Chapter 109

(A/N: If you're not already a patron, please consider becoming one. My dad fell out of a tree, breaking his left leg, hip, shoulder, and several ribs. He won't be able to work for 2-3 months, so I'd like to be able to help out, even if only a little bit.)

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After seeing Rumi off for her afternoon patrol, Izuku returned to the interior of her home, finding all the girls in the same room, studying for the second term or preparing for their CBEs. At this point, everyone was planning to test out of the General curriculum, not so they would have more time to fool around, but so they could focus on their training, Work Studies, and helping Melissa.

"Oh, Izuku, have you come to study with us?" asked Ochaco, beaming the moment he entered the room.

"Sounds like fun," replied Izuku, taking a seat between Ochaco and Tsuyu before asking, "What's everyone studying?"

As she was leading the study group, Momo happily chimed, "We're up to Third Year Mathematics, specifically Algebraic Equations and Factorising. Here, we made a study packet for you as well."

Accepting the proferred packet of papers, Izuku took a cursory glance at them, smiling wryly as he promptly redistributed his attributes. He could solve most of the problems if he took the time to think about them, but he preferred being able to 'know' the answer at a glance.

Before getting into the groove of studying, Izuku asked, "How was it this morning? I already know it was productive, but I'm curious to hear your impressions of grinding Experience. It's something we'll be doing a lot of in the future..."

"It was super fun~!" replied Mina. "I've always enjoyed combat training and moving my body, but seeing my stats increase is awesome. I went from Level 23 to 25 and gained 4 Strength, Agility, Vitality, and Dexterity as well as two Intelligence and Luck."

Piggybacking off of Mina's words, Tsuyu stated, "That seems to be a trend when we Level up together. Our attributes increase by ten, with greater weight assigned to those that amplify our Quirks. I also gained two Levels and twenty bonus attributes, but most of them went toward increasing my Dexterity. I didn't gain even a single point in Intelligence, ribbit..."

Though she used to be one of the smartest girls in Class 1-A, Tsuyu had placed among the lowest in the written exams since everyone but her and Kyoka had increased their Intelligence to at least 100. Now, while she wasn't exactly struggling with the course material, she was becoming increasingly aware of the difference in Intelligence the longer everyone studied together...

"85 Intelligence is still a lot," asserted Izuku. "It's higher than most of our teachers and surpasses many of the Ph.D. holders I've encountered. A lot of that can be attributed to their relatively low Level, but still. Even if your Intelligence doesn't increase every single time you Level, 85 is nothing to scoff at."

Feeling that she had made Izuku worry over nothing, Tsuyu offered a faint 'kero' as she hung her head and feigned focusing on her study packet. In response, Izuku caressed her smooth and noticeably cool hair, the result of her Thermoregulation Perk keeping her body cool despite it being more than 29 degrees inside Rumi's distinctly traditional, AC-less house.

Blinking in surprise, Izuku casually remarked, "You're really cool to the touch, Tsuyu. I was wondering why you were the only one not sweating..."

Prompted by Izuku's words, Ochaco reached over to touch Tsuyu's leg, remarking, "Oh, wow, he's right!" with a look of surprise on her face. She was fairly used to the Summer heat since she usually turned her AC off to save money when it got especially hot out, but she was sweating buckets alongside everyone but Tsuyu and Toru. Momo had produced several fans for them, but they only helped a little since they were circulating hot and incredibly humid air.

Fearing she might become everyone's hug pillow, Tsuyu promptly pointed out, "My Thermoregulation Perk isn't perfect. If everyone suddenly starts hugging me, I'll quickly overheat, ribbit..."

"I bet you wouldn't mind if it were Izuku~" mused Mina, narrowing her peculiar gold and black sclera eyes in amusement. Fortunately, before things could get out of hand, Izuku quickly changed topics, asking, "Any word on when Melissa and Toga will be joining us?"

As she was typically the one to keep track of such things, it was Momo who answered, "Toga's parents are taking her to visit family in Okinawa, so the earliest she can join us is the final week of Summer Break. As for Melissa, she should be coming by later this afternoon but will only stay for 3-4 days before returning to the campus. She has a lot of work to do back at UA."

"Yeah, I figured as much," replied Izuku. Nezu was determined to turn UA into even more of a fortress than it already was, so Melissa was nearly as busy as Cementoss and the other teachers in charge of construction. She had more leeway than the average teacher, but with news of the MWT phenomenon gradually spreading due to escalating crises in countries that lacked the means to defend themselves, they only had so much time to prepare.

Pulling out his cell phone, Izuku opened up the group chat as he added, "Still, we should ask her to bring over a space cooler or something similar. Studying like this without an AC is just torture..."

Though she agreed wholeheartedly with Izuku's statement, Mina mused, "Look on the bright side. With it being this hot outside, we have plenty of excuses to wear our swimsuits and take a dip in the ocean. We were going to after our morning training, but you were asleep, and we didn't want to wake you."

Inserting herself into the conversation, Kyoka flatly appended, "We were planning to do a barbeque as well, but Pixie-bob-sensei said Usagiyama-san doesn't allow meat-eating on the island."

"Yeah...I forgot to mention that..." replied Izuku, smiling wryly as he added, "Rumi gets nauseous if she eats or smells cooked meat, so most of the food we eat here is vegan..."

"Is it because she's a rabbit?" asked Tsuyu, understanding Rumi's plight as she was classified as she, much like Ryuko, was classified as a Lesser Heteromorph. Both of her parents possessed Heteromorphic qualities, but her father was a full-blown Heteromorph, his Quirk, Toad, giving him the face and physiology of a toad. As a result, Tsuyu had gone through a very long period where she couldn't process 'ordinary' human food...

Nodding his head, Izuku revealed, "Rumi's mom is a rabbit Heteromorph, and her father possessed an Enhancement-type Quirk that allowed him to strengthen his legs. Rumi inherited a combination of their powers, making her a Lesser Heteromorph capable of reinforcing her body, specifically her legs."

"Just how strong is she capable of becoming?" asked Mina, genuinely curious as 'Mirko' was also one of her Heroes growing up.

Shrugging his shoulders, Izuku replied, "I'm not entirely sure, but based on what I've observed, the only restriction on Enhancement-type Quirks is their fuel source and Vitality. Sato-san is a good example of this, as his Quirk is only supposed to boost his physical attributes five-fold for three minutes, but he has feats that are far beyond that. As for Rumi, I've seen her Strength and Agility increase to more than 5000, albeit only for a few seconds. If she wanted to maintain that state permanently, she'd need at least ten times the amount in Vitality."

"So that's why your stats are so weird," remarked Mina. "I was wondering why your base Strength and Agility hover between ten and twenty. It's so that when you power yourself up, you don't place as much of a strain on your body."

"That's right," replied Izuku. "However, even with ten to twenty times the Vitality, there is a limit to how much I can reinforce my attributes without a strong base. I can't just set my Strength, Agility, and Dexterity to 1 and strengthen myself infinitely by putting everything into Vitality. There is a disparity between the density and tensile strength of my bones, muscles, and tendons, so I generally keep my Strength and Agility at a tenth of my Vitality, allowing me to maintain a permanent 10x boost. Well, so long as I don't overexert myself."

"That's still pretty broken," said Mina. "Especially with your Quirk allowing you to redistribute your attributes. Since we gain at least 15 attribute points per Level, that means your power and speed increase by 100% of their base every eight Levels."

Blinking in surprise, as he wasn't yet accustomed to Mina being 'smart,' Izuku paused for a moment before responding, "You're not wrong. But, even if I one day surpass All Might, that doesn't mean I'll be invincible. Certain Quirks have the potential to ignore the difference in Level and stats outright. Space Hero Thirteen's 'Black Hole' is a good example, as even if I had a million Vitality, I'd still be atomized if I came into contact with her power directly. There is also a member of the police force with a Quirk called 'Scissors' that allows her to cut through anything by making a cutting gesture with her fingers or legs..."

Shaking his head, Izuku asserted, "Levels and attributes aren't absolute. Aizawa-sensei can take out people with Mutant and Enhancement-type Quirks despite having a smaller stature and a much weaker physique. His Dexterity is one reason, but that came about as a result of his techniques and his experience cultivated fighting foes more powerful than himself. If he had access to powerful Support Items, he'd be an absolute beast with his ability to negate other people's Quirks..."

"In other words, we shouldn't underestimate people just because our Level is higher. Is that what you're trying to say?" asked Tsuyu.

Nodding in affirmation, Izuku replied, "That's exactly right. I mean, just look at our Principal. He's basically stuck at Level 8, but he's one of the most influential people in the entire world. If you gave him time to plan and prepare, he could probably take on all of us without raising a finger against us directly..."

Shaking his head a second time, Izuku added, "Anyways, we're getting off track. I'm down if everyone wants to take a break and hit the beach, but since we've already gathered like this, we might as well get in a few hours of studying. The CBEs are only twenty days from now, and the Provisional Licensing Exam is two days later. We have an advantage over most other students participating in the Exam, but it's better to be overprepared than under..."

"Eh, so long as we get to go to the beach at least once during Summer Break, I'm fine," said Mina. "Just don't forget that you 'owe' me since my birthday took place over the Summer Training Camp. We should hit up the city at least once before we return to Shizuoka."

Adopting a wry smile, Izuku teased, "And here I was, hoping you had forgotten about it. Now my surprise isn't going to be nearly as effective..."

Covering her mouth to stifle a mischievous snicker, Mina narrowed her eyes and playfully retorted, "Then I suppose you'll just have to make it extra special or surprising to compensate~."

"I'll keep that in mind," replied Izuku. He had already made plans for him and Mina to go skydiving, but since she wanted something 'extra special,' he figured they could go paragliding or cliff diving afterward. Then, once things started to cool down, they could retire to a hotel where he would present her with the acid-proof outfit he had custom-made for her when she accepted his suggestion of 'Pink Majin' as a Hero Name...

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(A/N: There should still be at least two chapters daily, but my motivation is in the dumps. It'll likely take a few days for me to get back into a solid groove. If you'd like to speed that process up, please consider becoming a patron for at least the next 2-3 months. Every little bit helps a lot...)