Arthur stood before the massive doors marked "1-A,." Behind these doors were nineteen other students, the best of their generation, each one accepted into U.A.'s Hero Course. Some went through grueling entrance exams, while others, like himself, were accepted through recommendation.
All Might taught in this building, Arthur thought, adjusting his uniform. The Symbol of Peace walks these halls. Whatever challenges await, this is where I'll find them.
He pushed open the door.
The classroom was already half-full. Students clustered in groups, chatting excitedly about the entrance exam or eyeing each other with competitive interest. Arthur looked through the room.
A boy with spiky blonde hair and explosive eyes sat with his feet on the desk, radiating aggressive confidence. Near the windows, a girl with pink skin and horns was enthusiastically talking to a boy with a bird head. In the back, someone with a tail was gesturing animatedly. A blonde boy with an unusual belt kept glancing nervously at the others.
But Arthur's attention was drawn to two students in particular.
Todoroki Shoto sat alone near the window, his distinctive split-colored hair and scarred face making him instantly recognizable. The boy radiated cold disinterest, deliberately isolating himself from the others. Arthur had seen that posture before, someone carrying weight they refused to share.
And near the front, a boy with curly green hair was frantically writing in a notebook, muttering to himself about "quirk analysis" and "pro hero strategies." His energy was completely different from Todoroki's, nervous, excited, almost overwhelmed.
"You must be one of the recommendation students!" A voice called out. A boy with glasses and dark blue hair was suddenly in front of Arthur, hand extended. "Iida Tenya! It's an honor to meet you! I saw your exam scores posted, seventeen rescues with zero casualties! That's extraordinary efficiency!"
Arthur shook his hand. "Himura Arthur. The exam was well-designed to test practical heroics."
"Well-designed indeed!" Iida's eyes widened behind his glasses. "And that display of strength, catching the support beam!
"You were watching the other exams?" Arthur asked.
"They showed highlight reels to all accepted students! Your performance was remarkable! And that blonde boy over there," Iida pointed at the explosive student, "destroyed the zero-pointer robot from the standard exam! These are the caliber of heroes we'll train alongside!"
The blonde boy's eyes snapped toward them. "Oi! Glasses! You talking about me?"
"I was simply acknowledging your impressive feat during the entrance."
"Save it!" The boy stood up, "I don't need acknowledgment from extras. I'm gonna be the #1 hero, and anyone who gets in my way can eat dirt!"
Arthur studied him. Aggressive, confident to the point of arrogance, but there was real power backing it up.
"Bakugo Katsuki," the boy said, noticing Arthur's attention. "Remember the name, because I'm gonna surpass everyone in this class. Including you, recommendation boy."
"I look forward to seeing you try," Arthur replied calmly.
Bakugo's eye twitched at the response. "What was that?"
"I said I look forward to it. Competition makes us stronger."
For a moment, Bakugo looked like he might explode, literally. Then he scoffed and turned away. "Whatever. You'll see soon enough."
"Um, excuse me!" The green-haired boy from earlier approached nervously. "You're Himura Arthur, right? From the recommendation exam? I'm Midoriya Izuku! I've been studying pro heroes my whole life, and I saw that Phantom Blade recommended you! Her quirk is intangibility, right? So does your quirk complement hers, or is it something completely different? Oh, sorry, I'm rambling."
Arthur found himself smiling slightly. The boy's enthusiasm was genuine, if overwhelming. "My quirk is enhancement and energy projection. Phantom Blade taught me tactical thinking more than quirk techniques."
"Energy projection!" Midoriya's eyes lit up. "Like ranged attacks? That's so versatile! Can you form different shapes, or is it more like raw force? Oh, and your enhancement, is it strength-focused or speed, or both?"
"Both, and I can form constructs. Primarily blades."
"That's amazing! The versatility must give you so many tactical options."
"If you're done nerding out, Deku," Bakugo growled, "some of us have better things to do than listen to your mumbling."
"K-Kacchan, I was just—"
"Shut it!"
Arthur noticed Midoriya flinch at Bakugo's tone. There was history there and not the good kind of history. The green-haired boy's body language showed habitual submission, while Bakugo's showed habitual dominance.
Long-term bullying, Arthur recognized with distaste. That will need addressing eventually.
Before he could process further, the classroom door slid open and a girl with brown hair rushed in, looking flustered.
"I made it! I'm not late!" She paused, seeing the room half-empty. "Oh. Early, actually."
"Uraraka!" Midoriya's face lit up. "You got in!"
"Deku! You too!" The girl, Uraraka, beamed at him. "I was so worried after the exam, but we both made it!"
More students filtered in. Arthur noted each one with interest: a girl with a frog-like appearance, a boy with tape-dispenser elbows, someone whose quirk made them invisible, judging by the floating uniform, and a student with a rock-like head.
Twenty students, including him. Twenty different quirks. Twenty potential allies.
Finally, when all were present, something shuffled into the room.
A yellow sleeping bag on the floor.
The class fell silent as the sleeping bag squirmed, and a disheveled man with long black hair emerged, his eyes heavy with exhaustion.
"It took you eight seconds to quiet down," he said, voice flat. "In a real crisis, that would be too slow. Time is precious. Rational students would understand that."
Arthur recognized him immediately. Eraserhead, Aizawa Shota. Underground hero, Erasure quirk. One of U.A.'s most effective teachers despite his low media profile.
"I'm your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota," the man continued, pulling something from his sleeping bag. "Now, put these on and meet me outside in five minutes."
He tossed a pile of gym uniforms at the students.
"What about the entrance ceremony?" Uraraka asked. "Or orientation?"
"Waste of time," Aizawa said bluntly. "If you want to be heroes, you need to understand that not everything follows a comfortable schedule. Now move. Four minutes remaining."
The class scrambled to comply.
Five minutes later, Arthur stood with his classmates on one of U.A.'s training fields, wearing the standard gym uniform. Aizawa surveyed them with tired eyes that nonetheless missed nothing.
"A quirk assessment test," he announced. "You'll each perform eight physical tests while using your quirks. Whoever places last in total scores will be judged to have no potential and will be expelled immediately."
The class erupted in protests.
"That's not fair!" Uraraka exclaimed. "It's our first day!"
"Natural disasters, villain attacks, catastrophic accidents, none of them are fair," Aizawa's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Heroes face unfair situations constantly. If you can't accept that, the door is right there."
Silence fell over the class.
"Now then." Aizawa pulled out his phone, showing test results. "Bakugo, you scored highest on the entrance exam. How far could you throw a softball in middle school?"
"Sixty-seven meters," Bakugo answered.
"Try it with your quirk. Do whatever you want, just stay in the circle."
Bakugo grinned viciously, stepping into the marked throwing circle. He wound up, explosions crackling in his palm, and hurled the ball with a blast that echoed across the field.
The phone in Aizawa's hand beeped.
"705.2 meters," he announced, showing the screen. "This is what you're capable of when you apply your quirks to simple tasks. Now, let's see what all of you can do."
The tests began. Fifty-meter dash, grip strength, standing long jump, sustained sideways jumps, ball throw, distance run, sit-ups, and seated toe touch.
Arthur watched his classmates perform, analyzing their capabilities.
Iida's Engine quirk gave him incredible straight-line speed, 3.04 seconds in the fifty-meter dash.
Uraraka used her Zero Gravity quirk on the ball, achieving "infinity" by sending it into orbit.
Todoroki created ice ramps and structures, displaying precise control.
The invisible girl, Hagakure, struggled with tests requiring pure physical capability.
The nervous blonde boy, Aoyama had some kind of laser quirk from his navel, but seemed to have stamina issues.
When Arthur's turn came for the fifty-meter dash, he activated Mana Burst at moderate output. Golden lightning crackled around his body, and he ran.
2.41 seconds.
The class went silent.
"That's faster than Iida!" someone whispered.
"But Iida has an Engine quirk specifically for speed..."
For grip strength, Arthur applied his enhancement fully. The device registered the force and beeped.
892 kilograms.
"What the hell!" Bakugo's eyes widened. "That's almost a full ton!"
Aizawa's expression remained neutral, but Arthur noticed his eyes narrowing slightly.
The standing long jump had Arthur clearing the entire sandbox with Mana Burst propulsion. The sustained sideways jumps became a blur of lightning-wreathed movement.
Then came the ball throw.
Arthur stood in the circle, feeling the weight of twenty pairs of eyes. He manifested an energy blade in his hand, full-size this time, crackling with electrical current. The golden lightning illuminated the field.
Arthur placed the ball on the blade's flat edge, wound up, and released both the ball and a concentrated energy wave simultaneously. The combination of physical throw, energy propulsion, and Mana Burst enhancement sent the ball rocketing away with a thunderous crack.
The phone beeped.
Aizawa stared at it for a moment, then showed the screen.
1,847.3 meters.
"Over a kilometer," someone breathed.
"That's insane!"
Bakugo's face had gone from shocked to furious. "No way! That's not."
"Himura used his quirk within the rules," Aizawa cut him off. "His result stands. Next."
The tests continued. Arthur dominated each category through efficient application of his abilities. By the time they finished, his total scores were undeniably at the top.
Finally, they reached Midoriya's ball throw.
The green-haired boy stood in the circle, clearly nervous. He wound up, and Arthur's Instinct suddenly screamed a warning.
Power began gathering in Midoriya's arm, something massive, something that felt wrong to Arthur's Magic Resistance. Like energy being forced through channels not designed to contain it.
Midoriya threw. The ball arced through the air... and landed at 46 meters.
"Midoriya," Aizawa's voice was cold. His eyes were glowing red, and his capture weapon had lifted from his shoulders. "Were you planning to break your arm again? I erased your quirk before you could hurt yourself."
The entire class stared.
"If you can't control your quirk properly, you'll never be a hero," Aizawa continued, his scarves settling back down. "A hero who injures themselves performing basic tasks is worse than useless; they become a liability that others have to save. Figure out how to use your power, or you're just going to get people killed."
Midoriya looked devastated. "I... I'm sorry, I just—"
"Try again. And this time, think before you act."
Arthur watched carefully as Midoriya prepared for his second throw. The boy's hands were shaking, his face pale with anxiety. But there was something else, determination, perhaps. Desperation.
Midoriya wound up again. This time, Arthur saw it more clearly. The power gathering, but focused. Concentrated into a single point.
His finger.
The throw was released with a burst of wind pressure. Midoriya's finger broke with an audible snap, but the ball flew.
709.6 meters.
Midoriya collapsed to one knee, cradling his broken finger. But he was smiling through the pain.
"He... he did it," Uraraka whispered.
Then Bakugo moved.
"DEKU!" The blonde boy's palms sparked with explosions as he charged. "You lying bastard! You had a quirk this whole time?! I'll kill you."
Aizawa's capture weapon shot out faster than most eyes could track, wrapping around Bakugo and stopping him mid-charge. The underground hero's eyes glowed red again.
"Stop," Aizawa's voice was deadly calm. "Use your quirk on another student outside of training, and you'll be expelled before you can blink. Am I clear?"
Bakugo struggled against the bindings, rage distorting his features. "But he lied."
"I don't care what personal issues you have. Attacking a classmate is unacceptable. Control yourself, or leave."
After a tense moment, Bakugo stopped struggling. Aizawa released him, and the blonde stalked away, shooting murderous glares at Midoriya.
Arthur filed away the entire interaction. Bakugo's rage at Midoriya having a quirk suggested the green-haired boy hadn't always had one, or at least, Bakugo believed he didn't. Interesting, given that quirks typically manifest by age four.
Something unusual about Midoriya's power, Arthur thought. It breaks his body when he uses it, feels wrong to my Magic Resistance, and apparently, even his childhood friend didn't know he had it. Worth investigating.
The remaining tests concluded quickly. Finally, Aizawa gathered them together.
"All right, time to show the results." He pulled up his phone, displaying rankings on a holographic screen.
Arthur scanned the list:
Himura Arthur, Todoroki Shoto, Bakugo Katsuki, Yaoyorozu Momo, Iida Tenya... and in last place Midoriya Izuku.
"As for the expulsion," Aizawa said, his tired face splitting into a disturbing grin, "that was a logical ruse. A way to bring out your best performances."
The class erupted in mixed reactions, relief, protest, confusion. Arthur simply watched Aizawa's expression.
Mostly a ruse, He would have expelled someone truly inadequate. We just happened to meet his standards.
"Midoriya, go to Recovery Girl," Aizawa continued. "The rest of you, back to class. Review your performances and think about improvements. Dismissed."
Later, in the classroom, Arthur found himself surrounded by curious classmates.
"Dude, that ball throw was incredible!" The boy with red spiky hair, Kirishima, grinned widely. "Over a kilometer! That's so manly!"
"Your quirk is really versatile," Yaoyorozu said thoughtfully. She'd placed fourth overall. "Enhancement and energy projection work in tandem. The efficiency is remarkable."
"Can you make different shapes with the energy?" The pink girl, Ashido, asked excitedly. "Like, could you make a whip? Or a shield?"
"Theoretically, yes. I focus on blades for combat efficiency."
Before anyone could ask any other questions further, Midoriya returned from Recovery Girl, his finger healed, but his expression troubled. Bakugo immediately glared at him from across the room, but didn't approach, Aizawa's warning still fresh.
As the day ended and students began filtering out, Arthur reflected on Class 1-A.
Twenty students, each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and baggage. Bakugo's explosive power and anger issues. Midoriya's mysterious power that broke his body. Yaoyorozu's intelligence and Creation quirk. Iida's speed and rigid dedication to rules.
And himself, the reincarnated king, trying to blend in while preparing for challenges he couldn't predict.
First place, Arthur thought as he headed home. They know what I can do now. No hiding behind false modesty. That will bring its own complications.
But complications were acceptable. He was here to become stronger, to master his abilities, to reach the power levels he'd need. Being noticed was inevitable.
His quirk hummed beneath his skin, Royal Core containing abilities still waiting to emerge.
Tomorrow would bring new challenges. All Might's combat training, if the schedule was accurate. A chance to see the Symbol of Peace in person, to test himself against his classmates in actual combat scenarios.
Arthur smiled slightly as he walked home.
He was ready.
To be continued...
For advanced chapters go to patreon.com/keyblast