Arc 1 Chapter 5: The Knight's Trial
Previously on Chapter 4...
"Damn!" Kenshi curses under his breath.
"Alright, you get one last chance to prove that you are worthy for my niece." Iroh tells Kenshi in a threatening tone.
"So you can speak like a normal person, good." kenshi says as he surfs through his inventory to find something he can use, when he hears Alpha's voice in his head.
"Use this one." Alpha tells kenshi, pointing to a very specific sword in the inventory.
"You sure alpha? It looks too simple to be strong." kenshi tells alpha.
"Trust me on this, this is one of the stongest blades you have right now." Alpha tells him.
" i really hope you're right, alpha, or we have to say bye to momo forever." kenshi says as he selects the sword that alpha told him, "Limits are made to be broken..."
Kenshi decided to take Alpha's words to heart. He selected the item and pulled out another gaming sword. It was glowing blue and had a blade that had colors of a rainbow. Iroh looked at him and smirked.
"Let's see if this blade can stand up to Excelsior," he said as he got into a fighting pose.
Momo was cheering her gamer boyfriend on. She wanted him to win, so he could get Iroh's respect.
"Come on Kenshi, kick his ass!" Saya said.
The two of them dashed at each other clashing their swords. Despite Excelsior being bigger, for some reason it couldn't stand up to the sword that Kenshi was carrying. Kenshi was determined to win this challenge, and Iroh's respect.
As Iroh swung his sword around, Kenshi evaded and waited for an opening. Each time Iroh attacked, Kenshi blocked with his sword. Despite how many hits it took, it still kept its edge.
They clashed again. Iroh was swinging his sword around in an attempt to throw Kenshi off balance. Kenshi was too smart as he's played many swordplay games. He started clashing with Iroh. The sword was starting to blink red. His time limit was almost up until the weapon broke.
Iroh went in for the final blow knocking the sword out of Kenshi's hand before it broke. Despite the sword going past its time limit, Kenshi was still ready to fight. He wasn't going to give up that easily.
"I don't care how many swords you break," Kenshi told Iroh, "I'm not giving up til I've earned your respect."
Iroh put his sword down and smirked.
"Congratulations Jotaro, you passed," he said.
Kenshi was confused.
"You may have found this test of mine to be deceiving, but once I explain everything to you, you will be believing," Iroh told him, "The true test was not to develop a weapon that was tough, but rather a test of spirit, to never give up. During this duel I've played my part, for I have seen today that you show a lot of heart."
"...whaaaa?" Kenshi asked.
Momo walked forward.
"He wanted to see your true spirit as a pro hero and a fighter," Momo said, "He did the same method with my father when mother started dating."
Iroh bowed to Kenshi. Momo rushed to Kenshi and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"This boy is a good man Momo, this boy is fine," Iroh said, "But whenever we duel next, victory will be mine."
Kenshi turned to him. "Ok Blacksmith, give it a rest, your poetry may be confusing, but its inspiring at best," he said.
Iroh smirked. "He's good," he said, "When classes resume at U.A, I hope to see you sometime. I received an invitation to teach there."
"I might take your offer," Kenshi said while he still had Momo in his arms.
Later Kenshi was having lunch with Momo and her parents. Afterwards, Momo got a text from Kenshi's mom. She decided to bring Kenshi back to his house for a big surprise. Kenshi wasn't sure what was going on, but he went with it. Momo was guiding Kenshi to his room. She then turned the lights on and showed Kenshi the surprise. Kenshi couldn't believe what he saw.
"Its just like..." Kenshi said, "My stuff! How did you get all this?!"
"Your butler managed to help me out with most of it," Momo explained, "Everything else I just brought with my money. Don't worry about paying me back."
Kenshi was going around the room seeing all of his stuff that he had at the old house. He was so happy about it. He then did the default fortnite dance in victory. Kenshi was then laying on the couch, with Momo next to him.
"You think Aizawa would want us doing some kind of project during break, but he hasn't given us anything," Kenshi said as he chuckled
"It'll be fun to see our friends after the summer," Momo said, "I heard Mina got herself teaching a dance studio. Kirishima also got a heavy workout routine, and Midoriya is probably working his butt off to perfect his quirk."
"Meanwhile Iida is busy hitting the books, Jirou's probably doing some music stuff with Kaminari, and Bakugou..." Kenshi said before pausing, "I think we should just leave it to the authors to decide what he does during his spare time."
Meanwhile in the Bakugou Residence
"RAAAAAAAAUGHGHGHHGH!" Katsuki shouted while brushing his teeth, "DIE YOU FUCKING STUPID MOUTH GERMS!"
"KATSUKI YOU CAN'T WAKE UP AT NOON AND START YELLING!" Mitsuki shouted.
Bonus Stuff!
(Some of you are probably wondering exactly what Izuku did to create Full Cowling before the Entrance Exams. This should hopefully fill in the blanks.
Earlier...
"I mean your quirk is pretty useful too, you just gotta stop overthinking the situation," Ochako explained, "I mean, it's not like you can find a way to cloak the quirk around your body to have both enhanced speed and strength." Izuku nodded.
"Well, I guess I should work on speed rather tha... Say that again?"
Ochako looked confused, "Which part?" she asked the boy.
"The last line, say that again this time a bit slower," he answered.
"I said, it's not like you can cloak the quirk around you to get both strength and speed," Ochako repeated herself.
That gave Izuku an idea. "Excuse me, I gotta work on something," he said. He zoomed out of the room. He then came back quickly and approached Ochako. "Thank you," he said. He then quickly gave her a peck on the cheek and zoomed back out. Ochako paused for a moment and started to blush.
Now
As Izuku spent the day training, he tried cowling the quirk around his entire body. The first few times he failed. He ended up jumping at the walls and giving himself major bumps. Every attempt he tried had him in bruises.
"Ow!" Izuku shouted.
Someone walked forward to the young boy.
"Hehehe. I thought I'd see you workout out here," he said.
Izuku turned around to see Gran Torino The Jet Hero.
"Oh, hey Grandpa Tori-" Izuku managed to say before getting whacked in the head.
"I thought I told you not to call me that, green bean," he said, "We aren't even related by blood!"
"Right, right, sorry," Izuku said.
"So, looks like your dad is having you do some workouts in this area," Torino said looking around, "But why is it such a dump."
"Oh, Dad is having me work here to train for the entrance exam," Izuku explained, "He said something about it being done to increase my physical body strength."
"Well, it's no wonder your arms are basically twigs," Gran Torino said, "Honestly, if you wanna make that Uraraka girl your girlfriend, You need to grow some muscle.
Izuku started to blush after that compliment.
'I'm going to be having a really frank talk with Mom and Dad, when I get home,' he thought to himself.
"Now drop and give me 20 push ups," Gran Torino said, "I wanna see what you're made of with that Power Stack quirk of yours."
Izuku did so. He also did a few sit ups and had him lift some weights. By doing this, Gran Torino was able to see what his quirk is all about.
"So here's what's going to happen," Gran Torino said, "You and I are going to have ourselves a bit of a sparring match. I want to see everything you're capable of with that strength enhancing quirk of yours."
"Ok," Izuku said getting in a fighting stance.
"Here goes!" he said.
Gran Torino activated his quirk. His quirk allowed him to move as fast as a jet, hence his codename. He was a bit too fast for Izuku to think. He then saw Torino heading straight at him. He focused the quirk's energy around his legs and moved away. While the quirk was moved to his legs, it allowed Izuku to have enhanced speed. He kept the energy to a bare minimum to prevent muscle soreness.
Torino was observing how Izuku was using his birth quirk.
"Not bad for a kid," Torino said.
He started moving around again trying to outsmart Izuku. Izuku then looked around, studying his movements. He noticed how Gran Torino moved behind him twice.
"So that means..." Izuku thought.
He saw him coming straight at him again. Izuku focused the quirk's energy to his right arm at a maximum of 10%.
"SMASH!" Izuku shouted as he threw the punch.
However Torino noticed it coming and quickly moved. He tneh pinned Izuku to the ground. Izuku was in shock noticing how quick he was able to dodge a punch.
"What the..." Izuku said.
"Take this moment and ask yourself," Gran Torino said, "What do you think you're doing wrong?"
Izuku thought for a second and shrugged his shoulders.
"When you're using Power Stack on your legs that's fine, but when you use it on your arms, it's a whole different story," Gran Torino said.
"Huh?" Izuku asked.
"Your movements are a bit stiff, and you're believing your quirk is more special than it already is," Gran Torino told him, "I've noticed how you used Power Stack in your arm, however, you're using the quirk as if you were All Might himself. You're allowing your quirk to be shackled by your admiration for All Might."
"Shackled?" Izuku asked
"Yes," Gran Torino told him, "You're using Power Stack in your arms as if it were a super move. That's why your muscles get sore every time you throw a punch. If you wish to use Power Stack efficiently, then you must learn to make this quirk your very own, instead of imitating another."
"How do I do that?" Izuku asked.
"You won't learn if I just give you the answer," Gran Torino answered, "You'll need to figure that out for yourself. In the meantime, I'll be watching from here."
A few minutes later
Izuku was pacing around, muttering to himself about Power Stack. He was trying to think of a way to use it not as a super move, but as a part of him. After enough thinking, he finally got it!
"That's it!" he said, "When using Power Stack in my arms, I'm only thinking of it as a super move. But its more than that, and plus if I stack too much power in my limb it gets sore. So if I can figure out a way to focus the quirk around my entire body at a specific output, then hopefully I can figure out a way to use it as a part of me."
He started doing some various jumps and flips to work out his entire body. He also did various workouts at the gym, such as the treadmill, lifting weights, and punching a dummy to workout his arms. This was all for a purpose of working on his new technique.
For the longest time I've only been summoning Power Stack when I need it, where I need it, like flipping a switch. But the more I do that, the slower my reactions will be, like my sparring matches with Kaachan. That's where I'm going wrong...
After a few days of working out his body, Izuku went back to the beach to try out his new technique. By focusing the quirk, he spread the energy not to his arms nor to his legs. He spread it across his entire body. His body started to glow a bit.
So instead of flipping the switch off, or switching to a different outlet, I need to keep the power on. Better yet, I just need to imagine my entire body as one big outlet, focusing the energy around me. Keeping at 5%, I need to focus Power Stack around my body, so my entire body is enhanced when I need it to be.
After a few tries, his attempt was successful. By focusing the quirk around his entire body, not only did he shorten the strain it put on his body. He was also able to have both enhanced speed AND strength at his disposal. Gran Torino was watching him train and he smirked.
"No wonder you see so much potential in that boy," he commented.
Power Stack. Full Cowling!