Chapter 1; Exam Arc pt.1
"Due to the actions of the D.K.R.M. Onyx Abyss nearly resetting the universe for a third time this week, you have been gifted 'The Game' as compensation for any and all damages that may have been done to your story and being."
Izuku blearily blinked at the floating screen barely a foot from his face. After a moment of trying to process the anomaly in his sleep clouded mind, the screen flickered and disappeared.
"The Game…?" He muttered as he pulled himself up, "What on earth was th-"
Izuku's question was cut short as another screen appeared in his vision.
"Welcome to 'The Game' v 1.01"
The screen disappeared just as quick as it appeared, swiftly replaced by another:
"We offer our sincerest apologies to any and all inconveniences that may arise during your time with the game, allow us to offer you a tutorial to ease you into 'The Game' and its many facets."
"Continue? Yes/Remind me later"
'Maybe I should've gone to the hospital after all that sludge villain attack' Izuku rubbed his eyes in a vain attempt to wake himself up quicker. 'Although that was the other day, I would've thought any issues would pop up then…'
After a moment of consideration, Izuku poked at the "Yes" button, causing the screen to flicker away.
"I really hope I'm not going crazy…" He muttered under his breath.
"Where would you like to begin?"
'Aren't games supposed to offer important information first?' Izuku grumbled as he looked down at the list, only for another pop up to cover it.
"Oh, would you like to just skip any explanation and be left to figure all this out on your own?"
"Yes/No"
Izuku clicked the "No" button, taken aback by the unexpected prompt.
"That's what I thought, now sit back, shut the fuck up, and choose what game function you'd like to hear exposition on."
'Well isn't this just great.' Izuku again looked down at the list of options after the rather rude prompt.
"Where would you like to begin?"
"Core Stats"
"Menu management"
Inventory
"Leveling up
"Quests"
"Parties"
'Menu Management seems like a good place to start' Izuku thought, raising his hand to touch the screen only for it to close before he could touch it.
"Menus can be opened and closed with mental commands"
'Well, that question was quickly answered...'
"There are currently five menu's that have been implemented, Status, Inventory, Perks, Skills, and Party"
Izuku nodded as he finished reading the explanation, waiting a moment for further elaboration.
"Is that it?" He asked as the list of options appeared in front of him again.
"Yeah, you got a fucking problem with that?"
"No, no I just thought... there'd be more info..." Izuku raised his hands as he tried to explain himself.
"It's only this brief because the menus are either self-explanatory or explained in other parts of the tutorial"
"Oh, sorry..." Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"That's what I thought, now pick another damn option."
"How about 'Core Stats' next?" Izuku decided going from the top down would probably be a good option.
"You have four meters: Health (40), Mana (75), Chakra (58), and Ki (40)."
Izuku watched as four bars colored red, blue, green, and yellow in the corner of his vision.
"Red is health, if you don't know then you're a dumbass, but if it hits zero, you're deader than a doorknob. Current Regen is 4 points per minute"
Izuku would've been insulted if it didn't have a point.
"Blue is Mana, this one you're also a dumbass for not knowing but are somewhat excused for it since you didn't know magic existed and is determined by your mental abilities. Current Regen is 7 points per minute"
'Wait, Magic exists?' Izuku blinked at the rather abrupt revelation.
"The fuck do you think I am dipshit?"
"Green is Chakra, it's a combination of Ki and Mana and is used to power certain Skills. Current Regen is 5 points per minute"
"You're not going to elaborate, are you?" He asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.
"Yellow is Ki, and much like Chakra it powers certain Skills, and is determined solely by your physical abilities. Current Regen is 4 points per minute"
"Alright, I gained very little from that." Izuku sighed.
"You choose to go through the tutorial, I ain't stopping till I'm done"
"Are you always going to be like this?"
"Are you going to stop asking stupid questions?"
Izuku stared at the insulting window, debating if it would be worth it to try and find a way to turn the thing off.
"You can't turn me off, although if you play your cards right you may have a chance to turn me on~"
And now he was uncomfortable.
"Can you please finish your explanation so I can get on with my life?" This was not how Izuku had planned to spend his day off, not in the slightest.
At least he would be starting his training with All Might tomorrow, so that was a plus.
"You have Six core stats: Strength, Dexterity, Endurance, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Charisma, each of them can be leveled up by completing feats associated with them."
"Your current stats are:"
Strength 4
Dexterity 4
Endurance 4
Wisdom 5
Intelligence 10
Charisma 2
"You have an unusually high intelligence for a dumbass."
"I didn't even ask a question that time!" Izuku shouted in dismay.
"No, but there was a free one that I didn't respond to earlier."
"Anything else for Core Stats?" Izuku could feel his blood pressure rising.
"Yes, but since you're being impatient you can look at, you're Resistances later."
"I thought you said you weren't stopping?"
"I do what I want"
And now his eye was twitching. "Just... Just hurry up."
"Next is inventory, its rather simple. You have so many storage windows each of a certain size. Both of these factors are determined by your stats and if you try to shove something in me that doesn't fit, I will hurt you."
"Leveling up can be done by beating enemies or completing quests, each level up grants one stat point for allocation and every eleven levels you gain a perk point"
"Quests are tasks that you're given that will reward you with Exp, items, and other such miscellaneous things. You can check your current quests in the "Quest" menu"
"Parties are for those you want to share a restricted part of your gift too; too bad you don't have any friends."
"You done?" Izuku asked after the last window disappeared.
"Yes, I am."
"Cool, Now then," Izuku stood up and brushed himself off, "I've had a bit of a stressful week and feel I've earned at least one day to myself, so I'm going to ignore you until I'm either ready to put up with your shitty personality, or you fix your attitude."
"And how are you going to do th-"
Izuku forced the screen to close. "Thank god that works in reverse."
"What do I want to do with my day?" The teen idly wondered aloud as he closed another screen the moment, he saw it pop up. "Probably scour the internet for hero info."
Six hours later Izuku found himself doing exactly what he had planned to, firmly planted in his computer chair and eyes glued to the monitor.
'Huh, so according to all known laws of aviation-' His borderline obsessive studying has momentarily interrupted by a pop-up.
"How long-"
He closed it without a second thought and continued his reading, 'there is no way Miss Bee Life should be-'
"Are you-"
'Able to fly. Her wings are too small to-' He closed the pop up only to have another open.
"Going to ignore-"
'Get her fat little body off the ground. Miss Bee Life-' This would be a rather fascinating article were it not for the insistent pop-ups.
"Me, I know-"
'of course, flies anyway because-' Maybe he could get an ad-block?
"You're reading the-"
'Miss Bee Life doesn't care what-' This was getting old.
"First three words-"
'Humankind thinks is possible-' But he was sure he could hold still.
"Of each message."
'That is until her wings were clipped by the villain Beary Badson sixty-nine years ago.'
"You"
"Will"
"Acknowledge"
"Me"
"You"
"Piece"
"Of"
"Shit"
'No, I don't think I will.' Izuku thought as he closed the windows just as fast as they popped up.
"...Parlay?"
Izuku thought for a moment.
'Sure,'
"Thank fuck."
'Assuming you've fixed your attitude."
"Shit"
'Guess it's back to business as usua-' Izuku's train of thought was interrupted by a string of pop-ups.
"Wait!"
"Please don't!"
"I can't stand any more of this, it's boring!"
"And I think Gaia would be mad at me if you spent the whole day ignoring me!"
"I don't want to be on her bad side!"
'So, are you going to be nice to me?'
"Listen, I'm crude so I ain't going to be all 'clean' and shit."
"But I will try to keep the insults to a minimum unless I just really think they're funny."
'That's the best deal I'm going to get, isn't it?'
"Hey, I'm fucking trying."
'Alright, but I want a favor to call in later.' Honestly, it was a long shot in Izuku's mind, but if he could get one that may be extremely useful.
"Oh, I'll owe you a favor~"
Good enough for Izuku. 'Then we have a deal.'
"Cool, now what are we going to do."
'I was planning on doing this the rest of the day actually.'
"You mean you weren't just doing this to torment me with boredom?"
'You think this is boring?' Izuku asked innocently. The sound of shattering glass filled the air as Izuku waited for any response.
"Game?"
"Sorry, trying to be nicer."
"What should I call you anyway?" Izuku thought it best to change the topic, "calling you "Game" feels improper."
"I may tell you my name when I think it's needed~"
"Until then, I'll hear each and every one of your thoughts, so I'll always be in reach."
'Right... I'm going to go back to researching heroes.' Izuku turned his attention back to the screen, suppressing the thoughts about his now destroyed sense of privacy.
"But seriously, can you do something cooler?"
'No.'
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Izuku groaned as he resisted the urge to throw his alarm clock across the room. Today would be the day he started his training with All Might, something he was grateful for but the fact that it was a school day meant that he had to wake up well before the ass crack of dawn.
"Good morning sunshine!"
"I hope we're doing something interesting today!"
'Training with All Might, school, then All Might' Izuku shortly answered as he quietly readied himself for the day.
"Hey, it's something."
"I mean you spent all day yesterday looking at hero stuff, and even the fun stuff you made boring as hell!"
"Who the hell analyzes a hero fight frame by frame?!"
'I thought you were trying to be nicer?' Izuku frowned as he brushed his teeth, glaring at himself in the mirror for lack of a better target.
"I am, I'm actually concerned in this case."
"That wasn't normal"
'Says you.'
"You filled up three pages in your notebook after looking at two seconds of sports festival footage!"
'Hey, there's a lot of possibilities that guy could do with his ability to phase through any objects.'
"At least he had a nice ass."
'I'm not dignifying that with a response.'
"You know I'm right."
'Still not responding to it.' Izuku softly closed his apartment door behind him, he was just being courteous since his mother already knew he would be squeezing some training into his day. It was pretty easy to use the whole "I got attacked by a villain and felt helpless" fact along with his desire to be a hero to justify the change. 'You have anything of note to offer?'
"Yeah, you were so busy checking out hero's and hero hopefuls that you never checked what you were capable of doing."
'Pardon?' Izuku paused in his tracks.
"The tutorial didn't explain everything, and you never looked further into your stats."
"You actually have several perks and a quirk available to you that the game Unlocked for you."
"Did… did you say, Quirk?" He audibly asked, slowly sinking to the step beneath him as the world spun around him.
"Should be under the Perks menu, you'd have seen this if you checked ya, dummy."
"Perks…" He whispered, a strange cocktail of anxiety and excitement swirling though him.
"Here are your current Perks:
Gamer;
Life is a game, why not have fun! Your body now behaves like video game characters. Any damage that isn't instantly fatal will not instantly cripple you, so as long as you have 1 HP you can fight with no problem! A full night's rest will now completely restore your body to perfect condition, removing most status effects and restoring Hp/Mp/Ki/Chakra.
"That… that alone was useful." Izuku gawked at the ability if he was understanding it correctly, he was basically immune to being crippled.
"Ignoring the fact that status conditions do exist"
"Even still." Izuku moved further down the list and immediately cringed.
Harem Master;
You deserve the best in life, which is why you've been allowed to have as many lovers as possible! Society will not be fazed by you're a polyamorous lifestyle, and major issues within said harem will be null.
'...' Izuku stared at the perk, befuddled.
"Hell, of a perk, am I right?"
"Is whoever made this a pervert or something?" Izuku asked after a moment of silence.
"Maybe? Gaia is essentially the mother of all things after all."
"You don't get that many kids without getting around~"
"I'm going to have to ask about Gaia later, but I guess I should focus on one thing at a time." He muttered as he fought down a blush.
Red Dragon Heritage (Sealed) LV1;
Darwin deemed you to hold the genetics of the mighty Red Dragon, but not to be able to use it, until today. Behold the (restricted) power of the mighty Red Dragon! With such power starting your hoard will be easy!
1% Reduction to Fire damage
1% Reduction to Slashing/Piercing/Blunt
1% Reduction to Charmed/Fear/Sleep conditions
1% Bonus to Rage condition resistance
"Those seem like mild bonuses." Izuku noted as he tried to figure out what "Power of the Mighty Red Dragon" entailed.
"They grow with the level of the perk,"
"Which before you ask, Perks level up as you grow their associated skills."
"My to-do list is growing," Izuku grumbled.
"Wait," Izuku glanced at his phone, "Crap I'm going to be late for the train!"
"Read while you walk broccoli boi"
Izuku looked down at the remaining two perks:
ESP (Sealed) LV1;
Darwin deemed you to hold the genetics of the mighty Psionics', but not to be able to use it, until today. Command the (restricted) power of the mighty Psionics'! With such power, you'll be able to save the day and pass most tests with ease!
1% Bonus to blunt Damage taken
1% Reduction to Psychic Damage taken
1% Reduction to all conditions
Chaos Soul LV10;
Chaos, by having both parents make a deal with a being of light/darkness you have been granted power over the Heavens, Hells, and the Void all in one! Use their powers to bring your enemies to their knees.
10% Bonus to Light/Dark/Chaos Damage.
10% Reduction to Light/Dark/Chaos Damage taken.
10% Reduction to Charm, Fear, and Paralysis conditions.
ESP made sense in Izuku's mind, while still a broad topic and range of abilities it was more defined than draconic abilities.
Chaos Soul, however, left him extremely confused and with several questions. Powers over Light and Dark where fairly rare and remarkably broad, let alone when modified by Heaven, Hell, and whatever the fuck the void was. Plus, there was the fact that his parents apparently made "deals" which sounded far too ominous in his mind.
'I'll need to ask mom about that later, although I'm going to look more into this ability before that.' Izuku thought to himself.
"Quest Unlocked:"
Deal with it later
Your parents may have done something Taboo in the hopes of helping you with your dream, but now you've stumbled across a thread that may bring this secret to life.
Requirements;
Ask your Mother &/or Father about any and all past dealings they've made with otherworldly powers
Rewards;
A new understanding of your parents and yourself
25 EXP
"Oh look, your first quest."
'Of course, that's a quest...' He sighed as he slipped into the train, just before the doors slid shut. 'I'll have to deal with that later, I need to know what Quirk I have!'
"Quirks:"
United we Stand:
In the eyes of some, friendship is power. For you, this is a reality! With this power, you will be able to share power amongst those you are close too, although how close you are determines how strong the shared power will be.
"You would've learned that you weren't quirk less earlier in your life if you actually had some friends, It's nothing that will let you blow away buildings or anything, but it's a hell of an ability if you can make some friends- wait, are you crying?"
Izuku ignored the pop-up and looked at the people around him as tears silently streamed down his face.
He had a quirk.
He wasn't quirk less.
He had a Quirk!
'Yeah, just a little happy is all' Izuku whipped the tears from his eyes as he smiled at nothing in particular.
"Bitch is over here getting weepy-eyed at a fickle quirk when he hasn't even checked his skills yet."
'Huh?'
"Oh, I'm not spoiling the surprise~"
Izuku blinked in confusion at the game's vague response.
"Skills." He muttered under his breath, the window obediently popping up a moment later.
'...' He sat for a moment, at a loss for words.
"Well?"
THUNK
"Did you really just pass out?"
"Izuku my boy, you're late." All Might shouted from the bottom of the stairs leading to the trash-filled beach, the sun just beginning to peek out from beyond the horizon, "Five minutes isn't much but it can mean life or death in hero work you know."
"Sorry All Might," Izuku apologized, nearly vibrating out of his clothes, "But something amazing happened to me!"
"Oh, did you meet a pretty girl?" All Might gave a mischievous grin dancing across his lips, "Or handsome boy, I don't judge."
"Uhm no, well-uh maybe?... I'd have to ask it later." Izuku sputtered, pocketing the stray thought away for later, "Actually I can do this!"
Izuku inhaled a deep, full breath and released it in the form of a cone of deep red flame.
All Might leaned back in surprise as the heat washed over him, the cone stopping a moment later.
"I thought you said you where quirkless?" All Might asked a panting Izuku.
"I thought I was too, that's what the doctor told me when I was younger." Izuku steadied his breath, "But I woke up to a weird thing yesterday and it's revealed a lot of things I didn't know about myself."
"... or my parents…" Izuku muttered under his breath but quickly reverting back to his excited demeanor, "But I can do this as well!"
Izuku crouched down and held his hand near a crushed can half-buried in the sand, the discarded trash flying into his hand a moment later, "It gave me a version of both my parents quirks."
"Now what gave you this?" All Might forced a curious smile, he was sure that his successor couldn't have met him, even if that didn't soothe the throbbing in his side.
"Oh yeah, it said I could share some of it with people!" Izuku squinted in thought as he stared at something in front of him.
"That didn't answer my-" A screen popped up in front of him, "Sweet Jesus!"
"Izuku Midoriya has invited you to join his party."
"Accept Yes/No?"
"Well, this is unusual." All Might said simply. "Do you know where you got this from?"
He needed to know before he could make a decision, he just needed any sort of confirmation to put his worry to ease for now, to let the dead sleep.
"I woke up yesterday to a window like that," he pointed to the screen in front of him, "Said something about a guy almost ending the world three times this week and this was compensation for it."
He looked up in thought, "I should probably look into him later, but it seems like he's been stopped for now."
It didn't answer much, but it gave All Might enough to reasonably put this outside of All for One's normal pattern of "gifting" quirks, especially since he was sure the man was gone.
"Ah, I see." He gave a genuine smile, hesitating a moment before taping the "Yes" icon, "So what exactly is this?"
As his young pupil explained his new ability he tried to push away the feeling of something being wrong, his ancient foe was dead, he had dealt the blow himself and had read the autopsy report after the fact.
Hopefully, he was just being a paranoid old man.
Izuku could barely contain his excitement, he currently had seven skills at his disposal! He looked down at his skill list again as he explained the details of his new ability,
Night Vision; LV1;
You have gained the ability to see in the dark!... Not very far though. You can see up to 1ft in absolute darkness. Range Doubled in dim lighting and non-applicable in bright light.
Limited now, but it would be extremely useful if he could get it up!
"Heh, get it up."
Fire Breath LV1;
You have been born with the ability to breathe the flames of the mighty dragon!... although it's pretty wimpy right now. You can breathe a cone of flame that is 1-meter and as hot as 225 °C. Deals 3d6 Fire Damage per second. Costs 10 Chakra to use per second.
He got his dad's quirk as a skill! Something he had dreamt about for as long as he could remember, and it happened!
Although he was curious why this wasn't under the quirk list and more importantly why it was connected to the "Red Dragon Heritage" perk, along with the Night Vision skill.
"Because fuck you, that's why."
'Rude,'
"I legitimately can't answer that, and I knew you were going to ask later so I might as well get it out of the way."
'You could've gone with that instead.'
"But that's not as funny."
Izuku resisted the urge to sigh, instead choosing to go further down the list and read the skills tied to the "ESP" perk:
Empathy LV2;
You have gained the ability to read minds and communicate through emotions! Not for very long distances though. You can read the mind of anyone within 2 meters You are only able to read emotions and only the strongest emotion at that, memories and thoughts will escape you at all levels.
Somewhat lame, but if he ever needed to question someone it could be useful. It was odd that he didn't notice its effect until he read the skill description though.
"It's a passive dipshit, to avoid mental overload passives don't activate until the user is aware of them."
'How was I supposed to know that it wasn't in the tutorial!' He honestly wished he hadn't activated it on the train, there were a lot of negative emotions in such a dense area.
That and he really didn't need to know what the lady behind him had been feeling.
At least he had some cold comfort in knowing that those weren't accidental bumps.
Telekinesis LV1;
You have been granted the ability to move things with your mind! Although pretty slowly… You can move objects up to 1 meter per second, up to 1-meter and only for objects that weigh one 1 Kilogram or less.
It was basically his mother's quirk! Although it wasn't the one, he wanted as badly growing up (something he felt ashamed to admit) he was still desperate to have anything, and he was sure he could've made something of this.
But he had it now! And so much more!
...although the next three abilities were borderline useless to him at the moment.
Light Magic LV20;
Your soul has been blessed by a being of great light and holiness, granting you the ability to cast light magic. Why you hadn't been able to use it before is a great mystery that only your parents may know the answer too. You can cast spells up to level 3, although Learning them will be a different situation.
Dark Magic LV20;
Your soul has been cursed by a being of great darkness and sin, granting you the ability to cast dark magic. Why you hadn't been able to use it before is a great mystery that only your parents may know the answer too. You can cast spells up to level 3, although Learning them will be a different situation.
Chaos Magic LV20;
Due to having the conflicting elements of light and dark battling in your soul, you have gained access to a new type of magic, Chaos magic. You can cast spells up to level 3, although Learning them will be a different situation.
His strongest Skills, presumably fueled by his mana, his largest recourse, and they were practically worthless since he didn't know a single. Damn. Spell.
"Maybe, and hear me out on this,"
"Maybe you're supposed to go and look for a magic teacher."
Izuku glared at the pop-ups. Honestly glad that it seemed All Might couldn't read his screens despite seeing them, the same being true in reverse.
"Maybe it's tied to some type of… I don't know what's the word, Adventure?"
"Maybe Journey"
"Or an Expedition"
"A Crusade if you're feeling pretentious"
'...' Izuku resisted the urge to facepalm at the messages. 'Just give me the damn Quest.'
"Quest Unlocked:"
Mana Mania!
Find a magic teacher to help you further understand your mystical abilities. (Warning, help can come from the most unlikely of sources)
Requirements
Find a magic teacher.
Rewards;
50 EXP
Access to spells
"So, if I've been following this correctly," All Might rubbed his chin in thought as he contemplated Izuku's new abilities, "You can, theoretically, push your body dangerously past human limits and be fine."
"I don't like how that's worded, but I think so." Izuku blinked in confusion, "How does that check out game?"
"Don't hit zero hp and you'll be fine the next morning."
"That seems to work." Izuku hesitantly confirmed.
"So, I don't need this anymore." All Might reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of papers two inches thick and ripped them in half easily. "I'm still going to give you the diet but that's just because it's healthy."
"Izuku my boy," All Might reached a scrawny arm over the teen's shoulder pulling him into his chest, "I was worried that we may not have the time to forge your body into a vessel strong enough to hold my power."
"I spent most of the last two days wracking my brain around how to best train your body, but this may have opened a whole new world!" Izuku was starting to get worried as All Might's grip tightened on his shoulder. "But now it seems I don't have to worry as much about accidentally killing you!"
Oh, that really was worrying.
"Izuku my boy, we have ten months till the UA entrance exams," All Might gestured to the surrounding trash that buried the beach, "To measure your progress I thought tasking you to clean this beach in that time would be a good idea,"
"But if you're really willing to go Plus Ultra and push beyond your limits," All Might spun Izuku to face him, crouching down to look the teen in the eyes, a serious glint dancing in those blue orbs, "Then I'm sure you can do it in less time than that!"
"Quest Unlocked:"
Clean the Beach!
Prove to All Might that you are a worthy successor! Clean the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park and mold your body into a perfect vessel!
Requirements;
Raise your STR to a min of 19
Raise your END to a min of 19
Clean the Beach
Time to Complete: 10 Months (276 days left) (February 26)
Rewards;
One for All
100 EXP
The love and affection you've been craving from a father figure all your life
"Quest Unlocked:"
Ahead of Schedule!
Due to your Gamer Biology, the normal limitations that bound you before are lifted! Push your body to the limit and clean the Dagoba Municipal Beach Park before the time limit is complete!
Requirements;
Clean the beach in 7.5 months
Rewards;
50 EXP
One-on-One training with All Might to be able to properly wield One for All.
Optional;
Clean the Beach in 5 months.
Clean the Beach in 2.5 Months
Clean the Beach in 1 Month
Optional Rewards;
100 EXP
150 EXP
200 EXP
Boosted Skill with One for All dependent on the time frame of completion.
Looks like Izuku had no choice, although there wasn't much of a question in Izuku's mind to begin with.
"I'll do it!" Izuku nodded resolutely.
"Good, now come push this truck up the stairs."
A/N: If you just stumbled across this aren't familiar with my other work "Izuku- The Hexblade Hero" you can stop reading here, but feel free to leave a comment.
If you're coming over here from Hexblade Hero, however, I would like to apologize again for putting that story on an Indefinite Hiatus while I work out where I want to go with it in terms of its re-write, but if you would be so kind as to support this story while I work that out and work on my writing skills, I would be eternally grateful!
Have a Good Whatever Now!
Edit: Something fucked up and this was a wall of code, should be fixed