The party reports back on their quest, and Izuku takes his magic test finally! Introduction of another party, and some new faces starting to interject themselves into the world!

I'm moving to Bi-Weekly chapters for this story, so I can alternate between this and Overcharged and hopefully not burn myself out too quickly. But I hope you guys enjoy!

"...you ran into an Archfey?" Vice Guildmaster Shota asked, blinking rapidly at the trio before him.

"So I believe, although it could have simply been an incredibly powerful one," Tsuyu replied.

"An Archfey…that close to the city…" Shota mused to himself, his voice trailing off as he looked down at his notes. He shook his head. "And it called you Shardling, you said?"

"Yeah. Not sure what that means though," Izuku replied.

"Not a term I've heard before myself, but perhaps someone around the guild may know, you should ask about for that. Now, have you figured out this 'relic' it spoke of?"

Ochako pulled out the hilt she'd been carrying from the Fel Drake quest and set it down with a shrug. "We think it's this? They said it's pre-Storms so, maybe?"

Shota picked it up and examined it carefully, before setting it back down in front of Ochako. "Well, far be it for me to tell you what to do with it, but I'd advise some research on it, if an Archfey took interest in it. That concludes your mission report, however…you," Shota pointed at Izuku with narrowed eyes, the greenette letting out an 'eep' and shrinking away. "You didn't take your magic assessment test. We're doing that right now so you can stop skipping it. Next time you go on a mission without taking a test I assign, you get fined, got it?"

"Y-yes sir!" Izuku squeaked out. Shota sighed, standing up and gesturing to Izuku. "Come along then. We'll use the training courtyard. I'll need to grab a few things, head through that door back there," he pointed behind him to a large red archway along the back wall of the main guild building.

"Can I come with?" Ochako said, tilting her head to the side.

"W-what? Why?" Izuku sputtered.

Ochako shrugged. "I'm curious!"

"I am as well, if that's okay, Izuku?" Tsuyu said, leaning forward over the table to look at her fellow green-haired friend.

"Why are you asking me?"

Shota shrugged. "It's not my business, we don't care who witnesses the tests. It's not exactly a secret. Your call, kid."

Izuku looked down, scrunching his shoulders as a bit of pink tinted his cheeks, but ended up nodding after a moment. "Y-yeah, that'd be fine I guess. I mean, they saw me use it in the field already, right?"

"Yeah yeah. Go, I'll be there in a second," Shota waved the man off, walking behind the counter along the back wall and heading into a back room.

Izuku glanced at his compatriots, the two women gesturing for him to lead the way. He walked along, heading through the archway down a short tunnel into an open courtyard, the cloudy skies above keeping the weather moderately cool. There were only a couple adventurers out there…a tall, blue-haired man in full plate armor who was doing sprints, and another man who had a hood up covering his face, but Izuku caught a glimpse of split-colored hair in crimson red and snow white.

His attention was stolen by Shota walking out of the archway behind him, a case in hand that he set down at his side. He pulled a blue leather glove from it, inlaid with a series of small, staccato buttons along the back of the fingers and a series of copper-like wires running across the palm. A softly glowing green arcane rune was visible in the center of the palm, it flaring for a brief moment as Shota clenched his fist around it. A crystalline rod was next pulled from the case, Shota taking it in the gloved hand and holding it out towards Izuku. "Here. This will confirm your magic specializations."

Izuku shrugged, pulling off his right glove and grabbing the rod in his bare hand. After a few moments, it glowed with a bright green glow, mixed in with a shimmering white and a strange, devouring blackness. The gathered group all blinked at it, Shota's eyes going wide for the first time since he'd seen the trio. He tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"You have three specs…and two are opposing? The hells wrong with you, kid?"

Izuku squirmed for a moment, snapping out of his own shock as he stared at the rod. "W-What? I-I don't though! I've never used anything but Alteration!"

Shota rolled his eyes. "First, you used some type of healing or wound delay magic…that's Creation. Second, the Divining Rod's never wrong. You have Destruction spec magic too."

"...but I've never cast a Destruction spell in my life," Izuku whispered, looking down at his hands.

"Doesn't mean it's not there. You need to figure out what it does. Destruction magic is the most volatile type. Liable to get yourself or someone else hurt if you use it without being prepared. Can't help you figure out the specific spells you have though…For now, let's measure your Alteration spec. It's not too hard. Here, give me the Divining Rod back," Shota said, holding his hand out peremptorily.

Izuku hurried to return it, still a bit rattled. The rod flared as it touched the Vice Guildmaster's hand for a brief moment with the same swirling darkness that had surprised Izuku, before Shota put it back into case. He gestured to Izuku with the gloved hand. "Okay. Use your most common Alteration spell, the one you're most comfortable with."

"Uh…sure. At what percentage?" Izuku asked.

Shota blinked. "...your most common spell has varying levels of percentage in it?"

"Yeah? If I go too high it hurts me. So I stick to like, ten to fifteen percent for most stuff, but I've gone up to forty safely. Anything above that I hurt myself." Ochako and Tsu exchanged a wide-eyed glance, having seen Izuku's magic up close and witnessed how strong and fast he was…and that was at best forty percent?

Shota sighed. "Fine. Go to forty then."

Izuku nodded, clenching his fists and focusing. The familiar green sparks began to light his skin up, a toxic green glow emanating from his eyes. The green rune on Shota's gloved hand began to flare up, small traces of blue-purple arcane energy shimmering across the wiring and buttons. The rune lifted off the glove, hovering in the air, splitting into two, three, four, five circles that spun about each other for a brief moment…before suddenly turning white, and falling back into the glove where the green arcane glow returned.

Shota blinked at it tiredly and sighed. "Of course you have magic that cannot be properly measured. Why wouldn't you? Well that makes it a moot point to try and test your Creation magic either, and you don't even know how to use your Destruction magic so there's that. Explains the Shardling thing, I guess, that must be whatever gives you this type of magic. You sure you're human?"

"Um…I-I guess? I never met my dad, mom didn't really like to talk about him. So I'm just…me. Mom was definitely human though."

Shota nodded. "Well, I doubt you are. I'm really thinking you're part Fey, 'cause we have no problem getting readings from any other species around here, but Fey are tricky. Or you might have a Blessing, or worse, a Curse. I'd check with one of the temples. Either way, we can't measure it. But I'd suggest figuring out your Destruction spec spells before you hurt someone, or yourself."

"Y-yes sir," Izuku murmured, still completely confused by what in the hells was going on. He kept staring at his hands as the green sparks faded from him, clenching and unclenching his fists repeatedly.

Shota sighed. "Kid, it's not that big a deal to not be human, you know."

"O-Oh, no, it's not that part that's bothering me…It's what I don't know," Izuku added quietly. "I don't know anything, it seems. I thought I was normal, back home, but every time I turn around, everyone here is telling me I'm not. Even Ochako and Tsuyu say it's weird I know where enemies are, and I thought that was just…me being good at noticing things!"

"It's a useful skill. I see no reason to be upset that you have it."

Izuku sighed, his shoulders slumping. "Yeah but the lack of knowing why is really bothering me!"

"It's not that big a deal, Izuku! I'm sure we'll figure it out. Maybe it's connected to the relic?" Ochako interjected, a soft smile on her face as she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed to try and give him some comfort.

He looked over at her. Seeing her soft smile, his frustrated expression faded away slightly and he gave her a half-smile back in return. "Y-yeah, you got a point. I'm sure we'll figure it out. Okay. Um, is that all you need, Vice Guildmaster sir?"

Shota was in the process of pulling the glove off, tossing it back in the wooden case and snapping it shut. "Yeah. Can't measure it so not going to do us much good. I'll just put a note in your file and that'll be all. You should go pick up your reward for mission completion too. Do another mission like that and you'll get a rank up, so keep that in mind. Good luck to you." The older man strode past them back into the archway, heading into the Guild itself once more.

Tsuyu patted Izuku on the back. "Well, let's get your payment. We can begin researching that relic once that's sorted."

Izuku and Ochako looked back at her in confusion. "You're going to help us with that?" Izuku asked.

"I said I'd like to stay in a party with you. That's part of what it means to be in a party, we help each other."

Izuku couldn't help the grin that crossed his face, knowing someone was willing to keep working with him. His whole life, it'd been no one but him and his mom, and the first few weeks in the city had been miserable…but now, he had two whole friends!? This was great!

The trio were headed into the guild, now discussing a plan to search out information on the relic. As they exited into the main lobby floor, Izuku heard a voice he hadn't heard in years.

"Izuku!"

Izuku's eyes went wide and his entire body slumped, a loud sigh escaping him. "Oh no."

"I quit," Shota said as he stormed into the guildmaster's office, tossing his notepad onto the desk in front of his boss and collapsing onto the couch along the back wall of the office.

"Denied!" the cheerful voice of the Guildmaster replied to him, one paw reaching out and grabbing the notepad. Flipping it open, the white-furred ratfolk leader of the Last Chance began to peruse the contents, his beady eyes shining with interest as he read over Shota's notes. "Hmm…so the glove couldn't read it?"

"No. He's some sort of Fey bastard or he's blessed/cursed, I don't know which and I don't want to know. That enhancement he can do is insane, Nezu, if the stories his party tells are accurate. And having three specs? That's rare…especially when two are opposing specs. There's something off about this kid."

"That just makes this more interesting!"

Shota groaned, closing his eyes and lying back on the couch. He pulled a pillow over his face to block out the light. "You realize he has no clue what his Destruction magic even does, and he still doesn't know how to use his Creation magic correctly, right?"

"Shota, young adventurer's often don't know how to tap into their full abilities, and while triple specializations are exceedingly rare, it's not unheard of. Why, the Archmage had the full spectrum, and Queen Morrigan is at least middling capable with every specialization!" Nezu proclaimed gleefully.

"...they are exceptions, not the rule, and you know that."

Nezu shrugged, the perpetually exhausted Vice Guildmaster well aware that annoying smile was still plastered to the ratfolk's face. A soft hum from the Guildmaster, a contemplative one, had Shota lifting the pillow just enough to look over at him.

"You know…I've seen this before. Perhaps he does not have three specializations…he may only have one."

Shota blinked in confusion. "The rod-"

"The rod can only read the classifications scholars gave it. However, there are some classifications that are…considered contentious, and rarely used nowadays. Although they did belong to a small class of people back in the day before the Storms." Nezu hopped up from his chair and strode across his desk, his hind claws clacking on the wood as he stood before one of the massive bookcases that flanked his desk. He placed a paw under his chin and scanned over the books, eyes narrowed.

"Aha, there! That should give me a lead!" Nezu leapt off the desk and began to climb the bookcase, Shota making an aborted attempt to get up and help but by the time he got to his feet, the ratfolk Guildmaster had already pulled a book off the shelf nearly as big as he was and dropped down onto his desk. He flipped the book open, humming to himself as he scanned through the pages rapidly, flicking them away as he sought the knowledge he wanted.

After a few minutes, Shota's curiosity could not be contained and he made his way to the desk, looming over the Guildmaster's shoulder to look down at what he was. Nezu smirked after a moment longer, stopping on a page about two-thirds of the way through the book and pointing down at a word written in bold with a description beneath it. Shota blinked, leaning forward closer to read over what Nezu pointed at, before he sighed deeply.

"Of course the kid has that. I quit, again."

"Denied, again."

"Shit."

Ochako's eye twitched. This…this…this blonde barbarian was in Izuku's face just shouting, over and over, nearly screaming as he gesticulated wildly. Small flashes of orange pops appeared in his hands as he went off, his speech so loud and annoying she couldn't even tell what he was trying to say. Behind him, a red-haired man stood, clad in an open vest that showcased his muscular chest, with a sharp-toothed nervous grin as he tried to hold the blonde man back. A dark-haired man with a whip attached to his belt sighed deeply, shaking his head, as a yellow-haired half-elf with a streak of black in his hair kept holding up a hand to stop the yelling but shrinking back before actually speaking.

Rounding out the strange troupe before them was a pink-skinned, pink-haired woman with a pair of horns spiraling out of her head. At first, Ochako thought she might be a tiefling, but then she noticed the soft, gossamer wings on her back and realized she was either some type of sylph or perhaps a moth-person of some kind. Wasn't entirely sure, but either way, she just looked exasperated at the blonde, who had by now pulled out a cutlass and was jabbing it towards Izuku's chest.

That was the last straw. Izuku had just stood there, staring at the blonde with a blank expression, nodding along occasionally, but this was enough. Ochako didn't know how they knew each other, but she was not about to watch Izuku get treated like this in front of her!

She stepped forward, reaching out with one hand and grabbing the blonde's wrist, shoving it and the sword away from Izuku with a flare of pink energy. She frowned at the man, crossing her arms over her chest as she took a step to stand protectively in front of her friend, the green-haired man blinking at her in shock.

"Leave Izuku alone ya jerk!" She hissed, narrowing her eyes at him.

"The fuck you think you're doing? This is between me and Izuku!" the blonde growled back, stomping towards her.

"Ooookay, Katsuki, I think this is going a bit far there," the red-haired man said, his nervous smile growing wider. He reached out and grabbed the now identified Katsuki by the arm, trying to hold him back.

"I don' care what yer problem is with 'im, there's no reason to be jabbin' a sword at 'im!" Ochako shot back, her accent slipping as she ignored the red-head.

"I wasn't gonna hurt the weakling, I was making a fucking point!"

"Yes well, you can take your point and be off with it, we have no business with you," Tsuyu hissed, coming up to flank Izuku on the other side.

"Fuck off! I got words to say to Izuku! He shouldn't be here!"

"Pardon the intrusion, but I find your words too unconscionable to deal with any longer," a voice called from behind the trio, all present looking back to the source. Ochako's eyes went wide as she noted the one speaking was the blue-haired armored adventurer from earlier, the much taller man pushing a small pair of glasses up his nose as he spoke. He held one hand up and chopped it in the air, speaking in a firm tone of voice. "I have seen this man around and he most assuredly belongs here as a fellow adventurer. Just last week, he and this smith took down a Fel Drake all by themselves, a feat worthy of any of us! So whatever your issue with him is, he absolutely belongs here and I will not hear more defamatory remarks towards him!"

"The fuck you care for? This isn't your business either!" Katsuki snarled, his red eyes locked onto the blank-faced Izuku. The greenette hadn't moved, hadn't really reacted, just stood there staring at the blonde with a carefully crafted air of nonchalance.

"You have made it my business by shouting in the midst of the Guild Hall! There is no reason for you to continue acting in such a boorish manner!"

"Shove it up your ass! Izuku isn't freaking out like the rest of you are, he knows what I'm about!" the blonde snapped back, glaring at the trio.

"It's alright, Ochako, Tsuyu. And thank you for stepping in, sir, but I'm fine," Izuku said softly. "Katsuki and I have known each other since we were children. His family traveled past my home a lot. This is just how he is."

"The fuck's that supposed to mean, asshole?"

Ochako bristled once more, clenching her fists and taking an aborted step forward, only halted by the feeling of Izuku's hand slipping into her own and pulling her back. She flushed for a brief second at the feeling of his palm meeting hers, but felt all her worries come back to the surface as she felt the tremor in his hand. She tried to squeeze it reassuringly, and was both comforted and concerned further when he squeezed back extremely tightly, almost to the point of pain, yet his facial expression did not change. After a brief second, he released her hand when she made no further movements forward.

"What do you want, Katsuki?" Izuku spoke, his tone still soft and carefully emotionless.

"I wanted to know why the fuck you're even here, Izuku! You don't have the strength to be here! Why aren't you back helping Auntie with her farm and shit?"

"Mom was happy for me to come here and try to become an adventurer. She's managing just fine. She hired some help since I left, and I'm sending back most of my earnings anyways. If there was a problem, she'd tell me."

Ochako jolted for a second, her gaze widening as she heard Izuku talk about sending money home…the same thing she'd been doing as well. A bit of a smile crossed her face as she realized they really did have a lot in common, it seemed. The small joy she'd felt vanished a second later the moment the blonde opened his mouth again.

"That's fucking stupid, she'd keep her mouth shut and you know it. You're too weak to be here! So why don't you get back home?"

"I'm ranked C here, Katsuki. I earned my place, and I am not leaving," Izuku replied back, his eyes narrowing slightly.

The blonde laughed. "You? C? Of course that'd be your rank. Pathetic. I'm nearly A and I'll be the best adventurer yet!"

"Cocky little prick," Ochako muttered, but the blonde heard her, glaring at her.

"What'd you say?"

"You heard me."

Katsuki got in her face, his hand gripping his sword tightly. "You wanna go? I'll kick your ass and Izuku's!"

"Enough!" the clearly pissed voice of Shota roared out, making everyone stop in their tracks. He strode up to the two groups, glaring at everyone involved. "This is unacceptable behavior in the Guild Hall. You treat other adventurers with respect, or you get the hells out of my Hall. Understood?"

"Tch. Whatever. Stick to what you're good at, Izuku…staying out of my way," Katsuki snarled, turning around and walking back through what Ochako assumed was his party. Shota sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he returned to the desk, assuming the drama was over finally. The red-head gave them an apologetic smile.

"I'm so sorry about him, he's rough around the edges but not normally like that!"

"...no, he's very much like that around me," Izuku muttered in a voice as dejected as Ochako had heard from him yet. After a moment, Izuku sighed and shook his head. "But it's fine. It's fine. Sorry that he noticed me."

"Oh no, you shouldn't apologize!" the red-head hurriedly, waving his hands rapidly in front of him. He shook his head. "Anyways, hi! I'm Eijiro Kirishima!"

"Izuku Midoriya," the greenette replied, taking the offered hand and shaking it with a smile.

"You know Katsuki?" The moth girl asked, her head tilted to the side as she gazed at Izuku with shimmering black eyes.

Izuku shrugged. "Like I said earlier, we met as kids. His mother and mine are good friends, so they stopped by any time they passed our area."

"Still seems like a jackass," Ochako said, crossing her arms over her chest with a huff.

"Yes, his behavior was most unacceptable," the blue-haired man behind them said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Ah, but I failed to introduce myself properly! I am Tenya Ida, of the noble lineage of Idaten! It is a pleasure to make your acquaintances!"

"Ochako Uraraka. I'm a smith and part-time adventurer with this bane of swords everywhere," Ochako said, jerking her thumb towards Izuku who shot her a playful glare in response.

"You can call me Mina Ashido!" the moth-girl exclaimed with a wide grin.

"Yo, I'm Hanta Sero. I do a bit of leatherworking on the side, but mostly I stick to traveling with these guys," the dark-haired man in the back said, holding one hand up in greeting.

"Denki Kaminari! Short, sweet, and a hit with the ladies, am I right?" the blonde grinned.

"In your dreams," Hanta shot back with a wry smile, the two starting to playfully shove each other.

"I'm Tsuyu Asui. I run an herbalist's shop, but I'm also an adventurer when I have time."

Mina rushed over, clasping her hands before her face. "Oh, where's your shop? I totally need some stuff! Denki does most of our healing, but he's kinda limited."

Denki rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, Creation isn't my strong suit, I'm more Elemental. Mina has a really strong Creation spec, but it's only in stuff that hurts people."

"Hey! My acids and poisons have saved us a buncha times, mister!"

"It wasn't a complaint!" Denki replied, holding up his hands defensively.

Izuku giggled a bit, the sound making Ochako feel much better as it seemed like he'd relaxed a little bit. "It's okay, none of us are really great at healing magic either. But Tsu's potions are awesome."

"That'd be super helpful! We haven't figured out which shop to focus on, and a lot of them just don't get what we're asking for," Eijiro explained.

Tsuyu smiled. "I can handle whatever you need."

As Katsuki's party began crowding around Tsuyu to speak to her about her business, the blonde one identified as Denki approached Ochako. "Hey, you do smithing work, you said?" he asked her, running a hand through his hair and smiling at her.

"Hmm?" she asked distractedly, glancing over at Izuku who had taken a few steps away and seemed to be breathing deeply, eyes closed.

"Yeah, I uh, am in the market for a new weapon? Maybe a knife or a crossbow or something?" he asked her, leaning in a bit closer.

She shook her head, turning her attention back to him. "Oh, uh…yeah, I can do that. Got any more details? I got a bunch of stuff premade but if you want something special I'll have ta give you a time frame."

"Maybe we can talk about it over drinks or something?" He asked, smile wide and delivered with a wink.

"Um, I'll have to get back to you on that or somethin'. Here," she said distractedly, handing him a small card with the location of her shop on it. "Sorry, I gotta check somethin'," she added, stepping away from him and coming up behind Izuku. She didn't notice Mina and Hanta throwing their arms over Denki's shoulders, chuckling at him for his failed pickup attempt.

Ochako gently placed her hand on Izuku's shoulder, making the green-haired man jolt for a second and turn to look at her. "Huh what?"

"Are you alright?" she asked softly.

He gave a little shake of his head, letting out a breath. Rubbing his face with his hands, he nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

He nodded once more. "Yeah. Katsuki's just…Katsuki," he sighed.

"Seems like 'just Katsuki' is 'just a prick'," she muttered.

He let out a half-snort half chuckle at that. "Well…you're not wrong."

Ochako studied how closed off he seemed, how hunched over he was. It bothered her, a lot, but she also didn't think he really wanted to talk about it. Some sixth sense telling her he just wanted to let it go for now…so for now, she would. She squeezed his shoulder gently, as if to remind him she was there, and gave him a bright smile when he turned to glance over at her once more. He smiled back, and though it looked at best a half-smile, she'd take it. She glanced back at Tsuyu. "Maybe we should get started on that research for the relic? Tsu seems like she'll be busy for a while."

"Yeah…yeah, that sounds good. I uh, I know where the library is, we can go check and see if they have anything?"

"Of course a nerd like you knows where the library is," she said, snickering at the mock offended look on his face. He couldn't hold it in and let out a reply giggle, gently shoving her with his hip.

"Laugh it up, my nerd knowledge keeps us going!"

"I know Izuku, I know. Let's let Tsu know and hit them books!" The little gleam of light that had been missing from him seemed to return, a brief glimmer of hope returning after whatever that stuff with Katsuki had been. Ochako couldn't help but feel a warmth in her chest seeing that. She didn't like her friend being as down as he seemed to be, so she was very glad she could help bring him back up. Maybe a day spent in the library wasn't her favorite pastime, but if it was with him…she could get used to it.