Here is the fourth chapter in this series released early as a Christmas present for y'all seeing as I am currently ahead of schedule with all my writings. We've seen the recommended exam and it's results, now it is time for the normal entrance exam at last and to look at the students who are important as they take the exam. That is all the administrative stuff I have for y'all however there are is a guest review to respond to and a few good questions to answer as this is a complex and complicated series so I will do that now. Do keep the reviews and PMs coming as I always like hearing how much y'all are enjoying my work.
To AutoHunterJ49 (guest), I understand your view on this and I respect your passion for these series, I share it hence why I am writing a story with all three of them in it. There is a lot of stuff that I am working with on this series and trying to fit it all together is not easy so various things will be left out or minimized throughout as I balance the various factions at play. I get your point on Adam and while I do agree that his devolution in the show and the move away from the White Fang as a more substantial terror group was poorly done, I don't really see him as some anti-hero for redemption nor do I think he was supposed to be that. Blake was the redemption for the past membership of the White Fang, and she deserted when she realized how far-gone Adam was and that he couldn't be saved even though she did try. I will not make Adam some feral animal in this series but nor will I plan any form of redemption for him. He will be a villain, one driven to it by discrimination against heteromorphs so a more tragic villain in some ways, who fell too far for redemption though that won't stop Blake from trying when the time comes. I also will be using the White Fang as a larger terror group with many violent members led by Sienna Khan so it won't be just Adam as part of it and as a group they will be seen earlier than most because I want to establish them as the heteromorph rights turned terror group that becomes part of the masterminds' arsenal. This will help deal with a recent development in the MHA manga that really doesn't have too much backstory so it will flesh that stuff out as well. Adam himself, at this point, won't appear until the Paranormal Liberation War arc at the earliest when I intend to have some chapter with him if it works to set up for his role in the final arc and given the length of this story that is a really long time off. He will mainly be a villain to Blake and as Blake herself is a minor character in this who other than her interactions with Ruby won't really be seen until the work study arc though he will be mentioned before by Blake, probably sometime before the Sports Festival, so he won't really appear much in the series. As I said there is a lot to work with and Adam's role in RWBY is in relation to Blake and Yang who aren't going to be big characters in this series given all else I am working with. Thank you for your points on this, they have been useful, and I will certainly refer back to them when the time comes, and I hope you can understand my views on this and be patient given how far off Adam's first potential appearance (over 150 chapters based on how this story is going).
Will the three main characters from their respective franchises (Izuku, Asta, Ruby) share their role in each chapter or will one be more important than the other? Pretty much this will vary from chapter to chapter depending on who the focus is. As seen in the last chapter Ruby was the sole focus but this one she's not present at all as it's the normal exam. Pretty much the chapters will go as they go and the characters who are most relevant to them will take center stage.
Will the trio fight against a strong opponent together? Possibly, there are a lot of battles to deal with and villains from the other shows to bring in and work within this story so we shall see how the battles go as they come.
Will there be more participation from Class 1-B? We will certainly see more of them than MHA shows but as y'all will soon see in the coming chapters the amount we see of them will be based on who is in that class compared to Class 1-A.
Anyway, sorry for another really long pre-chapter note, the very nature of this story will likely lead to a lot of this kinds of notes going forward. Now though I will end this long note so if you read this (and no worries if you didn't) it's time to sit back and enjoy the fourth chapter in Black RWBY Academia.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these three great franchises.
Chapter 4: Normal Student Exam
Asta and Yuno sat in the penultimate row right in the back of the massive auditorium at U.A. looking over their cards and the handout for the upcoming practical exam for the Hero Course. The written exam was over and now all that was left for them was to take the practical one.
They'd arrived in Musutafu the day before to register for the exam as examinees from disadvantaged backgrounds. That was done so that U.A. could put them up in a hotel room that the school provided for applicants who were both from a place more than a reasonable travel time from U.A. and couldn't afford to get one themselves, which the orphans from the north qualified for.
The journey down had taken some time because Hage was so remote that they had to take a good few trains, including two overnight ones, just to get down to Musutafu. Thankfully because of the reward money that Asta and Yuno had gotten for capturing that Chain Villain they could afford it but had still opted for a cheaper, more circuitous, route so that as much of that money as possible could go to the church and the other orphans who they'd grown up with as it was better used on them than Asta and Yuno.
Once they had reached Musutafu they made their way to the special registration for candidates like them. As they were homeschooled they'd had to pass a special test from the Japanese government to prove they were at this grade level, which they had done back in Hage before coming down, and showed their respective paperwork to be fully registered for the exam. After that it was just waiting and last-minute studying before an early night and then the walk to U.A. this morning.
Overall, it had been a decent morning with them arriving early to get their paperwork for the exams and avoid any stares as both were in their normal clothes due to not having a school uniform before getting their examinee numbers, Yuno was one higher than Asta, and heading to the written exam. That had been hard, but years of Sister Lily and Father Orsi's teaching them had ensured that they could pass it with Yuno knowing that he'd aced it and Asta sure that he'd at least secured a passing score even if he knew that he'd not be the most academically gifted student when he got in. After that it had been lunch and then finally they were here in the large auditorium.
As with earlier, they'd arrived early and taken their assigned seats at the back, likely due to their home school status, and chatted while they waited. One thing they both noted was that they weren't in the same group for the upcoming practical exam. Yuno was in group F while Asta was in G so they couldn't work together, not that they would as that would be dishonorable to the other as they both pushed each other to be better. Plus, this way both could truly earn their places at U.A.
Suddenly the lights began to go on and the large screen over the stage light up. This was the clear indication that it was time for the orientation to begin so the boys shut up as a man dressed in black with long blond hair swept upwards and a metal box around his neck took the stage.
Both of them recognized the man as a Pro Hero called Present Mic, the Voice Hero, and a teacher at U.A. but as he was not a Quirk Knight they only really knew him by reputation and nothing more. That and the church didn't have a radio, so they didn't know of his radio show though plenty of the gathered examinees knew him and whispered about his arrival.
"What's up U.A. candidates?" Present Mic asked excitedly, his directional mic helping amplify his voice. "Thanks for tuning into me, your school DJ, so let me hear ya?"
There was silence to this. Asta for his part was just confused by the whole show, he didn't understand it while Yuno was indifferent to it. He just wanted to get the info he needed on the practical exam and then take it so that he could pass it and thus get into U.A.
"Keeping it mellow I get it." Present Mic said clearly unperturbed by the lack of enthusiasm to his words. "Let's talk about how this practical exam is going to go down then. Are you ready?"
Again, there was silence to his words and confusion from Asta. Seriously, what was with this guy and why did his voice change and his hands move so much as he spoke. Just get on with it already so that he could prove to Yuno that he too could get into U.A. to and they could continue their rivalry to see who became the Wizard King.
"Like your application said, you boys and girls will be out there conducting 10-minute mock battles in super hip urban settings that U.A. has created for this and to train our students." Present Mic continued as the screen behind him lit up to show a main both and then several smaller ones off it with letters in the Latin alphabet from A to G. "Gird your loins my friends because after I drop the mic here you'll head to your specified battle zones sound good?"
Again, Present Mic stopped to let his words sink in though Asta and Yuno already understood this. They'd seen the stuff in their application, a 10-minute mock battle was going to be interesting though both boys were at a disadvantage with an urban setting as Musutafu was the largest city they'd ever been in, so they had no idea how to handle one. Still, it wouldn't matter to them as they'd both give their all to pass the exam.
As they were waiting other students were chatting or thinking. Those with others from their schools were finally realizing that they couldn't work with their friends, or in the case of Katsuki Bakugo annoyance as he wanted to show up Deku who was next to him and had had the audacity to apply to U.A. as well despite being Quirkless and wouldn't shut up. A quick snap shut him up though.
"Ok, ok let's check out your targets then." Present Mic said after a moment as an image of an urban setting appeared on the screen behind him with three different styles of robots that had to be their targets and each worth between one and three points. "There are 3 types of faux villains in the battle centers, and you'll earn points based on their level of difficulty so choose wisely when you're out there. The goal is to incapacitate them by capture or destruction, and they are set to record what Quirk was used to secure the capture or destruction so that we can score properly."
Present Mic paused at this clearly trying to see if there were any questions or mutterings at what he'd just said. This time around there wasn't as the whole room was paying close attention to what he was saying so after a moment the pro hero resumed his explanation.
"Also, to ensure proper testing, those of you with Quirks that may not work on robots do not worry, they are programmed with sensors to register a defeat at the hands of Quirks that wouldn't otherwise work on them and will power down if hit." Present Mic said. "A new and improved feature to rectify an issue that we've dealt with in the past. All of this is providing that you made it clear in your application that you had such a Quirk that is."
That was good for Asta at least. His new Quirk, Anti-Quirk as he'd dubbed it when he'd filled out the forms following its sudden manifestation, was one such Quirk as it wouldn't work on inorganic robots. Sure, the sword was easily heavy enough to work on them, which he fully intended on doing, but this way he'd beat them by simply striking a foe with it providing the blow met whatever the standards were to record such a victory.
They'd learned over the last few months that Asta's Quirk worked as a blunt weapon that would nullify another's Quirk so long as it struck their Quirk factor or hit what was produced, affected, or controlled by the Quirk. For the most part this was fine as a person's Quirk factor was their whole body but for plenty emitter class Quirks it could be an issue, not that Asta cared right now as this exam wouldn't bother testing that. He was just going to show them all what he could do.
"But check it." Present Mic continued distracting Asta from his thoughts and bringing him back to the situation at hand. "You've got to keep things heroic so attacking other examinees is a U.A. no-no, ya dig?"
"That makes sense." Asta said quietly to Yuno. "It wouldn't be fair otherwise as you could just take out an opponent who got in your way and a hero shouldn't do that."
"Obviously." Yuno said. "It…"
"Excuse me sir but I have a question about the exam." A serious voice suddenly called out interrupting both Present Mic, rudely in Asta's book, and Asta and Yuno's chat.
"Hit me." Present Mic said clearly not phased at all and Asta looked down to see the back of a boy their age, though his demeanor and attitude made him seem older, with short bluish black hair wearing a western style light brown suit and holding up the printout they'd received. "What's your question listener?"
"Yes well on the handout we've received you've listed four types of villains not three like your presentation is currently showing." The boy said clearly upset by the discrepancy. "With all respect, if this an error on official U.A. materials then it is shameful to this prestigious institution. We are all exemplary students who have all worked hard to get here today so we expect the best from Japan's most notable Hero Course school, especially one with such a prestigious track record in all three branches of hero service. A mistake such as this won't do."
Asta and Yuno just blinked at the extremely proper and stuck-up boy. This was seriously something else and as both boys had grown up in the backwoods of the backwoods they weren't used to it but still it was a bit much, especially when the boy suddenly turned and pointed at a kid three rows behind him wearing a traditional black gakuran uniform with messy green hair sitting next to an identically dressed boy with spikey blond hair and a bored demeanor to his body language. In the process the stuck-up boy revealed that he was wearing glasses causing Asta to name him 'specs'.
"Additionally, you with the unkempt green hair." The rude boy added causing said unkempt hair boy to go 'huh?' "You've been muttering this entire time, stop that. If you can't take this seriously then leave, you're distracting the rest of us with your rudeness and…"
"Hey specs." Asta suddenly yelled unable to take anymore of the rude boy's attitude as he called out the green haired boy who was apologizing and standing up to glare at the first boy to speak causing the situation and to devolve further. "What's your deal? So, what if he's talking, most of us are when we're here with friends because we're nervous and it helps us process what we're up against. If anyone here is being rude it's you for suddenly standing up and interrupting the presentation because you're too impatient to wait and see if that fourth robot is explained away. I'm sure a school like U.A. wouldn't just make a mistake like that so why would you presume that they did?"
"Asta." Yuno whispered to shut his brother up, but Asta was in full swing now as he glared down at the rude bespeckled boy and continued to give him a piece of his mind.
"And another thing." Asta added. "It's rude of you to single him out like that just because he was talking when others in this room were as well. If you had any ounce of decency or honor you'd apologize for your actions."
The rude, bespeckled boy, Tenya Ida though Asta didn't know his name at the moment, turned his glare up to near the back row and looked at the even more unkempt gray-haired boy standing there glaring right at him. The kid was short and seemed to be wearing worn, old, casual clothes of a dark blue jacket with the lower halve torn off and the cuffs rolled up though it was clear that it didn't reach his wrists, an off cream-colored smock thing and matching dark blue pants. It was really a shabby and unprofessional look for a U.A. candidate and Ida intended to call him out as well.
"I am merely speaking the truth, it's not on you or anyone else to defend someone from being rude." Ida said completely ignoring his own rudeness in the process. "But then again you seem to be one to talk showing up in casual clothes and not a school uniform like the rest of us. That is highly unprofessional, I can't believe that your parents let you out like that let alone thinking that a school in Japan would send a student to this exam dress in such a manner."
"Well, the joke's on you, specs, because this is my school uniform." Asta said with a grin, the parents thing not bothering him in the slightest as he'd been an orphan all his life, so he'd never know them and as far as he was concerned his fellow orphans, Sister Lily, and Father Orsi wee his family and so too would be any other friends he made in his life. "I'm homeschooled in the church and orphanage where I'm from, so I don't have any fancy uniform like yours."
As soon as Asta had said that the entire room seemed to gasp and then turned to glare at Ida who was now red in the face with embarrassment at what the unkempt boy had said and the presumption that he'd made. He realized at once how inappropriate it had been and how presumptuous and that allowed him enough time to reflect on everything and realize his own rudeness and what he had to do to save a little face right now.
"I, I'm sorry for my comment that was wrong, and you are right I was rude just now." Ida said offering a deep bow first to Asta and then the unkempt green haired boy who was now really confused by what was going on. "To both of you. Clearly I still need to learn some patience and I will strive to improve."
Asta just nodded as the rude boy rose, turned and sat down and so did Asta as the room got back to normal while Yuno just put his face in his hand at Asta's antics though he didn't disagree with them. Where he was sitting Izuku looked up to see the boy that had defended him but couldn't. If he got a moment he'd try to thank him for what he did.
As for Asta he was scowling at Ida and the boy's rudeness, but he wouldn't let it get to him. Bullies like that always annoyed him, as they did Yuno, so he'd done the right thing in standing up to the boy and putting him in his place. Little did Asta notice but the girl behind him was giving him a long hard look with her red eyes.
She had a bob hair cut for her black hair with a slight cowlick on top and horns on her head as she studied the boy before her. He was certainly something else to the girl who went by the name Nero to any who met and as she looked she noted that he was in the same exam zone as her, so she'd have to keep an eye on him. Perhaps coming to this exam as well as submitting her application to the General Studies course for her own reasons would be worth it after all if this boy turned out to be as passionate in the field as he was outside it.
"All right, all right settle down dear listeners." Present Mic said clearly slight thrown by what had just happened though the entire room was quiet now. "Examinee number 7111 thank you for calling in with your request. I was about to address this, but it is relevant anyway, so you've just jumped the gun a little. The fourth villain type is worth zero points. That guy is just an obstacle we'll be throwing in your way at some random point during the test. There is one in every battle center. Think of it as a hurdle that you should try and avoid. It's not that it can't be beaten, it can be, but there's just no point to it as you won't get any villain points for beating it so just ignore it and focus on the actual chart topper, ok."
"Why do I feel like it's not going to be as simple as Present Mic is making it out to be." Yuno muttered next to Asta.
"Well, if it's going to hurt others then I will stop it." Asta said and Yuno nodded but before he could add anything Present Mic continued.
"That's all I got for you today so get ready for the test, but I'll sign off with a little present, a sample of our school motto just for you!" Present Mic said interrupting any small talk that had happened after he'd addressed the zero pointer. "As General Napoleon Bonaparte once laid down; a true hero is one who overcomes life's misfortunes. Now that is what I call a soundbite so are you ready to go beyond? Let's hear you give me a Plus Ultra!"
Again, this fell on deaf ears as the entire room remained silent to that so Present Mic just continued on as if nothing had happened. It was time to dismiss them a send to them to the test after all.
"I hope you practiced hitting more than just the books." Present Mic said with a grin. "Good luck and let the test begin."
With that the entire room got up and began to file to the exit. They would head to the changing rooms to get into their gym kits and then take the busses to their assigned practical exam zones. All of them were ready and Asta was grinning as he left knowing that he'd do everything he could to ace this test.
Weiss Schnee looked around the gaggle of people outside the cityscape battle zone G that she would be taking her exam in and eyed up the competition she was up against. She had to repress a smirk at the sight of it, none of them looked like they could hold a candle to someone of her talents and training. True some looked in shape, but she was going to do better than all of them, she knew it. She had to after all seeing as she was a Schnee and a Schnee always came out on top.
Well, that and she'd defied her father not once but twice with her decision regarding her secondary education. As the heir to the Schnee Dust Company she was expected to go into either the Business or Support course at Shiketsu High School as that was the historic alma mater of the Schnee family and of course she'd get in via the recommended route where she would nail the exam.
However, Weiss had rejected this notion when she declared that she wasn't going to do that but rather follow her sister, who'd been disinherited for a mix of decisions like this, and her grandfather and the SDC founder, into hero work. To add to that she wouldn't be just any hero work she was going to be a Huntress.
Weiss furthered this defiance when she had insisted on making her own way in the world and as such had opted to go to U.A. not Shiketsu like her entire family other than her younger brother who was still too young had. She's also refused to take the recommended exam, not that her father would have let her because if she wasn't going to Shiketsu then she had to do it her the normal way, so as to prove she could do it on her own.
Unfortunately, in order to prove to her father that she could do it he'd made her fight a special kind of Grimm in the family estate, an Arma Gigas Grimm. If she beat it then she could take the U.A. normal exam but if she didn't she'd take the recommended exam Business Course applicants to Shiketsu.
Weiss had beaten it and received a thin, vertical, scar over her left eye in the process but it had been worth it to be able to take the U.A. entrance exam. Now that she was here she knew that she was going to pass pass it.
That was because a quick glance around that Weiss was up against told her that she had it in the bag. She already had three friends from the elite social circles that the Schnee family was part of who'd passed the U.A. recommended exam so she was going to be in good company when she came to the school.
It was as she was thinking about the coming exam and getting ready while checking her handmade revolver rapier sword filled with plenty of Dust to use with her Quirk should she need it that it happened. She wasn't looking and she was suddenly bumped into from behind causing her to stumble as she was checking the cylinders but thankfully nothing went wrong as the person wasn't too clumsy for his or her own good.
Still, it was annoying, and she turned to glare at the offending person who had also stopped to turn and apologize to her as she was about to give the person a piece of her mind and blinked. The person who'd bumped into her was that loud mouthed, obnoxious brat from earlier though he had called out that really rude boy who Weiss was sure was from the Ida hero family, so he'd at least done something decent.
"What?" Weiss asked glaring at the kid.
"Huh, oh sorry for that." Asta said as he smiled at the girl he'd bumped into. "I was just getting ready, really excited for this that's all. I didn't mean to knock into you."
The girl before him was slightly taller than Asta was but that was only because she was wearing, of all things, wedge heeled ice blue boots which just looked impractical to Asta. Like seriously how does someone fight in those things and that wasn't the only impractical thing Asta noted.
That was because the girl's whole outfit was odd to Asta. While most wore sweatsuits, other than Asta who didn't have one so was in his normal clothes, this girl was in a white jacket thing that was slightly longer on her than Asta's was on him with a blood red lining and flared at the cuffs with snowflake designs. This was over a dress of all things that hugged her petite chest with a small black thing in the center to hide any cleavage, not that Asta thought she had much to hide, and which had snowflakes on the hem. She completed the look with a simple matching sash around her waist.
However, what really got Asta's attention was the sword the girl held in her left hand. It was certainly interesting and as a sword wielder himself Asta was always intrigued by others who wielded one, not that he'd met many other than Zell.
This girl's sword was different from his or the ones Zell made with his Quirk and clearly made for her as it was a rapier style sword with a long, narrow, and sharp blade but the biggest oddity to it was its hilt. Rather than have a normal one it was a four-pronged hilt with a 6-chamber revolver-like cylinder each filled with a canister of different colors. Asta had no idea what it was by he had to ask about it.
"Cool sword." Asta said to the girl who was about to turn away from the annoying boy who'd bumped into her. "I didn't realize anyone else here would have one."
"Are you an idiot or something?" Weiss said turning back to glare at the boy who was daring to talk to her when she needed to be in the zone for the coming exam. "I'm obviously a Huntress candidate seeing as we use weapons to deal with Grimm."
"Oh, that would explain it." Asta said getting it now, he knew that the Hunter and Huntress heroes often wielded weapons, but few ever made it up his way, so he'd actually never really met one. "Cool, I've faced a Grimm before, beat it with my own sword so I know they're someone's Quirk."
"Grimm aren't Quirks." Weiss said looking shocked at the boy's obvious stupidity. "And besides, where is this sword? If you're also a Hunter candidate then you should have one on you."
"Oh, I create it with my Quirk." Asta said. "And as my Quirk can negate other Quirks and the Grimm I hit, one of those freaky boar things, vanished when I did that's how I know."
"You must have just hit it hard enough to cause that because they aren't Quirks but now if you excuse me I have to pass this exam." Weiss said turning and leaving, her long white hair in its off ponytail flicking as she did.
"Ok good luck whatever your name is." Asta called out but the girl just ignored him, so he shrugged as he turned to face the entrance to the exam and grinned at what was to come.
Behind him the girl who had sat behind him in the lecture hall was just watching the boy and his interaction with the white-haired girl. She'd seen his name along with his examination number and knew he was called Asta. He'd seemed just like she'd expected and the way he'd handled himself with someone as elitist and arrogant as Weiss Schnee, who he clearly didn't know and who Nero only knew from research into the elite families over the last few months, showed that he would treat people the same no matter what.
That was good to Nero, but she still got a reckless vibe from him, so she intended on following him around this exam to protect him and make sure that both passed. It was as Nero was making this commitment that the gates to the exam opened but there was no announcement about the exam starting.
"Alright y'all should get moving." Present Mic suddenly announced over the PA system. "There are no countdowns or starting moments in battles so get to it! You're wasting time because the exam has already started!"
"Let's do this!" Asta roared as he charged as fast as he could at the open gates getting off to a strong start ahead of the others as he tore at the gates his hand out so as the rend formed, and the hilt of his sword appeared so that he could pull it out as he ran. "U.A. here I come!"
"Loud and obnoxious but I'll give him credit for quick actions." Weiss muttered as she ran on her glyphs to accelerate herself to and then past the loud-mouthed boy as they were the first two to charge into the cityscape before splitting up with Weiss using her glyphs to get high as she ran on them and surveil the area from above to find as many villain robots as possible while the kid just ran towards the noisiest place he could find. "But he needs to learn refinement if he's to pass and actually be a competent hero."
"Woah that's a cool Quirk." Asta said as he saw the girl from a moment ago run past him on white disks with a snowflake pattern to them that sped her up before she used them as platforms to get high into the air.
Weiss Schnee, Quirk: Glyphs. The hereditary Quirk of the Schnee family, Glyphs allows Weiss to create circular platforms of sorts, though the Schnees call them glyphs, with a variety of effects such as working as a shield, a platform to stand on, acceleration of people, and various other functions. When infused with Schnee Dust, which was developed in part to be used on their Quirk, certain changes can be made to the glyphs to change what they can do depending on the Dust used which Weiss uses her sword to achieve. Unlike most Quirks, for some reason Glyphs has a lower threshold for awakening which adds a new feature to Glyphs though Weiss as yet to achieve this.
Asta wasn't actually sure what the girl's Quirk did, so he just shrugged as he saw the first batch of robots before him and charged at them. He'd gone a separate way to that girl, so he had plenty to go at and with a roar he ran at them. He didn't see that two had been hiding in an alleyway and shot out to hit him from behind but before they could they suddenly shut down as Nero ran between them and placed her hands on them in the process. Her hands glowed blue the moment they made contact with the robots' sides and then the robots collapsed as she kept up behind Asta.
Naturally Asta didn't notice this as he plowed right into the group of robots, two 1 pointers, three 2 pointers, and a 3 pointer, and demolished them with his sword. He was swinging it with abandon and roaring as he really got into it as the exam began.
Yuno was much more calm than Asta was as the entrance exam began without fan fair in his own battle zone. The moment the gates opened and before Present Mic had announced it, Yuno was already moving using a chain of stars to travel forward and into the exam as fast as possible having deduced that it began the moment the gates opened. He was one of two applicants, the other being Katsuki Bakugo in zone A, who'd deduced this and already Yuno was off to a flying start.
His Quirk was powerful and versatile, and Yuno was using it to its fullest as he moved between his stars as he rose to above the building so as to get a better view of the battlefield with a few addition stars for offensive purposes floating around him. As such he was able to blast away any robots he saw with his offensive stars to get their points and inadvertently save the occasional student from time to time.
Everything was going well for Yuno, and he was racking up the points left, right, and center as he carved his way through the exam. He felt that he'd nailed the written and now he knew that he was nailing the practical. Hopefully Asta was doing just as well as he was.
Izuku was panicking now as he was running around trying to get points but unable to get any. He still hadn't used One for All because it had just been given to him that morning and he wasn't sure if he could handle using it more than once as his body could only really handle it at 5%, but he needed points. The problem was that whenever he tried someone else beat him to it and he was running out of time fast.
He needed a miracle, and he wasn't sure he'd get it as another robot was destroyed, this time by a blast of sparkly energy sent from the gut of some flamboyant boy in a fancy outfit who winked at Izuku before he leapt away. This wasn't getting good, fast, and Izuku knew he needed to do something soon if he wanted a chance of passing this, but he didn't know what. How could this get worse?
When Weiss had gone her separate way she'd quickly forgotten about the loud annoying kid and began her methodical and precise attacks on the villain robots while mentally keeping a score as best she could. It really wasn't too hard for her to rack up the points in the end as she ran through the air on her glyphs and tracked down any robots that she could find.
Once she found them her plan to destroy them was simple and efficient. She'd trap the robots she found with a glyph infused with gravity Dust to hold in in place before slashing its vital points with her sword, which she'd named Myrtenaster, as she ran past them. If she got pinned by multiple of them then she'd just create several glyphs around them and either infuse the glyphs with ice or fire Dust to bombard them with ice or fire attacks or just use her highly trained agility and mobility to jump from her glyphs, sped up thanks to said glyphs, to move around the robots and slash them down cleanly and precisely.
It was just as she'd planned, and she was sure that she'd already racked up close to, if not more than, 50 points this way as she almost danced through the battlefield while most of the remaining examinees did their best to get by. She had this in the bag and as she turned into the main street to find most of the examinees, including the loud boy who just carved through a 3 pointer with the giant, strange, sword he had summoned at the start, she was sure that she'd pass the exam. There wasn't much time left but Weiss knew that this wasn't over just yet and she'd soon be right in that regard.
In the observation room where the teachers of U.A. had gathered and were evaluating the progress of the students, mainly for the rescue points that the students didn't know of, they watched the feeds of the various combat zones and commented on the progress. The kids who racked up the most were those who both had impressive combat skills and calm heads to use them when others were panicking. This could be overcome for those without the combat skills if they had level heads and search-based Quirks to rack up the points as some were using so it was a good mix.
Right now, there were four who were really standing out in the exam that many of the teachers kept coming back to. These were the four who were showing the most potential early on but as the staff knew there were other things coming that would show other traits that were desired in future heroes.
The four so far standing out were a blond boy with an explosion-based Quirk who was using the chaos to find small robots and wipe them out without hesitation, a manic grin on his face. A clear Huntress candidate who was using her very distinctive Quirk to move quickly over the battlefield and her weapon for quick, clean, strikes. A black-haired boy with a similar tactic only using his star-based Quirk to achieve it and fighting at range. Lastly a gray-haired boy wielding a giant sword who was just smashing his way through it though the teachers did note the girl following him and protecting him and others with her own Quirk.
It was certainly getting interesting, and the teachers grinned at what was coming. The exam was over halfway done which meant that it was time for the big boy to come out. One of the teachers commented about it as he opened a button case and pressed the red button there. It was time to see what the kids were really made of.
There was a sudden, mechanical, groan that shook the battle zones as the cables were released and the monstrous zero-point robots began to rise from where they had been stored, breaking the ground and buildings in the process, as they made their presence know. Instantly panic set in across the battle zones as they all realized why they shouldn't fight these things and for most self-preservation kicked in as they turned and fled from the massive robot that had just appeared in their battle zone.
However, this was the real part of the test. How the kids handled the zero pointers was critical to the exam because those who truly did would almost always the top scores.
In zone A Bakugo just grinned and while he'd like to take on that thing he knew he couldn't as it wasn't worth any points and so just blasted off to find all the remaining small ones. He would use the chaos and the fact that the extras around him were all fleeing leaving more targets for him to go after to rack up as many points as possible to pass with the highest score and show why he was going to surpass All Might one day. While all the extras were distracted he'd take all the points for himself.
Meanwhile in zone B Izuku was frozen by the machine and knew that he had to flee but he couldn't move for fear. That was until he heard the cry and noticed that the really cute brunette who'd saved him from faceplanting on his walk into U.A. that morning was trapped under some rubble and unable to move as the robot bore down on her. It was like with Kacchan and the sludge villain, he knew what he had to do and acted without thinking to save her and finally use One for All in the exam. Little did he know that this singular act would be what he needed to pass the exam, as well as help the girl pass it too.
However, while zones A and B were being dealt with, the real interest to the observers with in F and G when the two boys who they knew had applied as homeschooled applicants with expressed desires to join the Quirk Knights acted almost at the same time. Both clearly understood the situation and did what they could to stop it as the impressed teachers watched on.
"Run!" Yuno yelled from the sky as he used his stars to travel as fast as he could to get above the panicked students and between them and the monstrous robot that had just been unleashed. "If you can move fast then grab someone and get out of here while a few of us who can stop that thing do so."
"And you can?" An orange-haired girl in a loose, blue, tracksuit yelled up to Yuno as he neared them.
"I can slow it down at the very least, it's just a hunk of metal after all." Yuno said as he reached his final star that was roughly level with the monster robot's chest and formed two stars under his feet to stand on them in the air. "So, get to it."
He would trust that at least some of the other examinees would know what to do, and one clearly did as she used the vines from her hair to grab as many of the shell-shocked examinees and run off with them before debris from the nearby buildings could fall on them, but the ginger stayed back. She was more combat orientated, but she could do rescue, and this boy was clearly going to do something that would test his limits, so she had to help him out as best she could.
Yuno of course didn't notice this as he used his stars under his feet to turn and face the monster before him and held out his hands before him focusing on all his power. He knew that he had a powerful Quirk and had trained hard to master it but even he was nearing his limits as he created a night's sky worth of stars before him as the robot thrust out a hand at him to smack him down. As it did beams formed between the stars to create the constellation shield before Yuno.
The hand slammed into it just as it was formed and broke through some of the stars showing how powerful the robot was, but Yuno just roared as he pushed through it and the beams resumed piercing the hand and severing it as he poured more power into his Quirk. He wasn't done though and with the last of his power Yuno made even more stars, more than he'd ever made before, that formed around the giant robot covering it from all sides as he unleashed their destructive power from all sides and right at the robot in a singular, all out, attack.
Yuno put all he had into the attack as the robot was pierced from all sides and his star beams tore into it, devastating the insides and triggering a massive explosion from within as critical systems were destroyed by Yuno's Quirk. The force of which blew the robot apart. Yuno tried to contain it by changing the offensive stars to defensive around it, but he had gone Plus Ultra just to reach this point and the explosion destroyed those stars and badly damaged the building around it.
Still, this was enough to delay the effects of the explosion long enough for Yuno to use the last of his strength, thinking of Asta and their shared goal to become the Wizard King to fuel him on, to reinforce the star shield before him so that it absorbed the last of the explosion. The explosion hit it and the shield held though some of the stars were destroyed as Yuno pushed through it, riding it out until it was over.
Only when the explosion had subsided and nothing, but charred metal remained did Yuno drop his shield. He smiled as the stars beneath faded and his consciousness along with his body. He had time for one last sentence before Itsuka Kendo, that was the name of the girl who had remained to help him out and just stared open mouthed at the sheer power she'd just witnessed, caught him in her enlarged fists though she didn't know what the boy meant or that what was happening in zone G at that very moment would be just as impressive.
"Top that, Asta."
"We need to slow that thing down so that others can get away." Asta yelled at the other examinees while running into center of the street that the giant zero pointer was rolling down and looking around as he continued to shout for some backup. "But I can't do it alone, anyone here got a way to blast me up and at that thing?"
"Do you even have a plan?" Weiss asked as she dropped to the ground near the loud boy and raised her right arm at the zero-point robot to create several glyphs before it and try to slow it down for a moment as most examinees just ran from it. "It's not worth any points and Present Mic said to avoid it."
"I don't care that it's not worth any points." Asta yelled at her though he was glad that someone had decided to stay and assist him. "It's about protecting everyone no matter the cost to himself, that's what a Quirk Knight does. Someone has to slow it down so that the others can escape. I can do that so long as I am blasted directly at its head. With enough force I should be able to thrust my sword point first through that part and take it down. Robots can't function if you hit them there, right?"
"Are you mad?" Weiss yelled glaring at the boy. "That could hurt you as well."
"I'm sturdy and I'm sure they have a healer here so I'm fine so long as there's someone here to catch me." Asta said. "Besides, I'm not relevant so long as the others get away."
"I…" Weiss began.
"Hey Schnee, you can use your Glyph Quirk to launch him, can't you." A new voice said, one neither of them had heard and they looked over to see that one other person, a pale skinned black-haired girl with horns on her head, a sharp nose, and wearing of all things a black dress with a wing-like hem to it and that was it had also stayed behind to help out. "Don't worry about catching him, I can handle that, just get the healer when it's all over."
"And you are?" Weiss asked the strange newcomer who was even stranger as she wasn't wearing shoes.
"You can call me Nero but for now just listen." Nero said pointing to Asta who wasn't really listening and just waving his sword at the robot that was currently trying to break through Weiss's glyphs and succeeding. "That moron actually has a good plan, use it. Between the three of us we can take it down so that the others can escape. Screw points, we are here to be heroes so let's show the teachers that's what we are."
"Fine." Weiss said as she created several more glyphs to hold it for a few more critical seconds and then thrust her arm out to the side to create a larger one there, one that she directed Myrtenaster at to turn from white to black as she infused it with gravity Dust and tilted it at an angle. "Alright boy, get on it."
"Thanks." Asta said as he ran over and leapt onto the glyph without question and tensed his knees as he planted his feet on it and looked up at the giant robot. "Blast me up."
"Surprisingly trusting aren't you." Weiss said.
"We're on a battlefield, if we're to win I have to." Asta said. "A Quirk Knight trusts those on his team and right now we're on a team."
"Can you make the shot?" Nero asked Weiss.
"Of course I can, just do your part." Weiss said as she moved her arm back to pull back the glyph and then reversed the gravity on it to blast the boy at the robot.
"Right now, make me a path of your normal glyphs to run on in an upwards arc." Nero said motioning with her hand to Weiss the path she wanted as Asta yelled, sword out before him, and shot towards the robot as it broke through Weiss's glyphs.
"I can't turn that many to gravity glyphs." Weiss said staring at the girl. "Especially the ones farthest away from me."
"I don't need you to just do it so that I can loop around and catch that moron from the side as he falls back to the ground so that he doesn't die." Nero said. "I'll do the rest."
"Fine, whatever." Weiss said. "Just tell me when."
Nero nodded as she looked up to Asta as he neared the monster. This would work but it was sure going to hurt like hell when it was all said and done.
For his part Asta knew none of this as he shot up and at the robot, the shot clean and direct to the center of its head. With a roar he reached it point first and drove his sword into it all the way up to the cross guard of it. With the speed he hit it at his arms almost broke from the impact, but he held on, and the blunted anti-Quirk weapon smashed through the metal and right into the robot's central processor.
That was it for the robot and Asta knew it. He used the handle of his sword to swing his legs around to plant them on the face as the robot began to fall back with explosions rocking its body before he let go of his sword and leapt backwards to try and get clear of it while trusting that his new allies would catch him.
As he did this he dismissed his sword. It wasn't a moment too soon as the head proceeded to explode as he leapt back from it. Unfortunately, he wasn't too clear of it as the blast caught him and sent him flying back, the force burning him in places and sending some shrapnel into his body though as he crossed his arms over his chest nothing vital was hit. Worst though was that the concussive force knocked him out cold and he went limp in the air.
"Now." Nero yelled at Weiss as Asta leapt back. "Make sure I can intercept him."
"Of course." Weiss said as she held out her arm and created a series of glyphs, the strange girl running at them as she did. "I don't get your plan, but I'll leave it up to you."
Nero didn't hear this as she saw the first glyph and leapt onto it as she did, her Quirk active in her feet as she ran onto it and then deactivated it to reach the next which also had the effect of showing Weiss that Nero was currently barefoot. Nero kept this up as she ran over the Glyphs and arched on them as she went upside down before righting herself as she came across high in the air as Asta's limp body fell through it.
She had to give it to the Schnee girl, for all her prissy and arrogant attitude that girl knew how to use her Quirk and how to do so effectively as she'd timed it such that Nero was in place to leap off the last glyph and tackle Asta in midair as she reached him. The moment Nero had Asta, her shoulder slamming into his side as she wrapped her arms around his waist, she looked up and aimed them at a window in a side building.
Weiss just watched this with a wide-eyed look amazed at what the girl was doing. It had taken her a lot of practice to run on her glyphs like that and even she couldn't go upside down like that unless she turned them into gravity glyphs. Weiss did note that as the girl ran her feet glowed with a blue light as she stepped on and off the glyphs meaning that she had some sort of Quirk that helped with this and allowed her to spin around on the glyphs to get into position to run along the final ones and leap off the last glyph to tackle the loud boy in the air and aim for the building next to them.
That was a lot for Weiss as she watched the girl twist in the air and smash back first into and through the window with the boy as the last of the robot hit the ground and the exam ended with them disappearing from sight. It was certainly a lot and way too reckless for Weiss's sake, they'd likely lose marks for that and not make great heroes even if they'd all just helped the rest of the examinees escape, but at least they'd done it and the least that Weiss could do was run off and get a healer to help them.
She owed them that much and did so because they needed it. Recovery Girl was certainly going to be busy today.
Back in the air Nero had twisted so that she was the one who hit the already cracked glass window, likely so because of that robot, with her back as she and Asta slammed into it. She knew that she could take this though as she felt the glass slice up her back but pushed through the pain as she and Asta fell to the ground. She'd take the force of this, but she had to make sure that this boy didn't die, and this was her only idea to ensure that in the brief moment that she had to save him.
This idea hurt like hell though as they fell to the concrete ground of the building's floor where Nero hit it right on her right shoulder and all of Asta's dead weight on her. There was a loud, sickening, crack as her shoulder broke and she let out a scream of pain from it but worse the impact bounced them off the floor and into the air still moving towards the far wall of the room as they spun through it.
Nero really didn't have much time, so she just kicked out and down to slam her heel into Asta's chest and send him crashing into the ground where he rolled but was otherwise fine as he came to a rest on his back most of the way into the empty room. Nero wasn't quite as lucky as she continued backwards to slam back first into the solid wall that was opposite the windows in the room with enough force to snap her head back and into it with a thud.
The blow dazed her, and her head was swimming as she slid down the wall, her right arm useless by her side and a smear of blood on the wall behind her from her back wounds until she came to a seat at the base of the wall. She groaned there for a moment, but she fought unconsciousness as she saw Asta lying on the ground. She had to get to him and seal his wounds just to be safe as there was only one healer here and she was no doubt already busy, so Nero had to do her part. First though she had to sort out her shoulder.
With a hiss of pain Nero grabbed the hem of her dress, the back was now ruined which was a shame as this was the design someone dear to her but long gone had given to her, and ripped a strip off with her left hand. She bundled it up and then shoved it in her own mouth so that she didn't bite through her tongue because this was about to really hurt.
Only when that was done did Nero twist her battered, bleeding, and in one place broken, body so that her broken right shoulder was against the wall but her back was off it as she raised her left hand to it. She then grabbed her shoulder with her good hand and pinned it there before she violently twisted her back to the wall once again as she yelled through her gag at the pain of setting her should back into place. Once it was there she activated her Quirk and her broken bones sealed together and returned to normal though given all the other pain she was in she didn't really feel any lessoning of it.
Still, it was sorted, and she spat out her impromptu gag as she panted from the pain, but she wasn't done. There was nothing she could do for her back at the moment as she had to focus on Asta, her Quirk worked only in her hands and feet, and she couldn't affect bruises, but she didn't care. She had to get to Asta and with all the strength she had left she pushed herself forward and crawled towards him over the thankfully baren room.
"You're a fool but you're just like him." Nero said as she reached Asta and began removing the shrapnel before placing a hand over a wound that glowed and began to seal up and return to normal without even a fain hint of a scar that Recovery Girl could fully get rid of as she knelt next to him. "But we should get in together so I swear this to you, I will look out for you, stand by your side, and protect you so that you can one day become the Wizard King and you will, I know it even if I have to constantly heal you along the way."
Secré Swallowtail aka Nero, and she prefers that name for reasons she's not disclosed to anyone except Principal Nezu, Quirk: Sealing. Nero can seal or unseal anything she touches with her hands or feet including as seen earlier briefly sealing her feet to Weiss's glyphs to run on them. Initially this was just good for opening and closing locks but through training she's managed to get it to the point that she can seal anything that is ripped or broken including bones and torn skin giving her some healing qualities. Unsealing is still limited to inanimate objects though and even then only things with locks at the moment. Still damned useful to have.
It took Nero a few minutes and she had to roll Asta up to check his back but as she'd taken the glass herself he only had the shrapnel in his abdomen, legs and arms, thankfully not his groin, and a glass cut on his cheek as he was still larger than her, so it had hit him going through the glass. He didn't seem to have any broken bones, but some might be cracked, and there was nothing Nero could do for the burns, but Recovery Girl was on her way, so Nero knew that they'd be fine.
Only after she was done did she finally turn to her own back and twisted her arms so that she could lay her palms on her back and heal the cuts in her skin though she'd lost a fair amount of blood, more than she would have liked. Still, it wasn't fatal, and she managed to finish her work and heal herself as best she could but by that point she was at her limits.
Now that the danger had passed, and she and Asta were stable the adrenaline keeping her going left her and Nero collapsed forward and fell unconscious across Asta's chest just as the staff reached the building to take them to the medical tent that had been set up for the exam. Both of them would definitely need though Recovery Girl would be impressed with Nero's first aid when she saw the results of it.
With that the U.A. entrance exam for non-recommended students had ended. All that was left was to go over the written exams, award rescue points, and then calculate the scores for the practical to see who'd gotten in. Then it was just sorting out the acceptance disks and sending them out with the necessary paperwork in 2 weeks' time. The wait was on as Asta, Yuno, Izuku, Weiss, Nero and many others waited to see if they'd gotten one of the 40 spots open to students applying this way and that was that they could do, wait.
I thought about including the results here but there is a fair bit in that chapter as well (it's already drafted), so I decided to leave this chapter off here as the exam ended. Y'all can presume that Izuku's one went just as it did in the canon hence why there was no need to focus too much on it and instead look at the other exams. As you can tell Weiss and Nero have both been introduced, we will see more of Weiss's attitude in coming chapters and Nero is of course not a bird. This is mainly because I couldn't really fit in Nero being a bird at first into this story so that is something that she won't have, at least not at the start but Quirk Awakening is a thing so there is a possibility of it in the future though it is remote. Don't worry, there is much more to Nero than meets the eye and more of her history will be revealed throughout the story but one of the biggest changes is that she will be starting off as human from the very start. Also, she will not be paired with Asta, nor will there be any romantic interest in him from her, I've already said who Asta's eventual end up with if it comes naturally along with who else will be interested in him and the same applies to Izuku. I am still undecided on Ruby but leaning in a certain direction at the moment. Anyway, that is all I have for this chapter so I will leave it off here. If you like this story please follow, favorite (this story and me) to keep up with it and leave a review or PM, your support is what helps motivate me to keep up this work and any questions posed before the next chapter is uploaded I will try to answer. Until next time.
Stringdog