Chapter 132

(A/N: This chapter was made possible by The Ginger Biscuit, the most flavorful of cookies.)

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"That was mean of you..." whispered Momo, waiting until she and Izuku were out of easy earshot from others.

"There's a good chance he'll be one of the Round Table members," said Izuku, referring to Dae-Jung. By approaching him and then confronting one of the more affluent people present, he effectively tied Dae-Jung to him by making him a target for those who despised but didn't dare to act against him directly. As Momo said, this was somewhat mean-spirited of him, but since Dae-Jung would have been targetted anyway, there was no harm in laying a foundation for their future cooperation.

Trusting Izuku's judgment, Momo decided not to pursue the matter and simply closed her eyes to avoid the many glances sent her way. Her only obligation was to do as Izuku commanded, a notion that made her heart flutter, so as the time counted down to 2 PM, she busied herself thinking about how she could assist him in pulling Historia to their side...

As if given form by Momo's thoughts, Historia appeared, accompanied by Rebecca and a golden-haired man whose appearance and clothing could best be described as Kingly. He had the same golden hair as Historia, but it was shorter and swept to the side, his rightmost bangs framing the side of his face, curving toward his green eyes. His face was marked with age, but rather than reducing his charm, it gave him a certain 'regality' that was emphasized by his short golden goatee and confident smile.

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Name: Arcturus Lucius Pendragon

Title: Lion King(Vit+100)

Quirk: Lord of Camelot(Vestige), Armory(Vestige), Displacement(Vestige)

Bond Level: 61

Current Level: 78

Effective Level: 152

[Attributes]

Strength: 198

Agility: 180

Vitality: 641

Intelligence: 130

Dexterity: 163

Luck: 209

Free Attributes: 350

[Perks]

[Mana Detection], [Dragon's Heart], [Dragon Scales]

[Skills]

[Sword Master], [Horizon Strike], [Sacred Shield], [Rallying Cry]

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Seeing their Headmaster and Britain's No. 1 Hero appear, the long-time students of the Academy and their attendants turned toward him, placed their hands over their chests, and bowed their heads. A few of them came from families whose social status was superior to the Pendragons, but not even the King and Queen would dare withhold courtesy from the man and family who made their country one of the safest in the world.

'His Level is nearly as high as Rumi's was during our first meeting...' noted Izuku. However, as Arcturus was short 40 Free Attribute Points and had a visible Title, Perks, and Skills, it was apparent he had entered at least one breach, gaining 8 Levels in the process.

Noticing Izuku's clear, analyzing gaze, Arcturus briefly met it, his smile becoming marginally more prominent and his Bond Level increasing by one before he smoothly broke eye contact and made his way to the front of the gathered students, all eyes on him.

In a deep voice that exuded charisma, Arcturus placed his hand over his chest and gave a slight bow before standing tall and stating, "Welcome, Young Lords, Ladies, and visiting friends from afar. Many of you already know who I am, but permit me to introduce myself. I am Arcturus Lucius Pendragon, fourth to succeed the name of Pendragon and a proud Knight of Her Majesty, Queen Mary the 2nd and her husband, Prince Henry. I am also the Headmaster of the Royal Academy of Heroics and, as your actual teacher has been delayed, the stand-in that will explain the situation, the structure of this class, and the benefits that come with being a student of this very experimental program."

Covering his mouth to clear his throat, Arcturus opened his eyes, pausing for a moment before adopting a mischievous smile and adding, "At least, that's what I should do. Instead, I'll trust you to check your emails and read the information packets we sent out a few minutes ago. As for what we'll actually be doing..."

Holding his left hand out to the side, palm facing back, a flash of golden light precluded the appearance of an ornate longsword in Arcturus's hand. As it did, the sky overhead suddenly turned dark as a dark, hemispherical barrier appeared and trapped everyone in the arena. This sent a wave of confusion through the students, but things became infinitely more chaotic when the ground began to crack open, followed by 1~2m-tall humanoids with green skin, pointed ears, and goat-like eyes materializing from below. The smaller ones wore soiled loincloths and wielded makeshift weapons, but the larger ones sported mismatched armor and carried rusted swords, spears, and hammers.

"You think yourselves worthy to enter the breaches!?" exclaimed Arcturus, swinging his sword horizontally, its form blurring like a whip. As he did so, a flash of gold light emerged from the blade's edge, traveling swiftly as it sliced through several of the green-skinned humanoids, a type of monster known around the world: Goblins.

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Name: Gabutan

Species: Goblin

Title: None

Quirk: Fission

Bond Level: 0

Current Level: 19

Effective Level: 19

[Attributes]

Strength: 23

Agility: 35

Vitality: 64

Intelligence: 15

Dexterity: 37

Luck: 22

Free Attributes: 0

[Perks]

[Disease Resistance], [Toxic Saliva], [Dark Vision]

[Skills]

[Bite], [Sprint], [Vicious Assault]

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'Hmm...so this is what a monster's status looks like...' thought Izuku, enveloping his fists and body with Black Whip and materializing his crimson, nanomesh gauntlets. At the same time, Momo pinched and raised her skirt slightly, dozens of flash grenades spilling out of it and onto the ground.

Using tendrils from his Black Whip, Izuku picked up, removed the pins from the grenades, and tossed them at the goblins furthest away. Then, as he and Momo had already been standing along the periphery, he took a look around before making a sweeping motion with his left hand, Black Whip extending from the tips of his fingers like piano strings, slicing apart the closest Goblins.

*You have received 6,824 Experience for killing Gabugok(Lv 20)*

Seeing the tiny notification that briefly appeared before vanishing, Izuku's pupils dilated. He expected the Experience gained from killing monsters to be substantial, especially since he gained approximately 36x the base amount with Momo nearby, but 13,648 for a single Goblin, split between two people, was...unexpected but welcome.

Receiving the same notification as Izuku, Momo's eyes similarly widened as she realized they would only need to kill a total of eleven more Goblins to Level to 30. After that, she would require 1,000,000 Exp per Level, but even then, they would only need to defeat 147. There were only around a hundred Goblins present, but once they began delving into the breaches, it might not even take a full week for her to catch up to Izuku and surpass most of her teachers...

'Sorry, everyone, but it looks like I'm going to get a bit ahead...' thought Momo, apologizing to her friends and 'rod sisters' in her mind. She hadn't even thought about it when Izuku asked her to accompany him, but now she was determined to become as strong as possible to support him, her family, her friends, and the world as a whole...

Looking at Izuku, who had begun to kill Goblins en masse, Momo caught his attention as she said, "Please provide me some cover with your Black Whip. I don't wish to just stand here and observe..."

"Sure thing," replied Izuku, creating a half-dome between him, Momo, and the other students. As he did so, Momo tore open the front of her blouse, exposing her black-lace brassier and milky-white tits before producing a stringless compound bow from her chest, handing it to Izuku so he could string it for her as she tossed actual grenades at the Goblins on their side of the barrier.

"Here," said Izuku, handing Momo the strung bow. She accepted it with a loving smile and a curt "Thank you" before doing something that was both expected and inexplicable: producing arrows from her palm, nocking, and releasing them in a single smooth motion. Izuku later questioned why she didn't simply use a gun, but since conventional weapons didn't work in the breaches, the answer was obvious...

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Though things were fairly chaotic initially, the gathered students were still aspiring Heroes. Some of them only pursued the title of Hero for the fame and prestige it warranted, but to attain that, they needed to be one of the top Heroes in the country. Thus, with nearly equal numbers, the students made short work of the comparably weak Goblins.

"Mmm...it's good to see that everyone survived. Some of you didn't do anything, but I can overlook it since it's not easy to act in such a large group without an established chain of command," said Arcturus, standing with his hands folded on the pommel of his ornate sword, the tip planted in the ground.

Raising his hand, Roman, the back of his uniform torn open to allow for a number of pink octopoid tentacles to materialize from his back, waited to be acknowledged before asking, "Sir Pendragon, I believe I speak for the majority when I ask what it is you were thinking? I understand that we're gathered here in preparation for delving into the breaches, but forcing us to fight for our lives without warning or access to our Hero Costumes and Support Items was a bit...irresponsible."

"And that is precisely the point I was trying to make," said Arcturus. "The breaches are places where you risk your lives and have no choice but to kill your opponents. The opportunities they provide for growth are beyond imagination, but it's all meaningless if you lose your lives due to a lack of preparation or failing to remain calm in the face of unexpected threats and unknown dangers."

"I see. Thank you for the explanation," replied Roman, lowering his hand and nodding sagely. Virtually everyone present knew he was just putting on airs and trying to show off by 'standing up' to Arcturus, but such was par for the course in high society.

As he was accustomed to such behavior, Arcturus completely disregarded Roman, continuing where he left off by explaining, "Now that you've had a taste of what monsters in the breaches are like, you have the next hour to split into groups of three to five Knight Candidates. If you need to return to your dorms or retrieve your equipment, now is the time to do so. In the future, you will not be afforded such a luxury. Dismissed!"

With a wave of his hand and a boom of his voice, Arcturus caused most of the Knight Course students to disperse. Roman and his cronies remained nearby, but the only people who stayed back were Historia, Rebecca, and those, like Izuku and Momo, who didn't have dorms to return to.

Seizing the opportunity, Historia caused her father's brow to twitch as she approached Izuku and Momo, smiling as she said, "It may be difficult for the two of you to find teammates on short notice. If you find it agreeable, Bedivere and I will join you."

"I honestly expected it," replied Izuku, matching Historia's smile. Before she could celebrate their successful union, however, he gestured with his head toward Han Dae-Jung, standing off to the side with a troubled look.

"Mind if he joins as our final member?" asked Izuku. "Appearances aside, he should be fairly capable."

Following Izuku's gaze, Historia's emerald-green eyes briefly shimmered before she nodded and replied, "I agree. He is nowhere near as powerful as Sir Midoriya, but he possesses an inordinate amount of Mana. Should I head over and invite him to join us, or will you do the honors?"

"I'm ultimately just a visitor to your school and nation," responded Izuku. "With that in mind, it would be better if you invited him and took charge of the group. I'm typically a solo act, but I can play the part of Support well enough."

As she had intended to let Izuku take charge, Historia experienced a brief pause when he unhesitantly deferred to her. She was supremely confident in her abilities, but Historia knew she still had a long way to go before she could contend against Izuku's Effective Level of 890. He was, after all, the successor to the 'Symbol of Peace.'

Narrowing her eyes into a smile, Historia happily hummed, "Then, please wait here. Assuming a favorable response, I shall return with our final ally shortly."

Without waiting for Izuku to respond, Historia romped over to Dae-Jung with the manic energy of a child. The unkempt Korean was shocked and visibly unnerved by her approach, but after learning why she had come over, he felt a mix of relief, confusion, and wariness as he looked over to Izuku, his discomfort increasing when he saw the latter smiling relaxedly back at him.

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(A/N: It never hurts to have a Mage in the party o3o...)