Right. So before you start wondering about this later, I suppose I should tell you how Ki Reinforcement and Telekinetic Aura work, and how they are different. Besides the obvious 'one is Ki and the other is TK'.

Both are personal, physical enhancement skills. Continuous ones. Which means I turn them on, and I get a bonus to one or more physical Attributes. And as soon as I turn them on, and periodically after that, I automatically spend a certain amount of Energy. If I don't have enough Energy, they shut off. I call that period the 'tick' timer, thanks to those programming skills I ending up gaining.

Starting with Ki Reinforcement, since I got it first, it takes 1 Energy and has a five second tick. In return, one physical Attribute I choose gets a bonus equal to my Ki Reinforcement Skill level, plus half my Determination Attribute. If, for example, Ki Reinforcement and Determination were both 20, I could boost Strength, Agility, Endurance, or Quickness by 30 points. But only one of them.

At least at first. You see, if my Ki rank goes up, Ki Reinforcement gets better. For each additional Ki rank above 1, I get an additional 10% to the bonus. It's not a lot, but it can add up. Also, at higher ranks, I can divide the bonus evenly, rounded down, between two or more Attributes. At rank 2 I can split it between two scores, and three scores at rank 3. At rank 4, I can also choose to put the bonus into Charisma, or part of it if I am splitting it up. At rank 7 I can split the bonus between 4 Attributes, and at rank 9 I can split it between all five. Unfortunately, I can't apply the bonus to Wit, Intuition, or Luck. At least with the Talents I can currently see. I add that last qualifier, because one of the Talents I could see, but didn't qualify for yet, is 'Ki Reinforcement Master', which limit breaks the skill and doubles the tick. And since I saw that Stamina efficiency Talent on Tsuyu's list, I'm guessing there might be other ways to make the tick slower.

Telekinetic Aura is the opposite side of the coin. It boosts all my physical Attributes by a percent, and starts out with an even faster tick. But increasing the skill level slows the timer instead of increasing the bonus. The tick started at 1 second, but increases by half a second for each skill level. The timer also gets slower as my Intuition rises. 25% slower at 50+/Peak Human Intuition, 50% slower at 100+/Superhuman, and 100% slower at 250+/Divine. Those aren't cumulative. Plus, there is a Talent, 'Focus: Telekinetic Aura', which changes the base tick to one second per Skill level, and limit breaks the Skill. So best case, 140 Telekinetic Aura skill and 250 Intuition, and the tick would be almost five minutes. Since I already get back 2 Energy every 10 minutes, I could almost leave it on at Drive 1 indefinitely. Though I'm a long way off from that.

As for what 'Drive 1' means, TK Aura has four power levels called 'Drives'. Drive 1 gives me a 10% bonus times my Telekinetic rank, and costs one Energy per tick. Drive 2 is 20% times my Telekinetic rank, but costs 3 Energy per tick. Drive 3 is 30% times rank for 6 Energy and Drive 4 is 40% for 10. So just before the UA entrance exam, I could get 20% for Strength, Agility, Endurance, and Quickness. Or 80% if I decided to burn 10 Energy for Drive 4.

Oh, and I mentioned ranks a couple of times. Both Ki and Psionics have ranks, which is basically the number of Talents I have in them. Though the manual did imply there might be Talents that are worth more than one rank, or other ways to gain ranks. Ranks are frequently a requirement for what Talents I can buy. And, like I mentioned before, many skills also get stronger, the higher the matching rank is.


Tsuyu and I split up immediately. Our written exams were not only in different rooms, they were on opposite sides of the campus.

"See you at the practical," she said.

The written exams were from 8 to noon, then a half hour break for lunch. Then two more hours of written exams. Then another half hour to rest, snack, and stretch, before the practical exam started at three. The written exam rooms were also specially designed to do their best to prevent or detect cheating. With sheer variety of Quirks out there, I didn't envy the proctors.

"Maybe they can hire Eraserhead to come in and look at us all through a big prism," I mused, "Would his power even work indirectly?"

From a people watching perspective, it was fascinating. There was a guy with tubes in the back of his legs, almost like the exhaust pipes in Ingenium's arms. A trio of girls who would have looked perfectly normal, except they were wearing the uniforms of the infamous Tokiwadai Heroine Preparatory School. And all kinds of uniforms, a dozen schools at least, many I didn't recognize. So much so that one girl stood out partly because she wasn't wearing a uniform.

She had black jeans and a black, leather jacket, over a shirt so dark of a grey it almost could have been black. Even her backpack was black. She was slender, above average height, with short black hair, dark brown eyes, and lovely features that suggested a blend of Chinese and Caucasian heritage. She also carried herself like a weapon. Every martial arts skill I had seemed to be tingling in a combination of fear and anticipation, just looking at her.

She wasn't the only foreign looking girl. There was a blond girl, with bright yet sharp green eyes. Not that those features were that uncommon in Japan these days, but her eyes and cheekbones spoke of British or maybe French heritage. On the other hand, she was wearing a uniform I recognized, so who is to say if she really was a gaijin.

All that rubbernecking almost cost me. Because no matter how high your Agility score or movement skills are, when the universe takes a look at your Luck score and starts laughing, you trip. And fall. Fast. Of course, with my Health and Physical Resistance, it wouldn't kill me. It probably wouldn't even leave a mark. But was more than a little embarrassing.

And why hadn't I hit the ground yet? I opened my eyes, and realized I was floating. And there was a hand in front of my face. I took it, and the owner helped me right myself. Then she clapped her hands, and gravity resumed.

"Sorry I used my Quirk on you without asking," the girl, the very cute girl, said, "But I figured you wouldn't want to miss the written exam with a broken nose."

"No, you are right," I agreed quickly, "That would be bad. Thank you."

I bowed deeply.

"Well, I better get to my exam room," she said kindly, "Good luck!"

"You too!" I called after her. Then looking at my watch, I started jogging, too.


A tribute to The Gamer, and how hard we had studied, but the written exams were a piece of proverbial cake. There were a few questions that got me, but I would have been very surprised to learn I had scored under 90% on any of the tests.

And Tsuyu and I were not able to meet for lunch, since they brought food in and didn't let us leave the classrooms. I guess they were concerned about cheaters exchanging notes. Or maybe spying by other schools.

Tsu and I had gotten warmed up with a set of light calisthenics, before the buzzer went off. All of the applicants filtered into a giant auditorium. Along the way, I saw another person with an Aldera uniform, a male uniform but the person had a feminine build, was wearing a thick cap and I didn't recognize him or her. I thought it might have been Mizuno, but that was probably just me hoping for another friendly face.

"Good afternoon, new listeners," a thin man with giant hair and a psiky black leather uniform exclaimed from the stage, "Welcome to today's broadcast of the UA High entrance exam. You are the bravest of the brave for taking this shot. And whatever else happens, here's hoping you all come out alive."

He gave us a big grin and a thumbs up. We all stared at him.

"Okay, tough crowd," the MC sighed.

"That's Present Mic," I mumbled gleefully, "The Voice Hero! He's a pro hero and a radio star! I listen to his show."

"Is everyone at UA a pro hero?" Tsu asked.

"I'm sure all of you are wondering about today's playlist," Mic continued, not hearing us or not caring.

"The teachers are," I answered, "But not all of the staff."

"You will be split up into seven groups," the pro hero explained, "and undergoing a ten minute combat test in one of our urban training environments. But first up on our countdown is that hit single, 'Two Ground Rules!'."

He waited for a reaction, but other than me, everyone was silent. I was trying to keep it in, but between speculating about the exam and being so close to a famous pro Hero...

"It looks like we are in different groups," I glanced from my card to Tsuyu's, "I guess there was a good chance of that, but it makes me wonder if they are deliberately splitting up people from the same school or who might be friends."

"The first rule is, after we get done here, you have until 3:30 to get changed into your approved uniforms and gear, and get to your assigned area. Please note the approved part. You all submitted a list of what you wanted to wear and use, and you should have gotten back a yes or no response on each item. This is to prevent people from cheating and using items unrelated and unnecessary for their Quirk. If, for example..."

He looked at a specific part of the crowd when he said that, but I wasn't sure who exactly he was looking at.

"... if your Quirk is the power to control swords, and you submitted a set of swords on your request, and they were approved, you can bring and use them. But no swords beyond that. And if your Quirk were a personal enhancement power based on what you eat, and you submitted a kitchen knife as part of your gear, but you don't actually need it, it would be rejected and you better not bring it with you. Anyone caught violating this rule will be immediately disqualified. Of course, if you can make items with your Quirk, and you do so with the materials in the arena, that's just fine!"

"Does that mean you can use items you find during the test?" I pondered softly, "Like just taking a street sign and using it as a club. Or using someone else's gear if they lose it?"

"The second rule is that you can't attack or directly interfere with your fellow participants. If you deliberately attack someone else, or use your Quirk to hinder them, that's an immediate disqualification. Helping others is okay, if you think its a good idea. If you hit another listener accidentally, the first time you get a 10 point penalty. If it happens a second time, we have to assume that either they are not really accidents, or you don't have control over your Quirk. Then, again, you will be disqualified!"

I noticed a few sour looks around me.

"Were they actually think about attacking other people," I mumbled under my breath, "Or are they just not confident in their Quirks?"

Though, in my mind I could almost see Kacchan complaining about the rule, shouting that he would kill the other participants.

"Now, on to the main event,"the MC announced, "Your goal is simple, score the most points. Throughout each arena, you will find three types of robot Villains. Minions which are weak and are worth one point. Lieutenants that are a bit stronger and are worth two points. And Bosses that are not only strong, but are equipped with concussion missiles. Those are worth three points. Incapacitate a robot, and score that many points. "

"Excuse me, sir," someone a few rows down jumped to his feet, raising his hand. From his height and hair, I thought he was the guy with the pipes in his legs.

"Caller number one, you are on the air," Mic acknowledged him, and a spotlight focused on him.

"Thank you," the student said stiffly, "There are four robot types on the handout we are given. It is unsightly for an establishment such as UA to make such a mistake, whether it is by handing out old printouts, or not correct an error in them. Also, whoever is mumbling back there, please stop. You are disrupting things for the rest of us."

"Personally I think jumping up shouting and interrupting the teacher is more distracting," Tsu commented loudly.

"I thought his 'mumbling' was rather insightful, myself," Present Mic looked at me, nodding. Then he continued, "And as for the first part of your request, you are getting ahead of me. There is a fourth type of robot, but they are not Villains. They are obstacles."

The tall guy looked suitably scolded, and sat down. Still, I clamped my hands over my mouth.

"That's right, true believers," the teacher shifted back to his 'on air' voice, "The fourth type of robot is an obstacle. They are there to get in your way, but you can't fight them!"

That made a lot of the examinees start muttering.

"Think about it like this," Present Mic explained, "Say you were a Hero, about to rush into a burning building to save a child. But the child's mother, panicked, is blocking your way. She's not a villain, she's not trying to do anything wrong. So you certainly can't knock her out and arrest her. You have to get around her, without hurting her or getting slowed down to much. Similarly, if inside the building, you found come punk Villain looting, you can't stop to arrest him or the kid might die."

The tone of the rumbling changed, but it didn't stop.

"That's what these obstacle robots are. They will try to hinder you, but you aren't supposed to fight them. If you defeat one, you will get no points. Even worse, if you go out of your way to attack one, you will lose half of your points."

That caused a sharp intake of breath.

"Yup," he confirmed, "Don't get me wrong. If the obstacle bot corners you, and you have literally no other way to escape besides fighting back, do it. You won't get any points, but you won't be penalized. But if you attack one, and the judges determine you had any other option, BPPPT!"

He blew a loud raspberry and flashed a thumbs down.

"So, probably safer not to," he concluded for us. There were a lot of agreeing nods.

"That's about it," he said, "Take down the Villains, score as many points as you can. Top 36 will make it into the Hero course."

"That many?!" I burst out in surprise, and a number of the other students turned to look at me.

"What do you mean?" a boy with wild, purple hair and sleepy eyes protested, "There are supposed to be forty seats in the two Hero course classes."

Many eyes swiveled to look at Mic. But others looked at me. Including Present Mic.

"That's true," I agreed, "But each year, there are on average six seats given to recommendations. There are three Hero prep schools whose top respective students earn a recommendation admission to UA..."

"Though sometimes those seats are free," Mic added, shifting his eyes to another part of the arena briefly, "Either because those schools' faculties decide the top student isn't good enough, or because the top student turns it down. No prize for second place there."

"Right," I nodded, "And usually there are seven or eight more students that get private recommendations. Though that tends to vary. Years with two or fewer private recommendations are fairly rare, and the highest number recorded was twelve. Then they all have to take a simpler and early entrance exam. Like I said, six is the average number that pass the recommendation exam."

"You sure know your stuff, 2233," Mic noted, sounding slightly impressed. I couldn't help but blush a little.

"I'm not at liberty to say who the recommendations are, or what type they are," he continued, "and to answer your previously whispered question 2233, you can indeed make use of whatever items you find within the combat zone, even if you are not altering it with your Quirk."

"Alright, if there are no other questions, then can I get a 'Plus Ultra!'?"

"PLUS," I shouted, and petered out when I saw I was basically alone, "ultra."

"That was pathetic," Mic shook his head, "You call yourselves UA candidates? Let's try this one more time. Can I get a 'Plus Ultra!'?"

"PLUS ULTRA!" the majority of the students roared with me this time.

"Not bad," smirked the loudest man in the world, "Now, you have seventeen minutes to get changed and get to your arenas."

"See you after the exam," Tsuyu told me. Then she hopped up. I started to follow, when I heard a loud 'ding'.

[Quest Alert
Record Holder
Get the top score on the UA practical entrance exam.
Rewards:
Top score for this year: Bonus Talent: ? ?
Top score for the last decade: Bonus Talent: ? ?
Top score for all time: Bonus Talent: ? ?
(rewards are cumulative)
Failure Penalties:
Being assigned to separate classes from Tsuyu Asui, assuming you both pass
Time Limit: it's a ten minute exam...

(Accept) (Decline)]

I didn't really read it through, I just hit 'accept' and hurried out to the locker room.


I gathered with the others outside cityscape B. Most everyone was in physical education uniforms, but I was in my costume. I had registered it, and had emptied my inventory, just to be safe. My first-aid kit, weights, and the tonfa were sitting on my bed back home. Even my phone was in the locker I had been assigned here, alongside my Aldera uniform.

I saw the girl who had saved me, and went to thank her again. But the tall boy intercepted me.

"I apologize for earlier," he bowed deeply, "I was nervous, and I still am, as I'm sure you are. Still, I should not have called you out like that."

"Oh, ah, don't worry about it," I said, "It's bad habit of mine, and I can't always control it. I had a friend who used to tell me to shut up when I got out of hand..."

I sighed, thinking about how much Kacchan would have enjoyed this. A chance to blow stuff up and prove his superiority? This was right up his alley. Or at least, it would have been.

"But my other friend doesn't always stop me," I said, "She says she learns a lot from listening to me."

"As Present Mic-san said," the taller guy agreed, "Though I could not make out what you were saying. Anyway, I will not keep you any more. We will be starting soon, after all, and we will be opponents then."

"Yes," I nodded, "Good luck."

I looked for the girl. No, not because she was cute. Not that she wasn't. I really did want to thank her again. But she was gone into the crowd. And with less than a minute left, I started moving towards the doors.

"Status," I whispered.

Currently I had 320 Energy, and TK Aura was at level 9. So it would take one Energy every five seconds. Or 120 for the whole 10 minutes. That would leave me with 200 Energy for TK Armor, or anything else I might need and feel safe using. It wasn't bad, but given this was my only chance to get into UA and keep my power, I caved. I put one more Skill point into TK Aura, then flipped over to Talents. Without hesitating, I bought 'Focus: Telekinetic Aura'.

[Talent 'Focus: Telekinetic Aura' acquired.
Overall Psionic Rank: 3
Overall Telekinetic Rank: 3
Skill 'Telekinetic Aura' is more efficient.
Limit Break for 'Telekinetic Aura' (level 10/140).]

Now it would only cost 60 Energy for the entire test, and I had a 30% bonus instead. Still, I couldn't bring myself to spend anything else. I went back to Status, and left it open. That way I could monitor myself. And if I had to, I could more easily spend Attribute and Skill points during the test.

"Alright!" Present Mic shouted, as his face appeared in a screen mounted in the wall around the arena.

"Are we all ready to go?" he asked.

"Telekinetic Aura: Drive One," I invoked, as some people yelled but most just mumbled.

"I can't hear you," Mic complained again, "I said, are we all ready to go?"

"YEAH!" This time we all shouted, and I dropped into a sprinter's stance.

"Jet Set Run," I murmured, as the doors started to open. As soon as there was a wide enough gap, I zoomed through. I locked onto the first two robots I saw, a pair of one-pointers. I took the head off one with a roundhouse kick, then pushed off it, driving the second one into a wall. That crushed its torso. For these ones at least, the armor was pretty weak, not much better than a couple layers of cooking foil.

"Deactivate Jet Set Run," I said, seeing that the robots were close enough for the moment that I didn't need the extra boost to my speed.

"What are the rest of you waiting for?" Mic complained, "There are no countdowns in real life!"

Even as I reached the third robot, I heard the stomping of my opponents' feet, and then pipe-legs darted past me with a speed I'm not sure I could have matched with every boost I had at the moment.


"The first two points in less than a second," a skeletal man in an ugly and ill-fitting yellow suit noted.

"Ingenium was faster to his first point," a grey, block-shaped person countered, "though slower to his second."

"holy shit," Present Mic hissed quietly, looking at a different arena's monitors.

That got the attention of the teachers and other judges. How well they knew Yamada Hizashi varied from person to person, but they all knew that his normal speaking voice was at least 10 decibels higher than your average individual. Even his 'whispers' were still louder than most people spoke. For him to actually talk that softly, was roughly the equivalent of All Might shrieking like a little girl.

"What is it?" a small, white, anthropomorphic rodent, asked evenly.

"She just took out a dozen robots with one shot," Mic explained, "for seventeen points. Plus, she seriously cracked the outer wall."

"How?" more than one of the watchers demanded. Hizashi wound the video back. They watched as the brunette took out one robot, and then tore a washer out of it. She flipped the washer into the air. When it came down, she flicked it. With a sonic boom, it blasted down the street, clearing it of robots.

"I told you it wasn't fair to let her skip the recommendation for the normal exam, Nezu," a voluptuous woman in a skintight costume told the rodent.

"I personally agree with you, Nerumi-chan," Principal Nezu told Midnight, "but it is her choice, according to the rules. The seat in the Hero class would be hers either way. Assuming there were no issue with her written exam."

"This water user in Arena D is quite impressive as well," the being in the spacesuit offered.


I darted around a corner, and saw an interesting sight. A person with a black hooded sweater and jeans. The hood was pulled up, obscuring their face. I recognized the all black wardrobe and the body shape as one of the girls I had noticed this morning. She had just changed her leather for the hoodie.

She was dancing through a group of one and two-pointers. Her skill was amazing, and her strikes had incredible precision. Her fingers plunged between the gaps in the robots' armor, tearing wires and breaking servos. But one of the two-pointers had gotten behind her. With the hood up, she couldn't have seen it.

I raced forward. An axe-kick took off its scorpion like tail. The two-pointers had much heavier armor, but my strength was still enough to break through it. I then plunged the tip of the tail into its head.

The girl turned on me, and I saw a black mask covering her face from the nose down. But her eyes were angry, and her fingers flashed.

I panicked, though it was at least partially exaggerated. I swung my arms around, hitting the Skills tab, scrolling down the window, and putting two points each into 'American Sign Language' and 'Japanese Sign Language'. Recalling her gestures, she was using the latter, and had basically said, \that was mine, I had it/

\I... sorry/, I answered clumsily, \I not mean kill steal/

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she signed more slowly, \I can hear, just not speak./

"Oh, that's easier," I sighed in relief. Though inwardly I was kicking myself a bit for immediately spending points when confronted by an angry woman. Not that I probably wouldn't do it again.

"I'm sorry," I told her with a bow, "I didn't mean to kill steal. I thought you couldn't see it with your hood up like that, and I didn't want you to get hurt. Here!"

I saw something, and darted to a side street. I came back a second later, dragging a pair of three-pointers. I had bumped up to Drive 3 for a moment, and crushed their launchers. But the bots were still functional. I planted them in front of her, and then hammered their legs into the cement, so they could not retreat or out maneuver her.

"Please, take these instead," I told her. Then mumbled, "Drive 1" before I had to pay for Drive 3 again. She stared at me in confusion, but I saluted her, and ran off to find more targets. As I did, I saw her jump at the first Boss."


"How interesting," the ill-looking man commented.

"What is it, All Might?" the blocky teacher asked.

"Not only did he rescue her," Toshinori Yagi pointed at the boy with te fuzzy green hair, "But he brought her targets to make up for taking her points. And what's more, look."

The teachers watched as the black haired, black-clothed girl approached the blond girl in red, with a trio of swords floating around her. She defeated the fourth two-pointer menacing the blond. Then with a flash of ASL, and some gestures after she realized the other young woman didn't sign, the two went back to back, and began tearing through a robots at a faster and safer clip.

"He didn't just save her, he inspired her," Midnight purred, impressed. And maybe something else that wasn't appropriate considering the green-haired lad's age and position as her potential student.

"We may have a truly high scoring year," Nezu remarked.

"Most interesting," All Might said thoughtfully.


"Look out," I shouted, and kicked away the missile targeting the guy with tape coming out of his elbows. Then I smashed into the Boss, turning it around so it couldn't shoot at him again.

"All yours," I told him, as I started to sprint away.

"Thanks," he called out in surprise.

"Pay it forward," I yelled back.

I was at seventy two points. I hoped. It might have been more. After the girl in black, I tried to damage attackers and leave them, so I wasn't kill stealing. But if I had gone too far, my count might have been higher. I knew I shouldn't have been doing that, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to be a real Hero, someone who helped others. Not a guy who only looked out for himself. Or worse, let others do the work, only to swoop in and take the glory.

There were about three minutes left, so I would probably be able to get over 90. Even though the robot Villains were starting to thin out. Thankfully, I had not run into the obstacle bot, yet.


"Two minutes left, boss-man," Hizashi announced.

"Unleash the Executors," Nezu's face lit up in a worrying manner.


I had found and defeated another unoccupied two-pointer, when the whole arena shook.

"Is it a special emergency scenario?" I wondered to no-one in particular. Then I saw the facade of a building crumble the next street over. I heard screams of terror, and saw other examinees pouring into the alleys. I went the opposite way, a combination of worry and curiosity pulling me into the emptying street.

"They call that an obstacle?" a boy, shorter than me by almost a head and with weirdly round purple hair shrieked as he ran by. But I could appreciate his statement, when I cleared the alley.

It was the same shape as the print out. But the zero-pointer was taller than many of the buildings. It barely fit in the street, and knocked free chunks of wood and stone every time it moved. The road was now filled with rubble. I saw pipe-guy, frozen in terror, and tape-guy struggling not to run. I wasn't sure why they weren't evading, retreating. Until I saw.

The girl who had floated me this morning was in the path of the robot. Her legs were trapped by the debris it had created. And she was at most two seconds away from being stepped on.

My brain jumped straight to third gear. I calculated how fast I could get there now. How fast I could get there if I spent everything I had. It still wasn't enough. I could get to her, but getting her free would either take to long, getting both of us crushed. Or I could do it the quick way, and destroy her leg.

[Wit +1, Intuition +1, Mathematics, Basic skill improved (lvl 2), Mathematics, Advanced skill improved (lvl 2). Skill Physics, Basic (lvl 1) unlocked]

I pushed my brain harder. If I could get her out in time, could I also stop the robot. Yes, that was possible. It would cost me. But I couldn't let her be crushed. I ran the calculations one more time, then started muttering as fast as I could and running as fast as I could.

"Jet Set Run. TK Aura, Drive 4. Ki Reinforcement, Quickness. Add 19 to Strength. Add 6 to Quickness. Add 12 to Determination. Add 11 to Ki Reinforcement. Buy 'Ki Apprentice'."

[Talent 'Ki Apprentice' acquired.
Overall Ki Rank: 2
Skill 'Ki Regeneration' upgraded to 'Ki Healing'.
Skill 'Ki Diagnosis' available.
Skill 'Ki Projection' split into 'Ki Blast' and 'Ki Slice'.]

49 steps to go. The bonus from the second Ki rank was only a few more points, but I wanted healing as a backup.

[-2 Health]

I shot forward, still slower than pipe-guy had been. But not by much.

[-2 Health]

47 steps to go. Each step, pain shot up my legs, only to be quelled by Gamer's Body. My Energy was draining fast, I didn't dare activate 'Ki Healing' for myself, in case my calculations were wrong and I needed the Energy for my backup.

Finally, I hit the last step, and said, "Ki Reinforcement, Strength."

Then I jumped. I wasn't aiming for the head, there was to much of a chance it would just tear off. I was aiming for the torso, halfway between what I guessed was its center of mass and its shoulders. High enough to have a good leverage, but not so high that it was thinning and I might break through.

I drew back my right arm. Mentally, I imagined pushing all the TK Aura and Ki into the limb. The blazing life of the Ki, and the cool intellect of the Psions. They might not want to work together, might cost me. But they would do it.

"MINNESOTA SMASH!" I roared, punching as hard as I could. I threw a bit of regular Telekinesis into my body, adding to my momentum, trying to make up for the lack of purchase.

[-120 Health
Status Ailment: Broken Arm]

My hand pierced the steel plate, and the armor around the hole rippled like water. The mechanical and electronic bits underneath were powdered by the force. The strain on me was too much. My health plummeted below half, dipping below 25%. Two of my finger bones snapped, as did one in my hand and another in my wrist. Plus I think I dislocated my shoulder. Also both tibias, previously supported by Gamer's Body, cracked but did not fully break.

The robot teetered. It didn't seem to be functional, but despite the power I had hit it with, I had been a bit lacking in mass. It wasn't falling yet, and might go either way.

"Broadway Smash!"

I grabbed all the broken bits inside the robot with my Telekinesis, and shot them away from me with every scrap of Energy I had left. It worked, sort of. The robot was now falling back. Away from the girl. Unfortunately, using Telekinetic Attack basically locked me in place relative to the robot. As it was forced away, I stayed still. For half a heartbeat. Then gravity kicked in.

So I was falling. From roughly forty meters up. With my legs damaged, I knew they would break or even shatter if I tried to land on them. I twisted around, trying to lead with my good, left arm. When it hit, I would try to both absorb the shock by pulling my arm back and roll into the fall.

15 meters... 5 meters... had to time this just right...

[-10 Health]

As the pavement drew painfully close, I was suddenly slapped in the face. And stopped falling. The girl had jumped at me, and was tumbling past. I managed to grab her leg, so she didn't hit the ground, either. I saw that the rubble she had been trapped under was now floating, too.

"Sorry," she was crying and laughing at the same time, "I was aiming to touch your chest, but my timing was off."

"That's okay," I laughed too, lowering her to the ground. She stood up, pulled me the rest of the way down. Then she clapped her hands, and I dropped the last centimeter. And immediately sat down.

"Are you hurt?" I asked her.

"My leg was clamped a bit," she said, standing gingerly, "But I don't think it's broken. What about you?"

I looked at the remains of the fallen robot. At what was likely the end of my dream. Or at least, of my power.

"I'm fine," I lied, "Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix."

"I'll be the judge of that," a gentle, slightly wavering voice said behind me. A tiny, elderly woman shuffled over to me, a handful of disturbed students on her wake.

"You are Recovery Girl," I started to geek out, but she shut me up by casually stuffing two gummies into my mouth. I could tell by the taste that they were not just candy, but rather the multi vitamin type.

"Hmm," Recovery Girl checked me over insistently but gently, "Dislocated right arm with five broken bones..."

I missed one? I knew my TK Aura wasn't really a diagnostic tool, but... Or had one more broken after I was out of power, and couldn't detect it? My lack of Energy was making it hard to keep my eyes open, but adrenaline, and now the gummies, helped.

"... both tibias and one femur have multiple cracks but no clear break... Pucker up young man."

She leaned in and gave me a big, sloppy kiss. My body felt warm and itchy. And I had one last thought before passing out.

'I'm really glad my first kiss was with Tsuyu.'


I woke up, and my still open Status screen told me it was after seven. My Health was back up to 80%, but my Energy was lower than it should have been. Maybe a side effect of Recovery Girl's power?

"Ki Regeneration," I said as softly as I could.

"You are awake already?" Recovery Girl said, and I turned to face her, "I noticed you were healing faster than usual, even for my power, but this is a surprise."

"My TK can pull my body back to the proper shape," I told her, "And stimulate the cells to recover and reconnect."

"Hmm," she looked at me again suspiciously. Then she shrugged and got up, "I suppose that explains what you said about only needing a good night's sleep."

She took out the IV I hadn't even noticed, and continued, "But you should still make sure to get a good meal as well. Just having vitamins and nutrient drip won't properly replenish what your body needs."

"I will," I reassured her.

"Then I suppose you are free to go," she told me, "Your friend was here until about a half an hour ago. Then she said she had to leave, and that you would know why."

"She has to help take care of her siblings," I nodded. Not using my right arm, I swung my legs out off the bed. They didn't hurt anymore. My arm, on the other hand, still ached, and I still had the negative status that it was broken. I guessed it would need the full night's sleep to get rid of it.

As I started to leave, Recovery Girl's voice stopped me.

"Why did you do it, son?" she asked gently, "Save the girl, hurt yourself?"

"In retrospect, it seems silly," I admitted, "There's no way the school would actually kill an exam participant, right? Except the counter argument is that with all of those Quirks in use, all of that energy and dust and whatever flying around, they could easily have lost control of the robot."

"Or the idiot controlling it got too caught up in the moment, and didn't notice the girl," Recovery Girl grumbled.


"ACHOO!" Principal Nezu sneezed, and suddenly felt guilty. He looked across the table at a dejected and brow beaten Present Mic.

"Thank you again, Hizashi, for taking the heat from Recovery Girl," the rodent said cautiously.

"Just remember that when it is time to talk raises, boss-man," the Hero groaned.


"That could be, too," I agreed, "All I knew was that in that moment, she was going to die, and I had to do something. I tried to do the math in my head. I could reach her, but couldn't get her out in time. Not without probably tearing her foot off. But you know how if you bump the bottom of a glass, it just slides, but if you bump the top it tips over. I knew I could do that, if I hit the robot in the right spot. I was afraid the head was just come off, so I went for the body. I picked a spot about the center of mass, but not so high that I would lose too much horizontal speed in my jump. Even then, it almost wasn't enough, and I had to push it away with what telekinesis I had left."

"You sound like him," she noted, "Normally I would scold you now, but it seems like you thought it out well. And you have already been penalized for this..."

My head sank.

"Thank you, for treating me," I told her. Then I left. Time to go home. To tell mom what had happened. That I had probably failed.


Current Status:

Name: Izuku Midoriya
Age: 15
Level: 9
Active Title: The Gamer
Health: 252/281
Energy: 28/370

Attributes:
(S)trength: 40
(A)gility: 31
(E)ndurance: 34
(Q)uickness: 40
(W)it: 31
(I)ntuition: 31
(C)harisma: 16
(D)etermination: 40
(L)uck: 9

Unused Points:
Attribute: 12
Skill: 0
Talent: 0

Skills:
Analyze (W): 30
Mathematics, Basic (W): 13
Dodge (A): 19
Telekinesis (I/D): 26
Basic Karate (A): 29
Boxing (S): 19
Parkour (A/Q): 26
Physical Resistance (E/D): 19
Running (Q/E): 23
Acrobatics (A): 8
Ki Detection (D/I): 15
Ki Blast (D/W): 7

Ki Slice (D/W): 7
Ki Healing (D/E): 12
Ki Reinforcement (D): 31
Telekinetic Attack (I/A): 15
Mathematics, Advanced (W): 3
Tactile TK (I/D): 5
Telekinetic Armor (I/E): 5
Telekinetic Aura (I) LB: 11
Kung Fu Fundamentals (Q/E): 5
Wing Chun Quan (A/Q): 4
Tai Chi Quan (A/S): 6
ASL (W/A): 2
JSL (W/A): 2
Physics, Basic (W): 1
User has chosen to conceal (18) skills

Talents:
Studious
Gamer's Body
Gamer's Mind
Telekinesis, Basic
Inventory II
Reflective Dungeon
Free Runner
Ki Initiate
Tactile Telekinesis
Ki Apprentice
Focus: Telekinetic Aura