Leisurely moving through the deserted wasteland that was his dungeon, Asahi showed a small smirk as he swung the blade in his hand, beheading a zombie that got close.
Sword Mastery has leveled up
He was satisfied yet annoyed by the notification that popped up. With the game store now unlocked, he was finally able to buy a sword to level up [Sword Mastery].
With how weak the zombies in dungeon now were, he had basically used them to level up his skill rather than his actual level. The five level ups that he had managed to squeeze in despite grinding this place for two weeks with minimal breaks.
The only upside was that [Sword Mastery] was now at level 40. The zombies were unable to fight back, hence the reason it took so long to level the skill.
He had also focused on leveling [Alchemy] during these two weeks, the skill now at level 34 due to sheer hard work. He had chosen [Gardener] as his profession to reduce his general cost of acquiring ingredients.
Just as he cut down another zombie, he stopped as he sighted something in the distance. 'Is that a door?' He thought in confusion as he made his way towards the door that was seemingly floating in mid air.
Level 40 Recommended
Do you want to continue?
He raised a brow at that. 'I'm fifteen levels above that. More importantly, a separate area in the dungeon. Could it be a boss?'
'This should be easy enough.' He thought as he accepted, opening the door. The fact that he was above the recommended level was what gave him this confidence.
As soon as the door opened, he was bathed in a flash of light. Quickly looking around, he didn't see any difference. He was still in the same wasteland.
'Wait a minute. The corpses have disappeared.' He thought, noting the absence of the zombies he had killed not long ago.
Suddenly, he felt an oppressive pressure filter into the air, attempting to push down on him which caused him to raise a brow as he shrugged it off.
'Now I see why there was a warning, though it's useless in this situation.' He thought, his grip firm on the handle of the blade in his hand as a figure made itself known.
A bulky figure with muscles that rivaled All Might's figure but held much less power. Its rotting body still identified him as a zombie, his right hand holding a large axe.
'I was right, this is the boss right here.' Asahi thought, brandishing the sword in his hand and activating his newest skill.
[Fire Infusion](Level 7/10)
Coat your weapon with fire, raising its penetration power and dealing fire damage.
Cost: 200 MP per minute
A layer of fire covered the blade as the zombie boss trudged towards him. Without giving it a chance, he dashed forward, slashing at its chest. The smell of burning rotten flesh wafted through the air as its skin caught fire.
It released a groan of anger, seemingly not caring about the fact that it was on fire as it swung its axe at him.
He ducked under the swing, pushing his palm forward as blast of air shot out of it, pushing the zombie back a few meters on its back.
He let out a smirk as he recalled his gains upon assimilating the gnosis.
[Sacred Wind Manipulation](Level N/A)
You are able to create, shape and manipulate the forces of wind to your whim, creating tornadoes, whirlwinds and hurricanes with but a thought.
Unlike what he expected, it didn't have a level measurement. Its full abilities were open for him to use and figure out in his own. He also gained a perk from it.
[Blessed By Celestia]
You carry the symbol of the Archons within your body at all times. A boon granted to those who are destined to ascend.
Increase elemental damage by 150%
Frankly, it was the best perk right below [Geass]. He had been playing with [Sacred Wind Manipulation] in coordination with [Fire Magic Mastery] to greatly increase its power.
Elemental Mastery for the win.
The fire on the blade, grew intense as he saw the zombie get to his feet. He readied himself to dash only to pause for a moment, dismissing the flames.
'On second thought, this could be the opportunity I need.' He initially wanted to end it quickly but halted that thought. This was the perfect chance to level up [Sword Mastery] with an opponent that fought back.
He shot forward, intentionally slowing his speed to match the zombie's, his sword meeting the axe midway as it aimed for his head.
Drawing its axe back, it struck again, putting all its power into the slash. Tilting his blade, he easily parried it to the side, spinning in place and slashing at the zombie's side.
He continued this, keeping his movements just on par with his opponent's to maximize his gains. This went on for a few more minutes with no sign of the skill leveling up.
'This is getting nowhere.' He thought, scowling as jumped forward in irritation. A thin layer of wind coated the blade, allowing it to easily cut through the undead boss's weapon wielding arm.
It swung its other limb in retaliation only for it to meet the same fate. It let out a loud and enraged groan as the sword aimed for his neck, cutting through it without resistance.
You have leveled up
Sword Mastery has leveled up
You have cleared the Zombie dungeon
You have unlocked Horde mode
You have unlocked Goblin dungeon
Rewards have been distributed
You have received 1 Gacha Token
You have received 1000 credits
You have gained Ring of Invisibility
You have gained a perk
[Undead Slayer]
Increases damage dealt to undead opponents by 50%.
He smirked at the rewards before leaving the dungeon with some measure of satisfaction. He appeared back in his room, taking a seat at the edge of his bed.
His eyes spotted a small cylindrical device on his table, reminding him of the acceptance letter he received from U.A. It had come in a few days ago and he didn't even need to open it to know that he passed.
He had to say that U.A wasn't exactly fair when it came to grading the points.
- A Week Ago -
In a room filled with multiple computers and multiple large screens, a handful of heroes gathered as they deliberated over the results of the practical examination.
"The cumulative results for the practical exams are out!" A male voice announced as they looked at the large screen in front of them that displayed said results.
"130?! This is...!"
"That's got to be a new record!"
"I can't believe he got that many. Even without rescue points, he's still far ahead of second place." A female hero said as they looked at the name at the top of the list.
Asahi Shinjiro: [Villain Points: 110] [Rescue Points: 20]
"That's crazy!" Right below the name was 'Katsuki Bakugo' with 77 villain points and zero rescue points.
"The faux villains acquire their targets and draw near them. In the second half, as others were slowing down, he made good use of his quirk to draw them near and take them out, sometimes even taking them out from afar. It's a result of creativity." A male explained as the woman drew his attention to another candidate.
"In contrast, there's the 8th place student with zero villain points and 60 rescue points." She commented as the man took over again.
"There have been other examinees who took on the large villain in the past, but it's been a while since I've seen it get blown away like that." The man said, his voice getting excited.
"But to suffer such a serious injury from his own attack...it's like he's a young child whose quirk just manifested." Another male pointed out as a figure stood at the back of the room with his back leaned against the wall.
He stared at the name in the first place position with narrowed eyes. 'Asahi Shinjiro, I can already feel the headache he's going to be.'
- Asahi -
The first day of U.A couldn't come any sooner for Asahi. He leisurely walked into the grand building, his attention on his stats. He had made some adjustments, allocating a fair share of points to a few stats.
Name - Asahi Shinjiro
Level - 57
Race - Human
Profession - Gardener
Hp - 6,250 [250 per minute]
Mp- 17,000 [260 per 30 seconds]
Str - 102
Vit - 125
Dex - 160
Int - 170
Wis- 130
Cha - 135
Points - 34
Most people would want to create a balance stat sheet in an attempt to have options when facing an opponent but in his opinion that only made them weaker than if they focused on specific stats.
Attempting to balance it out would make one a jack of all trade and master of none with nothing special to them.
His stats of focus were obvious, Int and Dex. 100 Str was already comparable to a decent strength enhancement Quirk. Raising it to be as strong as one of the powerful ones will take much more stat points than he could waste at the moment, therefore opting to go for speed.
Fire power wasn't a problem with his flames and wind. Investing in Str so early would make him a tank that could be outmaneuvered if the enemy was fast enough but investing in Dex would take off most of the pressure.
Elemental attacks for offense and speed for maneuverability. The perfect combo for the moment. He also preferred dodging hits than taking them head on. Even with that, he still kept a few stat points in case of emergencies.
He had tested how fast he was after the allocation and was pleasantly surprised. In simple terms, he was fast...really fast. Not speedster fast but fast all the same.
Looking away from his stats, he found himself in front of a large door with '1-A' inscribed on it. He couldn't help but raise a brow at the fact that the door was over three times his height.
'Are there even people that tall.' He was a decent 5 foot 7 inches but the door was simply ridiculous. Not putting any more thought to it, he slid the door open as all eyes turned to the new arrival.
His eyes quickly swept the room, finding the faces to be accurate from what he remembered. As he entered the room, he made eye contact with a certain purple haired girl causing her to quickly look away.
'Charisma is a dangerous stat.' He thought as he moved to an empty chair he saw at the back corner of the class. The class was already mostly filled with the exception of three empty chairs, one of which he would now fill.
He sighted Bakugo looking at him with a condescending look on his face. Glancing at the boy for a second, he didn't stop walking as he ignored him, moving to the empty seat that was coincidentally two seats behind him.
He didn't notice how the blond haired boy froze at the casual dismissal. Surprisingly, the class was mostly quiet with the exception of a few of them making small talk with each other.
It wasn't surprising that he wasn't acquainted with anyone in the class seeing as how he dropped out of middle school long ago. It was a wonder his application was even accepted.
'Probably due to fact that I'm the son of two dead heroes, though that's unlikely.' He thought as he closed his eyes a bit to rest.
He didn't know how long or how he even fell asleep in the first place. He rarely slept since he woke up in this world so he was more than surprised when he felt himself being shaken by his shoulder.
Adjusting his glasses on his face, his eyes focused on the purple haired girl that stood beside him, a shy look surfacing on her face as his stare landed on her.
"M-Mr Aizawa wants us to go to the field. I n-noticed you fell asleep s-so I..." her words began jumbling up as she rambled out what she wanted to say only to quickly stop in embarrassment when she realized that she was talking too much.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." He said, saving her the feeling of embarrassment.
"Right." She nodded before quickly making her way out of the class.
Looking around, he noticed that there were only a handful of people still in the class and were leaving at the moment after collecting a tracksuit from Aizawa who was standing at the door.
'It seems like I missed quite a few things.' He thought as he got to his feet, leaving the class and taking a tracksuit on his way out, quickly noticing the minute narrowing of Aizawa's eyes before they returned to normal.
'Hmmm...interesting.'
It didn't take them time to change into the U.A. tracksuit and assemble themselves on the field with Aizawa in front of them.
"Now that you're all here, we're going to have a quirk assessment test." He announced in his usual lazy manner, shocking the students.
"Quirk assessment test?!" They couldn't help but echo in shock minus Asahi.
"What about the entrance ceremony? The orientation?" A petite brown haired girl asked in confusion.
"If you're going to become a hero, you don't have time for such leisurely events." The pro hero said, causing murmurs among the students. "U.A.'s selling point is how unrestricted its school traditions are. That's also how the teachers run their classes."
He then turned to face them. "You kids have been doing these since junior high too, right? Physical fitness tests where you weren't allowed to use your quirks." He said, holding up a device that showed the list of test they were going to be performing.
"The country still uses averages taken from students not using their quirks. It's not rational. Well, the ministry of education is procrastinating." He ranted a bit before turning to Asahi whose expression hadn't so much as twitched so far.
"Asahi, you finished at the top of the practical exam, right?" Aizawa spike causing the eyes of the students to turn to him.
A certain blond haired boy glared murderously at him. 'So it was him! How dare this extra score higher than me?!'
"In junior high, what was your best result for the softball throw?" Aizawa asked the black haired boy who shook his head.
"I never participated." 'Because I dropped out.' The last part was left unsaid but his answer still surprised the man but he didn't question it other a raised brow.
"Never mind that. Try doing it with your quirk." He said, giving the boy a softball that he got from...somewhere.
Tossing the ball in his hand lightly, he walked to the center of the circle drawn on the floor.
"You can do whatever you want as long as you stay working the circle." Aizawa explained.
'How do I go about this? [Fire Burst] works exactly like Bakugo's quirk without the need for nitroglycerin. I guess I'll use that.' He thought as he gripped the ball firmly.
"Hurry up. Give it all you've got." Aizawa reminded, noticing how he was deep in thought.
"I understand..." Asahi muttered lowly as he wound his arm back.
He took a shallow breath as he swung forward, using [Fire Burst] at the point of release, an explosion occurring from his palm as the ball was sent flying into the distance with a trail of fire behind it.
"Know your own maximum first." The device in Aizawa's hand beeped as he turned to the remaining students. "That is the most rational way to form the foundation of a hero." He said, raising it for them to see.
"952 meters? Seriously?" One of them asked as they let out sounds of shock and awe.
"What's this? It looks fun!"
"We can use our quirks as much as we want! As expected from the hero course!"
Their excitement was cut short by Aizawa's muttering. "It looks fun, huh?" He muttered, causing them to pause as Asahi sighed.
'That was close. I almost used my full strength.' He thought as he flexed his wrist. With his strength stat so high, he had initially intended on using about half of his actual physical strength but he was too tempted to see the look of horror on Bakugo's face when he realized that he scored higher than him.
While Aizawa went on a small rant, Asahi took the time to check out his remaining classmates. He had fallen asleep previously and missed the chance.
Glancing at their faces, he only noticed one thing different. 'Mineta isn't here. Did I replace him? That's the only logical explanation. Oh well, it's not like he was important either way.' He thought, throwing the thoughts about the short boy out of his mind.
"Alright. Whoever comes in last place in all eight tests will be judged to have no potential and will be punished with expulsion." Aizawa threatened with a cruel smirk on his face, causing the students to scream in shock.
"Expulsion!?"
"That's not fair!"
Asahi noted the look of utter devastation on Midoriya's face. 'It seems that even in this timeline, he still can't control it. That's no problem, it'll make my work much easier.' He thought as a screen appeared in front of him.
New Quest!
[Expulsion?]
Objective: Get the top spot in the Quirk assessment test.
Rewards: EXP, 500 Credits, Perk
'That's more than enough motivation.' He thought, already getting impatient for the test to begin. Perks were helpful ninety percent of the time so it was no shock that he wanted to get it.
He watched as Uraraka complained about unfairness only to be shot down by Aizawa's cold logic and a slightly motivating speech that simply flew into one ear and out the other.
His speech seemed to work as some of them looked pumped and ready to start.
"All right, demonstration's over. The real thing starts now."
- Test 1: 50 meter dash -
They were gathered around the track as they were paired in groups of two, the first pair being Iida and Tsuyu. A small machine(?) was placed at the end of the track with an installed camera to accurately measure the time spent.
"On your mark..." a robotic voice came from it as the two readied themselves. "Get set..." *Bang!*
The sound of a gun being shot signified the start of the race as they shot forward, Iida speeding ahead of Tsuyu to the finish line.
"3.04 seconds." It announced as Tsuyu then came hopping past the line. "5.58 seconds."
The next pair went on but their speed didn't come close to Iida's own. Very soon, it was Asahi's turn. He glanced at the blond haired boy who he was paired with. The boy who was currently glaring at him.
"On your mark...Get set..." Asahi didn't bother to fall into a running stance like Bakugo did, simply facing his palms behind him.
*Bang!*
At the signal, he activated [Jet Propulsion] on his feet which caused him to quickly shoot forward, leaving Bakugo in the dust. To add insult to injury, he used [Fire Burst] at the same time, increasing his momentum.
"3.12 seconds." A full second later, Bakugo passed the finish line. "4.13 seconds."
A look of rage appeared on his face as he grit his teeth, glaring at Asahi who simply walked away from him.
- Test 2: Grip Strength -
Holding the device in his hand, he briefly contemplated how much strength was appropriate to use. While he wanted to simply use his full power, he had to remind himself the reason he shouldn't.
He squeezed the handle of the device with a deliberate amount of strength, causing it to beep.
Raising it to face level, he looked at his score. The device read 62kg. 'Not too bad and not too high.'
- Test 3: Standing Long Jump -
He simply used [Jet Propulsion] to literally fly over it.
- Test 4: Ball throw -
- Test 5: Repeated side step -
- Test 6: Sit-ups -
- Test 7: Seated toe-touch -
- Test 8: Long distance run -
...
- Later -
Other than the repeated side steps, everything else was almost frustratingly easy. He already performed the ball throw, exempting him from repeating it.
Though, it was funny to see the horrified and vengeful look that Bakugo had given him. He couldn't seem to accept the fact that he scored below both Asahi and Midoriya, not that he could have done anything to them with Aizawa present.
He made an attempt which ended with him being tied in capture tape and his Quirk temporarily erased. The boy had yet to stop glaring at him till now.
"Okay, I'll quickly tell you the results. The total is simply the marks you got from each test." He explained with the same lack of energy he had displayed so far.
"It's a waste of time to explain verbally, so I'll show you the results at once." He said as he pressed a button on the device in his hand, a holographic screen appearing in the air.
Asahi quickly spotted his name in first place, followed by Momo, Todoroki and Bakugo coming in fourth. From the corner of his eye, he saw the defeated look on Izuku's face.
He was tempted to use [Geass] on Aizawa to expel him just to see what would happen. Let it be known that Asahi wasn't a good person and he knew that.
He wasn't in U.A. because of something as childish as being a hero. He simply chose the best route to survival.
Class 1-A was constantly at the center of every main villain event. Coming in contact with these villains would gain more opportunities to level up and gain more skills and rewards.
It could be argued that this could be done in the dungeon without coming to U.A. That would be true but it would take much more time than this would. There was also the fact that being a student here granted him some level of leeway and protection until he was strong enough.
Strong enough to do as he pleased. He already lived an unfulfilled life once, this time things would be different.
Quest Completed!
[Expulsion?]
Objective: Get the top spot in the Quirk assessment test.
Rewards: EXP, 500 Credits, Perk
'Oh now you appear.'
You have gained a Perk
[Flexible]
Practice makes perfect.
You are able to easily bend, twist and move your body in surprising and almost abnormal ways.
' I'm not complaining. Not too overpowered but still useful.' He thought as Aizawa spoke up.
"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion." His statement caused the students to freeze in shock as a crazed grin appeared on his face.
"It was a rational deception to draw out the upper limits of your Quirks." He explained causing some of them, particularly Midoriya, to scream in shock.
"Of course that was a lie. It should have been obvious if you thought it through." A girl he identified as Momo said in slight exasperation as Asahi shook his head.
'That's what you think. This guy was really ready to expel him had it not been for that stunt he pulled.' Asahi thought as they began calming down.
"There are handouts with the curriculum and such in the classroom so when you get back, look over them." Aizawa said as he left, going to who knows where but not before giving Midoriya a slip to go to the nurse.
"Hey! You damn extra!" A familiar enraged voice called out, drawing their attention to a furious Bakugo.
The target of his shout, Asahi, simply glanced at him before leaving the field to change back, not bothering to deal with the annoying boy.
"Get back here!" Bakugo screamed, explosion going off in his palms as he shot forward at Asahi. Before he got to him, the explosion stopped occurring as his body was immediately wrapped in white tape.
"This..!"
Asahi turned to see Aizawa giving a Bakugo a stern look, his quirk active as he erased the boy's own.
"Bakugo, this is the second time I'll warn you. There won't be a third. Those who can't control themselves cannot be put in charge of others lives. It's simply not rational." Aizawa said, his threat clear to the boy.
Bakugo could only watch as Asahi quietly left the field. Their interaction was witnessed by the rest of the class who watched in silence.
After changing, Asahi quickly made his way out of the school building, suppressing the smirk that threatened to emerge.
'Impulsive people are always the easiest to rile up. Ignore their taunts and threats only makes them angrier. I wonder how much I can push this...' he thought, a cruel glint passing his eye as he headed to the train station.