Chapter Text
For as long as Izuku could remember, Gates had been a part of life. It’d been chaotic at the start, he’d been told, over 200 years ago when they first appeared. But now, Gates – and the monsters that came from them – were the new normal. And so were the Hunters who fought those monsters. Born with accelerated abilities, such as healing, strength, or speed, these Hunters were the only thing standing between Humanity and the beasts that lurked within those Gates. But that wasn’t the only new occurrence. At the same time, new abilities – Quirks, as they were later called – arose from around the world.
Many scientists believed the appearance of Quirks and Gates were linked, but that theory had swiftly been disproved. Chaos had again erupted when Quirks emerged, spawning the rise of another new profession. Heroes. With more and more people running rampant and causing chaos with their Quirks, governments had to introduce more and more laws. Soon, it was illegal for anyone to use their Quirk in any space other than private property or in a Dungeon. But that hadn’t stopped some. They’d rebelled, using their Quirks for their own gain, and prompted other people to use their Quirks to stop them. And thus, the concept of ‘Hero’ and ‘Villain’ had been made into reality. With Villain attacks becoming more common as society and Quirks evolved, Governments became desperate, and eventually sanctioned a profession in which people could use their Quirks to combat those Villains. And so Pro Heroes were born.
Many Quirk Users had Mana and became Hunters, but not all Hunters had Quirks. At least, not in those early days. Nowadays, over 200 years into the future, it was a rare sight to see a non-Hunter, and even rarer to see a Quirkless. Someone who was both was almost unheard of. Izuku was Quirkless, and he may as well have been a non-Hunter, too. With a Mana signature of 10, he was called the ‘Weakest Hunter Alive’ for a reason.
Even going up against the weakest of E-Ranked Monsters, he’d be stuck in a fight for his life while others breezed past him. But that hadn’t stopped him. He’d gritted his teeth and gone into the Dungeons anyway, and even when others had asked, he’d never stopped. And now he was going to pay the price.
Izuku looked back longingly at the fight he’d just passed, between Kamui Woods, Mount Lady and a shark-faced Villain with a Gigantification Quirk. He wished he could stop and watch, but he had a standing appointment with a raiding party nearby and he couldn’t afford to be late. He hurried into the construction site, and was almost instantly knocked to the ground as someone crashed into his side.
“Izukuuuuuu!” The high-pitched squealing coming from the girl with pink dreadlocks currently glued to his side was drawing quite a few stares.
“Hi, Mei-Chan,” he said, patting the smaller girl on the head as she un-glomped from his side. She pouted adorably up at him, but let go, already pulling out another contraption to fiddle with.
“You’re hurt,” she said without looking up. Izuku sighed. He should’ve known that Mei would’ve locked on to the bandage on his cheek, lack of social graces or not. She was incredibly perceptive like that.
“I tripped,” he lied. In reality, he’d failed to see Yubito Shinjuichi, whom Kacchan referred to as ‘Fingers’, until it was far too late to avoid him, and he’d gotten some deep scratches on his cheek for it. Mei snorted.
“And I lost my fingers. So come on, tell me. What happened?”
Izuku was about to reply when a loud clap echoed through the construction site. All of the Hunters present turned to face the man who’d made the noise, dressed in white armour detailed in gold, his red hair standing out starkly against it. The large sword strapped to his hip gave away who he was; the dual-type Hunter-Hero Heatwave. He’d been rather controversial when he debuted, but now, more than ten years later, dual-types like him were becoming common in the workforce. There was even talk of the HPSC merging the licenses, it was so popular. Not that it was likely to happen. Anyone with a Mana Signature could get a Hunter License, but you had to train and go through the proper channels to get a Hero License.
“Alright everyone, before we go Hunting, I’d like to say that, while I’m not really qualified for the position, I’d like to take charge as Party Leader. Is that alright with everyone?” Heatwave asked, looking over the crowd gathered before him.
“Akiraka-San, you’re the highest-ranked here! Plus, you’re a Hero! I’ve got no problems with it,” a blond man called, grinning up at him. Izuku recognised him as Kirō Nagisamu, from a raid he took part in a few weeks ago. He had a morale-boosting Quirk, if he recalled correctly.
“It’s Heatwave, so we’re safe with him, right? I can’t name anyone else here I’d be more comfortable with.”
A chorus of agreements echoed around the site.
“Take care of us, Blazing Hero!” Izuku said, bowing to the man, who bowed back.
“Your trust is in my hands, kiddo. I won’t waste it.”
Izuku sighed, sliding down the wall to rest on the ground as their company’s healer fussed over him. Her name was Konhoshi Kenkazu, he had learned, and she had the personality of a mother hen.
“Honestly, kid, why don’t you just focus on finishing school?” Her hands glowed the colour of her dark blue hair briefly as a light tingling spread over the slice on Izuku’s chest. He shrugged.
He was about to reply when a Kobold leapt at the pair from the side. Izuku immediately jumped up to defend them, snatching a nearby weapon from the ground and stabbing at the creature. It scrambled away from the blade, cackling, and lunged at him, dagger flashing in the firelight. Izuku moved to block it with his own blade, but the weapon broke on contact. The Kobold lunged again, and the dagger scraped past his ribs, opening a long gash on his side as he leapt away.
He hissed at the pain and cast around for another weapon. He spotted a sizeable rock behind the monster, and when it darted at him again, he twisted sideways and sprang past it, scooping up the rock as he rushed past. Spinning around, he swung the rock and smashed it across the Kobold’s face as it lunged at him. The monster staggered to the side, shaking its head, and Izuku rushed at it again, smashing at its head with the rock as it swung its blade in a feeble attempt to attack him. The Kobold let out one last shriek as it slumped to the ground, its head bloodied and disfigured. Izuku hurled the rock at its head for good measure, watching in satisfaction as its skull caved and cracked.
He sighed and slumped back against the wall again, breathing heavily and wincing as the gash on his side opened further and blood oozed out. It was sluggish for now, but he was sure once the adrenaline wore off and those muscles relaxed, he’d have blood pouring everywhere. Kenkazu-San walked over to him shaking her head and wordlessly moved to heal his chest again.
Within another five minutes, the entire cavern had been cleared and the kobold chieftain had been slain. They stood around for a few minutes, wondering why the dungeon hadn’t begun to shake yet – the sign that there was an hour left before the entire thing closed. Suddenly, a cry went up from behind a pillar to Izuku’s right, and Mei bounced into view excitedly.
“There’s another entrance here! The dungeon isn’t finished yet!”