Chapter 1 : The road paved with (endless effort) (the ruins of those who fell short)

UA's entrance exam looms large for Midoriya and his new friend.

((Italicized dialogue indicates a language that isn't Japanese is being spoken.))

"Hm. Perhaps. There are a lot of applications for that sort of quirk but I worry about his defensive capabilities."

"With a good support team he should be able to overcome that sort of thing!" Midoriya responded happily.

It had been about a week since he had been saved by one Nathan Relnor and in that week Midoriya had discovered many things about him. But the most important thing he'd discovered was that Nathan enjoyed Quirk analysis just as much as he did!

Well, perhaps enjoyed was not the proper word for it.

Nathan proved to be an excellent partner for that kind of discussion but it was difficult to tell from his tone if he actually enjoyed it. His observations were razor sharp and he was able to determine potential shortfalls of quirks almost immediately, but it felt like that ability had come from somewhere other than fascination with quirks.

Usually you focused on your own Quirk if you had one, so that kind of thinking was somewhat uncommon in today's world.

Since Nathan had a Quirk of his own Midoriya was surprised he'd devoted any time to picking apart other people's Quirks.

"A good support team would be essential. I wonder if he's limited to the types of lumber he produces. If he could vary it up or perhaps even petrify parts of himself he'd be able to increase his defensive options by quite a bit simply by varying the density of his extensions."

They were speaking over the phone while Midoriya poured over some of his homework.

Midoriya sighed. He wished he could just ask pro heroes about their quirks directly. Maybe one day after he got into UA…

"By the way. Your Quirk. I know you said you have some kind of super strength but have you ever taken martial arts classes?"

"Oh. No? I uh… My quirk is a little volatile so I've never thought to train it like that-"

"No no no. I mean. Just regular classes without using your quirk. Enough power can overwhelm even skilled fighters but even a hint of skill of your own will give you an edge."

Midoriya pondered on it. It wasn't like what Nathan was saying was wrong. Maybe he'd look into joining a dojo after he finished All Might's workout routine.

"I know a few people who could give you some quick pointers before the entrance exam. I'm pretty sure they're more than a little bored out of their mind right now," A soft chuckle sounded from the other end of the phone.

"Do you!? That would be amazing!"

Even if he could only get one or two sessions, having some fundamental building blocks was probably better than just mimicking what he's seen All Might do on broadcasts.

Seeing and doing were two very different things after all.

"I'll poke around here a little and get back to you tomorrow. Just let me know when you're free next."

"Will do! Oh! Relnor-san!"

"Hm?"

In his excitement Midoriya had almost forgotten to ask his new friend something that had been weighing on his mind.

"Have you thought about it anymore? Applying to UA?"

"Ah. Well. I guess I might. Between you and Sherlock it's starting to become appealing just to stop hearing about it."

Midoriya could not control the excited squeal he made. He covered his mouth with both hands and looked at the phone sitting on his desk hoping his stare could erase the last two seconds from existence.

Nathan for his part just laughed.

"If you're that excited about the idea of me being there then I guess I have to go now."

If Nathan applied as well then Midoriya would have at least one friend at UA.

Due to Bakugo's constant bullying Midoriya had spent most of his recent school life as a loner.

Truth be told Nathan was the first real friend he'd made in years.

To have him be a part of his journey to UA was an immeasurable relief for some reason.

"Well- I- You don't- if you don't want to-"

"Hahaha! You don't get to back out after you've grabbed victory with both hands. I'm doing this for myself too so don't get too twisted up about it."

There was something about the tone with which he spoke that said otherwise but Midoriya decided not to press the issue. Even with that verbal commitment Nathan was probably still not entirely sold on the idea.

Despite acting like a hero when they first met Nathan did not entirely seem interested in pursuing it as a career path. He'd told Midoriya simply that he was just too tired to want to go into heroics.

His stated desire was a little at odds with jumping straight into a villain fight to save someone's life but Midoriya got the impression that there was some kind of internal conflict going on there.

A loud crash sounded from Nathan's end of the line.

"HELLO OUR NUMBER ONE RETAINER WE HAVE COME BEARING MORE GIFTS FROM AMAZONESS!"

"WOULD IT KILL YOU TO KNOCK AT LEAST ONCE IN YOUR ETERNAL MOTH LIFE!?"

A series of crashes followed.

Midoriya's stare bored into his phone in the vain hope that it would allow him to see exactly what was going on over there.

"PLAY PLAY PLAY!"

"WHY DID YOU BRING ALL OF THE KIDS WITH YOU!?"

"THEY INSISTED!"

Nathan screamed as a cacophony of young voices began overtaking him.

A sharp click indicated the end of the call.

"... I wonder how big his family actually is?" Midoriya said to himself quietly. Maybe he'd have to ask Nathan later. For now he needed to finish his homework.

Days later Midoriya stood at the Takoba Municipal Beach Park. He was less than a month away from his deadline and yet he still had so much work to get done.

He couldn't fail here. He wouldn't…

"Yo."

That voice startled him out of his thoughts. Midoriya turned and saw Nathan Relnor standing amid the last large pile of wreckage.

"I guess this is a good way to train your body physically… It's strength but there's no direction. No wonder your Quirk is difficult for you to handle."

It was strange hearing those words flow so casually out of Nathan Relnor. He was such an unassuming presence, but Midoriya knew he spoke from experience.

His body was toned, more so than his own even after being on All Might's plan for nine months. The loose UA branded t-shirt he wore hid his muscles well, all except for his left arm. As for that left arm… It was covered in scars. Midoriya couldn't even begin to count them, much less start trying to figure out where they had all come from.

It was unsettling to say the least.

Midoriya's eyes traveled down and for the first time he noticed Nathan's left leg was covered in scales starting just below his knee.

"Wh-When did you get here Relnor-san? I didn't even hear you!"

"A bit ago, you were off in your own little world so I decided not to bother you for a little bit," he said before jumping down from the refuse pile to be on the same level as Midoriya. "Managed to talk one of my martial arts instructors into coming with me today. Hope you two get along!"

"O-Oh! Thank you so much!" Midoriya bowed multiple times before starting to look around the area, "um… Relnor-san? Where are they?"

"Right here."

A fist connected with Midoriya's sternum sending him stumbling back.

It felt like he'd been slammed by a hurricane force wind but for some reason his body felt no pain.

He looked up to Nathan, stunned by the unprovoked attack.

"Yan Qing."

Midoriya turned his gaze to his right only to find something that sent him reeling almost as much as that attack had.

Nathan Relnor stood with his arms crossed wearing his usual black collared shirt and long grey pants.

"Sorry sorry!" The UA shirted Nathan said, holding his hands up and backing away, "I couldn't resist. I jus' wanted to see what this mysterious friend of yours was like before we got started!"

Midoriya watched in awe as that Nathan's visage melted away revealing a slightly taller shirtless man with extremely elaborate tattoos covering his torso.

"Let's try that again shall we? I'm Yan Qing. My Quirk is disguise! I can perfectly mimic someone as long as I've got enough information about them. Nice to meet you Midoriya Izuku!"

"N-Nice to meet you as well Yan-san"

"Ehr… Just stick to Yan Qing, it's easier on both of us kiddo."

"A-Ah Alright!"

"What do you think?" Nathan asked, approaching the two.

Midoriya's eyes wandered to the boy's left arm, just to confirm if Yan Qing's imitation was accurate. His heart sank when he saw that it was.

What had Nathan been through to give him such terrible scars?

"You register any of that kid?"

"Er- I'm sorry! I-"

"Hahaha! Don't worry about it. Though, maybe you shouldn't be so easily distracted in front of an opponent!~" Yan Qing jabbed at him playfully, hitting him square in the bicep.

"Y-Yeah! You're right! I'm sorry-"

"... Boy you sure do remind me of Mas- Nathan over there," Yan Qing said with a great chuckle after stumbling over his words somewhat. "Alright. Take a stance. We're not gonna work you too hard so we don't mess up your rest day. I'm gonna show you some forms and I want you to start practicing them in place of one of your other physical exercises. It'll get your body used to moving safely."

Midoriya nodded vigorously causing Nathan to chuckle as he took a seat on a nearby piece of refuse.

For Yan Qing to compare him to Nathan though… Where had that come from?

He could think of no one he was further from short of All Might.

Regardless, he took up a loose stance, receiving pointers and critiques on it from Yan Qing. The man proceeded to walk Midoriya through a few basic counters and forms to practice.

All and All it took a couple of hours but Midoriya came out of the experience with a great appreciation for his wayward friend and the strange martial artist he brought with him.

Yan Qing had demonstrated the effectiveness of the more advanced forms of what he was teaching Midoriya on Nathan a few times. It usually ended with Nathan face down in the sand seconds after engaging the man.

"Thank you both so much for this," Midoriya said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"It's no trouble at all! I'm happy to help out Nathan's friend! Fufufu… The others will be quite angry that I was the first one that got to meet you!" That second part had been barely above a whisper but Midoriya heard it all the same.

This reminded him of a question he'd wanted to ask Nathan.

"Oh. By the way, how big is your family exactly? There always seems to be something going on in the background of our calls."

"Mh. I was adopted by an organization actually so I don't have a traditional family," Nathan said thoughtfully, "But they more than make up for it. As far as I'm concerned everyone working there is my family."

That made some kind of sense. Midoriya had heard a few dozen different voices over their calls. It was certainly strange, but nothing about Nathan seemed to be terribly standard.

"Awww that warms my heart to hear you say that Ma- Nathan!"

There it was again. After hearing it a few times Midoriya picked up that Yan Qing only seemed to trip himself up when addressing Nathan directly. There must be some kind of nickname that organization has for him that they habitually call him.

But why were they being so hesitant about it?

Was it that embarrassing?

"Anyway, we should probably get a move on, you need to rest your body if you're going to get this done before the entrance exams," Nathan said, surveying the landscape.

"Don't remind me… But… I'll get it done. I refuse to fail after having so many people reach out their hands to help me achieve my dreams…"

Nathan fixed a single eyed stare at Midoriya before flashing him that oh so unsettling smile. That smile carried an emotion Midoriya struggled to identify even after having seen it a few times now. It was warm and it made him feel safe, but at the same time it was overwhelming and threatened to suffocate him.

"Good. That's good. I'll see you at the exam then I suppose. I might actually start looking forward to this if you're going to be there."

"Can't wait to tell Sherlock he wasted two months trying to get you to commit and that this kid you've known for a week and a half was the one that suckered you in." Yan Qing said with a chuckle.

"Oh shut up you bastard." Nathan said casually.

"Fahahaha! Alright! See ya around Mido! Keep that practice up! Never know when I'll show up and give you a pop quiz!"

Midoriya gulped audibly at the thought of Yan Qing impersonating someone close to him in order to catch him off guard again but he knew that even if he failed he was in no danger.

Yan Qing gave off the air of a man who had struggled through a great many terrible things but… While standing at Nathan's side he looked like a normal older brother.

The two of them departed shortly after that leaving Midoriya to return home on his own.

This was it.

He stood at the entrance to UA's campus.

He had managed to inherit One for All just in time.

Everything was in place, now all he had to do was put it into practice.

That distant unachievable dream was finally in arms reach.

He of course immediately tripped and had to be saved by another applicant.

He had been knocked so far off balance by the fact that a cute girl had spoken to him that he didn't even introduce himself, or even ask for her name, or say anything really.

But she had spoken to him so it was an undeniable victory on his part.

"Are you ok Midoriya? You're talking at a million miles an hour."

That familiar even tone pulled his attention.

Nathan Relnor stood behind him with a bag slung over his left shoulder. He wore the same outfit he always seemed to wear. Was it some kind of uniform? It was a black short sleeve shirt with branding he didn't recognize with grey pants and black combat boots for some reason.

"I hope to hear good news when you get back. Don't hesitate to call me if you need another lift."

Midoriya's focus was pulled behind Nathan, to where a woman with white hair sat in a blindingly red convertible. Pointedly, she was not speaking Japanese.

"Of course." Nathan responded casually in the same language she'd used, "Thanks for the lift Carmilla."

"It's no trouble. Just pass. It will be good for you I think."

Midoriya watched, awestruck as she drove away, leaving with a casual wave.

Before he could properly formulate a response to what he'd just seen Nathan gently elbowed his shoulder.

"We gonna just stand here or are we going to go pass this exam?"

"Huh!?" Midoriya let out a confused grunt. Nathan was still speaking in that language he couldn't even identify so everything he'd just said was incomprehensible to him.

The boy paused somewhat before coughing awkwardly.

"Sorry. I mean. Are we just going to stand here or are we going to go pass this exam?"

"R-Right! Of course! Let's go!" Midoriya said, resolving himself as he walked slightly ahead of his friend.

They would pass.

They would make it into UA.

Everything was about to change for Midoriya Izuku.

But how many things were going to change for the pensive boy behind him?

They filed into a large auditorium, Nathan sitting to Midoriya's left. Even being here in this amazing facility Nathan did not seem to be terribly impressed.

Midoriya did his best not to pay too much attention to Bakugo who was sitting to his right. Not that he had to try very hard once the presenter took the stage.

Present Mic himself took to the stage and immediately blew everyone away with his presence.

He explained the details of their practical exam. They would be let loose in a test environment where they would face several different types of robotic opponents. Eliminating them would award points based on the type of robot they destroyed.

Midoriya couldn't stop himself from muttering about how amazing everything was the whole time, fidgeting in place excitedly.

At least until another hopeful called him out for being distracting.

Holding his hand over his mouth he tried to calm himself down.

"Looks like we'll probably be split up…" Nathan said absentmindedly.

As President Mic explained the concept of the stage hazard enemy Nathan's gaze sharpened. Not that Midoriya could actually see it, but he could absolutely feel the shift in Nathan's mood.

After the presentation was complete they were shuffled towards the testing ground with the other examinees.

"This is where we part ways. I'll see you over the finish line Midoriya Izuku. May your trials overflow with blessings and curses."

Nathan patted Midoriya firmly on the back.

"Right! Good luck Relnor-san!"

Surprisingly, despite walking right past them, Bakugo didn't offer a single comment to the boy encouraging him. Maybe he was too focused on the task at hand to notice anything happening to Midoriya.

Regardless, he gave one final bow to Nathan before they were herded in different directions.

"Robots huh… I wonder how well they're shielded against electrical attacks," Nathan muttered to himself absentmindedly. "I can't imagine they're too durable. They wouldn't want to endanger students too much but they still need to be strong enough that taking them out is worth something."

The concept of the exam itself bothered him. It was a good test of practical skills without too much actual danger, but didn't this exclude people who's quirks only worked on humans? Maybe there were other types of exams at other schools, but to think the most prestigious of the bunch excluded a portion of the population like that so easily from the hero course.

"Oh? Do you have an electricity quirk too?" A boy with blonde hair approached him. Apparently he'd been muttering a bit too loudly. Maybe Midoriya was starting to rub off on him.

"In a sense." Nathan held out his right hand, allowing electricity to dance across his open palm.

"Ah! Nice! Electricity bros! We've got this in the bag! I mean it's robots! Name's Kaminari Denki by the way!"

"Nathan Relnor," He said with a smile, "Provided their circuits aren't properly shielded we shouldn't have many problems. But. We should probably head in separate directions…"

"Oh right. Yeah. Don't wanna be competing with interference! Here's to both of us passing!" He held out his right fist. Nathan returned the gesture with his left. Being left handed was still strange to him even though it had been a few years since he'd been forced to switch hands.

Kaminari gave him a wave before returning his attention to the other hopeful students. Nathan decided to follow suit. He didn't think it would be too much of a competition. Even if the robots were shielded somewhat it was more than likely he had enough power to fry them through such things. Not to mention that straight up electricity attacks were not the only weapon in his arsenal.

"START!"

That announcement came so suddenly that none of the examinees responded immediately.

Except one.

He propelled himself forward with a burst of electromagnetic energy.

The entire area was artificial so there was metal everywhere for him to latch on to and repel himself from.

He soared over the stunned audience, latching onto a nearby building and pulling himself ahead with a massive burst of speed.

It was surprising to him though. Weren't they hero hopefuls?

How can you just stand around when you hear a call to action?

No matter. It offered him an early edge. He was the first into the center of his designated arena.

He reached out with his right arm.

An odd hum escaped it as it began to generate power.

"Now then. Let's run some tests…"

The safe assumption was that the robots were shielded to an immense degree so he would need to attack the sensors first. Thankfully they were very obviously placed. He let his arm build up a million volts. He throttled his amperage by only discharging the attack through a third of his scales.

The scales covering his right eye shifted slightly. They were plugged directly into his optic nerves, allowing him to 'See' electromagnetic fields at work. He would observe how his attack traveled through his target and decide where to go from there.

The Three pointer he'd attacked was downed in an instant, each of its sensors exploding from the overwhelming power of the attack.

He let out a sigh of relief. He could lower his power significantly and still take out the machines. And there were so many spread out before him, simply waiting for their inevitable demise. He let his arm charge up again and attacked in a massive arc.

At least a dozen robots fell from having their inner workings overloaded by the sheer amount of power Nathan was pumping into them.

It was only now that the other applicants started catching up to him.

In response he simply continued his advance. The less people that were around him the less he would have to throttle his attacks. Friendly fire was something he'd needed extensive training to work past but the simple fact was that it was easier to avoid it if there were just no allies in the area.

He continued on, relentlessly frying any robot that drew too close.

He hadn't really been counting how many points he had, if he had to guess he was somewhere in the 50s by now. His run had been almost completely solitary but the other applicants were fairly spread out by now.

So it came as no surprise when he ran into someone else.

She tossed a pair of pebbles at a two pointer she'd surprised.

"Giant!"

With that simple command those pebbles increased in size several times over. The two pointer underneath them never stood a chance.

He was about to turn to leave before the building between them exploded.

At the moment of impact he registered it.

The Zero Pointer had arrived on the battlefield.

Debris showered down on the two of them. There was little doubt they would be crushed under the remains of the building as that enormous automaton made its way to the central area of the exam.

Nathan took action immediately.

He couldn't use his top speed. The girl was not far enough away for him to reach it and then slow down enough to not injure her on impact. Thankfully he genuinely doubted his top speed would be required here.

A power that existed outside of his quirk flooded his body, reinforcing it beyond its limits and allowing him to explode forward with much more force than he could normally take.

The shower of debris was far enough above them that he didn't even have to weave through it. Although that was more a testament to his reaction time than his actual speed.

He scooped her up and magnetically latched onto the Zero pointer to slow himself.

The entire event had only taken a few seconds.

They skidded to a halt a few meters away from the shower of debris.

"You alright?" Nathan asked, focusing his attention to the girl in his arms.

She gave a soft squeak in response

He took that as a yes and began to set her down.

She was trembling so she needed to brace herself against him.

Thankfully she didn't seem to be injured.

Another crash brought Nathan's attention back to the Zero pointer.

It was worth nothing to destroy it…

But if it was going to put other students in danger.

He looked around for a moment. There was plenty of rubble around but he was looking for something specific.

"Um-"

"I'm going to go take care of that big thing so nobody else gets hurt. Hopefully I'll see you at the finish line as well," Nathan said, turning a smile towards that girl.

A soft eep escaped her as she froze up again.

He left her presence before she had time to recover.

He found a piece of debris that suited his needs perfectly.

A fragment of an I-Bar that was small enough for him to carry. He scooped it up in his left hand before launching himself to the top of a nearby building.

Intel was essential for his next move. He needed to know where most of the students were. When firing a powerful attack it was very important to make sure nothing you weren't willing to lose was in the way.

Kaminari Denki was running for his life.

For some reason that Zero pointer had locked onto him and was smashing its way through everything in order to reach him.

Probably because he'd fried a few dozen of its buddies.

But! But that was unfair! Surely that Nathan kid had done just the same! Why hadn't it targeted him instead!?

He forgot his footing as his thoughts turned to admonishing his electricity betrayer. So it came to no one's surprise when he tripped on a robot that he himself had defeated.

Karma was not on his side today.

The Zero pointer came to a stop as it turned to orient itself towards him probably in order to get a better shot. Maybe? It had to have guns right?

This theory was dashed when it kept on turning,

He was too relieved at not being the primary target that he didn't even think to consider who was pulling its attention.

He was just glad it wasn't him.

"That's it. Come on. I'm right here!"

Nathan Relnor stood in a mostly empty street.

The ground let out an occasional rumble as that Zero Pointer approached him.

He had not drawn its attention by attacking it.

No.

He had simply generated a large enough threat that it had no choice but to target him.

The air swirled around him as he built up an enormous amount of electromagnetic force. He held his left hand to his right shoulder to brace himself.

He hadn't exactly planned on using one of his aces in the entrance exam but after seeing the Zero Pointer for himself he knew he needed to take it out.

It was a stage hazard after all.

In other words, it was a hazard to everyone on the stage.

An enemy that endangered the lives of everyone around him had to be defeated.

' If you have power you should use it to protect others.'

His right arm split open, forming two columns of black scales with the broken I-Bar hovering between them.

Yes.

It was a mistake Midoriya had made that he hadn't bothered to correct.

His right arm was not covered in scales.

His right arm was entirely made out of scales.

That arrangement allowed his mediocre quirk to generate a truly monstrous level of power.

Enough power to fire a railgun.

The Zero pointer was nearly on top of him.

He angled his arm further up and pulled the trigger.

A blinding flash of light tore through his opponent in an instant.

The scent of ozone filled the air as a streak of orange light shot off into the distance. Nathan doubted his projectile would land as a solid chunk. It simply was not designed to survive the level of air friction that came with being fired at three times the speed of sound. No matter the actual outcome did he'd angled his shot towards the woods beyond the examination site anyway just to be on the safe side.

He watched as that Zero Pointer staggered and collapsed into a heap of fire and wreckage.

Finally, he allowed himself to relax. Carefully his arm began to knit itself back together. His scales had an upper limit of how much power they could store and release. If he asked too much of them they would blow like a fuse.

Firing that railgun was demanding and left his arm somewhat depleted, but if he needed to he could fire up to two more.

That was simply how many scales comprised that arm.

He turned his attention back to the exam.

Did he need more points? It was difficult to say but he might as well continue fighting. Or maybe he should just keep an eye on the other students. He didn't want to consume all of the points for himself after all.

With a snap his arm returned to normal. He opened and closed his right hand just to make sure his fingers still had what little functionality he could give them before moving on.

"Two Zero Pointers defeated in one test," A small mouse-like creature said from its position seated in front of several monitors.

"How absurd… Do kids not know the meaning of holding back anymore?" A well built man said as he leaned back into his chair.

"Moreover. The first one. Was that a goddamn Railgun? Where on earth did he learn how to do that without alerting any authorities!?" A man clad in what looked to be some form of construction equipment said in an exasperated tone.

Yes. They truly had an unprecedented scenario on their hands. One student had jumped above and beyond to save a single person.

Another had moved to eliminate a threat that he felt brought a clear danger to everyone.

That was where their ideologies diverged.

"Well… We've certainly got our work cut out for us this year."

"I'll say."

The written test immediately followed the practical one. This one was almost harder for him simply because writing was such a slow process .

He had always been right handed so when a certain incident resulted in his right arm being severed about half way up his bicep he had been forced to switch hands.

Writing was a bit of a lower priority given everything else that had happened after he lost his arm so he only had just under a year's worth of practice.

It was legible but it looked like a seven year old had written it. That was simply the limit of his current ability, especially considering Japanese was not his native language.

Hoping for the best he exited the testing area. He'd tried to find Midoriya but he hadn't seen him after the practical exam let out.

There were some murmurs of an injury… Did Midoriya's quirk really have that much recoil to it? No wonder he almost never used it.

Nathan lingered for a moment in front of UA.

He at least had to have confirmation before he left.

"HEEEY THERE! WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING HERE WEARING THAT LONG FACE!? THE EXAM THAT HARD?"

Nathan turned to the source of the loud voice.

It was the exam proctor, Present Mic.

"Oh. I was waiting to try and meet up with my friend. At the very least I wanted to confirm his status before leaving."

"Mmm. I can ask around, who was your friend?"

"Midoriya Izuku. I heard some rumbling that someone was injured and I just wanted to make sure he was ok before I left…"

"It's great that you're worried about your friend! He's in good hands I can assure you! I'm pretty sure he's the one Recovery Girl is taking care of. She's the best so you can run back home with your head held high!" Present Mic said after giving him an exaggerated thumbs up.

Nathan let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. The worry that had gripped his heart eased considerably and a smile returned to his face.

"Thank you. I'll be off then,"

"No problem! Have a safe trip back now!"

"I will."

He approached UA's front gate. Beyond it sat Carmilla, her car idling on the side of the road.

"I was worried when I didn't see you exit with the others. Is everything alright?" She asked as he took the passenger seat.

"I'm fine. Fired my railgun but other than that nothing big. I was just worried about Midoriya. Seems he was afraid of his quirk's recoil for a good reason…"

"I see. Shall we go home?"

"Sure. I could use a nap."

"Fufufu, very well." She hit the gas starting their journey back. "So, how do you think you did?"

The roar of the air rushing by them wasn't quite enough to drown out conversational dialogue, a testament to how well designed her vehicle was.

"I probably passed? It was robots. Their tolerance level was lower than Edison's mechs so I just fried a bunch of them. We'll get our results in about a week or so I'm told."

"Well, at least it wasn't too difficult. I did receive a rather urgent phone call when Chaldea detected your railgun."

"Ah. That. I should let them know they don't need to be that watchful. There was just a stage hazard I decided to take out to protect the other students."

"How very like you." She let out a soft chuckle before reaching over to pinch his cheek, "But don't overdo it. You're done having to save the world, just focus on saving the people in front of you."

He let out a murmur as his gaze drifted to the buildings rushing by them. He had immediately gone back to jumping to meet the biggest threat in the area hadn't he? Hopefully this UA would help him beat that habit out of his head.

The rest of the drive passed in relative silence and they arrived back at their home in short order.

Carmilla pulled up to a nondescript warehouse which obligingly opened its garage door for her to drive right in.

As soon as the door shut the interior of the building lit up, revealing a large military vehicle parked in the center with its cargo doors open.

The convertible they'd rode in disappeared into a cloud of golden sparks after they exited it.

"Welcome back. I assume everything went ok?" A dapper man greeted them from his position leaning against the side of that large black vehicle.

"Were you really that worried Sherlock?" Nathan asked with a playful air.

"After we detected the railgun there was some commotion. I simply thought it would be best to avoid all of it by waiting for you out here."

"I see. Well then. I'm home."

"Yes. Welcome home Master."

Historically Carmilla knows a few languages but she's speaking Hungarian here. We'll get more into Chaldea shenanigans directly later but we've officially switched to Nathan's perspective of things for the most part.

You all know how Midoriya's exam went so I figured it'd be cool to cover another test ground. Unless I'm mistaken they used five of them and split the applicants into different areas so I just had a few people who didn't show up in the managa/anime in the background of Nathan's area.

I'd also like to thank everyone who stopped by to review! Glad you're as excited as I am about this! I've been pretty nervous about posting my writing for a while so it's nice to see people enjoying it!

I'm gonna stick to updating on Fridays hopefully. Just wanted to get more than the prologue out there quickly.

Next up! Two friends start their UA journey! Their goals and ideology diverge but they both walk the path of being a true hero!