Chapter 4
The next breakthrough came about three months later.
I continued to grind my mental stats and any skills I could without making too much noise in the dead of night. Turns out that part of Gamer's Mind is apparently the ability to stay up all night long without needing to sleep, which was very useful. That night, I was doing some antiderivatives in my head when I heard two pings.
Through rigorous studying, your INT has increased by one!
The skill 'Mana Affinity' has been created through INT rising above 50.
Mana Affinity (Passive) LV1 EXP 0.00%
Mana. A mysterious power that allows people to do extraordinary things. This skill increases the user's sensitivity and control with that power, granting them an affinity with mana.
10% increase in mana recovery rate.
5% increase in total MP.
5% increase to magic attack.
5% increase to magic defense.
30% increase to MP-related skill effects.
I blinked. Then, I slowly got up and silently did the "You Got The Thing!" pose from Zelda. "Dah-dah-dah-daaaaaaaah," I whispered. That was a game-changer. If I got a skill like that for increasing every stat past fifty, and perhaps even other intervals, then that would be very, very useful. I brought up my stats.
Name: Midoriya Izuku
Title: The Gamer
Level: 6
HP: 1550/1550
MP: 2100/2100
STR: 32
VIT: 36
DEX: 34
INT: 51
WIS: 45
LUK: 30
POINTS: 5
MONEY: 0 Yen
SKILL FRAGMENTS: 3500
Definitely something to look forward to. It looked like I had to get the stats above fifty, and not just at fifty. I noted that my WIS was already approaching fifty. I'd ended up using Meditation a lot, seeing as it restored my HP and MP and I could use it anywhere that I needed to wait without drawing too much attention. I decided to just grind WIS at every possible opportunity until I passed fifty. I closed my eyes and began meditating.
A few days of Meditation grinding later, I finally got it.
The skill 'Nature Affinity' has been created through rising WIS above 50.
Nature Affinity (Passive) LV1 EXP 0.00%
The power of the forces of is nature great. The wrath of nature has leveled cities and decimated towns. This skill increases the user's sensitivity and control over those forces, granting them an affinity with the elements.
25% increase to mana recovery rate.
10% increase to elemental attack.
10% increase to elemental defense.
50% increase to element-related skill effects.
I grinned. Sure, I didn't as of that moment have any elemental skills, but I knew I could get some. In fact, I decided to do just that the next day.
xoxoxo
Despite how tiring it was, those long days I spent training with All Might and Kacchan became precious memories to me. Not only was I receiving help from All Might, but I was finally getting to be close to Kacchan again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed having him as a friend until I got him back. Sure, he was... abrasive... but you could see how much he really cared if you looked closely enough.
The thing that I loved the most about those training days, however, was that I could finally use my Quirk. True to his words, All Might showed off his teaching license and had us sign some forms that said that he'd be officially tutoring us to use our Quirks the ten months before the entrance exam. With that, we were allowed to use our Quirks on the beach so long as he was around and we didn't use our Quirks on anyone that wasn't part of the training.
Kacchan came flying towards me, sparking palm facing me. "DIIIIIIE!" he screamed. His explosion, however, was blocked by a blue barrier that shimmered into existence around me. It shattered, but not before protecting me from all of the damage. "I still think that that's fucking annoying, by the way," he said as he landed back on the ground.
Mana Dome (Active) LV 28 EXP 32.95% MP 45
A spherical barrier made of mana used to protect the user.
Protects against some damage.
Additional 45 MP used per minute.
A useful skill that I'd managed to puzzle out early on from seeing its description in the Skill Grimoir, which I'd been grateful for because I hadn't had to spend Skill Fragments on it. "If it works, it works," I told him, then adjusted my srance. "Now come at me."
"AND FUCKING HOW!" He blast-propelled himself at me, firing a second blast in just his right hand to make him spin for a punch. It would've been a good move... had a small sheet of mana slightly thicker than my Mana Dome not appeared in front of my blocking arm. "FUCK!"
Mana Shield (Active) LV 24 EXP 98.67%
An adaptation of Mana Dome that forsakes full-body protection for efficiency and increased durability.
Has higher durability than Mana Dome.
50 MP used per square meter of shield per minute.
"Again, if it works, it works," I repeated with a cocky grin. This caused him to scream psychotically and charge at me. Kacchan was still so easy to rile up. He threw more of those enhanced punches, and I blocked each one. I then shot a blue rope of mana at him, which bound around his body.
Bind (Active) LV 13 EXP 5.45% MP 5
A skill to tie an enemy with a rope made of mana. Can only be used by those who have a talent in manipulating mana.
I'd made the skill after making a sort of rope with my mana and using it to tie up Kacchan in a spar. Actually, I got a skill called Mana Rope first, but using it to tie up Kacchan gave me a skill called Bind. "You still have too much of a temper, Kacchan. That won't be too good for hero work, even if you've been improving a lot," I said as I snapped my fingers. The Bind dissolved on cue.
Name: Bakugou Katsuki
Title: Lord Explosion Murder
Level: 21
HP: 2800/2800
MP: 1750/1750
STR: 42
VIT: 46
DEX: 55
INT: 37
WIS: 25
LUC: 14
Quirk: Explosion
Emotions: Angry
Fire Affinity: 50
His stats were coming along nicely. I'd noticed that I could see a thing that said fire affinity in his stat screen after I got Nature Affinity, probably from being more sensitive to the elements. "Shut the fuck up, Deku. You of all people don't get to say anything about what is or isn't good for hero work. Now heal me, my fists feel like I just got in a boxing match with a brick wall." I sighed and walked over to put my glowing green hands on his, causing a similar glow to spread to his hands as the bruises faded.
Healing Hands (Active) LV 3 EXP 54.86% MP 50
The power of a charitable soul to channel mana into a target's body to heal them.
55 HP restored, r emoves minor illnesses, debuffs, and negative conditions.
The second skill that I actually spent fragments on. It'd cost me 1500 and needed me to have 55 WIS before I could get it, but it seemed like it'd be worth it at higher levels. Or I could just spam. I'd immediately tested to see what it'd do to All Might when I got it. Unfortunately, it was nowhere near the level needed to come even close to restoring him to his former glory, but he told me that he felt better and the skill got EXP off of it, so that was a plus. I'd ended up regularly using it on him as grinding.
"Thanks," Kacchan grumbled. "Now let's move on to regular old hand-to-hand."
"Though seriously, why do you know martial arts?" I asked.
"Hey, fuck you, man! Quirk Fist is a good discipline! All the kata are adaptable enough to be used in conjunction with Quirks and it teaches you the kind lateral thinking needed to use Quirks in combat! You've seen my moves! And I've already seen you improve since you started! Now get in your stance!" And so it continued.
xoxoxo
After a long day of sparring and the leveling up of multiple martial arts-related skills (as well as Physical Endurance), I walked over to All Might. "I've decided how I want to spend the rest of my Skill Fragments," I told him as I healed him.
"Very good, young Midoriya! What are you going to get?" he asked, then handed me the Skill Grimoir. I opened to book to one of the bookmarks that All Might had placed.
Summon Basic Elemental (Active) Skill Fragments: 2000
Long ago, man learned of the power of nature and learned to harness it. Some learned to not only harness nature's power, but give it life of its own and summon it at will.
Elemental's power dependent on skill level, WIS, and elemental affinity.
"I'm pretty sure that the ability to make elementals could be really useful, at least from what the skill says," I said. "I'm still not sure why the skill's at such a low price, but I'm not really complaining." I placed my hand on the skill.
You are attempting to buy the skill 'Summon Basic Elemental.' This will cost you 2000 Skill Fragments. Confirm purchase?
I hit the "yes" button. As with the other skills, the words turned into light and flew into me. I frowned. "What's wrong, young Midoriya?"
"What's Deku working on?" Kacchan came up and asked, sipping his water bottle.
"The elemental summoning one," I told him. "It looks like summoning an elemental for the first time is a lot more complex than just using the skill. There's a whole ritual that I have to do get a contract with an elemental."
"Well then let's get started," Kacchan said. "Can't be too hard."
I looked up at the sky. "Yeah, but I can also tell that the ritual will make me unconscious for several hours, and it's getting late. I'd rather not worry my mom by coming home super late."
"Okay, so let's go do it at your house. That way your mom knows where you are."
I thought about it. "Okay. I take it you want to watch?"
He shrugged. Eh, why not? I don't have anything better to do." As we walked home he asked me, "Hey, Deku. What does that elemental-summoning skill even do?"
"I can summon elemental... magic things, I guess... that can control whatever element they're tied to. If I have more than one type of elemental, then for the moment I'd only be able to have one active, though that'll change as the skill levels up."
"So you can make multiple?"
"Yeah, but I have to have an affinity for whatever element I'm using. I gained a skill called Elemental Affinity that gives me bonuses to using elemental powers and other stuff, which allowed me to make an affinity that I can use for it. Actually, my Observe tells me that you have a fire affinity that's five times as high as my affinity."
He scoffed. "Well no shit. I've got a violently pyrogenic Quirk. I'd need it to not blow my hands off. Probably." He was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I've been meaning to ask, a lot of your skills, the way their descriptions read, it almost seems to imply that other people can use your skills."
"Did you read my Gamer journal?" I asked him. "How did you even read my journal? I've kept it in my inventory except for the times I wanted to read or write in it."
"I looked over your shoulder while you read from it a few times, dummy. It's actually a really interesting read. What, didya think I snuck in while you slept and somehow got you to open your inventory and take out your journal in your sleep?"
"That wouldn't work," I told him, then sneakily snuck my journal out of my inventory without anyone seeing. "Though if you want to read my journal you could just ask."
He happily took the journal and started looking through it. "Thanks, but you didn't answer my original question. What the fuck is up with your skills?"
"I honestly don't get it. It... seems like it. Heck, the Summon Basic Elemental ritual has a mention of a contract from ages past, so who knows."
He nodded, then turned the page. "What does it feel like to use mana, then? Maybe it feels different from using a Quirk. Or similar. Or whatever."
I thought about it for a while. "It feels like taking from a well of power, then directing it in the way I need to. When I use the skills, though, it feels like the power is being directed in the way it's supposed to go. If I concentrate enough, though, I can... 'divert' the 'flow' to do something else."
"Huh," he said, then looked at his hand. "That's kinda what Explosion feels like, but it only ever goes to my hands. Weird."
"Hey, are you done with my book? I'd like to put an entry in for Summon Basic Elemental." He grumbled but handed my book over. I began writing the entry down with a pencil that I snuck out of my inventory.
"So what Elemental are you getting?" he asked.
"Huh?"
Kacchan scoffed. "You can only get one at a time, so I'm guessing you're only going to get one, even if you could probably get more."
I smiled and put my finger on my lips. "It's a surprise, Kacchan."
"It's earth or air isn't it?"
I stared at him for a second, then cleared my throat and said, "I will neither confirm nor deny your theory, but what makes you think that?"
"You said that your INT and WIS are both over fifty by now, so you're probably smart enough to know to start out with an elemental that you've always got material to work with. Sure, you could totally figure out some sort of fireball spell, but that'd be more MP used for something less versatile, so that's something you're gonna save 'til later. The only options that you're going to have a lot of are air, which if you don't have it then everyone's dead, and earth, which probably includes rocks, minerals, and maybe even refined metals. Both are more readily accessible than fire and water. Of course, if there're more elements than the four classic ones, then maybe element five is also a good option, so I don't know." Wow, he was putting his high INT score to work.
"I thought about making a cheese elemental, but I didn't think it'd be that gouda," I replied.
"Deku I swear to God."
"We're here," I said. We'd just walked up to my house. "Let's eat dinner before I do the ritual."
Mom was happy to have Kacchan over for dinner. "I'm glad to see you boys getting along after so long," she said as she set curry on the table. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you come here today, Katsuki-kun?"
Kacchan grinned. "Deku's gonna do some sort of magic thing and I wanted to watch." Mom looked at me for answers.
"I got a skill called Summon Basic Elemental that lets me use things called elementals to control the four classical elements. To use it, however, I have to perform a ritual that works as a sort of 'contract' with the elemental, and that might make me fall asleep."
"Oh," Mom said. "Okay... I guess that's okay, just brush your teeth before you do it. Also, you wouldn't mind if I watched, would you?"
"No, go right ahead," I said.
Later, after I brushed my teeth and Mom and Kacchan joined me in the living room, I laid my journal on the table and opened it up to the page on Summon Basic Elemental... or rather, the second and third pages, which were occupied almost completely by the summoning circle needed to perform the ritual. Two concentric circles, one only slightly smaller than the other, and with a five-pointed star in them positioned so that the points were all on the outer circle. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the air around me, how it felt...
Air Affinity: 10
...and on my new air affinity. "I, Midoriya Izuku, call upon the ancient contract of ages past to summon thee," I chanted, blushing at the way it was worded. Kacchan snickered. "I hope you heed my call. Come, Air Elemental!"
"Fucking called it!" Kacchan yelled. Something in the air stirred. Despite the fact that we were indoors, the wind began to pick up. It all swirled into the center of the circle, forming a miniature tornado. The tornado collapsed in on itself, the air solidifying into the form of a young boy with blue robes and short hair and wings that looked like they were made of varying types of cloud. Kacchan started laughing hysterically. "HAHAHAHAHA! HE'S FUCKING TINY!" The boy was also small enough that I could hold him in the palm of my hand. Despite his small stature, I could feel a powerful presence coming from him. He looked at me with piercing blue eyes, making me feel like I was staring into the sky.
"I'll begin in accordance with the ancient rituals. My real name is Midoriya Izuku. You have heard my true name; please tell me yours." As soon as I finished saying it, I felt myself pull apart, scattering into millions of pieces. I flew away, soaring over hills, mountains, valleys, and even oceans. I was no longer bound to a material form. I was free to go wherever I wanted, even if it meant everywhere. I was as free as the wind!
I was the wind.
I saw the living room again, except I was gone, replaced by a swirling hurricane in human shape. As I watched, the hurricane dissipated, leaving nothing behind.
And then I was back to normal. The air elemental was sitting on my hand. "I am here," he said. "My name is Halitus. You are Midoriya Izuku?"
"Yes."
"We are one, as the ancient contract dictates."
"Our souls are one."
"I am Halitus."
"I am Midoriya Izuku."
"Until our souls meet their ends," he started to say.
"We will be forever one," I finished with a feeling of awe.
"Should you ever need wind beneath your wings, call upon my power," he said with a bow, then dissolved into the air... or back to the air.
"...Okay," I said, and then felt like I was falling as everything went black.
That night, I dreamt of a gigantic storm, ravaging the whole world.
xoxoxo
Katsuki stared at the book sitting on his desk. "This thing might as well be a fucking spellbook with how much detail Izuku put into it." He flipped through a few more pages, soaking in all the knowledge that was present. "Fuck, this thing is a spellbook." He closed it. Ever since Deku had described his mana, he'd been curious. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the power that lay within him. He'd drawn upon it so many times, using it to ignite the sweat on his hands and amplify the blasts. He'd never questioned it. It was just what his Quirk felt like. But now, now he had a theory. He drew upon the energy, but this time he didn't let it follow the path it normally took when he used his Quirk. It took a few tries, but he managed to make it rise to his hand without interacting with his sweat. He opened his eyes. A blue glow was emanating from his right hand. He laughed. "Deku was right," he muttered to himself. He concentrated, and the mana consolidated into a small ball hovering above his hand. He thought for a moment, then concentrated on fire. What it felt like, what it looked like. He looked at the ball of mana and tried to combine it with the fire in his mind. The mana responded to his thoughts, changing from glowing blue energy to a ball of fire. Katsuki grinned. With his free hand, he opened the book back up to the page Deku had used earlier, the one with the magic circle on it. Deku, for whatever fucking reason, had even included the incantation needed to call the elemental. Not that Katsuki was complaining. He placed his right hand on the center.
"I, Bakugou Katsuki, call upon the contract of ages past to summon thee," he intoned. He'd probably have been a little bit embarrassed by having to say that if any people were around to watch him. Though, at the same time, the fact that he knew it was going to work really helped. "I hope you heed my call. Come, Fire Elemental." The fireball in his hand shifted, then began to change. It shrank down on itself, transforming into the shape of a young girl that could easily fit in Katsuki's palm. The girl had long, flame-colored hair that flowed down her back and glowed softly, with two pointed, yellow-furred ears of some sort of animal poking out the top. She had a yellow sundress with highlighting of similar coloring and glow to her hair, and, for whatever reason, she also had a tail made of fire. The girl looked at him with glowing, fire-colored eyes that made Katsuki feel like he was staring into a roaring inferno. He gulped. "I'll begin in accordance with the ancient rites. My real name is Bakugou Katsuki. I have told you my true name; please tell me yours." He felt himself begin to burn up, but it didn't hurt at all. He didn't become consumed by the fire but became it. He raged and raged and destroyed everything in his path. Entire forests were burnt to a crisp by him. He was fire itself. He saw himself, but he was made of white-hot flames.
And then he was back to normal. The fire elemental was exactly where she was before. "I am here," she said. "My name is Pyra. You are Bakugou Katsuki?"
"Yes."
"We are one, as the ancient contract dictates."
"Our souls are one."
"I am Pyra."
"I am Bakugou Katsuki."
"Until our souls meet their ends," she started to say.
"We will be forever one," Katsuki answered quietly.
"Should you ever need me to light your way, you need only call," she told him with a curtsy, then vanished in a burst of fire.
"Damn right I will," Katuki solemnly swore. He got up, then staggered. He didn't immediately pass out like Deku did, but he felt fucking drained. "Fuck that hits hard," he griped. "But why the hell didn't I wipe out like Deku?" He closed the journal, turned off his light, then went to bed.
That night he dreamt of a titanic monster of fire burning all that was in its path.
Chapter 5
My alarm sounded. I yawned and turned it off. I hadn't had to sleep in a while, so that was a little weird. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes, then looked at the text box that greeted me.
You have slept in a bed! Your HP and MP have been restored, and any negative status effects have been cured!
"Huh," I said. "I'm probably never going to see that again. Good to know, though." I sat up and did a few stretches to get myself moving. Remembering what I had done last night, I whispered, "Halitus." My new elemental appeared from nowhere, sitting on my bed and now about as big as a regular eight-year-old boy. He was, at the moment, in his incorporeal form, which I now somehow knew would cost me nothing to use unless I started using him to control the air around me. I could summon him to a corporeal form, but that would require a steady mana cost. "H-hello," I said cautiously.
"Hello, master," he replied. His voice didn't seem to make any audible sound, but I could still hear it in my head. "What do you need of me?" he asked.
"Nothing, for the moment. I just wanted some company, and to maybe ask you a few questions." I looked at Summon Basic Elemental. The skill had gained a level off of the summoning ritual, but now it was ever-so-slightly increasing over time now that I had Halitus out, which was good.
"What do you need of me?" I got up and started to walk to the kitchen. Unfortunately, today was a school day, so I couldn't stay at the beach all day and grind no matter how much I wanted to. My training options were really limited at school, but I'd have to make do.
"What do you know about me?" I asked.
"You are Midoriya Izuku. You are my master. Our souls are one. " He... did not waste words, did he?
I blinked. "Is that it?"
"Yes."
"What do you know about the world?"
"There is air. The air moves. People are noisy. This place used to look different." I idly wondered if the way he talked was something that all elementals did or if it was just Halitus.
"...What can you tell me about yourself?" I asked as I made myself breakfast.
"I am air. I move the air. Our souls are one." I sighed. This might be difficult.
"Who are you talking to, Izuku?" my mom asked.
"Oh, right," I said. I manifested Halitus, watching as air swirled around to give him a body. "You remember Halitus, right, mom?"
"Izuku, dear, I don't think I could ever forget what happened last night," she told me.
"Right," I said. "Sorry. I was just asking Halitus some questions about himself." Halitus gave a small nod of his head when I said his name.
"Oh, right. H-hello, Halitus?" she said uneasily.
"I am pleased to meet you, mother of master," he replied. Now that he was corporeal, his voice was audible.
"Please, call me Inko," she laughed.
"Of course, Inko-sama."
Mom sighed. "You... '-san' will do."
"Yes, Inko-san."
"Halitus, what exactly can you do to 'move the air,'" I asked.
"You give me mana and I can control the air in any way you want. My range currently has a radius of roughly one hundred meters, and it will increase as my power grows. My power will increase as your power grows."
"Okay," I said. "Do you know what my Quirk is?"
"I know not what a Quirk is. I know nothing of how the world is now."
"Oh," I said. "I'm going to have to fill you in on a lot, aren't I?"
"If that is what you wish, master."
xoxoxo
I ended up talking to Halitus as I walked to school. For whatever reason, Kacchan didn't meet me when I passed by his house like he'd started doing after we made up, so I just moved on. I'd made Halitus incorporeal before I left the house because I felt like maybe creating a sentient being made of air mana might be pushing public Quirk usage laws a little far. "...and that book was how I was able to summon you," I finished. He said nothing. I was about to say something when he suddenly jerked.
"Master, someone is rapidly approaching," he told me.
"HEY DEKU!" a familiar voice yelled. "WAIT UP!" Kacchan ran up to me, panting a bit. "You were just gonna leave without me, asshole?"
"I thought that maybe you were sick when you weren't waiting for me," I told him.
"Then check with that elemental of yours or something. He's gotta have some sort of air-sensing power."
"I only got Halitus last night," I told him. "I don't know everything about him yet. Why were you late anyway?"
He snarled. "Fucking alarm clocks. Sometimes they just spontaneously combust and shit."
"You blew up your alarm clock again, didn't you?" I sighed.
"Fuck off! This time it wasn't me!" Was it just me, or was he glaring at the air? "Well, not... directly me, anyway... Enough of that shit. Want your book back?" He handed my journal back to me.
I nodded. "Thanks, Kacchan."
He snorted. "What, didja think I was gonna fucking blow it up or drop it in a pond like some asshole?"
I gave him a blank look. "You did that to one of my hero journals."
"Shut up," he said. "Hey, I gotta talk to you about something after school."
"Okay. We can meet on the beach after you're done with detention." Kacchan had blown up at some bullies who were trying to taunt me about how long it took for my Quirk to develop and had ended up in detention because of it.
"Fuckin' detention," he sighed. "Meetcha there."
xoxoxo
School was boring, as usual. Because I had to study to increase my INT, I was already miles ahead of every class. My INT also meant that my memory was more or less eidetic, so I didn't have to worry about forgetting what it was. So long as I paid enough attention in class to know what was going on, I'd be free to let my mind wander to more exciting topics, like how I now had an air-controlling spirit for a minion. I'd figured out in Homeroom that I could communicate with Halitus telepathically, like he did, and used that to test the limits of what he could do throughout the next few periods without anybody asking me why I was muttering to the air... though to be fair I did mutter a lot, so they might have just dismissed it as "Deku being Deku." I found out that Halitus could passively sense all of the air within his range. While he couldn't transfer the information directly to my mind, he could just tell me where everything was. He could also tell how the air was moving, allowing him to not only feel the wind, but air temperature and sound traveling through the air as well. I discreetly figured out that one MP was worth about one newton of force when it came to Halitus' air moving, so I unfortunately couldn't use it for sustained flight yet. After I was done figuring out what Halitus' limits, I went back to what I normally did during my classes, thinking about my skills. "Maybe I could do something to change Healing Hands," I thought. "If I try to reverse the flow, maybe I'll get some sort of life-draining skill. If I put more mana into it and change how fast it heals, that'll make a regen spell. Actually, could it be possible to change the effect from healing to some kind of buff? If I could make buffs that'd be so useful, plus I could try to do it in reverse to make debu-"
"Midoriya-kun, stop muttering!" my eighth-period teacher yelled at me.
"Ah, sorry!" I said. "I've gotta stop doing that," I thought. A few minutes later, the bell rang and I was finally free to go to the beach and work on my skills.
xoxoxo
I concentrated on my glowing hand as I hauled the tire over to the edge of the beach. The mana in it was primed to flow into the body of whoever I touched it with, giving them life energy. I felt that power, concentrated on it, then forced it to invert. Ping!
A skill has been created through special action! By reversing the effects of 'Healing Hands,' the skill 'Draining Hands has been created!
Draining Hands (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 50
The power of a greedy soul to take life force from a victim's body, converting it to mana.
50 HP drained, removes minor positive conditions.
Any HP drained by this skill is added to the user's MP. The user can choose to gain any effects removed by this skill.
I stared at the ominous purple glow that my hand had taken. It wasn't the best skill, what with the fact that it cost as much as it healed, but I was sure I could train it up so that it was better. "What's that, young Midoriya?" All Might asked. He was sitting on a folding chair in his civilian form nearby.
"I just made a life-draining skill from my healing skill," I told him. "I wanted to test out a hypothesis that I had. I guess now I could use this on myself to train my Healing Hands skill."
"Of course, that's a good idea. Just make sure to keep an eye on your HP and don't use it on others unless you have to."
"I wasn't planning on it," I said hastily. "I was, however, planning on seeing if I could make new skills from Healing Hands. I'm going to try to do something else that I thought of." I canceled the Draining Hands and switched back to Healing Hands. I let the mana build up and concentrate, then thought of something. "If I'm using this much mana, then I can properly stabilize it into projectile form, like with Mana Bolt. Having a ranged healing skill would be even better than a touched base one." I made a few modifications, then said, "Can I test out a skill on you? It shouldn't do any damage."
"Sure, but could you please be careful just in case?" I nodded, then shot a pulse of green light from my hand at All Might, causing him to glow slightly green for a second. Thankfully, he didn't appear to be hurt. Ping!
You have made a new skill. What will you name it?
"Regeneration," I said.
Regeneration (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 200
A skill that causes the target's body to heal itself over time.
Target regains 5 HP every second for 2 minutes.
Skill can be fired with a range of 10m with an additional 10 MP.
"It worked!" I shouted. Ping! I stopped working. "Huh?"
For creating multiple skills, you have received the title 'Skilled Gamer!'
"What's wrong, young Midoriya?" All Might asked.
"I just got a title. Hang on, let me see something." I opened my status screen. My title was still The Gamer, but now there was now an arrow on the box with my title, like when you can click on the box to bring up more options. I pressed the arrow, and it showed a box that had two titles: The Gamer and Skilled Gamer. "It seems like I can get new titles by doing certain things. I'm going to see if it has some sort of bonus or something." I Observed both of the titles.
The Gamer
The first title bestowed upon the one with the power of The Gamer. Has no special effects.
Skilled Gamer
The title given to a gamer who likes to make new skills.
15% bonus to skill experience.
"And?" All Might asked.
I equipped Skilled Gamer. "The title that I just got gives me more skill experience and my original title, which would be the default title, did nothing. I'll probably get more titles with different effects by doing significant enough things, which means that I could get even more skills."
"That's excellent, young Midoriya, but for now could you get back to work? It seems that that's all that that is for now, so you should continue with your training."
I picked the tire back up. "Of course!" I remembered the other skills that I wanted to make. I concentrated on Regeneration, but this time, instead of making the mana heal, I tried to make it reinforce the body. It clicked, and I applied it to myself. A blue light spread over my body and I felt the protection come over me.
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
"Defense Up."
Defense Up (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
A skill that uses mana to defend the target's body.
Reduces damage taken by 5% for 2 minutes.
Skill can be fired with a range of 10m with an additional 10 MP
I nodded to myself. "This will be useful. I should probably make other buffs to go with it." I concentrated.
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
Attack Up (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
A skill that uses mana to strengthen the target's offensive power.
Increases damage dealt by 5% for 2 minutes.
Skill can be fired with a range of 10m with an additional 10 MP
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
Speed Up (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
A skill that uses mana to increase the target's speed.
Increases movement and attack speed by 5% for 2 minutes.
Skill can be fired with a range of 10m with an additional 10 MP
Through the creation of multiple complex skills, your INT has increased by one!
I grinned. Even if it would be a drain on my mana to keep them all up simultaneously, the fact that I had them meant that I could increase my stats if I ever needed to, plus I could buff others. Not to mention, the fact that they had an alternate casting mode meant that they might have the potential to get more casting modes, which would be extra useful. "Still, even with these buffs, it might be good to also have debuffs just in case." Just like with Draining Hands, I inverted the mana effects to see if I could make them into debuffs.
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
Defense Down (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
A skill that uses mana to weaken the target's body.
Increases damage taken by 5% for 2 minutes.
Skill can be fired with a range of 10m with an additional 10 MP
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
Attack Down (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
You have made a new skill. What would you like to call it?
Speed Down (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 150
"I think I'm good on buffs and debuffs for the moment," I said. "What should I work on now?" Suddenly, the BGM changed to Kacchan's image song, followed by Kacchan greeting me.
"Sup, Deku! We gonna talk now?" he asked as he ran up to me.
"Ah, young Bakugou. Welcome back," All Might said.
"What did you need to talk about, Kacchan?" I asked. He grinned, then held up his hand. He made a small explosion, the fire of which somehow stayed after the explosion ended. The fire grew, then swirled down to the ground beside Kacchan, where it condensed into the form of a young girl. I gasped. "What?"
Kacchan grinned wider. "You remember what you said about how you felt like other people should be able to use mana and stuff? I just proved you fucking right!"
"Kacchan, that's amazing!" I exclaimed. "The implications of this... You might have just revolutionized everything!"
"I know I'm awesome, Deku, you don't need to tell me what I already know," Kacchan said smugly. Honestly, I think he was underselling what he did, if anything.
"Uh..." We both turned our heads to see the source of the noise. All Might was standing there, his mouth wide open and blood pouring out. I quickly walked over to him and used Healing Hands on him. "Thank you, young Midoriya. Young Bakugou, it seems that you've discovered that anyone can, with enough practice, use magic. This is something that I'm going to have to call in. You two don't have to worry about anything, though. For now, why don't the two of you get acquainted with your elemental powers?"
"Right," I said. I summoned Halitus to my side. "This is Halitus, as you know. What's her name?"
"Hello," the fire elemental said. "My name is Pyra. I'm pleased to meet you, Midoriya-san, Halitus-san." She gave a small curtsy.
"Greetings," Halitus said. "My name is Halitus."
Kacchan smirked. "Hey Deku, wanna have a spar using only elemental spells?" he asked.
"Sure, Kacchan," I said. We got on opposite ends of the part of the beach that we'd cleared away for sparring matches. "Let's begin," I said. Kacchan immediately lifted his hand up so that his palm faced me. An orangey glow began to come from his hand, and a ball of fire erupted from it and shot at me. I had Halitus block it with a small vacuum, causing it to snuff out mid-flight. "What was that?" I asked.
"How the fuck did I figure that out first?" he asked. "Use your affinity on your mana, dumbass!" I blinked, then slapped my forehead. Of course I could do that. I held my other hand at him and gathered air-charged mana. I shot a small ball of pressurized air at him, a popup telling me that I'd gotten the skill Air Shot. "Now you're getting it!" he yelled excitedly. He shot a volley of fireballs at me, which I dodged some of and had Halitus block the rest. Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I got a notification from Sense Danger that reminded me that Kacchan also had an elemental. A fire elemental. And I just let him light a fire. I dodged out of the way of the lances of flame that shot at me from where the fireballs hit the ground. I needed to increase my speed, but I couldn't use Speed Up because it wasn't elemental. As I used an Air Shot to blow the fire back, I got an idea. I gathered some air mana and let it spread over my body, combining with it.
A skill has been created through a special action! Unifying the body with nature's power has created the skill 'Elemental Aura' to empower oneself with the elements!
Elemental Aura (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 100
The combining of one's body with elemental power grants abilities according to that element. Power changes as the caster's INT, WIS, skill level, and elemental affinity grow. Only possible for those attuned to the elements.
Additional 100 MP used per minute.
Air Aura: Increases movement speed by 30%, increases jump height by 15%, increases DEX by 10%, user can generate wind and expend more MP to increase wind generation.
I felt myself speed up as a green glow spread across my body. Unlike with Speed Up, the glow didn't stop after I cast the skill because it was still active. I charged toward Kacchan, a combination of my running and the wind I was generating creating a cloud of sand behind me that smothered and blocked the flames. I threw a punch at him before he could get the chance to cast any more spells. He caught my fist with one hand, then started laughing maniacally. "HAHAHAHAHA! That was a fucking good one, Izuku!" I blinked. Did he just use my real name? "Let me guess, you cloaked your body in air mana to give yourself some sort of elemental boost, huh?" He chuckled a bit, then his grin grew to a toothy smile. "Is this what it feels like to be proud of someone else? I'm gonna have to step up my fuckin' game if you keep pulling shit like this, you know? How 'bout I start..." as he said that, a fiery glow began to envelop his body, and I could feel sweltering heat from his hand. "WITH THIS!" With that, he threw my hand back and punched me in the chest, making me fly back farther than I'd have thought he could. While I was staggered, he darted forwards with a speed I could barely see, then started pummeling me when he got to me. I couldn't find any openings, but then I had an idea. I overcharged my Air Aura, causing it to explode in a burst of wind that sent Kacchan flying back.
A skill has been created through a special action! By overcharging the skill 'Elemental Aura' to the point of explosion, the skill 'Elemental Burst' has been created!
Elemental Burst (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 200
The power of the elements can be too much for one to handle in great enough amounts. This skill turns that weakness into a strength by generating a burst of elemental mana.
Elemental Burst is strengthened if used while Elemental Aura is active, but destroys Elemental Aura when used.
I dropped to the ground as Kacchan was sent flying. Air obviously wouldn't work on Kacchan's fire aura, so I needed to use something else. I concentrated on the sand beneath my fingers, feeling it interact with my mana.
Earth Affinity: 10
I grinned. Kacchan didn't specify that I had to use air magic, just elemental magic. I looked at my mana, seeing that it was still high enough for a fight. I cloaked myself in earth mana the same way I'd used Air Aura.
Earth Aura: Decreases damage taken by 30%, Increases damage dealt by 15%, increases VIT by 10%, user can generate shockwaves and expend more MP to increase shockwave force.
This time, the mana that enveloped me was brown and cream-colored, like desert camouflage. As soon as I was done, Kacchan came rushing at me again and threw a punch at me with a kiai. This time, I blocked it with my arm, causing him to wince as his fist met my hardened skin. I punched him in the gut in return, which knocked the wind out of him. I took a step forward as I backhanded him, the combination of the shockwave and the strike knocking him over. He did a move that looked almost like he was breakdancing when he hit the ground, except he generated a wave of fire with the sweeping movements as he got up. I stomped, sending up a wave of sand in front of me to block the fire. It gave me an idea, so I used earth mana to compress some of the sand into rocks, which gave me a popup that said that I got the skill Rock Throw. I shot the rocks at Kacchan so that he had to dodge them instead of charge at me again. As he dodged, I ran towards him. He saw me and smirked as he began to run towards me. When we met, we both punched each other in the face, knocking each other down. We groaned simultaneously. "Draw?" Kacchan asked.
"Draw," I agreed. I placed my hand on his chest and started to heal him. "Before you say anything about not needing it, I need to practice with Healing Hands with every opportunity to make it more powerful."
"That's fine," he said. He was quiet for a moment, then said, "I really am sorry, Izuku," without any of the usual prickliness in his voice. I was so startled at him using my real name that I almost shot him in the chest with a Mana Bolt.
I sat upright. "D-did you just use my real name, Kacchan?"
"'Course I did," he said. He didn't sit up, but just stared at me. "I'm trying to be serious. Yeah, I was trying to get you to give up on being a hero because I didn't want to see you get hurt, but that doesn't excuse how much of a fucking asshole I was about it!" He slammed his fist into the sand. "I just... I just got so angry when I thought about you getting hurt doin' shit like that, and I took it out on you. That was shitty of me, Izuku." He sighed. "I must be the fucking worst at being a hero."
"It's okay, Kacchan," I told him. "Yeah, it sucked, and yeah, nothing will change the fact that you did it, but at least now we can move forward and work on our problems together." I smiled at him. "Also, I'm pretty sure that the title of 'The Fucking Worst at Being a Hero' goes to Endeavor."
Kacchan cackled at that. "Fucking good one, De-Izuku. I needed to hear that."
"You can call me 'Deku' if you want to, Kacchan," I offered. "I don't mind. The name's actually kinda grown on me."
"Whatever you say, Deku." He got up and did a few stretches. "Now let's blow some of this junk up!" He punctuated his statement with a blast of his Quirk.
"Actually," I said as I got up, "I had an idea that I want to test out." I held out my hand and concentrated. If I could make a shield out of mana, then why couldn't I make a sword? The mana built up and solidified, forming a katana made of blue mana.
Bound Blade (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 50
Weaponry is certainly useful, but may not always be readily available. This skill allows the user to forge weapons from their own mana. This skill can only be used by those with excellent control over their mana.
Extra 50 MP used per minute per weapon.
Max number of weapons: 1
"Did you just make a sword out of mana, Deku?" Kacchan asked. "That's pretty fucking badass."
I nodded, then concentrated on the sword. "Maybe I could add elemental mana to it..." I muttered. I turned my Air Aura on, then made it extend to my sword.
Elemental Weaponry (Active) LV1 EXP 0.00% MP 50
The body is not the only thing that can be empowered by the elements. This skill allows the user to give the armaments they wield the power of the elements.
Additional 50 MP used per minute.
Air Aura: Increases cutting power by 30%, increases attack speed by 30%, allows user to generate wind from weapons as with Air Aura.
Earth Aura: Increases striking power by 30%, increases shock absorption by 30%, allows user to generate shockwaves from weapons as with Earth Aura.
I sped towards a nearby fridge and cut through it like it was made of butter. Two pop-ups told me that I'd gotten the skills Sword Mastery and Power Strike. "FUCK YEAH!" Kacchan yelled. "That's the sort of shit that makes me regret ever thinking you couldn't be a hero, Deku!"
I smiled. "Thanks, Kacchan. If you want, I could try teaching you some of my spells and see how good you are at them." The massive grin he gave was all I needed to know that he'd take me up on that offer.