Hello earthlings! Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and I hope you enjoy! I own nothing except a dysfunctional computer.

The pattern repeated for another week: Wake up, walk north, look for demons, eat, train, repeat. As they went further north, the weather got colder. Since it was almost spring, it wasn't unbearable, but still. A bit too cold for Izuku's taste. They fought several more bands of demons that they found on the road, but nothing too major or dangerous. In fact, most of the time All Might and Kacchan allowed Izuku to handle it alone. And then they found the swamp.

It was huge, with tall trees growing out of the murky mud and mists swirling around the various ferns. The only people near the place was a tiny village whose main source of income was harvesting the various medicinal herbs that grew in the swamp. According to a man the travelers met in the village, they were only allowed to enter because they had a deal with the "spirit" who lived there. If any outsiders tried to enter, their bodies appeared next to the village that night. Why on earth would anyone decide that was a good place to make a village?

"So, your witch is probably here." Izuku told Kacchan as they walked away from the village towards the trees where the dragon was hiding.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well, if I remember the map correctly, the No-Lands are on the other side of this swamp, right? So we're about as far north as we can go. Plus, the villagers said that they get a lot of good herbs for medicine from the swamps, so it makes sense that there would be magical herbs there too. Plus, there's a fairly isolated village close by that she can sell her herbs at. The perfect environment for a witch!"

Kacchan sighed, but it almost sounded proud. "Alright, Deku, guess you got a point."

"Indeed you do, my boy!" All Might was definitely proud. "You have gotten very good at making guesses based on the environment and listening to the talk of others, which will serve you well!" Izuku was proud for a brief second before the older man added, "And this will be your final test before you go to Uyay! In fact, I will not be accompanying you into the swamp today."

The green haired boy blinked. "What? Why?"

"You need to do things by yourself, my boy. On every test, the older Wielder must let their trainee go into the final stage by themselves. Of course, since technically it is Bakugo's quest, he will go with you."

"Damn right I will!"

"But All Might…" Izuku didn't think he was ready for this. He hadn't been training very long. What if he messed up? Kacchan and the dragon were counting on him. All Might was counting on him. And if he did this wrong, he would never be able to be a hero or a king. His mother would be so disappointed. And if the people from the village near his mountain ever found out…

All Might touched Izuku's shoulder, startling the young boy. "Midoriya. I believe that you can do this." The words were simple and short, yet somehow Izuku believed them. All Might, the legendary king, thought he could do this. He could do this. The Sword had picked him to be its Wielder. He wouldn't let it or the Wielders who came before him down.

The boy started walking towards the village again. "C'mon, we need to go rent a boat!"

"...Deku, we have a dragon."

"The trees-'

"Dragons can swim, idiot."

"Oh." To be fair, dragons weren't exactly covered in the village school.

Dragons were, in fact, excellent swimmers. Though Izuku wasn't sure how much of that was because he could just walk on the ground under the water.

Izuku and Kacchan had been peacefully riding on the dragon's back for a good two minutes before they were attacked. A giant snake-like-thing rose out of the muck and lunged at them, opening its mouth and hissing. The boys jumped into the air. Izuku drew the sword and slashed at the thing as he came back down, but it twisted out of his way.

"Die, shitty snake!" Kacchan's hands lit on fire as he landed on the thing's back. It screeched and twisted as its skin smoked, eventually sinking back into the water with a hiss as molten-hot hands scorched straight through its body. The blond boy jumped neatly back onto the dragon and sneered. "Better step up your game, Deku."

But about a minute later they encountered another snake-monster. And this one was unaffected when Kacchan tried to burn it. The boy cussed and tried to stab it with his sword but was hit with its tail and sent sprawling. The dragon stopped him from falling into the water, but he couldn't do more due to the fact that any fighting would probably result in the two boys falling off his back.

Izuku jumped towards the monster, making it look like he was aiming for its chest (or at least the area where the heart may have been) but at the last minute bouncing off its body to twist in midair and land on its head. Bending down, he stabbed it in one eye and then the other before it could react. The thing bucked beneath him and screamed in a frighteningly human tone, but Izuku was able to leap away before it too sunk into the water.

Izuku smiled at his friend. "Better step up your game, Kacchan!"

"... Deku, I am going to kill you."

"Ach! No! Sorry!"

This delightful exchange was ended by the dragon suddenly lurching to the side and growling. Kacchan immediately ran to the side, looked into the water, and cussed. "BIg shape down there. Think he's trying to pin it down, but… it's not going well."

"Can we do anything?"

"Can you fight underwater without being able to see?"

"Probably…"

"Deku, don't you-"

But the green haired boy had already dived into the water.

He hated swimming with his eyes open. It was disorienting, and there were all sorts of bad things that could get in one of his few body parts that would be really hard to replace. But if he wanted to find whatever was attacking them, he had to at least kind of see. The sword at least made it not quite as dark. Out of nowhere, a dark, serpentine shape lunged at him, but the boy was able to bat it away.

This thing was smaller than the others, and it also seemed a little craftier. Almost like… the swamp was learning what worked to attack them with and what didn't. Wow, that was a terrifying thought. Izuku tried to keep the monster at bay, but eventually he had to come up for air.

Kacchan was on the dragon's back, yelling things at him. "Deku, what the hell are you doing? You don't even know what you're fighting!"

"Another snake thing!" Izuku yelled back.

"The dragon can handle it, idiot!"

"He can't! Not if he's trying not to fight to avoid throwing us off!" Izuku could see it dawning on his friend. The blond boy sighed.

"I'll help if I can!"

"Thanks!" Izuku dived back under. Yup, the dragon was definitely swimming. RIght now he was just treading water, but his feet were nowhere near the ground. And the monster appeared to have vanished, even though the dragon's claws were still whipping around, searching for it.

There it was. A dark shape, racing towards the shape of the dragon. Izuku tried to swim forward, but something grabbed his tunic from behind. He twisted around to try to see what it was.

It was huge, but definitely not snakelike. It looked a little like a really big fish. A really big fish with teeth that were way too sharp for a fish to possess. Izuku tried to hit it, but he couldn't move fast enough underwater to have any real effect. The boy was starting to panic. He was running out of air, and had lost track of the snake. This was bad. He wondered if, if he died, someone else would find the sword.

Suddenly a ball of fire raced through the water. Izuku wasn't sure how that worked, but the fireball hit the fish-thing and sent it reeling backwards. The boy was able to twist out of its jaws and stab it with the sword. It sank to the bottom as Izuku bolted to the surface. "Thanks!" he yelled up at Kacchan.

"Don't thank me yet, Deku! I don't know where the other snake thing went!"

The green-haired boy nodded before diving back under. He swam towards the last place he'd seen the snake- next to the dragon's legs. The water had been disturbed recently, but otherwise there was nothing. The dragon's legs were still moving quickly, trying to swim to wherever they were trying to go. It was right about then when Izuku realized how stupid this was. They had literally no idea where this witch was! This swamp seemed huge! She had to be in one of the dryer parts because so far this seemed like less of a swamp and more of a flooded lake, but they didn't know where that could be. He didn't have too much time to think about this, however, before the snake rushed at him from nowhere.

The boy jolted up, but the snake was faster and would've grabbed him if the dragon, who could apparently sense underwater vibration, hadn't scooped down with a claw and grabbed it. He pulled the monster away, but it twisted out of his grip. Before Izuku could say or do anything, the snake had buried its fangs into the dragon's claws.

The bigger being shook violently, sending both Izuku and the snake thing pinwheeling away through the water. Izuku rushd to the surface, looking around for the snake. But the monster seemed to have disappeared into the murky water. "Kacchan!" he yelled as soon as he broke the surface.

He was at least thirty feet away from the dragon, who was still shaking and screeching. Kacchan was frantically trying to both calm him down and not fall off. As Izuku started swimming over, the blond boy looked over and screamed, "What happened?"

"I think the snake thing bit him!"

Izuku had never seen his friend look so upset. He took deep breaths, slowly, closing his eyes like he was trying to process what was happening. When he opened them again, they were filled with resolve. "Get over here, Deku! We need to get to the witch, fast!"

As he climbed onto the dragon's back, Izuku wondered if the witch would help. What if she just turned them away? Or worse, what if she was the one commanding the monsters? The dragon had stopped thrashing and was now just paddling forward, though every once in a while he shuddered violently. Kacchan stood by his head, talking to him quietly. No more monsters came after them. Everything was eerily still and quiet. There were no bugs or birds or even fish. It was weird.

After what felt like forever, they reached a strip of land. It was long, longer than Izuku could see, but a short man with white hair and a giant bag over his shoulder was already kneeling by the water's edge. He looked up and sighed when he saw them. "Ah. So you're the boy who carries the Sword. My creations told me they saw it, but I almost didn't believe them."

Kacchan jumped off of the dragon's back. "You're the one who sent those things after us! Where is the witch?"

"Idiot boy, I'm the witch! Why did you come here, children?"

"We- we need to-" Izuku was cut off by the man sighing.

"I see one of my creations injured your dragon. He needs medicine within the next few minutes, or his heart will stop. Tell me why I should give you any."

"Because, you sick son of a-"

"Because we ask for your help." Izuku said loudly, making sure he could be heard over his friend. "Our friend has been hurt by your… thing. He has also been cursed by another witch, to stay as a dragon forever, when he was supposed to be a person. We need your help to undo it."

The man shook his head. "Killiy up to her old tricks, eh? She always does this to young shapeshifters, especially males. My sister is a bit… odd. But, you still haven't answered my question: Why should I help you? I don't much like strangers. The only reason I haven't killed you already is because of my respect for the sword."

"Because it's the right thing to do!" Izuku was probably not the best person to be doing… this. He had never been great at talking to strangers- especially murderous ones-, but Kacchan, especially as angry as he was right now, was probably much worse. "We've been looking for you for a long time! If we don't find a cure for the curse, he'll be a dragon forever! We can't… we can't let that happen! Everyone deserves to be who they are, and if he's a human, shouldn't he be a human? Please, sir. We need your help." The boy stared at the ground, hopefully peeking up every few seconds.

The man smiled ,somewhat sadly. It wasn't exactly the expression one expected to see on a known murderer's face. "You are the next king, boy? I knew your mentor, King All Might. He was a good king. I… I hope you will live up to his expectations."

"I will try my best, sir."

The bag rustled as the man opened it, pulling out two vials- one that was full of a gray-green liquid and one with what looked almost like silver mist. He gestured for the dragon to step onto the piece of land and, after asking silently if it was alright, poured the liquid into the bite on his leg. The dragon fell on his side, eyes filled with pain. Kacchan instantly pushed the man away. "What the hell-"

"Relax, boy. He will be better as soon as I turn him back to his regular form." The man stepped forward again, but hesitated. "As soon as the potion is released, the dragon will… be gone. He will be transported back to where he was turned, and he will be human again. But he will no longer remember you or any of this, and you may never see him again unless you seek him out."

Kacchan looked hesitant, before nodding. "I… I won't look for him. He deserves to live in peace." He crossed to the dragon's head, rubbing it and softly muttering. Izuku could've sworn the dragon muttered back. The green-haired boy gently stroked his side too. He would miss the dragon. He had been as much a friend as you could be when you couldn't communicate.

The blond boy stepped backwards and swallowed. "Let's get this over with. I wanna get out of this swamp."

The man looked at the dragon, who seemed to nod slightly, and uncorked the vial of mist. It swirled out and coiled around the dragon, hiding it from view. For a second, Izuku saw the silhouette of a tall boy, before everything was gone. The dragon, the mist, everything. The man shoved his vials back into his bag and started to walk off.

"Wait!" Izuku called, remembering something vital. "How will we get out of the swamp!"

"Well, I would offer to take you on my boat, but unfortunately it is broken. I'm working to repair it, but that will take at least an entire day, during which All Might will worry. You boys will have to swim across."

"There's not a back way out?"

"Not on the Uyay side, anyways. Good luck, boys!" And with that, the old man vanished. The green-haired boy wondered if this meant he'd stop murdering people who wandered into the swamp. Yeah, probably not. He'd probably have to deal with the witch at some point when he was a full hero.

Izuku turned to his friend, who was still staring at the spot where the dragon had been seconds earlier. "Kacchan? DId you hear that?"

"Yeah, creepy old guy said we gotta swim across an entire damn swamp." The blond shook himself and stared at the water nervously. "Um…"

He couldn't swim. Only Izuku could. It wasn't exactly taught in the village, but Inko had taught Izuku because they lived relatively near a large river. She'd offered to teach Kacchan but he'd refused, saying that he would never need to. And look where they were now. Izuku sighed. He knew what he had to do, but he also knew Kacchan would hate it.

"I've gotta pull you."

"No way, Deku! I'm not getting in there, and I'm not getting pulled like a sack of shit!"

"Look, it's either that or we wait for who knows how long for the man to fix his boat. I'm strong enough to do it, and I probably know the way back."

"Tch. Probably. Probably he says."

"Do we have another option?"

The bigger boy sighed. "You win, nerd. Let's go." Both of them jumped into the water.

It was still cold. Izuku had just started to dry off from when he got in earlier, and now he was soaking again. Great. He grabbed Kacchan and started swimming in the general direction they'd come from.

It was really hard. Random currents would come out of nowhere. The mists made it hard to see three feet in front of his face. The water was the kind of deep and dark that made you think anyone could be under you. And that was true. Who knew what was on the bottom of the swamp. But his friend was counting on him. Izuku wouldn't give up. He couldn't.

He was so sure they were lost. There was no way they could've been traveling for that long, right? But finally- finally- he saw land. He swam toward it as fast as he could and collapsed on the mud, breathing hard. Even if it was still more mud than real land, it was something. Kacchan groaned beside him. "I didn't even do anything, and I'm tired."

Izuku rolled onto his side to look at his friend. "Are you ok?"

"What the hell do you mean, am I ok?"

"I mean, with all the stuff that happened with the dragon…"

"Shut up, Deku, I'm fine!" Izuku wasn't as sure of that, but his friend would be fine later. He always was. The boy stiffened as he heard a voice calling from nowhere.

"Hello? Who's out here?" Whoever this was had a raspy voice. Like, way more raspy than was probably healthy. A young man stepped out of the darkness. Or at least it seemed like a young man. It was hard to tell in the middle of the night. "Well! Who are you, little boys?"

"Where are we?" Izuku didn't trust this man. And he trusted a lot of people.

"You're near Nolinhg, of course. The village near the swamp?" Good. That was where they had bought the supplies before leaving. Unless he was lying…

The man stepped closer, raising a lantern. Now Izuku could see him more clearly- scraggly light blue hair, not too much taller than him and, for reasons unknown, he had a hand attached to his face. Was it real? Was it some weird accessory choice? All Izuku knew was that it was one of the creepiest things he'd ever seen. The man seemed to be grinning under his hand. "Are you lost? If you want, I know a safe place-"

"No thanks. We're just… looking for someone." Izuku carefully got to his feet. Even if he pulled out the Ruling Sword, he wouldn't have the energy to fight. Kacchan might, but he also might not. Maybe they could get back in the water? No, then they would drown instead of being kidnapped, which didn't sound like much of an upgrade.

Suddenly the Sword, sheathed on Izuku's back, started to get hot. A faint blue light lit up from behind him. It didn't seem to like this guy either. The stranger stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "What is-"

"Midoriya! Bakugo!" Izuku had never been so relieved to hear anyone say his name.

The stranger smiled and raced away, vanishing into the darkness before either boy could react. All Might ran up, smiling. "Did you do it? Are you hurt? Did you-"

"Yes, the dragon was sent back to his home, we're not hurt, we fought some snakes but that was the worst part.' The green-haired boy was still looking around for the stranger. Where had he gone? Who was he? Why was he there? The sword didn't help, not that Izuku had really expected it to. The blue light faded and the sword cooled again as its Wielder swiveled his head and squinted in all directions.

All Might seemed to notice his searching. "Are you alright, my boy?'

"Oh, um, yeah! Just… a little tired." After a second, Izuku added, "Did you see a young man with light blue hair?"

"I don't think so." The man frowned thoughtfully. "Why?"

"He came up when we first got out of the swamp. He was… kinda creepy."

"He was most likely just some villager out for a nighttime walk."

"He had a hand attached to his face!"

"That is a bit strange… but an important skill to learn as a king is not to judge anyone by their appearance. We should keep an eye out for him, in case he needs help, but considering they're one of the closest villages to the No-Lands, the people don't seem affected by the evil over there."

All Might didn't seem to think the man was a threat, so Izuku wouldn't either. It was kind of reassuring to know that his mentor was unfazed by this. Though maybe if he'd actually seen the man… no, Kacchan didn't look that bothered by it either. So it was just Izuku's imagination. Great. Though there was still something…

The boy's thoughts were interrupted by All Might slapping his back. "Good job, my boy!" he said, smiling. "You passed the first quest and now will be attending Uyay and learning to be a king and a hero!"

Izuku beamed. This was it. This was amazing! He'd actually done it! He was going to be a hero! Even Kacchan was smiling faintly. "Nice job not dying, Deku," he grunted. "Now I won't have to deal with you anymore."

"Why not?'

"What? Did you think I could go to Uyay with you? No way! I'm already an adventurer! I don't need to go to some shit school! Besides, I don't have money or a sponsor-"

"Actually, Headmaster Nezu has already approved you studying to be a professional hero in the new semester.'

Kacchan stared at the older man. 'What?"

"Well, if you don't want to-"

"No way! Someone's gotta keep this nerd from getting himself killed!" Izuku grinned even wider. He couldn't imagine going to this school without his best friend.

All Might gestured in the direction he'd come from. "Well, let's go! This lantern won't stay lit forever, and I've already rented a room in the inn. Tomorrow morning we start for Uyay Academy!"

As izuku's mentor and friend started walking away, with the green haired boy struggling through his exhaustion, he thought about the school, and his future. But most of all he thought about the man with the blue hair.

So in this AU there are knights, but there are also heroes. Knights have to be nobles and chosen by the king or another noble, but anyone can be a hero if they pass Uyay's course. Heroes can work as bodyguards, soldiers, adventurers- anything that they'll get paid for. They're also taught about politics and other kingly things, which is why Izuku is technically studying to be a hero. So yeah. Leave a review with suggestions, constructive criticism and/or words of encouragement! Later potaters!