Shota Aizawa was tired.
For his colleagues, his being tired meant everything was well. The day Shota would rest was the day he was in a hospital bed.
Regardless, his weariness being his default state didn't make it any better.
Between preparing for the entrance exam, the incoming classes, and the upcoming sports festival, he was stretched thin.
Then there was that man. The less said about that flamboyant musclehead the better.
Staring at the students gathered before him, he sighed.
Let's hope at least a few of them are worth shaping into heroes.
After being made to stand in front of the cityscape gates for half an hour, many had relaxed and begun chatting amongst each other.
He held up his megaphone and pressed a button on his handheld device.
"You may begin."
The entire crowd froze.
For a second, the students simply stood there and processed his words.
No.
There was one that had moved almost instantly.
Air brushed Aizawa's hair back as a blond-haired boy sprinted through him.
"Alright!" A red head yelled, sprinting after him. "Can't start falling behind already, can I?"
A smile threatened to break through Aizawa's face. I guess not all of the candidates are trash.
…
Arthur felt alive.
He was currently burning both steel and pewter together.
Warmth pulsed in his chest, slowly spreading along his entire body.
His gait became unnaturally elegant, his instincts sharpened, and his muscles strengthened.
After burning steel, the world appeared different.
Blue lines had emerged from his chest, all of them attaching themselves to different objects.
The metal beasts.
Arthur grinned.
His knightly inheritance was kind enough to point him to his mission.
Excellent.
Immediately turning towards where the concentration of lines was the hardest, Arthur sprinted with all his might.
Nine minutes and forty-seven seconds.
Approaching a crowd of metallic beasts, Arthur let out a yell.
"PERISH BEASTS!"
Before they could even react, Arthur's fist planted itself onto the face of one.
The beast had had a scorpion-like body, making it obvious it was worth two points.
Surrounding him were a multitude of one pointers and a scant few three pointers.
Arthur grinned.
Burning iron, he pulled two of the beasts, one on his left and one on his right.
Usually, he wouldn't be able to pull more than his weight class. His body simply wasn't heavy enough to act as an anchor.
However, pulling on both at once allowed him to use himself and the monsters themselves as anchors (each affecting the other), at the cost of significant pain to his own body.
The pewter enabled him to bear it.
The beasts flew towards him, at the last second, he threw a coin down and burned steel.
Pushing onto the coin, he flew up and stopped pulling the beasts.
They slammed into each other.
Nine minutes and twenty seconds.
6 points.
Turning towards the remaining beasts, Arthur brushed his hair back.
"Prepare yourself beasts, for you are standing before the future great knight Arthur Boyle."
"Do try your best to make my first quest a challenge."
2 minutes and 20 seconds left.
60 points.
Arthur was sweating. His body wasn't used to burning his metals this long. The laws forbade him from freely using his quirk to this extent. Regardless, a knight must never falter.
BOOM.
The ground shook.
Arthur turned around, only to be met by the zero pointer.
A massive green robot, slightly larger than the buildings larger than him, made its approach.
Below it, examinees desperately sprinted away from it.
Goosebumps erupted on Arthur's skin.
"A giant." He whispered.
His eyes lit up. A distant observer would have described his eyes as full of stars.
Arthur took a step forward.
Two.
Three.
He took four vials out of his pockets and emptied all of them.
Iron.
Steel.
Pewter.
Tin.
He burned them all.
His body strengthened. His senses grew absurdly sharp. Blue lines filled his vision.
Yet none of those feelings overcame the sheer enthusiasm he was feeling at the moment.
"Today," he said. "Arthur Boyle shall cement his name as a Giant Slayer."
Focusing on a line pointing towards the giant's face, Arthur pulled.
Instantly, his body was launched towards its face.
Winding his hand back, he surrendered his body to his own instincts.
What was a punch going to do to it? The giant was massive.
A regular pewter enhanced punch wouldn't do anything.
Such thoughts hadn't even occurred to Arthur.
His body rose to the level of the beast's face.
He thrust his fist forward.
The giant's red eyes glowed.
His hands were millimeters away from the giant.
Anyone who was aware of Arthur's power would know it was a fruitless endeavor.
An instant passed.
The hand inched ever so slightly forward.
Then, flare.
In the small instant before contact, Arthur burned pewter harder than he thought he was capable of.
All his reserves of pewter emptied in an instant.
BOOM.
The giant trembled under the impact, its legs destabilizing.
Its head had a massive dent in it. The circuitry where its brain was hissed.
It lurched and attempted to regain its footing.
Then finally, it fell.
Arthur, who was attached to the head, fell with it.
"EXAM OVER. TIME IS UP. I REPEAT, TIME IS UP." Speakers attached to nearby buildings came to life.
Lying on the ground next to the giant, Arthur raised a solitary first towards the sky.
"First conquest." He murmured, closing his eyes.
Sleep had never come easier.