Chapter 4 already, something tells me that this story is going to be finished in less than two months, just like Vol 1. Don't worry though, I fully intend to wrap it up completely this time, while leaving plenty of material around for possible sequels of course! That's just good business sense, the non-existent profits will be through the roof I tell ya!
There are some things in life that are just not fair.
"Light of Saber!" A rather large, quick, but also telegraphed attack headed towards me. It was dodged with shocking ease. I had no time to appreciate the light show though since Freeze Bind was heading my way.
Entering a knife fight with a gun for example. Or crushing a small business with the might of a huge corporation.
With my already high constitution stat along with my Blessing of Constitution I barely felt a chill. The status debuffs associated with the spell were either ignored or cleansed instantly using cleanse magic. Seeing this my opponents decided to go all out instead of whitteling me down with debuffs.
"Inferno!""Tornado!" "Earthquake!" A huge mass of flame was spawned around me, which was then accelerated and fueled by the winds of the tornado spell. Dealing with a fire tornado and an earthquake at once was a bit much, especially so close to the village so I decided to end our match right there.
"Detroit Smash!" I slammed the ground at full force, halting the earthquake while also displacing the tornado that burned around me. When I noticed that no more spells were heading my way I turned towards the girls that challenged me were pooling their mana together for a final large spell, hoping to overpower me.
But in this world, the epitome of unfairness is fighting Izuku Midoriya as a mage?
I simply pointed my hand towards them and activated Magic Canceller. Upon noticing that their spell failed, their shoulders dropped along with their legs. Too tired to remain standing. "I guess that's it then. Are you four satisfied now?" I asked the mages on the ground. The only response I got were a few coughs and calls of 'hax'
"What did you think was going to happen? I have like.. 50 levels over you? And a build designed to deal with multiple opponents quickly, this was only ever going to end one way." I guess the chuuni attitude made them forget that.
"Besides I never agreed to the terms of the fight. I'm going to have words with Megumin-chan when this is over. Anyway, I should get going, I have things to speak about with Hyoizaburoo-san and Hiropo-san." Before walking away I decided to help them out a bit.
"W-wait, you're just going to leave? Don't we owe you anything for winning?" Funifura asked from her place on the ground, nervous over owing a debt to a noble, even a kind and down to earth one like myself.
"Hmm.. Maybe, I'll ask you both for a favor tomorrow, finish that and I'll call it even." They agreed easily enough, it was too easy, really they shouldn't agree to something like that without setting ground rules. Though with the look Arue gave me I think she was expecting something like that all along. 'She's going to be dissapointed..'
Taking out a few mana potions from my adventurer's bag I handed it to them. "Here, take these, they should get you back on your feet. It won't restore your stamina though so be careful." And with that I walked towards Hiropo's home where we along with Megumin's parents were going to discuss how things will go from here.
I always knew that Megumin's parents were impoverished, I just never thought it was this bad. I needed answers, no matter what happens I refuse to let them stay like that, especially Komekko, a kind child like that doesn't deserve to live in poverty.
The mentioned people were waiting for him at the dinner table, idly chatting with each others before they noticed my arrival. "Izuku-kun, you asked to speak with us. Is there anything you need?" Hiropo asked, taking the situation seriously as the village leader.
"Yeah, actually there are multiple things I want to talk about. First of all I'd like to say that as one of the active governors of Axel I want to sponsor the crimson demon village." Hiropo's eyes sparkled at that, from what I've been able to gather no noble had the courage to do it, mostly due to the village's infamy with self destructive behavior.
"Essentially I'd like to fund several projects within the village. An expansion of the school's curriculum, improvements to alchemical reagent cultivation, and If I get approval from back home, we might be able to get the village its own branch of the adventurers' guild. That way anyone who wants to be an adventurer wouldn't need to leave the village to do so." Hiropo was vibrating in his seat as I listed what I wanted to do.
"A-And you would fund all of this yourself Izuku-kun?! And what new curriculum would we add? This all sounds great but I need details lad!" Of course, nobody would just agree to something so vague, but first I'd like to take care of the easier issue.
"Before that there are a few questions I'd like to ask, along with a favor." I began, keeping my voice calm. "From what I've heard, Hyoizaburoo-san is a magic item craftsman, though for whatever reason his items always have defects to them that make them difficult or impossible to use effectively." The more I spoke the whiter Hyoizaburoo became, while Yuiyui grew smug.
'I guess she was aware of this for a while.' I sweatdrop at the obvious body language. "Needless to say I don't like the fact that one of my party's family is in a constant state of poverty, as such I'd like to help you with your business." Seeing Hyoizaburoo's reluctance I added a second option.
"Alternatively I could offer your family a home at our mansion, it would allow you to focus more on your craft without worrying about your financial security, I feel bad letting young Komekko-chan go hungry like she was when we met. I'd be more than happy to provide support for Megumin's family so don't think that you'd be a burden." With that Yuiyui was in on the idea, Hyoizaburoo was still unsure so I tried to compromise with him.
"Another option is that you can move your business to Axel and sell to the adventurers directly. One of my friends owns a magic shop in the city that's already sponsored by us, if you make a joint business venture with her then we could provide funding along with a new, larger base of operations. How does that sound?" The change came rather quickly. The man's combined care for his daughter and want for profit overruled his demon pride.
"I'm in! Wait, no. Is this business partner strong? My pride as a crimson demon will not allow me to work with someone who can't handle themselves!" From the exasperated face Yuiyui was making this was usually a deal breaker. Normal shopkeepers couldn't stand up to an archwizard after all, though this was me we're talking about. I don't have any normal friends...Depressing thought aside.
"How does a legendary archwizard lich, master ice magic caster, and former demon general sound?" By there dropped jaws and Hyoizaburoo's pale face I think I just sealed the deal. "I have a habit of meeting and befriending unreasonably powerful people." I explained, though with the company I keep I don't think it was necessary.
"R-right, now that we've settled that..What kind of revisions were you thinking of for the school's curriculum?" A smirk came to my face at that question. The kids were going to love this! Oh who am I kidding, I'm in the crimson demon village, everyone is going to love this.
Timeskip, next day
"Hello everyone, my name is Izuku Midoriya and today we'll be doing a little test run of what your future curriculum may look like." I introduced myself to a class full of crimson demon children, though their ages varied from Komekko's to some who were a few years older than Megumin. Speaking of which-
"You heard the man! Get up and head to the training fields outside, we'll be giving you brats a demonstration of what you could achieve if you follow our lead!" The former student before I lightly smacked her over the head before she could anger them further.
"Be nice Megumin-chan. *cough, as my party member said, we will be giving a demonstration of what to expect in the coming months, along with a quick lesson to see how well you respond to it. But before any of that I have a question for all of you." I paused for dramatic effect, the class calmed down giving me their full attention.
"How many of you would like to be heroes?" That question seemed to rile everyone up with excitement, my reputation making it more than a mere question. Taking that as my answer I gave them a small smile and walked off towards the training area, the medium sized troup of demons following me close behind.
Waiting for us at the field were the girls from yesterday, and my own party, both of which agreed to help with my demonstration. They weren't very happy about it though, something about 'getting their ass kicked in front of their former classmates' To quote the girls… Oh well they owed me a favor after that 'fight' yesterday.
"Before we begin let me make myself clear. If any of you have questions while we go on, feel free to ask them. There are no stupid questions, you're all here to learn and I doubt you can do that if you can't ask questions." Nods were given, they were too excited to answer properly, waiting for me to begin the lesson.
With a sigh I started "Let's begin with a quick question. Who here knows what determines the power of a spell?" My question seemed to confuse them but one of the older students answered "Magical Power", though her tone was nervous, expecting it to be a trick question.
I shake my head, it was a popular answer but not entirely true. "Not quite. You see, magical power, or mana as it's commonly known, is simply a fuel. And similar to fire fuel is just one part of the whole." I walk towards a nearby stone and pick it up.
"The main factor behind spells' power is knowledge. Specifically knowledge of the processes that the users' magic is trying to replicate. As a general rule, any effect created via magic can be replicated with enough time, resources, and knowledge with mundane methods." Seeing that some of the younger students were lost I gave a demonstration.
"As an example: a fireball spell is rather basic in the way it works. You use mana to heat up the air and cause a combustion. You can achieve roughly the same effect using a piece of paper, some alcohol, and some flint."
As I said that I turned a small patch of grass into paper, transmuted small pieces of it into alcohol, and finally used a small bit of One for All to light it on fire. The students were mesmerized by the 'silent casting' and seemed to understand what I meant a bit better.
"If you're wondering what I just did, it's a special spell called transmute. It allows me to transform one substance into another, so long as I have an understanding of both substances and the difference between them. I can also transform the shapes of these substances but limited to the original amount of said substance." Their collective eyes flashed red at how I described it, their mutually high INT stats thinking over the implications of such a spell.
"And no, I will not be teaching anyone this spell. At least not anytime soon. It is extremely dangerous to anyone who doesn't know exactly what they're doing. If used to it's true potential it's destructive power could make the Explosion spell seem like a child's firecracker…"
The severity in my voice prevented anyone from questioning it. Explosion was already the strongest spell known to most humans, if the country's strongest hero said that he had something much stronger than they would believe it, if anything my reputation with the students just skyrocketed from my claims.
"*cough, anyway back to the lesson. To start with I should explain what I meant by having knowledge of substances and their components. After that we'll let you spar with either the graduates, or members of my own party to see if any progress comes of it. Strap in students! Today you'll all be learning the basics behind atomic theory!" I yelled, with a bit too much zeal in my voice.
A collective shiver ran through the class of crimson demons. They had no idea what they just walked into, and if the phantom pains they felt on their wrists were anything to go by, it was going to involve a level of paperwork that would make professional politicians weep.
So.. Izuku just took his first big step into politics. And his first steps into crushing children's spirits via opening their horizons to scientific knowledge, and consequently magical knowledge.