My eyelids fluttered open, and I found myself in a dimly lit hospital room. The soft beeping of machines filled the air, and the scent of antiseptic stung my nose. I felt groggy, my body heavy, but as my senses slowly returned, I realized I was alive. Memories of the attack rushed back, and my heart rate quickened.
"Izuku!" Mom's worried voice broke through my thoughts as she rushed to my bedside, taking my hand in hers. Tears glistened in her eyes, but they were tears of relief. "Thank goddess you're awake! We were so worried!"
"Dad…" I managed to croak, my voice hoarse from disuse. Dad stood beside my mom, his expression a mix of concern and pride.
"You had us worried there, son," he said, gently patting my shoulder.
I mustered a weak smile. "Sorry, Dad."
"Don't be sorry, kiddo," he said with a warm smile. "I'm just glad you're okay."
As we shared a tender moment, the door to the hospital room creaked open, and mei peeked inside. Her eyes were red and puffy, a clear sign that she had been crying. When seh saw me awake, her tears transformed into that of joy.
"Izuku!" Mei rushed to my side and hugged me uncharacteristically gently, carefully avoiding jostling my injuries. "You scared me, you know? I thought I had lost my partner in crime!"
"I'm sorry, Mei," I said, sincerity in my voice. I could tell I had worried her greatly. "I wasn't expecting to get jumped by a bird lady."
"You're so danger prone," she teased, her voice tinged with relieved affection.
"And you're a loveable grease monkey!" I retorted, grinning. Our banter brought a smile to Mom and Dad, and I saw tears welling up in Mom's eyes.
"Thank you, Mei," Mom said, her voice quivering with emotion. "For being such a good friend to my son. If… if it wasn't for you…" her voice cracked.
"What do you mean if it wasn't for Mei?" Mei froze, before turning away, her eyes lost in remembrance.
"I found you nearly dead, Izuku… if it wasn't for the emergency medical kit I brought with me, you would have… you would've…" tears filled her unique eyes once again, and I, painfully, pushed myself up and wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"You saved me. You're my hero, Mei Hatsume. Oh, by the way, did anyone grab my knife?"
"Oh, right!" Mei stepped out of my embrace and ran to her back sitting on a nearby chair, and pulled out the blade that had saved my life, no longer glowing green.
"I'm glad you're okay, Izuku," Goddess Artemis walked in, smiling gently at me. She gave me a soft hug, then kissed me on the forehead. "You really worried all of us. But I'm glad you're safe." Then she looked at me seriously, before looking at the rest of the people in the room. "I… I need to ask, Izuku, who attacked you? Mei said there wasn't anyone around, but there were sharp red feathers digging into your legs and back. Can you describe them to me?"
"Oh… it was some kind of bird lady." At this, Goddess Artemis froze, before biting her knuckle in worry. "Goddess? Is something wrong?"
"I… I'm afraid so… what happened to your attacker?"
"She… I threw my knife through her chest, after it started glowing, and she burst into a puff of black smoke, and left behind a stone. What does that mean? Was she rescued by another villain before I defeated her?"
"No… no Izuku, it's dead. And I do mean it. Izuku, I'm afraid I know what's causing all these earthquakes and what caused the ravine to open. I- Izuku, there's a dungeon reawakening…" Artemis took a deep breath, her expression grave. "There is a powerful entity, a Goddess like myself, that stayed behind on Earth when the rest of us went to the other world to live as mortals. This Goddess was named Gaea. She is the last remaining god on Earth, excluding me. I… I fear she's waking up. As Gaea is the Earth itself, she is also the dungeon of this world."
"What… What exactly is a dungeon, Goddess Artemis?"
"A dungeon is a place of great power, filled with dangerous monsters and treasures," Artemis explained. "Gaea's dungeon is a source of immense strength, and I fear that she has sensed me, and desires to destroy me by unleashing monsters into the world.
"So…, the bird lady was one of those monsters?" Mei asked, her voice quiet.
"Yes, exactly. A harpy to be exact." Artemis confirmed. "In the other world, the dungeon's sole goal was to wipe out the gods and goddesses, and to kill the mortal races of the surface. I'm afraid this dungeon, that Gaea, has the same goal… And because you are marked by my blessing, you have become a target in her eyes."
"I swallowed hard, the weight of the situation sinking in. "So, this is all because of me…"
"No, Izuku," Goddess Artemis said firmly, placing a hand on my shoulder. "This is not your fault. Gaea's anger goes beyond just you. She blames all of humanity for the actions of the other gods. But now, we must find a way to stop her and seal the dungeon once more."
Mei clenched her fists, her determination resolute. "Then we need to stop her. Izuku and I won't let her destroy everything. We'll stand against her!"
Artemis nodded, her eyes filled with gratitude. "I know you'll protect people. However, you must get stronger, and in order to do that, you must keep training. You're nowhere near strong enough to defeat a goddess, and you need more allies than just the two of you… I think… I think I need to expand my familia. I also am going to need to talk to… who's the principal of the school you plan on going to?"
"Principal Nezu?"
"Yes, I'll need to talk to him. If UA is like you said, it'd be a perfect place to find new members of the familia. Besides, I need to let people know about what's happening."
"I could get you to Nezu." Dad spoke up. "I have contact with him due to many of my products, and my support company helps provide his students with their first hero costume. I'm sure he'd be willing to listen."
Mei and I exchanged glances, a sense of hope stirring within us. The idea of expanding the familia was enticing, as it was daunting. But if it meant we could gather allies and become stronger to face Gaea and her dungeon, we were willing to take on the challenge.
"Thank you, Dad," I said, grateful for his offer. "Having Artemis talk to Principal Nezu would be a great opportunity for us. And if we can find potential familia members at UA, it'll be even better."
Artemis smiled warmly. "I appreciate your support, both of you. With the right allies, we can face Gaea together and protect this world from the threat of her dungeon."
"We won't let her hurt anyone else," Mei declared, her resolve unwavering. "Izuku and I will do whatever it takes to stop her."
With a nod, Artemis turned to my parents. "Thank you for raising such a brave and kind-hearted son. Izuku's determination and sense of justice are truly admirable."
Mom wiped away a tear, her voice filled with pride. "He's always been a special boy. I knew he would grow up to be a hero in every sense of the word."
My dad chuckled, his arm around Mom's shoulders. "He takes after his mother in more ways than one. And I have no doubt that he'll make us all proud."
Soon, I was released from the hospital. Goddess Artemis updated my status. She also explained that the glowing on my weapon was my skill, Argonaut.
Izuku Midoriya
LV 1
STR G 202 → G 282
VIT H 133 → G 205
DEX G 203 → F 303
AGI G 272 → F 353
MAG I 0 → I
MAGIC:
SKILL: Argonaut
Elios Passion
Iroikí Parémvasi
It was quite a substantial increase, which I attributed to my slaying of an, apparently, high level monster. Apparently, in Goddess Artemis's world, Harpies are only found past floor 18, the lower half of the middle floors. She said I was extremely lucky to have survived. Mei and I continued to work out, and I continued to help her build her machines. Soon, it was the day of the entrance exam.
"Oh, man, oh man, oh man! I'm so nervous!" I jittered in place. Mei and I were standing right outside the gates to UA, and I was attempting to psyche myself up for this. Am I ready for this, are my stats high enough? I've registered the knife Mei gave me as a support weapon, so I can use that, but what if it's not enough? All the work I've done! Goddess Artemis will be so disappointed! No! I can't think like that! I smacked my cheeks and nodded, resolute. I turned to Mei, only for whatever words I was gonna say dying on my lips. Mei was in her mechanics clothes, but what caught my eye was the bow strapped to her back. It was a greek composite bow, and had beautiful engravings carved into it. It seemed to be made out of a silver wood, but Izuku didn't spot any arrows on her body.
"Mei? Where are your arrows?" Mei turned to me, a wild grin on her face.
"Arrows? Who needs arrows? This baby can create arrows by compressing air and drawing on my mind!"
"You have magic?"
"Nope! But Blacksmith lets me imbue objects with unique properties! This one just is enchanted with the ability to create Air-rows. Get it? Air? Arrow?" I facepalmed, and began walking into the exam, only to be shoulder checked as an angry pomeranian stalked by, red eyes shooting a dark look at me.
"Stay in your fucking lane, Deku."
"Damn, someone's extra spicy today."
"Fuck off."
"Aye aye, captain." I sighed, and saw Mei glaring at Katsuki's back. I had almost completely forgotten about Katsuki the last few weeks, with a literal goddess entering my life and meeting Mei. It… it felt like he didn't really have any sway over me anymore. It was nice.
I sighed to myself and made my way towards the entrance to the school. You got this, Izuku! I told myself, smiling. Then, my foot hit a brick, and I fell. Well fuck me I guess. Instincts quickly kicked in and with my new superhuman physical abilities I quickly turned a face-plant into a front flip. I heard a gasp, and turned to see a brunette girl staring at me in shock, a hand stretched out as if to catch me. I spotted small pads on her fingers.
"Oh- I, uh. Sorry?" She squeaked, before she rushed off. Mei started to cackle, and I glanced over at her, flushed.
"She was going to try and catch me, huh?"
"Yep!" And with that, Mei and I made our way into the exam room, jammed packed with hundreds of potential applicants. We were quickly handed our written exam. I twitched nervously, as I had found my seat directly next to Katsuki, who huffed in annoyance. Bad doggy.
We had 30 minutes to complete the written exam. It was fairly standard stuff, with a few exceptions. When I made it down to the ethics part of the exam, there was only a single question. 'What is a hero?' I mused to myself. What is a hero? If you go with the textbook definition, it is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. However, it is so much more than that. In our modern age, a hero is an occupation, someone who uses their quirk for public security and to inspire peace in the populace. However, is that all it should be? That makes it feel so impersonal. A hero… is someone who, at the cost of one's self, is willing to go above and beyond in protecting others, to ensure that not only are their bodies saved, but so are their hearts. A true hero must be able to look upon a criminal, and emphasized or, at the very least, understand their reasoning. If a hero can do that, identify the human behind the crime, then it becomes that much easier to deal with the situation.
For example, if a theft is committed, a true hero must not look at it as a criminal stealing, but the reason behind it. Are they stealing money? If so, are they doing it for good or bad reasons? Many times, heroes may be able to deescalate a situation through words alone, and in fact should be the first response in most situations, unless another life is in the crossroads. Ultimately, a hero is someone who does their best with whatever situation is given to them, and attempts to do as much 'good' as possible, that good being the saving of lives, both in the literal sense and the metaphorical. What's the point of saving a person, if everything they have ever known and cared about is gone, and they no longer have any support groups.
It's why some of our most revered heroes, such as All Might, don't just stop at preventing crime, but also have their own charities, their own fundraisers for victims, and do community service. A hero doesn't just enforce the letter of the law, but also its spirit. A hero saves lives, livelyhoods, and happiness.
I smiled, and quickly finished up the rest of his test. Just in time, too, as all of the tests were being collected. Soon after, a blonde man in a leather jacket strolled onto the stage, cheerfully waving at the crowd like it was a concert. I quickly recognized him as Present Mic, and stifled my gut reaction to fanboy, but couldn't prevent the small squeak.
"Shut up, Deku."
"Bite me, Katsuki." And with that, we turned back to the presentation.
"What's up UA Candidates! Thanks for tuning into me! Come on and let me hear ya!" Present Mic cheered, only to be met with an eerie silence. Izuku swore he heard crickets. "Keeping it mellow, huh? That's fine, I'll skip straight to the main show. Let's talk about how this practical exam is going to go down, okay? ARE YOU READY? YEAH!" Again, silence. Mic coughed into his hand, looking a little disheartened.
"Like your application says, today you rockin boys and girls will be out there conducting ten-minute mock battles in a super hip urban setting! Your joy my friends after I drop the mic here, you'll head to your specified battle center, so good luck!"
"I see," Katsuki mumbled to himself, "they're splitting us up so we can't work out with any of our friends." I shrugged.
"Makes sense. I wonder if that means I won't be with Mei?"
"Who?"
"Don't worry about it, Katsuki."
"Deku… damn, I was really looking forward to crushing you."
"Alright! Let's check out your targets! There are three types of faux villains in every battle center. You'll earn points based on their level of difficulty. Better choose wisely! You goal in this trial is to use your abilities to utterly shred these villains like a mid-song guitar solo! But keep things heroic, so no sabotaging your fellow applicants!" Mic said, clearly having a blast with his hero persona. I smiled.
"If I may interject!" A bispeckled young man stood up, a spotlight immediately shining on his seat. I wondered who exactly they had in charge of that? And why?
"And who are you?"
"I go by Iida Tenya, sir! On the print out, you have listed four types of villains, not three! With all respect, if this is an error on official UA material, it is shameful! We are the best of the best students! We expect only the same from one of the top hero schools in Japan!" He swirled around and pointed at Katsuki and I. "Additionally! You two, stop your pathetic squabbling, its distracting the others! If you can't be bothered to take this seriously, then leave!" Izuku tilted his head. Damn, okay. Go off king. What the hell did I just think? Katsuki stood up.
"The only one interfering with the presentation is you! Four eyes! Sit down, Present Mic was clearly just about to get to that!" he barked. Iida faltered. "Four eyes?" he mumbled, before turning back to Present Mic. He bowed at a 90 degree angle, chopping his hand in the air.
"I apologize, sir! Please continue!"
"Alright, alright examinee number 7111, thanks for calling in with your request! The fourth villain type is worth 0 points! Think of it as an obstacle to avoid. That's all I have for you today. As General Napoleon Bonnapart once said, 'A true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes! Let's hear a plus ultra!"
"Plus ultra!" And with that, I quickly changed into my workout clothes and hopped on the bus to the physical part of the exam. "This is it, Izuku, let's make sure the effort Mei and I put in isn't for nothing!" I drew out his emerald green knife that Mei had made for me, and set it in my lap. The guy with glasses was a part of his exam group, and spotted the knife. He made his way over from the front of the bus where he was seated and began to chop his arms at me.
"How disgraceful! Bringing a weapon to an exam like this! You should be ashamed!"
"Uh, I got it registered. I'm allowed to have it. I have a friend who is bringing a bow. Not all of our quirks are inherently combat related."
"So you're going to be using a knife to arrest villains?"
"Doesn't Edgeshot use shuriken? And Snipe has an actual gun." Izuku's rebuke started Iida, and he faltered.
"I- I apologize." He seemed to deflate. "I'm just a little on edge, that's all."
"Hey, it's okay. Everyone's a little nervous, I think. I know I am. It's okay to be nervous, you just got to power through! That's what a hero would do, right?" I reassured the other guy.
"You're right! Good luck in the exam-!"
"Izuku Midoriya."
"Midoriya! Good luck!" He bowed at the waist again, and went to sit back down. I smiled. He seemed to be an earnest guy, if a bit uptight. Soon, the bus arrived, and we all got off in front of a giant gate.
"It's like a whole city!"
"How the hell do they afford this?"
"What is their budget?"
"I am feeling absolutely magnifique!" What? I shook off the weird comment, and spotted the brunette who went to catch me. I strolled over, and tapped her on the shoulder, startling her. She looked super shaky. I offered a smile, swallowing the hint of nervousness from talking to a girl. Mei, as it would turn out, made talking to girls not seem nearly as bad. Mainly because she is an absolute gremlin.
"You're the girl who tried to catch me, right? Thank you!"
"Oh! No, no, you clearly had it handled, I'm sorry!" She bowed quickly, and I scratched the back of my head, awkward.
"I mean, I guess, but I still appreciate it. You look nervous, I'm sure you'll do fine though!" I reassured her, and she glanced up at me, a tinge of red on her cheeks, and smiled.
"I was, thank you." I notice the gate open, and offered a smile before rushing off, the experience from the harpy sharpening my mind into one of absolute focus.
"Right! Let's start! Get moving, there are no countdowns in real battles!" I heard Present Mic exclaim from behind me, but I ignored it in favor of dashing towards a small herd of robots. They were intimidating, but I felt no fear. Afterall, this is nothing compared to that monster. I leaped, and slammed a leg into the top of a two pointer, the metal crumbling under my foot like paper. I lept off, and quickly stabbed my knife into the face of a three pointer, backflipping out of the way of some missiles launched from another three pointer. 5 points. I had an idea. I drew the attention of the 3 pointer and dashed into a group of 1s and 2s. The missiles fired, and I dodged at the last second, letting them blow up the whole group. 19 points. At this point, the rest of the contestants arrived, so I dashed off to find another group, so I wouldn't have to compete. On my way, I saw a two pointer about to pin down a girl with its tail, so I quickly dashed over and kicked it out of the way, before spinning around and slamming my knife into it's glowing eye. Red, just like her, no. Don't lose focus.
I continued like that for a while, using the power of my falna to go from robot to robot, shredding and crumpling metal with ease. Is this really how far I've come? These things seem so… weak. To think, I'm not even halfway to level two yet. The blessing truly is incredible. Points started to rack up. 21, 22, 25, 28, 31, 33, 34, oh, a group, 43, 55, 61. Just like I did with that one girl, if I saw someone in a bad position, I'd jump in and save them. It felt like the right thing to do, and I still got points out of it, so why not? Eight minutes had passed, and I was sitting at a comfortable 68 points. The ground started to rumble, and out of the ground rose an absolute unit of a machine. The 0 pointer. How the hell are we supposed to deal with that? I shrugged, and went to dash away, before I heard a girl cry out. I whipped back, and spotted a mane of brown hair trapped under some rubble. Shit. I quickly made my way over.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, sliding to my knees next to her, the concrete shredding the knees of my pants, but barely leaving a bruise against my skin. Right, the falna increases everything. Speed, strength, durability, flexibility. Even thought speed is increased. No wonder I feel so light now. Artemis once said that if a blessed mortal is akin to a demi-god when compared to a non-blessed mortal. The higher level ones, the first class adventurers higher than Level 5, are super human to the point that she said any Level 6 or 7 could probably take on All Might. Just gaining a falna automatically made you superhuman, though only slightly.
"I think my leg is broken." The girl wheezed, tears in the corner of her eyes. I quickly observed the debris pinning her. If I try to move it, I'm not confident that I won't make her injury worse. Best course of action is to… take down the 0 pointer. Shit. Can I even do that? I then felt a tingling in my hand, and glanced down to see the same white sparkles dancing around my hand as they did against the harpy. Right, Argonaut. I nodded, and began the charge. A chime sounded, slowly rising in volume. Artemis told me that it sounds like a grand bell once it's fully charged. I won't have enough time to fully charge it. I'll have to make due. I ran to a nearby alley and did some, if you ask me, impressive acrobatics, jumping from wall to wall.
Reaching the roof, I quickly ran and leaped onto the arm of the 0 pointer, dodging it's rockets and its massive hands as it attempted to swat me off. The glow had expanded, my entire arm shining a brilliant white. I need to strike the head. I leaped, arriving on the robot's shoulder. I took a deep breath, flipped my knife, dashed, and swiped at the bot's neck. Slitch. A white light flew from my knife, cutting through the bots neck like a hot knife through butter. An ominous creaking sound echoed through the area, and the 0 pointers massive head slid off, the lights dulling. It crashed to the ground, luckily not hitting anyone. I winced. I should've thought that out more. Exhausted, I slipped from the shoulder. Fuck. Luckily, a slap caught me, arresting all my momentum. The girl had caught me with her quirk. She was now floating on top of the rubble, a pink hue surrounding it. She was staring at me in awe.
"That… was incredible!" she shouted, before wincing. "Re-release." She put the tips of her fingers together, and the rubble, her, and I all crashed back to the ground. Rainbow noises. I winced.
"How's your leg?" I panted, standing up, brushing off the dust, and strolled over. An alarm blared, signaling the end of the exam. I should be good with points, I think. She rolled over onto her back, her head lolled to the side in exhaustion, her hair sticking to her forehead from the sweat. I was sure I didn't look much better.
"Hurts, but I'll be okay." An old lady strolled over, using a massive syringe as a walking stick. It was Recovery Girl. I lit up, before I slapped myself just as quickly. Not today, fanboy fanatic.
"Oh dearie me, what happened to you? She approached the girl, and her lips stretched out like a proboscis. Ugh, that is so disturbing to see. Smooch. The girl's wounds started to glow, and her wounded leg healed over, the awkward angle her ankle was in snapped back into place. The girl passed out. "Oh, she must have been even more tired than I thought."
"She'll be okay, right?" Recovery Girl looked over at me, and smiled.
"She'll be fine. A friend of yours?"
"Ah, no, I only met her today. Just wanted to make sure she'd be okay. I should get going though, hopefully I'll see her in class, she was pretty cool. Saved my life too, probably." I might have been fine, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out. Recovery girl nodded, running her eyes over me. She held out a gummy.
"For the exhaustion."
"Thank you, ma'am." I nodded, and made my way back out the to front gates, where Mei was vibrating excitedly.
"That was so much fun!" She yelled, sweat clinging to her mechanics outfit in a ahem very appealing way. I turned my eyes, flushed. It didn't matter, as she promptly through her arms around me in a cheer. I felt her body squeeze up next to me. Luckily, any reaction I could've had was immediately cut off by the smell.
"Mei! Get off, you stink! Go take a shower, then we can celebrate!"
"My baby worked out perfectly! With my Zoom, I camped on top of a building and sniped all of the bots with her! I think I'll name her, actually. Baby #1312 doesn't quite match her, not after today!" She rambled. I smiled, and the two of us made our way to my home, where we'd be celebrating. Goddess Artemis and my parents decided that, regardless of if we passed or not, we deserved to celebrate. She also would be updating our status, as "I'm sure the exam will be a great source of excellia, for both of you."
"I got it! She shall be forever known as the Moonlit Bow!" Mei cheered, and I grinned.
"I love that name."
