The Grimmlands of Menagerie (IV)

After Izuku met with Ghira, over a week had passed and the green-haired man found himself back in the Grimmlands of Menagerie. He did all sorts of tests to more or less understand the extent of his abilities and the results were… frightening.

The very first thing Izuku did was test the full extent of his Agility and Endurance by sprinting from Kuo Kuana to Kikuo the very next morning after his dinner with the Belladonnas. When he arrived at Kikuo about two hours later, without the slightest trace of feeling like he'd even marginally exerted a modicum of effort… He understood that 300+ Endurance could only be called "bullshit."

His speed, he found, was starting to approach supersonic levels when he managed to find terrain that was flat and long enough to continue accelerating, and those were just measures of his Base Stats. Under the effects of his Runes, he could go 150% faster. Dragonificaiton on top of that compounded another 25% to bring his base up to 187.5% faster. And, if he used his Demon Dragon Form…

Even Izuku himself didn't know how much faster he could go as he'd actually wasted the energy to assume the transformation whilst being so close to Kikuo that his Scroll failed to register a proper maximum speed for him.

When he got to Kikuo, he took the time to visit Michael and his team, and informed them of his business in and around the settlement.

"Nice," Arnold simply said as he nodded.

"Hell yeah! Bring the fight to the Grimm!" Delia remarked with ample enthusiasm.

"Just… Don't bite off more than you can chew," Michael cautioned.

"Oh? So you're going to be staying around for some time, then?" Katherine said as bit of mirth spilled out from her eyes.

"Yes?" Izuku said, a bit surprised to see them so nonchalant about the whole situation. He'd thought that they would have reacted more seriously like Ghira did on the previous night.

"And, you're going to be working all day long in the field, banishing the Grimm?"

"That's… Right?" Izuku's confusion deepened.

"But you don't have anyone to take care of you," she scolded, as her teammates began to look at each other knowingly. "That, just, won't, do!" She emphasized each word as she stomped her way closer to Izuku.

"W-what?" Izuku could feel his mind slowly devolve again to his Curses as he backpedaled away slowly.

"Listen hear mister," Katherine said as she lightly jabbed a finger into his shoulder, "We can't just have our best and brightest fighter toiling away against the Grimm every day. Even the best Huntsmen operate with at least their partners."

"O-ok? But I'm fine by mysel—"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Katherine cut him off as she pulled her face mere inches away from his own. She stared him down, boring right into his eyes as she demanded, "I'm not asking you, I'm telling you that every night you return, you better see me for a homecooked meal, Izuku. The last thing I need is another Michael almost dying of exhaustion from working all the time."

She only separated from him when she got him to agree. Ever since, she'd stuck true to her words and had something for him ready to eat when he returned after every day of driving back the Grimm.

During his first week, Izuku had managed to destroy eight Grimm Pools, none of which were as difficult to deal with as the first one that had summoned a Maiden Class Grimm. This was in part because with every successful Grimm Pool destroyed, the ensuing horde of Grimm that followed allowed him to develop his more underdeveloped Abilities.

Most prominent of all, though, was his Semblance; ID Create. Even after a week, Izuku hadn't puzzled out what the "I" or the "D" stood for, but he was enamored with its effects. In his opinion, it was one of the best Abilities in terms of utility that anyone could ask for. It was the perfect tool to both develop his other Abilities and manipulate the environment in the best way imaginable.

He had leveled the Ability up a few times and discovered that for every Level, the domain of his illusionary copy increased by about 100 meters in all directions. Even at its lowest level, Izuku could warp the properties of the environment that were superimposed such that he could simulate otherworldly places like… being back in the First Circle of Hell, where the limitations imposed on his Argent Energy didn't exist.

He couldn't fully simulate the presence of infinite ambient Argent Energy, he wasn't even anywhere close, but the effects were enough to be worth further developing his ID Create for just that reason. Aside from that, he'd also managed to create something of a gravity chamber that did wonders for his Inhuman Training Abilities, just as he'd expected.

But the best part about ID Create, in his opinion, was the fact that it effectively brought him where he suffered no consequences from developing his already overwhelming powers. Within his own illusionary copy of reality, the aftermath of say… casting hundreds and thousands of Argent Bullets and Argent Blasts, wouldn't result in the total annihilation of everything within range. The moment Izuku disabled the effects, any damage sustained by the environment in his ID Create would simply shatter to reveal that nothing had happened in actuality.

It was unfortunate that he couldn't bring anyone, or any monsters, into his illusionary world to perhaps mitigate the potential for collateral damage, and he also found it a bit limiting that he would appear exactly where he cast the Ability when he eventually came out of it. But, the benefits far outweigh the Ability's nonexistent combat potential.

What did it matter if ID Create couldn't affect his enemies if it allowed him to get so strong that its potential use wouldn't be required in the first place?

In any case, Izuku had done a lot in his first week as a purifying agent of the Grimmlands. He was getting stronger physically, mentally, and spiritually as he leveraged his ID Create to facilitate the training of all his Abilities.

He didn't know how many more Grimm Pools he'd have to cleanse before the whole of Menagerie was cleared of any Grimm spawning grounds, but he was certain it wouldn't be long with how spaced and far apart the Grimm Pools he'd already dealt with turned out to be.

Eventually, though, if he did end up finding and acquiring the Root Fragment that was present in this world by completely liberating Menagerie, he at least had been socialized and comforted by Katherine and her team to the point that he no longer dreaded the possibility of being whisked away to another world and potentially end up alone for a long time again.

He still dearly missed his mother and wanted to return to his Original World. But he also understood how dangerous it might be to ignore the advice of the Gamer System. Still, even if he wouldn't be able to return for years to come, it was enough for him to have a support group here in the Broken World.

It was enough for him to cherish his every night back at Kikuo with his new friends.

It would be enough even if it all came to an end any day now.

…

[Status

Title: The Gamer, Hero of Kikuo

Level: 188 (Gamer System) | Arch Wizard Class (Broken World)

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: 100%

Argent Energy: 100%

Magic: 100%

Aura: 100%

Stamina: 44,400/44,400

Excelia: 53,818,812

Magic Skill Slots: 2/5

Strength: 348

Constitution: 282

Endurance: 444

Dexterity: 290

Agility: 341

Intelligence: 321

Wisdom: 329

Will: 216

Charisma: 231

Talent: All Weapons (F), Healing (D), Alteration (B), Fire (S), Light (SS), Sabotage (SSS)]

[Abilities

MAXED: Walking, Running, Calisthenics, Weight Lifting, Resolution, Sprinting, Draconification

Primary School Academics (Level 95)

High School Academics (Level 36)

Analysis (Level 51 → 87): You spent ~92.777 Million Excelia to increase this Ability from 2 to 87. It has been converted into a Skill that actuates through your Falna.

Writing (Level 10 → 87): You spent ~92.886 Million Excelia to increase this Ability from 2 to 87. It has been converted into a Skill that actuates through your Falna.

Drawing (Level 21 → 87): You spent ~92.886 Million Excelia to increase this Ability from 2 to 87. It has been converted into a Skill that actuates through your Falna.

Cooking (Level 2 → 87): You spent ~92.886 Million Excelia to increase this Ability from 2 to 87. It has been converted into a Skill that actuates through your Falna.

Observe (Level 30 → 40)

Martial Arts (Level 91 → 100 → MAX | Styleless): This Ability Grants you +3 Agility & Dexterity every 2 Levels, +1 Strength every Level, and +1 Consitution every 2 Levels.

Argent Energy Core (Level 30 → 45)

Argent Energy Manipulation (Level 44 → 53)

Argent Energy Resistance (Level 55)

Rune Smithing (Level 27 → 44)

Castable Runes

Rune Casting (Berserk): 10% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to apply Berserking Runes to yourself. At the cost of your sanity, your stats temporarily triple; this stacks on top of all other augmentation runes in effect. Furthermore, for the following ten minutes, until the effects of this Rune expire, all Argent Energy-dependent Abilities have their cost reduced by a factor of ten. The greater your Rune Smithing and Argent Energy Resistances Abilities, the less intense your cognitive decline.

Demon Dragon Transformation (Level 23 → 30)

Effective Cost 1: 15% of total Argent Energy per ten minutes to sustain this transformation.

Effective Cost 2: 10% of total Stamina per hour to sustain this transformation.

Modifier

(World Effect) Dark Soul

(Level 10) Internal Conversion

(Level 25) Nobility: For an added effective cost of 100%, the form you take on advances to the penultimate stage of Demonification. You essentially become a Demon King.

Demon Blood (Level 17 → 25)

Argent Bullet (Level 25 → 50)

Cost: 1% Total Argent Energy per 150 projectiles.

Modifier

(Level 15) Shotgun

(Level 33) High Caliber: For an increased Effective Cost of 50% an instance of Argent Bullets condense to form high-powered penetrating rounds that grow increasingly powerful the more projectiles are fused to create them.

Argent Blast (Level 22 → 45)

Cost: 1% Total Argent Energy per blast with an effective range of 23 meters.

Modifier

(Level 15) Stormwave

(Level 33) Afterquakes: For an increased Effective Cost of 100%, an instance of Argent Blast is overcharged to produce lasting shockwaves that rebound against each other for a second within the effective range.

Argent Construct ( Level 1 → 40 | Rod, Knife, Dagger, Sword, Gauntlets, Armor)

Demonic Inhuman Training (Level 5 → 25)

Open Mind (Level 30 → 49):

Magic Energy Manipulation (Level 33 → 53)

Alteration Magic: Presence Concealment (Level 40 → 58)

Modifiers

(Level 50) Targeted Discretion: At no additional cost, you may waive the effects of this ability against an individual or group of targets.

Sabotage Magic: Invoke Calamity (Level 1)

Mystical Inhuman Training (Level 1 → 23)

Mystic Dragon Transformation (Level 1 → 19)

Effective Cost 1: 30% of total Magic Reserves per ten minutes to sustain this transformation.

Effective Cost 2: 20% of total Stamina Reserves per hour to sustain this transformation.

Modifiers

(World Effect) Bright Soul

(Level 10) Magic Conduit: Magic can near-instantly be converted to Health or Stamina with a Conversion Rate of 1%:2% and 1%:5% respectively.

(Level 25) Natural Consecration: For an added effective cost of 100%, the form you take on advances to the penultimate stage of Sanctification. You essentially become a Dragon Saint.

(World Effect) Bright Soul

Adventurer (Level 1 → 16): You are currently "Level 6."

Adventurer Abilities

(Level 2) Pending

(Level 3) Pending

(Level 4) Pending

(Level 5) Pending

(Level 6) Pending

Aiming (Level 1 → 20)

Dodging (Level 1 → 26)

Sneaking (Level 1 → 7)

Blocking (Level 1 → 4)

Countering (Level 1 → 8)

Unbound Soul (Level 1 → 23)

Modifiers

(Amaterasu's Blessing/Argent Core) Nascent Divine Demon

(Open Mind) Limited True Magic

Aura Energy Manipulation (Level 1 → 27)

ID Create (Level 1 → 12)

New Abilities!

Ethereal Inhuman Training (Level 20): Uses a negligible amount of Aura to recover from extreme forms of training and further transform the body into that of an ethereal entity. Grants +2 Will per Level, +1 Constitution per Level, +1 Agility per 2 Levels, and +1 Intelligence and Charisma per 3 Levels

Ethereal Dragon Transformation (Level 13)

Aura Shield (Level 6): A technique that absorbs all types of physical damage by expending Aura. Once Aura is active, most of the physical damage done to you is first drained from your Aura gauge before any significant reduction impacts your Health. Grants +1 Intelligence and Will every 10 Levels and +2 Wisdom every 15 Levels.

Aura Reinforcement (Level 22): A technique that augments all your physical Stats by reinforcing the body with Aura. Grants +1 Intelligence and Will every 10 Levels and +2 Wisdom every 15 Levels.

Cost: 10% Aura per ten minutes to augment all Stats by 20%; Stacks after all other augmentations are accounted for.]

[New Perks!

Directed Intent: For surpassing 100 Will, you have gained the Unique Ability of being able to project your intent outwardly onto a target or group. Triples the effect of Perk-derived forms of Intent.

Enchanting: For surpassing 100 Charisma, you have gained the Unique Ability of passively emitting an aura about yourself that draws in the attention, respect, and admiration of most people whose Charisma rating is lower than your own. The greater the gap between your Charisma and theirs, the more prominent this effect.

Damage Resistant: For surpassing 250 Strength & Constitution, you have gained the Unique Ability of becoming universally resistant to all types of physical damage. All sources of physical damage are reduced by 10%.

Flow-State Form: For surpassing 250 Agility & Dexterity, you have gained the Unique Ability of becoming able to completely control your movements at any speed regardless of the circumstances. Physical techniques improve many times faster; the specific rate depends on your potential talent for each possible Ability.

Higher Power: For surpassing 250 Intelligence & Wisdom, you have gained the Unique Ability of possessing advanced energy systems which are both more potent and more cost-effective. Argent Energy, Magic, and Aura-related techniques cost 10% less and deliver 10% more potent effects.]

The time had come. After over a month of routinely delving into the Grimmlands in search of Grimm Pools to wipe out, Izuku had just about cleared the whole of Menagerie of the Grimm scourge… Except, for the Grimm Pool he currently stood before.

[Observed Status

Name: Grimm Pool (Arch Wizard Class)

Durability: 100/100

Description: The manifestation of nearly ten thousand years worth of the God of Darkness' leftover energies coalescing and condensing into a pit that bears endless amounts of Grimm. Galvanized by the negative emotions of any living being, including plants and animals, the negative emotions of humans and Faunus best supplement the development of this object. Destroying it will unleash an Arch Wizard Class threat from its depths and attract all the Grimm in a thousand-kilometer radius. This includes Airborne and Seafaring Grimm as well as Guardian Ancient, or higher ranking, Grimm that are developing in other Grimm Pools.]

It was the biggest, most dangerous Grimm Pool he had seen to date. The only one aside from the first which gave him pause as to whether he wanted to unleash the forces beyond it or not. Between those two Grimm Pools, Izuku had not seen so much as another Maiden Class Grimm Pool, never mind a Wizard Class one.

So, he hesitated even with the world-shaking amount of power he currently possessed. He'd developed as fast as possible, after spending most of his days wiping out Grimm Pool after Grimm Poll and his nights practicing his Abilities within an ID.

He still had a bit more power he could immediately attain. With his current reserves of Excelia, he could power Level his Magical Abilities a fair amount and he was still pending on five Adventurer Abilities which he could pick from the list made available to him by his Falna from Leveling Up as an Adventurer.

But… He had the feeling that even if he did go all in with what he currently had, it wouldn't be enough against whatever disaster was being kept at bay by the existence of the Grim Pool. It wasn't so much a fear for himself as it was his concern that drawing in all the Grimm in a thousand-kilometer radius could prove to be too much for him to handle whilst guaranteeing that Menagerie and its inhabitants didn't get caught in the crossfire.

If the worst came to pass, he had his Sabotage Magic and new Berserking Runes to ensure that he came out a pyrrhic victor. The problem was, he rather wanted to reduce the chances that he burned down the rest of the world as a consequence.

So, many weeks after he returned to Kikuo, instead of completing the task he'd set out for himself, Izuku returned once more to report to Ghira his accomplishments and his plans of leaving the continent to become a Huntsman proper.

"...There's an error overflow message," Ghira said after meeting with Izuku and asking for his Scroll. "The Scroll actually couldn't keep count of how many Grimm you killed since I gave it to you? Absurd," He sucked in a cold breath of air.

"I mean, there were a lot of Grimm. Probably over a hundred thousand just from destroying the Grimm Pools and not counting the Grimm in between them," Izuku said, not internalizing the quantity when they were so pitiful to him they were akin to mere ants.

Would it really matter if he killed hundreds of thousands of them if they died because he breathed on them accidentally? He didn't literally kill them by just breathing, but the effort exerted — or lack thereof, to be specific — was comparable.

"I see… Well—"

"Ah! Izuku!" Kali said as she chanced open to open doors to Ghira's office and saw Izuku. "It's been so long since I last saw you! We should go out to eat to catch up; the three of us, again."

"That would be nice," Izuku agreed.

"I thought you were going to be leaving right away," Ghira asked as he dejectedly handed Izuku back his Scroll. He'd never seen Izuku actually fight, but his every circumstantial achievement only served to further emphasize how ridiculously powerful he was.

"I was, but it's not like I'm in a hurry. I haven't even decided which of the other continents I'll visit first," Izuku said.

"You're… Leaving?" Kali asked as her enthusiasm slowly died down.

"I've already done everything I can against the Grimm here. There's only a single Grimm Pool left, at least, that I could find, but it seems too dangerous to mess with for me. I can only continue to get stronger by fighting against other strong Grimm and the only other ones that might not be too much for me at the moment are outside of Menagerie," Izuku explained.

"Then… Well, I mean… If you also haven't decided where to go, um… Could you… Gosh, this is so hard for me to ask, but… Could you go to Vale in Sanus first and keep an eye out for our daughter, Blake? I don't know when I'll see her again, but if there's a chance you might return to Menagerie before her, I'd like it if you could find her and tell me how she's doing when you return," Kali hesitantly asked.

"Sure thing," Izuku smiled to put her worries at ease. "Like I said, it doesn't matter to me where I end up going first. There's also no telling how many more Grimm Pools there are that I think are too powerful for me to handle, so if I feel like I'm ready to return and take care of the last on Menagerie, I'll do so after I find Blake."

[New Quest Detected!

Side Quest(s)

A Mother's Worry: Kali Belladonna has asked you to look for her daughter in Vale. She wants you to see how she's doing and hear back about her when you return from your conquest of wiping out the Grimm Pools around the world. You should be able to look for clues of where Blake might be within the Great Kingdom of Vale, within the continent of Sanus.

Progress: Find Blake Belladonna]

Knock… Knock…

Everyone within Ghira's office turned to see who had knocked against the open door to get their attention.

"Sorry to intrude, but I must thank you for making my job so much easier Ms. Belladonna," a man Izuku observed to be a rather powerful Huntsman said as he entered the room.

"Qrow Branwen? To what do I own the honor of having an S Class Huntsmans' uncalled-for attention?" Ghira asked.

"Business, as you can imagine," Qrow said as he gave pointed looks at Izuku. "Headmaster Ozpin sent me to see if there was any chance we could recruit the man who supposedly killed off a Grimm Tide by himself. It's not often that I find myself in a lucky situation, so again, thanks for making my job a piece of cake," He bowed to Kali.

"Is that so," Izuku asked as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. The description he received from Observe implied that the man had been covertly watching for a while now. Izuku wondered if that was why he'd waited until now to reveal himself and if just recruiting him was all he was after.

"Is there a problem?" Qrow asked, apparently caught off guard.

"No," Izuku grinned. "This works perfectly well for me," He candidly said. If there was a problem, Qrow should know it was a mistake trying to mess with him, if he had been stalking Izuku as Observe implied.

…

The next day, just as the sun was starting to creep up over the horizon, the airship that Izuku and Qrow boarded began to touch down on an airfield in Vale. The direct flight from Menagerie had taken just ten hours to cross thousands of kilometers.

"So, I just have to pass a combat test to receive a Huntsman license? What's the point of having entire academies in place if you just need combat prowess to fight off the Grimm?" Izuku asked as he walked with Qrow towards the massive castle campus that was Beacon Academy.

"You have to understand that even most veteran Huntsmen aren't even a fraction of how strong you are. Since they can't just kill off the Grimm by the hundreds and thousands in the blink of an eye, they need to know how to survive, how to target the different types of Grimm's weaknesses."

"The students especially need a place where they can learn from Huntsmen who've been in the field for years. They need a place where they can develop under the supervision of their teachers, which drastically lowers their mortality rates. Lastly, they also have to be smart enough to think on their feet and higher education is one of the least dangerous ways to achieve that," Qrow explained as he took swigs from his flask. Izuku had learned he was a hopeless alcoholic on the ride to Vale.

With that, Izuku understood and after a bit of contemplating the matter, he could like Huntsmen to the Heroes of his Original World. After all, although the two focused on two very different types of threats to human society, at the end of the day, they needed to learn how to deal with threats to the civilian populace and know how to respond accordingly.

It wouldn't do at all if one was the strongest well-intentioned individual if they misused their power to do more harm than good. There was no telling what kind of procedures and laws he'd step over if he just skipped the learning process that had been set purposefully by all the Great Kingdoms.

These humbling realizations are what led him to reconsider outright taking the Huntsmen Licensing Exam to be well on his way outside of Menagerie. Besides, there were those academic Abilities he had that needed some way of maxing out.

"Say… What does the schedule of a student here look like?" Izuku asked as he considered his options carefully.

"The schedule? It's pretty rigorous, for the brats, I mean. But for any Huntsman worth their salt it's nothing special." Qrow said before taking another swig.

"I actually haven't attended this place in over a decade, but if nothing's changed, then Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are days that emphasize training. Usually, half the day is spent sparring or fighting against some of the local Grimm for the more experienced students, while the other half of the day is spent eating breakfast, lunch, dinner, and with one or two hours of lectures."

"Tuesdays and Thursdays focus more on teaching than fighting to let students recover, pretty much reversing how the time is allocated. And, weekends are free for the students to rest and relax, although most spend at least some time training even then as well," Qrow concluded.

"Free…" Izuku muttered as he all but cemented his decision.

He remained quiet until he and Qrow arrived at Beacon Tower and ascended to the top floor; the Headmaster's Office.

[Observed Status

Title: Headmaster of Beacon, Timeworn Wizard

Level: 369 | King Class

Name: ?

Stats

Health: ~100%

Stamina: ~100%

Aura: ~100%

Magic: ~100%

Strength: ~200

Constitution: ~175

Dexterity: ~175

Agility: ~200

Intelligence: ~200 (?)

Wisdom: ~200 (?)

Will: ~150 (?)

Charisma: ~150 (?)

Description: An ancient soul tasked with defending humanity from the forces of Grimm. He leads a shadow war against the true threat to humanity by nurturing the world's greatest warriors. In this era, he is the Headmaster of Beacon. He is interested in you in more ways than you can imagine.]

'Whoa,' Izuku hesitated as he digested the Headmaster's ridiculous Status. The man had the highest Level Izuku had seen to date — those of otherworldly entities like The Praetor and the Gods of the Dungeon World notwithstanding.

"Mr. Izuku Midoriya," the Headmaster started. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you. Ozpin," he introduced himself as he offered Izuku a short bow

"The pleasure is all mine," Izuku said as he returned the bow in kind.

"I've heard all kinds of impressive things about you, young man. Things, most would not believe," Ozpin said as he gestured for Izuku to take a seat as he sat back down at his desk.

"Whether or not anyone believes whatever they may have heard about me doesn't matter. At least, to me… All I care about is ending the threat of the Grimm once and for all," Izuku said.

"Yes… You've been destroying Grimm Pools in Menagerie, correct?"

"All but one that seemed too deep for me with my current strength." Izuku nodded, "That's why I've come to become a Huntsman and continue to destroy the pools that I believe I'm capable of handling on the continents outside of Menagerie."

"And I suppose you will be taking the Huntsman Licensing Exam to do just that?" Ozpin asked.

"That was the plan," Izuku said before becoming bashful. "It's just… I think I should do things properly and not circumvent the process through brute strength. I was wondering what the process was for enrolling in your academy to become a proper Hunstman."

For a long time, Ozpin just stared at Izuku expressionlessly. He looked like he was trying to figure out a puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Eventually, he said, "It's not often that Huntsmen want to study at the academies. Most of the younger crowd would give anything to skip the four years of schooling and jump right into the action."

When he stopped talking to give Izuku the chance to explain himself, Izuku did so without being prompted. He said, "Well, I've experienced plenty of action. I know I'll experience plenty on the side if I study here, and I know there will be even more after I graduate. It's just… I want to become a proper Huntsman and not just a Grimm-killing machine."

"I see," Ozpin said as he faintly smiled. "You're in luck then as initiation for the next batch of freshmen is due to start exactly one month from now."

"What? You're just going to accept me? Just like that? With no tests?" Izuku was flummoxed. In his Original World, you needed to test out of a high-school level education to be accepted into a University of Heroics.

"Are you hard of hearing, kid? He said initiation is in a month," Qrow commented as he leaned against the wall and took a swig. "All you have to do is not die while achieving whatever little mission Oz has for the group and you'll be good to go."

"Oh…" Izuku quietly said.

It was to be expected after all.