And here's Ch 4!
It was time for the entrance exam to the U.A. university. Hopefuls from all over the country made their way to where the entrance exam was being hosted. Even students from other countries were trying out for it, with a good majority from the United States. Considering All Might was considered the strongest hero in the world and had graduated from U.A., it certainly played a lot of influence as All Might worked in America for a certain period of time.
Standing in front of the entrance to the exam site were three ladies, waiting for someone to show up. The trio ignored the cat calls they would get every now and then, but they ignored it all. Their hearts belonged to one man only.
"Where is he?" said Ochako as she looked around anxiously.
"Don't worry, he wouldn't miss such an important day like this," comforted Itsuka, "He knows how important this is to him."
Yui merely nodded and gave a thumbs up in agreement.
All four ladies, including Momo, had been slightly frustrated when Izuku told them that he would be going on a month-long training trip with no real way to contact him. Though they pondered just where Izuku was going to train that they wouldn't be able to reach him, they trusted him and his teachers. Momo especially as Yang Kai had saved her father's life as well as her grandfather's.
"It's getting close," fretted Ochako as she glanced at her watch, noting the time. Soon the doors would close, and anyone outside would not be allowed in, no exceptions.
"We should get in and get seated first at least," reasoned Itsuka, "Izuku will come for sure, and he wouldn't want us to risk our own chances."
Ochako looked around once more before agreeing with Ituska and Yui, walking into the exam site.
Soon, the courtyard was slowly emptying out, as all attendees who were taking the time to relax had come in, along with a few stragglers.
"Last call!" shouted a staff member as they began cleaning up, "Close the doors."
The door began closing as staff members began organizing the papers when they heard the rush of wind coming through.
"Excuse me, sorry I'm late," said a male voice, causing the two workers working the front desk to look up in surprise, "My ride was late, and so I just got here."
While one of the other members had been ready to just reject the boy's application since he was late, and he didn't want to do any more work, the other member quickly jumped in and helped the boy process his paperwork before pointing out where he needed to go.
"Thank you," said the boy before quickly walking towards the location.
"Why did you help him?" asked the worker grumpily, "That's more work for us, and he was late."
"He caught us before we finished cleaning up," replied the other, "Plus, it looks like he rushed in here too. Did you not see his windswept hair and the torn clothing? Boy looked like he rushed here from training in the mountains or something. He was probably training hard for this exam and miscalculated how long it would take to get back here. I do hope he has some extra clothes."
The grumpy worker merely huffed as they finished their cleanup.
Izuku took a deep breath, relieved to have made it in time. The trip through the training realm had been no joke, and true to his teachers' words, his hands had been bloodied for the first time. Though he could claim it was self-defense.
Flashback
It had happened so fast for him. At one point, he had found a scroll for a movement technique, and was ready to put it away when a group of people rudely barged into the cave he was in. There, the leader of the group proclaimed he was the holy son of a sect named Lao Feng, and that everything in the cave belonged to him by right. Everyone within his group was wearing red and orange robes.
Izuku was quite blinded by the arrogance the man was displaying but chose not to push it. It was just a movement technique that couldn't be compared to Ghost Perplexing Steps of the Tang Sect. However, everything changed when the man began eyeing a girl in the group he had joined to travel together with. Apparently, the girl was a descendant of one of Yang Kai's friends, named Su Ming, and so he decided to join her group when given the offer. Su Yang was the older brother who was with them.
"You! You'll be my woman for the week before I decide to keep you or not," grinned the young master lecherously, pointing at Su Ming.
That, of course, led to an argument that escalated into conflict quite quickly. Everybody had their own pride, and there was no way they were going to let one of their own sect members become a playtoy for another sect, especially one of the major beauties of a sect. Everyone began fighting against each other.
Izuku had at first tried to just disable his enemies, like a hero would in his world. But it soon became obvious if he tried to follow this path, it would end up leading to his own death. The first shock was when he felt someone in his group die from the spoiled young master, who cruelly attacked from behind. Following the Dao of Life and Death, it made it so much more poignant to him that he couldn't continue this path. It was at this point, Yang Kai's words resounded in him once more. Cruelty to yourself if you show mercy to your enemies.
With that, Izuku pulled out his handgun and shot his opponent in the head, who had been so surprised and mystified at the object in Izuku's hand that he didn't even put up a defense. Izuku partially shut his mind down, becoming numb to what he was doing as he killed his opponents. He fully used everything within his power, using his staff to block and attack, and utilizing the Tang Sect hidden weapons to kill his opponents from dead angles. Soon enough, the arrogant young master was the only one left, sprawled on the ground while bleeding from his hand. An injury he had gotten from a dagger thrown by Izuku. His defensive techniques had been shattered from being continuously attacked.
"Stop! Get away from me!" yelled Lao Feng as he crawled away, "You'll regret killing me! My sect will destroy all that you care for! If you help me leave this realm alive, I promise that none of you will be harmed!"
Of course, the man didn't intend to keep his word. As long as he escaped, he would make sure that this humiliation would be repaid tenfold, even though he was the one responsible for it.
"What should we do?" asked one of the surviving fighters.
"Kill him! He tried to humiliate us!" barked another.
"But we can't afford to offend his sect, it's stronger than ours," said another.
While the group was arguing, Izuku instead stepped forward towards Lao Feng, his hair shading over his eyes.
"Don't come near me!" warned Lao Feng, "Otherwise you'll forfeit your life!"
Lao Feng, however, had his first objective on Izuku and those mysterious techniques he displayed. He wanted Izuku captured, and tortured, and all those techniques pried off his body before finally killing him.
'With all those techniques and weapons, then I can become a god of this world!' thought Lao Feng.
Izuku, however, was still in a killing trance. He was more sensitive to life and death from his path, and he could see just how many deaths the man in front of him had caused. His whole aura reeked of the death of other people that he had caused for his own gratification, and not in battle. While his masters had death in their hands, none of them had been for selfish purposes like Lao Feng before him.
With that in mind, Izuku immediately drew a formation that locked Lao Feng within it. Next, grabbing another weapon within his sealed world, pointed it at Lao Feng's body. He had grabbed the Powder Shooting Star of the Tang Sect weapons, and shot Lao Feng in the body, specifically at the liver and pancreas.
Lao Feng tried to scream, but felt his voice being trapped in his throat as he couldn't move. The poison within the metal needles had paralyzed his body as he began to bleed heavily.
Izuku turned around and left, leaving it to chance whether he would live or not. While he could not escape easily, other people could come and go. And considering how arrogant the man had been, Izuku had no doubt others would take advantage of this. Whether his luck would hold or karma would come was up to fate.
"Izuku, isn't this a little…. cruel?" asked one of Izuku's group members cautiously.
Su Yang shook his head, "I support his actions. Lao Feng deserves everything that's coming to him. How many people has he killed because of his spoiled attitude? Let fate decide his future."
The others left Lao Feng to his fate, turning their backs on him and never looking back.
Lao Feng glared at them, thinking of all the ways he would torture them. He was the chosen holy son of his sect, it was his fate and destiny to stand above others! Everybody else was just his plaything!
Then he heard something breathing heavily from above, as well as a rather disgusting smell. Lao Feng looked up in time to see a hideous-looking dog looking at him as if he was his next meal. Saliva dripped down onto Lao Feng which burned his skin. Lao Feng wanted to scream, but his voice was still paralyzed. He didn't say anything else before the monster roared, with its mouth snapping down onto Lao Feng.
Izuku and the others made it out of the training realm relatively unharmed as the portal closed behind them. They were the few lucky ones, though. Izuku looked around to see other groups bleeding heavily, if not missing limbs. Another one was clearly poisoned, based on the fact he had green veins popping out from his neck.
Izuku numbly took everything in, still in a slight trance. Within him, the hero side of him would've gone to help everyone. But the cultivator side of him won over, stating that these people had no relations to him, and that it was a dog-eat-dog world.
Plus most of them were already being treated by their own sect, so it was out of Izuku's hands. Not to mention they wouldn't welcome any stranger's offer, as it would be too suspicious. They wouldn't trust strangers who might try to screw them over.
However, Izuku glanced over to the poisoned disciple, who was beginning to convulse.
"Master, nothing we do is helping!" shouted another disciple of the poisoned man.
The master gritted his teeth as he began channeling chi into the poisoned disciple, but all it did was prolong the suffering. Unless he was given the antidote, the man had no chance of living.
"It's all my fault," cried a female disciple, "Senior brother protected me from some beasts and one of them managed to sting him with its stinger. He waived it off, saying he was fine, but it wasn't until the end that we noticed it was poison."
"A sting… only one beast inside the realm has a poison stinger. The orange demonic bee!" said the master in a dramatic voice, "Only one flower within that realm can combat against its venom. The blessed blue crystal drop. But such a flower is rare, even within the realm. We can only hope that someone has it right now, but even then, it may be impossible to get it due to how valuable it is. Not only is it the cure to this venom, but it is the main ingredient for a pill to help anyone break into the Immortal Ascension realm!"
The sect disciples could only mourn the loss of their most talented and beloved disciple brother, as they knew nobody would be so kind to just give it to them. It was just how this world went.
"Maybe if I sell my body, I can get the flower for senior brother," said the female disciple as she looked down at her body. She had very large breasts and a curvy figure though a rather plain face. Still, if it meant being able to save her senior brother disciple whom she loved very much and had wanted to save her first time with him, then it would be-
"Here. Have him take this immediately, and he'll live," said a voice as a flower was suddenly thrust in front of her.
The female disciple blinked before looking up to see Izuku holding the said blessed blue crystal drop in front of her.
"What are you waiting for? Isn't time of the essence?" smiled Izuku kindly.
In the end, his hero side shone through, even for just this moment.
"Thank you!" thanked the female disciple as she took the flower, afraid Izuku would take it back, only to see him make no move to do so. So she quickly scurried to where the sect master was doing his best to stabilize the poisoned disciple, showing the flower in her hand.
Although Izuku had given her the flower, it wasn't the only one he had in his sealed world. He had found it before meeting up with a group, and so had taken it and already taken the seeds to plant more of it. So it was an excess that he could afford to give.
Before they could feed the petals to the poisoned disciple, a voice rang out.
"Hold it! That plant is mine by right!"
Everyone turned to see a man wearing burning red and bright orange robes who made that declaration.
"No! This plant is for my senior brother! It was gi-" exclaimed the female, only for the sect master to suddenly cover her mouth.
"This plant was found by a disciple of my sect. Naturally, it belongs to my disciple and the sect. You have no voice over this," said the sect master.
It was easy to see that the sect master had worded this so as not to involve Izuku in the whole scandal to protect him.
"I, sect master Lao Dong of the Free Passion Sect, will have a voice over anything I desire!" shouted Lao Dong, "It is my rightful place among the heavens! All those who argue will be silenced! And where is my sect's holy son!?"
While other sects glared at him, they couldn't help but lower their heads. The Free Passion Sect was currently the strongest in the area they were in right now, and any wrong move would result in their own extermination. And yet this sect was rather dark, as they used other human lives for their own cultivation resources.
"Nobody knows? Then I'll start killing everyone here until I get an answer!" declared Lao Dong.
His ki flared up, along with all the other members of the Free Passion Sect that he had brought with him. It was easy to see his group was the strongest out of the others. While others responded in kind, they were outnumbered.
Then one of the members that Izuku had been a part of suddenly rushed out before pointing to Izuku, "He's the one responsible! He also took out the blessed blue crystal drop from his artifact!"
"Meng Zhu you fucking coward!" roared Su Yang, "How could you betray someone so brazenly!? We went through life and death together!"
"I want to live," spat Meng Zhu, "Senior, that man, Izuku Midoriya, is a rogue cultivator. He isn't in any sect! I'm sure he has plenty of valuables stored up!"
"Good, good!" grinned Lao Dong, "You may join our sect if you wish. We could use upstanding men like you. Who do you want to bring with you? I'm sure a young man like you has needs. I can help you with that."
Meng Zhu turned as he began leering at Su Ming, who immediately hid behind her brother.
"Very well! But first, we deal with Izuku character!" laughed Lao Dong before locking his eyes on Izuku, "Boy! Kotow and give up all your valuables, and maybe we'll leave your corpse intact!"
Izuku obviously refused, standing his ground. Against such vicious evil, he would not turn his head away. Not to mention he could sense these men practiced a rather dark form of cultivation.
"Hmph, this king was very generous to you, only for you to refuse toast, so I can only force you to drink a forfeit," declared Lao Dong before firing a Ki-filled palm at Izuku while his other members used their divine sense to lock Izuku onto the ground.
Izuku stood his ground, raising his fist up and winding it back. Using everything he had, Izuku fired a Ki-infused punch at the palm strike.
"Star Explosion Fist!" roared Izuku, using a technique that amplified his own Ki by several times.
The attack slammed into the palm strike, but dissipated as the palm strike still went through. However, it severely weakened the attack as Izuku raised his arms to protect himself.
The palm strike slammed into Izuku and the ground underneath him, forming a large crater. However, Izuku still stood there standing, albeit bleeding from all orifices.
"Hoo, haven't died yet? Then have another," said Lao Dong whimsically, only to suddenly dodge an attack.
"You dare bully a junior!?" roared the sect master that Izuku had given the flower to, "Fight someone who can take you on!"
The sect master launched himself towards Lao Dong, only to have his path blocked by the masters and elders of the Free Passion Sect.
"Coward! Come fight me if you dare!" roared the sect master, only to be ignored.
"Hmph, to think such a cockroach like you would live after my attack," sneered Lao Dong as he looked down at Izuku, "I admit your abilities at such a young age are quite formidable, but it doesn't matter to me who was chosen by the heavens themselves! This king will become the one who rules this planet! I take great pleasure in destroying and denying other potentials outside the sect. Now then boy, any last words?"
"Only that you'll regret your words," coughed out Izuku before standing tall, "You aimed your words at my master's wife. He won't forgive you for that."
"Hmph, just a rogue cultivator with a rogue master? What can a lone man do to me!" shouted Lao Dong as he charged forward, intending to rip Izuku apart limb by limb via brute force.
A reply came with a slap to Lao Dong's face, sending him hurtling into the other masters and elders of the Free Passion Sect like a bowling ball to pins.
"This emperor can do a lot for not only speaking ill of my wife, but for bullying my disciple," said Yang Kai with a smoking palm, "Be lucky I only hit you with a light slap."
'How is that considered light!? You sent him flying into others!' shouted bystanders in their minds at this scene.
"Izuku, are you alright?" asked Yang Kai.
"Could be better," groaned Izuku as he managed to pull out a healing pill to eat.
"Good, I was watching your fight against Lao Dong," smiled Yang Kai as he patted Izuku's head, "Although he's stronger than you, you stood your ground and didn't give up your moral dignity. That's more than all your masters can really ask for. Now heal up, and we have another location to go to before your exam. Normally, I'd leave this force alone for you to take care of in the future, but you'll be busy and unable to deal with it, so I'll take care of it. Plus, as you mentioned, he's going to regret trying to take Xia Ning Chang's place as star master of this world."
With that, Yang Kai turned towards the group of masters, each one helping Lao Dong up.
"Hmph, a lucky and cowardly shot," spat out Lao Dong, "This master wil-"
"The Free Passions Sect. Sounds similar to the Free and Unfettered Sect and the Seeking Passion Sect that I once knew," interrupted Yang Kai, "You'll share the same fate as them."
The bystanders were expecting some sort of epic fight to spill out, and were already in the process of rushing away. Before Lao Dong could do anything, or any of the other members of the Free Passion Sect, Yang Kai merely held his hand up, gesturing for them to come at him.
"Die!" roared Lao Dong as he threw a Ki-infused palm strike at Yang Kai, only to watch in shock as Yang Kai merely blew a puff of air from his mouth to instantly disperse it. Then Yang Kai clasped his hand into a fist.
Everyone who saw this scene blinked in confusion, only to rear back in horror a second later as everyone who had been charging at Yang Kai suddenly swelled up and exploded into a gory mess, killing all of them in one breath.
"Hmph, mere flies who don't know the immensity between heaven and earth," scoffed Yang Kai as his other hand waved into the air, causing any artifacts or goods from the dead bodies to fly up into the air and into a storage ring Yang Kai produced. When all was done, Yang Kai used his divine sense to look into what had been gathered, sifting out some valuable medicinal materials to keep before tossing the ring over to Su Yang, who caught it with a look of surprise on his face.
"Don't think too much about it," said Yang Kai, "Just keep up the good work. You'll take care of the rest, won't you?"
Su Yang nodded, his eyes focused on the traitorous Meng Zhu, who was sweating in fear now.
Just as Yang Kai was about to take Izuku, the sect master who had tried to help Izuku quickly came up to them. Tagging along him was the poisoned disciple, who seemed to have recovered, as well as the female disciple.
"Thank you for helping my disciple," thanked the sect master, "Is there anything I can do to repay such generosity?"
"Please, let us help you," said the now-cured disciple, "My life is at your service."
Izuku quickly waived it off, saying it was nothing. Though the flower was valuable, in the eyes of Yang Kai or anyone in the higher realms of Ki, it was next to worthless for them.
"If you really want to help, be prepared to help High Heaven Pavilion when it's time," said Yang Kai, pointing over to Su Yang's group.
While surprised, the master nodded as Yang Kai began to float up in the air, taking Izuku with him.
"Now then, we must go! I can see that you've bloodied your hands for the first time, but to make sure you can hold back your killing intent, Tang San has already made preparations," said Yang Kai before flying up towards the sky.
Right before he left though, he looked over to where the Free Passion Sect was and swatted the air in that direction.
At the Free Passion Sect's location, they didn't get a chance to mourn the loss of their master nor even hear news about it when a giant ki-infused palm strike slammed right into the area, destroying all the buildings and disciples in it, leaving just an empty crater.
Flashback ends
Izuku took a deep breath, regaining his calm. He had spent another two weeks with Tang San in controlling his newly found bloodlust. Two weeks wouldn't have been enough, but considering two of his masters were able to control the flow of time, two weeks became six months, giving him enough time to temper it back down. It was there that Izuku learned how to play the harp, and still kept one within the sealed world just to keep practicing.
"Hope Ochako and the others didn't miss out just because I was late," muttered Izuku to himself as he made his way to his assigned classroom.
Izuku entered to see a group of students all seated, waiting nervously for the written portion of the exam. Many of them glared at Izuku for making such a last minute entrance for such an important exam, but Izuku ignored them. Having faced death, such glares did not affect him.
Izuku sat down just as a staff member entered the room with the test packets in hand. The packets were soon passed out, and upon the staff's order, everyone began tackling the problems.
Izuku smiled as he went through the questions with ease. Being a cultivator in addition to learning formation, alchemy, and smithing, it meant having a near photographic memory and recall. Izuku quickly began writing down his answers.
One test taker that was sitting next to Izuku glanced around, confident in his ability before making a big show of flipping over his test to the next page.
'It's a cheap tactic, but an effective one to make others think they're too slow and try to rush through, only to make mistakes,' thought the test taker, 'Lower the chances of others making it while raising mine.' He had skipped a few questions that he couldn't answer right away, but he made a note to get back to it.
He glanced around just for his eyes to land on Izuku rapidly writing on his test paper, already hitting the bottom before quietly flipping it over before resuming writing. The test taker's eyes bulged out when he saw Izuku continue writing without breaks, answering every question on the paper. To make it worse, Izuku wasn't even making a show or doing it on purpose.
'No, I can't let him show me up!' thought the test taker as he quickly blazed through the questions he knew he could answer, but he kept taking a peek at Izuku, who was writing through the test without pause. He paled when he saw Izuku quietly flip over to the next page. His plan to shock the other students backfired on him as he sat there in shock. It took him 20 minutes before he realized he had been staring blankly at his test paper without writing anything.
'SHIT!' thought the test taker as he tried to regain the lost time, all while glaring at Izuku for making him lose valuable time.
Izuku ignored him, and focused on his test. He hadn't even noticed that the test taker had blanked out, or really noticed him at all.
The test started at 9:00 AM and ended at 12:00 PM sharp, leaving the exam takers 3 hours to complete the test. This was just day one of the two days of testing that needed to be done, though. After that, they would be excused for lunch for two hours if one was participating in the hero physical portion of the exam. One hour for lunch and another hour to properly digest while also giving students time to recover from mental fatigue. However, one of the rules before taking the tests was that all cell phones were confiscated before the test, and were not given until the day ended. So trying to connect to friends within the large university for lunch would be too much of a hassle, especially since they weren't allowed to leave their exam rooms until further notice. The good part at least was that students were able to have a nutritious and delicious lunch courtesy of U.A. catering to the specific dietary needs or wants.
Izuku took this time to meditate and cultivate privately, adjusting his mental state while waiting for his lunch order. Taking some tea leaves out, Izuku made some tea to help him relax and recover. While he had his eyes shut, he heard footsteps coming his way.
"Hey, you're taking the exam for the hero course, right?" said a rather haughty voice.
Izuku opened his eyes to see a rather chubby man with a huge lollypop in his hand, surrounded by what could be said to be two generic bald goons.
"Yes. Can I help you?" asked Izuku.
"Oh I'm just a fellow exam taker who's looking out for others," said the teenager, "My name is Wakaba Ka. I participated in the recommendation exam, and was so close to getting that recommendation, only to fall short. So here I am to grace my presence with you commoners."
Izuku closed his eyes while rolling his eyeballs while Wakaba continued, "I'm only here to advise fellow students just how difficult the physical portion is. Only those with the proper quirks can hope to pass. Otherwise, you'll just suffer a humiliating defeat, both physically and mentally. I have a strength enhancement that'll only grow in time. I'm certainly slotted for a spot in the hero course because of it!"
"He's so strong!" echoed the goons, waiving flags behind the teenager that had somehow been procured from somewhere.
"But there are too many students all hoping to get some sort of lucky break," sighed Wakaba, "So I feel like it is my duty to dissuade those dreamers before they get hurt and direct their efforts to something more productive. You look like a bright man who would be more productive in another field. So why don't you do yourself a favor and drop out of the practical exam. Here, I can help you tell the examiner that you want to drop out. Don't be shy now, it's good to have dreams, but you have to face reality."
Izuku sighed as he knew what Wakaba was trying to do. Lower the number of people attending to raise his own chances. He ignored Wakaba's pro-offered arm, deciding to ignore the boy completely. His last words also hit a nerve a little, but with proper breathing and mental control, Izuku pushed his anger away.
"Hey! Don't you dare look down at Wakaba's generous offer!" shouted goon A.
"Now, now, some people are just fools chasing after dreams they can never fulfill," said Wakaba calmly, "So then it's only up to us to make sure they don't get hurt. Grab him and lock him up in a room."
Before the goons could obey, a floating eye and mouth suddenly intervened.
"Hey, fat dumbass!" shouted the mouth, "Don't try to pull shit like this, Kaba Baka!~"
"My name is Wakaba Ka!" shouted Wakaba.
"Your name has the words kaba and baka, so it fits," replied the voice with a shrug tone, "But don't think you can pull this shit here. I'm already getting a teacher here."
"Tch, fine. Let's go boys," scoffed Wakaba as he and his goons left.
"Sorry about that, the guy's an idiot," said the floating mouth with the eye looking at Izuku, "Give me a second, the rest of my body is catching up."
A few seconds later, a teenage girl with green hair caught up, missing her mouth and an eye. Said missing pieces floated back to the girl before inserting themselves back into place like a puzzle piece.
"Yo, name's Setsuna Tokage!" greeted Setsuna, "Us green-haired folks have to look out for each other!"
Izuku smiled as he waved back before introducing himself. He could tell Setsuna wasn't one to try to take advantage of others.
"Anyways, it's hard to believe that fatass took part in the recommendation exam, but it's true. However, he got last place on everything!" laughed Setsuna, "Lord knows how he even got in. His parents probably bribed a few people to get that recommendation letter, only to fail."
"Does that mean you were also in it, too?" asked Izuku.
"Yep," nodded Setsuna, "Was so close, too. Got 5th place overall. Endeavor's kid was there, which was obvious he was a shoo-in since he's his kid, but the wind dude and girl who could create shit was not a joke either. I almost made it to the fourth slot until some guy suddenly popped out from the ground in front of me and took the last slot."
'She probably meant Momo,' thought Izuku to himself before replying, "That's a shame. But at least you're prepared for this physical portion, right?"
"You bet I am!" grinned Setsuna, "Been working out and working on some special moves. But I won't tell you anything yet. Still competition and all."
As Setsuna stuck out her tongue, Izuku chuckled, "Fair enough. Good luck to the both of us."
"Yea!" cheered Setsuna, "Wanna hang out for a little while we wait for our food and stuff? It'd be easier to relax for the test."
"I don't mind," shrugged Izuku, "Though I might go silent for some time just to meditate."
"Fair enough," nodded Setsuna, "Since we're getting to know each other, what's your quirk like? You can already see from mine, but just in case, I can split up my body parts like so."
Izuku nodded in interest, not having seen such abilities or quirks as so. Then again, he did remain quite isolated during most of his middle school and high school years.
"A transformation quirk. That's quite impressive," praised Izuku, "You must have trained hard to have been recommended."
"Ehehe, it's nothing really," blushed Setsuna, "I call it Lizard Tail Splitter. So what's yours?"
Izuku hummed for a second before replying, "I'm quirkless."
Setsuna blinked before replying, "Hahah good joke…..," before realizing that Izuku wasn't laughing when she trailed off.
"You serious?" asked Setsuna, getting a nod in reply, "Wow… That's ballsy of you. I know U.A. University is one of the few universities that admits quirkless people into their hero course, but everyone treats that part like a joke or a publicity stunt. You're really prepared to do this?"
"I am," nodded Izuku.
"Alright then, then best of luck!" declared Setsuna, "Since you're obviously committed to this, then I better see you in the hero course!"
"Of course," smiled Izuku.
The two began talking to each other for a bit before Izuku mentioned that due to his status, he was able to request for a metal pole as a weapon. This, however, was overheard by Wakaba, who began grinning as he went somewhere with an evil smirk.
Soon, everyone was gathered in the huge auditorium, where Present Mic was waiting to give the introduction. Staff members were going around, reminding everyone to head to the auditorium. An announcement was made ten minutes prior to the meeting to remind everyone that they needed to head to the auditorium or risk disqualification. There was an incident where one student was pointed in the wrong direction by someone, but it was quickly resolved. The doors were closed, and anyone left outside was disqualified immediately.
Izuku looked around as he sat down, noticing Setsuna, who waved at him. He saw Katsuki sitting next to two teenagers, one with red hair and the other with pink skin and pink hair.
"Maybe his classmates," murmured Izuku, remembering Katsuki had been sent to a different school after the Aldera scandal.
Katsuki seemed to notice his stare and looked back at Izuku for two seconds before flipping him off with the middle finger. While rude, to him, it was equivalent of him acknowledging someone and saying hi. Of course, the two teenagers next to him began scolding him, but Izuku was surprised to see Katsuki not yelling back at the other two or calling them extras, an improvement from his previous attitude.
Izuku continued to scan the area, using Purple Demon Eye to enhance his vision as well as see through the dark while also using his Ki sense to locate Ochako and the others. He found them assigned more towards the front of the auditorium while he was in the back area. Izuku decided to just memorize where they sat so he could meet up with them later.
"WELCOME TO MY LIVE SHOW! EVERYBODY SAY HEY!" shouted Present Mic before cupping his ear towards the crowd.
"HEY!" shouted Izuku with a humorous tone, ignoring everyone's glare as they turned around to glare at him. Ochako and the others turned to see Izuku before smiling and waving at him, glad to see he could make it.
"I LIKE YOU, LISTENER!" grinned Present Mic as he pointed to Izuku, "JUST FOR THAT, YOU'RE GONNA GET A SHOUT OUT IN MY NEXT RADIO SHOW! NOW WHY CAN'T EVERYONE BE LIKE THAT!?"
Present Mic looked around before noticing quite a few glaring at Izuku and frowned before secretly tapping his podium. Unbeknownst to them, the test had already started, and right in front of Present Mic were the seats assigned to each student. Public image was a thing after all, and if a hero candidate was too busy glaring at other heroes and not listening to his instructions, points would be docked off. It made him happy that someone responded, but he understood if nobody would respond as they were too nervous, but glaring and insulting someone who responded to him would result in point deductions.
Present Mic cleared his throat to catch everyone's attention again before continuing, "LISTEN UP EXAMINEES, I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE LOWDOWN ON HOW THIS'LL GO DOWN! ARE YOU READY!?"
Noticing a few still glaring, he tapped the podium, hi-lighting the seats before deducting points. He had already memorized where each seat number was.
Present Mic then proceeded to explain how the exam would work, the television behind him playing to help illustrate his point. There were seven examination sites, meaning they would all be randomized into different Mic continued his explanation, using Super Mario Bros villains to help illustrate the point system.
"SO YOUR GOAL IS TO RACK UP A HIGH SCORE! AND DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ATTACKING OTHER COMPETITORS DIRECTLY OR ANY OTHER ANTI-HERO STUFF, CAUSE THAT'S AGAINST THE RULE, CAPISCE!?"
Once Present Mic finished the explanation, he waited a few seconds to let it sink in. Then he noticed a student stand up and raise his hand.
"Excuse me, may I ask a question?" stated the student, standing tall with combed black hair and a rather rectangular figure, as his jaw, glasses, and eyes were all rectangular shaped.
Present Mic nodded, letting the student continue his question, "On the printout, there are clearly four types of villains labeled! If that was a misprint, then U.A., the most prominent school in Japan, should be ashamed of this mistake! We, the examinees, are here because we wish to become prominent and exemplary heroes!"
"OKAY, OKAY," waved Present Mic, "THANKS FOR THE SPEECH, EXAMINEE 7111. FOR YOU SEE, THAT FOURTH VILLAIN IS WORTH 0 POINTS! HE'S MORE OF AN OBSTACLE, SO TO SPEAK. EVER PLAY SUPER MARIO BROS.? I DOUBT IT, SINCE IT'S RATHER RETRO."
Sadly true, as the parent company went down during the time of the Quirk upheaval. It never recovered as fewer people wanted to play video games about a normal human who gained power-ups via mushrooms or random items. Nor did they want to acknowledge a good game was created by quirkless people, though that could be attributed to people who sympathized with the MLA, trying to exterminate any products made by quirkless humans before stealing…. rebranding it for themselves. However, it did still have a loyal fanbase with the older generations, passing down to the younger generations, though the numbers dwindled.
"REMEMBER THOSE THWOMPS IN THE GAME? THERE'S A THING LIKE THAT IN EACH AREA! THEIR 'GIMMICK' IS THAT THEY'LL RAMPAGE WHEN IT GETS CROWDED! IT'S NOT IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFEAT, BUT THERE'S NO REASON TO DEFEAT IT, EITHER! IN FACT, WE'VE RECENTLY DECIDED THAT ANYONE WHO DECIDES TO FACE IT MIGHT LOSE ALL THEIR POINTS THEY GAINED! NO POINT IN RISKING YOUR CHANCES HERE, RIGHT? GOTTA MAKE THE SMART DECISIONS! I RECOMMEND AVOIDING IT! ANY OTHER QUESTIONS BEFORE I FINISH UP?"
Present Mic gave the audience a chance to ask, and someone did stand up. A light was shone on him, revealing him to be one of Wakaba's goon.
"I have a question in regards to the…. qualifications of some of the students," said the teenager before turning around and pointing at Izuku, "Such as the fact that a quirkless student is taking such a prestige exam meant for the chosen for is an insult to us all. You should leave and let a more worthy person take your place. All you would do is take up room, and even if you somehow managed to get points, no doubt you would've stolen them from more finer people with unheroic tactics!"
The teenager seemed to beam in pride as as saw a majority of students looking at Izuku, either out of disgust or sizing him up as worthless. He did notice some glaring at him, but he excused them as pathetic weaklings who were too empathetic. He suddenly noticed the beam of light was on him, but before he could react, a voice rang out.
"EVERYONE FREEZE NOW!" shouted Present Mic, causing all the students to freeze in shock, though their facial expressions still frozen.
Instantly, Present Mic's finger was already dancing upon the podium screen, taping all the seat numbers that were glaring at Izuku with disgust. Instantly, all of them received deduction points, though he was saving the best part for last.
"NOW THEN, EXAMINEE 1337, WE AS THE UNIVERSITY ARE THE ONES THAT DECIDE WHO CAN ATTEND THE HERO COURSE. THAT MEANS WE WILL NOT REJECT ANYONE WHO IS WILLING TO GO THROUGH THE EXAM JUST ON SOMEONE'S QUIRK STATUS. WE WILL, HOWEVER, REJECT ONES THAT DON'T FIT OUR MOTTO!"
The teenager seemed to misunderstand something, so Present Mic cleared it up.
"EXAMINEE 1337, YOU CAN LEAVE NOW. YOUR APPLICATION TO U.A. UNIVERSITY HAS BEEN DENIED. WE DON'T TOLERATE THAT SORT OF BEHAVIOR ON THIS CAMPUS! SECURITY, ESCORT HIM OUT!"
Under the eyes of all the students, they watched in shock as the goon was dragged out of his chair and out of the auditorium by some staff members and robots. The goon himself was in shock as he was dragged out, and only towards the end did he begin to struggle, but it was too late.
Present Mic gave all of them a look, causing most of them to freeze up, "THE EXAM STARTED THE MINUTE I BEGAN MY ANNOUNCEMENTS. SO I'D BE CAREFUL IF I WERE YOU ALL!"
Izuku couldn't help but give Present Mic a grateful look. Years of teachers never helping him throughout his elementary and middle school years made him lose hope that teachers in this world would even give him a second glance. The only teachers he respected were his cultivation teachers.
Present Mic flashed a grin at the boy. He had never been a fan of the latest attitude the generation was bringing in in regards to someone's quirk. A quirk was just a quirk, nothing more. It didn't define who you were or your 'place' in the world. Plus he loved stuff from the quirkless era. It was when imagination and innovation shone. Just look at what they could create without quirks. Especially video games, they couldn't even compare to the current 'record holders'.
With a flourish, he decided to finish this up, "WELL THAT'S ENOUGH FROM ME! FINALLY, I'LL GIVE YOU LISTENERS A PRESENT – OUR SCHOOL MOTTO! THE HERO NAPOLEON BONAPARTE ONCE SAID: 'A TRUE HERO IS SOMEONE WHO OVERCOMES LIFE'S MISFORTUNE.':
His sunglasses dipped down so he could leer at them for a second, "NOW GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRA! ARE YOU ALL READY!?"
Present Mic cupped his ears towards the crowd for a reply, and was not disappointed when he heard Izuku say yes, along with a few others.
With a sweep of his hand, the screen behind him changed, and a small animation with the letter Plus Ultra appeared before them all.
"NOW THEN, GOOD LUCK SUFFERING!"
As they all began to exit the auditorium and into their assigned buses, Izuku managed to meet up with Itsuka, Ochako, and Yui.
"Where were you?" huffed Ochako, her cheeks puffed up, "We were waiting at the entrance until the last minute!"
"Sorry, training much longer than expected," apologized Izuku, "I made it in at the very last second."
"You better be sorry," said Itsuka, "You owe us cuddles and other things for putting us on a dry spell for so long."
Yui merely held out a V-sign in agreement.
"It was only a month," sweatdropped Izuku.
"Then you've spoiled us, don't complain," swatted Itsuka.
Before they could talk anymore, an announcement rang to remind all examinees to quickly board the bus, or forfeit the exam. The girls gave Izuku one last hug before rushing to their own buses, as none of them were in the same exam site as Izuku.
Soon, a hundred students were exiting the bus, and standing in front of the entrance. Most were amazed at the site and the construction of a mock city. Not to mention there were seven more like this. U.A. did not skimp out on their buildings, and even had the latest earthquake dampening measures built in.
"So, you seemed friendly with those girls," said Setsuna cheerfully as she walked next to Izuku.
"Yea, they're close friends who knew me before all this, and they knew I'm quirkless," replied Izuku.
"That's sweet," nodded Setsuna, "Though they seem closer than that. Something you wanna confess?"
Izuku laughed lightly before a hand descended down on his shoulders before he could give a reply. Izuku looked back to see it was examine 7111 who was glaring at him slightly.
"What are you doing here?" demanded the student, "This isn't some field trip! Were you placed here to hinder others from doing their best in the exam? Are you really quirkless, to bring our guards down? Or are you actually an examinee? In which case, don't you know how dangerous it is? Only the best of the best are able to attend U.A., and you want to do so without any quirks? That's rather courageous and yet also insipid, to think a person could get into such a prestigious school without powers."
Izuku didn't reply, but rather stared at the hand that was on his shoulders. Realizing that he was being rude by putting his hand on a complete stranger without permission, the examinee quickly withdrew his hand.
"And your attitude. While everyone was nervous inside the auditorium, you had the gall to yell out loud. Were you trying to disrupt other examinee's focus? That is shameful!" said the examinee while chopping the air with his hand.
"And you're not doing the same to me?" replied Izuku, causing the teenager to freeze, "You come here accusing me of all those things. One might think you're trying to eliminate the competition while trying to justify it. And like Present Mic said, the exam began the moment we stepped into our seats. You're not a judge, but rather an examinee like I am. You have no right to say what I can or cannot do. I might've gotten extra points because of my willingness to obey what the instructor said while you might have lost because you refused to wait and listen to all his instructions, instead barged in, accusing the school of such a mistake. And the teachers are watching now, you might have also lowered your chances with this conversation. In case you forgot, someone's already been rejected earlier."
The examinee blue blue-screened, unable to deny his words while trying to process everything.
Seeing he wouldn't be bothered anymore, Izuku left him alone.
"A bit harsh there, weren't you?" asked Setsuna.
"Was I wrong?" reposted Izuku, to which Setsuna couldn't help but shrug her shoulders. Izuku hadn't done anything wrong.
"True. In case you're wondering, that person's name is Iida Tenya. He was in the recommendation exam with me but didn't pass. But he was pretty impressive with his quirk. Just a bit inflexible," commented Setsuna.
Izuku got in line to pick up his own support gear, which was just a metal staff. While Izuku had confidence in his own hands, having a staff would give him a little extra reach and also let him train in using his staff some more.
The staff member dispensed the support gear for students who had done their paperwork for such requests. Ones that would help support their quirk from malfunctioning were usually accepted, though ones that amplified a quirk's power to an unreasonable degree were disqualified when said quirk was already effective. A prime example was another student who needed his belt to effectively use his quirk as it acted as a focus point. Without it, he couldn't use it.
Izuku had his paperwork submitted and approved by the U.A., and so was waiting for his own staff.
The said staff member had been giving out smiles and compliments to those who had picked up their stuff, but when it came to Izuku, his face immediately turned 180, from smile to disgust. Still, Izuku ignored it as he held out his paper for his staff.
"Sorry, don't have it. You'll have to go out without one," said the staff bluntly, not even glancing at Izuku's paper.
"What? That's bullshit!" shouted Setsuna from the side.
"Not my problem. He clearly didn't put in the correct paperwork," scoffed the said staff member, "Next! Stop wasting time and space. In fact, stop wasting everyone's life and go home!"
While some people bristled at this injustice, many others ignored it as they were focused on their own exam. If it raised their own chances of getting into U.A., they would ignore the convenient injustice done to others, especially a quirkless one.
"Wahahaha! Something wrong there?" laughed out a voice.
Izuku and Setsuna turned around to see Wakaba walking towards them with a metal staff in his own hands.
"Oy, what the hell? Your quirk doesn't need a staff to work!" shouted Setsuna.
"I filled out the paperwork," said Wakaba smugly, "You really shouldn't complain to a future hero candidate. What's wrong, quirkless freak? Did you misplace your staff? Tell you what, I'm feeling mighty generous today, and I'll lend you this staff…. If you lick my shoes!"
Wakaba laughed as did one of his goons who had 'coincidentally' been placed at the same exam site as he did. Most of the other students pretended to see nothing wrong was going on, not wanting to get involved in the situation.
However, not everyone ignored the plight, even if Izuku was numb to the whole thing. Izuku was ready to walk away and prepare for the exam with his fists when…
"Excuse moi! Do you have the paperwork for that staff?" asked another examinee wearing a belt.
"Huh? Who are you?" asked Wakaba.
"Apologies for the late introduction, but moi name is Aoyama Yuga," introduced the named Yuga while posing for some reason, "If you have the correct paperwork, then there should be a number corresponding with the said support gear, just like my fabulous belt."
Yuga pointed at his belt, where the number 7 was written on it. It was written with a special ink made from a quirk that wouldn't wash away for one week. All numbers had been written three days ago matching to the paperwork.
"I see the number on that staff is 33. Should that staff belong to you, then your paperwork should have the number 33, would it not?" questioned Yuga.
While Wakaba began sweating, Izuku glanced at his own paperwork to see that he was number 33, meaning the staff was his. That also meant Wakaba had somehow stolen it from U.A., though the question was exactly how?
"Hey, Midoriya's number is 33! That means that staff was his already, you fat idiot!" shouted Setsuna as she popped one eye away to look at Izuku's paper.
"Maybe it was a mistake. I got this staff first, so it's mine!" said Wakaba, "Not my fault that U.A. failed on their part."
"I find it outrageous that U.A. would fail on that!" said Tenya, who had finally broken out of his blue screen, "There is also no first come first served basis on this! If you have the proper paperwork, then you should be able to pull it out to show that you submitted a request for a staff as well!"
"See this paperwork! Midoriya should be getting that staff, not you!" said Setsuna as she jabbed the paperwork in front of them after asking Izuku permission for it, "I bet you didn't even fill one out and somehow grabbed his for yourself after what you tried to do!"
Wakaba flustered before the staff member suddenly snatched the said paper and ripped it into pieces in front of their eyes.
"What paperwork? I don't see any paperwork," said the staff member.
"You piece of shit!" shouted Setsuna while Tenya looked outraged at such blatant abuse of power.
"Careful what you say," taunted the staff member while Wakaba stuck his tongue from behind, "I have the power to expel you from the exam straight away if you push it too far."
That was a bluff, but it was enough to get some of the examinees who wanted to help step back in fear. Others merely shrugged, enjoying the drama but not wanting to get involved.
'Flocks of sheep willing to watch injustice done as long as it wasn't done to them,' sighed Izuku within his mind.
Setsuna was about to give the staff member a piece of her mind when Izuku grabbed her wrist.
"Don't sweat it," said Izuku as he calmly pulled Setsuna back, "It's not like I really need it for this exam.
Before she could question it, a loud "GO!" rang out as the doors opened.
Next up, U.A. Physical Exam!
I changed up the exam portion a little. Remember, this is U.A. UNIVERSITY, not U.A. High. Meaning the entrance exam should reflect off of university entrance exams. And typically, a university exam is held for two days straight.
Also, in case some of you have noticed, there are going to be changes in the classes. Now who is going to be in each class... and which one will Izuku be a part of? Find out next time... as I'm not even sure either. Working on that, got a draft out, but it's in progress.
Reminder, I have a pat reon, look up azndrgn making fanfic. Donators get to read my chapters earlier!