There are 10 advanced chapters on Patreon if you are feeling like spending a bit of money to support the creation and read ahead while at it.
->patreon.com/TheSynonym<-
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|At the exam's surveillance room|
…
In the middle of a dark room, a bunch of people illuminated by the faint light coming from the screens in front of them could be seen staring intently at the monitors. While doing so, some jotted notes in small notebooks while others chatted with their seat neighbors about the content displayed on the screens.
They were of course the UA teachers, who, as instructed by Director Nezu, were currently checking and evaluating each student who appeared on the monitors assigned to them.
Two among the group of teachers, in particular, could be said to be chatting rather enthusiastically with each other.
"Hoh… Candidates this year are really amazing" One of them, a tall and burly silver-haired man clad in a dark red skin-tight suit, said while squinting his eyes at the monitor in front of him. His mouth twisting into an interested grin the more he watched.
He was the famous hero, Vlad King, otherwise known as the Blood Hero since his Quirk "Blood Control" allowed him to control fucking toothpaste.
…
You get it? It was a joke.
… Nevermind.
The other man, sitting right next to Vlad King, was the hero Cementoss. A man who, despite being human, looked more like a block of cement shaped into a humanoid form as a result of his Quirk, which allowed him to manipulate any cement-based material he touched and give it shape or move it according to his will.
Hearing Vlad King's comment, Cementoss nodded his head for a moment, before letting out a sad sigh as he squinted his eyes at the screen.
"Hmm… They have very powerful Quirks. It's a shame that only a limited amount of them can pass the exam, and the rest of them will fail"
"Even so, they can still enter the Department of General Education, and if they excel enough, they may be granted the chance to join the Hero Department later on" Vlad King countered.
Only for Cementoss to shoot him a doubtful look.
"Yeah, but how many truly accomplish that?"
Hearing the question, Vlad King looked at the ceiling for a moment in contemplation, before he sweatdropped a bit as he said "... Well, you have a point".
After that, Cementoss turned to look back at the monitor and shook his head with regret.
"Look at most of them. They are splendid. And yet, they pale in comparison to the group of examinees from previous Battle Centers. I'm afraid only a few from this group will be able to enter the Hero Department"
"That Explosion kid was on another level" Vlad King commented, remembering how a certain student with spiky blond hair had performed during Battle Center A's exam.
Cementoss nodded. Being aware of how much that kid had excelled among his peers.
Despite not gaining any of the secret rescue points during the entire exam, that kid made up for them solely with the points he gained for decimating the villain bots. Managing even to attain first place among all the examinees as a result of it.
Though, he had a bit of a problematic personality.
"Well, at least not everyone in this Battle Center will fail… Unlike in Battle Center C…" Vlad King said while smiling wryly.
Cementoss nodded in agreement before he grabbed the monitor's control and pressed a button. Changing the image on his screen to that of an orange-haired girl enlarging her fist and punching out of existence a 1-point villain bot.
"You're right on that. Let's see. Itsuka Kendo… How commendable, while she is lacking in villain points compared to some of her competitors, she is ranking pretty high thanks to the rescue points she has gotten so far… It seems she is helping whoever seems to need a hand, despite not needing to do so"
"She will do for a great hero" Vlad King nodded with a stoic face.
"Hmm…" Cementoss nodded, before continuing. "Next we have Yosetsu Awase… He is leading the top position of this battle center in regards to Villain points, as he seems to have defeated quite a bunch of villain bots with his Quirk…"
After hearing his coworker, Vlad King picked up a few papers that were lying by his side and began reading the info of the student that had been just mentioned.
"Fusing objects to an atomic level… What a great potential" Upon finishing analyzing the kid, Vlad King's eyebrow rose and his eyes gleamed with anticipation as to what a student like him could accomplish with enough training.
Cementoss on the other hand simply nodded his head like before, not saying anything, and pressed the button once again,
However, once he did, his eyebrows furrowed a little when he caught a glimpse of the image being projected by his monitor. Something that didn't go unnoticed by his fellow hero, who looked at him weirdly and waited for him to continue listing the promising students of this battle center.
"Suzaku Suzuki… He is a little below Yosetsu Awase in terms of villain points, but he is quickly catching up at a surprising speed—"
"Isn't he the kid who started ahead of the others when we opened the door?" Upon hearing that name the Blood Hero looked at his neighbor's screen, before he gained the same frown once he noticed what was going on in the screen.
"Hmm" Cementoss nodded, but his eyes remained glued to the monitor.
Their focus on the screen eventually caused both of them to fall into a deep silence, as they observed quietly what was transcurring on the screen.
…
"What the heck?" However, in the end, the one to break the silence was Vlad King, as he rapidly began looking for the kid's information among the documents he had.
And sure enough, he quickly found them. Though, it didn't end up being what he expected.
"His Quirk is… Glasses?"
"What?" Hearing his neighbor's confused muttering, Cementoss rapidly began looking for his information as well.
And sure enough, he gained the same confused expression as Vlad's once he read the contents of the papers in front of him.
"... Documented usage for this Quirk: Causes glass-like biomaterial to emerge above the individual's ears, taking on the shape of eyeglasses that help adjust the light for better vision. Additionally, the user can change the shape and color of these glasses to some extent… Huh?"
"How does that even make sense… Then what the heck are we watching?" Vlad King uttered in bewilderment.
"I… Don't know"
Confused, both heroes looked at each other for a few seconds not knowing what to think, before both of them hurriedly turned to stare attentively at their screens.
There, a red-haired teenager could be seen running with a smile on his face. Sometimes slamming his fists against 1-star villain bots and sending their heads flying in one swoop, while other times engaging in fierce yet short battles against 2-star and 3-star villain bots, beating them with overwhelming agility and surprising strength. In most cases, ripping their innards with his bare hands.
However, what surprised them wasn't his efficiency in destroying the robots as they had seen plenty of amazing performances so far during the day, but rather the way the kid was doing it, and with what unbelievable ease!
In the Hero exam, it was common to see powerful Quirks or proficient Quirk users who made up for their Quirk's lackings with pure technique.
However, the kid in front of them was none of them.
He was using martial arts.
Of course, they weren't foreign to such ways of combat. There were always a bunch of examinees every year that used them to supply for their Quirk's lack of firepower, because of their lack of close-combat capabilities, or in the best of cases, it enhanced them during combat thanks to their Quirk's nature.
Heck, they themselves had trained in them to some extent to perform better during battles.
However, such techniques often had a limit on how much they could help their users to pass the exam. The number of examinees that had used them as their main way of combat instead of their Quirks and that had managed to pass had been minimal.
However, the kid in front of them was nothing like the ones before.
While he was indeed using martial arts as his main way of fighting, he was destroying every robot in his path with terrifying efficiency. Not to mention the fact that his attacks seemed to carry enormous strength behind them.
At first, they had thought he had some sort of enhancing Quirk, which was why his Martial Arts were so effective. However, turns out his Quirk had nothing to do with it.
Considering that it did nothing but give him glasses, it wasn't wrong to say he was as good as Quirkless when it came to fighting.
And yet, he was battering up the villain bots as if they were mere training dummies!
"It's something wrong, you two?"
Suddenly, while both of them watched attentively their respective screens, awaiting to see what the odd examinee would do next, a voice came from behind them and managed to wake them up from their daze.
"All Might!"
From behind them, the giant muscled hero appeared and beamed at them while saying "I'm here!"
He was about to ask them why they were so agitated. However, before he had the chance to do so, he caught a glance at their screens, and a surprised look couldn't help but appear on his face.
"Young Suzaku?"
…
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|Suzaku's POV:|
…
-Bam!-
"Well, this turned monotone quite fast" I muttered as I stepped on the robot's severed head. Crushing it easily under my weight.
I mean, it was fun at first, but now not so much.
Could you blame me, though? These guys were all the same. There was no unpredictability, just simple and repetitive patterns. Like I was fighting a… well, a robot.
The three-point villain bots, for example, tended to swing their arms sideways to attack, as well as perform every once in a while a charge, intending to crush me under them.
But that was it, a slide or jump to avoid any of those attacks, and they were good as dead.
Not to mention how easy it was to attack them by surprise.
With the iron bar, I could easily pierce through their carcasses and attack their core before they could notice me.
Though, more than once I received a bit of a shock because of that.
I guess using a metal object to destroy electrical-powered robots wasn't a great idea.
But hey, a few punches and kicks could do the job as well. So it wasn't much of a problem in the end.
The same went for the 2-point robots. They were like the 3-points robots, but smaller, weaker, and maybe a bit more agile. Though, not nearly enough to cause me a problem. The only difference they had besides the two previously mentioned attacks, was that they had a tail they could use as well. But that was it.
As for the 1-point robots… Pfft, they were like twigs compared to the previous two, despite being made of the same metallic alloy.
A good kick, punch, or swing of the iron bar on a vulnerable zone, and they were goners.
They were fast, sure, but so was I.
And during an exchange of blows between me and them, I won every time.
The only attack of the three robots that wasn't tutorial-level was when they used their guns. However, I suppose that as to not make the exam something deadly for the examinees, they barely used them, and when they did, they fired only for an instant before engaging in close combat again.
Thanks to that, my fights had been easy so far… so much that by now I have destroyed… Err… I don't know, thirty-something robots so far?
Among them were quite a lot of 1-point robots, and a some 2 and 3-point ones.
I don't know how high in the rankings that puts me, but hopefully, it will be good enough to pass this exam.
Still, all that doesn't take away the fact that this is turning boring.
However, even if I say that, I don't think I will risk whether I pass or not simply because I want to have a fun time.
I'm not that dumb.
…
Alright, maybe I am. But I won't do it. Not this time, at least.
So, I plan to continue hunting down the robots relentlessly, at least until the time remaining en—
"[Target Acquired!]"
"What now?" Hearing a familiar inorganic voice, I turned around and saw a 1-point robot standing several meters away from me, looking straight into my eyes… I think. Honestly, with its big red eye, it was kind of hard to know where it was looking.
But since its head was facing in my direction, I guess it was safe to assume it was looking at me.
"[I'll kill you!!]"
And sure enough, as soon as it recognized me as an examinee, it roared in pre-recorded anger and charged at me.
So, feeling tired of dealing with these guys, I didn't even bother to run at it and I simply waited for it to come at me. That way I would deliver the final blow without even needing to move.
'Yeah… Just a little more—'
-Bam!-
However, just as I was readying to blow its head away with one kick, something enormous appeared out of nowhere and blew the small robot away. Sending it crashing to who knows where.
"...?"
Seeing that, I blinked confusedly for a moment, before I turned to look at what had destroyed the robot, and saw a humongous fist around my size right where the robot had been until a second ago.
However, it didn't take more than a second before the fist began shrinking down. And once it did, I was able to see the perpetrator behind the kill-steal that had just gone down.
It was the orange-haired girl I saw before the exam started.
'So, a body enlarging Quirk, huh? Does it only apply to her fists or—?'
"Are you okay?"
As my mind was wandering over strange topics, the girl asked me something with a slightly concerned face. Causing me to snap out of my daze, and look at her with a raised eyebrow.
Then, turning to look at the wrecked robot that had been embedded into a nearby building, I couldn't help but let out a sigh and look at her with a faint frown.
"Hey, I know that there was no explicit rule that said "no kill steals allowed", but—"
However, upon hearing me mention kill stealing, she quickly panicked and began moving her hands around frantically.
"Eh?! Wait, I just thought you were not able to move since you stood still when that robot was rushing at you! Were you not in any danger?"
Seeing her act so panicky at my words, my frown lessened a bit.
It seemed like she had done it because she had thought I needed help. Which, honestly, wasn't all that unbelievable.
I vaguely remember that the protagonist had frozen up because of fear during his exam. So, having someone believe I had frozen up like him was not impossible.
Not to mention that this is a place for becoming heroes. It's not unbelievable that the kids who apply for this exam are more heroic than common people.
…
That, or she was really good at acting.
But eh… whatever. It was just a one-point robot anyway. I could kill any of those in just a matter of seconds… As far as I could find one, that is.
And I got to know what her Quirk was. So, I guess I still won something in the end… Kinda.
"I just thought it was a bother to approach it, so I waited for it to come at me instead" I said, giving a wry look at the poor robot that looked like a trampled can after she hit it.
"I-is that so?" The girl looked surprised for a moment before an expression of shame sprang onto her face as she apologized, bowing faintly as she did so. "I'm sorry about that. I swear I didn't do it with bad intentions".
So, in response, I simply shrugged the matter off.
"Well, what's done it's done. It was just a one-point robot anyway, so don't sweat it" I said while gesturing for her to calm down.
To which she lifted her head to look at me with an unsure expression. As if she still felt guilty of having KS'ed me.
Which she should be, don't get me wrong. Ks is the lowest of acts, after all.
But well, she was quite pretty, and I was a sucker for things like that.
Not so much as to forgive everything she does tho. I'm not such a pushover.
Maybe a bit in the past, but now, I was a reformed Suzaku.
All my training had taught me that first came becoming a millionaire and then getting girls.
In other words, goals first, then romance.
Otherwise, you could see me imagining a future with every 24/7 store or McDonald's cashier who is a bit pretty, instead of focusing on becoming a hero.
Plus, she seemed to be genuinely sorry. So I wasn't going to pursue the matter.
Oh, and also, I was not in a place where I could afford to continue wasting time talking.
So, nodding my head at her, I said "Sure", before I pointed back with my thumb and told her "But hey, we shouldn't waste more time. Who knows when the exam will end". Causing her to widen her eyes, and mutter "Y-you're right", before turning around to look for any nearby robots.
When I saw her go back to do her own thing, I prepared to run off on my own to continue my search for points.
-Rumble!-
However, before I was able to, suddenly the ground shook like an earthquake and stopped me momentarily.
'The heck?'
Confused by the sudden event, I gazed around me and suddenly caught a glimpse of a huge dust cloud rising in the distance.
… And from within it, an enormous robot that dwarfed even buildings emerged.
"The 0-pointer, huh?"
Seems like the big baddie has appeared.
…
-To be Continued-
(A/N: I decided to add the new impostor power that Innersloth announced a week ago, since it came in handy in a recent chapter I wrote where Suzaku goes on a killing spree. It's called vanish, and you can go check its details out on the auxiliary chapter, but in summary it makes him invisible for a few seconds.
Also)
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