I do not own BNHA or D&D
(5 months before the UA entrance exam)
Tokyo - Kotodama district
The Seldarine Library, an old building that is only rarely visited in the current era and ran by an old man. Or at least that is what most people saw it as. To the magically inclined it was much, much more. Multiple rooms, halls and towers were hidden between and overlapping the existing walls of the library. Deep inside the winding mess of mind bending and non-Euclidean geometry was a large hall of seemingly gigantic proportions bordered by a maze of ceiling tall bookcases, hidden from the eye of any pedestrian wandering outside of the fantastical walls.
Yet, despite no way of actually knowing, some had a gut feeling that a clash between extreme powers was happening extremely close by, although they would simply assume it was a Hero and Villain deep in battle somewhere nearby.
However, deep inside the twisting manor that defied nature and physics, two beings whose souls brimmed with magical energy were staring each other down.
The first was Sylvar. Tall, bearing long, elegant golden hair, and wise in appearance despite his incredible age. He stood with confidence outside of a combat stance as he simply toyed with his staff, built like thin winding limbs of exotic wood entwined like snakes and forming a visage of a dragon's maw grasping at a large perfect sphere of silver pearl, holding the gem in place on the tip of the staff. Where once stood a kind old librarian who wished to aide those in search of knowledge, stood the Wizard he truly was and the magic instructor he so recently became.
The second of course, was Izuku himself, staring down the jolly old Elf, almost regretting having asked if he could train at the library last month. They stood while maintaining eye contact, equal distance from one another, akin to a showdown between samurai or Hero and Villain but instead with crazy magic people, Izuku couldn't figure whether that was cooler or not.
"You cannot stare your opponent into submission, young Midoriya. You won't be facing undead grunts and mindless fanatics forever." Sylvar advised calmly.
'He is correct, though you may be able to defeat others with a mere glance in time.' Couatl commented in his head.
'Not really helping right now.' Izuku thought back. It was true though, recently more zombies have been showing up and being covered up by the government to avoid mass panic. It was only a matter of time until the Undying King sends more than a handful of minions to fight him.
"All right," Izuku said, his comparatively much simpler magic staff sliding out of his coat sleeve and into his hand. He gave it a dramatic spin before holding it in a fighting stance, he was starting to think that Ashido's flair for the dramatic was rubbing off on him after hanging out with her and Kirishima so often. "Let's dance, Magic Man." He quipped with a cocky grin.
Immediately the Elf had vanished from sight with but a few unknown words, Izuku activated Detect Magic and scanned the endless looking arena for any Illusion magic but felt nothing before he just managed to avoid a small bolt of electricity that shot past his head and struck the floor, singing the wood slightly. He looked up to see his magic tutor hovering a few meters off the ground, greens and yellows of Transmutation and Enchantment magic dancing around him like wisps of smoke that shifted while clinging to his form. Curiously there seemed to be a much larger amount of Transmutation magic around him than Enchantment, practically encompassing his entire body.
"Not every fight will be as linear as you think it's going to be either." Sylvar educated while still drifting in the air, he swung his staff as he spoke and a streak of blue lightning shot out and struck Izuku before he could dodge, the shock didn't hurt all that much but the whip of electricity had wrapped around his leg. Before he knew it he was flung into the air and in front of the old Elf who smiled before vanishing again with nary a word.
Izuku hit the floor with a thud before he threw himself back to his feet, looking around again for the Wizard only to be met with empty space once again. 'How am I supposed to fight someone who keeps vanishing?' he questioned himself before getting struck by something that hit his arm with a decent impact before briefly searing him with red hot flames. He had no time to complain however as he dodged two more bolts of flame by a hair, watching as they seared the spot on the wood floor he previously stood before staring back up at Sylvar.
"You need to chase your opponent, not stay sitting around here." The Elf instructed, he looked like he was enjoying himself, it was probably the first time in a while that he was able to not have to hold back his magic prowess.
"Kinda hard when you keep popping out of existence like that." Izuku remarked before he spoke a quick phrase in ancient language as black smoke billowed off his body. [Misty Step] He vanished in a small cloud of smoke before reappearing in another above his opponent, the tip of his staff already coated in a thin layer of frost as he spoke the incantation for another spell with clouded breath. [Ray of Frost] A beam of blue light shot in a straight line and managed to hit the chest of Sylvar, quickly spreading frost and ice over part of his suit.
"Impressive, but you're still thinking like an ordinary Human, no offence. Your brain isn't exactly the same as a normal Human's anymore, now is it?" Sylvar commented before he vanished again, Izuku passing through the air he just floated in and rolling into a ready stance.
'Jeez, what do you want me to do? I can't really fly around after you...Can I?'
'As of yet. No.'
'Dang.'
"Still nothing, eh?" Sylvar asked from behind again, Izuku turning around quickly to face him, "Let's see if this will kickstart it." he said before giving his staff a brisk swing, five magic darts made of light emerged mid swing and were suspended in the air equidistant from each other, they looked like they were designed based on hands of a fancy clock. "Let's see if an unavoidable attack will do it." he said before they all started flying after him like missiles.
Izuku ran, strafing around the Wizard and keeping him in his sights while still trying to outrun the magic missiles that chased him but they were surely closing in. He suddenly had an idea and waited until they were just behind him before slamming his staff into the ground, jumping and kicking off of it, he watched the darts fly below him as if in slow motion before landing on his feet, snatching his staff back afterwards.
He smirked confidently until the flying darts had shifted course like heat seeking missiles and turned back to hit him, 'Guess they really are unavoidable, figures.' Izuku thought before trying to block with his coat and bracing for impact. The five missiles struck his torso like mini Eldritch Blasts. "That was cheap!" Izuku complained to a Wizard who had since vanished from existence once again. "And that trick is even cheaper!" he continued to complain.
Izuku dusted off his coat and tried to listen for any kind of disturbance but stumbled suddenly, despite the Wizard holding back he had still taken a decent amount of damage. Catching himself before he fell, he heard a slight noise behind him, the sound was hard to describe exactly but sounded kind of like very brief but strong gust of wind. "I've got you this time!" Izuku shouted as he cast another spell.
[Quickened Flaming Sphere] A small ball of fire was launched out of Izuku's staff before quickly expanding to it's full height of almost as tall as Izuku. The ball of inferno careened across the seemingly fire resistant wooden floor toward where the Wizard would be standing if he were not floating, then Izuku swung his staff in an upward arc. [Control Flames] The ball was suddenly flung into the air and slammed into Sylvar who gave an impressed chuckle as the ball fell back to the ground, circling around the Wizard like a shark.
Sylvar dusted off his suit as he continued to float effortlessly, all the while he gave an impressed laugh, "Hohohoho, very impressive. Yes, very impressive indeed, I haven't had this much fun in a few hundred years! Alas, not quite what we are looking for is it? Hmm, no not quite. Perhaps just one more shove will do it." The Elf spoke with a childish grin. He raised his hand and spoke a few words in Celestial, Izuku recognised the word for "fire" as part of the spell. Then a ball of fire appeared above the Wizard's hand before he crushed it and pointed his finger to where Izuku stood, burning energy encompassed Sylvar's hand as he held back the spell for just a moment longer.
"I apologise if this doesn't quite work the way I think it will, I'll fix you right up if that's the case." The Wizard said, not elaborating further before a single beam of burning energy shot out of his finger right under Izuku's body, condensing into a single tiny bead of raging inferno before it's inevitable rapid expansion and devastating explosion.
Panic rose in Izuku's head, he knew he was supposed to be doing something but he didn't know what Sylvar wanted him to do. He just braced everything he could and thought as hard as he could to avoid the explosion somehow. He tried as hard as he could but nothing was happening, the seconds that felt like hours of struggling ended as the tiny bead of condensed fire quickly expanded into a roaring inferno.
Izuku closed his eyes as he braced as hard as he could to feel the heat of the explosion, preparing his body to power through the blast while simultaneously desperately trying to find an escape route in his head. In the end he simply waited for the flames to lash at him with a mad ferocity.
He waited...
And waited...
Alright now the waiting seemed tedious. Izuku didn't feel any fire or any further pain. In fact, he didn't hear or smell anything either, no magic sounds or burning wood, it didn't even feel like he was standing on anything. It felt like he was in his dream but he knew he was awake, the most uncomfortable thing was that he couldn't quite feel Couatl's attachment to him.
Well, that wasn't exactly true, he could feel that they were attached to him but couldn't feel their presence. Like he had a rope that was attached to Couatl but could only see his half of it. He reluctantly opened his eyes expecting to see nothing but inky blackness but as he opened his eyes he was met with something he was not expecting at all.
He saw many shades of grey light, shifting and swirling, dominating his vision. He attempted to move his body and did so with relative ease yet not through physical exertion but through seemingly sheer force of will with a strange yet not uncomfortable feeling. It felt as though moving through mud, slowly and inefficiently, like running away from something in a bad dream.
The first thing Izuku heard in this new place was naught but a whisper, seemingly coming from a hazy shadow just outside of his peripheral vision, what looked like blurred images from other places. Other worlds? Maybe other universes? They moved slowly, voices and images muffled as if viewed and heard through clouded water. Everything around him felt familiar yet strangely alien, it felt simultaneously off putting and comforting in a way it seemed his Human mind could not fully understand.
Phantasms of what could be Izuku's own world or perhaps a different one altogether drifted by him like a peephole through space, and where Izuku now existed, neither standing nor floating, just being, was what seemed to be the shifting grey ghost of the room he stood in moments before. A surprisingly large and oddly shaped hazy shadow floating around what he could only guess was Sylvar outside of wherever he was.
Izuku was speechless at what was around him, he had seen magic through spells cast by him and others but this...THIS! This made Izuku feel small yet bigger than ever. In comparison to all the mystery around him he was little more than a speck yet he had the power to see this and reminded him that he was the one who was going to save the world from ancient evils.
To see something so beautiful and wonderous that likely no other Human from Izuku's time had ever seen made him realise just how far he's come and want to see just how far he can go. Maybe this was that one push he needed. Maybe this was-
"WELCOME TO THE ETHEREAL PLANE!"
Izuku nearly had a heart attack out of shock and, if not for the weird rules of this place, would have fallen down in an instant. He looked to the source of the noise and saw Sylvar laughing at his joke, or rather what looked more like his ghost. It looked like a bit of colour had faded from him and almost pure white mist drifted off of him, like mist off an ice statue, eventually melding into the grey etherealness surrounding him.
"You scared me half to death you-! Why do you look like that?" Izuku looked at himself suddenly, seeing he now had similar attributes, "Why do I look like that?!"
Sylvar grinned at Izuku's reaction like a schoolboy after a practical joke , "Can't blame an old man for a harmless prank, can you? Hohohoho, well I suppose it would be easier to-" and just as fast as he had arrived he vanished again. Where he once "stood" was the oddly much larger, shapeless and hazy shadow that was probably him outside of this place.
"...Huh?" was all Izuku could say.
He popped right back into existence in the same spot a couple seconds later "Sorry about that, Midoriya, now let's get you back to the Material Plane shall we? I'll keep disappearing every 6 or so seconds so I'll try to speed this up." He gave a few unknown words and a snap before Izuku heard a slight "pop" sound and was suddenly back in Sylvar's giant training room.
The Wizard popped back in at the same time and quickly started dispelling whatever spell was making him warp between places, also dispelling his flight and drifting down with a small laugh. "Well done my boy! Looks like you really can step between planes, as I suspected of course. Hohohoho."
Izuku stood in relative shock, it was not the first time his mind had been overwhelmed by magic in general but it hadn't happened in a while. "What...What was any of that?!"
Sylvar tapped the side of his head, "Knowing about your little friend up there gave me the idea to try and help you use some innate magic abilities you might have. You can use Detect Magic at will, can you not? Hoho I wish I hadn't gotten so rusty, I used to be able to cast as many 1st and 2nd level spells I wanted without limit." he sighed wistfully, "How long ago was that now...500? 1000? Perhaps even 2000 years ago? Ah, those were the days..."
'Just how old are you!?' Izuku thought
He snapped out of his daze, "Right, back on topic then. Couatls can use that spell on command as well as Detect Thoughts and Detect Good and Evil, those might take a little more whipping you into shape mentally to get down though, reading minds isn't as easy as putting a magic filter over your vision. However, they also have a special ability that is oft forgotten by the arcane scholars. The ability to freely travel between the Material and Ethereal planes!"
The Wizard gave a slight dramatic gesture and used a small cantrip to make himself look and sound a lot more fantastical, "Ethereal Jaunt!" The cantrip faded a moment later, leaving the Wizard without his special effects again, "That's what I like to call it anyway. Am I missing anything about that my Celestial friend?" he asked aloud, seemingly to try and contact Couatl through Izuku.
'Wise as he is old, this Elf is indeed knowledgeable on the arcane. Izuku, it has been noted that your ability is slightly weaker than average. In a simple manner of speaking, it took slightly longer to charge enough magic to make the trip between planes. It is theorised that if you did not leave of your own wishes, you would be forcibly ejected back to the Material after some time. Furthermore, it is thought that your fragile body may only make the journey between planes once per Human day."
"So I have one use a day and a timer for how long I can stay in this Ethereal Plane? How long do you think I should have?" Izuku asked aloud, so his Elf friend could get some context to their conversation.
'It has been roughly estimated that with enough training you would have around 30 to 40 seconds before forcibly returned. However, as of this moment you may only have 10 or 15 seconds of time on your side. Take care not to return in the same space as a solid object. It is suggested that "Ethereal Jaunting" should be practiced, though a warning would like to be given to watch out for other creatures and dangerous weather.'
"Other creatures? What else is living in there?" Izuku asked anxiously.
"Oh nothing too interesting around these parts." Sylvar took the chance to explain, "Perhaps a lost soul or ghost needing a helping hand to pass on to the afterlife. Not to toot my own horn but I still know a few tricks to keep the place a little clean of pests here and there so you won't need to worry too much." The wizard explained with a smile, Izuku was kind of uncomfortable with the prospect of ghosts but, remembering he had fought several undead monsters, quickly got over it.
The Wizard suddenly held out his hand and summoned what looked like a small clock of glowing runes as if alerted to something before messing with it slightly, "Ah, it would seem it's time for you to head back home for now. Before you go, take these." he said before smacking his hands together with a wisp of flame in his hand, as he separated his hands the flame had morphed into two shapes before fading away, leaving two objects in the Elf's hands. One was a small vial of red, slightly syrupy liquid the size of a shot glass and the other was a scroll similar to the one Izuku had gifted him once before but of seemingly lower quality.
Izuku took the items and uncorked the glass, after not being stopped he took a tiny sip, it weirdly tasted like some kind of sweet fruit flavoured cough syrup he had once as a child. As Izuku continued to drink he felt his bruises and cuts heal themselves. Almost all the damage he had received moments before had healed like a spell was cast. The old Elf chuckled at Izuku's shocked face before handing him 3 more. "No adventurer is set without a few healing potions, no? These are much harder to make in this realm but it's still possible if you know the tricks. Hoho, don't spend it all in one place."
Izuku glanced at them before giving a determined nod and grabbing the scroll, "Oh it's in Celestial. Neat." He scanned a few runes and mentally translated them, "Identify...right?" Izuku asked trying to examine the script.
'Correct. A quite simple spell, it shall inform you of what an object is. A ritual spell as well. If you were to spend some time, you could copy this spell into your Book of Shadows and cast it indefinitely through a ritualistic process.'
"Wow, that's actually super useful! Thanks, Sylvar. I hope you don't mind if I end up using one of these potions in public, I have a feeling it will probably happen."
"Hohoho! Go right ahead, I enjoy reading all the confused comments from Humans on the internet when you start using magic in your Hero work."
"You know how to use the internet?"
"You don't get as old as me without learning to change with the times young man." The Elf laughed again before suddenly looking off to the side and making a slightly annoyed sound, Izuku assumed at the mess around him from the sparring match. He tapped his staff on the ground and the wood of the floor warped unnaturally to create a stairway on the floor leading down, "Alright Midoriya, go on now and save a few lives for me. I need to do some cleaning, you're welcome to come back for training anytime but deep in the woods is the best place to practice from personal experience. Oh, and come by tomorrow, I'll be sure to have some more gifts."
"Thanks again Sylvar! I'll see you later!" Izuku waved him goodbye before walking down the stairs, after a few steps he realised these were the steps leading to the first floor to the library near the entrance of the building, he turned around and only saw the regular stairs leading up to the second floor. He chuckled to himself at the mind bending magic before continuing to leave.
'Something is odd about that Elf, it cannot be properly seen through your eyes but it is thought he is hiding something.' Couatl suddenly said in Izuku's mind, making the green haired teen wonder what about him was suspicious.
'What makes you say that?'
'A Human's average life sits at around 80 years, whereas an Elf's stands at roughly 1000. Without a hint of Necromancy on his person, it is thought to be odd that he would have lived for over 3000 years.'
'Well, he's been helping us out for this long so I think we can keep trusting him.'
'It is hoped you are correct. If so, a truly powerful ally has been assured in the fight against Undeath.'
As Veratain Hai Sylvar watched the young Midoriya vanish from his extraplanar abode, he turned around to face the being that had chosen to intrude mere moments ago, interrupting the ending of his class on magic. Veratain could begin to feel a familiar slight disturbance in the air, it was something he didn't want to drag the young Human into just yet. This was his own fight against greater powers, one forged over thousands of years.
Veratain watched as a creature, pale white as bone in colour, creeped on all fours around the corner of a bookshelf. Like an incredibly tall and thin withered humanoid husk with far too many spikes and claws for Veratain's taste and an inhuman digitigrade leg structure. Faint stains of old blood coated it's long sharp claws and a tail of vertebrae ending in a scorpion-like point that swayed ominously as it crawled. The Bone Devil wrapped it's wretched body around a distant bookshelf and it seemed he did not come alone as 4 small red, bat-winged Devils flew around him like tiny personal body guards.
Unthreatened, Veratain merely tapped his chin in thought, "Now how does the likes of you end up here? Are you not far from home, Hell spawn?"
The bone white beast released a raspy snarl as it licked its razor sharp teeth. "The bonds that bind and seal grow weaker. The fabric of space grows thinner and thinner the longer HE is allowed to remain. HE is an enemy of Devil-kind, and the fires of Hell burn hotter in anticipation of his demise for that is the will of Asmodeus." The Devil growled once more before pointing a crooked finger stained by old blood at Veratain. "First though, we want what is rightfully ours."
"Oh come now, how much of a pay rise did that old fool promise this time? Sorry to disappoint, but your "Oh so powerful" master will have to wait in line with everyone else for their turn with my old soul."
"Do not mock us Golden One! Your soul was deemed sacrifice in the contract you signed! You will hand it over or we will take it by force!" The Devil spoke his classic spiel as Veratain was simply trying to figure out if this Devil was one he had sent back to the Hells once before. The Imps cackled as the Bone Devil reached for his gruesome glaive that looked as if it was carved out of the wing of a large Dragon.
"Tsk tsk, you Devils never learn do you?" Veratain merely snapped his fingers at the Bone Devil.
[Momentary Stasis]
The Bone Devil froze, as if time itself refused to pass for him. The Imps looked back and forth from the Wizard to their boss in a panic, apparently they hadn't been given a good description of their job today. Veratain's eye's shifted from their calming Elven blue to a brilliant shining gold as he moved his hands and spoke in ancient language.
Before the eyes of the Imps, a rend had appeared in the air as a temporary gateway to the Far Realm, a place far, far beyond the multiverse, was forcibly opened. From the pitch dark rend in space, many ebony black limbs of unknown cosmic beings reached out grasping and wildly flailing at anything they could from the small tear in reality.
[Evard's Black Tentacles]
Within moments the Imps had been reduced to a black sludge from the inky dark eldritch appendages mercilessly shredding them into mincemeat. After one limb had tried to attack the Bone Devil it was taken out of it's stasis early, looking around confused then angry at the change that had happened instantly from his perspective. Insect-like wings grotesquely burst from the Devil's back as it attempted to fly at Veratain. The Devil attempted to thrust it's glaive through the Wizard in a single forceful motion.
[Chronal Shift]
The Devil's movements slowed down dramatically, enough so for Veratain to easily sidestep the blow as a slight sound of a clock ticking could be heard around him. After a few seconds the Devil moved normally again and attempted to swing but found himself forcefully thrown and pinned to the ground from a strength that was not that of an old man. Golden eyes stared into the Devil's own sunken red ones as he felt something akin to razor sharp claws pierce through his chest and wrap around his heart.
"How about you consider this a lesson your boss should have taught you when you first ascended to this job. Some Realms are just off limits in this day and age. Oh well, at least you get to go back to Hell when you die." Veratain gave a polite smile as if he was not currently wrist deep in the ribcage of a Devil twice his current size, "I hope you can enjoy the demotion you master gives you when you get back home. Now, respectfully remove yourself from my home."
The Devil's heart was crushed seconds later, it yelled out in Infernal as it's body slowly melted into black sludge, it's soul was sent back to Hell to reform it's body. Veraitain shook the excess off his hand and cast a cantrip to clean it as his eyes turned back to their normal blue shade. "Sometimes I regret making a house outside of the Material Plane, it lets all sorts of pests creep through the cracks. However, it does let me do things like this."
He tapped his staff to the floor as bookshelves and the floor itself shifted around to form an impossibly angled spiralling staircase. Veratain chuckled to himself, "Hmhm, I do love magic. Now then, let's get back to work. That Midoriya certainly has a myriad of ideas when it comes to enchanting items, I'll have to ask for more of his ideas tomorrow."
The next night Izuku watched the streets below from his perch upon a tall building nearby his own apartment building, there was a surprisingly low amount of crime or disturbances tonight however, not that Izuku was complaining but it did make training against real Villains more difficult when there were no Villains.
'Well I suppose a Hero's job is to keep the peace after all. Not that I'm saying the other Heroes weren't doing there jobs good enough, I'm sure they were doing their best to stop the crime. Now I sound like I'm saying I'm better than the other Heroes, I'll just stop thinking now.' Izuku thought, beginning to understand Couatl's irritation with his rambling habit.
Izuku continued his search for any disturbances for 20 more minutes, running across rooftops and only finding the odd group of drunk friends walking down streets or late night civilian lit up by the street lights.
'I guess tonight is a low stress night.' he thought before he heard a sudden gust of wind behind him and the sound of boots hitting the roof he was on.
He turned his head to see Hawks, the current number 3 Hero of Japan. The blonde Hero gave a kind looking smile while lifting his goggles, "Oh man, if it ain't Warlock. What a coincidence, I was just flying over when I saw you." He said with a kind voice and smile.
Keigo wasn't sure this plan would work, Warlock was a very dangerous person even if he was presumably an ally, he assumedly knows all about the so called "Zombies of Nabu Island" considering he's killed them easier than anyone else who had encountered those things.
"So, you got a minute? I just want to chat, Hero to Hero y'know." Keigo offered with a kind façade, determined this time to take the mysterious Vigilante with him be it by peaceful or violent means.
The trench coat wearing stranger shrugged before sitting on the building edge patting the space next to him, Keigo quickly but subtly examined the area for any kind of trap before sitting, making it out like he was thankful to take a rest after a hard day's work even though this was the most stressful thing he had done in months. Even up close and with lights from streets below, the shadows that covered Warlock's face never gave way enough to make out any defining features except the vague outline of a mouth and those green piercing eyes that felt like they stared into Keigo's own soul.
"Man, when was the last time I saw you? Feels like forever, maybe that's just me being busy." Warlock said, his barely visible mouth in a childish smile. "Oh, I forgot to ask last time," He reached into his pocket which could mean he's using his Storage Quirk, considering the things he's taken out before he could take anything out right now.
He pulled out a pen and notebook, "Can I get your autograph?"
Keigo let out a hidden sigh of relief before smiling, "I keep hearing from other Pro's that you're a major fanboy, I guess I should've seen this coming." He signed the paper, expecting something bad to happen but nothing did. He handed back the notebook to the mysterious Vigilante who put it back into his pocket, however Keigo had also snuck a feather inside the pages. Once the book fell into the pocket though, he lost all connection to that feather like he was very, very far out of range, it was worth the test but it was also an eerie result.
Keigo let out a short sigh, 'No time like now to try this.' he thought, "So, Warlock. You're a pretty good Vigilante, huh? Don't worry, I'm not here to arrest you or anything. I'm pretty chill about that sort of thing unlike some other Pros."
Instead of an outburst or an escape attempt Warlock instead gave Keigo a small laugh, "I figured I couldn't hide that fact forever, huh? Guess my little card trick can only get me so far."
Keigo saw this as an opportunity to at least learn more about his Quirks, "It was pretty good though, how did you do it anyway?"
Warlock chuckled as he pulled a playing card out of his coat and placed a hand over his face, he mumbled something and suddenly light warped and shifted around him. After a second it was like he was looking at a mirror, Warlock looked almost exactly like Keigo, except without any wings, the playing card was now a Hero Licence that looked like his own but a few details wrong or missing.
"I usually did something like this." Warlock spoke in Keigo's voice, it was incredibly trippy and terrifying if he could just impersonate anyone or hide anywhere. Warlock did the same thing again, returning to normal and flicking the card which vanished from either a Quirk or just really good slight of hand. "Pretty cool, right? Took me a while to figure out I could do it with a card instead of just sticking it to my hand."
Keigo tried to keep calm in knowing just what Warlock could do "Haha, man I wish I could do stuff like that. It would get me out of so many boring meetings." Warlock was silent as if he was listening to something for a moment before chuckling to himself, he chose to not think to hard about it, "So, Warlock, how do you feel about getting your own Hero licence, it'd be way easier to have you on speed dial rather than just hoping you show up when you're needed."
"Really?! You're not kidding about that right?!" Warlock practically shouted, sounding more like a kid promised a toy they really wanted for Christmas than an adult. "I mean, I haven't gone to UA or any major Hero school for that matter so I don't really know if I'm qualified for that yet-"
Keigo feigned laughter, interrupted his rambling, "Aw come on. Seriously man? You're way stronger than some pros, plus you've saved a whole bunch of lives by yourself. Besides, I never went to any of those top class, fancy Hero schools either and look where I turned up." Hawks stood up and offered his hand, "What do you say, Warlock."
Warlock looked ready to grab his hand before stopping for a second as if in thought and standing up on his own, "I'm guessing I'll have to get permission from the Hero Public Safety Commission for this?"
"Probably not that much, I'm here to recruit you for them after all." Keigo explained, not revealing too much.
"Because I know how to kill Zombies and nobody else does." Warlock said as wind suddenly blew dramatically in the silence as what could be seen of Warlock's face was suddenly much more serious than before.
Keigo didn't expect this change in pressure so fast, "Was that part really so obvious?"
"The news covered up the first attack as a gas explosion and the Heroes who were there were taken in for questioning, the cultists were taken to Tartarus instead of normal prison like usual to stop any leaks. Furthermore, any security footage of any incident involving Zombies hasn't been leaked yet, despite that usually happening incredibly quickly, meaning it is very heavily guarded, not because Warlock "killed" in the footage but because you're trying to hide the existence of Zombies and to figure out how to kill them." Warlock explained. "So, the HPSC wants me so they can stop the Zombies from causing mass panic."
Keigo shrugged, trying to hide his worry of how perceptive this guy was, "Guess it's hard to hide things from someone like you. Yeah, that's why want you at the HPSC. Please, Warlock, help us in this fight." He admitted, though not revealing the full truth.
Warlock adjusted their coat, "To stop the Undying King and his armies is why I started doing this, I could use all the help I can get." he suddenly removed his hat, revealing for the first time a man in roughly his mid to late 20s, slightly long green hair, and those same piercing green eyes that could stare right through you. "I'd like to make a deal with who's in charge."
Keigo attempted to burn their face into memory to recognise it whenever possible even if it was likely a false identity, "Yeah, I'm sure that can be arranged. How fast can you get to the HPSC office building? Big important one, middle of Tokyo, you know the one."
"Uhh..." Warlock suddenly lost his aura of seriousness and pulled a phone out of their pocket and checked the time, "I mean, I could catch a train in about 10 minutes. I think it's around an hour long ride though."
"You can't, I don't know, teleport or fly there or something?" Keigo questioned, genuinely wondering if the seemingly super powerful and all knowing mystery Vigilante had to use public transport to get around. "Alright, y'know what? I'll give you a lift, how's that sound?"
The green haired man gasped with stars in his eyes, "Really? Oh man I wasn't prepared for this. This is such a great honour Hawks, I don't even know where to begin thanking you."
Keigo gave an odd glance before remembering the guy was still a huge fanboy of basically every Hero with or without hiding his appearance. He pulled out a pair of extra goggles he kept on him for extra passengers or his others broke. "How about you think about it on the way over." He said, tossing the goggles over to Warlock who looked at them seemingly in awe.
He flew around the childish but scarily powerful man as he equipped the goggles and lifted him up off the ground "Alright, try to keep your mouth shut unless you like swallowing bugs."
Despite his warning, Warlock cheered and whooped aloud as they flew to Tokyo.
It took only 35 minutes to get there but Izuku, while being carried by Hawks, was now in the dead centre of Tokyo in front of the honestly kind of intimidating HPSC office building. It was really impressive considering the distance between Musutafu and here but, knowing Hawks' reputation, it was likely he could have gone a lot faster without the extra passenger.
He was still giddy with excitement at the prospect of getting an official Hero licence but still needed to remain calm and cool, he was here for a negotiation more than anything. He wanted to know exactly everything the Heroes knew about the Undying King and his Undead, not only to protect them but to educate them in proper Undead removal.
Izuku had put his hat back on, concealing his already false identity once more before Hawks had landed at the entrance. A gigantic man in a suit guarded the entrance with a stone face both figuratively and literally, he had some kind of Golem Quirk. Several other men and women in suits were guarding the place both inside and out, all likely with powerful Quirks and specialised combat training. He probably would have judged the use of a suit as armour if his own outfit in the beginning of his career was not just a cheap suit with no magic enhancements.
Hawks had used his words and charm to get Izuku through easily, though only after being glared at by the man whose name was apparently "Boruda", but that could have just been a fitting nickname for the rock man double his height.
Izuku was lead into an elevator and travelled to a basement floor, Hawks looking as calm and collected as ever but he himself couldn't help but feel nervous, meeting the woman who was in charge of literally everything Hero related in Japan and who was basically just below the prime minister in the political hierarchy was a VERY big deal. Hawks lead him to a large set of double doors and had to swipe his Hero license, scan his eye and input a long code of numbers and letters, making Izuku realise just how confidential this is.
The doors clicked unlocked and opened to reveal a large conference room, seemingly lined with thick metal plates and more than likely built with extremely secure communications systems. A large table stretched across the room yet only 2 people sat inside.
On the left side was the most intelligent Hero and first non-human Hero, principal of UA high, Nezu. It was currently taking every ounce of inner strength to not fan boy over the hyper intelligent Hero who has the global record for most crimes solved including previously thought unsolvable crimes. Even managing to figure out the identity of the most infamous of elusive Villains.
Right in the centre on the other side of the room however, was the HPSC president herself, just as serious and intimidating as she looked during interviews he'd watched, staring directly at Izuku with a stare that could kill. 'Scary.' Izuku thought.
'Remember, they are just as, if not more so, afraid of you. In their eyes, you are as much of a threat as the Undead forces. Act calmly yet with confidence.' Couatl advised.
'Right, magic looks like multiple Quirks so they might think I'm on the side of the Lich. Also just because I'm on their side now doesn't mean I can't swap sides. I could also be using this as some kind of assassination attempt. Those are the kind of things they are thinking isn't it?'
'Yet they are showing that they trust you enough, the lack of guards within this room speaks volumes to such an extent.
'Unless they are invisible or super well hidden.'
'...It it certainly a possibility.'
Izuku bowed respectfully to the people inside before stepping in alongside Hawks, "I graciously thank you for inviting me, President of the Hero Public Safety Commission. I do hope I was allowed entry on good terms, making enemies of Japan's Heroes would be very...inconvenient, so to speak." He spoke, intentionally and desperately trying to play up his mysterious aspect.
She sat with her fingers intertwined and resting over her mouth before speaking, "Indeed, I would like to personally thank you for complying, I thought it would be much more difficult to get a hold of you. I hope you don't mind, but I would much rather get to the important topic at hand."
"The Undying King." Izuku said, earning a hum from the President. She flicked a switch on her side of the table, activating a screen behind her, revealing camera shots of an island, swarms of undead roamed and fostered in dilapidated streets. A large intimidating tower in the background of all the images. The plant life was greyed and dead with tanged messes of thorns being the only flora, as if no form of life could grow in the area.
"These images were taken on an island that is suspected to be the Undying King's base of operations. The group of scouts I sent there were sadly slaughtered, alongside the previous 1000 residents of the island." The president explained.
Izuku stood in silence as he looked down, a burning rage in his chest that was more than his own, '1000 innocent people, men, women, children...All slaughtered. Forced to fight for that Monster after their passing. The thought makes me sick.'
'1000 innocent Human souls, used as nothing more than a power source! More of his power must have been regained than was initially thought. It is nothing more than heresy against creation and life itself!' Disgust and rage were present in Couatl's various voices, emotions only presented when discussing the Lich and his wicked actions.
The President took notice of his silence before continuing, "We understand that these people were transformed into these "monsters" by the Undying King's Quirk, the "monsters" vary wildly in appearance and strength, though I'm sure you already knew all of this, seeing as you have already killed several."
Izuku looked up at the President "You're right about one thing, these "monsters" as you call them are Undead, they're more like near mindless puppets made of dead bodies rather than an actual person. They can range wildly in intelligence and combat ability from an animated skeleton to a behemoth made of 100 bodies, but they are all under his control. Before you ask, there's no saving them, they have already been dead so long and their very soul is now in the grasp of the Undying King."
The President hummed and rested her hands over her mouth once again, "And, how can you be so sure you can't save them? Quirks are very diverse as I'm sure you are aware."
"In a simple way of speaking, Undead are simply corpses held up by puppet strings, once you cut the strings they burst into blue flames and turn to ash. Unless you know someone whose Quirk is bringing someone back to life from their ashes there is no way of recovery. How I can be so sure however, I suppose you would call it Divine Intervention, so to speak."
Hawks looked at him with a mix of odd confusion and possibly subtle fear, "So, what? Are you some kind of messenger from God?"
"Not Exactly. I suppose more like a messenger of a messenger." Izuku chose to cryptically answer, earning a silence in the room.
'You are aware that is a grotesque oversimplification.'
'Yes, I know. Shush.'
After a slightly too long pause the President spoke up, her voice was still calm but it seemed her will was ever so shaken after talk of faith, "What are our chances of defeating this Villain?"
Izuku paused for a moment to think, attempting to figure out the best way to explain the essence of Undeath and Godhood to those who know none of magic. "If he were allowed to continue to exist, he would become beyond the reason of the physical world, where no thing of mortal man could threaten him. In a simpler manner of speaking, it would be akin to a character in a story challenging the one who wrote it. It could not be done. Only those outside of the "story" would have the opportunity."
The air was tense around Izuku, as he stared at the President, the one emanating an aura of fear was now himself. "However, if he were destroyed or sealed away somehow before this could happen, life and creation would be saved."
The President sat in silence, it looked as if she was mentally debating with herself before she finally spoke, "How do we stop him and his armies?"
Izuku paused for a moment "Are you familiar with exorcism? The spiritual practice of evicting an area of Evil or Spirits. Similar practices can sever the 'puppet strings' on Undead as it were. Use of silver based weapons is a reliable method, holy symbols carried by one with enough faith also helps. However simply destroying the body with enough brute force works just as well when it comes to weaker Undead. Although, to defeat the Undying King, you would need to attack him at the source, not just his Undead body. Yet, going headlong into his lair is nothing short of a suicide mission."
"So we lose if we wait too long, and we also lose if we rush in. How are we supposed to win?" Hawks asked.
"With patience and preparation. My own power is not yet strong enough to take on one such as him and likely won't be for some time. It would be best to train as many as possible in the methods of Undead destruction. Besides, if he were truly in conquest for a throne atop the world, he would have done so already by attacking much more than Japan. He is amusing himself. To him, Humanity is little more than a fuel source for his own powers, not to be taken seriously. This also gives us the upper hand of attacking harder than he prepared for."
"But, why Japan? Surely other, more densely packed places would be better to raise an army of corpses and religious fanatics?" Hawks asked once more.
"Perhaps it is because I reside here. I am seemingly the only one that he cannot gaze upon using his own abilities. Or perhaps there is something or someone else in Japan that has piqued his interest." Izuku noticed a very slight shift from the President and Nezu with those last few words.
"Can I ask something of you, Warlock?" Nezu asked, speaking for the first time since he had arrived and with that constant underlying cheerfulness that he had heard from interviews involving the animal Principal. "Is there a reason you have not once used the word "Quirk" when describing the Undying King's ability to animate the dead and your own abilities?"
Izuku thought for a moment, "In a few senses the powers of the King and I are one in the same, yet in many more they are vastly different. Quirk's are set in stone while the abilities of myself and the King are free to be altered and warped as is seen fit. Though there are many differences, especially in experience. Another way to explain it is that a Quirk only has the potential to grow from a set point and in a single direction, only one ability growing stronger yet unaltered. Training your own intelligence Quirk enough will not evolve it into something like Hawks', only growing to further your intelligence. Our own abilities have no set start nor end, potential may spring forth from any point and evolve to any other. If you were to give it a name as you would a Quirk, I suppose the name "Magic" would be most fitting."
"I see, thank you. How very intriguing." Nezu said with a smile, the only one who exuded an aura of calm in the sea of intensity formed by Izuku and the president.
"Might I ask a favour," Izuku began, speaking to Nezu before turning to the President, "One from the both of you?"
Before they could answer, the ground shook around them as if a mild earthquake had shook the building. Suddenly the phone that sat next to the President blared and she picked it up in an instant before listening and shouting "What!?" in shock of what she had heard.
She quickly clicked things on her computer as the screen behind her changed to security footage of the building's main entrance, behind the reinforced glass doors that were being held shut by Boruda and several others, was a horde of many undead. Skeletons and Zombies clawed at the reinforced glass as what looked like one of the guards to the HPSC with his head removed and replaced by a misshapen shaped skull banged the doors, leaving more and more cracks with every passing second.
Numerous thoughts rushed through Izuku's head but one struck out most of all and was the most pressing question he had.
'How did they find me!?'
Izuku did not dwell on this question however and while the others had begun to panic and act, he had attempted to tap into the raw magic inside him, feeling it spread through his body and seeping out, blurring the energy within himself and the Ethereal Plane. [Ethereal Jaunt] In an instant his body had felt weightless and the world around him had changed once again.
'Only about 10 seconds, better make the most of them.' He thought, moving his ethereal body through the odd grey environment and through the ceiling of the room he was in, and another, and another. After 6 seconds at full speed he had just managed to reach what he thought was the lobby of the HPSC building, making sure not to land on or inside anything before trying to force himself out of the Ethereal Plane.
He performed the same trick he used to get him into the Plane and forced himself back into the Material Plane. [Ethereal Jaunt] He appeared in thin air with a light popping sound and landed with a slight thud, earning confused glances from the remaining security guards.
Ignoring the sudden shocked expressions from the guards, he watched the undead monsters claw at the glass leaving more and more cracks and an unnaturally large skeletal hand attempt to punch through the glass.
Izuku prepared himself for a battle and grabbed his staff from one pocket and a small pouch out of another, immediately throwing the pouch into the ground as hard as he could, spreading a shiny silver powder across most of the room. He then ran up to the doors and pulled out two glass flasks of what looked to be water, uncorked them and flung as much as possible along the floors and doors while also making sure to sprinkle a small amount on himself and the remaining security guards.
"What the hell are you doing!?" A female guard shouted, panic and genuine confusion present in her voice.
"Trying to make it a little harder for them to kill us...Hopefully." Izuku responded, using the remainder of the water to cover his staff.
"Hopefully!?"
"Holy Water and Silver Powder should destroy the weaker ones, it might just annoy the tough ones though. Speaking of which, some of you should probably go protect the president." Izuku explained, moments before the glass doors shattered and a wave of skeletons and zombies clawed over each other to get through. As some guards ran away he pulled out a match and struck it against his coat, clapping it between his gloved hands.
[Control Flames]
He threw his hands out and with them came a wave of fire, evaporating the holy water on the floor and mixing with the silver powder. The weaker undead had almost all burst into blue flames as their magic was severed, while some others began shooting off blue sparks after the initial explosion. The stronger undead began to close in, crushing the ashes of their fallen comrades without care.
Izuku spun his staff dramatically, casting Control Flames to surround himself in the blue flames. "Alright you undead jerks," He pointed the staff to the hoard of monsters "Let's dance!"
Thank you so much for reading! Leave a review if you like! Feel free to make anything based on this work if you want, as long as you let me know about it so I can enjoy it with you!
Woo! I'm back! I don't have a set schedule though, so just expect wide gaps in update times, sorry about that.
