After knocking both Shoto Todoroki and Inasa Yoarashi off their feet, Arthur called back The World, stepped onto the nearby artificial hillside, and blasted forward like a bullet straight through the finish gate.
"First place, Arthur Pendragon!"
After confirming with Principal Nezu over the communicator that nothing he did broke the rules, Present Mic threw his hands up and announced it loud and clear.
About fifteen seconds later, Momo Yaoyorozu came in right behind him. She had created a glider with her Quirk and simply flew over the hill.
"Second place, Momo Yaoyorozu!"
Present Mic shouted again.
Arthur glanced at her as she landed and dismissed her glider, a hint of curiosity showing on his face as he rubbed his chin.
Momo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "W-what?"
"Nothing. Just wondering… can your Quirk make literally anything?"
Arthur sounded genuinely interested.
Momo paused for a second before answering, "In theory, yes. As long as I understand the structure of what I'm making."
"Oh? So you could make money too?"
Arthur smirked slightly.
"That's illegal! You're trying to be a hero, right? Why would you even think that?"
Momo shot back, clearly annoyed.
Arthur just shrugged and turned away like it wasn't a big deal.
Momo hesitated, like she wanted to say more, but before she could, the next two crossed the finish line.
Inasa Yoarashi came in third by a small margin.
Shoto Todoroki followed in fourth.
Both of them were completely soaked after getting kicked into the water earlier by Arthur's Stand.
Still, Arthur could tell Todoroki hadn't gone all out at the end. Probably just thought passing was enough.
"You're amazing, Arthur-kun!"
Inasa was as loud as ever, practically radiating energy. "That move earlier was so intense! Seriously, I felt it!"
Arthur already looked mildly irritated.
Todoroki, hands in his pockets, stayed quiet for a moment before speaking.
"Next time, I'll beat you."
Arthur tilted his chin up slightly. "No need to wait. We can fight whenever."
If The World was going to evolve, he needed real fights. Strong opponents.
Among people his age, these two were probably the only ones worth it.
"Alright, alright! You four, head to the final interview. Back to the classroom building, teachers are waiting."
Present Mic walked over, clapping his hands to get their attention.
"Um… what about the injured students?" Momo asked carefully.
"They'll be taken to Recovery Girl, then given another test. You guys go ahead."
"Wow. A second chance. U.A. really is generous," Arthur muttered.
Present Mic's eye twitched. Yeah… and whose fault was that?
Since Todoroki and Inasa were soaked, they had to change first, so they didn't take the same bus.
They were led off separately, while Arthur and Momo boarded the return bus to the main building.
For some reason, Todoroki didn't use his fire to dry himself. He easily could have.
On the bus, Arthur leaned back in his seat and glanced over his shoulder at Momo.
"Hey, Yaoyorozu. Make something fun."
"I'm not a magician, you know."
She pouted slightly.
After a short silence, she spoke again, a bit hesitant.
"You… didn't attack me earlier. Was it because… I'm a girl?"
Arthur didn't even think about it.
"No. It's probably because you're good-looking. Would've been a waste to mess up your face."
He said it casually, legs crossed, like it was the most normal answer in the world.
Momo's expression froze for a second.
That was… technically a compliment.
So why did it feel so annoying?
Arthur had avoided hitting the faces of the girls during the exam, but that didn't mean he went easy on them. He just aimed for places like their legs or stomach instead.
A couple minutes passed in silence before Momo tried again.
"Do you… think I'm weak?"
"Yes. Very."
Zero hesitation.
Momo clenched her fists, clearly pissed.
This guy seriously has no filter.
"Arthur-kun, you're really strong… so you must train a lot, right? You want to become a great hero too, don't you?"
She pushed the conversation forward, though even she wasn't sure why.
"I train, yeah. But that's just for getting stronger. Being a hero…"
Arthur trailed off with a faint scoff.
He shifted, clearly uncomfortable sitting like that, then got up and moved to the back row, lying down across the seats.
And just like that, the conversation died.
Momo didn't know what else to say.
Normally, Arthur didn't mind being around girls, but after that fight, he just wasn't in the mood.
Besides, girls who were too serious?
Yeah… not really his type.
After Arthur and Momo Yaoyorozu got to the interview classroom door, Shoto Todoroki and Yoru Inasa showed up too, already changed into fresh clothes.
"Alright, based on the physical test rankings, come in one by one. First up, Arthur Pendragon."
Present Mic's voice came from inside the classroom.
Arthur walked into the empty room. Besides the two people sitting behind the desk at the far end, there was only a chair set up in the middle.
The interviewers were Shota Aizawa and Present Mic?
As Arthur entered, Aizawa, holding his basic info sheet, still had that lazy look. "Okay, sit down."
Arthur took the middle chair. Aizawa explained the rules. "Listen, for the questions I'm about to ask, you have to answer within three seconds. This tests your ability to make instant judgments on the spot."
"Got it."
Arthur clasped his hands on his knees, looking pretty bored.
Aizawa gave him a meaningful glance and started. "Why did you choose U.A.? There are plenty of other schools with hero courses, you know."
"All Might told me to come."
Arthur's first answer nearly made Aizawa and Present Mic choke.
They both knew All Might had recruited him, but they didn't expect him to just drop that in the interview.
After a couple of coughs to recover, Present Mic went to the second question. "Read more-ahem, second question. If you were in a hostage rescue operation and the number of enemies was way higher than your team, what would you do?"
"Take them all out."
Arthur didn't hesitate.
Is this guy crazy?
That thought popped into both Aizawa and Present Mic's heads at the same time.
"What if they use hostages to threaten you?"
Aizawa's tone was the complete opposite of Present Mic's usual hype.
"I can take them out before they get the chance."
Arthur's expression didn't change.
"Is something wrong with this kid's head?"
Present Mic leaned a little and whispered to Aizawa.
Aizawa ignored his friend and kept going with a cold look. "What if there are a hundred of them?"
"Still take them out."
"A thousand?"
"Take them out."
"While you're dealing with those thousand people, what do you do if a stray enemy tries to kill a hostage?"
Arthur thought for a second. "I'd save them first."
Honestly, he'd wanted to say, "If it benefits me, I'd save them first."
But after a moment, he decided to tweak his answer.
"How can you guarantee you'll definitely save the hostage?"
Aizawa's tone got even colder.
If this were a normal student, they'd probably be shaking from that icy voice, right?
"Because I'm the one doing it."
Arthur's tone didn't waver. There was an undeniable confidence in it.
Aizawa was quiet for a few seconds, then finally picked up a pen and wrote at the bottom of the interview transcript—
"A genius with extreme confidence in his own abilities. Tends to act on his own without considering other factors.
Recommended for admission: Hero Course Class A
PS: Overly self-centered. Constant risk of expulsion."
"Overall Ability Assessment:
Strength: S
Speed: A
Technique: A
Intelligence: A
Coordination: E"
After that, Aizawa scratched his head and raised a finger. "Alright, you can head out. Tell the next person, Momo Yaoyorozu, to come in."
"Okay."
Arthur waved, got up, and walked out.
Once outside, he gave Momo a thumbs-up and pointed to the door. "Your turn."
"Okay."
Momo took a deep breath and walked in slowly, politely bowing to Aizawa and Present Mic.
Five minutes later, Aizawa wrote on Yaoyorozu's interview transcript.
"A highly intelligent and skilled student with comprehensive mastery of her Quirk, but lacking confidence in combat.
Recommended for admission: Hero Course Class A"
"Overall Ability Assessment:
Strength: D
Speed: C
Technique: B
Intelligence: S
Coordination: A"
"Alright, go outside and wait. Call Inasa Yoarashi in."
Aizawa said again.
Soon after, Inasa and Shoto Todoroki's assessments came out too.
"Inasa Yoarashi, Recommended for admission: Hero Course Class A
Overall Ability Assessment:
Strength: A
Speed: B
Technique: B
Intelligence: C
Coordination: B"
"Shoto Todoroki, Recommended for admission: Hero Course Class A
Overall Ability Assessment:
Strength: A
Speed: B
Technique: A
Intelligence: B
Coordination: C"
After all four interviews were done, Aizawa and Present Mic came out of the classroom.
Aizawa silently headed to the office, leaving Present Mic to explain things to the four. "You'll get your admission results by email. If you're accepted, the acceptance letter will also be sent to your home."
"There are still ten months until the official U.A. freshman enrollment. During that time, you can go back to junior high and keep studying, or you can manage your time however you want. But I have to tell you, even if you get in, that's just the beginning of hell."
Ten months with no school, free to do whatever.
If normal students heard that, they'd probably be stoked.
But for these four aiming for U.A., their expressions stayed completely still.
Because they knew that in ten months, they'd be facing elites from all over the country.
...
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GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.