After handing over a terrifying creation to Hatsume Mei, Midoriya Izuku didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't dare continue tinkering with destructive gadgets—he feared that one day he might accidentally create something catastrophic enough to engulf all of Japan.
Recently, the Hero Course students hadn't been coming around much either. They were busy creating "Ultimate Moves" for critical moments, and soon after, they would face the Provisional Hero License Exam. It wasn't the time for distractions.
Feeling idle, Midoriya wandered into the testing area alone. Technically, there were others around, but the moment the Support Course students spotted him, their faces turned pale, and they scrambled away as if running for their lives.
"Sigh..."
With no testing equipment on him and seeing his classmates so terrified, Midoriya could only sigh helplessly. He hadn't even done anything wrong!
Now, standing in the empty testing area with nothing prepared, he found himself utterly bored.
After a moment of hesitation, though, an idea crossed his mind.
It wasn't that there was nothing to do—there was something he'd been debating whether to try: the Quirk forcibly bestowed upon him by All For One.
Midoriya Izuku had been ignoring this Quirk ever since he got it. He despised the thought of carrying someone else's Quirk inside him. Quirks were abilities people were born with, something deeply personal and precious.
He had always understood this, especially as someone who grew up Quirkless. Quirks were what he envied the most about others.
Now, though, he bore someone else's cherished Quirk inside him. It felt like he had stolen a piece of someone's soul, and the thought filled him with self-loathing.
During his recovery, Midoriya spent hours scouring the internet, desperately searching for information about the original owner of this Quirk. After comparing countless cases, he finally found a match.
It belonged to a wanted criminal, a villain who had killed seven people and remained at large, eluding both heroes and the police. Recently, someone reported spotting this criminal, but when the authorities investigated, they found no trace of him. It was dismissed as a false alarm.
Given the situation, it was clear that this individual had been taken down by All For One and likely turned into one of the Nomu at the abandoned factory.
After learning about the situation, Midoriya Izuku felt slightly relieved. At least the "Quirk" he had wasn't from a hero or an ordinary citizen, which eased his mental burden somewhat.
Now, inside the testing area, Midoriya hesitated for a moment before deciding to fully test the strength and effects of this "Quirk." It might come in handy in critical moments later.
He spread his five fingers, and from between them, his flesh transformed into steel threads that extended outward, freely dancing in the air. Midoriya carefully observed the condition of his body.
"The steel threads can be perfectly controlled, probably because they originate from my body and are a part of me."
In the second test, countless steel threads sprouted from Midoriya Izuku's right arm, spreading across the area. Just like when he had strangled the muscle-bound villain, his entire arm transformed into steel threads.
"There's no limit to the number of threads, but their total length and quantity depend on how much of my body is converted."
In the third test, Midoriya transformed both of his legs entirely into steel threads. As his body began to fall, the threads from his right arm wrapped around the testing area's ceiling, suspending and supporting him.
"Floating in midair is impossible. Losing support will still result in a fall."
For the fourth test, Midoriya Izuku carefully attempted a full-body transformation into steel threads. Starting from his lower body, the transformation reached his waist without issue.
"Even at this level, there's no sense of discomfort. Could this be more than just an activation-type Quirk?"
Midoriya Izuku reflected on his current physical state. The Quirk given to him by All For One reminded him of the "Sludge Villain" he encountered when he first met All Might.
He still remembered how the sludge had been beaten into countless fragments by All Might and then stuffed into a large soda bottle, completely defying the basic requirements for living beings.
"Forget it… Quirks themselves are inherently unscientific."
Thinking about his classmates in Class 1-A, there was no point in questioning how Sero Hanta could shoot infinite lengths of tape from his elbows or how Todoroki Shoto could create mountains of ice out of thin air. Quirks utterly defied the laws of physics.
For the final test, Midoriya Izuku focused entirely on sensing his body, gradually converting himself completely into steel threads. In the end, all that remained was a dense, tangled mass of steel threads in place of his body.
"Am I a 'Steel Thread Man' now…?"
Midoriya Izuku felt speechless as he assessed his current state. His eyes could still see, his ears could still hear, his nose could smell, and his brain could think. Yet his body was completely gone.
"Speaking of which… No. 5 Hero, 'Edgeshot,' has a Quirk that seems somewhat similar to this…"
"Edgeshot," had a Quirk called "Foldabody," which allowed his body to become as thin as paper, stretch, and extend. The effects were strikingly similar to Midoriya Izuku's current state.
"That's enough for now…"
After roughly testing the Quirk's capabilities, Midoriya began retracting and condensing all the steel threads.
Moments later, the threads retracted into the clothes and pants that had fallen to the ground, reforming into Midoriya Izuku's original body.
"This is such a troublesome thing…"
As the steel threads continued transforming back into his hands, Midoriya Izuku felt an overwhelming heaviness in his heart. He couldn't feel happy about this at all.
That man called All For One had given him a Quirk that suited him perfectly. Surely, he had other plans in mind.
The more Midoriya Izuku thought about it, the more his heart grew heavy with unease. He had no idea what that man was planning for him… Why was someone like him, without a Quirk, being targeted?
Thinking about it only gave him a headache, so Midoriya decided not to dwell on it anymore. All he could do was prepare for whatever might come. After all, All Might was there too… Heroes would surely defeat the villains.
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