Izuku was cold.
They had decided that going on the kill quest immediately wasn't the best idea, so they had been working the last few days to earn enough Eris for some basic gear.
They had been working for a week now: Aqua was helping some labourers build a wall by providing strength buffs and healing, as well as refreshments, while Izuku had decided to help out at the local blacksmiths.
But they weren't really getting where he wanted: the extra 50 Eris Izuku had gotten from the Wizard had gotten them a room at the guild for 2 nights, but after that, they had been forced to stay in the stables near the edge of town.
That meant no fireplace, minimal blankets, and a snoring Aqua right next to him. He had originally freaked out at the idea of sleeping next to a girl, but 5 days in, all he wanted her to do was stop snoring.
Seriously, she was so loud.
To try and get some sleep, he laid back down, wrapped his ears in his blanket, and thought about the previous week, attempting to ignore the snoring.
Izuku had tested out a few of his new abilities during the week. He messed around with |Farsight| for a while and found a way to select a few different distances. It was nothing precise, but at least he didn't just zoom in on random ants.
Aqua had agreed to help him practise with |Skill Bind|: she would stand in front of him and constantly perform her low mana costing party tricks, and Izuku would have to try and shut them off.
She was able to resist it at first, but as Izuku started getting the feel of the spell, he started to nullify the ability. He wasn't perfect at it if Aqua pumped more mana into the spell than the base cost, Izuku had a hard time, but he was getting better.
|Summon Tool| didn't really have anything he could improve with without putting more skill points into it, and he hadn't levelled up yet, so he couldn't. He did, however, use it around the blacksmith's forge a lot, which had allowed him to start figuring out what each tool did, since he lacked any prior experience with crafting.
Turns out though, that |Fire Bolt| is surprisingly easy to use. Izuku had made some targets out of sticks lying on the ground near the forest and had been practising his accuracy. It was a bit weird for him, suddenly being able to shoot fire from his hands, but he kept at his practice.
At this point, he was pretty confident at hitting something about 15m in front of him and could hit most of the time up to around 25m. This seemed to be the distance limit of the spell, as the bolt usually vanished after travelling that far.
And he had attempted to use another thing on his card, an ability called |Infuse Magic Item|. The spell description on his adventurer card said he needed to be holding a non-magical object, so he grabbed his laptop, and tried to use the ability.
A small scroll appeared in his hands. At the top of the scroll, it said |Laptop, Generic school model|, and below it, was a list.
The list included things like; Increased Battery Life, Increased Durability, Increased Memory. Unfortunately for Izuku, they were all crossed out when he tried to press them, stating that he was too low level for this particular item.
He understood why. A computer was much more complex than say, a dagger, or a shield. He had a quick look around the guildhall and searched for other options.
Dempton, a paladin that frequented the guildhall, was a large man in silver armour. From what his adventurer's card said, he was around LVL 9.
From what Izuku had heard, he was a friendly guy that was willing to aid new adventurers, so he guessed Dempton might be a good person to ask for help.
Izuku walked over to the man. The man gave him a once over before standing up and smacking his fist to his heart.
"Greetings, Artificer! How may I assist you?"
That really shocked Izuku. This guy, who was built like a fucking truck, was showing him respect and asking how he could help him? This was new.
Mentally shrugging, he placed his hand over his heart as well and bowed slightly. He was having a hard time kicking the habit of bowing to everyone: he had done it his entire life, and probably would still be doing it for a long time.
Ignoring the odd look Dempton was giving him as he bowed, Izuku cleared his throat and put on his most important sounding voice.
"Excuse me, Paladin Dempton! I wish to practise infusing items with magical energy using your gear." Izuku tried to keep up the regal tone he was putting on, but the cold stare Dempton was giving him unnerved him.
"Nothing bad will happen if It doesn't work, I think, but if it does work, which I'm sure it will, your item will have a special effect! I'll even do it for free, I just want to practise!"
Dempton was silent for a moment, before starting to laugh.
"Artificer, you're one weird kid! I thought you would be all high and mighty about being a Legacy Adventurer, but you're just a nervous teenager!"
Carefully, Dempton placed a large metal shield on the table. It was, in one word, magnificent: it was rectangular, made of good steel and covered in silver and gold, showing an intricate pattern that proclaimed Dempton's faith in the Goddess of Life. He tapped it and smiled.
"You may use my shield! I mainly tank for my party, and while my Endurance is pretty high, any defensive bonuses you can give me would be greatly appreciated!"
Izuku beamed at Dempton and placed his hand on the shield, activating |Infuse Magic Item|, and another scroll appeared.
The object was apparently a |Steel Tower Shield|. Instead of the artificer logo in the top corner, as had happened with the laptop, this scroll was adorned with the same symbol that shone on the shield's surface. But, more importantly, this time the scroll had several available options for him to choose!
Checking the list, Izuku saw some of the options as interesting, such as Reduced Weight, Increased Durability, Shock Absorption and Damage Return. He passed the list over to Dempton, who stared at the scroll before turning to Izuku.
"Artificer, how many of these enchantments can go on one item?"
Izuku held up his finger, asking Dempton to wait for a moment, before pulling out his adventurer card and selecting |Infuse Magic Item|. He read the description and turned back to Dempton.
"It says here that, while a Level 1 Artificer, I can only add 1 infusion to an item. Once I get up to Level 6, It will become 2, and then at level 12, it will become 3. All levels after that increase the power of the infusions, but the maximum is 3 infusions per item."
Dempton just nodded, seeming appeased.
"Well then, Artificer, I would like to see if you could add the Damage Return infusion to my Shield, please. With the amount of hits I take, giving the monster a taste of its own medicine will be a welcome addition."
Izuku nodded, smiling up at Dempton, before selecting the Infusion. The shield started to give off a light green glow, as did Izuku's hands.
It took a few seconds before green tendrils started sprouting for Izuku's hands and entering the shield. A crowd started gathering as they watched the first Artificer in around 70 years infuse a new magic item.
Izuku wasn't very comfortable with the crowd, especially since Aqua wasn't there, but he pushed through his anxiety, focusing on the Infusion. After a while, the light surrounding the shield pulsed, flashing for a moment.
Then there was an eruption of green light from the shield, causing many of the crowd to yell and cover their eyes. But when they opened them, they were greeted with a marvellous sight.
The shield hummed with energy as a green rune was imprinted onto the back, under the handles. Izuku smiled as he felt the mana leave his body, then face-planted onto the table, unable to move.
"Woah," he mumbled, and a few minutes later he was helped to his feet by Dempton. "I didn't know that was going to take so much out of me."
Dempton looked at him in concern.
"Have you never overused your Mana before? Surely, a caster class like you would have faced such an issue, especially in your apprentice days."
Izuku, still fairly groggy from casting, forgot the fact that he wasn't meant to tell people about his past. He looked up to Dempton as they walked over to the comfier chairs.
"Uh, no. That's the first time I have ever cast a spell that used this much of my mana. I never had an apprenticeship either, I started magic this week."
Dempton just stopped, staring at him with his mouth agape.
"You… YOU STARTED CASTING MAGIC THIS WEEK?"
That was when Izuku realised his mistake.
He was unable to move properly due to Mana exhaustion, and Dempton had just alerted the guild that he was a novice. The fact that he was an Artificer but only had a week of magic under his belt would probably cause him some problems.
And… he was right. On the other side of the room, there was a large man, with dark black armour, staring at him with a predatory glint in his eyes. Izuku had been wary of him since he got here.
No-one in Axel knew the man's real name, only his title, The Shade. He was a lone wolf. And even though he didn't have a party, he worked through high-level quests all the same.
No-one in Axel seemed to be able to stand up to the man, and the non-adventurers feared him. The adventurers were cautious of the man and just stayed out of his way.
And Izuku was fairly sure he was a reincarnate.
Shade stood up, the clinking of his armour alerting people as he moved over to Izuku.
People moved away from him almost subconsciously as he approached Izuku, hand on the pommel of his sword, smirk on his face.
He leaned down, right in Izuku's face, making Izuku gag with his foul breath. It smelled like the man had never brushed his teeth a day in his life.
"Only started casting magic this week, eh, boy? That must make you quite the prodigy." He looped his arm around Izuku's shoulders, Dempton taking a step back as he got close.
He pulled Izuku up onto his feet and smiled, but it was the kind of smile his old teacher gave him before notifying the class that he wanted to go to UA. Izuku shuddered as he was dragged towards the door.
Shade was known for taking on the biggest guy in the room with one hand behind his back, and always coming out on top. Izuku had no doubts that he wouldn't be able to beat him… yet.
Shade took off his right glove and patted Izuku's shoulder, smirking. "Why don't you and I take a little walk around the block and… chat about things."
Izuku, strangely, found himself unable to say no and felt his body nod his head before he was promptly dropped, struggling to stand up without Shade's support.
He stood a few steps away from Izuku, before walking off swiftly. Izuku struggled to catch up to him but didn't want to know what would happen if he fell behind.
They reached a small alcove, and Shade stopped. He turned to Izuku and smirked again. "Izuku Midoriya, The Artificer of Axel. Showed up a week ago, and has already become somewhat of a local celebrity. Even though he hasn't done a single quest yet."
"Along with his party member, an ArchPriestess of the Axis Cult, that looks suspiciously like the Goddess of Water, Aqua herself, even sharing her name."
He grabbed Izuku's chin and moved his head side to side, staring. "And look at you. You're definitely not from around here…"
Izuku gulped, pulling his head back from Shades hand. "I'm not, I come from very far away." He raised his head, staring Shade in the eyes, feeling the cold glare in his soul.
"Well no shit kid, one look at you was enough to know that, now shut the fuck up and listen." Shade hissed, and Izuku shrunk into himself slightly. Shade seemed to like that.
"My name is Durza. Or at least… that was my villain name." at that, Izuku stood up straight, eyes instantly looking around for ways to escape. Durza started laughing.
Izuku had heard about Durza before. There was never any picture of him, but he was a B-level villain that worked in the Shizuoka Prefecture as a blackmailer and infiltrator.
As he went over the police report in his head, he realised why he was unable to say no to Durza earlier: Durza, when making skin contact with another person, could implant commands.
They only stayed for about 2 minutes after he let go of them, but the victim would follow the commands to the letter, with only the strongest of wills able to resist, and even then, it was usually just a matter of time. The victim was usually unconscious during the trance, but apparently some had been commanded to stay conscious.
"Uh uh ah, no running away now." Durza had leaned forward while Izuku looked around, and had glared at Izuku. Izuku felt the pressure return to his mind and was confused. He needed to be touching him!
"Stay right there and stay conscious for me, I want to ask you some questions." Izuku felt his body, everything below his neck, freeze up, and he struggled for a moment, unable to move.
"That's a Quirk! How the hell did you get reincarnated here?! I thought they sent people here to be heroes!" Izuku said through gritted teeth. This guy was a threat. Not only to him, but to Aqua, and all the inhabitants of Axel, maybe even Belzerg as a whole.
"Ah, thank you for that lovely segue. That absolute dolt of a Goddess didn't even read my book before offering me this new life." He smirked at Izuku. "But, to be fair to the girl, it wasn't her fault that my Quirk worked on her…"
Izuku was shocked to hear that. His Quirk worked on her? But she was a Goddess, not a human! Maybe it was because both of them were on the same plane of existence?
"And then you, who I'm 100% sure is another Reincarnate, show up out of the blue with her doppelganger." He laughed, sending shivers down Izuku's spine.
"She's the real deal, isn't she? Bet you asked for her as your gift!" Izuku's eyes widened even further. He had a Quirk! Why was he given a gift?
"I can see she told you Quirked people didn't get gifts either! But when you have a Goddess under your command, why not go the whole way and get something useful, right?"
He raised his hand and Izuku saw the tiny strings appear from his hands. "I didn't want to get caught by the so-called 'divine beings', so I didn't ask for something too big, But being able to make controllable strings of skin from my fingers has been extremely helpful."
Izuku gulped. That small gift, while insignificant on its own, gave him the ability to give commands from range. And Izuku didn't know how long they could get, meaning he was at a major disadvantage.
"These tendrils are actually what I gave your commands with just then! Isn't that just so much fun? You, the mighty Artificer, completely at my mercy, with your little Goddess friend unaware of what I can do…"
"Maybe I can go visit her instead? You're all quiet and your dreadfully boring. She's at least good looking, I would probably be able to have a lot of fun with her..."
It took Izuku a second to realise what he meant, but when he did, he saw red.
It wasn't really his fault what happened next.
Turns out, Durza might sound all posh and stuff... but he wasn't terribly smart.
Quirks were physical abilities. And science was still science, even with magic fucking with reality almost 24/7. The energy that Durza's body emitted to control other people used skin contact to spread effectively.
If the skin contact is too small or cut short, the time that the user is controlled is shortened. Of course, Durza had never realised this before, always focusing on the commands he gave a person, and not usually worrying about the time limit to his Quirk.
It had never failed him back home, and so far, it hadn't failed him in Belzerg. That was until he pissed off someone he had only commanded with a millimetre of skin contact.
The tendrils of skin he could shoot from each finger might give him a ranged option for his Quirk but at the cost of its effectiveness. With such a small amount of skin contact, the command on Izuku was fairly weak.
And Izuku was PISSED.
He didn't even really know what happened. One moment he was hearing Durza threaten the first person he had called a proper friend since Kachaan started bullying him, and the next the alcove was on fire, he could move...
And when he looked down, Durza was lying on the ground, barely recognisable, burn marks covering his face, and a knife in his heart.
He felt himself gag as he almost threw up, but held it down. He didn't even look back: he just ran back towards the guildhall as everything burned around him.
A siren rang out. Shouts were given. He could barely understand what they said, but it seemed to be a general call for anyone with water spells, so they could contain and put out the fire,
He eventually reached the main street, coughing and sputtering from all the smoke around him. He collapsed to the ground, and felt something cold wrap around his arm, dragging him away from the fires.
He opened his eyes a few seconds later to see that it was Dempton dragging him. He made a mental note to thank him later, before promptly passing out.
He would have to deal with all of it once he woke up again, but for now, he was okay with just sleeping for a bit. Fighting against Durza's Quirk was mentally exhausting.
And while his body might be used to high temperatures by now, the one good thing about his 'friendship' with Kachaan, He was still burnt, short of breath, and still pretty tired from Infusing Demptons shield earlier.
When Dempton felt Izuku go limp, he immediately picked up his pace towards the area where the clerics and priests were, in order to get him some healing. He owed the boy big for his shield's upgrade after all, and from the looks of it, getting rid of one of Axel's scariest adventurers. While, as a Life Paladin, he might not condone the killing of another humanoid, as a citizen of Axel he definitely appreciated Durza's death.
It was night time when he came to.
The world came back to him slowly as he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that it was a lot cooler than before, meaning the fire had probably been put out.
He also noticed that he wasn't in the stables, he was lying on a cot in a small tent. He also noticed that he wasn't alone. He turned to his side to see his friend.
On the other side of the tent, Aqua was sleeping in another cot. She wasn't snoring this time though, something that Izuku thanked all the gods (he guessed that they were watching him and Aqua) up above for the gift.
He turned back, his side starting to hurt, and smiled. He was glad to have met Aqua and glad to know that he had protected both her and Axel from someone like Durza.
Before his brain could pull up the image of Durza's corpse for him again, he laid back onto his bed. With a smile on his face, he fell into a dreamless sleep, as his body recovered from his recent ordeal.
Izuku got even more popular around Axel after that.
There was an "official investigation" into Durza's death, but the "investigator" was the local sheriff, who had already been looking into Durza for suspicious behaviour.
Plus, after Izuku explained what had happened, the entire town agreed that not only was Izuku acting in self-defence, but that Durza's death could be labelled as a "grand service to the community" - so Izuku ended up getting paid for killing the man.
Izuku wasn't really okay with that, though. He had gotten around 700 Eris for murdering someone. And, while Durza was a villain, and definitely deserved worse than the quick death Izuku gave him, Izuku was still a bit uneasy about it.
But he shook his head and dispelled those thoughts from his head: he was trying to test something, and he needed to focus. He didn't know if this would use his Mana, and while Aqua was with him in case of an accident, he was still nervous.
He was going to be testing the gift he had chosen for the first time.
He had been using his part-time jobs helping out the numerous blacksmiths in Axel as an opportunity to learn a bit more about the tools he could summon, and crafting in general.
|Summon Tool| had been incredibly useful, as it could summon pens he had used to fill a notebook on techniques that could be used to strengthen metals and create more resistant and flexible blades.
He had also bought some basic materials, like lumps of various unprocessed metals and some leather straps, and he had also splurged a bit and gotten his hands on something called Shockwood: it was a favourite for weapon-smiths, as it was nigh-unbreakable due to its shock-absorbing properties. Izuku was planning on using it for the grip for his new sword.
He easily found the blueprints he had been looking for in his mind: a modern alteration to the design of the English medieval longsword. Its modern version would have used more advanced techniques or Quirks to make them stronger, but fortunately, his 'Gift' offered him suitable substitutes.
So, that was where he found himself: sitting in the middle of a pile of materials, anvil and forge to his right, workbench to his left, all belonging to one of the town's blacksmiths, a dwarf by the name of Gimral, who had allowed him to test his ability in his workspace.
Izuku focused on the blueprint. He could see the way the sword had to be tempered, the way the sheathe had to be made to perfectly house the blade. He could see the knife marks made while carving the Shockwood handle.
He could see everything about this blade, and it filled him with joy.
He looked over to Aqua, who was holding a red potion in her right hand and preparing the highest level healing spell she had in her left. He smiled at her.
"Alright then, I guess It's time to see what happens," he said, hearing his voice shake a bit. Aqua nodded, shaking the red potion at him.
"You better not kill yourself or something trying to make this sword, Izuku, I won't forgive you if you leave me here all by myself!" she said, almost dropping the vial, scrambling to grab it, before putting on her angry face again.
Izuku laughed.
"Yes, Lady Aqua, whatever you say Lady Aqua." He chuckled as she pouted. Maybe it was just the shock of having taken a life, but Izuku couldn't feel it in him to be shy or flustered around Aqua right now.
He turned back to the materials, placing his hands on them, and focused on the blueprint again. The materials vanished, making him yelp in surprise, and a parchment scroll appeared in front of him. He picked it up with shaking hands, not noticing that Aqua had already uncapped the healing potion, and read the scroll's contents.
[Izuku Midoriya, Artificer, Shadeslayer]
You are about to activate |Natural Craftsman|. This process will take ~4 consecutive hours, barring any interruptions.
If you proceed, the materials you have selected will be consumed and used to create (Modern English Longsword). Do you wish to Proceed?
[YES] [NO]
He stared at the scroll in shock. Sure, he knew that this world was kind of like a video game, with magic and monsters and dungeons and dragons, and… well, a whole lot of other things, but this was crazy!
He turned to Aqua, who just shot him a shaky thumbs-up, and looked back at the scroll. He shrugged, tapping the [YES] button.
It felt amazing.
His body started moving on its own, as Izuku's mind was busy, analyzing the blueprint in his mind. He almost couldn't see the outside world, but he could feel his body grabbing onto the materials he needed for each step.
He couldn't hear Aqua's questions, nor her humming after an hour of boredom. Time passed quickly for him: the only thing he could focus was the slamming of the hammer, the heat of the forge, the carving of the handle and the wrapping of the leather.
It had been early morning when he started, and when he came to again, he was sweating, thirsty, hungry, and physically exhausted. But his brain was alight.
It felt better than eating katsudon, better than when he scored high on a test. It felt like the object on the workbench completed him.
He looked down at said object and was surprised by what he saw. It was beautiful. He could tell, somehow, that it wasn't exactly what he was shown in the blueprint, but he knew that it was as accurate as he could possibly make it without the use of a Quirk.
Picking up the sheathed sword, he felt the need to name it. It was the first thing he had made with his gift, his first step to becoming a hero to this world, his first step to killing the Devil King. It was his…
He smiled, thinking of the perfect name for his new sword.
It was his |Dawn|.
