The next day,
Gym Gamma,
U.A. High School
All the students of Class 2-A, dressed in their Hero Costumes, looked at the massive, empty facility, the size of several football fields.
It had a half-cylindrical shape, with a glassy, transparent ceiling and a concrete floor throughout.
In the morning, they had received a text from Erasure Head on the 2-A Group Chat instructing them to arrive directly here, rather than going to the classroom first.
With it being the first day of their second year, the students couldn't help but get curious.
Fortunately, they didn't have to wait for too long before Aizawa arrived and faced them all with his baggy eyes.
For a moment, he looked at each one of them, as if he hadn't been the one introducing the students to the dorms yesterday. His eyes momentarily paused on Nyx, who was perched on Luke's shoulder with her eyes closed, before he finally addressed the students.
"This is Gym Gamma," Aizawa began. "Otherwise known as Training Dining Land, or TDL."
All the students of 2-A together experienced a deja vu as they heard the short-form of the training facility, the letters USJ, and what had happened at that place, flashing in their minds.
"As I said yesterday," Erasure Head continued, "this semester, your main focus would be the Provisional Hero License Exam. I cannot emphasize it more than I already have. Do NOT take this lightly. A Provisional License brings with it great responsibility, with human lives at stake. Even during the peace times, the passing rate had never gone above 50%. This time, it will be even lower, barely reaching 10%. And that's not a number I am conjuring out of thin air."
The same warning had already paled the students' faces the day before.
This time, when Erasure Head mentioned the actual passing percentage, their fingers clenched into fists, knowing the true stakes.
"The Training Camp was meant to prepare you for the Exam," Aizawa said. "We couldn't utilize the entire time allotted to it, but it wasn't like you didn't get to learn anything. The purpose of the Training Camp was to make you familiar with your Quirks' strengths and weaknesses before you could work on improving them. Starting today, we will resume that purpose, but in a more targeted way."
"Targeted way?" the students repeated, puzzled.
Erasure Head nodded. "For the next two months," he said, "you will be focusing on creating your… Ultimate Moves."
Those two words removed all hints of sleepiness from the students, making their eyes glow.
"Awesome!" Kaminari shouted.
"That sounds so cool!" Mina added.
Smiles and excitement danced on the faces of all students. Aizawa nodded inwardly.
"To help you train better in a more efficient way, UA has assigned teachers to the Hero Course students," he told them as steps echoed in the vast chamber, making the students look over their shoulders. "These teachers' sole purpose will be to guide you, point out your mistakes, and give you a safe platform to try your Quirks without holding back. Let's welcome…"
As Aizawa named the teachers, the students' eyes also landed on them.
They were—Cementoss, Ectoplasm, and R-Rated Hero: Midnight!
The moment the three Heroes came to a stop next to Aizawa, Midnight winked at Luke, making his mouth twitch wryly, Momo's face instantly gaining a scowl next to him.
"I thought Sand would be among them," Midoriya whispered toward Luke.
"He must be assigned to 2-B," Luke whispered back. "They do need close combat training."
Midoriya's eyes lit up. "I didn't think of that…"
Meanwhile, Ectoplasm, having the Clones Quirk, which allowed him to create multiple clones of himself, stepped forward. "Ultimate means that these moves will guarantee a sure win," he told the students, his voice sounding like multiple people were talking at once. "A move so unique that there will be no need to hide it, either from your peers or from Villains."
Cementoss nodded. "That's what makes them Ultimate Moves," he added. "They cannot be copied because they are tied to your very existence. Even if someone can copy your Quirk, they cannot copy who you are, right?"
"These days, Pro Heroes without Ultimate Moves are an endangered species," Midnight chimed in. "Those who don't have them are practically fools. No Hero Agency wants them. Mark my words."
Tenya's hand shot up.
"Yes?" Aizawa stared.
"I understand that we need Ultimate Moves to become proper Pros," Tenya asked, "but why do we need them for our Provisional Hero License Exam, Sir?!"
"Calm down…" Erasure Head said. "No need to shout. The Exam will analyze your ability to deal with crimes, disasters, whether natural or man-made, and your general skills as a potential Hero. Your ability to gather information, make decisions, improvise, and fight… in addition to how well you can lead under pressure."
"But one thing remains paramount, no matter what test they throw at you," Midnight said. "Your ability to win a fight against a Villain, which means having an Ultimate Move will get you extra points, as it directly relates to your preparedness."
"They don't need to be necessarily of an attacking type," Ectoplasm explained. "Take Ida's Recipro Burst, for example. Such a temporary boost in speed is enough to make it count as an Ultimate Move."
Tenya shook, his chest swelling involuntarily.
"Another example is Kamui Wood's Lacquered Chain Purpose for restraining Villains," Midnight said, smiling. "Or, if I have to pick another one from you lot, then it would be… Todoroki's Zero Bullet."
Half the students narrowed their eyes, a spark of rivalry welling up in their hearts.
The other half got something to look up to when they would be working on their moves.
Bakugo alone lost all his cool instantly, remembering how Todoroki's attack had instantly frozen that green-scaled, fat lizard. The same lizard he had been having trouble with, despite using his Quirk to the extreme.
Noticing Midnight's words doing the trick she intended, Aizawa nodded at Cementoss.
Cementoss walked away from the group and put his hands on the floor. "It was I who submitted the design of this building," he said, activating his Quirk. "To easily create terrain suited to each student's individual abilities…"
With a powerful tremor, the entire flattened floor became a jungle, concrete structures shooting up toward the ceiling.
"Let the intensive training…" Aizawa said, "… begin!"