Izuku still couldn't believe how beautiful Etheria really was. Looking from his room in one of the castles towers, it was breathtaking.
Colourful skies that shown down on the forests to the ruins that dotted Etheria's ancient landscape . Showing that despite their age, they still held an otherworldly beauty to them. Then there was the hustle and bustle of the markets below at the ground level.
The castle itself was nothing to scoff at either. The multitude of murals placed in the halls of the shining beacon were beautifully crafted, carved from some sort of special crystal. Allowing them to practically glow with colours. Intricate halls and rooms were well sculpted from fine marbles from what he could tell. But the most important object at the castle was that strange oval artifact that hovered gently above its own tower.
The Moonstone. From what he read about in the multitude of tomes he took out, was something called a 'Runestone'. One of few extremely powerful objects that gave life to the world around them, keeping balance.
There were 3 kingdoms that had a runestone out of the five runestones he read about, and each was connected to their ruler in some way or in his teleporting friend's case, princess. Giving them powerful abilities.
The other stones gave elemental powers to their ruler, Izuku still wasn't sure what power the Moonstone gave but it seemed to grant powers revolving around light. If the teleporting was any indication.
He would love to see the other Runestones, the other kingdoms beyond Brightmoon. Who knows much was out there. Izuku's curiosity was going to be the death of him. He had to be careful.
Izuku simply stared out the window of his new room, sitting on the windowsill. it wasn't that spacious Angella told him, but considering it was twice the size of his room back in Japan, he begged to differ. It had everything he needed, a large desk to write in his translation journal and study, chairs, multiple shelves which he quickly filled with tomes from the archive, a few tables and rugs to fill in the space and a very normal bed and dresser set close to the window.
The old bed that was in the spare room was far too soft and over-extravagant for his taste. Izuku sunk into it every time he tried to lay on it. Then it exploded into feathers when he tried adjusting himself last year. So, a regular cot was brought in. It was a hundred times more comfortable and made sleeping (and getting back home) much easier.
Although in a way this was a home away from home now, wasn't it?
It had been two years since he first came to Etheria through means he still didn't know. It bothered him still sure. But not as much now as it did when he first came.
Although he did have to explain thoroughly to Angela that one night on how he arrived. He told the queen all he knew. How he seemed to wake up in Etheria when he went to sleep in Japan and vice versa. He barley could get word out then, so he wrote it to her.
Now Izuku was speaking like it was second nature. He was no expert by any means, and he still let slip the occasional Japanese word in the middle of speaking, but only when he was nervous. Which he still was but he could keep a conversation going if need be.
Izuku started to bring an old music player with him to test if he left something in Etheria it would stay there and not be in his hand when he woke up. It worked like he thought it would, it was also nice just to have some music to listen too when he wasn't busy. Since he couldn't use his phone here.
He first found it at an old thrift shop around his district. It was filled with old pre-quirk songs and still in good shape too. most of the songs were pretty good with only a few minor hiccups which he got rid of and replaced with a few songs he liked. it cost a whole year's worth of allowance, but it was worth it.
Izuku put some on some ear buds and hit play. A soft ukulele began to fill his ears. He looked out his window and began to make some notes in a hero volume he brought with him, humming along to the melody. Watching the soft clouds roll by. It was peaceful.
"Hey, Whatca doin'?"
"WAAAW!" Caught completely off guard, Izuku panicked, his arms waving around trying to steady himself which only quickened the inevitable and he promptly tumbled on to the floor with a bam, almost face planting onto the floor.
He quickly checked if the player was ok before getting up. Thankfully, he himself cushioned it during the fall. Izuku took an ear bud out and looked up to find none other then Princess Glimmer standing over him. Having teleported into his room without his notice.
"Y-your getting way to good at that…" Izuku mumbled, looking up to his friend.
"What? At scaring you or zipping around without you noticing?" The princess grinned, offering a hand up.
"Both." Izuku laughed, taking her hand, and pocketing the player. "W-What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in studies right now?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked my freckled friend because you, my young Izuku, are coming to one of my spell lessons today."
Izuku eyes widened "R-really?! Wh-when!" Was he going to learn actual magic?! This was a once in a lifetime moment, if the journal could have its own source of magic AND still work on Earth a-and if he could learn it then-
A flurry of murmurs began to leave Izuku's lips as the limitless possibilities that magic could provide to him made up his every thought. Maybe even help him be a hero he always wanted to be. What spells could he learn? What spells should he learn? How many possible spells were there, or could you make it up as you went? Could he make it look a like quirk if he tried? And--
*poke* Izuku glanced over to see that Glimmer had pushed a finger right into his cheek. Making him stop mid-thought. His head also pushed slightly aside.
"You done?" She said, an amused look on her face and finger still jabbing his cheek.
"…yesh…"
Glimmer removed her finger and Izuku scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. It's just this is really exciting for me! S-so, when are we going?"
"Right now!" Glimmer grabbed his shoulder with a grin and teleported the both of them out his room. In the next moment they were in a large open training room.
Glimmer's precision with teleporting had grown dramatically when her training was in full swing after the few months of having her power and after the months both were grounded. Now able to teleport with a thought instead of intense focus. Izuku was still getting used to the drastic change to his area whenever it happened.
Which it did a lot but he stopped getting sick so that was something.
"G-Glimmer!" the greenette turned to the princess. "P-Please warn me when you do that! And I didn't grab anything for today. I don't even know what we're learning! Do I need a staff? A spell book, a special crystal? What?!"
Glimmer simply smirked and said, "You'll love it, trust me."
Before Izuku could raise his item objection again, Glimmer cut him off. "And you won't need anything." Glimmer reassured him.
Izuku blinked a few times. "…Promise?"
"Promise." Glimmer assured "Just got to wait now."
Both went over to a nearby bench by one of the ends the room and took a seat. "Who are we waiting for?" Izuku asked wondering who could be showing them the ropes.
"Mom told me we're doing a special lesson and to come get you. Aunt Casta is coming over to teach us today." The princess explained.
"Both of us? With what?"
"For me I think it's going to be more learning to use my powers more precisely and just some general practice. Maybe learn how to use the offensive side of them. Not sure what she'll have you do though." Glimmer shrugged with the last statement.
That wasn't exactly a good thought, but it was better then nothing. The two, with what time they had, just talked to one another about whatever came up. From what could Izuku's training regiment would be, how he was adjusting to his room, what studies Glimmer were enjoying or stuck on and other random topics to pass the time. It was nice even though they saw each other every other day and that was on busy days.
"So. What's it like?" Glimmer asked Izuku.
Izuku tilted his head in confusion "What exactly?"
Glimmer paused. Trying to find the words for what she was trying to say. "Um, you know, Japan, Earth, all that? You don't really talk about it. Or like too for that matter." She asked, hoping she didn't hit a sensitive subject with the greenette.
Oh. he doesn't, does he? When he told Glimmer that he was from another world all together literally the minute after his questioning with the queen two years ago, she was skeptical.
Which made sense for the most part. But a few days after is when that it all started to click. How he couldn't speak, how didn't see single person in or out of the woods, The 'village' she's never heard about, how he's never even heard of the Horde until a couple days ago. And that was its own can of worms when he did.
She was still accepting of him, of course, but there were still tons of questions, questions he always put off. Saving till the next day and the next day, and the next day. Now with nothing stopping either of them. This was her chance.
"it's…not the most interesting place compared to Etheria, Brightmoon alone." He lied. He really wanted someone to talk to about heroes with.
"If you came from there, I really doubt that." she punched him in the arm and leaned back against the wall, relaxing. Her face went from a soft smile to more neutral expression.
She stared off and continued. "I just-I've just been thinking that whenever I try to bring it up you get… sad or upset or defensive. It just makes me think that." Glimmer looked back to Izuku. "That it might not be as good for you over there, you know? That you're not happy, do you even have friends back on Earth?"
"W-Well…. I-I mean if you want be specific uuuuhhhhhh."
He got the look from Glimmer. Clearly not buying any of it. "…N-No I-I don't. not really." Izuku's head dropped in shame.
"Why though? you and Bow are some of the coolest people I know. Sure, you're a little dorky but that's part of the charm."She thought he was cool? That felt…good. "You make people want to be friends with you, Izuku. So why don't you have any?"
Tell her why. Tell her why you don't have any friends. Why everybody hates doesn't like you or want to hang out after school. Why the teachers look the other way when he was being bullied. 'Can't have the next generation of heroes be sullied by what they did back in school right? Or stain their chances of getting into U.A!'. The ones who were blessed to have a power while he was stuck with nothing, treating him like nothing.
Because he was quirkless.
"Your what?"
Oh shiiiiizzile sticks. He mumbled that, didn't he? "UHHHH, N-Nothing! Just meant to say I was a little quirky." Izuku tried to change the subject, but Glimmer was having none of it.
"What's wrong? You know me, I won't think any less of you. No matter what. We're part of the Best Friend Squad, remember?"
Despite being against it in their first couple weeks of the squad's formation, she seemed keen on keeping the name. "And what was the first decree of the squad?"
"…always have each others backs…"
"I'm sorry. Couldn't hear you. What was that again?" A knowing smile began to form on Glimmer's face with Izuku slowly following suit.
"Always have each others backs." Izuku said again, this time with a little more confidence.
"That's more like it! You know I'll try and understand."
"So." She scooted closer to Izuku. "Spill."
Oh yep. This is where he died. It's just a friend, who is a girl, who is really close. Nothing to worry about just busy yourself by talking, Izuku thought. Might as well start from a decent point. Trying to suppress the blush in his cheeks.
"…People from earth have unique powers called-"
"Ah, there you two are! And I thought I was early." Castaspella strode into the open space, towards the two. With a small bag tied to her sash.
Oh, thank the stars, that was close. He almost had to delve into quirks which would definitely have led to his lack of one. But thankfully their teacher had arrived.
Glimmer however thought otherwise. "We're finishing this after today alright?" he was about to say something contrary to that statement when Glimmer got right into his face. Which did scare him a little.
"And don't even think about running because I WILL find you."
She was serious! He still had the bruises from the kitchen incident last time she was serious. And those were just about cookies! "Did I interrupt something?" Castaspella questioned the two, hoping she didn't interrupt something important.
Glimmer got off the bench first and answered. "Just a little discussion between friends." She emphasized 'friends'. Yeah, there was no way out now. "What's today lesson?" She asked as Izuku got up from the bench and walked up beside her. Wondering too what they would be learning.
Castaspella shrugged off the strange answer and began her lesson. "Glimmer." The princess in question stood straight.
"You will be starting off with a series of illusory targets conjured by me that you will try to hit with your light projectiles. This will become more difficult as the targets become faster and smaller. We will move on when all the targets are destroyed."
She nodded at the instructions. Castaspella nodded back then turned to the other.
"Izuku." He straightened up as well with only a tinge of anxious anticipation.
"You will be practising basic casting and spell circle creation. Do not be discouraged if nothing happens at first. I will cast the spell and you copy my motions after." Izuku nodded. This was a step forward for him. To learn something only talked about in fairy tales and story books back home.
"Very well. Let us begin." Castaspella extend her left hand outward and bent her right back to herself. Two fingertips began to glow a light blue on her left hand and with them drew a large circle in front of her. The circle itself started to fill with an inner circle and four diamonds formed at the cardinal directions of the circle with another diamond in the centre as she slowly drew it.
The circle was complete and began to rotate slowly. Casta brought her left arm back and thrusted with her right, palm facing the circle. With this motion the rune ignited with an indigo light and dozens of triangle targets dashed out from the main rune. Scattering all across the training hall.
"Wow..." Both muttered, amazed at the spectacle.
"Glimmer, your targets?" Glimmer stammered, then quickly ran to get as many targets as possible. Now it was his turn. "Follow my lead." As she was about to begin the lesson, Izuku shot his hand up. "Yes?" His teacher asked.
"U-Um, I was wondering if I need any prerequisites or special exercises to, uh, get the magic flowing or anything. Or if I need a book to reference from. Or do I need something to draw from to get the magic or-." Casta stopped Izuku from letting his thought ran rampant.
"Let's start with how sorcerers draw magic and cast spells."
"There are many forms of magic on Etheria." Casta began to explain to the sorcerer in training. "It is in most living beings. Even the most mundane thing can be magical in nature. Although there are some who are naturally connected to it, born with this connection or connected to objects of great magical potential. In our case Glimmer is partially connected to the Moonstone. Allowing it's power to flow through her and grant her a portion of it's power."
Both looked over to Glimmer blasting the indigo targets as quickly as possible missing most of the time but still hitting a few targets. "However, sorcerers do not have this natural connection, not normally, and instead draw from the magic around themselves or the environment. To study, to utilize and to focus into spells."
Izuku really wished he brought a notebook to record this. He could settle for memorizing every word for now. He simply listened on to Castaspella's lecture on the basics of magic. Before moving on to a demonstration.
"Let us start with a basic Illusion spell. Follow my lead."
Instead of the grand movement which she used with the previous spell. She brought one finger forward and slowly drew one small circle just from moving her finger. The circle quickly completed, she pressed her finger onto the central shape and in small flash a tiny see-through lizard was sitting in the palm of her hand. Izuku was mesmerized. He brought his hand to try to touch the lizard. His hand went right through the lizard and the illusion dissipated.
"Before you create a specific illusion you must first picture what you wish to conjure in your mind and keep that image as you cast the spell. And make sure you draw the circle near perfectly. Otherwise, it will not be what you wish or look like this…"
She then drew a much cruder circle and pressed against it with her finger. What was in her hand looked nothing like what she had before. It looked more like a two-dimensional crude drawing of a lizard instead of the realistic one she had with her first spell.
Casta closed her hand and the crude illusion faded. "Your illusions will look like that at first but with practice it will improve more and more but we'll just try and focus on creating the circle for now." The sorceress gestured to Izuku to begin whenever he was ready.
He took a deep breath and began practising drawing the circles in the air before any magic.
After a few tries of drawing circles, he now felt comfortable trying the spell now. So, he started with picturing what he wanted. He thought of an All-Might action figure to cast. With several breaths, extending his arm outwards, he closed his eyes and began to draw the circle. His eyes completely shut, Izuku drew the circle perfectly when he opened them, however...
There was nothing there. Not even a glow from drawing it. Izuku didn't understand. What didn't he do? He looked to his teacher for advice. Casta placed her hand to her chin in thought.
"Hmm. Try one more time, you must try and draw from the surrounding magic. Bring it in to yourself and push it out towards your hands."
"You got this!" Glimmer shouted from the other side of the room.
"Targets." Casta pointed out, not looking away from the greenette. Glimmer quickly turned back to her exercise, clearly getting tired and frustrated at the increasingly smaller targets she had to deal with. She was certainly making better progress then Izuku was.
"Like I said," Izuku looked to his teacher. "Do not be discouraged if nothing happens at first, that's the reason for these exercises. To see if any other preparations need to be made." Casta gestured to Izuku a second time.
"Again."
With that, Izuku tried again. Trying to feel the magic around him and draw It in. He did feel a subtle tingle at first but that went away. Maybe that was all he needed. Izuku closed his eyes again and tried casting the spell, the action figure still pictured in his head.
This time he did feel a strange tingle through out his body as he drew the circle. Was it working? He peeled one eye open slowly then bursting with shock to see it sort of was. The circle was incredibly rough as well as having a lot of gaps as it went around and having no central shapes or other lines. Suggesting that the magic was being cut off every so often. It collapsed into sparkles and faded shortly after.
But he still did it. There was proof he could do it. He could learn and master it.
He could be a hero.
"Well done, but it would seem that your ability to manipulate the surrounding magic is a little….choppy." Did his instructor really just say 'choppy'?
"See how the circle was in pieces?" Casta explained, pointing out the flaws in his spell work. "The flow through your body is incomplete in a way. Since you've never had to use magic before, we are assuming that your body is not ready draw that much energy at the moment or wasn't prepared to draw from the surroundings at all. As the flow is stopping and starting causing the incomplete spell."
Casta untied the small bag from her sash and pulled out a small glove. "Try wearing this." She passed the glove to the young sorcerer. Izuku grabbed the glove and began to examine it.
It was dark blue in colour and very soft to touch. The first two fingers were missing. Another keen aspect of it was the stone stitched into the glove sitting on the top of the hand. It wasn't flat but a foreign piece weaved into the glove. "This is a tuning glove. It is enchanted to help with focusing more magic to one's spells and help the wearer draw a little more magic." Casta explained it's purpose.
"And between you and me. It makes an excellent accessory to a sorceresses' fashion."
Taking that thought not seriously but still admitting it did look nice, Izuku put the glove on his dominant hand. It went just past his wrist. He moved his fingers a few times to get used to the feel of the glove. "Does it fit well?"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Casta smirked at the boy's excitement and waved for him to try again.
And thus, the training recommenced.
---- Two Hours Later ---
After several failed circles and poor spells. Izuku was starting to get the hang of it. The tuning glove helped immensely. With each incomplete, failed, or sloppy circle, the next one was better then the last. He didn't actually cast the spell yet, just crafting the circle and then letting it fade until it was near perfect. It was still a little wobbly, but it was getting there.
Glimmer had finally hit all the targets and was now practising hit and run tactics on a dummy. Teleporting, blasting the target then teleporting again to another side of the dummy. This exercise was testing how many times she could teleport before becoming exhausted and perhaps improve on her stamina and movement.
Castaspella oversaw both and was pleased both were making excellent progress.
"Well done you two. Izuku, try casting the spell this time and see if you can try and focus a different spell but with the same movements after. Glimmer take a break! I can't have you collapsing on me now!"
Glimmer was exhausted, so a break sounded pretty awesome. She dragged herself to a bench and basically melted into the seat. An exhausted breath left her, happy she finally got to sit down. Izuku on the other hand, mentally prepared himself on casting the spell. He kept making the circle but always hesitated on actually pulling through and casting.
He could do this. Just breath, think, and do. Simple right?
His mind said otherwise. What if it failed all of this was a waste of everyone's time? What would happen If he couldn't pull it off? What happens if it does work and instead of an illusion it blows up in his face? It was dangerous it…it…
It had to be done. Heroes always faced danger and always worked around the dangers of their quirk. How was this any different? Other then it has never even existed on Earth before. Izuku just had to treat it as a part of him, a quirk.
He looked over to the resting princess, hesitation in his eyes. Glimmer gave him a few words of encouragement from the sidelines.
"Don't worry about blowing up! You got this!"
Close enough. Although she basically just said 'Don't die' It did help a tinge. Plus, having someone who knew what they were doing was near was a comforting thought. Izuku took a deep breath and began to cast, a line of light started to trail behind his two fingers as he drew the circle. It formed more and more into the proper circle Casta had demonstrated. Just a little more now.
And finally, the circle was completed like so many times before it. This time it was perfect no way he could screw this up! Izuku brought his gloved hand to the waiting spell and prepared to cast. The circle glowed faintly then as warm wind flashed passed his face. Closing his eyes to the breeze, he opened them to find a decent sized white ball of fire floating gently just above his palm.
Izuku was mesmerized at the flame he created. He did it. His first spell. Glimmer cheered at the sorcerer's accomplishment from her spot, Izuku didn't hear her at first as he was thinking what went wrong. Wasn't it supposed to be an All-Might figure like he pic- Oh.
He forgot to picture the figure in his head before casting. Izuku was to worried about botching the spell and exploding he forgot to think about the thing he actually wanted to make. Maybe that was a good thing though. If Izuku made an illusion of his ideal's likeness, there would probably be some questions and awkward stares in his direction.
"Fascinating." Izuku turned his head to his instructor as she was observing his spell.
"It has been some time since I've seen someone use fire as their first illusion. The entirety is well above what should be capable at your level. You've created it with such preciseness and flow that if I didn't know any better, I'd say you made an actual fireb-" Casta stopped mid sentence as if realizing what she had said. Eyes growing worried with her realization.
Why did she stop like that? Why does she look that? What was going on?!
"Izuku, I need you to listen to me very carefully and whatever you do, don't close your hand or panic." Casta explained slowly and clearly.
"Aunt Casta, what's wrong?"
Glimmer tried to get closer to her friend but was stopped by Casta. "Stay right there." She didn't like it but if her aunt was worried then something was wrong. Izuku was starting to panic and with his panic, the flame in his hand grew.
"Izuku, please calm yourself! I need you to do exactly what I tell you, ok?" Izuku nodded still shaking with fear. "First, I need you to take a deep breath." He did as instructed and steadied his breathing.
"Very good. Now slowly bring the flame away from yourself, place your intent on it and throw it at the dummy at the other side of the training hall." Izuku followed the pointed finger and saw the training dummy at other side of the hall. He was starting to feel heat waft off the flame, now taking the entire empty space of his hand.
Izuku readied the white flame in his hand and threw it as hard as he could. The shining flame rocketed from his hand, hurtling towards the dummy. Izuku patted his hand on his clothes to put out any flame that was left on him.
Izuku thought it would catch fire sure, but just burn it a little, just leave a little mark or something. All three watched as the fireball impacted the dummy causing it to immeaditly be consumed in a blazing white inferno that covered the entirety of the dummy. Shortly after the inferno died out, all that remained was a pile of ash and burnt, broken wood that was once the training dummy. A few embers still passing through the air from the pile.
That was in his hand?! He could've incinerated himself!
Glimmer quickly rushed over to Izuku's side. "You ok?" he nodded affirmatively, double checking he still had feeling in his hand.
"What. Was. THAT?!"
Izuku was about to ask himself that, but it looked like Glimmer beat him to it.
"A fireball. A very powerful one at that." Castaspella answered, still staring towards the remnants. She then turned over to the two students. "What exactly was going through your head when you casted the spell?" She asked as gently as possible.
"N-Not to blow up… N-Not to fail."
"Alright… give the glove to me and do exactly as you did before. I wish to see something." Izuku did as he was told and took the glove off, giving it to Casta. He then took a few steps back and prepared to cast the spell again. Doing exactly as he did before, instead of the white flame he had before, he had a tiny orange flame sitting in the palm of his hand, barely keeping itself lit. Casta watched on, deep in thought.
"I see…" What? What was different?
"The tuning glove did exactly as it was made for. Allowing you to gather more magic around you then normal and focus it more finely. You amassed so much magic and with the glove's focus enchantment, the result was a very powerful but unstable form of fireball. A spell no novice should attempt without proper attention, even at the weakest levels."
He casted a fireball? Whoa. Wait. He should be still freaking out! He almost exploded!
"The glove also seems to have opened the flow of magic through your body more. Hence why you can still cast fairly well without it." Izuku eyes widened with that statement. He blew out the tiny flame in his hand and quickly tried another spell. This time he tried the lizard instead of the All-Figure. And with the circle's completion and a quick flash, a completely flat, cartoonishly fake looking lizard was fizzling in out of visibility before disintegrating in Izuku's hand.
He could still cast magic! This was amazing! Minus the almost dying part, he could've done without that. Glimmer congratulated him at his side.
"I think this is a good point to stop for today. I'll see you both next time."
Both students turned to each other with confusion on their faces. Both of them? What did she mean by that? Glimmer asked the question both of them were thinking.
"When you say the both of us. Do you mean…?"
"Well, of course! I can't exact leave him to kill himself by accident. Izuku will be joining you for every session from now on. Plus, the fact that being the teacher to a other worldly being is extremely fascinating and worth bragging rights back in Mysticor. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to inform your mother about this change in schedule."
Did literally everybody in Brightmoon know he's from another world?!
With that, Castaspella left the hall. Leaving the two trainees alone. "W-well, that could've gone better, right Glimmer? G-Glimmer?" Izuku looked over to his friend, who had the biggest smile on her face, hands clasped together, her eyes sparkling and extremely antsy.
"G-Glimmer? Y-Y-You o-"
Glimmer crushed him in a hug, cutting him off and his breathing, squeeing in delight as she squeezed. She was stronger than she looked.
"You're coming to all my new sessions! YES! We're classmates!" Glimmer picked Izuku up in her hug, swinging him around. She was a lot stronger than she looked. Or Izuku weighed nothing which was a much more decent possibility his air-deprived brain thought.
"That's…great…please let me go…" Izuku gasped as his flow of air was cut off. Glimmer stopped her swinging to see that his face was turning blue, she gasped and quickly put the greenette down. Coughing and gasping as he was able to breath again.
"Sorry! Sorry! I'm just SO excited! You're going to be a sorcerer! We're going to be study buddies!"
"We already are though."
"I meant in magic! *gasp* We need to get you a spell tome so you can study spells and not blow up! Come on!"
Glimmer grabbed hold of Izuku. The greenette readied himself, expecting a teleport, only to for a few moments to pass and nothing happening. Both blinked a few times, an awkward silence filling the hall.
"Huh, guess I'm out of teleports for today. Welp, next best thing."
Still having a hold on Izuku, The Princess of Brightmoon rushed out of the door of the hall with the green sorcerer close behind, still holding on.
---------
That rush didn't last long.
Another one of Glimmer's tutors met them both in the halls and took Glimmer with them to another lesson. This one about introductions, dialect, and properness at events. The two said their goodbyes and went in their own directions. Now he had free time, he supposed he could go to the archive and pick up that 'spell tome' Glimmer mentioned.
Izuku walked over to the grand doors of the archive, one of the first major sites he'd seen at Brightmoon and entered. Izuku wandered the archives searching for any sections about magic or spells to be specific. The search was going in good direction but nothing specific. There were tomes on magic theory, magic applications in today's age, how magic came to be, that last one would be an interesting read but not what he was looking for.
After several minutes of digging through the archive's magic section even going to some of deeper parts of the archive itself. Izuku finally found something that resembled what he was looking for. He pulled out a large, dusty tome from a forgotten shelf of the archive way in the back.
He blew the dust off the cover and revealed no title to the tome but a faded silver taking the edges with intricate designs of vines, with a sliver flower inlayed into the lower left corner and the upper right corner of the thick leather-bound tome. The name of the author was nowhere to be seen. Maybe because of simple age or wear of it. Izuku read on the spine "Spell & Runes". That's it!
He then took out the tome and brought it back with him to his room, placing it down carefully on the hard desk. Even then, the tome's weight made a rather hard 'Bamp!' noise when it hit the desk. Izuku opened the tome with some effort to a random page and started to read.
As he read more and more of the tome, it revealed all sorts of information on not just spells but a separate type of spell called runes. Runes, as Izuku read, were spells drawn on to objects, surfaces, or parts of clothing and allowed for the effect of a spell to remain in a state of inactivity until needed or activated by the caster. Mostly used in traps and situations where you can't cast a spell quickly enough.
The tome also remarked on how the author would place runes into the cuffs of their sleeves to allow instant projectile casts without everyone outing them as a sorcerer. But a quick shot instead.
Was this a journal? If so, who was the author?
Izuku tried looking for any information on the name of the author or what had happened to them only coming blank both figuratively and literally. Figuratively speaking because the only thing he had on the author were little footnotes on what situation the spell was used or would be most useful in, and how it worked out in the end, which was vague, so Izuku only had a faint grasp on what kind of person the author was.
Literally speaking because the journal ended abruptly three/fourths of the way in, leaving a solid chunk of blank parchment behind.
The first page just after the cover had a bunch of random shapes, lines and dots piled together, taking up most of the space on the page. It sort of looked like the same sort of shapes he'd seen on the temple ruin's door years ago. It still didn't make sense but maybe the archive had a book about how to read or translate it. He would look later and flipped to the last filled page.
The last page's footnote being about some 'great bounty' they would be collecting from some royalty and how this would set them for life '…Shame too, she's rather beautiful in a way and has a fire in her eyes despite that. Fun to talk too as well…' Huh.
That sounded more like a pirate then a sorcerer, but the tome didn't lie. Whoever this was, they knew a thing or two about magic.
Izuku looked for a page that would go over what he had learned today. And lucky enough, he found a whole section on illusions. Izuku stood the book up and got up from his desk, took a few steps back and began practising what was on the current page. Now that he had a reference to work with, he could practice on his own. But he would start with the safe spells first, no fireballs or energy blasts…yet.
So, Izuku practised and practised, until he felt comfortable enough with his casting time and having a decent concept on illusions now. it only felt like minutes to him, but hours had gone by. He only realized this when looked out his window and it was starting to become night.
And with no sign of his princess accomplice to have 'the talk' with him. Izuku let out a sigh of relief, (which he knew was bad but still did it) changed into a pair of pj's he brought over from Earth and put them on, folding his Etherian-made clothes into a nearby basket. Taking out the music player he left in his pocket as he did.
Before going to sleep, He closed the tome and took it with him to bed thinking it will come with him back to Earth so he could practice more spells while he was away.
And to see if he could still cast anything for that matter. With that thought, Izuku slid under the covers of his bed, tome at his side, and drifted to sleep. Wondering what the tomorrow would bring.
----------------
*BEEP* BEEP* BEEP*
And tomorrow was now today.
The sorcerer in training moved the All-Might blanket from on top of him and stretched, sleep still in his eyes. He looked over to see if the tome made the trip with him. Thankfully it did. Grabbing the tome from his side, Izuku placed it on his lap and turned to the section he was on last night. He quickly read through it not to miss a single detail.
Izuku mentally prepared himself to cast the illusion. He pictured in his head an All-Might Halloween mask to conjure. He closed his eyes and focused trying to draw any magic around him. He didn't feel anything for a few seconds, but a familiar tingle came to him and with it, began to cast his illusion.
Slowly drawing the circle with his right hand, Izuku opened his eyes to see the same faint glow followed it, leaving a trail of light as he went. It's working! Now to pull through! Izuku completed the circle and with a shimmer of the glyph he drew, an incredibly crude likeness of All-Might's face gently floated down into his waiting hand, Izuku's eyes sparkling in wonder. As it reached his hand, it shimmered once more before fading away in a faint light.
He did it… He did it! He casted a spell in Japan! What was the implication for that? Never mind that! He did it!
Izuku calmed himself, he didn't want his mom barging into his room with a strange light in front of him. That would definitely freak her out. So, he closed the heavy tome and tried to fit it into his backpack without squishing his hero journals and other school supplies under it. Good thing to because he could his mother coming down the hall. He zipped up his backpack and started to get dressed for another school day, a content smile on his face.
For the first time in awhile, he felt proud of himself.
--- Afternoon, that same day-----
Toshinori Yagi AKA All-Might AKA the number one hero in all of Japan....
Was mildly walking down a vacant path through a random neighbourhood, his few hours of hero-ing having run out an hour ago. Now reduced to pale fraction of his former self. Carrying a few things for his office. He would've been there by now if his time didn't expire. now he was going to have to walk the rest of the way.
Coughing into his hand, a speckle of blood having left him. Toshinori took a few tissues from his pocket and wiped his hand and chin of the blood and tossed it into a trashcan. All those surgeries kept him going sure, but it still hurt every so often when he coughed, his injury pulsing with a mild pain with every hack. Especially transforming from his buff form back to…this pale excuse of a body.
"Well at least it doesn't hurt as much now… Damn painkillers."
Toshinori continued his saunter through the neighbourhood he couldn't bother to recall until he reached an intersection. Just before he was going to cross, he saw a ten-year-old green haired boy walking in a rush down the left path, frantically looking behind himself every few steps. Toshinori quickly hid himself from sight of the boy but still watched on to see what he was so shaken about. Not knowing the next few moments would shock him instead.
The number one hero peeked around the corner to watch the boy look behind himself one last time before taking a breath, bringing his hand out in front of him. Was he watching a calming exercise? He was about to look away and go back the other way he came until he saw a faint green light emanate from the boy's fingers. He watched on as the boy drew some sort of circle of light with a few glyphs forming in the radius of the circle.
Toshinori couldn't look away from the boy as once the circle was complete, it glowed then shimmered into a humanoid shape, roughly the same size of the boy. Until it looked similar to the green haired boy.
"Hey! I think he went this way!"
The boy looked back down the path he came from and gasped. He then sent the as if child-drawn look-alike down the right. Running as if it was a cheap two frame animation from his day. The boy himself diving into a bush, concealing where he dove with another circle and it shimmering to look like the leaves. Like he never jumped into it in the first place
What a strange quirk, Toshinori thought. In his many years of hero work he'd seen many quirks related to tricks of the eye or illusions, but they always seemed to have some drawback on the user. Be that it the illusion always had some uncanny-ness to it or the user could affect one person at a time.
The boy however had just created two in quick succession and sent one down the right on its own before concealing himself. The copy then stopped at the very end of the path as if waiting. At a distance Yagi could still tell it was a horrible fake but that was from years of experience. The people the boy was hiding from however…
As if on que, a group of kids came running down to the intersection stopping right in the middle three of them looking in the other directions and a blonde with a malicious aura to him leading the group. The blonde then turned to Toshinori who was still up against the wall.
"Hey! Skeletor! Did you see a green runt run by here?!" 'Skeletor'? That was a new one.
Toshinori then slowly pointed to the right, not saying a word. The group followed the thin finger towards the right path, seeing the fake kid on the other side.
"THERE YOU ARE, DEKU! GET BACK HERE!"
Toshinori watched as the group chased after the copy now having started to move out of view. He kept watching until the coast was clear and anyone that could be after the boy was out of sight. A breath leaving him finally.
Still hidden from the left path, Yagi watched as the greenette slowly emerged from the bush looking around before completely coming out of the bush, the illusion also faded as he left, reverting to a much more mangled bush. The boy then hastily tried fixing the shrubbery back to what once was.
Toshinori thought this was a good of time as any to help the boy before he needed to use his quirk. Again. The boy was lucky that no one saw him use it or he would be in trouble.
"Young man, are you alright?"
The boy then jumped at his voice, now facing the tall skeleton of a man. "AH! O-Oh sorry I d-didn't see y-you"
"That's quite alright, do you need some help with this mess?" He gestured to the ruined shrub.
"O-Oh no thank you. I d-don't want to waste your t-time on something like this."
"It is quite alright, young man. I have more time than I know what to do with right now." A hearty chuckle left the tall man, the boy's eased himself to him, maybe he could ask what was with those boys he saw. And maybe the boy's quirk too. Toshinori set aside the bag of supplies and together began rearranging the bush to something somewhat passable.
As they were arranging the bush, Toshinori began to speak.
"I couldn't help but notice the strange way of how you use your quirk against those boys back there."
The boy froze up, shaking in fear.
"Y-Y-You Ss-sa-saw?"
"I did. Every moment."
The boy then dropped a stick from the bush, tears starting to well in his eyes. And in that moment Toshinori realized what was going to happen next.
"I-I-I-I-I…"
The boy ran away from him.
"I'M SORRY!!"
Ok, maybe not.
"Wait! Hold on your not-"
Before Toshinori could chase after the boy and explain, his body thought this would be a perfect time for a coughing fit before he even started exerting himself. Toshinori fell into a fit of deep hacking coughs which made his injury pulse with pain, blood covering the palm of his hand. When he looked to up from his hand there was no one to be seen.
Damn it. He really needed to work on his people skills
Toshinori looked for any sign of where the boy might have gone only to come up empty handed.
The boy probably used his quirk to hide which way he went because there weren't even any footprints to follow.
Toshinori brought his clean hand to his face and wiped it in contemplation. The boy probably has never been confronted about their quirk before due to its nature and the boy's inherent shyness and how that group of boys was chasing him, clearly intent on hurting him. Which he would definitely have stepped in if that were the case. It didn't leave much to debate.
He was being targeted. For what reason? Yagi didn't know. Just as he grabbed the plastic bag of supplies and was about to head back to his office, he noticed something by his feet. It looked like a notebook. A student's notebook. Yagi picked up the notebook and examined it.
"Hero Notes and Theories #9 By Midoriya Izuku." The old pro read on the front.
Perhaps that's what the boy's name was, and this notebook must have fallen out of his bag during his escape. He opened the notebook and started reading as he walked, mindlessly reading it to pass the time at first.
As Toshinori read the book, the multitude of notes taken in the notebook were astounding and impressive. Each few pages detailing a hero, their quirk, strengths, and weaknesses, how useful it can be in certain situations, and how it could be improved and remove some of the drawbacks. It was all interesting stuff. A very detailed sketch of the hero in question was just icing on the cake.
There was even a whole section dedicated to him. It was mostly theories on what his quirk was and how it worked. A few of them were close and the next page was just the boy's praise of All-Might and how he hoped one day that he would meet him in person. Yagi smiled at that.
This 'Midoriya' was very intelligent if he memorized every hero that he's ever seen AND taken notes on the spot and spot weaknesses no one else did, not even villains.
After a few solid hours of walking, notebook entertaining him as he went, Toshinori finally arrived at his relocated agency downtown. Thankfully no one was here yet.
That was an interesting detour, he thought as he the climbed the stairs to his office. He opened the door and placed the bag on an empty desk and moved on to his desk. Toshinori melted into his seat, finally able to rest after today. Toshinori set the notebook to the side of his desk. However, after reading the notebook he wished to speak to the boy even more. Now determined, he booted up his computer and began searching for a 'Midoriya' household.
After some digging, he found a phone number tied with the Midoriya household. He grabbed his office phone and dialed the number. After a few moments of ringing, someone picked up.
"Hello? Midoriya Inko speaking"
"Hello, my name is Toshinori Yagi, do you have a son named Midoriya Izuku?"
"Yes. Are you from his school? Is he in trouble?! I swear he is the sweetest boy you'll ever meet and would never-"
"Oh! No, no. I'm calling because a found something that belongs to him, a notebook, and I was hoping to return it, maybe speak to him about what's inside it."
"Oh! Oh, I'm very sorry about that. What notebook if you don't mind me asking?"
"A 'Hero Notes and Theories #9 by Midoriya Izuku' does that sound familiar?"
"Yes, that does like sound like his. He always wanted to be a hero growing up. Taking notes on anything hero related to help him in anyway."
That sounded nice… Wait, wanted? Meaning he doesn't? "What do you mean wanted? Does he not want too anymore?"
"Well… he still does but… sorry I'm getting off track. When would you like to return it?"
That was… strange probably something to go over in person.
"I was hoping for some time tomorrow afternoon when he is home would be best. How does that sound?"
"I'll make sure he his home after school. Do you have this address? If not, I can send it to you after."
"That sounds excellent. Thank you. Goodbye Miss Midoriya."
Toshinori hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, contemplating his conversation. But stopping his thought determining he would learn more about the situation in person tomorrow. Who is Midoriya Izuku and why did his mother question his resolve to be a hero? and maybe learn why he seemed so afraid being seen using his quirk.