Chapter 3: Take a step forward and (Triumph) (Don't look back into the abyss)
Another Friday comes and I've got another chapter for you! Hope you all enjoy it! I'm still mostly setting up but by now I hope you are starting to get to like Nathan and his unruly crew of Chaldeans!
As usual italicized dialogue is any spoken language that isn't Japanese.
Their second day was proving even more difficult in Nathan's eyes.
It was a trial that even after a year of adjusting he still wasn't sure he was ready for.
"Which one of these phrases is incorrect!" Present Mic shouted to the class.
It was so normal.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd been in an actual classroom setting. He couldn't remember the last time he was being taught something so ordinary. He couldn't remember…
He began fidgeting in his seat, bouncing his right leg up and down quietly. Nothing was exploding, nothing was emergently pulling him away, nothing needed his intervention.
It was just a normal school day.
Bless Chiron he certainly tried to create that kind of environment but his lessons were unorthodox and sometimes quite brutal. Not to mention every time he tried to involve any of the child spirits things quickly deteriorated into pure madness.
Nathan raised his hand when no one else did. English was his native tongue so the third line stuck out as incorrect immediately.
"RRRRELNOR-KUN!"
"The third," He began in English, "Well is being used instead of will."
"Oh!? That's right you're a native English speaker aren't you?" Present Mic said, genuinely impressed.
"Yes sir. I was born in the UK and learned Japanese as my second language."
Second of around twenty languages he picked up over his time at Chaldea.
It seemed to make people more comfortable when spoken to in their native tongue so between everything that was going wrong Nathan tried his best to learn all of their languages.
In the end it had been too much for him but he still picked up quite a bit.
"Ooooh I see! Well this should be easy for you then!" Present Mic let out a laugh.
Nathan gave a quick glance around the classroom.
It seemed he wasn't the only one struggling with the normalcy of it all.
Well. They weren't struggling quite as hard as he was but they all seemed rather despondent.
He supposed being underwhelmed was better than being wound up so tightly that the slightest disturbance would send them through the roof.
Thankfully the class passed without incident.
Lunch was up next, ample opportunity for Nathan to unwind.
After grabbing his meal he went looking for Midoriya.
An empty uniform waved at him as he scanned the room. Well. Midoriya would be available for socialization later.
"Hello, do you all mind if I sit here?" Nathan asked the table of three.
He got three confused looks before Hagakure coughed.
"Still stuck in English mode?"
Nathan scolded himself internally. After using a language heavily he sometimes forgot to stop using it until corrected by another party.
"Sorry," He started again, this time in Japanese, "Do you mind if I sit here?"
"Not at all," A boy with a large tail seated across from Hagakure said.
"Feel free," Another large boy said from a mouth grown on one of his tentacles.
With a nod Nathan took the empty seat next to Hagakure.
"Hey, hey, Relnor-san, I've got a question for you!"
"What is it?" He turned his gaze towards her.
"Oh! You did it again! Can you see me!?"
"He did what again?" The tailed boy asked.
"He looked me in the eye! Usually people are a bit off but you're dead on!"
Nathan tilted his head to the side.
"I can see your outline vaguely with my right. I'm guessing using that as a basis."
It was a combination of his electromagnetic sense as well as his ability to sense life force that gave him a good impression of exactly where she was. Now if she asked him how many fingers she was holding up he doubted he'd be able to tell with pinpoint accuracy, but he had gotten fairly good at guessing such things.
He'd needed these skills to spot the various Chaldeans that hid themselves using Presence Concealment.
"Your right?"
"Yeah. The scales over my eye are connected to my optic nerves so I can vaguely see electromagnetic fields when I activate them."
"That's… Impressive. I'm Shoji Mezo by the way."
"Oh, Ojiro Mashirao."
"Nathan Relnor."
"Wait. Is Relnor your first name!? Did I already mess up!?" Hagakure blurted out.
Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose, "No no. You're fine. I can't ever seem to break the habit of introducing myself the western way. Sorry."
"Oh ok! No worries! English is your first language after all!"
"One day I'll be done introducing myself to this class and I can stop tripping over my first interaction with everyone," He said somewhat bitterly.
"No need to admonish yourself so harshly," Shoji said with a chuckle, "It's certainly memorable to say the least."
"Hey! I've got another question! Your arm is made out of those scales right? What happened to your normal one?"
Ah there it was.
It was coming sooner or later. Enough people had seen that his limbs were artificial yesterday after all.
"Mh." He mulled over his options.
Telling the truth was completely out of the question. Not only was it somewhat of a secret that needed to be kept, even if he did tell them they wouldn't believe him.
That scene flashed before his eyes for the briefest of moments.
He stood at the timeless temple with Mashu's shield in his right hand.
A dying Goetia let out a terrible blast.
He shook his head. He couldn't pause for too long. They'd start to get worried.
No. It looked like it was already a little late for that.
"I don't really remember," He said. "It was during a catastrophic villain attack when I was very young. The whole event is blocked out for me."
"Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it. Someone was going to ask eventually," He said with a smile.
Collectively the table felt their hearts skip a beat at that smile.
It was overwhelming.
There was an emotion on the edge of incomprehensibility that flooded out of that smile.
It was one thing to have a happy smile that made others happier just by seeing it.
But this tugged at something even deeper than that.
"That's where I accumulated all of this damage. Then Chaldea swooped in and saved my life."
"Chaldea?" Hagakure asked.
"Oh. I've heard of them," Ojiro said suddenly, "They're a new reserve unit of pro heroes I think? One of their heroes saved you huh?"
Nathan nodded. If needed he could elaborate further, but for now he'd already said enough.
"That's crazy man. Glad you made it through all of that."
"Mh. Yeah. It took a lot of sacrifices just to see today, but it was worth it I think."
He hoped.
His use of the word sacrifices alarmed the group but he assured them that it was a slip of the tongue. Japanese wasn't his first language after all so it made sense if he used slightly inappropriate phrasing.
"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"
Nathan didn't know what normal really meant anymore but he was sixty percent sure normal people didn't scream like that when entering a room.
Not that any of the Chaldeans ever entered his room quietly, but he knew they were all crazy.
The class marveled at this All Might. He was the number one hero in the country and he certainly had the presence to back it up.
He absolutely could not tell a few of the Greek Chaldeans about this man.
"I WILL BE TEACHING FUNDAMENTAL HERO STUDIES! SO LET'S GET RIGHT INTO IT WITH THIS!"
He held out a small placard that just had the word fight in all capital letters.
"A BATTLE TRIAL!"
A certain Bakugo Katsuki practically leaped out of his seat.
That boy was far far too eager to fight.
Nathan's reaction was the complete opposite.
Having fought with his life on the line.
Having fought with the world on the line.
He was not particularly fond of fighting.
But it was part of being a hero so it was only natural they would have to be taught how to fight.
"And to go with your first battle trial!" He continued in an almost normal tone of voice, "We've prepared your battle gear as per your specifications!"
Nearly the entire class joined Bakugo in excitement. The prospect of suiting up for the first time was certainly enthralling.
But again this brought Nathan to the uncomfortable realization that he'd have to change in front of others again. Hopefully Aizawa-sensei had mentioned his particular request to All-Might.
"Get changed and get ready! We'll head to ground beta! Your battle gear is vital to who you are as heroes! And remember. From this moment on! You ARE heroes!"
The rest of the class grabbed their gear from the lockers that had popped out of the side wall. Nathan lingered for a moment before accidentally drawing All Might's attention.
"Young Relnor, Aizawa-kun has informed me of your condition. You're free to stay in the classroom to change if that makes you more comfortable."
A strained gasp escaped Nathan. This was good. This was better than good.
"Thank you so much sir!" He bowed.
"We received your records from Chaldea the other day. I am sorry you've already had to go through so much Young man."
Nathan tensed up slightly. What was this? It wasn't simple sympathy.
"I am proud you've chosen to become a hero despite your experiences! Now then! I will see you at Ground Beta!"
Ah.
That's what it was.
Empathy.
It made sense. The number one hero had certainly weathered his fair share of grievous injuries.
Nathan gave him one last bow before he set about changing into his battle uniform. With no one in the classroom he was safe to also install what he affectionately dubbed the Chaldean Specials.
They had intentionally designed his suit with gaps in it that he could slot "cartridges" containing mystic codes into.
Provided the suit had been built exactly to their specifications those mystic codes would become active once properly installed.
A swirling golden portal opened just above his desk, depositing three such devices as well as a visor.
He'd been prepared to go without the first time he wore his suit but… They had been told their battle gear was vital to who they were as heroes, and he would not be who he was without magecraft.
His battle gear was fairly simple. A blue skin tight suit. It left his right arm and left leg exposed and left his back open. He kept a layer of scales there to help with electromagnetic assisted movement if he was busy attacking with his limbs. The suit was otherwise lightly armored, giving him some protection from bladed weapons and projectiles.
His non artificial limbs featured heavier armor, providing even further protection without increasing weight or decreasing his flexibility too much.
That armor was the primary repository of the temporary mystic code cartridges.
It allowed him to have a small array of spells ready for him to cast at a moment's notice.
He was not what anyone would call a skilled magus, but he knew enough to keep himself alive at least.
Lastly his helmet. Much like a certain knight of treachery, it was capable of breaking apart and folding comfortably around his neck. When the time came it would form up over his head, giving him access to his visor which was capable of giving him a lot more detailed information than he'd be able to receive from his eye alone. It also gave fast and accurate trajectory data to help him overcome his lack of depth perception in the heat of battle.
"Well. Let's see how this one will go…" He said upon fully suiting up.
Despite running so far behind he found a partner in his trip to Ground Beta.
"Ah. I like your suit Midoriya," Nathan said with that all too genuine smile of his.
"Thank you! Yours turned out really well too! Where's the helmet?"
A charge fired from Nathan's right arm was detected by a sensor in his shoulder pad. So without any kind of movement that helmet that was compressed and folded around his neck quickly took shape.
"Oooooh! That's really cool!" Midoriya almost stopped to gawk right there but… He couldn't be late to a class taught by All Might
"I got the idea from a friend," He said.
They emerged from the tunnel and joined the rest of the class. It really was a sight to behold seeing everyone in their hero costumes.
It all felt very familiar to Nathan.
Uraraka immediately hopped over to Deku's side, causing the boy to fall into a stuttering mess at the sight of her.
Nathan didn't entirely understand why, it's not like her outfit was immodest or anything.
"Cool costume there Relnor-kun! Real nice masked hero vibe!" Hagakure called out. Her costume was… Something.
Gloves and boots…
He was suddenly very glad he could only vaguely see her outline.
"Er. Thanks Hagakure-san." He said.
He was used to this. He was used to this. He was used to this.
"Sensei!" Iida called out. He questioned the choice of training ground before All Might elaborated on the nature of exercise.
"It will be an indoor battle trial!" He went on about how statistically more villain activity occurred indoors so it will be good practice for when they were out in the field.
For the actual test itself they would be broken up into pairs, with one playing the villain team and one playing the heroes. The villains would be charged with defending a bomb on the top floor, with victory coming by running out the clock or capturing the heroes. The heroes would have the opposite objective naturally, capture the bomb from the villains or capture the villains themselves.
"The teams will be decided by lottery!" All Might said, holding out a box.
Iida of course protested, but Midoriya reminded him that on the field random unaffiliated heroes would often have to work together.
Nathan saw it as an excuse for team building. He would often have to resort to similar measures when new heroes were summoned to Chaldea after all.
Quietly he walked up and drew a sphere from the box. He didn't really care about what team he ended up on so he simply let his mind empty as he turned over the orb he'd drawn.
Team C.
He looked over the group and saw Yaoyorozu holding the sphere she'd drawn over her head.
"Looks like we're partners," He said upon walking up to her.
"Oh! Excellent. Glad to have you Relnor-san."
"Likewise."
"What do you think of this exam?" She asked plainly.
"He's right about having to fight in indoor areas a lot at least," Nathan said with a somewhat bitter edge. Granted his experiences were a little on the unusual side as he often found himself fighting mystic beasts rather than people, but when he did fight people he was usually in a confined setting. "This shouldn't be too challenging depending on the role we receive."
She nodded.
"I've been meaning to ask. Your quirk creates your scales right? Do you have to expend bodily resources to do it?"
"Yes. I'm usually quite winded after regrowing an arm or a leg and need to take in a large amount of nutrients to build my body back up to normal."
"So it is a lot like my quirk, just a lot more singular…"
He raised his eyebrow.
Right. She had a quirk that allowed her to create things she understood the structure of didn't she?
Where exactly were her limits?
He shook his head. No need to go down that rabbit hole yet. Instead he opted to glance around to the other parties that were forming.
Midoriya got paired with Uraraka because of course he did. That boy was going to die some day and it would be because she said something nice to him.
Bakugo was with Iida which amused him somewhat.
"What do you think?" Yaoyorozu asked, correctly guessing that he was scouting out potential opponents
"I don't know enough about everyone else's quirks to say one way or another. I would prefer not to fight Midoriya or Bakugo for my own reasons, but beyond that I just don't have the information."
She nodded. It was a decent assessment given the premise.
"I wish to avoid fighting Todoroki."
"Who?"
She pointed over to the boy half covered in ice.
"Ah. Any particular reason?"
"He's the son of the number two pro hero and got in on his recommendation. His quirk is extremely powerful offensively. I don't know if there's much either of us could do…"
Nathan nodded along with her. Fighting another powerful ice user wasn't exactly something he wanted to do after facing down Anastasia and Scathach-Skadi. He was also sure he probably had quite a bit of dormant trauma waiting to be dug up by facing an ice user because of those two…
"Yeah. Here's hoping we get lucky."
"AND THE FIRST TWO PAIRS ARE! TEAM A AS THE HERO TEAM! AND TEAM D AS THE VILLAIN TEAM!"
Nathan's eye widened.
"Bakugo and Midoriya will be fighting then? Well I suppose that's lucky for you since you didn't want to fight either of them."
No.
No, that was the exact opposite of lucky.
Bakugo's tension was palpable. At this point there was almost no healthy way to release it short of leveling one of these mock buildings.
And here he was about to face the source of it all in a combat trail.
Nathan swallowed hard.
"Here's hoping he doesn't take things too far…"
He desperately wanted to tell All Might to swap teams. He would gladly fight Midoriya or Bakugo if it meant they wouldn't fight each other.
But the words would not come.
Was it even really his place?
Their history was so thick that even if he interrupted things here, they would only build to an even greater height later.
In the end he held his tongue.
With that, Team D was given a five minute head start to prepare their defenses. The rest of the class sans Team A moved to the observation room.
They entered a room in which the far wall was lined with several monitors displaying the entire interior of the test building.
Nathan hung in the back of the class, eye shifting between monitors. They didn't have an audio feed so he'd just have to settle for trying to read their lips.
Not that he needed to go that far to figure out what Bakugo was going to do.
"Now! Hero Team! Begin!" All Might called into a handheld mic.
Nathan clenched his fist. Bakugo immediately set off to take down Midoriya. The other students were watching with a mix of excitement and boredom considering the fighting hadn't started yet.
It didn't take long though.
After infiltrating from a window a story up Midoriya and Uraraka were immediately ambushed.
Thankfully Midoriya managed to dodge out of the way.
"Wah! An ambush!? That's so unmanly!" A boy with spiky red hair called out.
"But Midoriya dodged it really well!" A pink skinned girl said excitedly.
Anything went in a battle, so it was only natural that they should expect ambushes. But this wasn't an ambush in a traditional sense.
Attempted homicide is a little closer to how he would describe it.
Bakugo had immediately gone for a blow to the head.
When Bakguo charged again he was met head on and pulled into a counter throw.
Nathan recognized the movement immediately.
For the first time since the trial had started he smiled. Yan Qing would be happy to hear that his lessons had paid off in such a big way.
The rest of the class erupted as the fight went on.
"Woah! He's going toe to toe with the kid who got second on the entrance exams!"
"He's not even using his quirk!"
"What do you think Nathan?"
He turned to his left to see Yaoyorozu next to him. She gave him a sideways glance before returning her attention to the monitor.
Midoriya and Uraraka split, using the confusion to get away from the raging Bakugo.
The sheer amount of malice Bakugo held tinted the air around him to Nathan's eye.
"Midoriya needs a plan or Bakugo's going to kill him when he catches him."
"Surely he wouldn't take it that far for a simple test?"
"This isn't just a simple test to them. They've got history."
"Oh? I know they're from the same school, but it can't be that bad can it?"
Nathan could not risk taking his eyes off the monitor. Uraraka had made it up to the top with Iida but a slip up had alerted him to her presence. She and Midoriya were probably communicating with each other, but in this situation Midoriya didn't have the time to be distracted by his teammate.
Nathan's left hand clenched into a fist.
Bakugo rounded the corner, spotting Midoriya at the end of the hallway.
He seemed to be on the feather edge of madness.
Nathan watched as the boy primed his grenade shaped gauntlet.
No. He wasn't just on the edge. He was getting ready to dive off of it.
"Stop." Nathan said shakily. That weak voice turned into a shout as he gleaned Bakugo's words, "Make him stop!"
All Might did not hesitate to call out to the boy.
But Bakugo had no intention of stopping.
He pulled the trigger and Nathan watched as yet another of his friends died right in front of him.
He should have stepped up. Why didn't he step up? Why didn't he say anything?
This was just like-
This was just like-
This was just like-
He watched helplessly from a boat as an island hosting an innocent village and a dear friend was wiped off the face of the earth via orbital bombardment.
He watched Sansons neck snap as he was hung from the gallows.
"Nathan!"
He watched as friend after friend were swallowed up and corrupted by the Chaos Tide.
He watched Romani Ackerman fade into dust.
"Holy shit Midoriya survived that!"
He ripped himself from his mind to find several concerned stares directed his way.
The sound of sparks registered along with his own haggard breathing.
He looked to his left.
Yaoyorozu was right next to him, holding his left hand in both of hers with a panicked expression on her face.
"I-" He gasped out as he reigned in his breathing.
He could still hear his heart pounding at a thousand miles an hour, but he could suppress the outward symptoms of his flashback.
"Are you ok?"
"Is Midoriya-"
"Bakugo aimed off slightly, Midoriya's singed but alright."
He looked to the monitor to confirm her assessment. His vision was a little hazy but it seemed that Midoriya was indeed still alive.
A breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding escaped him.
Finally he stood up straight.
"I… I'm sorry about that, thank you… I just- That brought back memories."
Yaoyorozu let go of his hand but did not drop her worried stare.
Thankfully All Might intervened and prevented Bakugo from using that attack again with the threat of failing the exam.
Nathan was too scattered to property pay attention to the rest of the fight.
Thankfully even though he'd only been there a day and a half he had somehow made friends who would support him.
"You alright man?" Kaminari asked. He gave Nathan a comforting pat on the back.
"Yeah. I'm. Managing." He said carefully. "This is just…" He watched as Bakugo moved past Midoriya's counter and attacked with enough force to knock the wind out of Midoriya.
"That kid's out of his damn mind that's for sure. The hell is his deal?"
"A superiority complex I'd wager," Nathan said, doing his best to focus on the situation in front of him rather than his own turmoil.
He could compartmentalize it and deal with it later.
He'd had to do so many many times after all. One more wouldn't hurt him.
It was clear to everyone, in fact many of his fellow students were commenting on it, that Bakugo had an extremely potent battle sense. He was completely dominating a fight against an opponent familiar with his tactics through sheer skill alone.
But.
Midoriya scampered away and backed against the far wall.
If this did not stop soon it would end with one or both of them broken.
Midoriya had pure unrestrained power.
Nathan doubted he'd unleash it at Bakugo even when being prodded so violently.
But…
"This has to stop." Nathan said numbly.
It was coming to a head.
They reared back for their final clash.
Midoriya turned his punch upward at the last second and took Bakugo's fierce explosion.
In a truly spectacular show of power Midoriya blew a hole all the way up the building giving Uraraka the debris and opportunity to bypass Iida's thus far impeccable defense and claim victory at the last second.
But it was a victory in name only.
As the debris settled it became clear just how little Bakugo had restrained that explosion.
Midoriya's left arm was horribly burned and his right had been destroyed by his quirk.
It was like looking in a mirror.
How many times had Nathan come out of a fight looking like that?
How many times had he made people worry about him as much as he worried about Midoriya?
He clenched at his heart with his left hand.
"Hero team… WIIIIIIIIIINS!"
With that All Might exited the observation room to go oversee the students returning from the exam building.
Nathan let out several stabilizing breaths. Watching that fight had pressed quite a few buttons he hadn't entirely realized still got reactions out of him. Not to mention the new feeling of watching someone else…
"Are you ok Relnor-san?"
Yaoyorozu Momo gave him another concerned look, she'd been by his side since the explosion but she'd refocused on the match when he leveled out.
"I'll be fine. Just… Some old aches and pains get brought up whenever I see that kind of destruction…"
"Will you be ok for your trial man? You could be next." Kaminari asked upon approaching the two.
"Yes. Once I'm in the thick of battle I'll be fine," He said with a forced smile. With battle came familiarity. This wasn't going to be the most dire battle he'd ever fought, but as long as he was in a battle with an objective he could hold himself together.
"I can't believe that guy. What's his deal?" A large student in a full yellow suit approached the three.
"I'm not entirely sure. Him and Midoriya have a history though. I don't know much about their dynamic other than that it's obviously a bad one." Nathan said carefully. He didn't want to speak too much on something that Midoriya should be answering himself, but he also didn't want Midoriya to get bombarded with questions about it when he recovered.
He would sate their curiosity without giving too much away to protect him. If they wanted to go further they would probably only have the urge to later.
"Oh! I'm Sato Rikido by the way, Nice to meet you all,"
The group introduced themselves to him, Nathan having to again be reminded to put his name in the right order. Nobody seemed to hold it against him though.
It was around then that All Might returned with the three healthy students.
Midoriya had obviously needed to be carted to Recovery Girl immediately.
They then evaluated their performance as a class. Or rather, Yaoyorozu evaluated them better than All Might had been expecting.
Bakugo for the most part seemed nearly catatonic.
Uraraka and Iida slid up next to Nathan while giving occasional glances to the boy.
"So you've known Midoriya for a bit right?" Uraraka asked.
"About a month."
"Any idea what that was about?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know enough to say one way or another, I'd never even been properly introduced to Bakguo. You'll have to ask Midoriya."
Uraraka and Iida were already quickly establishing themselves as good friends to Midoriya so instead of deflecting them he decided to funnel them towards Midoriya. While having people who hadn't even properly introduced themselves to him prod him about a deeply traumatic interpersonal relationship was a bad idea, opening up about it to friends was fairly rewarding.
It was step one anyway.
"Next round! Hero Team B verses Villain Team I!"
Nathan glanced out to the class and watched as the Ice boy and Shoji left alongside Ojiro and Hagakure.
At least Yaoyorozu got her wish of not having to fight him.
The first round had been viscerally brutal simply from Bakguo's behavior alone.
This one wasn't even fair.
As soon as Shoji scouted the building for him Todoroki froze the entire thing, trapping his opponents legs in ice and simply walking up to the bomb.
It was over in less than two minutes.
Briefly Nathan let his mind wander to the two frozen empires he'd toppled. He wondered if Anastasia or Scathach-Skadi would like to meet this boy.
Anastasia was probably not a great idea considering that the one he'd summoned was a prank gremlin who spent an inordinate amount of time not even allowing him to be in the same room as her.
"Round three! Villain Team C verses Hero Team H!"
"Oh! Good luck Relnor-san!" Uraraka said, sending him off with a happy wave.
Nathan and Yaoyorozu arrived at the building and were given their five minute head start.
"What do you know about their quirks?" Nathan asked.
"Not much unfortunately, Asui Tsuyu seems fairly straight forward. Frog physiology probably gives her excellent climbing and aquatic abilities as well as her long tongue," Yaoyorozu listed off as they reached the third floor.
"And Tokoyami's?"
"He manifests a shadow that can attack from range I believe."
"Wait. Stop here. Can you make a couple of stun grenades and a sheet that matches the shadows up there. Oh and something that will let me fasten it to the ceiling."
"Oh. Sure!" She opened her already revealing uniform somewhat in order to allow room for the requested objects to pass without incident. There were pipes running all along the ceiling through most of the floors but this stairway opened up to a relatively large room and had a small alcove that wouldn't be immediately obvious. Nathan pulled himself up magnetically and hung up the sheet, placing one stun grenade where he intended to wait and attaching the other to his belt.
"I'm probably going to camp here and head them off." Nathan said once he returned to the ground. "It's close enough that if they climb the side of the building I'll be able to make it back to you as soon as I detect them but far enough that I won't be waiting too long if they just take the door."
"I see," She said with a nod.
They continued on their journey reaching the bomb room with a couple of minutes to spare.
"Hm. I think I can barricade this door."
"Sounds good. You should probably go ahead and prep a stun grenade or two for yourself honestly."
"Of course. Do you think Tokoyami's quirk can be defeated with light?"
"Most shadows can be but if it doesn't serve that purpose it will still blind him. All I need to do is get the drop on them. I don't know how strong either of their quirks are so assume they'll come through the wall if they can't manage the door. Failing that they could just come up through the floor. If you hear any rumbling or a loud noise go ahead and throw a grenade preemptively. They'll have their eyes open to get a feel of the room they're entering so if you get it off early enough you'll blind them before they can even get their bearings."
Yaoyorozu gave him an off look. His tactics were sound, sure, but something about the line he followed to reach his conclusions was a bit off.
"One more thing before I leave." Nathan let his right hand split open slightly. A staticy sound filled the air, "Do you want me to cut the tops of these pillars?" he gestured at the two support pillars closest to the door.
Another odd look met him.
If he cut them she would be able to topple them easily with charges placed at their base. But would such a thing even be necessary?
"I think we should avoid too much structural damage, especially considering what we're supposed to be protecting."
"Very well." His hand slowly snapped itself back into its normal configuration before he used it to give her a wave, "I'm off then. Good hunting."
He made his way to the third floor. He probably has less than a minute of prep time left. So he simply pulled himself up to his secret alcove and waited. There were any number of ways this could backfire but he simply had to hope for the best while expecting the worst. With the last of his time he adjusted his breathing, smoothing his presence out as best as he could. It was a far cry from true Presence Concealment, but it would be effective enough.
And so he waited.
Thankfully it did not take long.
Tsuyu had taken to the pipes like he had but she had chosen to the pipe adjacent to the one he was perched on as her main thoroughfare. Thus she simply crawled right past him. Tokoyami was right under her, with an extra pair of shadow arms extending from his back ready to attack at a moment's notice.
"They're probably heavily fortified in the bomb room kero. That seems to be what most everyone is doing…"
"Yaoyorozu's quirk would lend itself to that quite well. How should we attack it then?"
"Kero…"
Slowly, smoothly, carefully, Nathan reached his right hand under the sheet and onto the pipe Tsuyu clung to.
Against normal humans he had to keep careful control of his amperage. Volts were dangerous sure but amperage was where you really killed a person with electricity.
He had structured his arm in such a way that if he ran electricity through deactivated scales it would offer greater resistance, allowing him to force his amps down by how much resistance he used. He only activated about ten percent of his scales here but even that amount was significant when fighting a person.
He sent a charge through the metal pipe eliciting a sharp yelp from Tsuyu as her muscles seized up.
"Tsuyu-san!?" Tokoyami only barely managed to catch her in time. Nathan had allowed them to get to the middle of the room so the source of the attack wasn't immediately obvious.
Especially since he was still in his hiding place.
"Damnit! It's Relnor-san! Where is he!?"
With his eyes wide open and scanning the area, Nathan tossed his stun grenade before raking his hand against the pipe he was on.
His attention was drawn to the noise.
But it was already too late to react.
Tokoyami screamed as his vision was blown away.
He had no hands to shield his eyes with since he had not been allowed the time to put Tsuyu down. It was a coldly calculated attack. With five seconds of true blindness on the clock Nathan dropped from his hiding place and immediately rushed the two.
The one thing about this exam that presented a huge problem for him was the capture tape. He simply could not get a good grip on it with his right hand. He was therefore forced to use a more blunt approach. The distance between them disappeared in a second. Nathan weaved behind Tokoyami and placed his right hand on his back.
It was not a strong charge but it was enough to force Tokoyami's muscles to lock up.
With his opponents blinded and stunned he pulled the capture tape from his side pocket, hooking one end to Tokoyami's collar and quickly wrapping the two with two layers.
The entire encounter had only lasted a handful of seconds.
They were met with a siren blare that signaled the end of the trial.
Upon returning to the evaluation room they were met with a barrage of questions.
"We were screaming Tsuyu! He was right next to you on those pipes! You passed right by him!"
"Kero? He was?"
"I was." Nathan said with a nod. "I wanted to be behind you so you wouldn't have anywhere to retreat to."
"I guess I was just so focused on looking at the ground that I missed you," She said holding a finger to her chin.
"I had a sheet that matched the shadows that I was hiding under on top of the fact that I was using a breathing technique to make myself completely silent."
The red haired boy that he'd learned was named Kirishima folded his arms and let out a huff.
"Ambushes like that aren't very manly but-"
"Can't argue with the results," Shoji interrupted.
All Might coughed, "Yes, It was excellent teamwork all around but the Villain team was simply two steps ahead!"
With that the remaining exams passed without much note.
Nathan did notice that Bakugo seemed to be withdrawing further and further into himself. Something core to his sense of self had obviously been shaken in his trail.
He wanted to talk to him about it, but he got the feeling that if he approached now he would just get rejected out of hand.
"Good work everyone! Apart from Midoriya there were no severe injuries! Yet none of you held anything back!"
All Might gave another quick congratulation before dashing out of sight. Nathan wondered what that was about but followed the rest of the class as they made their way back to campus proper.
"Hey."
Nathan glanced back and saw Todoroki approach him from the right.
"Hello. Relnor Nathan," He said with a nod.
"Todoroki Shoto. I have a question."
"Yes?"
"You were holding back too, weren't you?"
Nathan turned to look at the boy. What was he looking for with that kind of question? A friend? A rival? Something else?
"Yes. Using my quirk unrestrained on other humans is fairly dangerous. I'd imagine you have a similar problem."
There was no need to mention the skill set he'd learned from the other side of the world.
Todoroki for his part just gave Nathan a blank stare before nodding to himself.
"Yeah…"
And then he just walked away. It was odd but Nathan was familiar with people who were even worse conversation partners than that.
He was clearly carrying something heavy. It was uncommon for someone their age to become so closed without a reason but prying after only just introducing themselves seemed like a bad idea.
Such tactics worked with Heroic Spirits because as a general rule they just wanted someone to talk to them and understand them without judging. But on human beings? Their story wasn't over yet so they were a lot more difficult to deal with for Nathan.
He made his way to the classroom and quickly changed back into his uniform before anyone else could get back from the dressing rooms.
A crowd quickly formed around him.
The section of the class that had yet to properly introduce themselves to him finally got around to it, bringing his introduction mishaps to a close once and for all.
The rest of the day proceeded somewhat normally. Ordinary classes about ordinary things. Nathan didn't really know how to process it.
If a day started out rough for him there was a 90% chance it wasn't going to stop until he saved something. But. To start off with a battle trial and then be expected to be able to focus on anything else?
It took more out of him to keep his mind on these ordinary lessons than it had taking down two of his fellow students in active combat.
By the end of the day he needed a nap.
"You look exhausted," Jiro said, casually standing next to his desk.
"Yeah. I guess I'm just not used to starting and stopping like that," He said with a light chuckle, "At home it's usually go go go go, and then a week later I'll be able to rest."
"What kind of home life do you live?"
"A hectic one."
He was hesitant to acknowledge that he lived at Chaldea. He hadn't even told Midoriya yet, though he assumed he'd figured it out by now. He knew that would bring questions he couldn't answer. UA knew but the pro heroes had the tact not to prod for more information than that secretive organization was willing to give.
Tokoyami took a seat on his desk and gave Nathan a thumbs up.
"Well done today," He said, "I'm a little disappointed I didn't get to go all out against you but it was a very well executed assassination."
"Thanks. When you don't know how strong your opponent is the best bet is to assume they're stronger than you and work to defeat them without allowing them a single move," Nathan said in an all too casual tone.
"Says the guy with the overpowered electricity quirk," Jiro said, giving Nathan a light nudge.
"It is only the way it is today through endless hours of effort and a lot of help from friends," He said, smiling his strangely overwhelming smile. Yes. He wouldn't be here without all the support Chaldea gave him.
Nobody would be anywhere without Chaldea he considered loosely.
It was then that Midoriya entered the room, drawing attention from about a third of the class.
His arm was in a sling and he was still heavily bandaged.
So even Recovery Girl had her limits.
It made sense, Midoriya had said that her healing drained his own stamina.
If an injury was too great and too much of his stamina was drained…
Maybe he had something in the Gate that could give him a little extra life force to work with.
He'd worry about that later.
He watched as Uraraka and Kaminari returned, Uraraka informing Midoriya of Bakguo's status.
This caused him to bolt from the class in an effort to find Bakugo.
"I can't say I understand their dynamic," Nathan muttered largely to himself, "But I can't imagine it's an easy one to manage."
"Hopefully they won't ever have to fight again," Yaoyorozu said, "That was just… There was nothing about learning how to be a hero there…"
"Maybe," Nathan said simply. If there was one thing he'd learned over his years at Chaldea it was that the path to being a hero was highly individualized. Someone could be a complete monster until that one key moment where they needed to sacrifice something for the greater good. He'd made friends with many of history's greatest villains and they had all agreed to help him fight for the future for their own reasons.
Often times he made friends with people who had just finished trying to murder him.
It was a habit the human staff of Chaldea had found more and more alarming before being dismissed after surmounting the Lostbelts.
But that was enough ruminating over things in public, Nathan gathered his stuff and made for the door himself.
He wondered who would be at the front gate to pick him up today.
"Hey hey! You going to the station? Mind if I tag along?" Hagakure asked as she ran up next to him.
"No. I usually get picked up right at the front here."
"Oh? Fancy! Who picks you up? Your parents? Siblings?"
"Uh. Not exactly!" He said with a chuckle.
A photo of a family he couldn't recognize anymore flashed in his memory.
"Huh? What does that mean?"
"I live at a hero organization so they usually send one of their staff members to pick me up," He clarified quickly.
When they passed the gate he saw his ride for the day.
Elegant and graceful.
The very essence of royalty.
She rode atop a white steed, clad in full plate armor.
She wasn't wearing her helmet, allowing the world to bask in her holy radiance.
"Oh hey Arturia." He said, completely ignoring the awed stares of every student in the area.
"Good evening Relnor. I am here to pick you up from school." She spoke smoothly with a voice that seemed to carry for miles. That was just the level of authority she wielded with her presence alone.
"Alright. We should probably stop by the grocery store on the way, I ran out of those crackers I really like last night."
"Have you been stressed lately?"
"A little." He said upon taking his place behind Arturia.
"Woah woah wait!" Hagakure called out. "C-Can I- Can I pet the horse?"
Arturia affixed her with a look that she couldn't fully process. There was too big of a gap between them. Hagakure could barely even read that woman's expression, much less tell what her stare here meant.
"I do not see any problem with it. Do be quick, I need to get Relnor back before the others get too unruly."
"Ok! Thank you so much!" Invisible hands stroked the horse's mane for a moment before Hagakure backed away, "It's so pretty! Do you live on a farm or something Nathan?"
"Something like that. I'll see you tomorrow Hagakure!"
"Yeah! See ya!"
And with that the King of Camelot and Nathan rode off.
"I'm sure you've heard this sentiment before but it is quite heartwarming to see you making friend Master," She said as they made their way to a nearby convenience store.
"Hah, thanks Arturia. I'm just trying my best. It was rough today, normal lessons are so difficult for me to focus on."
"I can imagine your frustrations Master. But this is the world you saved. It would be negligent for you to not at least take part in it."
"I suppose," Nathan said with a half hearted sigh, "You'd think it'd be easier after a year of adjustment."
"Perhaps… But experiences like yours cannot be dulled by time alone," She said thoughtfully.
He remembered the indoor battle trial.
She was right.
He'd restored his ability to communicate and had managed to break most of his more alarming habits. But now he had to start directly facing his trauma as it emerged. Who knew saving the world left such lasting scars on a person.
"We've arrived at the store Master. Shall we acquire your snacks?"
"Yeah!"
Sherlock Holmes stared at the three screens of light hovering around him.
They listed reports on Chaldea's activities for the day. If they dispatched Heroic Spirits, where they went, and how they were evaluated by the pro heroes they aided.
It was all operating fairly smoothly.
If he could just stop some of the more overzealous Servants from accidentally killing their targets by fighting too hard everything would be perfect.
An incoming call interrupted his thoughts.
"Hm. Oh hello Principle Nezu. I hope everything is going ok with our dear Relnor."
"Oh. Yes of course! Just a few concerns is all!"
"And what would they be?"
"He had quite the reaction to an exercise today. I was just wondering if there was anything we could do to accommodate him."
"Ah I was afraid this would happen sooner or later. Day two is a bit worse than I was expecting but here we are. I cannot disclose the details of exactly why he is the way he is but suffice to say any battle setting is likely to set him off to some degree."
"That will be problematic to avoid completely."
"I don't think we should. It's time for him to face his history and overcome it. He knows coping techniques and if things get too out of hand I'm confident your staff will be capable enough to sort things out."
Nezu was silent on the other end of the line for a moment.
"You're playing a dangerous game with that child…"
"Yes. But it is no where near the worst thing I've ever done to him… I do wish the best for him. I love him as any parental figure would. But now it's time for him to finally walk on his own rather than simply being dragged forward. I know your capable institution will be there to catch him should he stumble from his first tentative steps."
Nezu didn't like it. He'd had many dealings with this man over the last few months, but the way he operated was something even he couldn't stomach. The ends justified the means as long as the world was safe. To that he circumvented numerous laws in order to establish Chaldea as an organization with little to no oversight. Nobody was complaining because their results were outstanding, but the very nature of their arrival was insidious.
Nezu knew vaguely that Chaldea had popped up when they had for a reason. Sherlock Holmes would not elaborate, and none of their actions called anything into question, but their very arrival indicated that a massive storm was brewing.
He just hoped that Chaldea would save as many people as they could.
"I do have one last thing concerning young Relnor. You've listed his Age as 16."
"That is true."
"Do you not see a problem with his listed birthday and his current age? Should he not be three years younger? This is not a matter of simply counting the Lost Year..."
Sherlock paused for a moment.
The Lost Year.
That was how the outside saw the Human Incineration event that had wiped mankind's history from the world.
Chaldea had spent a whole year resolving that incident, and so once human history was restored the world woke to find it had somehow missed an entire year.
There had been a lot of chaos around that missing year and the explanation for it but the world eventually gave up looking for an answer with only the most dedicated still trying to unravel the mystery.
As for the other two unaccounted years…
Through an endless amount of effort they had managed to avoid another massive time loss for humanity as a whole.
But that simply meant that no one even realized there was a time where humanity was annihilated by that vengeful god.
"I'm sure you know that Chaldea is not a normal organization by any stretch of the word. Suffice it to say there have been incidents like the Lost Year that we have experienced slightly differently than the rest of the world."
It was not an outright admission of anything.
But what Sherlock was saying confirmed some of Nezu's questions.
"Why are you here now then?" Nezu asked.
"I'm sure you've already put two and two together. I wouldn't respect you as a rival otherwise. If you need verbal admission to it I'm happy to be of assistance," Sherlock said with a jovial chuckle, "We detected an element in hero society that was not from your side of the world and were forced to rise to the surface in order to properly investigate. How and why that element surfaced is the mystery Chaldea has appeared to solve. Everything else is our leader's will to help others."
Nezu remained silent.
That was not a comforting answer.
Nevertheless.
"If there is anything you require from our side please feel free to ask. Chaldea has done much for us in the months since your arrival, it would be a shame if we could not repay you further."
"Of course. Thank you for your offer my friend!"
I have started knitting together two very very different universes with all the subtlety and grace of a chainsaw. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And finally getting a plot hook like 20000 words in... Sorry about that. This one's gonna be a slow burn for sure.
Nathan's so full of Trauma from having to go through all of FGO... Hopefully UA can help him out a little bit in that regard.
Well then! Till next time to see who wins the coveted title of class president!