The Era of Quirks has ended, they are a distant memory. One For All has no successor and the power fades from the records. Izuku's days have been history as seven others succeed him. Finally, the power is passed to someone in a different universe.
Quirks are gone. They are no longer dominant in the human genome. To protect society, memories were whipped of any mention or recollection of Quirks. Through the fall of Quirks, there have been seven users after Izuku Midoriya and now... There is no successor. Centuries go by without Quirks and not a single person has developed any and the glory of One For All is forgotten with every other Quirk. However, it persists to exist in the DNA of the last user, kept alive by the wills of All Might and Izuku. Their will keep the memory of One For All alive gives them a chance to find a new successor in a universe far away from theirs. Then they find someone, someone who fits what is needed. He is not pure of heart, but he has a will to do good with the logic to make the right decisions and grow. They don't know how much he will need this power in the near future, to fight ancient evils, interstellar villains, and their old enemies.
For good to exist, there must be evil.
I was giving a second chance at life... No, I didn't die, I was just playing videogames at the time. I'm not joking when I say a goddess, you heard me right a fucking goddess, knocked on my front door, and gave me the offer of a lifetime. Leave my world and see another with anything I choose to be and a power blessed to me, or stay and live my normal life. Of course, I asked my mom and dad what I should do and trust me, she more than proved that she was a god. They said that it was my choice since I am of age to make my own decisions. I chose to go, much to the grief of my mom and dad, but they respected it. I was tasked to help the creatures that worship her. I steeled my resolve and went into the great unknown... I found a clan of Arctic Foxes and became, what they call me, their Dark Knight, Black Watchman... Their Guardian. A title I hold fondly. Even if I was not readily accepted into their ranks.
"I got it!" I yelled from my room as my dog, Milo, ran to the door and barked at it. I paused the game, 'Final Fantasy 14', and ran towards the door. "Crate!" I ordered as my dog hung his head and went to his metal cage. I closed it before I walked back to the door and opened it. "Sorry, but I had to put my... Dog... In..."
The person who was at the door was a woman who had the bare necessities of clothing on... A cloth that covers her private areas such as her pelvic reign and chest. In her hand was a staff that seemed to be made of gold. She had literal glowing yellow hair and emerald green eyes. The thing is... She wasn't human, she's a feline creature of some sort.
"Hello mortal, I am Cuncta; Goddess of everything created... In another universe." Well shit, this is new. A goddess on the porch... Outside... And I live in an apartment complex... Yaaaaa.
"What are you doing?!" I whispered angrily as I glared at her. "Get in, now!" She came in and just walked right through the house as I closed the door. Now that I think about it, she was about three feet taller than me.
She looked around the living room and dining room as she examined the décor of the apartment. It was only me, my brother, my dad, and my stepmom living here so she would only be recognized by us if anyone sees her. Unfortunately, everyone was out for the day and wouldn't be back for another three hours.
"So, does thou know why we appeared at thy humble abode?" She seems to prefer archaic English. Maybe she hasn't heard the modern tongue.
"I hope you're not going door to door to see who will sleep with you because that's all I can think of." She glared at me and I shrunk away a little.
"That may be a partial truth, but it is a trial for those we have picked to take the task we have for them. Those who have the intention to court us in bed will have their memories wiped of our existence." She came closer to me and smiled devilishly. "Those who pass may court us if thee so desires." I blush at that as she leans closer to my ear and whispered. "We favor kind, young gentleman, and you fit both." Why are all gods horny; seriously, that's a major problem in Greek mythology. I am very uncomfortable now. Don't get me wrong, she was extremely attractive - mostly because I'm a furry - but I just met her, so I'm not gonna do that. "Even after offering myself, you choose not to court us still. A respectful young man indeed." More like in shock, but I appreciate the compliment.
"You said that I was chosen for something... but what?" She looked around for a moment, apparently admiring the décor some more, before turning to me.
"I wish to talk to your parents first, I want them to understand how this is going to work before it happens." Wow, a god that wants to talk to the parents before they are whisked away to another world... why isn't this the start of an Isekai yet?
"You don't want to cause grief, do you?" She nodded as she sat on the couch and made herself comfortable. "Now we play the waiting game." I sat next to her and was planning to take a nap... but the front door opened as my dad, brother, and stepmom.
"We're... back..." My dad said as he saw the goddess feline sitting next to me. "Hunter... what's happening?" I shrugged, I knew the bare basics so I would only give bad, or wrong, information.
"I don't know enough to explain." I lend my head back and just stared at the ceiling. "Mind explaining Cuncta." I saw her, out of the corner of my eye, stand as she planned to introduce herself.
"As you so said, I am Cuncta, Goddess of Creation from a different universe," Cuncta said as she bowed a little to be as formal as possible. "I want your son to help a race." Okay, I am now fully paying attention because this is some serious shit.
"What kind of help?" My dad asked after Cuncta finished her introduction and explanation.
"They are isolated in the frozen north with no knowledge of the world. All I ask is that he becomes their Guardian for political power. He will have to guard the High Priestess for the majority of the day, but that can give an opportunity to influence the highest political leader in the race." Oh... that seems rather easy now that I think of it. Wait, I just jinxed myself, didn't I?
"That seems... far fetched, how do we know that you're not just gonna just kill him or something like that?" Both I and Cancta deadpanned at my dad before she held out her hand and, out of thin air, produced a Dr. Pepper. She handed me the soda and now she is my favorite goddess. "Fair point. Unfortunately, this isn't my decision. If you want him to go, you have to ask him." My dad motioned towards me causing her to look at me confused. "He is at the age where he should make his own decisions. He's had difficulty making any decision so I believe this will expose him to difficult decisions later in his life."
"Oh, I already decided to go," I said... yeah, the awkward silence after was what I expected.
"Well... That was unexpected. I'm surprised he made such a big decision easily." My brother said before I shrugged. Hey, I thought I'd go to Mars first, not some random planet. At least I can cross that off my bucket list.
"Well now that we got that out the way, does anyone have any questions?" Cuncta asked as she looked at the four of us expectingly.
"I'm mostly just curious when you plan for me to leave," I said while leaning back into the couch.
"I can not tell you, you'll just have to wait for it to happen, I'm sorry."
"No problem, thank you." With that, she vanished into thin air and left without a trace.
From that day on, my dad began to prepare me for the trip there.
Izuku opened his eyes, he felt weightless as he floated above a cracked, broken skeleton. He couldn't tell who it was, but he could feel it... He could feel One For All radiating from it. It felt stronger than it was when he had it. If he had to make it simple, it was almost a hundred and twenty-eight times stronger than when he had it. Through that logic, whoever this long-dead man was, he had to be the seventh user after him. It made his sad to feel it's power in this skeleton. It means that the lineage of One For All has come to an end.
"I-Izuku?" The once UA student looked towards the voice and found someone he never thought he'd see again. His blond hair hung loosely over his shoulders and his skinny build almost made him look unimpressive if no one knew who he was.
"All Might?" Izuku's eyes began to water and tears rolling down his face. He felt like he was in UA again, he remembered how at the beginning how he'd tear up at almost anything. Some were of tears of pain, some tears of happiness, others were of sadness, but these were one of joy. He had been at All Might's funeral, all of class 1A was and most of the world too. He had never cried that hard in his life, it hurt more than when he heard he was quirkless.
"It's so good to see you again, Izuku." All Might hugged his student as he cried. Izuku looked much older than the predecessor remembered. He looked much older as if he was in his early twenties. "I told you young Midoriya that you can call me by my name, Toshinori Yagi." The young man nodded as they stayed that way for a good few minutes.
"Who's this?" They look over and see a woman who was taller than All Might in his non-muscle form.
"N-Nana Shimura?" Toshinori said as he looked over at the woman, her smile was a reminder of a time before he had died. He still remembered, but he didn't know what was happening.
"Glad to see you again Toshinori." She gave a short wave before she looked at the young man standing beside him, his eyes filled with awe and childlike wonder. "Who's this?" She looked over the Midoriya, his eyes widen As he pointed to himself. "Yes. Who are you?"
"He's Izuku Midoriya, the Ninth user of One for all." All Might look over to the skeleton and felt the same power. "But I don't know who this is."
"I do." The two heroes looked at the green-haired man as he tried to run a hand over the skeleton and it passed through. "He's the sixteenth user of one for all." The reality of what he said hit them, they were truly long dead and the One For All quirk lineage finally came to an end.
"Is this truly it?" All Might said as he looked at the skeleton. "Is this what we will do for the rest of eternity? We're all dead, long gone and our power has faded. Are we all that remains of One For All?" A bright light filled their vision as an entity of unknown origin appeared before them.
"No, I awoke you for a reason." They turned to the voice as Izuku activated his Blackwhip quirk as the light faded. Standing there was an equine almost twelve feet tall and in a golden dress. "Your wills were what has been keeping this power from fading in strength. Though centuries may have passed and quirks are forgotten, this is the only one to remain." The stood there as this entity walked closer to them. "Your wills will be enough to give the power to another successor. I will help your power be known in a different universe if you allow me to use this One For All user as my champion for the world of my creation."
The previous users looked at one another before looking back at the equine suspiciously. "Why do you need them?" Izuku asked, taking the initiative to ask her before his teacher and predecessor.
The equine looked away, an expression of shame on her face as she tried to avoid eye contact. "In my hurry to revive your collective consciousness, I accidentally revived a different group... The League of Villians." Izuku stiffened after hearing that. He wanted to tell at her, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything.
"You want them to fix your mistake?" Izuku wanted to make sure he understood everything before he decided how he would respond.
"I have to apologize, but I can't directly interact with the world after I was sealed away with Cuncta and Ruina, and we pooled our magic together to let Cuncta find a worthy successor for One For All. She's actually doing it as we speak." The heroes understood, but something was on Izuku's mind and it would be an important question that would influence the three heroes' decisions.
"How desperately does this world need One For All?" The equine looked at him, her eyes showing despite need and sadness.
"They needed it yesterday." The term was familiar to the three heroes. This world needed One For All now.
"We'll help in any way you can," Nana said as she stepped forward to where Midoriya was. The two had determined looks on their faces as Toshinori joined them.
"All you have to do is find someone worthy and that's it." They nodded and all they could feel is their bodies be untethered from the long-dead corpse and connect to a small piece pulled from it. It was the size of a grain of rice.
"Before we start our search, what's your name?" Toshinori asked as he looked at the equine, his blue eyes seemed to glow beyond the constant shadow covering them.
"My name is Faust." With that the appeared above ground in a world less technically advanced than theirs. "Anything you want to do before you look for your successor?" Faust looked at the trio they wanted to see what the world was like, but they didn't know how much time they had.
"There's no time." As if it was magic, he gradually became stronger or looked liked it. Muscles formed around him instantly and drastically changing what he looked like. "A planet needs a hero right." He stood to his full height, a smile appearing on his face as he glared at Faust. "Then we must act quickly, so they can fight this evil and declare..." He finished growing, a suit colored red, white, and blue formed around him along with a red cape. The shadow disappeared and he rose a fist, not to attack, but to make a statement.
"You excited?" I looked over to my dad, he was about five or six inches shorter than me. He looked as if he was in his early forties with few gray hairs on his face, he was bald but I figured it was a habit he picked up during his deployment to the Middle East. Unlike me, he had more muscle and fat while I had much less muscle than him and didn't have as much fat either. I wasn't calling him fat by any means, it's was just you could tell he had gained weight.
"Ya, I haven't seen her in a few years," I responded with excitement. I was talking about my great Abuela. She was eighty-nine and seemed to be losing it. I asked if I could see her before she couldn't remember me or my brother. She's getting up there in years and after my great Abuelo passed... I haven't seen her in years after that. The only reason I don't call them grandpa or grandma is because they won't respond to me if I don't say it in Spanish. Odd how I know no Spanish, but I memorized this to a T.
"It's been a good ten years." He looked down and back to me with a grateful expression. "I know what you're doing and I'm glad you are." I sigh after he said that. I, more than likely, inadvertently told him while in conversation... then promptly forgot. It's not uncommon for me to forget things.
"Ya, I know, but we also haven't seen her in years so I see this as a win-win." I smiled at him as we walked off the plane. It's been ten years since I've been to Puerto Rico. The last time we came here, we stopped by my great Abuela's house before getting on the plane. That was also the last time I say my great Abuelo.
"You know she gonna comment on how tall you are, right?" I chuckled as we stepped on to the airport runway and walked to the terminal. It was small, but I didn't expect much from a small island. It has seemed some advancements in the past ten years.
"For sure, the last time she saw me, I was around four feet; now I'm six foot two." We walked through the airport and collected our bags, we were only going to be staying for a couple of days.
"Good point, but I should've guessed. You are taller than me." It was only me and my dad. My brother wanted to stay along with my stepmom since we only just got back from Georgia.
We entered a taxi and rode to the place my great Abuela was at. We would visit her for both days and do a little sightseeing after we do so. Oddly enough, I remember that the Wizards of Waverly Place Movie was filmed here. That was a good TV show, much like Hole in the Wall on Cartoon Network, and I'm probably gonna watch it again somewhere online.
We got out of the taxi after it came to a smooth stop. I almost memorize the way back to the airport if I didn't zone out for that last few minutes. The stop was the same retirement home I was shown a few days ago and where my great Abuela was at.
We passed a few people on our way out and we even passed some woman who, for the absolute and medically correct technical term, was senile. I could see that on the caretaker's papers as I passed by so it wasn't a self-made assumption. Wait, why am I thinking about this? These are my thoughts so no one will hear them so who fucking cares if I did or didn't assume that.
"I sware to god... Hey, if I ever get like that, just shoot me." Yup, that was my dad. No restraint to any kind of jokes. They were funny and how he would talk to himself when we were in the car was always entertaining.
"Really... Now?" He nodded before we got to the door where my grandfather said my great Abuela was at. "Not gonna lie, I'm a bit nervous." I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. It always helped too, even if it was just a little, calm me down.
"Ready?" He asked as I did it a few more times. I nodded and he opened the door slowly as my great Abuela was in a chair near the windows of the room. She looked over to us and she smiled widely as her eyes settled on us. "Hola Abuela Monin."
"Hola mi Nieta Jaime. (Hello my grandson Jaime.)" She said, her voice sounding as if it rose an octave as she looked at me and her eyes widened in surprise. "¿Que mi pequeña bebé Alejandro? (Is that my little baby Alejandro?)"
"No." He chuckled as he gestured over to me. "Este es el Hijo del Medio. (This is the middle child.)" Her eyes light up as she immediately knew despite the decade without me visiting. My dad knew I hated being called the middle child.
I stepped forwards despite the introduction annoying me a little. "Hola Abuela Monin. Sorry, I don't know much Spanish." She smiled and opened her arms towards me with a clear sign of wanting a hug.
"It's good to see you mi Hijo. (My child)" she let me go and realized I had to be on my knees to comfortably hug her. "Oh your so tall. Your not the same baby you were are you?" I shook my head with a smile.
"No, I'm seventeen now and six foot two." She stood up and looked at me while she stood to see how tall I was compared to her.
"Wow, you are tall." She sat me on a. Hair near her's as my dad took another before she too a few bottles of waters out of a cabinet at a desk near the corner of the room. "How about some water? I always keep a dozen for my medicine." I stepped back, my expression turned into an awkward smile.
"Are you sure? I don't want to take anything if you need it." She pushed the water closer to me, a small smile on her face.
"I'm sure mi Hijo." I took it hesitantly and opened it and took a small sip. I underestimated how thirsty I was as I gulped it down with vigor. "Oh my, I don't know you were that thirsty." I nodded as I regained control and pulled it away from me. I didn't realize I had drunk the whole thing.
"Hehe, sorry." I shuffled in my seat awkwardly before I felt like I was shrinking. "What?"
"Oh shit!" My dad yelled as he ran to where I was to catch me... but he missed. I looked up as everything went pitch black.
I didn't feel as if I was falling nor did I feel as if I was standing. If I had to guess, I was floating. Ya, it's weird. Odd how I understand the feeling of weightlessness when I've only been in free fall for a few seconds of my life. I landed in a frozen land as the goddess from all those days ago appeared.
"Head straight and you'll be there in thirty minutes," Cuncta said just before disappearing.
Seriously regretting this decision, I got to walking... at least she was kind enough to give me my jacket.
I should be coming up somewhere near the town where I can GET SOME FUCKING FIRE!!! I'M SO COLD!!! Cuncta forgot to mention that she was gonna drop me into a FUCKING BLIZZARD!!! I sware if I die before I get there, I'm gonna kill... son of a bitch. Haha... get it. Shut up, it was funny.
Oh great, I'm about to pass out. Everything is getting dark... and this is so cliche. A figure appeared out of the raging snowstorm and they seemed to be walking to me. Again, cliche. Doesn't help that I passed out immediately after.
"So fucking cliche."
Yup, a good day.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" I groaned at the voice and rolled over, I was tired and I wanted to take a nap... wait a minute.
"I can, but can I sleep a little more please?" I asked, refusing to open my eyes for, well, anything. Don't underestimate the laziness of a human! We are the masters of procrastination.
"No, you can't." Then I was pulled out of bed. Yes, I am aware that I didn't know the voice and I was aware that the bed was a little softer than the one I normally sleep it. I like myself a firm mattress but damn that was hard.
"Please put me down." Whoever was carrying me did so slowly and there was one of my favorite animals in anthro form; an Arctic Fox. I won't lie and say I didn't fanboy a bit when I saw her, yes her. "You're an arctic fox." I bet she can tell I was happy.
"Yes, I am Little Kit." I pouted after she said that and glared half-heartedly at her.
"That's a little presumptuous Ms. Fox." She recoiled in surprise before looking around.
"That's a big word... for your species, how close are you to adulthood?" She already understands that she can't assume that I'm a child due to the possibility of entirely different biology.
"I'm one more year to adulthood, I'm seventeen." She looked shocked once more as I began to look around to assess the situation. I was in a building made of wood and possibly some stone; primitive, but it works.
"You are young compared to us, I was expecting you to be older due to your size." I chuckled at the irony of that. I couldn't blame her, I was a foot shorter than her, so she wouldn't know that I'm taller than average compared to most my age. Wait... is that irony?
"Trust me, If you knew how tall I am compared to my species, I'm taller than most people." She began to think before practically dragging me with her into the town. I was not loving being dragged around the town especially when I'm being stared at like I was a freak.
I was getting a little mad as she pulled me farther and farther onto the town to, what I assume, was the leader. They'll probably have to interview to see what my intentions are and whether or not to keep me here or let me die in the frigid unknown. I'll have to pick my answers carefully when they ask me something, but I'll have to say the truth so my actions make sense to what I say.
She was taking me to the biggest building in the town. I'm not gonna lie, it was a beautiful church-like structure in the middle of the town square.
I whistled in astonishment as I gazed upon the small, three-story religious building. "This may be small, but it's extremely beautiful," I said as I was fixated on the ornate structure before me.
"I see you have an eye for architecture." The vixen said as we entered the church from the large wooden doors that I couldn't help but admire. It depicted Cuncta, made of gold, seemingly sealing away eight beings; seven dragons that were made if different colored wood and one made of black steel.
"Architecture is art for buildings. Before I got her, I was planning to expand on my art and make a career out of it. However, I'm guessing by how many were working compared to those who aren't working, you don't accept those who can't contribute." She nodded as we entered the main area where eleven more vixens were waiting for use along with ten guards along with them.
Each guard was standing near a vixen at the alter except for the youngest one who was standing in front of all of them. This vixen didn't have a guard from what I could see and I guess it's because she didn't have one assigned to her. Judging by her attire, she must be the High Priestess and those behind her are a council, probably to make sure she doesn't pass any unjust laws.
"Hello, young kit. I am High Priestess Aurora and these ten are..." I cut her off, I'd like to show that I'm not some dumb child. I'd rather not have them condescendingly speaking to me.
"The council of the town." She, along with the council and guards, was visibly shocked after I said that. "I may look young to you and, by my country's laws, I am still technically a child even if I'm one year away from being an adult. I'm astute and knowledgeable about most things just through observation." The vixen who guided me here (more like dragged) spoke up.
"Do you have no respect for our leader?! Does your species not care for religion?!" The vixen angrily asked in a loud tone. I could understand why she would be angry especially through cultural differences.
"Most do, but I'm apart of the minority that doesn't believe in something I can't see. However, the reason I interpreted her was to show that I'm not an idiot and so they don't have to struggle to use small words to explain the situation. The other reason is that I live on the belief that "You should treat others the way you want to be treated". I want them to treat me like a friend rather than a child or a lesser being." I stopped immediately after, normally I would be a shy, incoherent mess. What did that goddess do to me to make me more confident in this type of situation; the situation that I'm horrible at in terms of skills?
"Why would any fox treat you like a lesser creature?" One of the council members asked as she recovered from her shock... actually, the entire council, other than the guards, are vixens.
"The foxes outside were looking at me like... something they stepped in." They looked at me weirdly after I said that. "Trust me, that's the cleaner version of what I was going to say." Seriously, I'm happy I could hold back my OCD. I'd rather not be impulsive in something like this.
"I'll take your word for it. Unfortunately, we are well aware of this. Our isolation must've caused some sort of superiority complex." I nodded at the statement of one of the council members, I couldn't blame them. The United States had the same problem within the 1800s when we adopted imperialism.
"True, no doubt most have a sense of nativism within the society." This caused them to be impressed by my vast vocabulary from both English and American History.
"You are quite a bright young kit... Sorry, young Reynard." Hey, I learned what a male fox is called, I've always wondered what they're called.
"My species call adult males, men. Man if it's a singular noun." They were mostly smiling before they became serious once more.
"Well, we know now that you're not an immediate threat, but that begs the question of what your job is going to be." That would be a problem is I didn't have one. No doubt that there will be some political backlash if I don't do any work and get a rather decent sized house.
"My only skills are more creative than constructive. I doubt you have any need for a musician, a writer, or an artist... I'm an amateur in all three considering that I'm mostly self-taught." This caused the council to look at the table, probably a piece of paper there with a list of jobs for this occasion.
"How about a brothel? Your creativity could be..." Nope, nope, nope, no-no-no-no. Nooooooooo. No way in hell.
"Nope, never, don't even suggest that." This was surprising for them as I rubbed my temples in annoyance. "First, I refuse to lose my virginity to some random person. Second, god, I'd rather not be on the bad end of some random foxes harmful kink. Lastly, I don't want to think of that would happen if I was assigned to a male." The pure dread on the guards' faces was a clear indication that they finally understood what I was talking about. Seriously, that would suck. I hate myself for that.
"The last thing is the Guardian position for High Priestess Aurora." I nodded excitedly, not just because that was what I was supposed to do, but that just sounds awesome.
"A guard position that practically requires me to do nothing, sign me up." That caused the guards to whence after I said that.
"I don't want to agree, but that's it." Hahahaha. Nice side guard number one.
"However, you will have some opposition with seven other reynards. The Guardian has to be the best warrior in terms of heart, mind, and strength." The High Priestess said, possibly to make sure that I really wanted to do this. This was my task, but this would also better me physically which I've been wanting to do for years.
"Sure, all I need is a little teaching and I should be fine." One began to write on their paper and I continued to stand where I was. It wasn't too bad, probably would have been blown way out of proportion if I was nervous.
"We will see that you make it to the Junior Guardian Dorms with the other seven reynards. We will allow you to find the weapon that chooses you." Uh, what was that? It sounded like they have sentient swords here and I don't know how to feel about that.
"Okay, thank you for your kindness." I bowed a little before the High Priestess grabbed my sleeve and began to drag me somewhere.
"I will take care of him, Alice. Thank you for doing so this far." Aurora said before the vixen that brought me here, that I now know as Alice, bowed to the High Priestess as I kinda expected her to.
"It was an honor High Priestess Aurora." With that, the three of us left and Aurora pulled me in one direction while Alice walked to another. I hope I see her again, I forgot to say thank you for her help. I feel bad now.
I was dragged through the town once more, but this time no one was looking at me like I was a turd they stepped in while cutting the grass. They didn't seem to care about me now that I was with the Priestess, probably to not seem like racist assholes. They kneeled for their High Priestess so I couldn't see their faces, and by extension, their expression. Yeah, I was getting pretty annoyed that I was being dragged everywhere, but I'll grin and bear it. I don't know where everything is yet, so it's better that I say nothing.
We left the town and went to a wide-open field that had a single house that seemed to be lively on the inside. Maybe there was a party inside with a few of the reynards and some vixens... I wouldn't put it past some military people to do this. Oh yeah, I knew this guy would be apart of the local guard. Their training would make them a no brainer if they had to be picked by the council. Now they have to deal with me... a novice swordsman with no experience or training. This is gonna be a long few months, isn't it?
"We will allow you to choose your preferred weapon, but I cannot tell you if the weapon will choose you," Aurora said as we came closer to the wooden building where the party was raging on. It was very loud and I could hear it from five-hundred meters away.
"What causes the weapon to choose me? Are they sentient?" I asked as the wind began to pick up. It was getting much colder than I expected, but this could be a way to test their endurance in extreme weather or resistance to the cold.
"No, each weapon is fine-tuned to fit the specific magic frequency unique to each creature. I do sense it, your magic even if it's hard to sense." She turned to me with a sad smile. "No doubt that you never knew of it or you would have used it to make yourself warmer." She turned back to the wooden building and gained a neutral expression. "It's a shame that you haven't allowed it to grow." Well... she's not wrong, I would've done that if I did have magic... wait, did she just say that I have some magic?! Yes, this is gonna be so cool!
"Nice, now I'm kinda excited about what weapon I'm gonna be paired with. Maybe a bow? Ooo, ooo, what if it's a long sword!" I have never in my life, ever been this excited about anything. "It's like the sword in the stone, where the soon to be King Arthur pulls the legendary sword, Excalibur, from it's resting place." There was a new bounce in my step as we came closer to the building. Damn the party was loud.
Aurora chuckled softly and it was the cutest thing I've ever heard. It was so adorable! "You're like a kid getting a gift oh his birth-day." I blushed a little. I always wanted to learn how to use a sword, but I never had the chance to since swords and the like became obsolete except for competitions.
"Um... Please don't tell anyone you saw that... please." I was embarrassed and I was a little too proud to let anyone know I was. I hardly ever let that side out unless I'm with friends... but I don't have any so I guess it hasn't been out in a while.
I wasn't paying as much attention as I should've, so I walked straight into the closed-door immediately after I faced forward. The door wasn't even made out of glass, it was made out of bright birch wood that could easily be seen. Only I could do something like that... and I'm a little ashamed that it already happened.
"Don't worry, I won't say anything, but you wanking into the door is a different story." I'm so fucked. "Let's go in, we have a little chat with the other competitors." I opened the door for her, like a gentleman, before I went in myself.
The inside was as I expected. Empty bottles of liquor on the floor, some scattered clothing - not looking into that, and loud party music booming through the god damned walls. Was this a military building or a frat house because I can't tell the difference right now and I don't know how to feel about that. This is definitely not what a military-funded building is supposed to look like. Jesus, a drill sergeant would have a fucking aneurysm from this.
I... could only facepalm. "Watch this..." Aurora walked forwards into what seemed to be the main room of the building. Seriously, this place is deceptively big. "If you would get behind me, please." I did so, mostly because I'm a little scared of what she'll do to me if I don't. "ALL GUARDIAN PARTICIPANTS, FALL IN!!!" Son of a bitch, my ears! I think they're bleeding! That was so fucking loud!
Like moths to a flame, seven foxes ran into the room and they looked like they had a little help from a friend called steroids. Jesus, these guys look like they've been working out every day since they were born. Is it too late to regret my decision?
"You have a new competitor, his name is... what is your name?" Oh, right... I never gave my name. Should I give my actual name? No, if I get into trouble, I'll want to use my name instead of a fake. Also, new life, new name.
"Nova."
"That's such a nice name." I don't think they know what a supernova is... it's for the best. "As you know, he will choose his weapon and will officially be in the running for being a Guardian." She turned to me with a kind smile. "The weapon rack containing the weapon you will use will appear after I cast a spell." Yup, I totally forgot that there was magic here.
"Magic exists!" I yelled in surprise before I facepalmed.
"Are you proud of yourself." The disappointment in her voice was extremely thick.
"No. I think I had a moment of stupid." Yup, that got her to laugh because I'm a big dumb stupid.
I helped her recover after that and she began to cast the spell. I just checked my phone and I had no notifications... go figure. Man, I was hoping that my phone was still connected to the Earth's internet. Then I could text my mom and dad and maybe a few other relatives. I put my phone away before a weapon rack began to appear and... they were all great swords. I'm gonna die.
"Crap." I walked towards the enormous swords that were propped up against the wooden rack. "I guess the most logical choice is to pick the one that matches my size." I attempted to pick up the smallest sword using both hands, but I felt like I was electrocuted through my hands. I dropped it out of pain and the blade got stuck in the fucking ground as if it was a heavy as a forklift.
"That was the most violent reaction I've ever seen," Aurora said before I began to think about what she said.
"If that was the most violent reaction, then the inverse must be correct." I walked to the biggest sword on the stand and started to attempt to pick it up. It was heavy, really heavy. I didn't have enough strength to lift it like a normal sword, but I did find a good focal point to use that would allow me to lift it easier.
The sword was eleven feet long in total with the blade being eight feet and the hilt was three feet long. The guard was two feet long in total and the ends ran up the blade with a visible space between the blade and the pointed protrusions. This thing was snow-white, the same as the fox's coat, with a little baby-blue for decoration.
A violent shock spread throughout my body as a black mist rose from my skin.
"What the fuck?!" I yelled in surprise; I won't lie, I was a little scared.
"A dark magic user?!" Aurora yelled, equally surprised as I was when I began to emit black smoke. "How the hell did someone with no concept of magic have such evil magic." Okay, that was mean.
"No clue... but... what does this mean?" I asked before the black mist disappeared from my body.
"Most foxes would turn evil with just a taste of its power." My hands fell to my side before I looked at Aurora, my mind was finally coping so it was much more manageable to listen without freaking out.
"Maybe because my species is already corrupt or maybe because my species can't be corrupted. There are only two options at this point. Possibly the latter since my species doesn't have any magic or a concept of how it works." I looked at my hands once more, trying to understand why I had dark magic but drew a blank.
"We seem to be at odds in terms of magic, but we seem to get along well." I looked at her confused before she began to explain. "I use light magic, by nature it's selfless while dark magic is selfish. Dark magic gives increased strength, speed, and stamina; light magic gives increased perception and magical ability." She looked at my hands for a moment before looking at me. "Lifting something heavy maybe a way to help your magic power grow."
I get it, if I used the sword, it would physically increase the magic. I will be forcing it to grow out of a need for necessity instead of learning how to use magic. This could work out for me considering that I would probably have to unlearn most of what I did learn... which is nothing. Probably most misconceptions about it would be revealed if I did learn it, but with dark magic being portrayed as evil; I doubt there are any spells for it then.
"The battle for the title of Guardian begins in two months. I recommend that you figure out how to use that sword for the first month, then spend the second month should be spent learning sword techniques." My dark magic will grow one way or I lose the Guardian title if it doesn't work... I really hope that I don't break them. "I'll take you to your room." She began to walk down a hall as the other foxes began to go back to their rooms and the music began once more. I'm not even gonna think about what they have in there, because some of the clothes were women.
I tried to pick up the rest with the same result with a much less violent reaction than the larger sword. I gave up and looked towards the rooms where the reynards went to.
"Nice to meet you, I guess," I said in the general direction of the reynards. I turned to Aurora and followed her down a hall that leads to a rather small room adjacent from what seemed to be the dining hall. "Thank you, High Priestess." She froze before to me with a smile.
"Finally using my title." I rose my hand as high as I could a pet her on the head.
"Even if I don't win, I gotta use it unless I want everyone else to beat the shit out of me." She laughed before opening the door... it wasn't too big but it was bigger than my normal room. A bed, a desk, and a closet which; all of which was bigger than I had in my normal room. It was much bigger than I expected and I swear I can fit a couch and a TV in here if I tried.
"I'll leave you to your room, I hope you adjust well." She left as I walked in and closed the room. I checked my phone, it was around ten pm. It's late enough, I'm going to bed.
I set an alarm for six a.m. and I went to sleep. I'm just done for today, that march through that blizzard was enough. Fuck today.
I woke up the next day and began to walk to the training area, I needed to work out to improve my dark magic. I cracked my fingers, neck, wrist, and finally my back; it was so satisfying. I left the room and made myself some breakfast, toast is a nostalgic food. I hadn't eaten it in years.
I left the Guardian Dorms, it was still dark out and if I wanted to get some training in, then I'd have to do it now. Imagine my surprise when I found Aurora waiting for me outside in the training area.
"Hey, Aurora... What are you doing here?" I asked with a suspicious tone, I didn't expect her to actually come here before sunrise. She was sitting on a post with her legs crossed and leaning back a little bit.
"The Council wishes to examine your dark magic and see if we can find a cause for your resistance to the magic." She jumped from where she was with a little flourish to add a bit of style... man I wish I had that kind of agility and quordination.
She put a hand onto my chest as a magic circle appeared where her hand meets my shirt and I could feel her magic search mine. Yeah, I don't have a jacket. So I spent thirty minutes yesterday walking through a blizzard without a jacket. I'm still cold.
"I-I can't tell with my current magic... there is something else that I can identify, but I don't know what it's called." I was a little concerned when she said that. Can that magic detect cancer... wow, that's depressing.
"W-what's it called?" I could never prepare myself for what she said, it seemed so off the wall that it shouldn't happen, then again; there is magic.
"One For All."
"Princess Celestia, we have a spike in dark magic over the frozen north!" A messenger exclaimed as she burst through the Canterlot Palace dining hall doors. His golden armor gave less protection than the normal guards but allowed for more flexibility and speed.
"Dark magic you say... hmm, any sign of massive changes in the environment or the terrain?" Celestia asked as she turned her attention to the stallion with a look of interest. The stallion shook his head before Celestia adjusted in her seat, her almost unnoticeable relaxed sitting position to one that made her seem taller. "Send scouting regiment to survey the situation before reporting back. When they find who's emitting the dark magic, I want an airship prepared for take-off." The stallion nodded before stopping as he was leaving.
"Who should I send?" Celestia thought for a second, she knew that if they wanted to know who was emitting that magic, they'd need at least two or more ponies to scout it out; however, this creature could be the leader of their civilization they aren't familiar with. She could send her student and her friends or her niece and a few guards. Her student has an unnatural ability to defeat all odds whether it be Equestria's greatest enemies... or solving the mystery of the Competition Cake Murder. Tis was a sad day indeed for Celestia. The other option would be her niece and her husband who were much closer than the six.
"Send the Elements of Harmony. They should be able to repel the corrupting nature of dark magic." The courier saluted and left the dining hall before Celestia went back to eating. "Maybe we can prevent this creature from being corrupted if we can convince him from using that foul magic."
"Twilight! How far are we?!" A blue mare with wings yelled over the roaring winds of a blizzard. None of them were expecting a blizzard after the Crystal Heart was put back where it belongs. They have been traveling for almost a month just trying to find the source of the dark magic.
"You asked me that a week ago before I said I don't know! We're looking for them and if we knew exactly where they were, we would've been there a week ago!" A purple alicorn yelled back as she continued to walk forward, four others following the two. Luckily they found a figure in the distance that was approaching them through the storm. "H-HEY!!!" The purple mare waved her arms to signal the figure.
The figure came closer, almost in a sprint before it began to slow down and the six ponies eyes widened in surprise. A snow fox vixen appeared from the heavy snow as she became more visible. She was about as tall as they were in a heavy jacket with a short sword on her hip. She looked as surprised as the six mares.
"Really, again... First a young man and now six adult vixens." The mares looked listened closely after hearing that, this man might've been who they're looking for. "Follow me, and if I have to carry one of you, then I will put you in a holding cell. I'm not doing that again." They began to follow her out of curiosity.
"Twilight, are you sure we should follow her?" An orange mare said as she looked at Twilight as the purple mare looked back at her.
"Unless you want to want to die of hypothermia, Applejack, I don't think we have a choice." They began to follow the vixen through the blizzard and in less than a few minutes, the storm cleared up as they came within a dome-like barrier around a large town filled with other arctic foxes. "Holy shit..." Twilight said as she looked on in amazement at the town.
"You seem like you were looking for our town." The vixen said as she turned to look at the small group as she guided them to the town center.
"Our princess was notified of a sign of dark magic coming from this area." The vixen sighed as she stopped before the largest building in the town. Twilight looked at the vixen, her expression was one of annoyance as she opened the doors to the building.
"Alice? What brings you... here..." said a younger vixen as she came around the corner as wearing an all-white dress. "More outsiders? Did you ask them why they're here?" The older vixen nodded before kneeling to the younger vixen.
"Yes, High Priestess Aurora, they seem to be here for the human." That caused them to look at the two in surprise. Humans were only in myth and legend, but an isolated society with the knowledge of humans is impossible. "Should I send for Nova?"
"It's best we don't disturb him in the middle of training." Aurora looked at the group with an apologetic smile, she did feel bad, but it would be for the best if he wasn't disturbed. "I must apologize for the inconvenience. If you wish, we can wait for him to go to lunch so you can meet him." They nodded as they went deeper into the building.
"Damn it!" I yelled, my arms screamed in protest as I threw a punch, and the resulting shockwave hurt my arm. I spent five hours working on this, but in the past month and I can only use about four percent. I had to compare my power with Izuku's from 'My Hero Academia' Which is substantial. For the basic gist of it, me using two percent is Izuku using fiver percent so using four percent is a massive boost than the one Izuku had at the end of the first month.
Onto a different topic, I finally understood what changed in me... With a little help from the doctor. Apparently, the corrupting capabilities of dark magic seem to have focused more on the physical and mental side of things without changing my personality. This was the way I described it, the door actually said: "It seems to have changed the way you act while reinforcing your skin and muscles. You said you much more confident and don't lose interest after a while when training. It must've spent it's corrupting on your skin and strengthening you as a fox... Person, sorry. It didn't have the power to corrupt your soul." Words from the doctor I swear.
I checked my phone and saw it was almost noon so I put my sword on my back where it stayed. I didn't bother questioning it, magic exists here. It doesn't help that I'm almost late for a lunch with Aurora. We scheduled it after it was decided that the preliminary matches would be after two in the afternoon and private. The council got the idea after I explained what cliff hangers were and now I regret it.
After that, Aurora wanted to get to know me better despite me being younger than her by a lot. Seriously, she's almost forty... or eighteen after I figured out that she technically lives double my life span so I had to do some math. That was an interesting day, to say the least, but it could have gone worse. Wait, I got a knife through my hand that day... the other Guardian applicants don't like me.
Holy crap, I'm so close! So zoning out isn't always bad... made the walks so much more bearable when I'm getting a nice cold soda. Oh yeah, they have cokes... well colas, Coka Cola isn't here... wish it was. You know what, I'mma go get one. That sounds good right about no- I just walked into a closed-door... Tell. No. One.
"Hey, Aurora! I'm here like we planned... Do I have enough time to get a cola?!" I yelled and I'm sure I can hear Aurora groan from the other room.
"Your addicted!" Aurora yelled back with an unamused tone causing me to laugh from it. I walk to the room that she yelled from.
"Come on, I'm not that... addicted." I trailed off after seeing the Elements of Harmony from the MLP series... this is gonna be rough. "Um... hello?" I waved at them... awkwardly.
"An actual human... I never believed they were real." Twilight said with a good amount of disbelief. Yeah, I'm not opening that can of worms. I don't want it to be something like humans are gods or they're demons, but that's probably it.
"Yes... I am I very well know I exist... wait, let me double-check." I looked at Aurora and placed my hands on her shoulders and began to shake her. "Aurora, do I exist!" She laughed a little along with Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight while Pinkie Pie was rolling on the floor, Apple Jack shook her head with a smile, and Rainbow Dash just smiled.
"Your such a jerk," Aurora said in a low tone.
"I know." I pulled a chair to the table and Aurora passed me a BLT which I began to eat as Aurora starts to eat her grilled chicken. The Elements of Harmony weren't that shocked and were eating their own vegetarian meals.
"Oh, I got you something, Nova." I looked at her in confusion as she lied something covered in cloth on the table, I won't deny that I wasn't curious when I saw it. I opened it and found that they were silver gauntlets with a baby blue gem in the back of the hand. "I had these made to reinforce your body after your first visit to the doctor." This caught the main six's attention as they looked at us. "This should allow you to use eight present without your arms and legs braking from the backlash." I put them on and it immediately turned black with the gem shattering and the area being filled with the gauntlets new black material. The plating seemed to become spiked towards the ends while the tips of the fingers became rounded claws; not meant to damage others and were only for aesthetic. Also, THEY WEIGHED A TON!!!
"Shit!" I used One For All to allow me to lift them.
One For All: 8%
The gauntlets were more manageable now that I was using One For All. "So they became corrupted." Aurora looked at a table. "Punch the table with eight percent." I nodded and brought my hand down on the table... the town center needs to invest in a new roof now from the miniature tornado formed from the backlash.
I was in pain, but I wasn't broken so I smiled widely, the gauntlets were perfect. I grabbed my shoulder and clutched it as if it would make the pain fade from existence. I turned to Aurora, my smile unnerved the seven after seeing my body twitch in pain.
"This is perfect. Thank you, Aurora." I said as the pain slowly faded from my shoulder before I relaxed my body. Aurora looked extremely proud while the Min Six... they were in complete shock after seeing me use One For All.
"That... Was... Awesome!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she got in my face with the biggest and cutest smile I've ever seen. I backed up, I was still a little uncomfortable after she came flying at my face. "You gotta tell me how you did that! It was so awesome and we could save so many people with it!" I pat her on the head, which got her to shut up and sighed... don't worry that she was taller than me.
"It's something only I can use. It's a massive strength enhancement that has an equally massive backlash. Even after training for a month every day, all day, I can still only use four percent without breaking anything. Lord knows how many times I've shattered my arms and legs in the first week." She looked away, clearly disappointed by the fact that One For All can't be taught. She went back to her seat, but I'm pretty sure she understood why I can't teach her... I'm not telling Rainbow that I can pass it down.
"I'm surprised that a strapping young human stallion has such an ability. If I may ask, how old you are, you seem to be a young child." Rarity asked as I chuckled nervously, I didn't expect them to know human maturity or how we age. Unlike the foxes aging, I don't know how long they age or when they mature so there is still a ton of ways this could go.
"Sure, but do you mind if I ask how long you guys live?" Rarity thought for a moment before looking at Twilight... was that seriously not common knowledge. Seriously, I always knew that I'd die when I was around a hundred... that caused a ton of mental bullshit for me. Thank god my therapist was able to make that happen less.
"We live around three hundred to three hundred fifty years," Twilight said which surprised Aurora and made me much more depressed. I'm not even gonna be a blip on their radar when I die, fuck me.
"Before I say my age, I want you to know my species only lives about a hundred years at best and has an average of about eighty years." This caused their faces to fall... wow, species in this world live longer than humans. That's depressing. "Another thing about my species is that we are considered adults at the age of eighteen for most countries around my world. Nations vary." Twilight was taking notes as I expected... nerd. "I'm seventeen." They stopped and looked at me I shock. I'm not even an adult and I have this power, fear me.
"Then why aren't you in school?" That's what you're more concerned about Twilight?! Not that I'm still technically a child?!
"Because I'm the only one of my family, quite possibly of my kind, that is here. The inhabitants are xenophobic and would probably assassinate me in a day if I wasn't apart of the Guardian Applicants." She didn't bother to ask what I was talking about before the Council and their Guardians walked through the doors.
"Ah, your here. I see you met our guest. I hope you've become acquainted." We cleared an area for the battles to take place, even moving the broken table and restricting the fighting area away from the crater. Thankfully, they think it was just a magic accident caused by one of the ponies. The other Guardian Applicants walked in and sneered at me, I glared back while clutching my hand. The feeling of the knife piercing my palm still fresh in my mind. "We will begin the preliminaries to the Guardian Trials. Will Joseph and Bryan come forth." Two reynards came to the improvised arena in the room. I didn't want to use my new gauntlets during the preliminaries and since there would only be one for each of us... only four of us will proceed to the semi-finals, eliminating half of us.
Joseph was a ranged bowman with high agility and speed with minimal armor; however, he can easily dodge twelve consecutive arrows being shot at him. He prefers to shoot from a range and his bow is so strong, he fired an arrow at a bonfire he made for training and it ended up putting the fire out with just the wind trailing the arrow. He was less of a jackass and had valued honor above all else which is why he didn't join in when the reynards attempted to cut my hands off. He's a dick, but he prefers a fair fight.
Bryan was almost the exact opposite of Joseph in almost every way. He preferred defense over everything and moves a hell of a lot slower. I've seen him tank a war hammer to the back of the head and not even flinch. His preferred weapon is an ax and a long one at that, it was about double my hight or twelve feet. From what I can tell, he seems to be the ring leader out of the seven, technically six since Joseph refuses to listen to him because he's dishonorable. I don't blame Joseph because Bryan is absolute scum in almost every way.
"Ready..." The head of the Council yelled for all to hear as the two readied themselves. Joseph notched an arrow as Bryan readied his ax in a defensive position. "Fight!" The world seemed to slow for me, everything seeming to be so wrong from the month I spent training beside Bryan...
He rushed Joseph as the bowman fired an arrow at the armored opponent which Bryan only blocked with ease. My mind raced when I saw this as the bowman jumped with a straight body flip directly over Bryan with three arrows already notched and ready to fire. He shot them point-blank into Bryan's armor which dented it a little. Joseph jumped away from the armor-clad fox's back, narrowly dodging Bryan's ax swipe from.
"Damn, three attacks in and it's already getting intense," I said as the two stayed at a distance from one another; trying to figure out what move would be the right move. They glared at one another, almost with absolute hatred. Faster than the eye can see, Joseph notched and arrow and let it fly but Bryan blocked it; however... "Joseph, that was fuckin' awesome!" Aurora and the Elements turned to me, both because of my language and because they were confused. An arrow nailed Bryan right between the armor and into his elbow, taking his left arm out of commission.
"Nova! Language!" Aurora yelled which I promptly responded with a dismissive shrug.
"What in Tartarous happened?" Rainbow asked, her tone much calmer than mine or Aurora's. I don't blame her, if you weren't watching Joseph then you would've missed it.
"If you watched Joseph after he released the arrow, he notched another and fired that one right behind it. The first arrow was a decoy for the second." I explained as I turned my attention back to the match, Joseph was smiling after hearing what I said.
"Come on Bryan, I'm right here. Come on hit me." Bryan rushed the bowman, his ax primed to attack and Joseph attempted to dodge. Damnit, the hole I made caused snow to get in, and with how cold it is, it turned to ice in the few moments it was there.
Joseph's balance fell after slipping on the ice, he couldn't dodge Bryan's attack. Bryan's attack hit Joseph's arm and pretty much threw the bowman through the air with a newly broken arm. It's my fault he lost, I'll have to apologize later since he's unconscious. With a broken bone, ring out, and being unconscious, all would cause the match to end; however, with them all happening at once, he will not have a good day.
Bryan is no doubt going to the semi-finals for the trials.
"This win is granted to Bryan. Now, will Alex and Mike come forward?" There isn't much that happened with the other two fights since they were over in seconds compared to the first fight. All that was worth mentioning is that Mike, a mage, won and Jack, a twin dagger user, did as well. "The victory belongs to Jack. Will Nova and David come forward." I walked forward and took my stance, a wide stance to make sure I can't be pushed over easily... however, this was not how I fought.
David was a paladin if this was an RPG so he focuses more on defense, but that's all carried on his shield. In reality, he's steadfast in his defense that left little room to attack, but his own attacks were slow. That doesn't mean much when he can move his shield about as fast as Joseph notching an arrow. Out of everyone, he probably has the biggest hate boner for me to the point that he started rumors to try to get the public against me being in the Guardian Trials. It was almost fanatical at this point.
He rose his sword and shield prepared for a frontal attack. He knows that I'm gonna test that shield's defense since I've been wanting to for the entire month after I saw him use it. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and threw it at Aurora who caught it. I'm not gonna lie, I almost bolted to it when I saw her almost fumble it.
"Ready..." I lowered myself further to the ground and David covered his body with his shield. I couldn't help but smile, I was excited about this.
"Fight!"
One For All: 4%
No one in the room expected to see Nova move faster than they could perceive and punch David's shield with so much force that they were having to hold onto something. Their jaws dropped after seeing the backlash of Nova's power before he used said backlash to push himself back to gain ground between him and David.
David's eyes widened, it seemed impossible to him. "Holy shit," David said in shock, he was barely able to comprehend what happened. He hadn't paid attention to Nova's training, he didn't think he'd even be capable of attacking. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a little bit excited for the fight even if he despised the human before him.
"Hate to tell you, but that was only four percent of my power," Nova responded and prepared to use One For All again. Arcs of black lightning surrounded me and arced around me. I'm starting to guess that the lightning changes color due to hair color; All Might's was gold for his blonde hair, Izuku's was green for his green hair, and mine is black for... the point is that my lightning, aura thing is black. Now that I think of it, it may be black because of my dark magic.
David did not like that. "Don't fuck with me!" He charged Nova at full speed which he completely outmatched with Nova's own as the human passed by him and attempted to hit him with a four percent punch. He moves his shield to block it which succeeds blocking my punch. Nova pushed himself to the side until he was behind the reynard and delivered a devastating punch to his kidney causing David to be sent flying through the air.
"Nice one, Nova!" Aurora yelled before Nova nodded in her general direction as he got in a fighting position, again.
Nova charged the paladin in an attempt to catch him off guard. It didn't work out as he hoped as he dodged a stab from David, but it only worked in the fox's favor. David shield bashed Nova just after dodged the stab. The fox attempted to cut Nova at the waist and end the fight, but the human jumped above the blade.
Nova's jump was much more powerful than he anticipated; he ended up having to adjust his body to land feet first on the ceiling. In an instant, he pushes off the surface of the ceiling and spun to attempt a devastating six percent ax kick; increasing the force with a flip to ensure he wouldn't land head first on the cold-hard-marble floor. David met his kick with his shield, a devious smile on the paladin's face.
'If he was smart, he'd use this as a bluff to gain distance between us. An attack like this would leave him open.' David thought as time seemed to move in slow motion, the two fighter's bodies high on adrenaline, and their minds moving faster than they ever thought possible.
'This might hurt like a bitch!' Nova thought, his mind racing at what a backlash of six present might be like. He hasn't used six percent at all, so — in his mind — this can go two ways; this brakes every bone in his leg or he will have to take a day for his muscles to recover after enduring the point-blank shockwave. Nova was preparing for the worst.
One For All: 6%
The resulting shockwave forced all of them to have to hold their grounds by changing their footing or grabbing onto something that was nailed to the floor. For Aurora and the ponies, this wasn't as strong as the one he demonstrated earlier, but it was still empressive no matter how they saw it.
David could barely move his body to counter the human's attack, the shockwave forcing his body into a stance to remain standing, but his arm was pretty much flailing as he struggled to keep it still. Despite the frustration, he was smiling. For the first time, he can finally put an end to a question an old-dead friend once asked him...
What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
He got his answer when something that seemed impossible graced his eyes: the sight of his shield shattering. Both David and Nova were equally shocked, their faces mirroring one another.
"My shield..." David began, once again, it almost seems to appear in slow motion.
"It broke?" Nova asked, wandering his he was even awake to see this impenetrable wall that was the shield, break with a simple six percent ax kick. "I thought that was..." Nova began, still processing what was happening as the even was still unfolding in his and David's mind in slow motion.
"Impossible." They said at the same time, just before Nova's kick reached David's arm... And broke it.
The fox couldn't care less, the one thing he was known for and even what symbolized his very role in the town guard, was lying on the ground. Broken into tiny pieces and scattered around the room like shrapnel. David sat on the ground, his left arm, broken and bent halfway up the forearm.
David's face contorted into a hateful sneer as he gazed at his opponent, the one that was beneath him. 'How can a filthy mongrel ever beat someone like me!?' He thought, as the head of the Council walked to the edge of the makeshift ring.
"The winner is Nova!" She exclaimed as said winner began to walk away from the reynard, something David could not accept. It was an insult that he lost to such a creature that was just feasting off the bottom of his town. He began to mentally accuse the teen of cheating since a lesser creature could never beat a superior race, but complaining would make him look bad... He had something different in mind that would make sure he wouldn't go to the public matches.
"Nova," David called, causing Nova to turn to him, but Nova's eyes widened after he felt what David did to him. He couldn't believe it; how much it hurt. David was pinned to the ground by two of the Council guards as Aurora and the Elements ran towards Nova's falling body.
David had slashed his torso open in some mad attempt to reclaim his shattered pride. But much like his pride, arm, and shield; he shattered his honor. He lost the respect of everyone who once held him in such high regard.
Nova's blood flew through the air and stained his clothes, blood flying from his mouth from his newly punctured lung. He couldn't feel a thing; was it because of the adrenaline, blood-loss, or because the sword was sharp enough. He didn't know, but he did know he was going into shock and might experience the most painful death imaginable. He could hear yelling, but it was vague and muffled.
On the outside of Nova's mind, David escaped the Council Guard's grasp and was fighting them off rather well. He was losing it from what they could tell and Bryan was wondering if it was a good idea to push him before they got there. Bryan looked at the body of the teen; his pale skin, those unfocused eyes, and his barely moving chest. The kid was dead, but he only sneered.
'What a wasted opportunity. It would have been fun fighting him.' Bryan continued to examine the kid, the Elements of Harmony crying over his body as Aurora put his gauntlets on his hands, hoping he could take them with him when he crossed over. However, Bryan noticed something and he smiled deviously. "I guess we never looked into dark magic too much to realize it." He whispered, wanting everyone to see one of the true powers of dark magic. Strength, speed, and stamina meant nothing to what he just learned.
Back in Nova's mind, he was waiting to embrace the end. He made amends with his past, apologized for his sons, and stopped thinking. He wanted a clear mind when he died.
'...'
'No...' Nova opened his eyes as much as he could, the complete black void he expected of death greeted him. 'It isn't your time...' Nova hasn't heard that voice, it was new.
'C-Cuncta?' Nova asked, maybe she would guide him to the afterlife. He was ready for it.
'No child, I am her sister... The goddess who will be giving you the blessing of you win this battle of Guardians.' This startled him, if this wasn't Cuncta, then who was she? He was a little embarrassed that he'd be dragged to hell, he hasn't been the nicest person when he was on Earth. 'Your magic is reacting to your near-death experience.' Nova looked around his mind, he was good at it after all his daydreaming.
'W-Who are you!?' He wanted to know who was talking to him. He was a little scared, but it was minor compared to dying; at least he can pull the 'almost died' card on foxes and ponies.
'In time, you will learn, but this is what I leave for you as a means for you to learn who I am before you win this battle.' The voiced seemed to switch from both ears to just one. The sound-making him both uncomfortable from hearing and feeling what is especially a ghost, and arousal from how sensual the voice sounded. "I am Cuncta's opposite." He heard it clear as day, not in his head, but actually through his ear. It was weird for him.
From Nova's wound came pure dark magic, Aurora and Twilight stepped away, the rest were still in shock after seeing someone they just befriended almost die. None of the five that were remaining near noticed as the "corpse" arm move until he grabbed both the shoulders of Apple Jack and Fluttershy. Their reaction was one of what people would think when they see someone resurrect, absolutely terrified. His wound slowly closed as the same magic creating new blood and he struggled less and less with each second, but he wasn't thinking straight. He was pissed.
One For All: 100%
A massive shockwave just from him using one hundred percent and all the attention was on him. The arcs of lightning covered his body entirely, everyone thought he turned his body into pure plasma after seeing the black lightning in the shape of Nova. He took a single step, then it was as if he teleported in front of David, and said fox's mind didn't even process what happened before Nova's fist connected with his face.
Compared to the shockwave from his massive strength enhancement, this attack had much more force than that shockwave from the backlash of his attack. The roof of the building was launched into orbit and the blizzard that both shielded and imprisoned the town was dispersed.
Aurora stared at the bright blue sky, the first time she ever saw it in her entire life; she even saw that the town was surrounded by mountains. The head of the Council couldn't believe she would see such a sight again; for her, it has been almost one hundred thousand years ago. The Elements of Harmony never thought they would see such an impossible sight from someone so young... compared to them. The only reason they were able to see such a sight was that all the mages combined their magic to put up a shield to withstand the shockwave, but the shield was just barely able to stay standing after everything cleared. Once everything died down, all that was left was Nova, his arm and legs were shattered and bent in ways it's not supposed to, but he was lying unconscious on the ground. David's body was nowhere to be seen.
It all ended when the clouds that were slowly forming before expanding in an instant, but Twilight could see the glow of the Crystal Empire just before the storm reformed. No doubt she knew her brother and sister-in-law noticed such a display from where she was, maybe she could feel a weaker version of that shockwave. If she wanted to prevent any negative effects, she would have to leave soon to prevent an incident between the Arctic Foxes and the Ponies of Equestria.
Twilight didn't have time to gawk at this seemingly impossible feat, she needed to go now. Swallowing her awe, Twilight grabbed her friends and looked towards the head of the Council who looked back at her. "There's a pony kingdom nearby, no doubt they noticed the backlash. I need to tell them that everything is alright." The head of the Council nodded, Twilight vanished in a flash of bright light.
Bryan stared at the kid, his mind racing after seeing his full potential in a single punch. Yes, he was a threat, but that strength was too much for that kid to handle if the broken limbs were anything to go by. "Fighting such an opponent with such cheap tricks would be no fun," Bryan whispered as he walked out the room, not like it would do much since the building no longer had a roof.
The head of the Council turned away from the makeshift ring. "We will announce the winners in a banquet in two weeks. In the meantime, we'll look for the reynard who nearly killed Nova and bring him to justice." She looked back at the teen, her narrowed eyes made her seem somewhat suspicious of his capabilities. "He should be healed by the time anything else happens... if he can regenerate again." The Council left as Aurora took Nova to a doctor.
Aurora couldn't deny that she wasn't a little worried.
"Princess Celestia, we found the creature who emits the dark magic. He is human in a town full of sentient Arctic Foxes." Twilight said as she reported to Celestia. She had to talk to her brother and sister-in-law down, but after that Twilight immediately came to the princess.
Celestia gave the newest princess a kind smile. "We are both princesses dear Twilight, you don't have to be so formal with me." The solar princess walked towards her previous student with the same kind smile. "Have you convinced the human to give up learning dark magic?" Twilight tensed up, she was still a little afraid of disappointing Celestia out of habit.
"No ma'am, he needs the dark magic to use his ability efficiently." Celestia motioned with her hand to explain. "His ability is a massive physical enhancement ability; however, his body can't handle the aftermath: a massive shockwave equivalent to his attack. What we saw was his arm and legs being completely broken and was unconscious from the pain. His dark magic allows him to regenerate and withstand attacks that he normally can't take. But the deciding factor that he's not a threat, he shows no sign of corruption." Celestia was intrigued after hearing this, there has never been anyone who hasn't been corrupted by that form of magic. She was more interested that the newest creature was human, something she never expected.
Celestia smiled, she was proud of her student even if Twilight wasn't saying everything she was experienced in her time in that town. "You've done well Twilight, but do you mind telling me his name and age?" Twilight visibly relaxed after receiving thanks for her work.
"He's seventeen and his name is Nova, but he seemed to give himself that name." Celestia looked down, thinking to herself as she silently dismissed the six. Celestia was both surprised and happy that a human appeared, her friend would greatly appreciate the news of this.
Celestia canceled all appointments for the rest of the day and she knew her sister, Luna, will definitely appreciate no work for her night's work. The solar diarch left the throne room with a destination near the northern tower close to the throne room, she was excited to see how her friend will react to hearing about this new human. This was on her mind as she opened the door to the lavish tower room.
"My friend, I have news you might like." Celestia's friend looked at her, taking her mind off her work.
"Oh, mind if I ask what it is?" Celestia's friend asked, said mare chuckling after hearing the same words she said to her previous student and her friends.
"Another human appeared." This got her friend's full attention as their eyes seemed to light up. "You look like you have a new life after hearing of his appearance. You're one strange girl." Celestia's friend chuckled in embarrassment from her comment.
"I just found out that I'm not the only human, of course, I'm going to be excited." The new human began to work on her project once again. Celestia walked closer and said something that got her to stop working for a while.
Celestia placed her hand upon the human's shoulder. "From what I got from Twilight, this human has the same power as you described your friend's. What was his name? Izuku?" The girl's head turned extremely fast to face Celestia.
"Is it actually him? Is it Izuku?" Celestia shook her head, her friend's question answered. "What's his name?"
"His name is Nova." The girl lowered her head, she was scared that she'd never see her friends again. "Cheer up Melissa, you should be happy that you're not alone." The girl, known as Melissa, smiled a bit.
The girl looked back at her work, then turned to Celestia. The look she had was one of determination, she was wanting to see this new human. "I want to meet him." Celestia nodded and turned around to leave.
"We will visit in two weeks." Celestia might be clairvoyant.
In the far north of the Crystal Empire, in the mountains south of the Arctic Fox town, there was a broken body of one of the foxes. He was barely holding onto life from the amount of blood exiting his body and all the broken bones. The fox was in too much agony to pass out. He wasn't expecting two pairs of feet to enter his field of view, the feet of two humans.
The first was a tall man, a weird helmet covered his eyes and seemed to be welded onto a collar. "Yes, you will do nicely," The man said in a deep voice with an underlying tone of cryptic evil. The man began to heal him, much to the fox's confusion.
"Why do we need him?" The smaller one asked. Severed hands covered his body like some kind of armor. He held some weird device with only four fingers instead of all five.
The man turned to the smaller, younger one. "He has been hit with the current user of One For All. I bet he wants revenge." This caught the fox's attention, they knew of the power that was used against him. "Tell me the name of who did this to you." He found people that were willing to kill the inferior creature that did this to him.
"Nova." The fox grunted out with pure hatred in both his tone and eyes. The single word almost sounded like a primal roar.
The tall man finished healing him and the fox sat on the ground. "Would you like the power to kill this Nova?" The fox nodded his mind made up and unwilling to change. "Good, you will become a Nomu, designed to kill him specifically." The fox smiled, ready to purge the blight that plagued his species. "Now, would you kindly tell me your name?" The fox grinned with an almost evil look.
"My name is David." The smaller one smiled even if it was barely seen with the hand covering his face. "What is yours if you don't mind me asking?"
"Where are my manners? This is my student/subordinate; Tomura Shigaraki." The older man said before the younger one bowed lightly.
"Nice meeting you," Tomura said in a pleasant manner, even if it was a little sarcastic.
"And you are?" The fox motioned towards the older man. He said three words that would scare anyone who vaguely knew about him.
"Tonight is gonna suck. I just know it." I said while adjusting my gauntlets and new greaves which I decided to name Beowulf, but that got Aurora to ask why I named them that. I just chuckled and patted her on the head. Why was I wearing these? Because the semi-finals were taking place during this banquette per the Council's request. This will be a dinner and a show as well as showing those who advance. It's confusing, so I'm just going with the flow.
Aurora was fixing up my clothes that I pretty much wore every day. I wore the same jacket every day with jeans and a random shirt; none of which were formal in any way. "You could at least try to enjoy the party," Aurora responded to my complaint with her own annoyed tone. The only reason why she was doing this was that the Banquette was meant to honor the applicants, their families, and their teachers; which I only have one of... I'm sad now.
I looked back at her, a small glare on my face. "I'm sorry, but your not a social outcast. I'm not comfortable with crowds." She rolled her eyes before finishing making my clothes look somewhat presentable. I spent almost four hours standing in this one spot... four hours! I'm staring at it in a mirror and it looks the same as it did before Aurora tried to make it look nice.
"Let's get going, the ceremony is about to begin." I nodded, I wasn't particularly thrilled, but I heard that The Elements are returning with the princesses and a few others. Maybe I can dazzle them with the massive improvement, and when I mean massive, I mean massive.
I scratched my beard, yeah I grew a beard, and just came to terms with what was happening. Not like I'd have much of a choice in the matter, but at least I can show off my improvement. These gauntlets make training go so much faster than I ever hoped.
"Alright, let's do this!" I walked to the door and into the room where the other Guardian applicants waited with their families and teachers... I was the only one alone.
"This is a perfect time to attack." All For One said as he looked down at the town of foxes from one of the mountains. With the multitude of quirks he took, he definitely took one that allows him to see through the blizzard. At his side was Shigaraki, staring down at the town as well, but unlike his teacher, he didn't believe that now was a good time to attack.
Tomura looked at his teacher, the man who raised him while others looked away from his suffering. "Why now? No doubt you feel their power, you're more experienced at this than me," Shigaraki said, his confusion was easily heard by the older human.
All For One looked at Shigaraki, he loved the boy like a son, but he was too narrow-minded to see the bigger picture. "This attack isn't meant to destroy, even if that may be a big possibility. This will be the prelude to a bigger operation, but this is only meant to gather information." All For One looked back at the town, its name still alluding him. "Seriously, what is the name of this town?"
Tomura looked at his teacher. "You're worried about that? I'm still trying to figure out what today is." Tomura took the fake-hand off his face, he wanted to see his teacher without having something minimizing his vision. "Are we going to use David?" All For One shook his head.
"He is not meant for this kind of task." All For One turned to a mand covered in pitch-black mist who was in a nice suit. "Take us back Kurogiri, and prepare the attack." The man bowed, the silent agreement gave All For One peace of mind knowing everything would work out.
The mist around him began to expand into a wall. "At once sir." All For One walked into the mist shortly followed by Tomura Shigaraki. They seemed to vanish inside the mist as two more came out. One was a man in a navy blue and gray full bodysuit and the other was a young woman in a schoolgirl uniform. Behind them was a large bird-like creature, its brain exposed to the cold blizzard, its eyes didn't blink. Behind them was a hoard of creatures with insect-like features; however, their bodies had the basic shape of the ponies but with chitin like exteriors. "When I give the signal, lead these 'changelings' into battle. Take the High Priestess without killing her. Understand Twice."
The man crossed his arms defiantly, the only thing expressing emotion was the eyes of the suit's mask; even if they were completely white. "I don't know why I have to do this." Twice complained, but his voice soon turned lively as he gave a thumbs-up, the pure white eyes of the mask expressed happiness. "Sure, this will be so fun."
"Good, now we wait. Tonight, the strongest in the town fight for a position. We'll wait until they are at their weakest." Twice didn't respond, only offering a nod. He knew they had the element of surprise, he didn't want to blow it after seeing a patrol towards the base of the mountain.
"We thank you for coming this evening. We thank our new friends from Equestria for joining our tradition that has been going strong for one hundred thousand years," The Head of the Council said. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor raised their wine glasses to express gratitude. Beside them was a hooded creature with that was hard to tell who or what they were. Near their table was one for the Elements of Harmony. There were two guards per table for the Equestians, all of the royal guards were standing at attention with straight faces. "Today, we introduce the four continuing to the semi-finals and continue. We will see who continues to the finals." Many cheered after hearing this, even the Equestrians joined in except for the four guards.
Celestia looked at her sister along with Cadence and Shining Armor, the look of happiness on her face was something they haven't seen since luna came back. "This is incredible, I'm so excited!" Celestia exclaimed, it has been an entire millennium since she has seen any form of combat, even if it is only battles between two creatures.
Luna was able to contain herself, even if she was just barely able to do so. "Calm yourself, sister, we must maintain an air of professionalism," Luna said as she tapped her foot to maintain her composure. Cadence and Shining Armor were trying to understand why the two oldest princesses could like something like this; both were born after there was a ban on duels. They never understood the mindset of their ancestors.
"Then you'll love Nova's fight, I've never seen such raw strength and power." Rainbow Dash said the Equestrian Royals were more excited than they were before. During this, the Head of the Council continued to speak as she praised the Guardian applicants for their hard work and their improvement.
In the waiting room, the four applicants waited with their families and combat teachers. Well, all but one. The only human was sitting alone while practicing his attacks by shadowboxing. He was mostly attempting to make sure his form was perfect so he won't make a mistake when he was in battle. The other applicants looked at him along with the others in a condescending way except for a few who were more intrigued or being polite, but there were only three who weren't judging him. Two were trainers and one was the had of one of the families, all of them were a little disappointed at the other applicants' arrogance.
"We will announce those who will be fighting tonight. Our first applicant is our ax-wielding warrior, Bryan." The fox came out and I can tell most weren't impressed and cheering, probably because they knew he'd be one of those who would advance. Bryan showboated as he slammed his ax into the ground and throwing his arms out. It honestly reminded me of 'Gladiator'. "Next is the top mage in the village; Mike." Mike walked out, many illusions resembling fireworks went off as he made two ice golems. "Our next competitor is our own rogue; Jack." Jack walked out while showing the dexterity of his fingers as he twirled his daggers between his fingers. "Finally, our hand to hand brawler; Nova." Nova smiled as he jumped high into the air before using eight percent to ax kick the ground, shattering it and sending rubble into the air; a shockwave sweeping over the crowd.
One For All: 8%
Nova jumped away from the small crater and fell into line beside the rest of the applicants. The incredible show of power shed some light on what happened two weeks prior, and what the Equestrians saw - the ones who weren't there two weeks ago - have never seen such power in their life. This was a creature that has never been seen before by the masses had so much power that everyone can see he was visibly holding back. The Equestrian Guards were in complete shock as they dropped their shields and spears. The foxes now understood what happened to the blizzard that day, but if he was holding back; what did he look like when he wasn't.
The Head of the Council looked around the crowd before continuing her announcements. She was really enjoying the microphone that the Equestrians brought. "The first fight will be Bryan versus Jack!" The two walked forwards and took their stances, preparing to attack one another. "Fight!" Yeah, it lasted a total of two seconds as Bryan hit Jack with the broad side of his ax and knocked him unconscious.
"What the fuck! That was so boring! Damnit... I lost twenty gold." Everyone looked at the Human who gave Bryan a bag with money. Bryan bet on himself knowing that Jack wasn't training. Then again, Nova did the same thing with the same fox.
"Well... Bryan advances. Our final fight before the true banquette begins will between Nova and Mike." Nova was already in the ring as Mike walked in, his staff was glowing as most staves did when they heightened their magic. Even if it was common to see mages with a staff like that, mages that don't have a natural focus are extremely rare. Mike was the only mage in the entire town other than Aurora. He was already guaranteed a position of power within his society because of his mage status. "Fight!" Nova already launched into his attack; he hoped he could end it quickly.
One For All: 50%
Nova was blocked with a magic shield as a massive shockwave rushed past him as the shield moved back a bit. He was shocked when his fist met the barrier, he didn't expect his reaction and cast time to be so fast. It was impressive to all in attendance since almost everyone perceived Nova as a bolt of lightning. However, the amount of force that came with the attack almost made a few of the observers go flying from the backlash.
One For All: 8%
Nova used said backlash to gain some ground between his opponent and himself before using his superior speed to dash around the still fox. When he thought he was in the optimal position, he raced for Mike with the same lightning-fast speed he displayed with his first attack. Each attack was met with another shield that perfectly matched his fist as if it was to show his mastery over his senses. The fox was still standing in the same place he was before and hasn't moved his head an inch either.
Nova stopped moving as he stood a mere ten feet away from the mage. "I have to admit... That was fucking awesome!" Nova yelled in excitement much to the shock of everyone else who was watching the two combatants fight. "You're amazing, those shields were the size of my fist, and they can handle fifty percent too, incredible!" Aurora has never seen him smile like that since he came to the village and she couldn't help but smile along with him. She had to admit that the fight was getting more and more interesting as time went on, but she had to keep her composure to not make a fool of herself.
Mike didn't respond to Nova's praise. He didn't even move or look shocked by the sudden pause of the fight, but almost no one could see above his muzzle since his hood covered it. Nova's smile fell, he wanted to get some kind of reaction out of him, but nothing happened; he only guessed that he had some special training that involved improving his discipline. Nova wouldn't attack him even if he did react, but it was still unreal for Mike to show no reaction.
Mike rose his staff into the air and channeled magic to flow through it causing it to glow brightly in response. Nova got in a position to run if Mike attacked him, but he didn't know spell cast times so he could only guess when he needed to dodge. However, he finally reacted and turned to the Head of the Council and smiled.
"May we use the open field to fight? This seems a little too cramped for us to fight effectively." Mike asked as he stepped charged the spell with more mana. Mike was right, the ring was too small for both of them to fight without getting the audience involved or severely limiting themselves. They were both in a bad position if they can't use their abilities to their fullest extent.
She thought about it for a moment, the logic coming to her. They can't showcase the full extent of their capabilities in such a close ring which is not what an actual battle would be like if the Guardian is involved. "Alright, I'll allow it." She said before Mike disappeared in a bright flash and appeared next to Nova. He sent a beam of magic straight into Nova causing the human to be blasted all the way into the field where he twisted his body mid-air to land on his feet. Mike teleported next to him and cast the same spell that sent Nova flying, but he dodged it the second time.
"You're not getting me a second time," Nova said as he ran at the mage who was preparing a big spell, the snow around him was lifting along with a bit of the ground underneath. He was still being blocked with each attack he sent at the fox, but he was glad he could use more of One For All without fear of catching others in its backlash. The ground broke apart with each attack that came into contact with the shields and the shockwaves could be felt by the crowds despite the combatants' distance from them.
One For All: 50%
Celestia was in complete awe as she watched the two fight. "I've never seen a creature with such power. He may even be stronger than us, sister." Celestia praised the teen because of his abilities as he seemed like a bolt of lightning streaking across the ground. That didn't last long as the mage finally took the offensive by grabbing the human's leg with telekinesis and threw him far into the distance where he hit a mountain. The Council was shocked and were trying to think if this was considered an out of ring win or if the fight was still on. "That mage... that level of mana and control are incredible, he threw him so far that I didn't think was possible!" Luna nodded, they could understand if it was a magic blast or some sort of beam, but it was telekinesis. It would have been easy to mess us the display of power if he ended up slamming him into the ground.
The mage paid no mind to that as he continued to charge his spell before a boom could be heard in the distance. It didn't matter as he made a massive ice golem that nearly touched the top of the blizzard barrier. As the human got back to the fight, he was hit by the golem and sent into the ground where a crater formed where he landed. The golem attacked again and sent him farther into the ground with each ground. Nova tried his best to block the hits, but it was almost futile as the attacks still hit him even if they weren't as strong as they would be if he didn't block.
Rainbow Dash flinched with each hit. She liked the mage's attack, but it seemed to be getting out of hand. "This is brutal. Should we ask them to stop?" She looked at the Council who were watching the fight carefully with well-trained, magic-enhanced eyes.
"No," Twilight responded using the same spell the Council was to observe the fight much closer than anyone else. "He's still fighting and he's actually reducing the force of the hits before they reach him. He just was sloppy with his recovery and attack that he didn't account for his own fatigue. He's tired and he's trying to buy himself more time to catch his breath; however, he's learning that blocking isn't working out for him." Almost as if the teen could hear her, he redirected the golem's fist away from his so the golem's own weight would pull him down. "He figured it out." Twilight couldn't help but smile, he was one of the first in the town that they considered a friend, and they suspected that it was the same for him after hearing some of the comments about him when he was introduced.
"The outsider? Why isn't he dead yet?"
"That waste of space has no place here."
"He should just die in the blizzard. He doesn't belong here.
"Worthless."
"Inbred monkey."
"Abomination."
What they called him was unacceptable by any standard, yet he still kept going. Twilight clenched her hands after remembering the cold, harsh reception he got from the town. There was no doubt he heard it too, but he remained strong despite the harsh words, discrimination, and abuse. She thought he was so strong that words didn't hurt him... that wasn't the case. Nova was doing it out of spite at this point... he does things out of spite.
"YOU GOT THIS NOVA!!!" Twilight looked at where the cheer came from and saw the princess's special guest standing while giving the human praise for his change in defense. She was glad to have someone other than her to begin cheering for him as the other Equestrians began to cheer as well for the teen.
In a split second, there was a sight of black lightning before it passed through the golem's chest. For a second, nothing happened except the golem not moving before the magic behemoth shattered in an explosion that cleared the sky once more. Everyone was in a state of shock after they saw this.
"My gauntlets..." Nova began as chunks of the golem fell as the mage began his free fall. "They allow me to handle double the percentage I normally can without them." He looked up at the mage who prepared a spell, the mage's eyes were almost pure white. That same lightning appeared before Nova seemed to teleport behind the mage and delivering a devastating double hammer punch to the reynard's back; the fox's body rocketed towards the ground where the fox's body made a crater at impact. "So what you're feeling is fifty percent of my power without any loss, but now... you will feel one hundred percent of it!"
One For All: 100%
Nova sent an open palm strike behind him so the shock wave would send him to the ground fast. Mike sent a magic blast at Nova which missed, but he still smiled. The mage made a shield out of his remaining mana to block the teen's punch, but it was useless. Nova's punch hit the shield with so much force that it generated a tornado that covered the two and forced all mages and alicorns to shield the audience.
"I-impossible! It should have taken hundreds of pegasi or fifty alicorns to generate a tornado that strong, but he did it with a simple punch!" Luna said as snow, ice, and dirt were rapidly hitting the shields they generated. Some of the pieces of ice caused web-like cracks to form on the shield. The guards that were meant for their protection were now being the ones being protected as the high winds still assaulted the shield.
"He said that the punch he used on that paladin was one hundred percent, but this is almost two times stronger!" Twilight yelled over the winds that scattered around the town. She was a little scared after seeing this much power being used. She was now thinking that Nova lied about how much power he had or even he didn't know the full extent of his power.
In the tornado, Mike was holding back Nova's punch as best he could. His shield was cracking, the force of the shockwave threatened to rip him apart, and he could feel his mana being drained at an accelerated rate. He was panicking. However, if they showed up in time, then he wouldn't have to worry about the human. Then his shield finally broke and he felt Nova's fist hit him straight in the muzzle with less force than what originally the teen had. Unfortunately, he could feel he was losing more control of his body every single moment after he was hit. His mind went blank and he thought it was the end... it wasn't he was only unconscious.
"The winner is... Nova- NOVA RUN!!!" The Head of the Council yell and that was the only warning he got before he was punched to the ground by some unknown creature. His arms were sore after using more than he thought he had, but that didn't keep the beast from stepping on his back and grabbing both arms.
Through the newly created blizzard, thousands of back creatures with pure white eyes flew in and began to dive-bomb the town. All the guards, including the equestrian ones, were sending off the attack from this monster. These creatures were bug-like in appearance with bluish-green fin-like protrusions coming from where their manes and tails were supposed to be.
"W-what's going on?!" Aurora yelled over the sound of the bug-like creatures warcry and screaming as they were cut down. Many were surrounding the meniscal amount of guards in the town that was on patrol. Many of them being overwhelmed and either being captured for food or just being killed outright.
Twilight was blasting a few of them with her magic before Applejack and Rainbow Dash taking her place to defend. "It's a Changeling attack, but they're acting off. Something's wrong with them." Twilight responded before going back to help her friend defend. She turned one to ash that was about to kill Pinkie Pie while said pony was launching any party objects at the Changelings, inadvertently killing them from the force of the projectiles alone.
No one was aware of a human girl behind Aurora before Aurora had her mouth covered by this girl. Aurora felt something being stabbed into her and a sense of vertigo that caused her to pass out. The human began to change into the High Priestess with almost no visual flaw. "Aurora" smiled as everything was going as planned.
The beast holding Nova stepped on his spine, the strength behind it was incredible and seemed to match Nova in his last attack against the mage. His mind was racing, each second he could feel his ribs crack as they slowly start to break under that monster's crushing strength. He screamed in pain as the foot bared down on him with even more power as his ribs broke faster. He began to cough up blood as one pierced his lung and filled it with blood. It hurt and he couldn't do much to defend against it.
The monster grabbed both of Nova's arms and pulled them behind him. He screamed even louder as he could feel them being torn out their sockets and even some of the flesh and muscle being pulled as well. On top of the combined weight of the beast's foot, he felt as if he was being torn in half. The cracking of his bones filled his ears and it drownd out almost every other noise around him. The sounds of dying foxes and Changelings, the sounds of the explosions of Changeling dive-bombers, and the cries of fear from the citizens of the town.
The beast gripped the teen's forearms tightly, the bones snapping immediately after its grip tightened. It was just another wound to add salt to at this point; coughing up blood, the broken ribs, the punctured lung, and now the broken arms... all were now just details in the world around him as he tried to break free. Then the beast made a mistake, it put its head near Nova's.
Nova's head flung back and hit the beast in its exposed brain causing its foot to move and its grip to be loosened. Nova kicks the foot that pressured his back to the side, forcing the monster to its knees as t let out a warped howl of pain. From there, Nova rolled forward on to the top of his head and placed the bottom of his foot under the monster's chin before pushing with everything he had. His arms slipped from the monster's hands as the beast was sent flying through the sky. The resulting shockwave sent nova flying towards the larger defending group that was keeping "Aurora" safe.
The reynards that were fighting used some of the downtimes between fights to drag Nova back behind enemy lines. Black mist covered his torso and all the broken bones and torn muscles repaired themselves. The mist slowly faded away as the wounds healed from the broken human, but his forearms weren't healing. This was thought because they were only barely holding on with the skin alone.
"Fuck, that hurt!" Nova yelled in pain as he struggled to stand. He placed one foot underneath him and tried to balance on it, but fell into "Aurora's" arms where she helped him stand. He seemed to have fractured vertebrae, but he was still able to move at the very least.
"Nova, what the hell was that?!" Princess Celestia asked over the chaos of the battle. He shrugged, not completely sure what it was either since he couldn't see it. His hands were the more pressing concern as he looked over to where the Beast was... then it came back after crashing down through the blizzard.
"It looks like a Nomu! Damn it, I can't fight it like this!" Nova held up his arms before he gained an idea. Compared to his other injuries, his arms were way more recent so it would take a while for them to heal, but he was going to use that tying to his advantage. "Celestia, grab my arms, the broken half!" The teen ordered as he grinned, practically ignoring the pain.
Celestia was confused but complied either was as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. The Nomu stood once more, his muscle-covered body began to regenerate disturbingly to those who watched it. After it finished, it stared directly at Nova, its empty eyes showing no emotion; what Nova expected of a human turned animal after having their sanity and freewill stripped away.
Celestia was wondering what Nova was going to do before she felt a massive gust of wind and her falling back as a result. She tried to rub her eyes as a reflex before she realized something... she still had Nova's arm, his now severed arm. She screamed in terror as Nova tried to hit the Nomu with a flying kick, but had both his feet caught by the monster. The timing was perfect as his regeneration kicking in and his arms came back before he hit the Nomu in its brain once more.
One For All: 100%
The creature dropped him and gripped its head, pain flooding every part of its body after being hit in the brain, and its body seizing up all at once. Nova knew that was the last time he would ever get a chance to hit the brain, so he pooled all of his power into each punch as he assaulted the abs of the monster. His arms broke from the force, but they were still usable. It wasn't enough. It wasn't doing enough to bypass its shock absorption. Nova pulled even more power, more than he ever thought he had.
One For All: True 5%
Each hit could be seen going through the Nomu. The shock wave went through its body and shot out the other side of the monster causing massive damage to the landscape beyond. Mountains were being ripped to pieces and the area being flattened more and more with each punch. The very ground shook with each hit as the Nomu's muscles bulged out behind its body where the punches hit. Nova's body was no longer a giant ball of lightning, instead, it seemed as if he generated it and it arced off his body and tore at the land around him.
The onslaught stopped all fighting as all were curious to see the source of all the powerful blasts being sent in every direction. That gave everyone enough time to see the end of the Nomu as its back muscle burst open more and more with each hit. Organs, bone, and blood flew out of the enormous hole coming from the monster's back as it grabbed the teen's head and squeezed as a last-ditch effort to stop its death. Nova's head began to bleed as it squeezed more and more as stress fractures began to appear on his head while the Nomu's fingers nearly pealed the flesh off his scalp. It ended when Nova's fist went through the Nomu's stomach where the strong punch was turned into a deadly uppercut.
The Nomu exploded from the inside out as every organ, bone, and liquid launched in every direction, but it didn't regenerate. The lower half fell over as Nova held the position he was in when he delivered the uppercut. "I never thought that you could absorb shock from within, so I tested it and it worked. On the inside, you are just as weak as every other human." Nova fell to his knees, his arms falling too. "Rest in peace and be free, whoever you are." No one moved a muscle, but the changelings surrendered. Their trump card was dead.
