Stepping out onto the field with Hallelujah and Asahi in tow, Nanashi takes a moment to survey the surroundings. It's an old habit from back when Demons were a major threat, scanning for escape routes, improvised weapons, cover, and anything else that could be taken advantage of.
Nanashi's assessment doesn't go unnoticed by Aizawa, who files the info away for later. While a useful skill to have, the fact that someone so young seems to be doing it on reflex is worrying to the Underground Hero.
Eventually, the rest of the class files out onto the field, though some of them cut it a bit close for Aizawa's liking. He frowns but moves forward, they'll get better as the year goes on. If he keeps them that is.
Calling their attention over, Aizawa addresses the class, "Today we'll be having a little test of sorts. In order for me to do my best as your teacher I need to know your limits and how I can push them. In the past you've taken physical tests for school. This time it'll be different, as I want you all to use your Quirks in whatever ways you can think of to boost your scores. Honestly, this is how it should be done period, but the Department of Education is dragging its feet like always."
A girl with brown hair raises her hand, "Uhm, sir? What about orientation? And the councilor meetings?"
Aizawa grunts, "The orientation is useless fluff, it'll only use up our valuable time. If you ever want to be a Hero, you'll have to get used to skipping out on things like that. As for your councilors, they're well aware of my start of year habits and will be meeting with you all after we're done here."
Aizawa gestures to Hallelujah, "Ishioka, you scored first on the practical, so I'll have you give the example. We'll be doing the ball throw, but I want you to use your Quirk to send the ball as far as you can without leaving the circle. Anything goes as long as you don't break that one rule."
Hallelujah nods and approaches, taking the ball as he steps into the circle. Taking a breath to concentrate, Hallelujah shifts over to his form as a Nephilim, taking a ready stance.
Setting his arm in the proper throwing position, Hallelujah pitches his arm forward with a cry of, "Agidyne!", as a huge gout of flame blasts out from behind the ball and sends it hurtling out of sight.
As the ball presumably lands, Aizawa holds up a device to show Hallelujah's distance, 800 meters.
Several members of the class start chattering away, excited as to what sort of results their Quirks could bring to these tests.
A girl with pink skin and hair shouts out, "This'll be so much fun!"
Aizawa seems to take issue with this statement, as he lets them all know, "Fun, huh? Well if that's true, it isn't really fun if we don't have any stakes! So why don't I add some? At the end of these tests I'll be adding up your scores and ranking them. Whichever one of you comes in last will be deemed as having no potential and expelled from the Hero Course!"
The brown haired girl who had brought up her concerns about the councilors speaks up, "What?! We just got here! You can't do that, it isn't fair!"
Aizawa sneers, "So what? Are natural disasters and Villain attacks fair? If you want to be a Hero it'll be your job to do something about that and level the playing field. We've only got three years to turn you into Heroes, so if you think you'll have time to goof around you're dead wrong. We're going to work you to the bone until you can fight Villains in your sleep!"
Aizawa lifts his scraggly hair out of his face, revealing an almost maddening grin, "Welcome to the Hero Course kids! Although maybe I should say welcome to Hell? In any case, it's do or die here! You either take the initiative and do what needs to be done, or you risk potentially thousands or even millions of lives! We don't have time to hesitate here, so I hope y'all are ready! You're all about to learn what Plus Ultra really means!"
Throughout the whole speech Nanashi's smirk had only been growing, and just hearing Aizawa say 'do or die' made his blood sing. The fires of his determination had been stoked into a roaring inferno, and he was more than ready to blow the competition out of the water.
Even after the entrance exam, Nanashi had kept up his training and done his damnedest to push his limits even further. What good would he be as a Hero or even just to his friends if he became stagnant? He'd seen the pinnacle of his power, or something close to it, in the old world. He'd be damned if he didn't reach it again.
Lining up for the fifty meter dash, Nanashi flexes his fingers as he feels the magical energy rushing through his body, begging to be released. As soon as to go is given, he throws out a cast of Bufula to freeze the ground before casting Agidyne behind his back to propel himself forward across the now friction-less path. Nanashi clocks in a time at a little under 4 seconds, easily topping most other scores.
Hallelujah uses a similar strategy and obtains a similar score, though afterwards Nanashi can feel one of their classmates, a boy with split red and white hair and heterochromia, watching the two of them intently.
And on the tests go, for tests that his demons and spells can't help in, like the toe touches, Nanashi just lets his natural athletic abilities shine. However, for other tests, he gets to be a bit more creative. For example in the long jump, he uses a blast of Zanma to clear the sandbox, and in the grip strength test, he lets Take-Mikazuchi handle that one, maxing out the device before accidentally crushing it.
Finally, they arrive at the last test, the ball throw. As Nanashi steps into the circle, he already has a plan for how to top Hallelujah. He knows for a fact he can't outdo Uraraka's score of infinity, so at the very least he can claim second. His plan is a bit risky, as he's already expended a lot of energy today, but fuck it. If someone's life was on the line he wouldn't hesitate, so he won't do the same here either.
Holding the ball in his right hand, Nanashi calls up one of the strongest Demons his body can manage, Wild Hunt. As the ghostly conglomerate appears at his back, Nanashi gets into throwing position.
When ready, he wastes no time and hurls the ball, calling out to Wild Hunt, "Grand Tack!"
A phantom huntsman raises his bow and fires, the arrow slamming into the ball with unprecedented force, causing the two to sail away at high speeds. While technically Hallelujah's Agidyne carried more firepower (heh), a decent amount of it was lost due to the spell being harder to focus on such a small target. Grand Tack had no such problem, as it was a single small projectile that carried massive power.
With its job done, Wild Hunt is dismissed, as Nanashi feels exhaustion wash over him. It's not really a big deal though, he's used to working on low energy. Turning to see his score, Nanashi smirks as he sees it, 835.5 meters.
Moving back to his place with the class Nanashi watches as the rest go through with the test. Eventually, Midoriya's turn comes up, and it's certainly interesting. At first he has a little trouble getting started, Aizawa even scolding him over… Quirk control? Eventually though, he gets into it, and throws the ball. Damn, does he throw the ball.
Force explodes out of his hand and kicks up dust, sending the ball hurtling away. As the ball lands, the score is displayed. And it just beats out Bakugou.
Speak of the devil, Bakugou charges and Midoriya, apparently mad about the other manifesting a Quirk. Nanashi and Hallelujah move to stop him, but it proves unnecessary. Bands of cloth wrap around Bakugou as his Quirk cuts out, Eraserhead living up to his name.
Pulling Bakugou away and scolding him, Aizawa has the test move on until everyone has finished, the scores being totaled up.
Aizawa calls their attention, "I don't feel like calling these out one by one, so you'll just see them all at once."
The scores are shown, and Nanashi feels his smirk creep back onto his face. He'd taken first, with Hallelujah taking a close second. Asahi was more in the middle, but still far from last despite her abilities not helping in the slightest. Down in last was Midoriya who, despite being physically fit, had been sabotaged by his nerves.
Before anyone has the chance to feel sorry for him though, Aizawa takes the moment to add one last detail.
"Oh by the way, I lied to you. I just wanted to make sure you all did your best! No one's going home today!"
The creepy grin is back, but it has less impact after the statement he just made.
One of the smarter students, the Yaoyorozu heiress, tries to explain how it should have been obvious, but she's cut off.
"Bullshit!", Nanashi calls out, looking Aizawa directly in the eye, "You would've expelled everyone here if we hadn't met your expectations."
A few students try to scold him for his outburst, but Aizawa cuts them off with a question for Nanashi, "What makes you say that? Surely you have no reason to doubt me."
Nanashi scoffs, "You've already proven to us that we should take everything you say with a grain of salt, but unlike everyone else here I've done my research. You've already expelled well over 100 students for failing to meet expectations, and I doubt you'd stop out of the blue."
Aizawa smirks, "Well now, looks like at least one of you is ahead of the game. Guess I'll have to tell you now, Callaghan is right. I only told you I was lying to try and cover for myself, I really wasn't expecting to leave off today without expelling anyone, but you've all surpassed my expectations. Good job. Go on and head back to the classroom. There you'll find your syllabus with all the info you'll need. Counselor meeting is in 20 minutes, by the way."
Leaving the class to ponder what he'd said, Aizawa approaches Midoriya with a pass to the nurse. Before the man can leave, Nanashi approaches to speak with him.
"I noticed you scold Midoriya earlier about his Quirk control. I came to try and explain that it isn't his fault. I've known him for a few years now and he's never shown signs of a Quirk before now, he's a late bloomer. The only reason I'm telling you this instead of him is because he's too nervous to approach most people himself, especially teachers."
Aizawa takes in this new information, his eyes narrowing as he draws conclusions as to what it all entails, "I can imagine. Thanks for the info Callaghan, I'll adjust my plans for Midoriya in accordance."
Nanashi nods and walks off, ready to see what else the day will bring.
A/N: Behold, another update. Hallelujah is decently powerful at this point, but not at his full power, due to the fact that severe damage is kinda broken, especially on magic skills. Since this isn't the game, he also isn't restricted to the partner one skill a turn thing, so he'd be a larger threat. As for Nanashi, the strongest demons he can summon right now are around the level of Take-Mikazuchi, who is level 55, but it's a bit of a strain. Some of you may be saying, hey, that's kinda strong, aren't his powers progressing a bit fast? To that I say, no. In Smt4 Apocalypse, your active combat party consists of Nanashi (Who is completely customizable), three demons of your choice, and one partner (Asahi, Hallelujah, etc.). He can summon a decently strong demon at this point. A. One of them. He's not at the level yet where he'd be able to handle multiple demons ~ level 50. But later on he'll be able to do some stupid things like Satan in conjunction with Krishna and Mother Harlot, which to me sounds kind of terrifying. Anyway, see you next time, whenever that is.