By the time All Might gathered the second year in front of BATTLE CENTER X's huge, steel doors, nearly fifty percent of students had dropped out of the upcoming event.
Most of these dropouts were from the Management Course, with a great chunk of the remaining from General Education.
Only a dozen or so from the Support Course had decided not to participate.
And none of the Hero Course's students had shown even the slightest intention of not throwing themselves into the fight.
The high number of dropouts wasn't a sign of cowardice, though.
Even the audience understood the reasoning behind these students' intentions, especially after being a part of UA's events for years.
First, the Sports Festival was as much about UA showing off talent to various Hero Agencies as it was about the students putting themselves up for display.
None could deny that it was the Hero Course students who benefited the most from it.
Second, if UA had revamped the Sports Festival, then they were bound to revamp the School Festival, too. That meant the students from the Management, General Education, and Support Courses would get a higher, better stage to display their talent later in the next semester.
Third, and perhaps the greatest reason, was All Might's warning.
Only a fool would ignore All Might's claim that students stood a great chance of getting injured in this Battle Royale. No Pro Hero would say those words to students when the world's eyes were upon him.
So, the great number of dropouts also reflected students' respect for All Might.
Perchance, the remaining students amounted to an even 100, who had now gathered in front of All Might… all wearing their Hero Costumes.
And that made most of 2-A and 2-B stand out from their peers and even from each other.
In one week, almost all students from 2-A had upgraded their Hero Costumes in some way.
The same was true for 2-B students, who had been working on their Ultimate Moves for the Provisional Hero License Exam as well.
But the one costume that stood out from the rest belonged to…
Midoriya, Todoroki, Luke, Tenya, Kirishima, and others looked at Bakugo, their brows shooting up.
Bakugo's Costume had always carried a bombastic design, fulfilling a simple purpose.
Around his wrists, Bakugo donned a set of Grenade Gauntlets. These could store his Nitroglycerin-like sweat, which he could then use to create massive explosions by pulling the pin. Along with the heavily padded gloves, the Gauntlets helped with the recoil of the explosions somewhat, countering their own bulkiness that could hinder his movement ability.
However, now, Bakugo donned another set of similar Grenade Gauntlets… around his ankles!
"Whoa…" Kirishima exclaimed. "What… how…"
Bakugo had no intention of explaining his new Costume's specialty.
Too bad, the designer herself had enough to say for both of them combined.
"Here's my baby!" Mei Hatsume, using her support items, came flying over others and threw her arms around Bakugo, shocking the living breath out of many students, with Midoriya's jaw dropping to his chest. "I love you so much!!!"
"…"
Bakugo, who was struggling to take her off him, suddenly looked at the drone hovering above them, its glassy head pointed right at him.
Which meant the entire world was seeing him… like this.
Veins throbbed on Bakugo's head, sparks coming off the palms of his hands.
Fortunately, Mei let go of Bakugo and began stroking the Grenade Gauntlets on his ankles, the students finally realizing what she meant by her babies.
"You can't see it, but I added microfluidic channels to Bakugo's costume!" She explained very fast, excitedly. "They connect his wrist Gauntlets to his ankle ones, yeah? But they can only carry that much fluid. Bigger tubes would have made him slower, no? So? So! I added a vacuum-pressure system to his ankle Gauntlets, which sucks in the fluid once his wrist Gauntlets are full. And guess what? Now… he can use his feet just like his hands!"
Most of Class 2-A's students blanked.
This was not a small improvement.
Bakugo was already insanely powerful just with his hands.
If he also began using his feet the same way, then… he would become unstoppable.
Midoriya looked around and found all faces lacking smiles, meaning they were thinking the same.
Meanwhile, a vein danced on Bakugo's head as Mei unleashed the secret, which he had planned to take to his grave, upon everyone.
"Shut up!" Bakugo roared. "Shut up! Or… I will murder you!"
The audience gasped so loudly that the students heard it even here.
"Cough!" All Might intervened, pulling away Mei Hatsume, who seemed to have more to say. "Calm down, young Bakugo. I know it will sound odd, but that's the point of the Sports Festival for you guys. To surpass the Villains' expectations, even if they know you. Do you understand?"
Bakugo met All Might's eyes and tsked, looking away.
[Good acting…] Singularity praised.
"Shut up!" Bakugo roared, making All Might's lips twitch again.
Anyway, now the retired Pro understood why Bakugo had shown interest in training under his old mentor during the Training Camp, recalling Gran Torino's words.
"Alright, everyone," All Might said, returning to his position. "Here are the rules. Battle Center X is a square field, having a mix of various terrains. When the timer starts, a wall of red lasers will appear along the four boundaries. These laser boundaries will keep contracting every five minutes by a set amount of distance.
"Going out of the laser boundaries, willingly or unwillingly, is an instant loss. You will be given an emergency switch, which you can press if you need help at the cost of experiencing instant loss as well.
"There are Pros stationed in the Battle Center X, but… they will not help you unless you are about to die or there are chances of you suffering injuries that might take months to heal, even after using Recovery Girl's abilities. If you do not want to fight anymore, just remove yourself from the laser boundaries."
Some of the remaining General Education students gulped before licking their lips.
"And now… how to win?" All Might grinned. "Well, that's the simplest part. You…
"… have to make sure that you are the last person standing."