-Aldera High School-

Izuku sat at his desk, his pencil tapping as he looked at the image he'd drawn in his notebook. His face scrunched up as he stared at the diagram, several circles in a cluster and a sketch of Terry's face.

'How? How can I beat this test?' he wondered. His first challenge under Terry had already gone underway; how was he going to overcome it?

-Hours Earlier-

"Alright then," Terry sighed. Standing from the blacktop with chalk in hand, turning to Izuku, he smiled. "Now then Izuku, this is your first test." Terry stood in a chalk-white circle, surrounded by several rings in a cluster. Terry flicked the piece of chalk towards the boy, grabbing Izuku's attention. Within seconds, the grown man had appeared before Izuku and caught the item in mid-air. "You need to land a single finger on me."

"Eh?"

"You heard me, a single finger. You don't even have to make it your whole hand, just a simple full contact finger anywhere on my person," instructed Terry, tossing the chalk in the air as he talked. "There's only a single catch to this task of mine."

Tossing the piece of chalk in the air once again, Terry vanished from Izuku's line of sight once again for a brief moment. Before the chalk hit the ground, Izuku found his mentor back in his previous circle bouncing on one foot.

"You have to touch me without breaking or stepping out of the circles. Understood?"

Nodding his head, Izuku stepped into the nearest circle and took stock of the challenge ahead.

'Terry's faster than anyone I know, he'll likely see me coming from any direction. However, if I can time it right, I have two options. A frontal assault, going straight at him as fast as I can, or moving from behind and…'

"Hey, come on! Are you gonna keep muttering to yourself or are you gonna take this challenge seriously?"

"S-Sorry! I'm going now, sir!" Taking a deep breath, Izuku's eyes focused on the task at hand. He took a single step forward into the nearest circle only to be dazed and knocked onto his back before he could move a step closer.

"You failed."

"Eh?" Izuku slowly rose from the ground, groaning as he looked at Terry.

"Look."

Izuku looked at the ring he'd stepped in, part of the chalk was now scuffed from the bottom of his shoe. Izuku clenched his hand and looked at Terry with understanding.

"Let me try again!" he said. Terry shrugged and returned to the center of the maze, awaiting Izuku's challenge.

-Now-

Fifteen times. Izuku had tried and failed fifteen consecutive times to beat the test, and he failed either because of a single misstep out of the circle or fell on his face. After the last attempt, Terry's instructions were clear: meet back at Bear's gym and work with Ramón until he's ready to take it again.

'I'm grateful, he at least gave me his number, but he really couldn't have given me any tips?' with a sigh, Izuku continued to doodle in his notes. All the while unaware of the glares being sent his way by one Katsuki Bakugo from several desks ahead of him. 'Okay then. I think if I strike him from the sides, this should work. I'll call Mr. Bogard and try to do it before going to Mr. Bear.'

Bakugo growled as he replayed the events in his mind, the feeling of being weak when he faced that man. Tiny explosions crackled in his palms as he turned and glared at Deku, muttering away as he doodled something in his notebook like always. It infuriated the blonde bomber who waited for the final bell to ring out, he'd ambush Deku and let his frustration out that way. Even ask him just who that foreigner was, and how he managed to get the jump on him.

'Come on bell, ring damn it!' he yelled in his head shooting daggers at the clock. At the stroke of the bell, Bakugo leaped from his seat and turned around, only to find not a trace of Midoriya left behind.

"Eh."

-BEAR'S GYM-

"So you didn't tag him," commented Satou at Midoriya's plight. Izuku blushed as he remembered his latest failed attempt before arriving at the gym. Ramón currently had the two boys joined in the team jog through the woods as prep work. "Man. I didn't think a guy that huge would be able to move that fast."

"Yeah, but I think I have a strategy to tag him. I just hope it can work." Izuku smiled as he ran through the plan in his head.

"Oi! Why do I hear lips flapping and not enough blood pumping! The last two to get back to the gyms are on cleaning duty!" yelled Ramón causing the crew to groan and pick up the pace. The two boys hurried at the threat, thinking anything would be better than such a fate.

Later on, Izuku groaned as he and Sato sat in the lunch hall with Izuku covered in sweat with a pained look on his face.

"M-My legs," groaned Izuku. Sato chuckled as he sipped away at his smoothie, patting Midoriya on the back.

"Yeah, Ramón doesn't hold back when it comes to Leg Day. Hey, at least it can't get any worse."

As if on cue, Ramón entered the Lunch Room with his hands on his hips. He then yelled at the top of his lungs, "OKAY! Break's over! Everyone, Hindu Squats, on the double!"

Sato stayed silent for the rest of the day, as both boys felt a collective glare aimed at them. Midoriya groaned, not looking forward to the pain his legs would be in after today.

'I wonder if Mr. Bogard is faring any better?' he wondered. Terry and Bear had left for the day, with the two leaving Ramón in charge of training today.

-With Bear & Bogard-

They stood outside the large doors, Bear donning a pristine suit and tie while Terry tied back his blonde hair into a ponytail. The two veteran fighters steeled themselves as Bear prepared to open the doors.

"You don't need to do this," reassured Bear. "I'm sure I can handle myself just fine."

"No , I can't be getting rusty while I'm here." answered Terry, a large grin decorating his face. The two men opened the doors and walked in, ready for their great challenge of the day.

…

The local Community Basketball Tournament. The prize at stake? A trophy and their business advertised on Present Mic's radio show.

"Let's do this!"

-Back With Izuku-

He flexed his fingers, hoping for any sense of feeling to return to them as he slowly trudged himself back home. He'd already said goodbye to Sato and Ramón as they escorted him to the station, but his body was thoroughly exhausted after today's workout.

"Man. I can't even flex my toes, this sucks." He groaned and smacked his cheeks, before trying his best to run to the park. Once he arrived Izuku stretched before trying the test once more, drawing the circles with spare chalk he found left behind. He weaved through the circles briefly albeit until he eventually fell over and failed.

"Crap. I'm too exhausted and my limbs are so heavy, what's even the point of this test?"

As he lay on the blacktop, he couldn't help but stare at the sky above him. He clenched his fists, a look of determination finding itself on his face once more as he stood back up slowly. He then proceeded to continue home, passing by a mysterious young man with blonde hair in a very extravagant state of dress. He raised a brow at the passing Izuku before looking at the drawing he'd done.

"Hm?"

-The Next Day-

"Mr. Bogard!" called Izuku. Terry turned and smiled at his apprentice who stood before him in the park once more. Terry, who had his hands in his pockets, looked down at his student who stood away from him.

"You ready kid?" he asked.

Izuku nodded and began to stretch, he narrowed his eyes at his mentor and began his assault. He rushed over in a straight line forward, Terry smiled and internally analyzed Midoriya's movement.

'So, he's going for a frontal assault. Not a bad plan, you're even managing to keep your feet in the circles. But…'

As the greenette stretched out his hand, Terry vanished from his place and soon Izuku found himself frozen in place with his mentor's hand on his back. Terry looked down at him with a smirk on his face, he then knocked him down by sweeping his leg.

"Hey. It's all wrong kid, granted you're faster than the previous times. But it won't mean anything if you can't put that leg strength to good use." he said, holding out his hand to his student. Midoriya took it and exhaled as he tried to understand.

"What do you mean? Is something wrong with the way I'm moving?"

"Yes and no. You're moving with purpose, and Ramón's drills are improving your stamina and leg strength. But your attention is drawn to the wrong thing."

Terry pointed to the ground behind them, revealing scuff marks in certain areas left behind by his student's sneakers. Izuku groaned at the sight, sitting up as he looked up at Terry who stood with his arms crossed.

"So what am I just not getting then? I understand the rules, but when it comes to it at the moment I just can't seem to divert my attention like that."

Terry nodded as he listened to the young boy's words, he placed his hand in Izuku's head of hair and gently nestled him.

"I get that it's difficult, but learning Martial Arts was never going to be easy. Much less the style I use, but if you look closer you'll be able to find the trick." Izuku nodded and yelped as Terry hoisted him up by his collar. "Now then. Back to the drills, assume stance."

Izuku nodded and did as followed, another part of his daily routine with Terry was stance practice. The veteran martial artist made sure to instill proper stance in the teen. Izuku didn't get it at first and struggled to stand in the same position for what felt like hours while Terry watched over him.

"Without proper stance, your attacks and movements become flimsy." Instructed Terry. Midoriya understood that to some extent and often followed his master's example during these practices by punching the air before them while crouching.

"Alright, Izuku. I'm heading home. Want me to help you to the station?"

"Thanks, Mr. Bogard. But I think I'm gonna stay for a few more minutes. Just to get some more practice in."

Terry shrugged at his students' response, leaving behind a large bottle of water and towel for the fledgling fighter.

"Alright. But I'll call you later, to ensure you made it back home safe. Same time tomorrow, Midoriya." Terry left with a wave, followed by Izuku bowing to his teacher. After his mentor left his range of vision, Izuku went back to the circles. He continued to try it out, running through a thousand scenarios and plans to reach Terry without breaking the rings. After several failed attempts, an unfamiliar voice interrupted his fifth attempt of the night.

"Are you trying to do it wrong? Or are you that bad at this task?"

Izuku looked towards the park fence, his eyes drawn to a peculiar boy in a primarily red outfit with black flames at his jacket's sleeves. The young man sported platinum blonde hair with his bangs covering the right side of his face. His pale face was checkered with freckles much like Izuku, and his eyes shimmered like blue sapphires.

"Bonjour." He said in French. The boy leaped off of the fence and stared at the stunned Izuku. Izuku, finally swallowing his nerves, looked at the stranger approaching him.

"U-Um. Who are you?" The boy smirked and twirled his hair around his finger. Before Izuku could blink, the boy vanished from his sight and stood behind him. Izuku looked down at the chalk circles and saw not a single scuff mark. Now, the mysterious blonde stood behind twirling his hair in his fingers and a smirk on his face.

"Bonne Nuit. It's nice to meet you," he held out his hand to the confused Midoriya. "You can call me Ash. I think I can help you out with your little problem."

-EPILOGUE-

Another burnt pile of corpses thought a shaggy-haired man with shoulder-length hair and eyes were hidden yellow goggles as he scanned the crime scene. Earlier on his patrol route, he'd gotten a call about the new serial arsonist active in Tokyo. He'd gotten the call from Naomasa, a bar fire gone wild which normally should've been left to EMT services and Rescue Heroes but Naomasa had called it in due to one common trait in this string of fires that separate it from your common arsonist.

"Oh, glad you could make it Eraser.", a tall man with short black hair and dressed in a trench coat entered the crime scene. Eraserhead stood up and looked at the detective as he and his feline partner Sansa approached him.

"How does this match up with the other attacks?" Eraser asked. Naomasa pulled out his phone and showed the underground hero photos from the previous fires.

"Green Flames, phosphorus residue, and all the victims were known criminals with prior offenses." Answered the detective. His feline partner then spoke up.

"But none that warranted the death penalty or this. At best it was nothing more than drug/weapons smuggling and illegal quirk use. It doesn't track with any vigilantes we have on record."

Eraserhead surveyed the photos once more, his brow raised as he enlarged the image of a marking on the wall. He handed the phone back to the detective and walked over to a nearby corpse that hadn't been too burnt.

"Hey, Tsukauchi, can you show me that photo again?" Eraser asked, holding out his hand for the phone. Once received, he looks at an image of a strange symbol painted against the walls in black paint. Eraser looked closer at the man's flesh and matched the symbols and his eyebrow raised.

"The hell is this?"

The symbol depicted a demonic snake with eight heads circling three symbols: A sun, a crescent moon, and a lotus flower.

-NEXT TIME ON MHA: MARK OF THE WOLVES-

Midoriya: I-I did it!

Terry: It's time, Midoriya, for your first real test of strength.

Ryo: OSU! We'll show you…

Kendo: The might of Kyokugenryu Karate!

MIDORIYA'S TEST OF STRENGTH AND WILL! THE INVINCIBLE DRAGONS STUDENTS APPEAR!

Chapter 4: Midoriya's Debut Clash! Wolf vs Dragon!