"Hinotama!" Izuku shouted as he aimed his hand at a pile of trash on the beach, sending a fireball at the refrigerator he was aiming at and causing a crater of melting metal and plastic at its center. The young man, now fifteen years old, chuckled as he sat down on the sand and took a swig of his water bottle. It has been nine years since the night he met his mentors and friends Pharaoh, Joey, and Seto. In those years he learned as much as he could about his quirk and the people that were it. Seto Kaiba, for instance, was the long time rival to the Pharaoh, and Joey the long time friend of the Pharaoh. Though the Pharaoh confused him alot, telling Izuku he once was a spirit in a puzzle and possessed the boy who wore it to duel for him. But that was about the strangest thing he told Izuku. They spent hours talking about their world and his, how in their world dueling was an international sport while in Izuku's world Duel Monsters never existed. The four of them summed it up to the world having to have some sort of differences, such as their world didn't have Quirks or Heroes.
The concept of Heroes was something the three could understand easily enough, since in their own right they were heroes in their own world. However the thought of them being seen as heroes in their world was something they didn't think likely. Joey often talked about his sister Trinity, and when he went to duel the evil men to protect their world from the Shadow Realm she was all he thought about. Seto also had a sibling he cared for deeply, and wished he knew what happened to their world so he could know if he was okay. The Pharaoh was not as open about his past, and typically told stories of the time he was inside the puzzle around a boy named Yugi Moto's neck.
And even though their conversations of their pasts were thrilling in their own right, Izuku loved the stories of their duels, those conversations only lasted so long. Over the eight years Izuku was pushed hard by his quirk to train and understand what his abilities were. As it stood now, he understood his Quirk relied on something his Quirk could see when he was using the spells. Something the trio referred to as Life Points, or LP. He told them in their world, Life Points were used to tell if someone lost a duel. When they explained to Izuku that hitting zero LP meant they would lose. This scared Izuku at first, but after Seto explained to him that using spells and summoning monsters didn't normally cost LP he calmed down slightly. Joey then explained to Izuku that using the spell he gave him would take roughly 500 LP from his total, which resembled how much damage the spell would have done to an opponent in a Duel. After experimenting with this, the four of them figured out that he could repeat this spell, but each consecutive cast of the spell doubled the previous amount. So using one Hinotama cost him 500 LP while him using it twice in a row cost him 1500 LP in total. This made Izuku wonder if it was a penalty of his quirk since spamming the same spell wasn't something common in their world. They did tell him that most of the time you could have only three of each card in their decks, so maybe this was the best way this world could balance such a rule into it.
After discovering the point of LP to Izuku, and what the spell does to LP, Izuku trained with the spell for the time he was six til roughly eight. It was on his eighth birthday that the Pharaoh gifted him a new spell, one from his own deck, Dark Burning Attack. This spell was more intense then Hinotama, causing more destruction to a target with what could only be summarized as dark magic. This spell, being as powerful as it was, resulted in more of his LP being drained to use it. Thankfully after several minutes of not using anymore spells his LP would slowly regain.
From eight to ten years old Izuku practiced with both Dark Burning Attack and Hinotama, using them both back to back to learn that as long as he rotated them and not use the same two spells one after another he can avoid the double LP cost penalty. During the training he also discovered what would happen when his LP reaches zero. He blacks out. While he is blacked out he can still associate and talk to Joey and the others, but until his LP was fully restored to 8000 he couldn't be awake and conscious again. This was a big setback, Izuku summarized, seeing as in the heat of battle he may have to go all out and lose count of his LP. On that day, Joey promised Izuku that he would keep an eye on the LP numbers when he was fighting. Calling himself his partner in his "duels" to come.
On his tenth birthday, Izuku was gifted with another new spell. At this point the boy was getting annoyed by the fact that his friends only ever kept giving him spells. However, this spell was worth the frustration as it was called Soul of the Pure, and it restored the LP instead of using it. It was strange to have a spell like that, but Seto explained to him that these cards were common to them. The spell restored only roughly 800 LP to himself, and the spell itself had a cooldown to be used, which was another new thing he learned about his quirk. Apparently the more useful spells like healing ones could only be casted every five minutes. This, though low in healing, helped Izuku push further in his training.
It would have been another four years before he was given a new card. At the age of fourteen, he was finally given his first creature card. The creature, Celtic Guardian, was a gift to him from the Pharaoh. Though it held little value to him, he knew it was a card that belonged to his former friend's grandfather. He told him how he used it in his first duel against Seto, and even though the creature wasn't the most powerful card, it was invaluable to winning that duel. Those words only ended up causing an argument between him and Seto, and Joey laughed the entire time before he told Izuku not to worry about them and go have a good birthday.
Summoning the creature was the most taxing thing Izuku had done with his Quirk up to this point. When he summoned it, he felt his LP go weaker which he only ever felt when he went too far with his spells. When Joey told him that summoning Celtic Guardian cost Izuku 1400 LP he was more than surprised. However, summoning his first creature was the most magical thing he had experienced. Before him stood an elf creature, clad in green and silver and silver armor with a brown leather tunic underneath. In its hand was a sword resembling that of something from your typical fantasy movie, but that sword was anything but a fantasy. When the creature got down on one knee, sword in the sand of the beach, he swallowed his spit and was unsure what to do with it. Seto offered to tell it to destroy the garbage around them, the Pharaoh agreeing with his rival. However, Joey thought of something different.
"Why don't you have the big guy there clean the place up with you? I mean, this place isn't supposed to be a dump right? And you keep saying you want to be a hero. Aren't heroes supposed to do good for the people?" And with those casual, but touching words, Izuku started to clean the beach.
And now, sitting on top of the pile of trash he had worked on for the last year, Izuku could say with pride he felt like a hero. In the end, the garbage on the beach was a wonderful training ground. Despite quirk usage being illegal in public, the local authorities and heros turned an eye to it for the simple fact they saw it as community service. Of course the heroes would never admit it, but they were glad some kid ended up cleaning up the beach instead of themselves.
Coming up the stairs from the beach Celtic Guardian was carrying what little but of trash onto the pavement for the waste disposal crew to come and take in the morning. In the year of cleaning up the beach Izuku had grown muscles, and grew a bond with his creature. At first the two seemed like only master and servant, but over the year Izuku bonded with Celtic Guardian. Though it was a shame the elf creature couldn't speak. Izuku often wondered what stories the creature could tell him if he could.
Izuku jumped off the appliance, stretching for a second before turning to his companion. "Thank you, Celt. I appreciate the help. You rest and relax for a while." The elf nodded, kneeling before Izuku with a smile before Izuku took a deep breath and put his hand out towards the monster. Slowly the creature would disappear into what could only be described as glass particles. The shards of the particles were like a special effect, not actually staying around as they landed on the ground. Izuku then looked at his watch, sighing as he rolled his eyes and went to his bag to head back home. He didn't want to be late for his own surprise party. Though he hoped his mom wouldn't figure out that he found out her plans the week prior.
"Surprise!" Inko shouted out as let loose some confetti poppers she had in her hand. She smiled as her son walked in, and as usual, was a sweaty mess. She had been happy that in the last year he dedicated himself to cleaning the beach, seeing it as a truly caring thing he was doing for the community while also working on his quirk. She still couldn't believe to this day that those voices were actually his quirk, and they each had names. When Izuku told her that the one guy in his quirk called Joey gave him a spell, she didn't believe it. It didn't take long for her to learn that not only was he telling the truth, but that her couch was in fact not fireproof.
After that eventful day she has done nothing but support Izuku in every way she could. When he told her that the voice named Seto suggested a place to learn his new spell, she didn't hesitate to call a gym that was licensed to let quirks be practiced. Sure it cost a bit more than she could afford, but she made it happen by working an extra shift every week at her accounting firm she worked at. When the same man told Izuku that it may be wise to start working on a better diet to gain some muscles, again Inko worked on it. It took her a bit of time, but she contacted a nutritionist and was able to pay for him to print out a proper diet. Izuku should be eating to gain muscle as he grows. Everything Izuku asked for, if it meant fulfilling his dream of being a hero, she did it.
That didn't mean Izuku took advantage of her either, the voices in his Quirk were adamant on him treating his mother with respect and understanding. Since after all she was the only person he had.
Inko let off the last popper before turning the lights on and going to her son and hugging him. She was so proud of her baby boy, always pushing himself to become stronger. Though as she hugged him she just as quickly backed away. "Whew, you must have worked hard today! Why don't you fo shower while I work on dinner. After that we can eat some cake I made for you. Oh, and your father sent something special for you for your birthday!"
"Sure thing mom, thank you!" Izuku called out as he went to his bedroom to clean himself up and prepare for the night.
"That is a rather nice jacket."
"I don't like the color, it should have been white."
"Nah, I think it should have been green. That's more his style."
The three men spoke softly in Izuku's mind as he tried on the jacket his father sent over to him. It was amazing. It was basically a steampunk style jacket, with laces criss-crossing over the upper arms while the base leather of the jacket was red with black undertones. On the shoulders were buckles, though they were mostly for aesthetic then actual purpose. This jacket was the first thing his father sent to him in a long time, and he loved it. But the best part of the jacket was the custom stitching his father paid premium for. At the center of his back was the same Egyption eye that was on the Pharaoh's forehead. This made the Pharaoh chuckle, finding it an honor that he held the symbol in high enough regard to wear it proudly.
"That reminds me Izuku, it's time for our gifts." Joey said in the back of his mind, snickering to himself though Izuku couldn't see it. Seto sighed, rolling his eyes before going to sit on his throne while they waited for Izuku to fall asleep.
When Izuku opened his eyes he was back into what he called the Duelist's Realm. He stood up, going to the platform surrounded by the six thrones before Joey and the Pharaoh got down to be almost the same height as Izuku. Seto, on the other hand, stayed on his throne and only rolled his eyes. Ever after all these years he was still rather cold towards the boy that literally houses him. Izuku only rolled his eyes before smiling at the two friendlier guys before him. "So, time for another spell?"
"Actually, we are going to give you a monster. Each." The Pharaoh said as he reached into the deck box buckled to his waist. Joey snickered as he revealed the card in his hand. "I'm excited to finally give you this! You earned it, Izuku!" Joey, without waiting for his friend, handed the card to Izuku. The young man looked down and smiled warmly. It was Joey's first signature card. It was the Flame Swordsman.
"Joey…I don't know what to say…" Is all Izuku could say as the card disappeared, being added to Izuku's 'deck'.
"Aye don't worry about it. You earned it, Izuku. I am still learning about this Quirk thing, but from what I can see from those around you you're working harder than most. Except maybe that jerk Katsuki. He's a real pain in the rear but dang does he know how to train it seems."
Izuku could only chuckle and agree with Joey, Kacchan really did know how to train. Even after these past few years Izuku still felt like he couldn't completely stand up to Bakugou in a fight. Don't get it wrong though, Izuku was strong. But his confidence was still a bit shaky. Izuku thought to himself about the possibility of fighting him until he heard the Pharaoh clear his throat. "Here, may she serve you well."
Izuku reached out to take the card in hand, and he found himself holding the creature Dark Magician Girl. He looked up to the Pharaoh, smiling. "Thank you, Pharaoh. I'll make sure to use her with pride."
Then Izuku looked up to Seto, who was now leaning against the armchair with one arm supporting his head with legs crossed. "You think you earned a card from me, kid? You barely have gotten that much stronger this year."
Joey looked up to Seto, rolling his eyes. "Come on Kaiba, stop being a jerk and give him something. He has a few months until the UA Exam and he's gonna need the boost!"
Seto rolled his eyes back at Joey before reaching into his jacket and tossing a card to Izuku, which he caught with ease to his surprise. "The card is called Burst Stream of Destruction. It's a powerful card, and I'm not sure how it will work in your world, but that's all you're getting from me right now."
Izuku looked at the card, seeing the head of the Blue Eyes White Dragon firing a blast from its jaws. Before he could look at it longer the card dissolved into his deck. He looked at the thrones, smiling before asking the same question he always asked before he went to sleep. "Still nothing on the other three?"
"No, nothing yet. We aren't even sure anyone else is supposed to be here." Joey rolled his shoulders before hopping up to this throne. "If they are supposed to be here, then maybe they haven't been unlocked or something."
"That is a possibility. This realm is still known to us." The Pharaoh agreed as he went up to sit on his throne.
"It doesn't bother me either way. It's bad enough that I'm stuck with you two." Seto said as he pulled his deck out and was looking through his cards.
Izuku chuckled as he watched them start to talk on their thrones, closing his eyes to finally fall asleep as he was excited for tomorrow now. If only he knew what was to come.