Chapter 8 – Entrance Examination (II)

(Nero POV)

In front of me was a wall that surrounded a city; the only entrance was a steel gate.

"Wow! Yuuei is really something else, they literally built a replica of a city." A blond boy said this excitedly.

Several candidates around him also looked at the gate in awe.

In my area, there were 13 candidates, counting me.

Gwen and Ochako weren't in the same area as me.

But most likely, they were not placed in the same area either.

I thought, looking around me and analyzing all the candidates.

Everyone seems normal...

My thoughts stopped when my eyes landed on a girl.

The girl in question had short black hair and beautiful, dark eyes like an abyss. Her expression was stoic as if it were impossible to read what was on her mind. Although she has Asian features, she does not look Japanese.

On her beautiful athletic body, she wore a long black shirt and shorts of the same color. Even though her body was athletic, she didn't lose one bit of her femininity.

What caught my attention was not her beauty, but rather the feeling she conveyed to me.

The feeling she gave me was the same as Roberta but without the whole bloodlust thing.

Suddenly, her black eyes, without much emotion, looked at me for a single second.

In this single second, I felt as if she had analyzed me. It was as if I didn't need to speak for her to understand me, giving the feeling that my body was like an open book.

In the blink of an eye, she turned forward.

She is good.

That was the only thing I could think about this girl, who was the same age as me.

Although I'm sure I wouldn't lose to her, I have to admit that she was the one who caught my attention the most, mainly because of the feeling of strength she exuded.

Before I can form a deeper opinion about her, Present Mic's voice echoes throughout the replica city.

"Hey! START!" With his voice that sounded from inside the city, the steel gate opens.

"What! Already?" One of the candidates exclaimed in surprise, followed by the others.

"That was very sudden."

"Won't there be a countdown to start?"

Ignoring their complaints, I flex my feet, ready to move forward.

The moment I take the first step, the girl with short black hair advances at high speed.

In a matter of milliseconds, she had already entered the city without making any noise. Her feet, even though they hit the floor, didn't make any noise.

Even though I'm surprised by this girl's superior speed, I enter the city right behind her, while Present Mic's voice echoes again.

"WHAT'S THE PROBLEM!? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A COUNTDOWN IN A BATTLE ROYAL! RUN! RUNNN!"

Turning a corner of the street, I accelerated my steps, continuing forward, but in the next step, I was surprised by the loud sound of a building being destroyed.

*Crashhh!

A metallic green robot suddenly emerges from a building, walking on a single wheel. The robot had a large number 1 on the plates in front of its arms.

The Villain Bot - Victory, instantly comes towards me at full speed.

Without thinking twice, I raise my hand, tearing a piece of space and generating a point-blank space explosion at the robot.

The Villain Bot's head explodes, with several metal pieces being thrown across the field.

1 point!

I thought, flexing my foot and jumping over the remains of the robot.

With my foot touching the ground, I moved forward in search of more Villain Bots.

Unfortunately, I didn't have to look very far, because, in front of me, a girl was being crushed by a robot. She had pink skin with some antennae on her head.

The Villain Bot looked like a scorpion, and on the plates of its paws it had the number 2 drawn on it, and those same paws pressed the pink girl to the ground.

This robot is the Villain Bot - Imperial.

"Let me go, you metallic idiot!" The girl exclaimed as a substance that looked like acid was released, but the robot continued with its metallic paws, pressing the pink alien to the ground while the acid partially melted a piece of the other paw.

The Villain Bot noticed me, but instead of attacking me, it grabbed the girl and threw her into the air.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh!" She screamed.

Tsk!

Without thinking twice, with my hand raised, I erased a small piece of space and, using [blue lapse] in smaller amounts, pulled it to the top of a building. The pink girl fell into the building with a bit of violence, but she didn't seem to be hurt considering she had an amused smile on her face.

Seeing that the girl was okay, I jumped back, avoiding the Villain Bot's tail that smashed the ground.

The moment my feet leave the ground, the Bot - Imperial Villain rushes towards me at extreme speed, attacking with its tail.

I looked stoically at the tail coming towards me as I raised my right hand, activating [infinity].

The Bot-Imperial Villain's tail touches the invisible barrier of [infinity] standing in the air.

The sound of the Villain Bot straining and its gears running at high speed echoed through my ears.

Meanwhile, two more Villain Bots - Imperial, come towards me.

With a slight smile, I erased a piece of space, generating a vacuum between the three 2-point robots.

"Blue Lapse." With my words, the three robots are suddenly attracted by an explosive force created by the vacuum.

The robots collided with each other with tremendous force, generating a huge explosion and sending several metallic objects flying through the air.

I think I exaggerated!

I thought, swinging my hand and causing the metal pieces that hit [infinity] to go to the side.

"7 points," I said, deactivating [infinity] and flexing my feet, moving forward in search of more robots.

••• ••• •••

(All Might POV)

In the crowd, we watched young Fujiwara save the girl.

"Perfect." One of Yuuei's teachers exclaimed with a slight smile.

"Yes, besides saving the girl, he did it masterfully." Midnight, a somewhat controversial heroine, said this with a smile on her lips.

But Midnight wasn't wrong; after all, young Fujiwara's actions were perfect to save the pink girl, and not even a pro-hero could put a defect in how he saved the girl.

"What do you think of All Might?" The non-human principal of the school asked me.

Yuuei's director is a robust being with a rat's head, circular black eyes, and a large scar over his right eye. Its ears are relatively rectangular in shape, with light pink insides set back from the top of the head and an elongated snout with a small round nose. His fur is white, and he has large, dog-like paws with pink pads and a thin tail like a cat's.

The principal's name is Nezu.

Principal Nezu is an extremely rare case of an animal that manifested a quirk.

Nezu, although he is not human, is very intelligent—much more intelligent than humans.

Upon hearing Nezu's question, I turned to him.

"I agree with all my colleagues, but there is a single flaw in their actions," I said, giving a big smile.

"Which is?!" Midnight asked me curiously.

"Against the robots, he spent unnecessary energy considering his capabilities."

Even though I said he was probably just testing the resistance of those robots.

"You have one ready, but at the end of the day, he is the one leading that area, right?" Midnight asked, looking at the countless screens in front of us, where various candidates were doing their best. Although her eyes are only focused on young Fujiwara.

"Yes, he has 7 points. 1 point for defeating the robot, Villain Bot - Victory, and 6 points for defeating three Villain Bot - Imperial. Furthermore, this young man has 30 rescue points."

Rescue points are given by us to candidates when they save other candidates. Redemption points are something that students don't even know exists; after all, rescue must be motivated by true altruism.

As I thought about this, my eyes naturally turned to a green-haired boy who seemed to be shaking and scared on the battlefield.

Worry flashed across my eyes.

Come on, young Midoriya, show the world your strength; after all, you are my heir, the heir of the symbol of peace, and the bearer of [One for All].

You are the one I chose to carry the torch because this body of mine will not last long.

I thought, clenching my fist tightly.

"Oh! Fujiwara destroyed five more Villain Bots, three with a value of 1 point and two with a value of 2 points; now he has 14 points and 30 rescue points." Midnight pointed at the screen, interest in her eyes as she licked her lips seductively.

My eyes went to the screen, and I saw young Fujiwara breathing slightly heavily, while three Villain Bots - Victory and two Villain Bots - Imperial were destroyed with various parts scattered across the battlefield.

Although he was breathing with slight difficulty, he looked very well.

"14 points in just 1 minute 30 seconds is very good," I said, looking at the other competitors.

Another good candidate who came first in her block was Gwen Stacy.

Unlike young Fujiwara, she had 0 villain points, but in understanding, she had 40 rescue points.

Apparently, young Stacy has a compulsion to save people.

I thought, watching her swing from one building to another.

On her wrists was a gray gauntlet, which released a web-like substance that made her swing from one building to another.

"Hahahaha! This year, the heroics department will be very excited." I let out a laugh.

In less than two minutes, I managed to get an idea of the candidates that would enter the heroism department, which basically means being Yuuei's elite.

Although the heroism department has a limited number of vacancies, three of them have already been filled by candidates who took the recommendation entrance exam. Leaving vacancies for the heroism department even more limited.

"That is true." Midnight smiled, looking at the young Fujiwara with interest.

Midnight, just because we're heroes doesn't mean we're above the FBI. Be careful.

I thought with a slight smile; however, young Midoriya still hadn't made the slightest progress, having 0 points in everything.

Before I can wish my heir good mental luck, the voice of one of the teachers sounds next to me.

"Oh! This girl is also very good." One of Yuuei's teachers pointed to a girl who was on the same block as young Fujiwara.

Looking in that direction, I saw a girl with black hair and black eyes like an abyss.

This girl was masterfully fighting a two-point Villain Bot.

She used a mixture of different martial arts. It was as if her body had several registered martial arts.

Looking in that direction, I saw a girl with black hair and black eyes like an abyss.

This girl was masterfully fighting a two-point Villain Bot.

She used a mixture of different martial arts. It was as if her body had several registered martial arts.

With my gaze, I could see her moving from karate to taekwondo to boxing and staying in kickboxing.

In the hands that hit the robot, she wore brass knuckles with sharp claws, and on her back, she carried a sheathed katana.

With a sequence of techniques, she quickly destroyed the robot with just martial art.

"How many points does she have?" I asked.

"8 villain points, but 0 rescue points." One of the examiners exclaimed.

I understand!

If she had rescued even one person, she could have tied or even surpassed young Fujiwara.

"Who is she?" Midnight asked, tilting her head to the side.

"That girl is Cassandra Cain." The principal said this with a smile.

(Image of Cassandra in the comments.)

Oh! Young Cain has a promising future; after all, in less than 2 minutes, she had already obtained 8 points.

As I thought about this, young Cain and young Fujiwara started moving almost at the same time.

Young Cain was heading in the same direction as Young Fujiwara and Young Fujiwara was also heading in Young Cain's direction. Young Cain was probably heading in that direction because of the sound of the robot Young Fujiwara was chasing.

"Oh! They will meet." The principal gave an evil smile.

"Do you have any involvement in this, Mr. Principal Nezu?" Midnight asked.

"Hahahaha! After all, I made some robots smarter. Basically, the two young men just fell into a trap without realizing it." Nezu for a second, looked more like a villain than a principal of a school of superheroes.

As Principal Nezu said, young Cain leans against the robot that is destroyed by Nero's space explosion, completely destroying it.

The dust generated by the explosion settles, revealing Nero to her.

Young Cain and young Nero stood face to face, looking at each other.

The obsidian-black eyes and the golden eyes looked at each other.

But none of them said anything, and just as they were about to separate, suddenly several robots came out from inside the buildings.

These robots were much tougher and more powerful; these robots are Villain Bot - Venator, which is worth 3 points.

Surrounding young Cain and young Nero were 16 Villain Bot - Venator.

Several examiners and teachers began to whisper and complain that this had gone a little beyond the two candidates' limits.

"This is too much for these two, Mr. Principal." Midnight said this with a serious expression.

"Hahaha! A hero must always overcome hardships." With a single sentence, the non-human Mr. Principal shut everyone up.

Young Cain and young Fujiwara, what are you going to do now?

I thought excitedly, seeing that the two had no intention of running away.

The new generation will certainly surpass the old generation.

Now only you are left, young Midoriya.

Come on, show the world that you won't lose, not even to those who are favored.

Even with that thought, Midoriya still did nothing but run from side to side.

You can do it, young Midoriya!

I clenched my fist tightly as the screen showed Young Cain and Young Nero, without taking a single step back between difficulties.