Daemon of Wrath: Melissa seems to have awakened. It happens when she falls asleep after the Trinity visits her, and she shows how the drone works. You'll see her awakened powers in the future. No, it isn't Jeju Island, it is still too early for the story. It's more of an original dungeon that happens in Japan. Yes, HPSC could pay them loads of money to get them on their side. They are neutral, after all.

AnimeFan13579: I know about that, I don't have a plan for it to happen yet. And you're right, it might not backfired, but Izuku didn't want to take any chances.

ProjectIceman: No Jeju Island Arc yet, still too early. This is an original arc.

uchiha-rune: Happy New Year to you too.

Almevo: That sounds like a cool idea on paper, but it's a bit too late.

Whitemare: Nope, it's not Jeju Island. It's a completely original Arc for this fic. Also, not a bad idea. And I ain't saying anything regarding Jeju Island. It's still several arcs away.

Doodle: It's a completely original arc for this fic. Also, lol.

Meeting Room, UEIS HQ

Chiba, Japan

Tension could be felt in the meeting room as Goto and Izuku made eye contact, both sides were twitching to throw hands. Other guild members of Blade Guild can't help but feel nervous as they see their Guildmaster feel unease for the first time. Ochako and Eijirou feel worried by Izuku's attitude towards the newcomers. What's with the tension Izuku's feeling right now?

"You're okay, Izu?" Ochako asks quietly.

"…I'm fine, but…." Izuku looks at Ryuji. "I don't trust that man….at all…."

"…now that I observe him even closer, he's not what he seems to be," Eijirou mutters with narrowed eyes.

"They're right," Virgo mutters, popping out of Ochako's shirt pocket. "His mana alone is enough to tell me how distrustful he is."

'Even Virgo, the most empathetic spirit, agreed with them?' Ochako looks a bit surprised before looking at Ryuji. 'What is he hiding from people?'

"All right, I think we can start this meeting now," Edgeshot says as he and Mirei can be seen walking in. Everyone was given a copy of the folder before Edgeshot set the projector.

"Excuse me," Ryuji says as he raises his hand. "But, is it wise to bring interns into this meeting? After all, this is a top-priority mission we're about to discuss. Do you think they have the experience to deal with this?"

'Oh, so that's how he's playing, huh?' Izuku thought as he gripped his fist tightly.

"If you must know, Ryuji," Edgeshot says dryly. "Majority of my colleagues are busy with their stuff, Gang Orca is preparing to handle a secret mission as a Pro Hero, Godzillo is discussing with Korean Awakened Association to create an alliance against future threats, Mirko is clearing dungeons left and right in another side of Japan, and Crust has been dealing with another country solving Awakened-Related Crimes."

The last one raises Izuku's curiosity as he remembers Kugo never mentioning what happened to Crust. Learning that the man was dealing with a criminal who was a hunter interested him.

"Besides, if you must know, these three interns were one of our bests," Edgeshot says. "These three are registered as S-Rank Awakener, and to be honest, I would've given them a higher ranking if there exists a rank between S-Ranks and National-Ranks. So, yes, it is wise to bring them along."

"….what?" Ryuji widens his eyes in shock, not expecting it from Edgeshot. Did he hear those words correctly, these three are almost on par with National-Rank Hunters! Those three brats!?

'Welp, there goes our plan to take a break,' Ochako thought sourly. Izuku seems to notice Ochako's displeasure before gently holding her hands, which works as Ochako feels a bit happier.

'Aww,' Akari can't help but smile at the subtle interaction between Izuku and Ochako before she subtly looks at the spiky-brown-haired man.

"Anyways, let us begin this meeting," Edgeshot says before displaying an image of an abandoned shrine. "This is Oiwa Shrine, located in Mt. Oiwa, Kyoto. We have detected a massive spike of mana bursting from that location a month ago. The villagers nearby had reported how they'd seen creatures from folklores roaming near the shrine. Some went missing before their bodies were found near the village, completely mangled."

The next image displays a corpse with its guts torn apart, its intestines scattered around messily, its limbs look like it was twisted and squeezed. Everyone seems horrified by the scene, with some of the adults remaining indifferent.

"Wait…did that guy lose his balls?" The spiky brown-haired man pointed out and this time, those who were indifferent turned pale and on the verge of vomit. Akari slaps his head on the table, cracking it.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO POINT IT OUT, KENZO!?!?!" Akari screeches in horror, and she has every right to be mad.

"S-sorry, Akari…" Kenzo at least has the decency to be sheepish.

"Anyways…" Edgeshot clears his throat, slightly unnerved. "We do have a look at how the monster looks. One of the locals managed to take a picture of it." With that, the screen slides into another image, showing an image of a young maiden with pale white hair, glowing red eyes, and blood covering her grinning mouth, multiple snow-white furred tails, a pair of white fox ears above her head, multiple flaming blue orbs floating around her.

'Kitsune?' Izuku thought. Given how he had encountered another creature from Japanese folklore, the appearance of Kitsune didn't seem to surprise him. But, Edgeshot manage to surprise them by showing another picture of a creature resembling a unicorn with deer's body, dragon scales, horse hooves, lion's mane, and ox's tails. 'Kirin!?'

Then, another image popped up as a giant feline with two tails and fire coming out of its head like a pair of horns and some on the tip of its blade. Then, followed up with a weasel with a pair of sickles as their front paws floating around.

'Nekomata? Kamaitachi!? This dungeon….it's not normal!' Izuku thought in shock.

"You can see that the dungeon break has happened and now the monsters from the gate are roaming freely," Edgeshot says. "If these keep up, it will create an incident similar to Jeju Island, all of the residents will get killed and the monsters will take over the entire Mt. Oiwa."

"…." Everyone remains silent, unsure how to react. Izuku decided to raise his hands, looking at Edgeshot.

"I have one question, why haven't they done that from the beginning?" Izuku asks, getting everyone's attention. "I mean, the majority of monsters from the other side are capable of detecting mana. Sensing none from the civilians will make them easy prey, so why haven't they?"

"What are you implying, child?" Ryuji says with a raised eyebrow.

"What I'm saying is that why haven't they attempted a hostile takeover? Why remain hidden before suddenly, showing themselves?" Izuku asks. "There is so much missing information regarding the monsters or even the dungeon."

"Are you implying that they're planting a trap? To get our attention and ambush us?" Ryuji asks.

"Or perhaps, maybe they're immigrants?" Izuku says, making everyone look at him like he grow a second head.

"Kid, we just saw one of them brutally mangled a man and ripped his penis off-!" Kenzo says in disbelief before getting slapped by Akari once again. "Y-you know what I meant!"

"I know, but there are so many missing pieces of information that we can't ignore," Izuku says before showing a report of the mana level chart. "The level of mana it radiates after the dungeon break is the equivalent of a group of S-Rank hunters and for a month, the reading remains the same, so they didn't need to gather strength before invading the entire Mt. Oiwa, unlike Jeju Island."

"You're telling me, these monsters have alternative motives?" Ryuji asks with a scoff. "Perhaps you forget that these are monsters, not some human beings."

"I've encountered non-hostile monsters back in the Red Gate," Izuku says, getting their attention.

"Are you delusional, kid? There is no such thing as non-hostile monsters," Ryuji says and before Izuku can continue, he is stopped by Edgeshot.

"All right, that's enough," Edgeshot says before looking at both Izuku and Ryuji. "I would rather if none of you debated with each other. Midoriya has some merits about it, we lack information regarding these monsters. Perhaps, gathering information about them will be necessary. But, if those monsters threaten more innocent lives, then we will kill them with no hesitation. Understand?"

All of them reluctantly nod, especially Ryuji who is displeased by the decision but he can't do anything about it since he's not the leader of this operation. He had reluctantly sought the help of UEIS, but not simply for taking down the outbreaks. He's planning to get rid of his fellow competitors. Of course, he and his guild could've taken care of the dungeon on their own, but he got a chance to get rid of the organization that had been a constant obstacle.

UEIS had constantly gained more and more S-Ranks and back then, it was merely 5 of them. Now, they somehow increased it to 8, 9, if he includes Mirei and the revelation that someone, a bunch of brats, could reach the National-Rank Awakener, is angering him. He must get rid of him as soon as possible.

"Now, before we can plan a strategy for the mission, how about we see what each of us is capable of? We might need a proper gauge of each other's strengths to strategize properly." Ryuji suggested as everyone looked at him.

'I would believe in that bullshit if you're not radiating glee like some sort of nuclear radiation,' Izuku thought dryly.

"…I suppose," Edgeshot mused as Ryuji slightly smirked while Izuku deadpanned at the Guildmaster while side-eyeing Edgeshot, who instinctively looked away from Izuku.

Later

Izuku and Edgeshot can be seen looking at each other as they had decided to have a private conversation after the meeting while the Blade Guild was preparing for their spar.

"You know Ryuji is not what he seems, right?" Izuku says with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, I know that very well," Edgeshot admits. "Ryuji has been my dojo rival even before we discovered the existence of Awakened. Both of us used to fight with each other in the dojo, he's always winning."

"…okay, not expecting that at all," Izuku admits.

"Ryuji has always been….ambitious," Edgeshot sighs. "He will do whatever it takes to be on top, training as hard as possible or even making sure his competitors were 'too sick' to fight."

"And you just give him the motivation by telling him that my team and I are stronger than S-rank," Izuku says in a deadpan manner. "What even is National Rank anyway? You never told us about it."

"It's….a special rank reserved for Awakeners that has the power that is beyond S-Rank. Usually, they have the strength of an entire nation's military." Edgeshot explains. "Currently, there are only 5 Awakeners in that rank, Thomas Andre a.k.a the Goliath, Liu Zhigang a.k.a 剑圣 (JiànShèng), Christopher Reed a.k.a Ifrit, Siddarth Bachchan, and Gang Orca himself."

"…how does this National Rank even start?" Izuku asks curiously.

"It happened during the first S-Rank outbreak that ever existed," Edgeshot says grimly. "I won't go for details, but you can say that the aftermath leads to the disappearance of multiple islands in Hawaii."

"Disappearance of….islands…." Izuku looks slightly horrified before regaining his composure. "So….National Rank Awakeners are OP as fuck…is that why Ryuji is so obsessed with it?"

"Indeed," Edgeshot says. "Ever since he hears the title, he wants to join the rank himself. But, sadly, his slow growth for being a natural S-Rank made it almost impossible."

"Wait, you're telling me those awakened as S-Rank will grow slowly?" Izuku asks in surprise. "But….Eijirou and Ochako seem to grow almost as fast as me and they were registered as S-Rank since they started. And you guys seem growing stronger at a steady pace as well."

"Kid….have you ever considered that maybe the system shares your exp to your party?" Edgeshot asks. Izuku was about to answer before he froze, then opened his system before facepalming. Edgeshot could only guffaw at Izuku as he covered his face in embarrassment.

"I forget that feature exists…." Izuku mutters, groaning in disbelief.

"Perhaps, our steady growth also due to you unintentionally made us part of your party system?" Edgeshot suggests as Izuku nods.

"It's been 10 months and yet I didn't notice all of the functions…" Izuku facepalmed.

"Don't worry about it, some heroes haven't yet fully figured out the potential of their quirk," Edgeshot says, trying to cheer him up, but Izuku merely lets out a groan.

"This is embarrassing…" Izuku stops before remembering something. "…also, did anyone ever point out that Liu Zhigang's hero name is just 'swordmaster' in Chinese?"

"… Please don't ruin the image of National Rank Awakeners that I've built in my head since the day I heard of them," Edgeshot says with his eyes slightly twitching.

Sparring Arena

Tokoyami can be seen standing on the balcony right on top of the arena while watching the Blade Guilds preparing themselves. He had no idea why the entire Guild members suddenly walked to the arena and Ochako suggested he and Melissa to come to the arena.

Speaking of Melissa, Tokoyami looks at Melissa who is typing something on her phone with a mini orb-shaped drone floating next to her. He knows Melissa is his senior at UA and seems to be a close ally to the Trinity, but besides that, he has no idea about her.

"You know, if you want to know her more, you could've just talked to her," Karasu pops up and looks at Tokoyami.

"…I suppose," Tokoyami sighs before approaching Melissa. "Excuse me…"

"H-huh?" Melissa looks at Tokoyami. "Oh, h-how can I help you?"

"Apologies, my name is Fumikage Tokoyami and I was wondering if we could have a small conversation," Tokoyami says while scratching his cheek. "I….have nothing else to do…"

"Um, sure, what do you want to talk about?" Melissa asks.

"Well….anything…" Tokoyami mutters before sighing. "Apologies….I have trouble socializing…"

"Heh…it's fine. I have trouble to do so as well. I….mostly focus on creating support items," Melissa says while adjusting her glasses. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Melissa Shield. Nice to meet you, Tokoyami."

"Nice to meet you, Shield-san," Tokoyami returns the greeting. "May I ask what are you doing?"

"I'm planning to analyze the battle with my newly made drone," Melissa says as she types on her laptop. "Giving a gauge on their mana, recording their movement at any speed, and making sure to keep a perfect resolution so we can analyze it properly."

"Impressive…" Tokoyami mutters.

"Meh, it's still a work in progress. But, testing it now might help me see what I can improve on my inventions." Melissa says with a smile. "After all, failure is the mother of success."

"That…is an interesting way to see failures," Tokoyami says.

"It's a lesson my father taught me since I was a kid. Back then, I hated failures and I…didn't react to it very well. But, Dad made sure to teach me that I can still learn a lot of things from failures, making sure I didn't repeat those mistakes." Melissa says with a smile. "So, it's okay to fail, especially if you learn a lot from it which will lead you to future success. It might take time, but if you keep getting back up, you'll eventually succeed."

"I….see…" Tokoyami merely nods, taking the lesson to heart.

"So, how's the Hero Course?" Melissa asks. "I…am planning to do my best to join the course after the Sports Festival, but there's a chance I won't get it. And I am curious what kind of things you guys learn there?"

"It's….different from what I expect," Tokoyami admits. "It is like a normal school, except with Hero Foundation Lessons, and the Dungeon and Magic Class is a whole other can of worm. The existence of Magic and Dungeons….it's strange."

"I can relate to the last part," Melissa chuckles. "One day, I was simply training and then, I met three teenagers and one of them jumped into a random portal before coming out with a pair of giant scissors. And they proceed to drop the bombshells of the existence of magic to me. You can say I was overwhelmed by the information."

"…..huh," Tokoyami is unsure how to react to that, so he merely nods.

"Oh, I think the fight's about to start!" Karasu pops out and points at the screen, startling Melissa while Tokoyami lets out a tired sigh.

"What in the world!?" Melissa freaks out.

"Apologies, this is Karasu, my sentient quirk and partner." Tokoyami let out a sigh. "I'm sorry for his antics. He loves to do that,"

"Hehe, sorry. Got a bit excited seeing Shadow Monarch and his friends about to throw hands." Karasu exclaims before looking at the screen.

"…oh, right. That…" Melissa mutters in a dry tone. "Almost forget about it."

With Ochako and Eijirou

"I never understand why it always leads us to fights," Ochako says with a sigh.

"To be honest, this fight has some logic to it. We need to understand each other's strength to properly strategize, putting everyone in the role that fits them the most." Eijirou says while scratching his head. "Although, I think they have some sort of an alternative motive, given the leader's emotion radiate through his mana."

"I still don't understand the leader's beef with any of us," Ochako mutters in annoyance. "After taking a closer look, he always subtly stares at Izuku for no apparent reason."

"Yeah, that guy is a mystery," Eijirou says with a sweatdrop.

"Speaking of mystery," Ochako looked at Mirei looking at the Blade Guild before she made eye contact with Ochako and waved at her. She merely waved back, slightly confused by her. She then leans closer to Eijirou. "Do you have any idea who she is?"

"Nope, she is new even to me," Eijirou admits. "But, given how Edgeshot-sensei was with her earlier during the discussion. It's safe to say that she's a new member."

"Hello," The two of them yelped when Mirei approached them without making any sounds. "You guys must be the interns Edgeshot talk about. Hi, I'm Mirei Amamiya, nice to meet you two!"

"Um, hi," Ochako and Eijirou greet in unison as Mirei smiles.

"So, I was wondering, which one of you is the strongest?" Mirei asks.

"Izuku," They both said in unison, making Mirei blink.

"Wow, with no hesitation," Mirei says in surprise.

"Trust me, none of us were able to touch him every time we sparred, and even double-teaming him isn't enough to beat him." Ochako let out a groan.

"Oh, he must be very strong if you guys were unable to touch him at all," Mirei says in surprise.

"You have no idea," Eijirou says with a chuckle. Then, Izuku walks in as he takes off his uniform's tie and his clothes look like they're transmuted to casual clothes. Mirei blinks at the sudden change before rubbing her eyes.

"What did I just see?" Mirei asks in surprise.

"Don't ask. It's a trick for mages, and that's all they told me." Eijirou grumbles as Ochako laughs.

"Sorry, but unless you know more about magic besides manipulating wind, you won't fully understand how the entire theory works," Ochako says as Eijirou pouts.

"You could at least tell me that instead of refusing to elaborate!" Eijirou says as Ochako laughs while Izuku looks confused.

"What are you guys even laughing about?" Izuku then shakes his head, noticing Mirei. "Nevermind. Hi, I'm Izuku Midoirya, nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Mirei Amamiya. Nice to meet you too." Mirei looks at him, tilting her head.

"I would love to continue to chat, but we got another thing to deal with," Izuku says as he looks at the Blade Guild. Then, Edgeshot enters the arena.

"All right, for this fight, the members of Blade Guild could choose which opponents they would like to face against," Edgeshot says. "We will simply stick this fight into 1v1 for 3 rounds against my interns. I-"

"Edgeshot-san, may I join in the fight as well? Along with the three of them!" Mirei exclaims as everyone blinks.

"Um, sorry, Amamiya. But, this fight is to gauge their strength properly for our upcoming missions, and sorry to say, but you have not gotten enough experience as an intern to properly join our top missions." Edgeshot explains as Mirei pouts.

"Well, we don't mind having her join in just for fun," Ryuji says with a smirk, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone. "Perhaps, we treat it as a bonus round."

"….I suppose one friendly match wouldn't hurt…" Edgeshot mutters as Mirei perks up.

"All right, Kei, why don't you go up first?" Ryuji says as he looks at a young man with white hair with a gas mask, who perks up before looking at the Guildmaster nervously.

"M-me?" Izuku blinks at how shy he is, completely in contrast to his flow of mana that could rival Ochako.

"Yes," Ryuji says with a smile, making Kei shiver a bit before nodding. Izuku narrowed his eyes, suspecting Ryuji might've treated him badly.

"Is it okay to you, Ocha?" Izuku asks as Ochako nods with a smile.

"Of course. I don't plan to lose at all." Ochako leans and gives Izuku a light kiss on his lips, making him smile before Ochako pulls off her school uniform as it transmutes to her casual clothes. Kei blinks at the showcase in awe.

"Hey…" Kei says in a shy tone. "D-do you think after this fight, you can teach me how to do that? Changing clothes like that seems convenient."

"Oh, sure," Ochako says with a smile as Izuku narrowed his eyes at Kei, making Kei slightly panic when his smell senses the hint of anger from Izuku.

"I-I truly mean it, Midoriya-san! I wasn't trying to flirt with your girlfriend!" Izuku blinks before lowering his head in embarrassment at being called out. Ochako didn't fare any better as she covered her face while muttering 'So this is how it feels to be at the receiving end…' while Edgeshot and Eijirou teased Izuku about it.

"J-just begin the fight!" Ochako exclaims before pulling out her staff as Leo pops out from her shirt pocket, surprising Kei.

"Begin!" Before he could say anything, Ochako summons a fireball and launches it towards Kei, creating a deafening whistle. Kei summons an ice wall to block it, but he is surprised by his ice easily piercing through and dodging out of the way.

"She melts my ice so easily!?" Kei exclaims in shock before he summons a wave of icicle spikes towards Ochako, who simply summons a fireball and points it forward. The icicles melt the moment it get closer to Ochako.

'Kei's ice is easily one of the most powerful ice magic that could easily freeze Korea's Ultimate Hunter and it could be mistaken as a gemstone due to its durability, but this girl easily melts those ice by simply summoning a fireball?' Ryuji can't help but be surprised by how powerful Ochako's fire is. He thought that Izuku was the only powerful hunter from his mana.

"Ah, crap!" Kei exclaims in surprise as Ochako summons multiple fire orbs around the air before each flame turns into a powerful fire beam. With insane agility and speed, Kei dodges every attack and even summons ice platforms in the air before jumping away while creating another platform.

'Okay, long-range battle is a bad idea!' Kei thought before summoning multiple icicle spikes towards Ochako and again, it melts away. 'Then, what about close range!?'

Kei calls out mana as the icy mist comes out of his hand before he swings down, causing a powerful blizzard that covers the entire area. [Hellfire's] Skill Passives made Izuku immune to the effect, but he was surprised by how the blizzard was almost the equivalent of his recent Red Gate dungeon. Izuku also feels the entire room feels dry, and even notices how it weakens everyone's flow of mana.

Ochako grunts as the [Flame of Courage] surrounds her to create a dome that shields her from the ice attack, unable to see anything in the blizzard. Before she could switch her magic to get rid of the blizzard, she sensed someone on her back and a fist almost made contact with her. She immediately activates [Colossal Strength] and catches the ice-coated punch as the blizzard slows down, revealed to be Kei looking at Ochako in shock.

Ochako can feel the ice slowly appear around her body and immediately toss Kei away as she uses the power of Aquarius and uses her water manipulation to get rid of the blizzard entirely along with the frost on her body.

'She gets rid of my [Eternal Blizzard]!?' Kei looks at her in disbelief as he remains flying. Then, Ochako's eyes glow yellow before an arrow made of pure mana appears on her staff. She points her staff at Kei before pulling the tip as the arrow stretches out. She then let go and the arrow shot towards Kei's gut like a speeding bullet, knocking the wind out of his stomach as he fell unconscious. Before he can crash into the ground, Kenzo catches him.

"….Ochako Uraraka's the winner of this sparring match," Edgeshot says with a hint of smugness in his tone. Ryuji looks at her in disbelief before he grips his fist tightly.

"…well, no surprise there. She did just fight a fellow ice user two days ago and won." Izuku admits.

"Well, that's unfortunate…" Ryuji says while keeping his composure. "Akari, heal Kei's injury. Some of his monthly salary will be cut off as your healing payment."

"U-um, excuse me," Ryuji looks at Ochako who's already beside Kei and Kenzo. "L-let me heal him for you guys. Think of it as an apology for going too far on the friendly spar."

"You can heal as well?" Kenzo blinks in surprise.

"Y-yeah, it's one of my support skills," Ochako says as she uses [Serene Grace] on Kei.

"Whoa, the healing mana is insane," Akari mutters in awe. "But, why don't you register as a healer then?"

"I'm more of a support than a healer, able to assist the frontliners," Ochako says. "You see my spells, most of them were offensive."

"I suppose…" Akari mutters.

"Thanks, kid," Kenzo says with a grin. "With this, Kei won't have to worry about getting his paycheck cut."

"Wait, what?" Ochako looks baffled.

"Oh, right. You're not a guild member. Akari loves to charge everyone to pay for her healing, so we would do whatever it takes to not get injured in any raids or even treat our wounds." Kenzo says as Akari huffs.

"I need stable incomes as well, you know. Besides, this also helps keep you buffoons from Leeroy Jenkins any gates we encounter!" Akari exclaims.

"Sure, sure," Kenzo says while grinning at her teasingly, making Akari slightly blush before pushing him away. Thankfully, both of them are S-Rank Awakeners or else Akari might've sent him flying. Ochako blinks, completely unsure how to react to all of this.

[To be continued]