the warmth of the beach. They didn't have a care in the world, nothing too bad had happened on the island in almost 30 years, after all.
Unbeknownst to all of them, something floated above the island, looking down at the bounty of souls beneath it with a single right eye of glowing energy. Elegant, ornate but decayed robes flowed in the shifting wind as the skeletal undead watched the vermin beneath it, waving an ethereal left hand and vanishing from sight.
[Greater Invisibility]
Thank you for reading! This story is mostly written because the idea won't leave my head, but if you like it leave a review if you want. To anyone who actually knows the rules of D&D who reads this, some rules and spells will be altered for this story so don't expect 100% accuracy to D&D.
