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 eleven: The internships, part one
"Ryukyu is your number one pick for pro heroes offering you internships who you're interested in going with?"
Ainz nodded in the affirmative to Nejire's question. "I listed Majestic and Fatgum as my second and third choices respectively," Ainz said, "But out of all the offers I got, the one that most appealed to me was from the Dragon Hero."
Nejire had a hint of a relieved look in her eyes. "Wow, so I didn't even really have to convince you. Yeah, you're like the MVP of the U.A. first years, Midoriya-kun. A lot of pro heroes are amazed with what you had shown you can do."
"Oh, before I forget," Ainz spoke up, "One of my classmates has a younger sibling who's a big fan of Ryukyu. Do you think it's possible I could get an autographed photo of Ryukyu for said classmate's younger sibling?"
Chuckling a bit in amusement, Nejire said, "I bet the classmate's little sister really-"
"It's actually a younger brother who's a Ryukyu fan," Ainz corrected, "The classmate also has a younger sister but she's stated to be a fan of the Rabbit Hero." Ainz was hoping to cultivate a good relationship with Tsuyu so as to get better odds of a natural chance to see her younger siblings and check them to see if they have great natural potential like what Eri has. If it turns out to be the case, then Ainz was going to keep an eye out for the second New World's youngest generation.
Chuckling either way, Nejire said, "Sounds fine. Ryukyu is a really nice and patient lady, she says patience is necessary for what she does aside from hero work." After assuring Nejire that Ryukyu is his first choice and he'll say yes if she does offer him to work under her, Ainz was allowed to go back into the Class 1-A homeroom.
After he closed the door behind him, Ainz was greeted, more or less rushed, by a lot of his classmates. "What gives, Midoriya?" Hagakure said, "You got most of the pro heroes in the current Top Ten offering you internships but you only picked one of them?!"
"Only five of us in class here got offers from Top Ten heroes," Mina said, "And the others aside from you and Todoroki only got one each!"
"You actually turned my father down," Todoroki said, "That's... actually pretty amusing." Todoroki let off a bit of a chuckle.
Arching a wry eyebrow, Ainz said, "Who revealed who all offered me internships and what my picks were?"
"Nemuri did, Midoriya," Aizawa replied, "In a show of action that was very unprofessional. Nemuri, info like that is supposed to remain confidential."
"He got an offer from Endeavor who's the number two hero, Sho!" Hizashi said, "That's the highest ranking hero he got offering him an internship! And he didn't pick him! Do you know how much attention he could have gotten by going with the highest ranking hero he got an offer from?!"
Giving Hizashi a wry look, Aizawa said, "Hizashi, you hardly being better than Nemuri right now."
Looking to Ainz, Yaoyorozu asked, "Midoriya-san, if you don't mind sharing, which Top Ten heroes offered you internships?"
"All of them save for All Might and Mirko," Ainz replied, "I picked Ryukyu as my top choice to intern under."
"The Dragon Hero kero?" Tsuyu spoke up, "She's my little brother's favorite pro hero."
Ainz nodded in understanding and proceeded to tell his peers why Nejire wanted to speak with him in private. "It would appear that I made more of an impression in the U.A. Sports Festival than I had realized," Ainz said.
"Not enough apparently to get ALL of the current Top Ten heroes offering you internships, Deku," Bakugo pointed out.
"All Might is busy with work here at U.A. as a teacher, Bakugo," Yaoyorozu pointed out, "And Mirko is famous for never taking on any interns ever." Tsuyu nodded in confirmation at Yaoyorozu's claim on the ways of the Rabbit Hero.
"Oh yeah, figures you'd have some knowledge about Mirko and Ryukyu, Asui," Tenya spoke up, a hint of trouble in his eyes he was able to hide well from all save for Ainz, "You mentioned that your little siblings are fans of them."
As the students settled down and got to talking about their own internships, Ainz was curious about the look of trouble he spotted in Tenya's eyes. His instincts told him that Tenya was plotting, and he wanted to know what. Using Time Stop, Ainz was able to check Tenya's form denoting his top three choices of pro heroes to intern under.
To the surprise of the Sorcerer King, Tenya only picked one pro hero total, a guy known as Manual. Ainz only knew of Manual due to getting it via some info networks he set up in the second New World with stuff from Nazarick that Manual is a pro hero currently doing work in the area of Hosu, which is where Stain the Hero Killer is currently prowling around at. Ainz still wants to see if he can get Stain to submit to him and become a subordinate.
Ainz also was aware that Tensei, the older brother of Tenya, was still hurt due to his run in with Stain earlier. Ainz calculated that there was a ninety-one point six percent chance that Tenya had picked only Manual because he's working in Hosu which would put him in range of Stain so he could try to get a chance at revenge on the Hero Killer for what he did to Tensei. Ainz, due to seeing Tenya as a valuable friend (asset) for Izuku, didn't want Tenya to risk himself so recklessly.
Ainz went back to sit in his desk before he dropped the Time Stop, he was sitting there before casting it. While sitting, he was thinking of how to keep Tenya from getting seriously hurt if not even worse, not to mention getting Stain as a subordinate. He also had to get caught up on healing Tensei and hope that would curb Tenya's burning desire for revenge. Ainz also realized that he was going to be needing help from a lot of the NPCs of Nazarick.
...Luckily, he had more than just the Floor Guardians and the Pleiades combat maids for help.
Within due time, the internships began. This saw Ainz in his hero costume follow Nejire in her hero costume walk as the two of them made their way through the hero agency that Ryukyu kept. "When I told Ryukyu that you not only picked to intern under her but that she was your first choice, she was surprised as well as flattered," Nejire said.
"I guess that she saw my performance in the U.A. Sports Festival," Ainz said.
"She saw everyone's performances," Nejire said, "Although you blowing away Endeavor's son, as well as the Bakugo boy who is heavily favored, surprised many pro heroes. Those two both have a lot of power, and Todoroki has a strong and famous lineage."
Ainz nodded once in agreement. "Todoroki and Kacchan are bo-"
"Kacchan?" Nejire said, interrupting in a curious tone.
"Ah, apologies," Ainz said, "That's my nickname for Bakugo. We've known one another since early childhood." Ainz was still keeping up Izuku's habit of referring to Bakugo as Kacchan, partly to get in practice so as to not seem out of character.
Nejire nodded once in understanding. "I see. Sorry for interrupting."
"It's fine, you lacked context," Ainz replied, "Anyway, Todoroki and Kacchan are both strong, to be sure. But I believe that power alone does not a good pro hero make."
"You're right on the money, Midoriya-kun," Nejire said, "Ryukyu can teach you all about it. She's really good at being kind and compassionate, which are also traits pro heroes need. At least if you ask me about it."
Ainz agreed, seeing a lot of the desired traits pro heroes need in the late Gazef. The Sorcerer King was more and more thinking that Gazef would have made for a phenomenal pro hero. If necessary, Ainz would have even granted Gazef a quirk or two via Bestow Quirk. And that thought gave Ainz an idea he wanted to test; can humans in the first New World get quirks, or is it a second New World human thing only? He decided to squirrel away that theory for later testing.
...
Within short order, Nejire led Ainz up to an office on the top floor of Ryukyu's hero agency. Inside waiting was Ryukyu herself, sitting at a desk as she absent-mindedly fiddled with what Ainz was able to identify as a sensory toy of some kind that looked like a slug with rainbow colors. Seeing Nejire come in with Ainz, Ryukyu quickly put the toy down and got up to walk over and meet the new first year from U.A. that had more pro heroes clamoring for him than he had expected.
When Ryukyu was within thirty centimeters of her two interns, Ainz cast Time Stop before taking aim at Ryukyu. "Detect Quirk." Ainz was able to bring up the menu detailing Ryukyu. Her real name given as Ryuko Tatsuma, to Ainz's surprise she was level fifty-five. That's strong enough to take on a Death Knight solo and win. She's also stronger than at least one of the combat maids. Ryukyu has one quirk and a quirk capacity of four, the common limit.
Ainz then read the blurb denoting Ryukyu's quirk, Dragon. It allowed the user to transform into a large winged dragon. Having seen videos of Ryukyu's dragon transformation, Ainz would estimate her to when transformed be the size of one of the frost dragons he, Aura, and Shalltear saw when they went to say hi to the dwarves. Ainz then exited out of that menu so he could get to the true reason he was hoping to get an internship under the Dragon Hero.
"Harvest Quirk." Ainz soon got a Quirk Jewel containing the Dragon quirk, then he used Duplicate Quirk to make another Quirk Jewel containing the Dragon quirk, sacrificing one of the synthetic quirks he got from the USJ Nomu. The quality of the quirk that's sacrificed has no impact on the quality of the quirk that's duplicated. Ainz was able to keep track of which Quirk Jewel he got from Ryukyu, so he gave that one to her, pocketed the extra, then dropped the Time Stop.
"I'm a little surprised that you chose me as the first pro hero you wanted to intern under, Midoriya," Ryukyu said when time resumed, neither she nor Nejire having any idea what had just happened. "I was even able to get it that every pro hero in the Top Ten same as me, aside from All Might and Mirko, had also offered you internships. I'm admittedly only the number nine hero right now, so you could have picked more prestigious pro heroes, even Endeavor."
"With all due respect to him, Endeavor doesn't exactly strike me as a kind and compassionate pro hero," Ainz said. He even shared with Ryukyu, and Nejire to an extent, about what he learned about Endeavor being obsessed with surpassing All Might in the rankings, detailing his experience with the man from the U.A. Sports Festival. He left out the bits suggesting Endeavor is an abusive dad; Ainz has his own plan for that.
"That doesn't surprise me in the least," Ryukyu said dryly as she folded her arms over her chest, "And the fact he cornered you and tried getting you to do his dirty work is down right horrendous."
Ainz nodded in agreement with the Dragon Hero. "I was having a conversation with Hado-senpai here while we were up on our way to see you, about how I believe a pro hero needs to be more than just strong. I believe being kind and compassionate also helps." Again, Ainz remembered the first New World human he grew to like. "I was hoping that you'd be able to give me pointers in the right direction for that," Ainz said, "Hado-senpai said you could."
Ryukyu gave a gentle smile, warm and sincere. "I do agree with that, we can't have too many power only guys running around. However, I'd like to ask you a question first." Giving Ainz a mildly firm look, Ryukyu asked, "Say a child were to ask you if it was possible for them to become a pro hero despite the fact that they are autistic. What would you tell them?"
Ainz was a bit surprised that Ryukyu asked him that question. He also wondered why she specified that the child in the hypothetical situation has autism. Replace 'autistic' with 'quirkless', and you get the same question Izuku had asked All Might before being told no by the Symbol of Peace. Ainz had an old guild mate in Nazarick who, in his real life job, was a teacher at a school for kids that are on the autism spectrum. Said guild mate even made an NPC that he made to be autistic.
The Sorcerer King had no issues with those on the spectrum, he didn't see it as a disqualifying factor. "I would tell the child," Ainz began, "That if they want to become a pro hero, then they need the drive and conviction to see that dream through. I am of the belief that anyone can be a pro hero if it's what they want." Ainz was willing to give the words that Izuku should have been told by that blonde oaf who shot down the last of his hope.
Ryukyu smiled gently at Ainz. "...I'm glad to see that you agree with me, Midoriya. Unfortunately, the laws and regulations put forth by the HPSC have decided otherwise."
"The HPSC?" Ainz repeated, looking confused.
"It stands for Hero Public Safety Commission," Nejire explained, "They're the legal authority body that runs pro hero society here in Japan. What they say goes, and one of the laws they have in place is that those that are classified by their standards as 'special needs citizens' are legally barred from becoming pro heroes, and that includes persons on the autism spectrum. Ryukyu is leading a group of pro heroes to lobby to remove that restriction."
Ainz felt very pissed off after hearing that persons on the spectrum aren't allowed to become pro heroes basically because some government bigwigs said so. It reminded him of the nobles from the kingdom Gazef died for keeping him down because of his commoner birth. It's why he liked what Jircniv was doing in Baharuth; raising people up based on their personal skill and merit rather than by accident of birth.
What if someone with great talent and potential like Gazef was barred from becoming a pro hero here because they're on the spectrum? The idea such talent was forcefully being wasted made the Sorcerer King glad he was undead, otherwise he might have vomited due to how pissed off it was making him. The Japan of the second New World needs to be more like Baharuth, at least if you asked Ainz how he felt.
"...Allow me to rephrase my earlier answer," Ainz said, "I would tell the child that if they want to become a pro hero, then they need the drive and conviction to see that dream through. I am of the belief that anyone can be a pro hero if it's what they want." Clenching a fist for Ryukyu and Nejire to see, Ainz added, "And I would do all that is needed to help them, even if it means I have to change the laws of hero society themselves."
"You would go so far for a child?" Nejire asked, looking surprised.
"You'd be very surprised to learn how far I'd go to make a child happy, Hado-senpai," Ainz said, "And that includes correcting injustices."
"You are very bold, Midoriya," Ryukyu said, sounding impressed, "Perhaps you can help spread the word so that more people in Japan know what my group and I are campaigning for."
"I'll be sure to tell my peers at U.A. about it when internships are over," Ainz said, "Oh, that reminds me. One of my classmates has a little brother who is a big fan of yours. Would it be possible I can get an autographed photo of you to bring to said classmate so she can give it to her little brother?"
Ryukyu chuckled a bit. "I would have no problem doing so." Clapping her hands together, Ryukyu said, "Now then, let's warm you up for some hero lessons by having you do a patrol." Ainz agreed, as he was looking forward to doing hero work of any kind. It's a necessary step to achieve the goals Ainz has for the second New World, as well as growing the fame of Izuku Midoriya, the fame of the Sorcerer Hero Deku.
It would be a name that even the mightiest of villains in the second New World will tremble in fear of. Ainz was going to make sure of it.
Meanwhile, in a certain bar somewhere, Stain the Hero Killer was talking to a guy with purple burnt patches of skin, and behind the bar stood a female bartender dressed as a male bartender. The female bartender looked like a living humanoid made of black swirling surging sludge. "So you want to bring the heroes to their knees, but aren't quite sure how to go about it," Stain said to the guy with the burnt patches of skin.
The guy with purple burnt patches of skin, his long dark coat shifting as he shifted a few centimeters to his left, nodded. "Yeah, I'm just not exactly sure how to start," replied the guy with the burnt patches of skin, "I was hoping a man against the heroes like you, someone with experience in the field to sticking it to the heroes, would know and be willing to point me in the right direction."
"So it's not lack of conviction, but rather lack of knowing," Stain said, "Very well. What is your name, boy?"
The man with the burnt patches of skin nodded his head only once. "Dabi."
"Well then, Dabi," Stain began, "You'll want to start by demoralizing the fakes that infest hero society here in Japan. Japan has grown addicted to pro heroes, an addiction that has led to the growth of a tumor like what most terrible addictions lead to. The best method of saving one from a tumor is to cut it out to save as much of the unspoiled parts as possible. Let yourself be the knife that makes the first incision, make the first cut to demoralize the fakes and have them drop until only those who are truly worthy of the title of pro hero are left."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Dabi said, "I hope like hell you don't think Endeavor is one of the 'worthy pro heroes' that you speak of."
Stain let out a coarse bark of dark laughter. "You're nothing if not funny," Stain said, "But no, there's no way a fiery competition freak like that man is worthy of being a pro hero. He's actually one of the worst at the job, an unworthy fake of the highest degree. He plays a futile game, clawing against the insurmountable wall that is All Might, the only pro hero really worthy to work the job."
Shrugging, Dabi said, "Well he is better than Endeavor, that's for sure."
"The Flame Hero has drawn your ire," Stain observed, "And despite Endeavor being wholly unworthy to work the pro hero profession, I have to admit that he is highly ranked, being just below All Might himself." Stain gave a wry look to Dabi. "...Perhaps cutting Endeavor out can be the first incision you make to demoralize the fake pro heroes into dropping out. Seeing the man who is ranked just under All Might being slain ought to make the fakes want to reconsider their life choices."
"Oh, I would love to see Endeavor die," Dabi remarked, his tone making it clear that he had some sort of secret personal motive behind seeking the Flame Hero's head, "Just need to get him out in the open and in a vulnerable state."
"You may want to see my work in Hosu," Stain said, "My being there to continue my crusade to cut down all of the fake heroes has drawn them to my current hunting grounds. Word has it that even Endeavor is going to show up there. If you have sufficient power at your disposal, perhaps we can work out carrying out some manner of pincer attack."
Dabi turned his head to look at the screen of the computer behind him on the bar counter. "Hey boss man, how many Nomus are ready?" Dabi asked.
"We have three available, my dear Dabi," replied a male voice from the computer, "But be careful. I'm still trying to find out what happened to the force I sent to attack the baby heroes at their precious USJ facility. I lost some valuable assets, and the information is being kept held tightly by the heroes as they investigate."
"Don't you have a spy among the heroes, boss man?" Dabi asked, "We can just grill them for info."
"...That is actually a good idea," the voice from the computer replied, "I was going to wait to contact them until a later event, but the situation we're dealing with right now has even me stumped. It will be a while before I have any free time to do so, but I will be getting in contact with my spy at a time that's earlier than what I had originally expected."
Dabi gave a single nod of acknowledgement to the computer, although he doubted that 'the boss man' would be able to see it. Turning back to face Stain, Dabi said, "I'll get in contact with you as soon as my forces are ready. Until then, I'm betting you're eager to get back to your hunting."
"Indeed," Stain replied, "The work to rid society of the fake heroes clogging everything up seems to be a never ending struggle."
Turning to face the sludge bartender, Dabi said, "Mirajane, can you send Stain back to Hosu?"
"Of course," replied the sludge bartender, now identified as Mirajane. She had a puddle of sludge the same color as herself appear under Stain, as well as one under herself, before both persons sank into the puddles which then faded away.
...
Over in Hosu next to a large water tank on top of a building, Mirajane and Stain appeared out of a sludge puddle that appeared, with Stain spitting some sludge out of his mouth. "That still isn't the most pleasant of methods of transport," Stain said dryly.
"Apologies," Mirajane replied, "But the master said that his previous teleporter is unaccounted for due to his last major move against the heroes. I was prepared as I am to serve and assist the master's new and current successor, Dabi."
Scoffing indifferently, Stain said, "Very well. Anyway, I'm off to my hunting." Stain turned around and ran to the edge of the building, jumping off skillfully to hide in an alleyway to try to get in a sneak attack on the first pro hero unlucky enough to be caught on their own while the Hero Killer is on the hunt. Similarly, Mirajane disappeared into another sludge puddle, presumably to go back to the bar where Dabi was at.
...Unbeknownst to both Mirajane and Stain, they were being watched by two combat maids from Nazarick, one being Lupusregina Beta, and the other one, for lack of a better way to put it, being a pallet swap of Lupusregina Beta. This second battle maid had fair pale skin, silvery white hair, red piercing eyes, red in her outfit where Lupus had yellow, and she had a wicked looking long dagger with a strong Ancient Egyptian vibe whereas Lupus had a scepter.
"Yeah, that edgy looking human armed to the teeth is that Stain the Hero Killer fellow that Lord Ainz is interested in, alright," Lupus said, "But that bartender lady who looks to be made of sludge is a totally unknown element."
"We ought to inform Lord Ainz of this development as soon as possible, Lupus," said the battle maid who looked like a pallet swap of Lupusregina.
Nodding in agreement, Lupus said, "Exactly, Setsuna. Lord Ainz wouldn't like it if any development occurred and he wasn't updated on it." The two battle maids then used stealth skills, masking them from any human efforts to sus them out, before taking off.
Later, Ainz was doing a patrol with Nejire in public. During the patrol, Ainz explained how he felt to his senpai about the idea of others being kept from achieving greatness. "I think it to be a sin of the worst kind to keep someone with talent and potential from achieving greatness," Ainz said, "Even more so if it is over something that shouldn't be a factor in the decision making process."
Nodding in agreement, Nejire said, "Oh yeah, totally! Ryukyu thinks that it's terrible that kids on the spectrum aren't allowed to become pro heroes when they're old enough because the HPSC says so. I mean, one of those kids could be the next All Might for all we know!"
"I have seen other things used by those at the top of society as excuses to try and keep others from becoming great," Ainz said, "I have once seen wealthy persons try to keep someone who was of more common birth down because he wasn't born to influence." It still pissed Ainz off what those nobles whose nation Gazef died for had been discounting Gazef. "And believe it or not, but I got it that All Might himself told a kid who is quirkless that they can't be a hero without a quirk," Ainz continued, "Despite how he's been known to say that anyone can be a hero."
Nejire had no idea where Ainz got the first bit from, but she not only didn't question it, she nodded in agreement with it. "Yeah, it makes sense that rich people would try to oppress the less wealthy. Although I am shocked to hear that All Might himself told some quirkless kid they can't become a pro hero due to them lacking a quirk. Even Ryukyu says it's possible, at least in theory, as some pro heroes have quirks not useful directly in combat so they 'fight like a quirkless' as some folks would say about the subject."
As the Sorcerer King gave a nod of agreement, he got an alert via Message that one of his NPCs he had in the second New World wanted to talk to him. He was glad to discover that the Message system worked in the second New World same as it does in the first New World. Luckily for Ainz, he and Nejire passed by a place with public restrooms. Saying he needed to use the restroom, Ainz asked Nejire if they can go in there.
"Actually, I need to download a brownload myself," Nejire said, going into the place with Ainz. Both of them went into the appropriately gendered restrooms, and Ainz went into a stall and sat down on the toilet. He had no need to relieve himself, a perk that came with being undead, but he did like to sit as he spoke over the Message system with his NPCs. "What is it?" Ainz said, holding a hand to the side of his head.
"Lord Ainz, me and Setsuna found the human identified as Stain the Hero Killer," replied the voice of Lupus, "But he was seen in the company of a female made of black sludge and she wore a male bartender uniform. She disappeared into sludge after she dropped off Stain who took off into the alleyways of the Hosu area. We still have a track on Stain, do you want us to move in right now to try and bring him in?"
"No, just continue monitoring him for now," Ainz said. Thanks to being able to check things via Detect Quirk, Ainz learned that the people of this world can get to fairly high levels. In fact, he has a ninety-one point six percent certainty that All Might is at a higher level than any one of the combat maids; until more information is gathered on Stain, Ainz isn't comfortable with the idea of sending an NPC after him, especially if there's a chance the NPC may be underleveled for the encounter.
There's also the new development in regards to the female bartender sludge person. From what Lupus said about said person disappearing into sludge, Ainz figured her to have some manner of teleportation power, similar to the Warp Gate quirk that he took from the misty bartender during the USJ attack. The Sorcerer King wanted more info there before he felt comfortable with proceeding any further with his plans.
Especially as he was starting to suspect a big name player in the second New World's realm of villainy may be at play.
END, CHAPTER ELEVEN
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the internships start, with Ainz almost immediately getting his goal for interning under Ryukyu; a Quirk Jewel containing an extra of Ryukyu's Dragon quirk. Ainz then learns about how the HPSC has a habit of keeping certain persons they don't approve of from achieving the goal of becoming pro heroes. Reminded of the discrimination both Gazef and Izuku faced, Ainz made a mental note to look into it.
Meanwhile, the League of Villains gets on the move despite a setback. But Stain and new OC Mirajane are spotted in Hosu by Lupusregina Beta and a battle maid who's a pallet swap of her, said pallet swap battle maid being imported from my first try at an Overlord story. I'll be importing others from there as Ainz here will have TWO New Worlds to manage.
Anyway, the next chapter will see the internship shenanigans continue, with Ainz taking some action over in the area of Hosu. But what will happen exactly will surprise even the Sorcerer King. Take care.