"Th-that, Arthur, next…"
Momo was totally at a loss.
"Your Quirk's activation time is way too slow. Figure out how to fix that first. Whether you use my method or not is up to you."
The Quirks of those three thugs were honestly mediocre.
If Momo could use her Quirk more smoothly, she wouldn't have ended up in such a rough state.
Just making a simple dagger took her nearly ten seconds.
In that amount of time, even someone without a Quirk could rush in and punch her.
Momo stayed quiet for a moment, looking a bit embarrassed.
She'd originally wanted to ask, "Can we go buy clothes next?"
As a rich girl, walking around in dusty, torn clothes was seriously uncomfortable.
Arthur's response immediately made her realize she was being way too soft.
If she wanted to become a hero, she needed to start making changes now.
"Thank you so much for today. You really helped me a lot."
Momo stood up, bowed to Arthur, and said, "I've decided to go home and brush up on my knowledge first, then come back and ask you to help me train again."
The more she understood the fundamental structure of an object, the faster she could create it with her Creation Quirk.
It was definitely the kind of Quirk only a top-tier student could really master.
To speed up her creation time, she'd have to expand her knowledge base.
There's gonna be a next time?
Arthur had a look on his face like he was already over it.
He didn't exactly hate getting up close and personal with women, but not like this.
"I'll head back first, Arthur. Do you want to come?"
After this experience, Momo was way more comfortable using his name.
"No, I've still got 'training' to do."
"Okay. I'll go back, then."
Momo made a mental note to quickly work on her Quirk's weaknesses.
She couldn't let Arthur get too far ahead.
Classes in Japan were seriously laid-back.
Not long after Momo left, Arthur stepped out of the restaurant and could still see plenty of students in uniforms.
He glanced at his watch. 8:35.
Rumble—!!
Right as Arthur was wondering which high-crime area to train in today, a deafening explosion came from the direction of the elevated train tracks.
As the crowd started shouting, more and more people gathered toward the source of the noise.
"Quirk crime?"
Arthur guessed.
With that much chaos, it was basically the only explanation.
Arthur strolled over and soon found a man on the elevated tracks, transformed into a massive sludge monster over ten meters tall, raging and tearing up utility poles, railway tracks, and everything around him.
It looked pretty similar to the Quirk of that bank robber he'd dealt with last month.
Pro Heroes Death Arms and Kamui Woods were already on the scene.
But with their Quirk types and power levels, they could barely keep the guy from spreading the destruction further.
Kamui Woods arrived at high speed, using his admittedly old-school but effective Quirk to hold the enemy back.
Just as he was soaking up the crowd's cheers and getting ready to land his finishing move, Mount Lady suddenly appeared, her giant form kicking the villain flying.
A lot of people, including Kamui Woods, were caught off guard by the sudden interruption.
Arthur also remembered now. This seemed to be the start of the original story. The thing Izuku Midoriya ran into.
But whether it was because of some butterfly effect or Mount Lady messing up, after getting kicked away, the giant villain's ankle caught on the elevated bridge's railing. His body tilted, and he started falling toward the crowd below.
And Izuku Midoriya, watching with his notebook in hand, was standing right at the front.
Watching the villain fall like a collapsing building, Izuku's eyes went wide. His mind went completely blank.
He was about to get crushed!
Just as that thought became the only thing in his head, a golden figure appeared, built almost as solid as All Might.
He shot up above the crowd.
Boom!!!!
A violent blast of air, with a heavy shockwave, spread out like a cannon.
It stung the faces of Izuku and the huge group of onlookers.
Death Arms, Kamui Woods, and the other heroes focused their eyes, only to see the villain's massive body flying back into the air.
Two seconds later, it slammed hard onto the bridge, making the entire area shake.
For a moment, thousands of people in the whole venue fell completely silent.
Half a minute later, Mount Lady scratched the back of her head and said sheepishly, "Uh… my bad. Guess that was my fault."
But by then, aside from a few fans, no one was paying attention to her.
Kamui Woods called over to Death Arms. "Hey! Death Arms, was that you who hit him?"
Death Arms shook his head. "No… I don't have that kind of strength. To send an enemy that heavy flying… that's on par with the Number Two Hero, Endeavor, isn't it?"
Saying that, Death Arms looked toward the dense crowd, frowning. "It's gotta be someone in the crowd. Who has a Quirk that powerful?"
Izuku Midoriya, holding his notebook with his mouth hanging open, remembered the back of that figure, the one who reminded him of All Might.
"Arthur…"
At Aldera Junior High, today was the day everyone announced their future plans.
Sitting at his desk, Izuku Midoriya couldn't help glancing at the empty seat in the back.
His mind drifted back to what had happened earlier near the elevated train tracks.
"Arthur… what is he even trying to do?"
While Midoriya was stuck in his thoughts, their homeroom teacher walked in, holding the aspiration forms everyone had submitted.
"It's less than a year until you all move on to high school. This is where you start deciding your future," the teacher said casually. "I'll be going over your forms during this class…"
Then his tone shifted, a bit more amused.
"Although… looks like all of you want to apply for the Hero Course, huh?"
"Yeah!!!"
The whole class erupted, students showing off their Quirks like it was already a competition.
Only two people didn't react.
One leaned back in his chair, legs up on the desk, looking like he owned the place.
The other kept his head down, quiet, not saying a word.
Katsuki Bakugo and Izuku Midoriya.
"Hey, don't lump me in with these extras," Bakugo cut in, his voice sharp. "Like hell I'm going to end up at the bottom with a bunch of weak Quirks."
That instantly pissed everyone off.
"Dude, you can't just say that!"
"Seriously, who do you think you are?"
The teacher barely reacted, glancing at the papers in his hand.
"Bakugo's applying to U.A. High, right?"
The room went quiet again, the tension shifting into whispers.
Just as Bakugo stepped onto his desk, ready to hype himself up, the teacher added,
"Oh, and Midoriya's applying to U.A. too."
For a second, total silence.
Then the class burst out laughing.
"No way, you're kidding!"
"He doesn't even have a Quirk!"
"Is he serious right now?"
Midoriya panicked, waving his hands.
"N-no, that's not it! Even without a Quirk, I can still go for General Studies or the Support Course…"
Bakugo suddenly jumped onto Midoriya's desk, glaring down at him.
"You useless Quirkless loser. What makes you think you can stand on the same stage as me?"
"N-no, Kacchan, I wasn't trying to…"
Midoriya shrank back, trying to explain.
Then the teacher casually dropped another bomb.
"Oh right. Arthur's already been accepted into U.A."
Silence.
Again.
Then the classroom exploded into even louder chatter.
"Wait, Arthur Pendragon? The transfer guy from the US?"
"The one who fights like a total monster?"
"Didn't he get into trouble before? Like, beating someone up or something…"
"Shut up, Bakugo's right there!"
"No wonder he hasn't been showing up. He's already in."
"Man, people with strong Quirks really live in a different world…"
Boom!
Bakugo's palms ignited with small explosions as he clenched his fists, veins popping.
"That bastard… good. When I get into U.A., I'm crushing him myself!"
Midoriya just sat there, stunned.
"He's already in… Arthur…"
Under his desk, his hands tightened into fists without him noticing.
---
East O City. A known high-crime zone.
Bang!
Crash!
Thud!
One after another, thugs and small-time criminals were sent flying like they got hit by a truck, smashing into the broken buildings lining the street.
The place was filthy, trash everywhere, the air heavy with that gross back-alley smell.
Right in the middle of it stood Arthur, hands on his hips, completely unfazed.
Behind him floated The World, its upper body visible, fists clenched like it was ready for more.
"Seriously? Just a bunch of weaklings again?"
Arthur clicked his tongue, looking around at the groaning bodies scattered across the ground.
Anyone who met his eyes immediately freaked out, scrambling to run into alleys or abandoned buildings.
At this point, fighting guys like this didn't even count as training anymore.
He'd already hit a wall. If he wanted to get stronger, he needed real opponents.
Someone on the level of that giant robber from the train bridge this morning… that was the bare minimum now.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow applause echoed from behind him.
Arthur turned.
A middle-aged man walked toward him, clapping with a grin on his face.
He looked sketchy as hell. Purple suit, glasses, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, and a missing front tooth that made his smile even worse.
"Impressive, really," the man said, stopping a few steps away. "Been hearing rumors about someone cleaning up this area lately. Criminals getting beaten half to death out of nowhere."
He pulled a business card from his pocket and held it out.
"Didn't think I'd see it myself."
He smirked.
"Name's Giran. I'm… kind of a broker."
...
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