Chapter 3: Upbringing Part 2

Lord of the Rings and My Hero Academia aren't mine, this story is but that's about it. Can't say enough about how great these franchises are, so, if you haven't watched either, do so.

Mairon stood on the beach front with his adoptive father Kai Maia. They were currently waiting on the third person who would be joining them, one Izuku Midoriya. There were only 3 minutes until 9, when Midoriya had agreed to join them.

Looking out at the beach the two of them could see lots of trash and general waste products lying around the beach. Kai had explained earlier to Mairon that their training would involve clearing the beach of all the trash. Mairon himself felt confident that he could do so easily and in fact had begun to have ideas about perhaps making use of the trash.

Regardless, he didn't because he knew that it wouldn't help Midoriya. He didn't want to hinder the training of his first real friend since ages long past that even he struggled to recall with clarity. Maybe he could also try utilizing his powers to help equip Midoriya to be a better hero. He was still amazingly skilled at a forge, he just couldn't make anything from the current time period in this world.

2 minutes later and Midoriya was seen running towards the pair of them. He wore an emerald green hoodie and dark blue jeans with bright red trainers. Quite the contrast to Mairon who wore a black t-shirt and dark grey trousers. Wearing what appeared to be a long black robe over the top but left undone bar a belt on the front. (Think a Jedi robe only in black) Wearing some tall black boots to complete his look.

Kai wore a bright red tank-top and some bright blue jeans ending in some brown leather shoes. He stood holding a rucksack containing lunch and several training aids. He had been told about Midoriya a few days ago and he thought it was a kind thing for Mairon to do. Especially considering his own recent ordeal with the villains lair.

Mairon had actually divulged quite a bit about his time held captive. He had told Kai about how he was responsible for Kai finding the villain's botched job. He had spoken about how he was kept in the lair, with little to do to pass the time except read books. He had also said that every now and then, the villains would come by and ask for something to be made by Mairon. As it turned out, since he was "naturally" adept at working a forge and metallurgy, the villains asked him to make them weapons and in return he would be given slightly better food and a new book every now and then.

Now as Midoriya finally arrived Mairon spoke with a slightly jovial attitude "Sleep in Midoriya? I figured you would be earlier and more eager to train."

Midoriya's response was to take some deep breaths before standing up straighter and responding by explaining how he had to explain to his mother what he was doing. Followed by having to stop her from crying over the fact he had made a friend who was willing to help him follow his dream.

"So, Mairon, Is this your father, Lighter?" asked Midoriya after he was done explaining his lateness.

"Yes I am the hero known as Lighter. But since you're a friend of Mairon's you can call me Kai Maia. Or I suppose you can call me sensei, but I'm not really teacher material so it feels a bit wrong to me." Answered Kai in Mairon's stead.

"Ok Maia-San. I'm ready to learn, how do we start?" exclaimed Midoriya whilst pumping his fist.

That is when training started. It entailed a full 3 hour strength training session where Mairon and Midoriya would take trash to a nearby unused piece of land. They would then stop for lunch which was nutritious and full of vitamins but not so much as to make them gain any weight. After lunch it was a quick 10 minute walk whilst doing various stretches before a 50 minute jog back and forth down the beach. When they got back it was another half an hour of lifting trash and using it as weight lifting training in a more traditional sense. Kai would then take one of the kids to set up an obstacle course for the second one. Who would then have to run it in 5 minutes or less or else they would have to keep on going until they finished. They would then swap and remake the course for the other kid.

Mairon, predictably, did better, being able to use his powers. Yet it still wasn't that easy since he had never really focused on speed in his past life, and Midoriya was remarkably adept at planning and coming up with little traps. Midoriya did rather well at figuring out how to get past any traps or obstacle's in his way. Although he needed 7 run-through's he ended up getting the faster time due to figuring out how to use his body to navigate the course rather than just running it.

By the end of the day, it was pretty set in stone that any combat training would see Midoriya using a more free flowing almost parkour style. Whilst Mairon would be able to suffice with more brute force and foreknowledge of what was coming up using his powers. Kai knew how he should teach both of them to fight.

A full year had passed by now. Mairon and Midoriya had become fast friends and were now both physically adept. Midoriya had turned 14 and Mairon had grown even more now standing at 5"7 which is pretty tall for someone who was seemingly 14.

Kai had gotten one of his close friends involved in the training. A hero by the name of Bounce, a hero with a speed quirk who fought using parkour and martial arts. He had actually become friends with Midoriya really quickly, even using the young teens notes on quirk use. Midoriya was taught martial arts and excelled in parkour, even having gotten 7th place in a national parkour event. Which served as a pretty big confidence boost.

It was a mid summer day when Mairon finally decided to return to his old habit of making jewelry with magical properties. He was going to forge a ring. He had managed to find a good forge on the internet, even going there every-other week to help out on a Friday. He was naturally good friends with the owner and had been allowed to use the forge whenever he wanted. It also helped having been able to supply the forge with tonnes of metal to work with from his training on the beach.

Mairon was working hard at the forge slowly fitting the gem he had made into the slot. And when he said "made" he meant it, having created it by magically converting a small stone into emerald with his magic. Finally after almost 10 minutes trying to slide it into the slot without any damage occurring he managed.

The next step in the process was to imbue it with his magic. That was a trickier task still. He used his magic to increase the rings melting point and placed it into the kiln, which he set to heat up as much as possible whilst using his magic to boost the heat even further. Finally he started enchanting the ring with several small enchantments.

The list of enchantments he applied are as follows. Strength, Speed, Stamina, Fortitude, Regeneration, Confidence, Charisma boost. All little boosts, aside from stamina, which was rather strong. The end result would be a small boost to strength, speed, an increased rate of healing, a higher tolerance for temperature and pain. A small boost to the wearer's confidence in themselves, a small boost to the wearer's charisma making it so they could talk and have people listen. The final effect was a major boost to stamina which would allow for prolonged speed and fights due to more energy being stored.

Now the forging had been complete, all that was left was to gift Midoriya the ring. That also proposed a challenge, possibly equal to the entire crafting process, as the boys awkwardness knew no bounds. It would certainly be a challenge, but a welcome one at that.

Just 3 days later on a Monday morning at school, while Mairon and Midoriya were hanging out talking as usual. Away from anyone else despite nobody wishing to challenge Mairon after what he did became public knowledge. Mairon finally decided the time was right and he reached into one of the pockets in his bag and pulled out a small rectangular box made of metal with a small lock on. He pulled the key out of his shirt pocket and held them together in the same hand.

He looked at Midoriya before speaking "Hey, I made this for you. I figured it'd help with becoming a hero. Just make sure nobody else get's their hands on it, okay." Finishing he reached over and let Midoriya take the box and key.

Taking the key into his hand Midoriya stopped and looked at Mairon before adopting a confused look. "Wait, what is it? Why are you giving me something like this? What do you mean it'll help with becoming a hero?"

Before he could continue Mairon just deadpanned " Just open the damned thing, I'm trying to help you out."

Midoriya nodded and muttered "okay" before putting the key in the lock and turning. The lid opened up to reveal a padded interior which contained two separate sections. On the left was a card which had writing on it listing numerous aspects and what they did. On the right was a dull silver ring with a bright Emerald contained in the top.

Slowly taking the ring out of the box Midoriya looked at it for a few seconds before picking up the card and reading it in a mutter. "Speed: small boost to speed and agility. Strength: small boost to physical strength, twice a regular human's. Fortitude: a boost to tolerance of both hot and cold temperature, also increase's tolerance to pain, doesn't negate damage outright. Regeneration: increased healing factor to heal any injury a matter of seconds for a scratch a day for a bone. Confidence: a slight boost to the wearer's confidence in themself. Charisma: makes people more likely to listen to what you say. Stamina: best for last, this increases the wearer's stamina by a factor of 10. Wow, that's cool. And this ring does all that?" The end was more akin to an exclamation.

"Yep, I made it myself and then used my dark magic to enchant it. It's for you Midoriya. Hopefully you'll be able to improve enough so you can get into UA like you want. Still think it was a bit mean for the teacher to basically announce to the class where you wanted to go, knowing what their responses would be. Glad nobody did anything though." Replied Mairon.

"They probably only didn't react violently because of you being there. But thanks for the ring. It's super cool that you can use your quirk like that." responded Midoriya, at first solemnly before ending positively.

"Maybe so, but they shouldn't underestimate you so much. You're strong in your own right, smart to." Mairon shot back.

"True I suppose, but thank you for always sticking up for me and being by my side when I need you." Replied Midoriya bowing his head in respect.

That was a little idiom that hadn't vanished gone yet despite Mairon's attempts. "I'm just glad I was able to make such an awesome friend like you. Really gives me a reason to look forward to the next day. That being said, let's do our best to prepare to get into UA. But first maybe we should hurry to our next lesson. We've only got a few minutes left." answered Mairon before picking his stuff up.

"Yeah" was the reply as Midoriya jumped up. When he landed he slipped the ring onto his middle finger and put the box into his own bag before picking his stuff up. Both walking away from their bench with more certainty that the future would herald great things for the both of them. Neither spotted one of Bakugou's lackey's hiding around the corner.

"Hey Deku. Congratulations on you and lonely boy's marriage. You two belong together, both utterly worthless and stupid." The blond swear machine was abruptly cut off by being pushed to the side into another table and then tumbling over it and it's occupant. The culprit of the act merely looked at him before humming to himself as if to congratulate himself for a job well done. This was beginning to become a common occurrence to Mairon.

Both Mairon and Midoriya packed up for the day. The final lesson was over and now both of them were going home to do their homework and some more solo training. As they left the school they parted ways as Mairon went a different direction to Midoriya.

Midoriya carried on, going the slightly faster route home. He was passing under a bridge when it happened. He was passing out before he could fully register what was going on. When he finally did realize he started thrashing trying to get the green sludge villain off of him. It wasn't a spectacular performance, but it was admittedly working. The villain slowly being thrown free of the boy. In one final push Midoriya came free and jumped forwards and spun to look at his assailant. Only to watch is awe as his favourite hero and his childhood idle punched the villain apart whilst practically yelling "I am here!"

Midoriya had one look that could grace his face at that moment. Shock. Shock from seeing something so cool. He needed his notebook. That was probably a pretty common thought upon seeing All Might. He was in his head screaming at himself in panic of what to do now his idol was here, that he hardly realized said hero was now turning to look at him.

"You're so cool!" was all that fell out his mouth.

Divine Whiskey: In truth, when I got the email letting me know you had reviewed the story, that's exactly what was going through my head. I will reveal, since it's not really a surprise given it's been shown a little, but yes he will use weapons. In fact he's gonna have a same suit of armour as he does in Lord of The Rings, as well as the weapon. They will be a little more high tech though. Hope you look forward to reading more to see what I have planned!