Allllllrighty then. Another chapter, another section of reading and answering reviews! This section was started on May 29th, so it's likely going to be updated quite a bit over time.
Enough of that though! Let's get to the reviews!
Guest(Happy to see you again :D): I'm glad I helped you consider the issue with the dynamics; it looks like you are dodging a lot of the issues, including one that another reviewer pointed out. People have different tastes, some people are not going to find a guy being a hero in this world attractive or at all admirable. That said, a lot of what I would be concerned about doesn't apply here due to Shirou and Muramasa's influence. Those two are bull headed and having them as influences means that Izuku isn't starting as weak.
Not much to mention here. He is indeed busted.
- Happy to see you again, and ngl, I posted the newest chapter and then saw the review you left right after, so oops XD.
But in all seriousness, several of the things mentioned in this review have been addressed in the story. There was a slight showing of it during the Infirmary portion of it when I mentioned how the US and Japan nearly went to war to see who would get the 'ownership' of the only Male with a Quirk. This chapter does go a bit further into it with the Exam and how it'll work, so I hope that properly addresses your concerns about how people will see Izuku!
As for his bullheadedness and his strength, both will help him on his path to be a Hero, but both have their problems as well. With his bullheadedness, Izuku, similar to Shirou in the UBW Route, will likely get more and more frustrated as people try to keep him from endangering himself. As for him being busted… well he is pretty damn strong, but I'm going to be addressing how I'll be making everything more balanced as well. Not to mention that Izuku doesn't really know what he's doing, only having his Reinforcement to use.
Sorry for the rant! And if you have a problem with anything in this rant that you want me to address in the future, send a review telling me how stupid I am!
btw, kinda hope that when you said i was dodging a lot of the issues, you meant that I was avoiding making the issues rather than not addressing them xD
Commander Cost(Hello again :D): Got my confirmation, that all I needed to hear. Better SOME reason than no reason.
Izuku has excess energy, I guess? One For All is the stockpiled energy of all the previous users, then added with his own "abnormal" energy, I can see why they can't mix well at first. That could go away after a while or stay as a plot device. That's up to you, though, not me. And I like what you're doing.
Another epic chapter. Can we get a 4th that's just as good? Who knows? I sure don't.
- Yeaaaah, if I do end up doing any romance(if i do any at all, cuz I suck at it XD), its going to be for a, at least, somewhat logical reason that isn't just 'omg, he's got a Quirk so that means he's soooooooo hot'.
As for how One For All and Izuku's Circuits will interact… god I want to explain it so badly XD. To make things clear, All Might had yet to transfer One For All by the end of the last chapter, meaning all of what happened was because Izuku's subconscious control over his Reinforcement went into overdrive and ended up giving him backlash. Back to One For All and Izuku's Magic Circuits, how they interact with each other will be similar, but also quite a bit different to how it works in canon, again due to how Izuku's World works in this fanfic. That's all I can say for now without any spoilers tho.
And as for this chapter, I hope that it's just as good as the others!
Gigachad23(:D): Hey nice chapter. Showed how Izuku is starting to acclimate in his Reinforcement. It's only a matter of time before he traced something.
And so he started to dream about the life of a certain Former Hero of Justice eh? It will be interesting to see his reaction
Since Izuku has started to walk towards to being a Hero again. Now he will see the certain consequences if one decides to abandon his ideals to protect his loved ones. HF Shirou is still the most GAR Shirou out there outside of Emiya
- Yup yup, Izuku is getting used to his Reinforcement now! As for his Tracing… well, you'll see in this chapter how that goes ;)
As for his dreams, I should probably clarify something. He's started to remember what he's dreaming about. Izuku's dreamt before, mostly about Muramasa during his time as an actual human. He never remembered it clearly, but it managed to influence him slowly but surely.
Probably doesnt make much sense, but just humor me, lmao
And going back into being a Hero he has! As for the consequences, I actually came up with a couple of ideas to incorporate later on after some future arcs! And yup, HF Shirou is certainly one of the, if not the most, GAR Shirous out there. I only really hold FATE Shirou up there with him, but thats because Saber is probably my favorite of the three. Sakura and Rin are still good tho :)
Guest(Welcome welcome!): I knew that anyone threatening Inko would end up with Izuku on a warpath (HF Shirou was crazy), but I didn't think about how that mix might work outside of that scenario. Nice. This might also be a scenario where Katsuki telling Izuku to not go into heroics would have more backing than complexes. Even ignoring the "only women have quirks" thing, that was a major shift from just two chapters ago, and is good cause for concern. For multiple reasons too, since she was not exactly pleasant to him, and thus might face similar in the future.
- Yeah, anyone who threatens mama Inko is gonna get their ass WHOOPED. But on the flip side, Izuku isn't just influenced by HF Shirou. He's also influenced to an equal, if not greater, degree by Muramasa, who, from what I can tell, is pretty proud of the work he makes and is just as stubborn. Plus, Izuku isn't just gonna forget how pretty much all of the girls at Aldera told him to give up on his dream for most of his life. Even if he did end up doing it, he still ain't gonna be happy about it.
And yeah, the entire Katsuki situation will be changed to reflect this world more. Hopefully in a decent way.
SeanHicks4(Welcome to the reviews!): Interesting cross, I'm a bit confused by the history for the whole 'Inifinate Stratos' girls are the only ones who can be empowered world set up though…
- ngl, there's two ways I interpreted this review, so imma address both. The history as to why I chose it to be in a 'Female Quirks Only' world is mainly because I did it on a whim… and then got hooked on the idea of it XD
As for how it works in the actual lore of the story… well without spoiling too much, Alaya kinda fucked up. She wrote the code and forgot a certain part of it to make the Y chromosome match up with the X(q) chromosome.
Alexis(Hello :D): Vous avez gagné je suis complètement et irréversible accro de votre histoire
Honnêtement je suis extrêmement impatiente de voir comment izuku va réagir en apprenant qu il un mage mais aussi le résultat deux âme fusionner d un forgeron légendaire et d un héros qui est prest a tout pour sauver les personnes qui lui son chère vraiment cela promet tellement d être un sacré voyage
- Heureux que j'ai réussi à vous faire rester! Et vous avez certainement raison de dire que c'est un sacré voyage!
helrio uzugaku(Welcome to the show :D): Fuckin love it! Great blending of the 2 ficdoms and so far I'm liking how the story is progressing. Character development though is what I like most in this fic. Most people who attempt to blend the characters Emiya shirou and Midoriya izuku usually fall flat even though they share quite a bit in common. Shirou's abilities are difficult to blend well because of their nature. Thrown in the world of bnha where battles aren't USUALLY city wide or overly dangerous it often leads to balancing issues that authors lose their minds trying to do.
But that is where they fail, there is no balancing the scale of power between bnha and fate logic. Fate attacks are conceptual by nature, they DEFY the laws of nature. Bnha follows those laws religiously. Any of the fate heavy hitters would find themselves vastly overpowered compared to the MCs of bnha. Fate gum would be trampled by herakles, sorry but that's just how it is. Lida would NOT survive gae bolg because he couldn't dodge it I doubt even AFO would be able to survive it because he couldn't stop it.
My point in all this is, so far there have been no overt attempts at balancing the power scale the go against the rules of the relevant worlds. So far izuku hasn't traced a noble phantasm that inherently breaks the established laws of nature. Reinforcement is known for being finicky when overused like it just was so that doesn't break the rules. The REAL test will come when the time comes for izuku to trace those world breaking noble phantasms. Will kanshou and bakuya do more damage to nomu than they would a standard human because the world itself no longer believes them to BE human? Will gae bolg, if used, stop the USJ Nomu's healing factor like it's canonical known to do? What about rho aias, a staple defense of shirou emiya, will it stop AFO's air canon when it counts as a projectile?
And what about when unlimited bladeworks is envoked enfull? Will the author try to make a fantasy seem more realistic by needing it to balance the story?
These are the tests that will prove where the story is destined to rise or fall. Honor the source material, which so far has been done wonderfully. It's the only advice I can give. I hope to see much more of this fic but I have my reservations even if so far I love it.
Only women can get quirks? Well it's a pretty unused plot point, not unheard of but not the usual run of the mill either. One can only wonder where this story will go when Emiya Shirou, when he was emiya shirou, was a fully bona-fide harem protagonist with the trademark obliviousness to match. Will izuku follow in those footsteps?
I have a funny feeling he will, I just hope it's tasteful. But with the inclusion of this chapter I don't think I have anything to worry about in that regard. But I'll still withhold judgement until there's more hashed out on the world and it's characters. Just to be safe.
Once again, I love this so far but there's a lot of ways this could go very wrong.
- Always nice to see a newcomer in the reviews :D! And I got to say, I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so far!
Now then, your review brought up a lot of things that I've actually thought of and ways to counter/fix them. To start with, yeah, the powerscaling between the MHA and Fate worlds are all sorts of whack. All Might and Izuku with One For All both easily have A(plus plus) rank speed(the entire 'faster than a bullet' thing. Bullets move at around 1,800 mph, and they move faster than that. A Rank speed from a base of 15 mph is around 750 mph. Shit's wild), and we can assume that they have around the same in strength as well. Then what about Iida? Of All For One? Iida can move faster than One For All(Even if it's at a lower percentage), and All For One crippled All Might!
So my solutions for this? Buff up the MHA characters!
Of course, I've got to be careful with it. I'm not gonna give 'just starting at U.A.' Iida 'final arc' Iida levels of speed. But I do need to buff them up, at least to their Season ⅚ counterparts. They've had 3 more years to train, after all. Even without constant life or death situations, that's still gonna give them a pretty good buff.
As for Izuku and his Reality Marble/Tracing… okay, Let me put it this way. Izuku is a mix of original 'canon' Izuku, Senji Muramasa, and HF Shirou Emiya from the Normal Ending 'Conclusion'. With HF Shirou, he never deploys his Reality Marble, and he doesn't Project many Noble Phantasms either. From what I can remember, HF Shirou Projects Rho Aias, Herakles' Axe-Sword, and Excalibur; and I'll have to double check if he Projects the Azoth Blade and Zelretch's Jewel Sword. So while he does have Archer's Arm, he doesn't Project many weapons. So while Izuku might eventually Project Gae Bolg, or Caladbolg II in the future, right now he's stuck with the limited amount of weapons that Shirou himself has Traced.
And on top of that, he's also got some Muramasa influence in him!
…I'm not exactly sure how that works out, but let's just say that Muramasa prefers to use his own swords compared to swords that he's never made or seen in action before.
Also, this is just my take, but I'm pretty sure that Kanshou and Bakuya wouldn't be able to use their Anti-Monster effect on the USJ Nomu. The Nomu is a genetically altered Human. So does it look like a monster? Yes. But anyone can look like a monster in this world, so it's counted as a Human.
As for staying true to the source material, I'm going to stay as close as I can to it as possible. Obviously, I can't exactly stay completely true to either canon, as that would make where I want to take this story impossible, but I'm definitely going to stay as true to it as possible.
As for romance… I've said it once, and I'll say it again: I suck at romance! So don't expect much romance from me! Of course, I'll try my best if I get to that point, but I make no promises! Also, as a side note, the 'harem', if I decide to go the harem route, is likely going to be 2-3 people rather than the 20+ people some stories have. That's too many for me to keep track of. Maybe four at most.
And yup, there are so many ways this story can go wrong! I'm trying to mash two completely different worlds together that have completely different powerscales to the point where it's actually kinda insane! But even if this version of the story sucks, I can always rewrite it and make it better in the future :)
Hope this addresses all of your concerns!
(also, go and check out FabledLife in my favorited authors page. I use his version of the Stat Ranking system, and he also has a ton of explanations for a bunch of Type Moon things on this author page!)
And with that, let's start with the chapter!
Izuku looked at the boy, and immediately felt a sense of deja vu. Looking around yielded him the same result.
The shed, though it was quite large and could have been compared to a garage, looked to be filled with various tools, along with a mat in the middle that had various screwdrivers and even a solder around the boy and the old, old-time heater.
Closing the heater with a slight metallic ring, the boy placed down his tools and arranged them in a proper order, making Izuku feel a sense of appreciation for actually sorting and organizing his tools.
Then the boy did something... odd.
After looking around, and even checking outside his shed, he began to sit down in a meditative state, holding out his hand with his palm up.
Izuku wondered what he was doing, before he attempted to scream from the sudden pain he was in.
It was horrible.
It was like an iron rod had been shoved down his spine.
Like a raging fire lapped at his skin.
Like a crimson spear had pierced through his heart-
Izuku managed to see through his bleary, tear-filled eyes.
The boy had teal circuits running up and down his body.
Izuku's circuits running up and down his body.
The boy spoke.
"Trace-"
Izuku could feel it.
The spinning of gargantuan gears.
The heat that flowed through his(the boy's) body and into his(the boy's) hand.
The cocking of a gun's hammer, and the feeling of it slamming down-
"-On."
The mantra was spoken, and in a flash of cyan 'electricity', a sword was formed.
Izuku awoke to the sound of his body thumping to the floor next to his bed, followed by a intense sense of... vertigo? It was similar, but not quite the same. Sure, he felt nauseous, but more than that, he could barely tell what was real and what was from his dream(?).
Panting, Izuku rolled over onto his hands and knees panting, and looked down at his arms; Arms that were glowing with a dissipating cyan glow.
"Wha- what the hell was that?" Izuku mumbled to himself, before the sound of soft, rapidly approaching feet got him out of his reverie.
"Izuku!" His mom rushed through the unlocked door, appearing at his side with a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?! I heard a bang come from your room and wanted to make sure that you were okay!"
Izuku smiled slightly, touched at how deep his mom's affection for him ran. "I'm fine, mom." Seeing the still worried expression on her face, he continued. "I just woke up and had a quick sense of vertigo. That's why I fell onto the floor."
Worries abated, Inko looked at him with relief. "Good, good... but still, goodness gracious Izuku! I thought you might have hit your head on something!"
Chuckling, Izuku turned and sat down, looking at his mom with fondness. "You were worried about me hitting my head?" He teased. "I thought you were the one who said that my head might have well been made of diamond with how hard it is!"
Inko gave a slight smirk. "Well was I wrong?"
Izuku was sent into fits of laughter with that, his mom joining him soon after.
"Well," Izuku gave one last chuckle before he stood up. "Now that I'm up, I ought to take a shower and get ready for today."
Reaching his hand down and pulling his mom to her feet, he continued. "After breakfast, I'll head to the beach with my trainer for one last talk before I head off to the U.A. Exam."
His mother bit her lip, her worries rising yet again. "Are you sure you want to do this, Izuku? I thought you said you didn't want to be a Hero?" Realizing what she said, she waved her hands in a panic. "Ah! I don't doubt you! Not at all! No matter what you choose, I'll always support you..."
She looked down and her hands. "...but I also don't want you to force yourself to become something that you never truly wanted to be."
Izuku smiled. "Well, you're not wrong about one thing. For a long while, I didn't want to be one." Inko paused at this, tilting her head slightly with confusion written across her face.
"But..." Izuku looked out the window towards the sun that peaked over the horizon, it's light illuminating his face. "...it was still my dream to be a Hero in the past. And if All Might himself says to always follow your dreams, I don't see why I shouldn't try!"
At that moment, the boy, or rather man, who stood there wasn't just the son of Inko Midoriya.
He was the Vanquisher of All Of The World's Evils.
He was the Blacksmith who surpassed the Gods.
He was the Chosen Successor of One For All.
And seeing the eyes filled with determination, tempered over three lifetimes, Inko's eyes filled with tears even as a wobbly bright smile crossed her face.
Hugging his back, she whispered. "And I'll support you, no matter what you choose to do."
As Izuku approached the beach, he smiled, enjoying the feeling of the clean ocean wind, unsullied by the past mountains of garbage, blowing across his face.
This was the result of his hard work.
Dagobah Municipal Beach, once filled with pile upon pile of trash thrown into the seas, was now the very picture of a beach that one could find from a resort of some sort.
Though, there was one thing that he never ended up getting rid of. Something that he couldn't get rid of.
Walking along the beach, he approached the area that he once called his own. His barrow of blades, once surrounded by cliffs of garbage and filled by blades of all sorts, was now simply a spot on the beach. The same as any other, if one could ignore the odd hole in the sand that had yet to be filled.
Izuku continued to walk, making his way to the very end of the beach.
And there, hiding in the shadow of the wall, were his old tools, furnace, anvil, along with several other items from his past.
Tracing his hand across the surface of the anvil, Izuku looks down at his past with a fond gaze and with memories of all the hours he used to spend sitting down and hammering away at his next project.
The image of a gun's hammer cocking and slamming flashed through his head.
Frowning, the verdette walked back towards the center of the beach. 'I wonder...'
Sitting down in a cross-legged position, Izuku concentrated on the feeling of his Circuits and let his energy flow through them.
The hammer pulled back-
"Tra-"
-before the entire image faded away.
Izuku snapped his eyes open, unnerved by how his Circuits seemed to refuse to manifest a balde like how that crimson-haired boy could.
But before he could try and concentrate any longer on it, the Number One Hero jogged down the beach towards him.
"Shounen!" He shouted out, panting as he reached where Izuku now stood. "I'm glad to see that you're up. You've eaten already, right?"
Chuckling at his mentor's concern for him, Izuku waved off the question. "Yeah, I have already Yagi-sensei." His lightheartedness quickly disappeared, replaced by a serious countenance. "So, is it time?"
Realizing what Izuku was referencing, All Might stood straight as well, his jolly mood as the Mentor of Izuku Midoriya being replaced by the Current Wielder of One For All.
"Yes, it is." All Might responded simply. "Now, are you prepared, shounen? Prepared to accept the burden that I carry? To accept the responsibilities that come with being the Ninth Wielder of One For All?"
Izuku responded just as simply. "Yes I am, All Might. I am ready to accept the burdens that come with this acceptance. That come with being the next Male Hero, and that come with being the next Symbol of Peace."
All Might nodded gravely, and the tension built as he reached for his head. "Then it is settled. I, the Eighth and Current Wielder of One For All hereby pass One For All to its Ninth User, Izuku Midoriya." Buffing up and plucking a hair from his head, All Might spoke with a booming voice. "NOW THE SHOUNEN, EAT THIS!"
He thrust out the hand that held one singular piece of golden hair.
The tension deflated rapidly, being replaced by befuddlement.
"Eh?" Izuku muttered, looking at the hair with a blank face.
"HAHAHA, THE PASSING OF ONE FOR ALL IS DONE THROUGH THE WILLING DONATION OF THE CURRENT USERS DNA!" All Might chuckled, before starting to approach Izuku with the hair and pushing it towards his mouth. "NOW THEN, EAT!"
"O- Oi! Hold on just a second now!" Izuku stammered, accent beginning to encroach in his voice out of sheer panic. "Hold on jus' a damn second!"
"THERE'S NO TIME, SHOUNEN! THE EXAM BEGINS IN JUST ABOUT SIX HOURS! THAT BARELY GIVES YOU ENOUGH TIME TO DIGEST IT AND TO RECEIVE ONE FOR ALL!" All Might approached Izuku again, this time with a menacing aura surrounding him. "NOW EAT!"
Walking towards the U.A. Gate, Izuku continued to wipe his tongue with his hand, trying to get rid of the awful aftertaste. 'God, how much hairspray does he use in the morning?!'
Giving one last wipe, Izuku dropped his hand back down to reach for one of his bag's straps and looked up at the U.A. Gateway in an entirely new light.
Yeah, he had been here before. Loads of times, in truth. But compared to how it now filled him with an awe he had not felt in months, it was like he was experiencing it all over again!
"Deku?" He heard a confused, and angry, voice call out behind him.
Already knowing who the voice belonged to, Izuku quickly cooled his excitement and turned around to face her. "Bakugo."
The girl, now a woman, scowled. "I thought you didn't want to be a Hero anymore, Deku. The hell are you doing here?"
Izuku looked at her with a blank face. "Opinions change over time, Bakugo..." His eyes sharpened, poking at her skin with the sheer intensity. "Especially when you have someone that actually supports you."
Guilt hit him like a knife to the gut when he saw the pain that crossed her face. Pain that was hidden under anger.
"Tch." She scoffed, shoving shoulders and pushing past him. "Just don't get in the way and try not to kill yourself either. It'll look bad on Aunty Inko's record." And just like that she was gone, but the sting of her words lingered long after he entered the U.A. Campus.
'I guess I deserved that one, eh?' Izuku sighed in his head.
Continuing his walk across the brick-laid pathway towards the actual building entrance, the verdette suddenly heard a small click underneath his foot. Before he could look down, however, he tripped over an uneven brick that caught the tip of his shoes, causing him to fall over.
Resigning himself to his fate, Izuku waited for the impact of his hands hitting the pavement so that he could push himself up...
...
...
...
...before realizing that he had stopped falling entirely and was now floating in the air.
"Are you okay?" He heard a rather kind voice call out from behind him. Looking back, he saw a girl with her hand outstretched, presumably the reason behind why he wasn't currently face-planted into the tiled bricks.
She was quite short in comparison to Izuku, through that wasn't quite fair as nearly everyone was short compared to him, standing at what he would guess to be 157-ish centimeters, or around 5'2" by the American standard. With a bob-cut of brown hair that curled into her face at the ends, round eyes, and a round face that seemed to refuse to be rid of both the baby fat and a mild blush, she looked like quite the bubbly person.
Looking at her clothes, he could tell that the brown overcoat that she wore was very well worn and seemed quite frayed at the bottom of it. Perhaps some financial troubles?
She tapped her hands together, and the sudden reappearance of gravity knocked Izuku out of his thoughts and onto the pathway again. Remembering what she asked him, he finally responded. "Ah, yeah. Thanks for the save, by the way."
She waved her hands in front of her, looking slightly bashful. "A- ah, no. Sorry for stopping you, but its just that..." She looked away slightly, her blush slightly intensifying. "Well... it's a bad omen to trip and fall, y'know?"
Izuku looked surprised for a moment, before a gentle smile crossed his face. "Well, thanks anyway. We ought to get goin' to the Exam though."
Her eyes widened. "Oh jeez, I nearly forgot about that!" She dashed ahead of him, waving at him briefly after she passed him. "Good luck on your Exam!"
He waved back, a smile remaining on his face even after she ran out of view through the door labeled 'HERO EXAM'.
Then he paused and began to contemplate.
'Huh. I wonder if she knows that I'm doin' the Hero Exam as well?'
Frowning and realizing something, Izuku turned around to the sight of a completely even pathway.
'And what the hell did I trip on in the first place?'
"WELCOME TO TODAY'S LIVE PERFORMANCE!" An enormously loud voice called out to the room filled with young women... and one young man. "EVERYBODY SAY 'HEY'!" Present Mic called out to the audience, cupping her ear and expecting at least one responce.
...
There was none.
She seemingly shrugged this off, and followed up the silence with another shout. "WELL, THAT'S COOL, MY EXAMINEE LISTENERS! I'M HERE TO PRESENT THE GUIDELINES OF YOUR PRACTICAL!" Gripping both sides of the podium, she yelled out one of her phrases to the completely silent crowd. "YEEEEAAAH!"
...
Silence again.
"Tough crowd, eh?" She muttered under her breath.
Meanwhile, up in the stands, Izuku mealy cracked his neck and patently waited for Present Mic to continue with her presentation, mentally tied out from the... Mental(?) Portion of the Exam.
'But man,' Izuku thought, beginning to get excited. 'U.A.'s staff really is all Heroes, ain't it?'
It was, and for a good reason.
U.A. University was constructed with the sole purpose of assisting young women with controlling their Meta Abilities, also known as Quirks. Why it was constructed in the first place has been a topic of debate, as there were many reasons that it could have been built, but the general agreed upon reason behind U.A.'s construction is due to the Shinjuku Massacre that occurred not three years before then.
The Shinjuku Massacre was a disaster that was caused by a young girl, about nine years old at the time, who's Quirk allowed her to secrete a deadly gas that would cause internal bleeding and, in the course of a couple of minutes, death.
Unfortunately, as could be expected during that time, the young girl had little to no support from anyone around her and was even abused for the mere fact that she had such a dangerous Quirk. This led the girl to develop a variety of mental issues, including panic attacks brought on by physical contact. And during one of the latter, a random woman in the street attempted to calm the panicking child down...
...which led her to, in her extreme panic from being touched by someone, accidentally release the gas stored in her body, killing several dozen people.
And so, with that incident fresh in Japan's mind, the U.A. Training Facility was founded with the hope of preventing a tragedy like the Shinjuku Massacre from ever happening again.
But U.A. went above and beyond that.
After 'Graduating' from U.A., many of the children would end up going on to become Heroes. Not just any Heroes, but Heroes with such good control over their impressive Quirks that it caught the attention of the, recently formed, Hero Public Safety Commission.
Needless to say, shortly thereafter the U.A. Training Facility was turned into the U.A. Hero University. Though it was planned to be a high hchool originally, many people protested against the idea of a government regulated school training teenagers into what amounts to child soldiers.
But who would teach these powerful young women to become Heroes? After all, the teachers would need to be able to intervene with any training session that was ongoing in order to keep the students safe.
The answer was quite obvious.
And so, the U.A. tradition of having Heroes as teachers was born!
"...est will go, my Listeners!"
Izuku's eyes widened, realizing he nearly missed the Explanation for the Practical Exam, and quickly refocused on Present Mic.
"For the Practical Exam, you'll be going through a ten minute long 'Mock Cityscape Maneuvers'! You can bring along whatever you want, as long as you don't use it to sabotage or actually attack the other competitors."
The screen behind her switched to a view of the auditorium's location and the location of all of the mock cities. "And after this presentation is over, you'll all be heading to your own respective testing locations!"
Izuku glanced down at his card that was given to him before looking at Bakugo's, who ended up sitting right next to him. "Hmm... so kids from the same school districts get sent to different test areas?"
Bakugo scoffed. "To keep the extras from teaming up together, yeah." She looked down at her own card with a scowl marring her face. "Looks like you aren't getting crushed this time, Deku."
"Hah!" Izuku chuckled with a grin. "I'd love to see you try, Kacchan."
Katsuki whipped around with a furious scowl on her face, mouth open to give a biting retort, but was interrupted by Present Mic continuing her presentation after yet another call left her with a silent audience.
"Each of the cities are filled with different Faux Villains! And depending on the difficulty level of the Villain you defeat; you'll be rewarded with a differing number of Point!"
Spreading her arms open with a flourish, she gestured towards all of the Examinees. "So, in other words, your goal is to use your Quirk to disable as many Faux Villains as possible within the given time!"
She paused before leaning over the podium and lacing her hands together, adopting a serious expression. "However," The serious and cold tone of the normally cheerful and upbeat voice sent shivers down the spines of several Examinees. "If you're found purposely attacking any other Examinees, you will be immediately disqualified and kept from attempting the U.A. Exams again."
Perking back up and dissolving the dark atmosphere, Present Mic raised her hands and pointed at the crowd. "So, any questions!?"
Immediately, a dark blue haired and rather tall woman several rows down and slightly to the right of Izuku stood up and raised her hand. "Yes, Present Mic! There appears to be no less than four Faux Villains on the handout given to us!"
Glancing down at the aforementioned handout, Izuku realized that, yes, there was indeed a fourth Faux Villain. 'Huh.' Izuku blinked, before he squinted slightly at the paper. 'How the hell did I miss-?'
"...and YOU! The male with green and red hair!" Snapping his gaze up, he saw the piercing gaze of the woman who stood to speak. "You do realize that this is the Hero Course Exam, yes? Are you certain that you have not gotten lost?"
Immediately, Izuku could feel several hundred eyes turn to look at him. Ignoring the sudden shiver of anxiety that ran down his spine, Izuku responded and placed his chin on his fist and raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I am quite certain that I am not lost."
The woman opened her mouth to speak, but before she could Present Mic cut her off.
"Alright, alright, that's enough!" Looking at the blue haired woman, Present Mic answered her question while Izuku relaxed after feeling the stare move off of him. "Examinee 7111, nice catch and thanks for reminding me!"
Gesturing up at the screen that had changed yet again, she continued. "The fourth Faux Villain is worth Zero Points, and acts more as a obstacle over anything else. A 'gimmick' Villain that only rampages in close quarters!"
Looking back at the tall woman, Present Mic asked: "That a good answer for you, Examinee 7111?" The woman in question stood back up. "Yes, very much so! Thank you, ma'am!" Bowing, she sat back down. Not before she threw a confused look Izuku's way though.
"Now that's all from me!" Present Mic declared, spreading open her arms again. "But before you go, I'll leave you with our school motto!"
Izuku's eyes gleamed in anticipation and resolution.
Katsuki's eyes gleamed with anticipation and determination.
"GO BEYOND!" Present Mic's voice echoed through the auditorium, her final call to action that was at last answered. "PLUS-"
"-ULTRA!" The entire auditorium roared in unison, shaking the floor beneath them with the sheer volume of the call.
"NOW GO BREAK A LEG, LISTENERS!" Present Mic roared back; a wide grin of joy painted across her face.
'Man, I knew she said cities...' Izuku thought, staring at the enormous gate that lied ahead. His hand constantly rapped on the fushi-kashira(end cap) of one of the few katanas he had fully completed. For the most part, as it was so expensive, Izuku didn't bother with making or fitting a proper tsuka(handle) for most of his blades.
This specific katana was actually the first one he forged for Maijima-sensei at the beginning of the ten months he spent training, as it was still one of the best blades he forged that had a proper tsuka.
He began to reminisce on his past forging endeavors, before he shook it off.
'Not now.' He thought grimly. 'I can think about it later. I need to stay focused on the here and the now.'
Izuku began to walk to the crowd of people, planning on making his way towards the front so he could get a head start, before he was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder and a voice that called out to him.
"You! Male!" Izuku glanced back over his shoulder, looking at the blue haired woman from the auditorium. "Yeah? Can I help ya'?"
The woman crossed her arms under her chest, giving him a rather harsh stare. "Why are you here? Are you some sort of plant from U.A.? Another test to see how we react to unpredictable situations like a civilian in an active combat zone?"
Izuku blinked.
The crowd stared, murmurs spreading throughout.
"You know..." Izuku drawled, a hint of a scowl crossing his face and his hand gripping the fushi-kashira of his katana in an iron grip. "...if I was a plant for U.A. rather then a fellow Examinee, then I would have been quite impressed by your deduction skills."
A full scowl now painted Izuku's features. "But I'm not, so I'm rather insulted that you think I can't be a Hero."
The woman didn't react, keeping her even stare locked onto Izuku. "You being a plant is the only think that makes sense for a male to be here. Men simply can't have Quirks. As such, men, in an active battlefield, need to be guarded from those with Quirks that would harm them."
Izuku's scowl deepened, and he prepared to continue this debate with this block headed bitch that was trying to stop him from achieving his dream-
"GO!"
-but he was interrupted by the shout of Present Mic and the opening of the massive gate that previously prevented them from going into the city.
Izuku immediately shunted his frustration and anger away from his mind and dashed towards the now open gate, hand properly gripping the tsuka and ready to draw it out at any moment.
And a couple dozen meter into the city, a One Pointer suddenly charged around a corner and locked onto Izuku with glowing red eyes.
"Target Locked!" It roared, revving down the few meters left between it and Izuku.
Quickly getting into a rough stance, Izuku drew half of the katana from its saya(sccabard); prepared to cut through the soft steel that the One Pointer was made of. Izuku began to pump energy through his Circuits, feeling his body heat up-
"Watch out!"
-before he was interrupted by the blue haired woman from before dashing in front of him in a blur of motion and kicking the robot into smithereens.
"You need to be careful!" The woman shouted at him, glancing over her shoulder before running off to find more Faux Villains. "Make sure that you have someone to protect you!"
A feeling bubbled up inside of Izuku. One that he hadn't felt in several months.
He ran forward yet again, finding another One Pointer. This time however, it was in a group along with two other One Pointers and one Two Pointer.
Izuku dashed forward, katana drawn and prepared to slice through the scorpion-esque tail of the Two Pointer. Again pushing energy through his Circuits, he was ten meters away from the group before he was interrupted yet again when another woman, this one with several arms, rushed forward and dismantled all the Faux Villains with a couple of blows to each.
She nodded towards him. "Be careful." And with that, she ran off in search of more points.
The feeling turned into a flame.
"SIX MINUTES AND FOUR SECONDS REMAINING!" Present Mic's voice echoed throughout the city.
Turning around in hopes of finding a few Faux Villains the way he came; he came across a clearing and a cybernetic graveyard filled with the sight and sounds of combat.
"28 Points!" He heard a familiar voice shout out, turning to see the brunette from the Gateway clap her hands together. Suddenly, several different Faux Villains fell from the sky and onto the concrete, adding to the cybernetics that littered the ground.
"45 Points!" He heard yet another familiar voice call out, turning and seeing the blue haired woman launch a side kick into the side of a Two Pointer.
Izuku could feel his dream dying.
He turned, trying to find a Faux Villain left untouched.
"Woah! Be careful!"
Another interloper.
"Merci! I appreciate the assist, but I doubt we'll meet again!"
Another obstacle in-between him and his dream, making the chasm even wider.
"Stay back male! Leave this to us!"
Another one.
"I got you!"
Another one.
"Careful!"
Another one.
The flame turned into a blaze.
"Hmm, lets test them with this, shall we?" A small statured person murmured, cloaked in shadow. "After all, this is the quickest way to test one's true intentions, isn't it?"
A red button was pressed.
Suddenly, distracting Izuku from the blaze that lapped at his body from the inside, a massive earthquake shook the entire city.
And over the peaks of the massive buildings surrounding the Examinees, a massive Faux Villain could be seen peaking over and grabbing the top of the building, crushing it in its grip.
"TARGETS AQUIRED." The massive metal behemoth roared, its synthesized voice echoing throughout several blocks of the city.
Now panicking, several dozen Examinees ran past Izuku and away from the massive Zero Pointer. "Run! Don't get caught up in its path!" Several of the Examinees attempted to drag Izuku away, but he shook them off and turned his back to the Zero Pointer.
'This is my chance! My opportunity!' Izuku shouted in his head, beginning to dash to his right and into an alleyway. 'I can run to an area with more Faux Villains and not have to deal with people getting in the way!'
As Izuku began to pump energy through his Circuits for a third time, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
"Owww..." A low mumble of pain. One that he barely heard through the rumbling of the Zero Pointer heading straight towards them. Turning around, Izuku saw the brunette again, this time with her leg buried underneath rubble from a demolished building and trapped right in the path of the Zero Pointer.
'Ignore her!' One side of him roared. 'She'll be fine! The proctors will stop the Zero Pointer from crushing her, so you need to run and get points!'
'Save her!' The other side of him roared back. 'We don't know that! Her life could be in danger! What if she dies because of our selfishness?!'
Izuku stood conflicted.
A messy black-haired man sat next to him and told him of his dream. Of his wish.
And before he knew it, Izuku was running right towards the Zero Pointer, Circuits channeling a flood of energy and a storm brewing in his chest.
Izuku knew what he had to do.
He had to cut the robot enough to make it stop; to cut the robot enough to save the girl he had never met before today.
But his katana had fallen off in the chaos, likely from one of the other Examinees trying to grab him and take him to a save area.
He was weaponless.
-and in a flash of cyan 'electricity', a sword was formed.
No, he wasn't.
He never was.
A hammer was raised over an anvil.
Izuku reached his hand out, ready to grab something that existed in a Fantasy.
"Trace-"
The World shuddered, an earthquake rumbling throughout the Fantastical Terra of Izuku's Soul.
It stopped.
And then, in a blinding flash of light, a sun formed high in the false sky, hanging next to the gargantuan gears that spun at a languid tempo.
The hammer struck down, creating a storm of flying sparks.
Izuku's Circuits were dyed crimson.
"-On!"
And in a flash of crimson and cyan sparks, a sword was formed.
The comforting feeling of a katana's heft in his hand and the storm in his chest turning into a hurricane, Izuku leapt, blurring into a crimson streak that reappeared directly in line with the Zero Pointer's head and cocked fist.
Izuku pulled the sword back, not seeing the red Circuits tracing down into it.
The Faux Villain launched its fist forward, causing a whirlwind to follow it.
Izuku swung his sword.
...
And after a brief moment of silence, a metallic ring echoed throughout the cityscape.
Silence rang throughout the blackened room.
Then, in a flurry of motion, nearly all of the proctors jumped out of their seats and began to shout.
"Another one!"
"Is this for real?!"
"Another male with a Quirk?!"
And on the shouts went. Some in disbelief, and some in joy.
All the same, they were cut off by a single voice that seemed to be heard despite its quiet volume. "So that's your successor, Yagi-san?"
Like they were all one being, every single proctor turned their head to look at All Might, who was watching the screen that focused on his successor with a wide grin. "He is." He gave a simple response.
And chaos broke out again.
Those who were running stopped and turned back, wondering what had caused such a noise to be made...
...only to see the top half of the Zero Pointer, from the middle of its arm upward, fall off the rest of its body and crash to the ground behind it with a massive boom.
And the one who caused such an impossible thing to happen?
The very man they thought they needed to protect.
The very man who, with a single blade, felled a giant.
The very man who, as of now, was falling out of the sky-!
The closest Examinees immediately broke into a sprint, desperate to catch the male who would certainly die if he hit the ground from that far up-
SMACK!
-but they were stopped by a brunette who slapped him right as he reached her level and made him slowly float the rest of the way to the ground. And right as he landed on the ground, the final seconds of the Exam concluded with a loud air horn and an announcement. "IT'S ALL OVER!"
All the while, nearly all the women in the mock city could hardly believe their eyes.
"No way!"
"I thought All Might was the only one!"
"But you saw that jump right?!"
"Forget the jump! He nearly cleaved that Zero Pointer in half!"
Then, like Moses with the Red Sea, the ocean of Examinees who crowded around the fallen male moved out of the way from the sound of en elderly voice calling out, "So your own Quirk did this to you?"
Recovery Gril made her way through the crowd and next to Izuku, leaning over slightly and extending her lips to kiss his head. Rapidly, his previously torn, twisted and bruised limbs recovered to how they were before Izuku stepped foot into the mock city.
Whistling, she called in two robots, similar to the One Pointer but smaller and unarmed, carrying a stretcher and put Izuku on it before wheeling away to the U.A. Infirmary.
"Now then," Recovery Girl said, turning around to the rest of the crowd. "Who else needs healing?"
CHAPTER REVIEW:
Another new chapter :DDDDDDDDD
Probably not the best place to end things, but I wanted to save the post-Exam portion of everything for next chapter.
This one was mainly centered around the transfer of OFA and the Entrance Exam. And yeah, in case you couldn't tell from chapter 2, UA is a college now. It just makes more sense to me, cuz training 15 year olds to be heroes kinda seems like indoctrination ngl…
Anyway, OFA! Yippee!
So basically, in this fanfic, OFA acts as both a source of Magical Energy for Izuku to use as well as a boost to his stats. How it does that will be explained later on, but yeah, just take that for now.
And I can already hear shit about how Iida being a dickwad and how all the other Examinees who got in Izuku's way need to be disqualified cause they interfered with him getting points.
But here's the thing: everyone, including the proctors, had no clue about Izuku having his Circuits. And more than that, all of them were raised on the idea of needing to protect and shelter men from danger. So to them, it was only natural to stop him from getting into 'dangerous' situations. Also, they all saw him charging at the Faux Villains with just a single sword. They couldn't have known how the sword was easily capable of slicing steel, because what simple sword could do such a thing? I'll probably come back at some point to fix the presentation of the idea, but I think it'll work for now.
And to make things clear, when Nezu referred to Izuku being Yagi's 'successor', she was referring to him being the next Male Hero. Not necessarily the next Symbol of Peace, or the next Wielder of One For All. Though she may have been alluding to those as well.
Also, I just made the entire passing of OFA more dramatic. Felt better to have the entire All Might speech rather than just 'gg you worked hard! Now eat my hair and go break and arm and both your legs!'
EDIT(June 22nd): yeah, changed a bit of the wording in this chapter. Honestly still don't really like the Zero Pointer part of it, so I'll mark this chapter down as one of the ones I'll come back to and revise once I become a better writer.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Schools over, so thats nice :3
Got more time to write, but I also got more time to play games that I've been wanting to play for a good while.
Like Octopath Traveler(had my eyes on it since the switch port), and I FINALLY MANAGED TO DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINAL F/SN VN!
So yeah, imma be getting no sleep anymore
Uhhhhhh, yeah. Thats about all from me ngl. Should hopefully be updating more often than not, but idk. Just depends on how im feeling
UPDATE(June 6th):
Finished Olympus…
…not sure if that was a good thing or not ngl… big sad…
But now I should be on track to finish Heian-Kyo before LB 6 is released!
UPDATE(June 8th: 9:43 PM)
Sooo, I didn't manage to complete Heian-Kyo before LB6 came out :(
But at least I got 2 Morgans, both from ticket rolls!
Nearly gave me a heart attack both times cause of the rainbow for both, but I got her XD
UPDATE(June 14th):
A ton of updates, I know, but I just wanted to give an update on my google doc :D
So rn I've almost finished this chapter, and I've planned out rough ideas of how I want future arcs to go :D
So far I've gotten 7 arcs written down, with the 7th one being a work in progress. MOst pf them, up to the 6th arc, stay mostly true to the canon of MHA with some slight changes that allude to how this world came to be.
But yeah, this story now has a permanent pocket in the back of my head that constantly yells at me about ideas and stuff, so yippee :'D
Anyway, imma dip. See ya next chapter!
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