Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, Overlord, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
The Sorcerer Hero: Deku
Chapter ten: The tournament, raging on
Ainz stood in front of Todoroki in a hallway before they went out into the arena to have their match. "I'm warning you now, Midoriya," Todoroki said, "I won't go easy on you. I will win, using only my ice to do so."
"I've been meaning to ask about that," Ainz said, "I got it you can also use fire in addition to ice, but I've only ever seen the ice. Is there a reason for it?"
Todoroki scowled. "My father, who's the pro hero Endeavor, talked to you didn't he?"
"He did but it's not how I found out about your fire," Ainz replied. A brief flash of surprise appeared in Todoroki's eyes before he settled down. "He did mention something about you rebelling against him, so maybe you'd like to share with me what happened?" Ainz had at least one spell he could use to make Todoroki spill the beans if necessary, but he wanted to give Todoroki a chance to confess his secrets on his own before getting the deets by force.
To Ainz's relief, Todoroki relented naturally. "My father... is obsessed with surpassing All Might in the rankings," Todoroki said, "Both of them had been in the Top Ten for ages, my father being the number two and All Might being the number one. It's been that way for at least as long as I've been alive at least."
The Sorcerer King had some degree of familiarity with the Top Ten. Twice a year, the governing body in Japan that manages Japanese pro hero society drops an official list of how Japan's pro heroes are ranked from overall best all the way down. The ten names at the top of the list are known as the Top Ten, being the ten highest ranked and overall most popular pro heroes in Japan. All Might and Endeavor are both Top Tenners, being the number one and two respectively.
Ainz was interested in the Top Ten heroes, particularly Mirko and Ryukyu. In fact Ainz was hoping to get an internship offer from the latter of those two as he found out how her quirk works. But this is getting off subject. "I bet that your father has been frustrated with never being able to knock All Might from the number one spot," Ainz said.
"You don't know the half of it," Todoroki said, "His obsession with surpassing All Might led him to have a quirk marriage with my mom, having kid after kid until he got me, the masterpiece that he's convinced will be strong enough to overthrow All Might. My father's obsession drove my mom to the point she snapped and did this to me by pouring boiling hot water into my eye." Todoroki then pointed to the burn mark over his eye under the red half of his hair.
Ainz was wondering where Todoroki's burn mark came from, and the answer he got... actually kind of disturbed him. "So your mother did that..." Ainz said, "...Because your father's obsession with the number one spot All Might holds drove her insane."
"After that he had her put in a special hospital where she's been ever since," Todoroki said, "Mind you, I hold nothing against my mother, everything that has happened stems solely from my father and his mad obsession."
Ainz was planning to look into Todoroki's family life more, figure out just how bad things are. He also realized he forgot to check Endeavor's level, skipping it because it came from the use of Detect Quirk and Ainz knew Endeavor had a powerful quirk so he didn't bother with Detect Quirk. Now the Sorcerer King was thinking he should have, if only to see how powerful a man who's been Japan's number two hero for years on end was.
Speaking up, Ainz said, "Well Todoroki, you say you won't hold anything back, but you immediately contradicted said claim by saying you'd only use your ice. I'm warning you now, you're going to want to use both ice AND fire if you want to stand a chance against me. You saw the power I displayed to keep the villains from the USJ attack at bay, right? Think you can stop said power with only ice?"
Todoroki glared a bit at Ainz. "...I'll admit, you're strong. Very strong. It makes me wonder." Todoroki then said something that caught Ainz completely off guard. "...Are you All Might's secret love child or something?"
Ainz, though his emotion suppression didn't quite activate, still found himself at a loss for words. He was also glad none of his followers in Nazarick were here when Todoroki said that, he bet that a few would have killed Todoroki on the spot for saying such a thing. The Sorcerer King was able to collect himself before speaking up. "...Err, no," Ainz said, "I am in no way related to All Might."
"...I see, my mistake," Todoroki replied. There was little else to talk about, so when the signal was given to go out, Ainz and Todoroki walked out to have their match. Ainz was wanting to see how much power Todoroki had, and if he could wring a little bit of fire out of him.
Later, Ainz and Todoroki stood across from one another on the arena platform, waiting for Kayama to give the signal to begin. When she did, Todoroki leapt back as he sent a wave of ice at Ainz, having no idea that his opponent is an undead and thus immune to the attack. Sure enough, all that Ainz did was raise a hand to block the attack; he was even able to push it out of his way to a certain degree. Todoroki looked surprised that Ainz no-selled his ice attack.
Todoroki tried another ice wave, but Ainz countered with a Fireball that he held back on to be safe. Despite holding back on the Fireball, Ainz not only blasted away the second ice attack, but the knockback nearly rung Todoroki out. Endeavor's son only saved himself from ring out by quickly making an ice wall to catch him. "Oh, well would you look at that," Ainz said, "Fire trumps ice. Maybe if you had some fire of your own, it'd be a good counter?"
Todoroki growled in frustration as he threw another wave of ice, and this time Ainz merely avoided it by jumping up high enough to dodge, actually using the Fly spell but he made it look like it was a simple jump that was high enough to dodge the attack. Landing on a side of the ice wall to keep him as close to the center of the ring as possible, Ainz said, "I notice that you only ever use the same hand to cast ice. Can't the other hand do so as well?"
Todoroki held up his hand that he was using to cast ice. "No, only this hand is ice only. My other hand can only cast the bastard power I got from my father, so I refuse to use it. I refuse to use my father's power."
"It comes out of you when you do use it, doesn't it?" Ainz asked, drawing a surprised look out of Todoroki. Going on, Ainz said, "It comes out of you, so it's power that you're using, it's your power. Just as the power that comes out of me is my power." Ainz prepared to cast a Fireball, holding back on its power so as to not kill Todoroki. "If you wanna have a more effective chance at blocking the next Fireball, you'll need to use some of that fire you have yourself," Ainz said, "You saw what went down the last time you tried to block a Fireball and you used only ice."
Todoroki went wide eyed as Ainz cast the Fireball. In a panic, Todoroki without even thinking about it raised both hands, cast both ice AND fire. The two elements combined were a force that, even with Ainz holding back on his Fireball, barely was effective to block it. If it was just ice again, or even just the fire which Todoroki has barely any practice in using, he'd be thrown back by knock back and risk again being rung out.
Ainz laughed in sincere amusement. In addition to seeing Todoroki finally use his fire, Ainz was seeing just how much potential the Half-Hot Half-Cold quirk has. Its value compared to the other quirks among the Class 1-A students had just shot up considerably. "Magnificent, Todoroki!" Ainz praised, "No wonder others in our homeroom claim you to be among the strongest our class has to offer! I bet with the drive and willingness to use all of your full power, you can beat even Kacchan!"
Lowering his arms back down, Ainz said, "...But can you beat me?"
Todoroki, looking a bit annoyed he was forced to use his fire, said, "Only one way to find out!" He then aimed both hands at Ainz and cast ice and fire at him again, going as full force on both as he was capable of doing. Ainz was able to counter the assault with a Dragon Lightning he held back on, with the knock back sending Todoroki flying. He barely saved himself from ring out by quickly making an ice wall to catch him, the second time he did that.
But in the time that Todoroki was making the ice wall to catch him from ring out, Ainz rushed him (actually just cast Time Stop to get in close without alerting Todoroki), then slugged him in the face while making it look like he punched hard enough to knock him out. In truth he held back on the punch itself as level difference between Ainz and Todoroki meant Ainz even with his magic based build would have killed Todoroki with a punch thrown at his normal strength.
Instead the punch carried a hidden knock out spell that simply knocked Todoroki out. It was similar to how Ainz defeated Shinso in round one of the tournament. As the audience cheered while Kayama declared Izuku Midoriya as the round two winner, Ainz actually helped pick Todoroki up and put him on a stretcher that was brought out, showing concern for Izuku's powerful peer.
Winning round two of the tournament had put the Sorcerer King one step closer to his goals.
To say the rest of Class 1-A was surprised that Ainz defeated someone with Todoroki's pedigree was a bit of an understatement. Sure they knew the green haired boy to be powerful, but Todoroki was powerful too and he had strong genetics due to his highly ranked pro hero father. But Ainz had more played than be serious in the fight with Todoroki and still won with ease. There's also how he got Todoroki to use his fire.
Something that Endeavor is bound to be pleased with.
Ainz was betting that the number two hero won't be pleased with Todoroki losing, though. But that was a non-factor to Ainz. Instead he kept an eye on the remaining round two matches. It saw Tenya best Shiozaki by simply pushing her out of bounds, Tokoyami best Ashido, and Bakugo best Kirishima. This meant that the round three fights would be Ainz versus Tenya and Tokoyami versus Bakugo. Regardless of outcome, Ainz was confident he'll achieve a major step for the goals that the Great Tomb has for the second New World.
Speaking of the remaining competitors, Ainz was met up by Bakugo. "I figured you'd whump Icy-Hot's ass, Deku," Bakugo said, "Given that you outdid All Might five times over that one time, there's no way someone with power like yours would go down."
"Power isn't everything, Kacchan," Ainz replied, "Knowing how to use it to maximum efficiency is also an important aspect."
Bakugo gave off a huff that more or less indicated he agreed. "I'm still pissed you had a quirk this entire time and kept it secret," Bakugo went on, "Just don't hold out on me again, Deku."
"I would kill people if I did do as you asked," Ainz thought as he regarded Bakugo. Speaking up, Ainz said, "Well let's just see how far I can be pushed." Bakugo took that as a challenge, and told Ainz to not lose until he could face him. In truth, Ainz wanted to face Bakugo as well, but because he still had a bit of a desire to make Bakugo eat humble pie. Ainz agreed with Bakugo's demand to not lose, giving the same demand back to him.
Bakugo actually smirked in amusement. "Wish you had balls like this earlier, Deku."
...
The third round was over relatively quickly. In addition to having only two matches, Ainz won because when Tenya tried rushing him with as much force as possible, Ainz cast Time Stop and stepped about a meter to his side before dropping the Time Stop and letting Tenya, who couldn't stop due to momentum, ring himself out on accident. Tenya thought that he could beat the speed his green haired classmate can display, but he came up short yet again.
As for the Bakugo versus Tokoyami fight, Bakugo won as apparently light scares Tokoyami's sentient quirk Dark Shadow, and Bakugo's explosions made enough light to give him the edge. With such opposition, Tokoyami actually yielded the match to Bakugo. This meant that the final round of the fighting tournament in the U.A. Sports Festival for first years was going to see Katsuki Bakugo face off against Ainz Ooal Gown, the Sorcerer King.
Ainz intended on having a little bit of fun.
...
Ainz and Bakugo stood apart from one another on the arena platform, waiting for Kayama to give the signal to begin. When she did, Bakugo rushed Ainz with the intention to strike him with a right hook. Ainz, due to inheriting Izuku's memories, knew that Bakugo always opened with this move. But he kept in mind that Bakugo may be trying a feint for once, one never knows.
So when Bakugo got close enough, Ainz cast Time Stop, moved behind Bakugo, and dropped Time Stop while throwing a punch just hard enough to send Bakugo reeling; any harder and Ainz due to his vastly higher level compared to Bakugo would have run the risk of killing him. When Bakugo got his wits back about him, he yelled, "Try dodging this, Deku!"
Bakugo then cast a power blast of explosion right at Ainz, who merely countered it with a Fireball. Even if he let the explosion hit him, Ainz was sure given how the Fireball countered it that the explosion would have done a grand total of zero damage to him. As the smoke settled, Ainz was thinking about how to best defeat Izuku's bully here and make him eat that serving of humble pie that he's got coming.
Ainz knows that Bakugo's quirk works by igniting his sweat to make explosions, and there's a limit to how much a human can sweat before they need to recharge. Perhaps Ainz can push Bakugo to that limit and make him too worn out to continue, then knock him out the same way he knocked out Shinso and Todoroki in previous fights.
Ainz also thought about using Time Stop again to steal Bakugo's quirk via Harvest Quirk, then drop the Time Stop and let Bakugo be confused about his quirk not working right before he knocked him out and return the quirk after being declared the winner of the tournament. But Ainz did that to the explosive teen once before; he may get suspicious if it happens to him again.
In the end, Ainz decided on ringing Bakugo out, chasing him out by shooting the ground in front of him with Fireballs and Dragon Lightnings to make him jump back to avoid it. This ended up working as Bakugo leapt back out of bounds to avoid a Dragon Lightning, and without even realizing that he had just jumped out of bounds.
He didn't know until he heard Kayama crack her whip and announce, "Katsuki Bakugo has fallen out of bounds! The winner is Izuku Midoriya! Let's hear it for the winner of the fighting tournament for the first year division!" The audience roared with excitement as Ainz was declared the winner of not just the fight with Bakugo, but the fighting tournament as a whole. Seeing the stunned look on the face of Bakugo, Ainz wondered how the humble pie Bakugo is eating right now tastes.
Ainz also wondered how Izuku Midoriya would have felt if he won here.
A match for third place between Tenya and Tokoyami was thrown and the winner ended up being Tokoyami. As such, Ainz, a bemused Bakugo, and Tokoyami stood on the first, second, and third place spots on the winners podium. During the award ceremony, All Might came in and placed gold, silver, and bronze medals around the neck of Ainz, Bakugo, and Tokoyami respectively.
Ainz would later hear it after the award ceremony that Tenya didn't stick around; according to Mineta, Tenya looked panicked as he took a phone call from home and rushed out after hanging up. The Sorcerer King wondered what could of happened, and made a mental note to look into it as soon as he could. But for now he had to take care of other business.
Ainz, while claiming Mr. Suzuki asked him to, handed out special cards to be stamped to every U.A. student who competed in the U.A. Sports Festival this year, saying they had to present these cards at businesses owned by Mr. Suzuki to get their promised discounts. The cards will be stamped to show that they already used their discount.
Ainz also said that students who earned medals (the second and third years also had fighting tournaments) will also get one free item from the store they go to, provided it's equal or lesser in cost to the item they get with their discount. He said that Mr. Suzuki will know who got medals in the Sports Festival as he watched it on TV.
...
A few days later, Aizawa came into the homeroom for Class 1-A with Hizashi and Kayama. "You kids all did well in the Sports Festival," Aizawa said, "And your internship offers had come in. But before you can be given the lists of internship offers you got, you all have to pick hero aliases."
"These are an important part of being a pro hero," Hizashi said, "As such we're here to help you with picking one. Keep in mind you can change later if you feel like it, but you still ought to think long and hard about it."
The class got excited about getting to pick what is their hero names. As such they all got busy with brainstorming. Ainz already knew what to do, what to pick, so he quickly wrote it down on the small board he was given. He looked around and saw that Tenya still had a troubled air about him. Ainz got the gist of what happened and was a bit surprised by the news.
A villain known as Stain the Hero Killer had attacked Tenya's older brother Tensei, a pro hero known as Ingenium. The older Iida brother wasn't killed, but he was critically hurt and estimated to have been crippled into needing to retire from hero duty. Tensei got of lucky, as Stain was reported to have straight up killed nineteen pro heroes beforehand.
Upon learning of Stain, Ainz grew interested, especially upon learning of his philosophy about how pro heroes nowadays had grown corrupted and greedy, how pro heroism ought to be done out of selflessness instead of for a desire for fame and wealth. The Sorcerer King wanted to meet Stain, and maybe potentially make him a subordinate.
But for now he had to put that on the back burner. Ainz also had the means to fully restore Tensei and let him resume hero work, and even came up with a way to do so while further helping the name of Izuku Midoriya. It'd also help further secure Tenya as a friend for Izuku and thus a pawn for Ainz. He just needed a bit of time to get things ready.
Eventually everyone had picked their hero aliases, and most were accepted without issue. Aoyama's choice of 'I cannot stop twinkling' had to be shortened to 'Can't stop twinkling', and Mina's idea of using 'Alien Queen' had to be dismissed. "That's admittedly a rather dumb idea, Pinky," Bakugo said dryly, "A name like 'Alien Queen' may freak people out."
"Bakugo, calling someone's idea dumb isn't constructive criticism," Kayama admonished.
"Nemuri," Aizawa began dryly, "You would of had more of a point against Bakugo there if you yourself didn't say Ashido's idea was dumb first."
Shrugging, Mina said, "How about I use what Bakugo just came up with? What about Pinky?"
"Are you sure?" Aizawa replied, looking mildly surprised by the sudden shift in Mina.
Nodding once, Mina replied, "I can see it now. The Acidic Hero: Pinky! It fits perfectly!"
Nodding in agreement, Kayama said, "Well it's a lot better than the first one." Mina's idea was accepted and she was allowed to sit down. Bakugo was the next student to run into trouble, as he tried using either King Explosion Murder or Lord Explosion Murder. Then he tried Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. Ainz could only roll his eyes dryly.
As Kayama was telling Bakugo off for having names too scary to use, Ainz spoke up. "How about Kacchan uses Explosive Hero: Dynamight until he can come up with an acceptable option of his own?"
"That actually sounds like a sound idea," Kayama said, "Bakugo, I say you ought to listen to Midoriya."
"Why should I let Deku name me?" Bakugo scowled.
"Well you unintentionally gave Ashido-san her hero alias," Ainz said, "And for mine I plan to use a name you gave me." Bakugo looked confused by what Ainz said, but he accepted the suggestion that was given, albeit begrudgingly, and sat down at his desk, if only to see what it was that Ainz was talking about.
As it turned out, Ainz when he reached the front of the classroom showed what he wrote on his provided board. "I'm going with Sorcerer Hero: Deku," Ainz said, "Given it reflects my Sorcery quirk and it pays homage to my past, as Deku was a nickname given to me by a friend I knew since my early childhood days." The rest of the class all accepted it, to varying degrees at least. Bakugo had a mildly bemused look on his face when Ainz called him a friend.
...Ainz didn't really view Bakugo as a friend, and only Bakugo's signs of improvement had made the Sorcerer King grant him some measure of tolerance. But Izuku considered Bakugo as a friend, so he had to keep that up for his cover.
After everyone had their hero aliases picked, everyone got the internship offer lists telling them which pro heroes were interested in letting them be interns. As he waited for his list, Ainz cast a look of mild concern at Tenya. Ainz still needed to get an appropriate Nazarick denizen here to the second New World to heal Tensei, and he also wanted to track down this Hero Killer fellow to try to make him into a subordinate.
Ainz's thoughts were snapped away when he got his list. According to the numbers put up on the board by Aizawa, Todoroki despite being taken out in round two of the fighting tournament for first years got the most internship offers. No doubt due to his awesome heroic lineage and highly ranked pro hero father. Ainz was about twenty or so offers short of tying with Todoroki, putting him at the second highest number of internship offers.
Ainz was pleased to see that Izuku was being recognized. It both helped with Ainz's goals for the second New World and Ainz felt that such recognition was owed to the boy that Ainz owes a great deal to. Bakugo got the third most internship offers. He, Ainz, and Todoroki had numbers that got into the thousands for internship offers; the fourth highest number was only in the hundreds. Ainz bet that pro heroes wanted the power players.
Ainz then took a look at his list. According to Hizashi, the heroes on the lists offering internships are ordered with the higher ranked ones being closer to the beginning of the lists, so that the students can see the best heroes offering them chances. This made searching for choice pro heroes easier for Ainz, and almost instantly he saw that one of the pro heroes interested in offering him a shot to intern with them is one of the pro heroes he's most interested in; Ryukyu the Dragon Hero.
Ainz and all students were given forms, on which they had to put their top three choices among the pro heroes offering them internships. Ainz immediately put Ryukyu down as his number once choice; he listed a pro hero called Majestic as his number two choice, and a pro hero called Fatgum as his number three choice. Majestic had a quirk called Magic, which let him conjure energy circles he can use for all manner of things.
As for Fatgum, he is a very fat pro hero whose quirk, Fat Absorption, made him a very durable tank like hero. Ainz wondered if Fatgum could be powered up with a copy of Stout Strength, and if it would make him fatter than he already is. Non fat persons who get a copy tend to blimp up to a solid two-hundred and fifty kilograms, and Fatgum actually exceeds that already. Would it not make him fatter but still give him the other benefits? Ainz was curious and wanted to test that out.
After Ainz wrote down his first, second, and third choices, he raised a hand as he was instructed to by Kayama; all students after filling out their choices had to raise a hand so Kayama can come by to collect their forms. "...You got the Dragon Hero giving you an internship offer, Midoriya?" Kayama asked aloud, sounding surprised.
"I was surprised as well, Kayama-sensei," Ainz replied.
Kayama took Ainz's list of internship offers and looked at it. "...Aside from All Might and Mirko, every pro hero in the current Top Ten is offering you internships," Kayama remarked, "And yet the only Top Ten hero you voiced interest in is the Dragon Hero? Although I will admit Majestic has the potential to break into the Top Ten."
"What's going on, Kayama-sensei?" asked a boy named Mezo Shoji.
Gesturing to Ainz, Kayama said, "Midoriya here got internship offers from all of the current Top Ten heroes except for All Might and Mirko, and yet the only Top Tenner he picked is-"
*open*
Kayama was cut off when the door leading into the Class 1-A homeroom opened, and there stood a third year girl who Ainz identified as Nejire Hado. He remembered from bits from the third year section of the U.A. Sports Festival that Neiire got the bronze medal due to placing third in the third years' fighting tournament; a boy with dark hair and pointed ears got the silver medal, and a buff boy with blonde hair got the gold medal.
Arching a wry eyebrow at Nejire, Aizawa said, "You're Nejire Hado from the third year hero course. Can I help you with anything?"
"Sorry to be a bother, Aizawa-sensei, but I need to borrow Midoriya-kun for a moment," Nejire said, having the decency to look apologetic.
Aizawa nodded once in understanding. "Midoriya, go see what Hado wants with you," Aizawa said, "She's a highly accomplished student in U.A.'s hero course third year, so you can stand to learn a lot from her."
"I guess I will have to see what a senpai wants with me," Ainz replied as he got up and left the classroom to speak with Nejire alone outside.
The door closed behind them, Ainz and Nejire spoke alone outside in the hallway. "What is it that I can help you with, Hado-senpai?" Ainz asked.
"I'm not sure if you know this, but Ryukyu employs me as an intern," Nejire said, "And I got it from her that you're one of the hero course first years she's most interested in snagging as a new intern. Given your amazing performance in the first year division of the Sports Festival, where you beat other rookies of note like that Bakugo kid and Endeavor's son, I'm not surprised Ryukyu and other pro heroes are wanting to snag you."
Ainz didn't know that Ryukyu had interns in more advanced years; he also didn't know much about Nejire aside from how, as a medal winner from the U.A. Sports Festival, she used her discount and free item offer at a Mr. Suzuki owned business at the eatery that has the high calorie shakes, although she got nice cakes instead. Someone working for the Dragon Hero is a shot for Ainz to get in more easily with a target of note.
Chuckling a bit, Ainz said, "Well now, Hado-senpai. Funny you mention Ryukyu offering me an internship."
END, CHAPTER TEN
Author's notes;
This chapter covers the rest of the Sports Festival, with things being adjusted as needed because Izuku won because Ainz is Izuku now. Then there's the picking of the hero aliases, and then there's the receiving of lists denoting internship offers, where Ainz sees he succeeded in getting an offer from a pro hero he's particularly interested in.
Speaking of, the other intership offers he noted having interest in denote persons who will be playing key roles later in the story. Kayama denoting that Ainz could have picked nothing but Top Tenners but only picked one with two lower ranked pros as his other choices will catch Ainz's peers in Class 1-A by surprise when word of it spreads.
Anyway, the next chapter will see the beginning of the first round of internships, where Ainz will be seeing some action as well as get hints as to what's going on in the second New World.