The next morning, the theory in the classrooms ran like water. Everyone was on edge because the real heroic training was to begin right after lunch.
I was sitting on a bench when suddenly there was a heavy step in the hallway and the door flew open.
"I... WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A COMPLETELY NORMAL PERSON!" thundered a deep, iconic voice that gave me goosebumps.
All Might walked into the classroom in his colorful Silver Age costume, a huge smile and a proud chest. The class immediately erupted in excitement. Kaminari and Kirishima started yelling at each other about how crazy it was, and Midoriya immediately pulled out a notebook with his eyes on top of his head.
"The basics of heroism!" All Might continued, leaning back proudly. "In this subject, you will learn everything from the basics, how to act and fight properly. And we will not waste any time! Today you will have... COMBAT TRAINING!"
He pointed to the wall from which several rows of numbered boxes had mechanically extended.
"And of course, the visual aspect of combat is also important! Based on your questionnaires and Quirks, the school has had you create your own combat costumes! Change and meet us at Ground Beta!"
I grabbed my box number 21 and headed to the changing rooms. As I opened the case, I had to admit to myself that the U.A. support had done an absolutely brilliant job. My costume perfectly reflected my abilities, my wing assimilation, and the presence of my shadow soldier.
As we all emerged from the dark tunnel into the light of the Ground Beta mock-up of the entire city, All Might laughed contentedly. "You look amazing! From now on, you will radiate the aura of true heroes!"
I looked around at the others. Deku had his green suit with bunny ears, Bakugo looked like a walking arsenal with grenades in his hands. But I was the one who attracted the eyes of most of them.
My costume was a direct homage to the fabled aether armor. The base was a tight, perfectly fitting suit of matte black, flexible fabric that covered my entire body up to my neck. But on top of that were plates of armor that didn't look like metal. They were made of a special crystalline material with a deep amethyst hue. These plates were light, almost translucent, and when no energy was flowing through them, their lines were sharp, clean, and regal.
But as I slightly awakened my Ether Core beneath the costume, the entire armor came to life. Fine veins of bright red and purple light pulsed through the amethyst plates, converging at the core on my chest. At the shoulders and elbows, the plates were sharply shaped, protecting the joints, while at the back the armor was anatomically divided by a liquid metal joint that could instantly adapt to assimilate the wings from the Divine Body without disrupting the integrity of the armor. A light, tattered cloak the color of midnight black flowed around my neck and shoulders, seemingly absorbing the surrounding light and constantly billowing, ready to aid me in my Concealment. The black horns on my head combined with this energy armor to complete the appearance of a fallen deity.
(same as in the picture)
"Wow, Mephisto, your costume looks incredible! It's like you're a living crystal or magic personified!" Kirishima said, patting me on the shoulder appreciatively.
"Thanks, Kirishima, yours looks good too," I replied calmly.
When we moved into the room, All Might pulled out a large black box. "The training will be in the form of a simulation! The teams will be determined by lot!"
Everyone watched intently as All Might pulled out the balls.
"Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka!" "Team D: Katsuki Bakugo and Tenya Iida!"
I watched the drawing until All Might reached into the pot again. "And the next team is... Team I! Mephisto Darkenss and... Toru Hagakure!"
"Yippee, I'm on your team!" the excited girlish voice of the invisible Toru came from beside me, her gloves and boots bouncing happily. "I hope you won't hold me back, Mr. Champion of Europe!"
"I'll try to be enough for you, Hagakure," I smiled under my cloak.
"And the first match!" thundered All Might. "Team A as Heroes against Team D as Villains!"
Watching the canonical match between Deku and Bakugo on the screens in the underground control room was an experience. Bakugo went after Deku with pure murderous intent. But Deku used what I advised him yesterday. Instead of destroying himself with a 100% hit, he controlled the energy flow to five percent. Although the match ended the same, Deku blew up the ceiling so that Uraraka could secure the bomb, but Midoriya left the building on his own, without fatal injuries.
"Wow... Midoriya was great, but Bakugo is seriously scary," Toru whispered next to me.
"He was blinded by rage," I said coldly. "In a real fight, it would have cost him his life."
Meanwhile, All Might cleared the scene and reached into the box again. "And now! The second match! Team I as Heroes against Team B as Villains!"
Team B. Shoto Todoroki a Mezo Shoji.
"Oh... it's the guy from the recommendation, Todoroki," Toru swallowed as we headed towards our building. "What are we going to do, Mephisto? Do you have a plan?"
We stopped in front of the entrance. "I have a plan, Toru," I told her in a calm, low voice. "Todoroki will try to freeze the entire building at the first second to stop us. I want you to get dressed and take off your gloves. Stay outside the building and wait for my signal."
"What?! But I want to fight too!"
"You will fight," I put my hand on her shoulder. "Todoroki's ice will immediately trap you inside. I will block his attack. As soon as you feel the temperature outside rising, you will run inside through the back entrance. Shoji is guarding the bomb on the top floor. But you are invisible. Your job will be to secure the bomb unnoticed while I distract Todoroki. Do you understand?"
Toru fell silent for a second before her gloves clapped with determination. "Okay! I trust you. But make sure you keep him away from the bomb!"
She quickly undressed and took off her gloves, making herself completely invisible to the human eye.
All Might's voice came from the speakers. "FIGHT TRAINING, MATCH TWO... START!"
I stepped into the dark hallway on the first floor of the building. I had barely taken five steps when a terrifying crackling sound rang through the air. The walls, floor, and ceiling began to cover with massive, thick layers of ice at lightning speed. The icy blast came crashing down the hallway toward me like a train.
"My lord, should I intervene?" Agrona said in my head.
"No, I can do this myself."
I spread my legs and activated Divine Body to stabilize my stance against the cold. At the same time, I released energy from my Ether Core. My amethyst crystal armor immediately flared wildly. The red and purple lines on the plates glowed so brightly that thick red lightning began to dance around me with loud crackling.
I concentrated my energy into my palm, reached out, and struck directly against the rolling wall of ice.
BOOM!
The shockwave of my blow, combined with the destructive force of the lightning bolts from my armor, collided with the ice. Todoroki's massive avalanche shattered into millions of shards in a split second, which instantly turned into thick water vapor in the heat of my energy. The corridor was enveloped in a white fog that made it impossible to see a single step.
Everyone in the monitoring room gasped in shock.
A quick step came from deep within the building. The fog parted in front of me and Shoto Todoroki stepped out. The right side of his body was covered in frostbite, his two-toned eyes were cold, but I could see pure surprise in them. He hadn't expected his absolute attack to be broken so easily.
"You..." Todoroki spoke coldly, shifting his weight to his right leg, ready to send another wave of ice. "I knew you were strong. But this..."
I grinned, and the red flashes dimmed slightly as I activated a new ability from my inventory: Stealth.
Todoroki blinked and I simply ceased to exist before his eyes. My presence, sound, smell, and all my glowing armor completely dissolved into the thick water vapor.
Todoroki narrowed his eyes in shock and immediately went into a defensive stance, more ice rolling around his feet. "Where did it go?! That's not energy manipulation... that's a completely different Quirk!"
Meanwhile, outside, Toru Hagakure felt the icy cold turn into warm steam. "Now is my time!" the invisible girl thought, slipping unnoticed through the back entrance of the building, exactly as I had planned, while Todoroki nervously scanned the empty hallway of the first floor, searching in vain for me.
Todoroki stood in the middle of the fog, his back covered in a layer of ice he had instinctively created, his eyes darting wildly from left to right. His right hand was ready to unleash another wave of frost at any moment. But as he focused on the space in front of him, I moved completely silently and invisibly thanks to my ability. My boots muffled any sound and my armor absorbed the surrounding light.
In a second, I was right behind him. In this close proximity, he must have felt the air around him turn cold, not with frost, but with the heavy presence of my hidden aura.
I deactivated Stealth.
My body materialized like a ghost right behind his back. I leaned into his ear and said in a low voice, with icy calm, "Are you looking for me?"
Todoroki froze. His pupils narrowed in shock. Pure, instinctive fear flashed in his eyes as he realized that if I were a real villain, he would be dead this very second.
He spun around in a flash and tried to hit me with a right hook wrapped in sharp ice. But my Divine Body-powered reactions were in a completely different league. I leaned back slightly, an icy fist cut through the empty air, and I grabbed his wrist with my left hand. The pressure of my grip immediately stopped his movement. The armor on my hand pulsed bright red, and a few bolts of lightning shot from the Ether Core, melting the ice on his hand into water in a split second.
"Your right side is fast, Todoroki," I told him, holding him tightly, "but it makes you predictable. You rely only on cold. What about the other half?"
Todoroki gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with anger and frustration. My insinuation to his left side hit a sensitive spot. There was a dangerous hiss around his left shoulder, and the first small flames began to break through to the surface. He was fighting with himself, with his hatred for his father, and with his desire to defeat me.
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, directly below the bomb room, Toru Hagakure advanced with utmost caution. She was completely invisible to the human eye, and she walked as quietly as she could.
But a floor above stood Mezo Shoji. His Quirk Dupli-Arms allowed him to create giant ears and eyes on the ends of his tentacles. He stood motionless next to the nuclear weapon, his modified ears swiveling in all directions.
"Todoroki is fighting someone downstairs... those shockwaves are shaking the entire building," Shoji thought, concentrating. Suddenly, one of his ears moved slightly. "Wait. On the staircase... a very faint, almost inaudible sound. That must be the invisible girl!"
Shoji reacted immediately. He ran to the door that led to the staircase and blocked the entire passage with his massive arms. "I know you're there, Hagakure! I can hear your breathing. You won't get past me!" he shouted into the empty hallway.
Toru, who was standing only two meters away from him, gasped in shock and quickly covered her mouth with her hand to prevent another sound. "Oh my god! He exposed me! Mephisto said he would hear me... What should I do? I have no chance against him with pure strength!" she panicked in her mind. Shoji was already taking a breath to step forward and blindly grab her.
Phew.
A sudden gust of wind, accompanied by a faint crackle of energy, rose in the hallway behind Shoji. Before Shoji could even turn one of his modified eyes, a blurry purple-black shadow swept past him. It was the pure, raw speed of my Divine Body. I charged out as soon as I bound Todoroki, and I was up the stairs in a split second.
Shoji just widened his main eyes in shock as he felt the white hero tape wrap around his chest and arms incredibly quickly. My armor beside him pulsed red for a moment as I finished the knot and took two steps back with complete calm.
Shoji could only manage a confused, "What... when did you manage to..." before the deep, proud voice of All Might finally came from the speakers throughout the building and the monitoring room:
"THE MATCH IS OVER! BOTH VILLAINS HAVE BEEN CAPTURED! THE HERO TEAM WINS!!!"
Shoji blinked in shock and gave up any resistance. On the stairs, Toru dropped her hand from her mouth in surprise when she saw me standing right next to the tied up Shoji.
Down on the first floor, Todoroki was slowly breathing out the shock. The small flames on his left side died down, he looked at the belt around his waist, then turned his head up to the dull ceilings of the building. He was breathing heavily, and his gaze was one of deep respect mixed with defeat. He realized that I had knocked him out in a matter of seconds, and then I had quickly taken out his partner four floors above.
My armor slowly faded, the red lines darkened, and I nonchalantly threw my cloak over my shoulder. "Good match," I said calmly to Shoji, motioning to the invisible Toru to head towards the building's exit.
"Excellent tactical work, my lord," Agrona chuckled in my mind. "You defeated them both by their own rules without having to show even a tenth of your true power."