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 twenty-three: The Big Three, on the scene!
Class 1-A of U.A. High School was out in a field with other U.A. students as they all looked forward towards a small stage that had been set up, where Nezu and a few U.A. staff members spoke to the students about how things would be going for the school year from this point moving forward. As he stood with his peers, Ainz could tell full well that more than a few pairs of eyes in the crowd were either occasionally glancing at him or looking at him full time.
The Sorcerer King could tell it was because of his performance during the Provisional License Exams, how he vanquished two Death Knights (the second New Worlders all believe that the Death Knights are called Black Paladins), and then defeated an oni samurai villain who the Black Paladins both deferred to, forcing said villain to retreat. Ainz could tell that his popularity at U.A. was going to be skyrocketing, given that the legend of Izuku Midoriya had grown even more.
Ainz felt that this was good, as not only is it what he felt Izuku deserves, but it'll help him achieve the fame he felt necessary to help him with taking over the second New World. The plan was more or less a re-skin of his plan with the adventurer Momon back in the first New World, only with a few details here and there changed. It was clear that Izuku Midoriya was bar none the most popular first year student at U.A. High School.
Ainz was wondering, however, if maybe he can make Izuku's name the name that is most clamored around at U.A. period, make Izuku the most popular U.A. student bar none. Maybe if he were to get a leg up over notable upperclassmen in the second and third years, that would be a step in the right direction for Ainz. Then when people see that not even the second or third years at U.A. can keep up with Izuku who despite his reputation is merely a first year, it'll help Izuku's legend grow.
And growing Izuku's legend will help grow the progress Ainz is making towards his ultimate goal.
...
Following the opening ceremony, Aizawa who was joined by Hizashi and Nemuri had Class 1-A in the homeroom classroom. "Because all of you have earned your provisional licences," Aizawa began, "That means you'll be called upon to help pro heroes with work in the field. It'll be valuable experience, and it'll help with your training. Do bear in mind that you will most likely be kept from direct combat with villains if the pro heroes you are working with can help it."
"That's fair," remarked Shinso, who was recently added to Class 1-A.
Nodding once, Aizawa said, "Due to recent events, there's a more pressing and dire need for there to be as many able and willing pairs of hands in the field as possible. Especially with what all the League of Villains is getting up to. You all remember the attack on Takoba National Stadium when you all were taking the Provisional License Exams, right?" There was not one person in all of Japan who could forget what happened that day.
Ainz himself couldn't forget, although it was due to a mix of it being part of his ultimate plan and the fact the boy with the powerful wind quirk really pissed Ainz off with how he had been so reckless. Although said powerful wind quirk did appeal to the Sorcerer King; Ainz helped himself to getting a copy of it while he had a Time Stop active. That powerful wind quirk will be a very interesting piece to one of the puzzles he aims to assemble.
"Anyway little listeners," Hizashi said, "We've taken the liberty of calling in some special guests to help you all learn what you'll need for the work studies that pro heroes are going to be offering you! Come on in, you three!"
Hizashi's call prompted the door leading into the Class 1-A homeroom to open, and a trio of U.A. third years walked in. Ainz recognized the lone girl of the trio as Nejire, who he worked alongside with under Ryukyu. With Nejire were two boys Ainz was able to identify as Tamaki Amajiki and Mirio Togata, as they had performed well during the U.A. Sports Festival earlier in the school year. Ainz was wondering what Nejire and her fellows were doing here.
"These are Mirio Togata, Tamaki Amajiki, and Nejire Hado," Nemuri began, "Although I got it that Midoriya is already familiar with Hado." Gesturing to the trio of U.A. third years, Nemuri went on, "These three are the top hero candidates among U.A.'s hero course right now, so they ought to be a big help in getting you all ready for the work studies!"
Giving Class 1-A a thumbs up, Mirio said, "Don't worry, my junior students! Tamaki, Nejire, and I will get you all whipped into shape before you can say 'Plus Ultra'!"
"We're looking forward to what you and the other senpais have to show us, Togata-senpai," Tenya said, "I'm sure I speak for all of my fellow cla-"
"I got an idea!" Mirio cut in, "Why don't we head down to one of the gyms so I can take you all on? Me alone versus all twenty of you in a sparring match!"
Ainz was surprised that Mirio had just challenged Class 1-A to a twenty-versus-one fight with Mirio himself at the numerical disadvantage. The Sorcerer King figured that Mirio must be incredibly sure of himself if he willingly issued such a challenge. "Yeah, Mirio here has issues with holding back," Tamaki warned Class 1-A, "You have been warned."
Looking to Mirio, Nejire said, "At least go easy on my kouhai Midoriya when you beat him, Mirio." Hearing Nejire ask Mirio to go easy on him while professing confidence in Mirio's victory told Ainz that Mirio was the top of the top among the students in U.A.'s hero course. Rather than be offended that he was being underestimated, Ainz saw that Mirio was the golden opportunity that he had been looking to get ahold of.
Defeating Mirio in a match, even IF he had help from classmates, might help Ainz raise the renown attached to the name of Izuku Midoriya.
Later over at an empty gym on U.A. grounds, the twenty students of Class 1-A stood opposite of where Mirio stood, while Aizawa, Hizashi, Nemuri, Tamaki, and Nejire all stood off to the side. All students competing in the sparring match were wearing U.A. P.E. uniforms. As he saw Mirio do a bit of stretching, Ainz was getting more and more curious about what made the blonde third year of U.A.'s hero course so confident he can take on twenty first years at once.
Sure, he's a third year hero course student and Class 1-A are all first year hero course students. But that still doesn't overlook the fact that Mirio is facing twenty opponents all at once, and Class 1-A has some experience, they have some fairly decent levels among them. Even Shinso who started a bit later than the rest of the class was able to catch up level wise, due to the battle experience from the attack on Takoba National Stadium (Shinso took out a lot of skeletons).
The instant that the cue was given for the match to start, Mirio with a confident look on his face stood before Class 1-A as... his clothes fell off of him as if he suddenly had become incorporeal like a ghost. Jiro instantly freaked out upon Mirio donning naught but his birthday suit, as did the other girls and some of the boys. Realizing what had happened, Mirio hastily moved to at the very least pull his pants back up so that his holy land wasn't on display for all to see.
"Sorry!" Mirio apologized as he pulled his pants up, "Normal clothes don't permeate with me when I use my quirk! It was not my intention to show you all my glory!"
"A quirk that makes the user incorporeal," Ainz thought as he saw Mirio zip up the zipper on his pants, "I can make guesses as to how such a quirk can be used effectively to make one as well known as a hero candidate as Mirio-senpai here is." Mirio, now that he at least had his down under covered up, proceeded to charge right at the Class 1-A students to show them why he's considered to be at the top of U.A.'s hero course as a whole.
But right as he charged, Ainz had a Time Stop spell go into effect, freezing time for everything that was around... pretty much everywhere, really. With leisure, Ainz made his way over to the frozen in time Mirio and held a hand in front of his face. "Detect Quirk," Ainz said, casting one of his quirk related spells to check Mirio for what all he had that made him so confident, so sure of his power that he could take on an entire class (albeit a first year class) and still win.
Ainz when he saw Mirio's info got a number of surprises. First off, Mirio was level thirty-five, pretty high for someone who still is a hero student. Second, his number of quirks was at eight and he had a quirk capacity of three. This was one of the rare occasions someone in the second New World had more than one quirk and Ainz wasn't responsible for it. When he checked out Mirio's quirks, he saw something that answered some questions he had but raised more in turn.
Mirio had his base quirk, called Permeation, and a second quirk which Ainz saw was called One For All. Checking One For All's info, Ainz saw that it was the true solid version and not the embers that All Might had. Further details in One For All's info told Ainz that the previous holder of One For All had passed the quirk down to its current holder. Ainz wasn't sure how, but All Might had given One For All to Mirio. That might explain Mirio's confidence in his power.
Ainz also saw that a number of other quirks were attached to One For All, having transferred into Mirio along with One For All itself when All Might gave the power to Mirio. The other quirks were called Smokescreen, Blackwhip, Danger Sense, Fa Jin, Float, and Gearshift. However, all of them were currently locked somehow, and details in One For All said Mirio had to master enough of One For All in order to unlock the quirks that came with it.
Speaking of a good number of quirks, Ainz took note of how Mirio's number of quirks, even if most of them were locked from him being able to use them for now, exceeded his quirk capacity. As such, the Sorcerer King saw that Mirio had something in his menu's area that denoted when someone had a status ailment. Ainz checked it, and sure enough he saw that Mirio was the first person he came across to have Quirk Overload Sickness.
Quirk Overload Sickness varies from case to case, and Ainz saw that the variant that Mirio has is the one that burns up the victim's life force at a quicker rate. It also occasionally caused Mirio some degree of feeling weak, especially after over exerting himself. Ainz was planning to eventually set up a case of Quirk Overload Sickness so he could study it, but Mirio having it already would save him a lot of time and effort.
Ainz further examined Mirio's Quirk Overload Sickness, and saw that the rate of life force being burnt up was directly proportional to how much the number of quirks Mirio had exceeded his quirk capacity. "Maybe if he takes enough Quirk Capacity Potions to catch things up, it'll cure him of his Quirk Overload Sickness," Ainz mused to himself, "I'll have to make a note of that. This could be a golden opportunity to learn more about the way the powers of this world works..."
Exiting the menu, Ainz said to himself, "...But first I'll take at least his quirk that lets his clothes fall off. Can't have him showing his Lil' Mirio to the girls at least." Ainz then cast Harvest Quirk on the frozen in time Mirio, but to his surprise he got an error message in a small menu;
Error;
Due to the target possessing the One For All quirk, the target's quirks cannot be harvested by any means.
Ainz was intrigued by this revelation, as it's the first time his Harvest Quirk spell failed to take a quirk from a target. He also saw that it was because Mirio possessed One For All, as it apparently has some property that protects the holder from having their quirks taken. Maybe it was due to the quirk's nature as a power that can be transferred willingly by the current holder? This is something that Ainz was going to be wanting to study more.
Ainz exited the error message and decided he'd instead use Mirio as a case study to learn more about Quirk Overload Sickness. Ainz then cast a knock out spell on Mirio with the Delay Magic boost so that when the Time Stop was dropped, Mirio will drop not long after. It would be pretty suspicious if Mirio dropped right away, so Ainz set things to give Mirio some time to spar until he was knocked out. Hopefully Class 1-A will be given enough time to win.
Ainz flew back to where he was standing in the crowd, next to Todoroki while the two of them stood behind Yaoyorozu and Mina. Ainz then dropped the Time Stop, and Mirio who wasn't aware he was now on a timer (more than one, actually) proceeded to rush the Class 1-A students to being taking them out of commission. Right away, Ainz saw why Mirio was so confident; he instantly knocked out several of Class 1-A's students.
Mirio showed great and refined control over his Permeation quirk, slipping in and out of things, letting all efforts thrown at him slip through his incorporeal self while his very much corporeal strikes hit and knocked out several of Class 1-A's best and strongest. Even Bakugo was very quickly knocked out by Mirio, being among the first to be taken out by the tall buff blonde boy who seemed to have been hand picked by All Might himself.
Ainz felt that All Might should have given Izuku Midoriya a chance.
Mirio tried knocking out Kirishima with a punch to the gut, but Kirishima's Hardening saved him to an extent. Granted Kirishima was staggered, but he wasn't knocked out right away. Shinso was also able to momentarily stun Mirio by brainwashing him, but Mirio snapped out of it after taking some hits and proceeded to zero in on Shinso, knocking him out. Mirio spotted Ainz and Todoroki who were both standing behind two of the girls.
Mirio decided to knock Yaoyorozu and Mina out because they were in the way of two of the more notable members of Class 1-A, but while Mina was knocked out by the punch to her flat, slender stomach, Yaoyorozu was able to tank the punch to her big, blubbery belly with respectable ease. Ainz attributed that to Stout Strength raising Yaoyorozu's resilience to assault. Mirio decided to try knocking Yaoyorozu out with a strike to the side of her head, which worked.
But Ainz and Todoroki got distance, and Mirio had to back away when several Class 1-A students rushed him. Todoroki when he got an opening tried casting some ice and fire at Mirio, but the power just went right through the blonde senpai as if he were a hologram. Mirio knocked out a few more of the Class 1-A students, including finishing off Kirishima, and taking out Tenya, Tsuyu, and Ochaco.
Ainz was a little annoyed, as those three were friends who he had managed to gather around for Izuku, along with the already knocked out Shinso, and Todoroki who was still active. Ainz was preparing to conjure a (restrained) Fireball to lob at Mirio, but suddenly the top hero students at U.A. suddenly fell to one knee as he planted his left hand on the ground, panting a bit with exhaustion. The sleep spell then went off, making Mirio fall over and pass out.
Because Mirio had passed out, the win for the match was given to Class 1-A. Ainz was going to attribute the win to the timing of the sleep spell going into effect, and the sudden exhaustion that Mirio had was reasoned by the Sorcerer King to be a coincidence, albeit heavily suspected of being a byproduct of Mirio's Quirk Overload Sickness. Still, with all that was against Mirio, he took out a good number of Class 1-A's members before passing out.
Only Ainz, Todoroki, Hagakure (the only girl not defeated by Mirio, probably because he couldn't see her effectively), Tokoyami, Ojiro, and Shoji out of Class 1-A wasn't knocked out by Mirio during the match. That's still fourteen out of twenty, and some of the knocked out students actually gave their blonde buff senpai a bit of trouble due to being tankier than he was expecting.
Even though Mirio had lost the challenge he posed, Ainz would be among the first to agree that Mirio's confidence was well founded. He was also a person that Ainz was wanting to look into more, given his unique workings with the quirks he has and him being a case of Quirk Overload Sickness which Ainz wants to study. Mirio had proven himself to be a valuable asset.
"Wow, I wasn't expecting to lose," Mirio said after everyone was roused up, "I mean I know you guys have gotten a lot of experience due to recent events, but I've been working at it non-stop for a fair bit longer than you all have been at U.A. I figured the extra time would have given me an edge, but I see now that I allowed myself to be overcome by hubris. Not very hero like of me. Sorry about that."
"Well you took out seventy percent of our class, Togata-senpai," Yaoyorozu said as she rubbed the side of her head, "That's still very impressive."
"Indeed," Tenya said while rubbing his stomach, "The work studies must be an invaluable chance to learn what all we'll be needing to know when we become pro heroes."
Perking up a bit, Mirio said, "Oh totally! You all will be in for an experience different from the first internships you got after the U.A. Sports Festival, that's for sure! I'm certain the senseis will give you all more info about what to expect after we resume things back in your homeroom class."
"I was actually going to say a few things in private to Midoriya-kun," Nejire spoke up, "Ryukyu mentioned to me that she was interested in employing him during the work studies, so I was going to see if he was interested in coming back."
Ainz gave a single nod in the affirmative. "I have no trouble with that, Hado-senpai. But I think we should hear what the senseis have to say first."
"Actually, you being scouted by the Dragon Hero will save you a bit of effort, Green Bean," Hizashi said, "Given that info on you kids plus the ones in Kan's class will be given to hero agencies to see if any of them are interested in employing you kids during the work studies. With a pro hero already interested in hiring you, you're set."
The students of Class 1-A then filed out of the gym behind the senseis and the Big Three, although Ainz kept Mirio in consideration. The fact that Mirio has the true version of One For All, that having it grants him immunity to Harvest Quirk, also the quirks attached to One For All leading to a case of Quirk Overload Sickness that can be studied... Ainz was planning to get the most that he can out of the blonde buff senpai.
Especially given that Mirio is touted as the top hero candidate among U.A.'s hero course students as a whole. The Sorcerer King was planning to wring every bit of value out of this asset that had just been presented to him.
When word spread across U.A. that Mirio lost a sparring match against an entire class of first years, the reactions that Ainz heard concerning it told him that many would have expected Mirio to win the sparring match hands down, lending further credence to the idea that Mirio really is the best of the best that U.A.'s hero course has to offer. Apparently Mirio being greatly outnumbered wasn't enough to make others think he'd lose a match.
But then word got out that it was Class 1-A that Mirio lost to, the class Ainz belonged to. And Ainz being among the Class 1-A students confirmed to be among those who were still active when Mirio went down further bolstered Ainz's reputation. Some U.A. students even suspected that Ainz may be to the first years what Mirio is to the third years. Either way, Ainz having won out against Mirio in a sparring match had raised the renown of Izuku Midoriya even more.
Ainz, using the cover of wanting to make sure there were no hurt feelings, visited Mirio while he was training and presented him with a bottle of home brewed tea, saying it was a special recipe in his family that helps people feel better if they're down with something. "I saw that you were kneeling in exhaustion towards the end of the sparring match," Ainz said as he offered the bottle of tea to Mirio, "I'm worried you may have stressed yourself out too much in training. This tea ought to help soothe your body and let it heal and recharge."
"Actually, I have been feeling like I'm overheating ever since I had amped up my training," Mirio remarked as he graciously accepted the tea from Ainz, "I'm even getting private lessons and training sessions from All Might and an old mentor of his. ...Oh, umm, sorry if I came off as sounding like I was bragging, that wasn't my intent."
Ainz dismissed Mirio's worries, saying that it was no issue. What Ainz didn't say aloud was the fact that one, he had a good idea as to why All Might was training him, and two, the tea that Ainz gave to Mirio was laced with a Quirk Capacity Potion. Ainz, after first confirming that a drink laced with a Quirk Capacity Potion did what a unused Quirk Capacity Potion did (if the drink is under one liter in size), decided to subtly sneak Quirk Capacity Potions into Mirio.
Mirio apparently found the taste of the tea to be good, as he chugged it down after the first sip. After Mirio had drank all of the tea, Ainz was able to cast Time Stop, then checked Mirio's status. Mirio's quirk capacity had risen by one from the last time Ainz saw it, and the status on Mirio's Quirk Overload Sickness showed that the rate of his life force being burnt up had slowed a bit. Not too much, but enough to show and tell Ainz that enough Quirk Capacity Potions can lead to Mirio being cured of his Quirk Overload Sickness.
Ainz also had a medicinal item from YGGDRASIL that if used restored all burnt up life force the user had suffered. In the game it was a quick way to recover lost experience points in a pinch, but Ainz reasoned it can be used to restore the life force Mirio had lost so far due to his Quirk Overload Sickness. Ainz was wanting to run some tests, and he was hoping to see some positive results from the efforts for Mirio's sake.
After all, Mirio had proven to be a valuable asset to Ainz, one he can use to bolster the renown attached to the name of Izuku Midoriya. And that will help lead to the true ultimate goal that was waiting for the Sorcerer King.
Later that night, Ainz with an illusion spell up to make him look like his skeletal self wearing the royal orange robe with the hood, also he had on the iron gauntlets and the Mask of Jealousy, was in his office at the Shie Hassaikai compound. He was confident in the fact his subordinates in the second New World would never make the connection between him and Izuku Midoriya; Ainz had used memory manipulation magic to change the memories of all necessary persons. As far as all second New Worlders were aware, the way Ainz looked now was how he always looked.
It was there in Ainz's office that Ainz, as he sat at his desk, was given some troubling news by Kurono. "A pro hero by the name of Sir Nighteye has been investigating our Trigger trade," Kurono began, "We have been able to confirm that he's been doing so since before you took over the Shie Hassaikai, Lord Ainz."
"What else did you get on this?" Ainz asked, a bit alarmed that one of his money making ventures may be uprooted by pro hero interference.
"That despite our exclusive focus on the Trigger trade since you took over," Kurono began, "That pro hero trying to investigate us has some degree of awareness of Kai's old pet project. However he's only aware of the version of the Quirk Destroying Drug that only temporarily turns off the victim's quirk. I think that our efforts to keep low have helped to keep the heroes from finding out about all that we're up to for as long as it had."
"What are the odds that this Sir Nighteye fellow has any awareness of our base of operations here?" Ainz asked.
"Likely, I'm afraid," Kurono replied, "One of the rank and file we have reported having encountered Sir Nighteye, who grabbed him by the shoulder and looked at him with eyes glowing with power. We think that Sir Nighteye may have used some manner of quirk on the peon to learn of this base."
Ainz learned more about the peon in question, got it that he was one of the few away from the base when Ainz took it over, and didn't see it until after Ainz began using his current form to speak with his subordinates in the second New World. Hopefully that meant that there was no risk that Ainz's true skeletal form had been seen in some way. Either way, this Sir Nighteye fellow was going to be a major threat to Ainz's plans for the second New World.
Luckily for Ainz, he was having some denizens from Nazarick construct another base comparable to the one the Shie Hassaikai had now. Worst case scenario, Ainz can just have the Shie Hassaikai abandon their current compound. It was located in a bit too public of an area in the city, and Ainz felt it would have drawn pro hero attention eventually. It's part of why he was having Nazarick forces construct a comparable compound in a more remote area.
...In fact, maybe Ainz can bait Sir Nighteye and his fellows into attempting to raid the current Shie Hassaikai compound. If so, then the Sorcerer King can launch a right nasty surprise for the pro heroes who think trying to mess with Ainz's assets is a good idea. "Kurono, my good man," began Ainz, "In the event we have to abandon this compound to evacuate into a comparable one in a more remote location, how long would it take to get everyone and everything out?"
"If we can use your portal quirk to go from here to the new compound, the move will be a snap," Kurono replied, "Taking a few hours at most. Why do you ask, Lord Ainz? Are we going to have to abandon this compound?"
Lowering the hand he had somewhat raised up, Ainz replied, "Considering the fact that you said that this Sir Nighteye fellow is likely aware of this base and that those against the heroes use it, not only is he likely to investigate it but also bring allies to help him. Undoubtedly there will be a number of other pro heroes, but I wouldn't be surprised if some police also got involved. That said, the fact that even one pro hero is aware of this base means it's compromised."
Kurono nodded in agreement. "...And you say a comparable compound is ready?"
"Mostly ready the last that I checked," Ainz replied, "Like, ninety-one point six percent ready. But it was a while ago that I last checked, so more progress ought to have been made. Either way, we're going to have to abandon this compound." An air of dark, smirking amusement came off of Ainz, which was how Kurono was able to tell his boss, had something of a not so friendly nature planned.
"...And maybe if the heroes get the idea to raid this compound," Ainz said, "All they will find is a nasty surprise left waiting for them."
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the Big Three come in, and Mirio has his challenge against Class 1-A. During this, Ainz learns Mirio got One For All, and that since it came with enough quirks attached to cause Quirk Overload Sickness, Mirio's life force is being burnt up. But Ainz after Class 1-A wins against Mirio finds a way to resolve that.
But things aren't all good as Ainz is told by Kurono that Sir Nighteye investigating Shie Hassaikai activity has resulted in the first Shie Hassaikai compound being compromised. Ainz plans to evacuate things to a second, more remote compound he's getting built. But a very nasty surprise will be left for the heroes.