The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Hunting

"Just concentrate, and breathe..." Enji was calm, his voice soft, as he patiently tried to guide Izuku through the exercise.

"I... I'm trying to do just that," Izuku insisted. Like when he used Magic, he channeled that small electric tingle through his body, trying to push it towards his mouth.

"No, you're channeling Lumina. Your Breath should be an extension of your body, it's not like the Magic you have control of." Enji bared his sharp teeth, a light building up behind them, flames licking the air. With a single breath, he exhaled a single concentrated ball of fire towards a nearby mountaintop, detonating with the force of a small bomb. "There's no Lumina behind it. It's what makes it so inherently strong. No one can sense you building up your Breath Attack."

Izuku sighed and shook out his body, trying to feel something in his throat. It had been two years since that first visit to Himiko's house. The two families had met many times since, and Izuku and Himiko had grown closer. They sparred, they played board games, and they just ran around like dumb kids. It was a unique experience for Izuku, just as much as it was for Himiko, having a friend, and having the freedom to just be a kid.

In those two years, Toshinori, Enji, and Rumi had been working on him with two very specific Onyx traits. One was his Breath Attack, which would be an elemental form of Magic exhaled through his mouth, pretty standard dragon stuff. It could be anything from fire, to a blast of lightning, to a smokescreen. Like Magic, it differed between individuals.

The other unique power was that of his Dragon Form. Onyx all had the ability to transform into a more animalistic form. Some were European style dragons, some were Asian dragons, some were wyverns, and more. The forms were typically very large. They enhanced every aspect of an Onyx's fighting power, but also cost a great deal of Lumina to maintain, sort of a trump card.

The NULL and Virtue Lord's Breath Attacks weren't really any different than the rest of their species, but their Dragon Forms were special because of their Quirk. By changing the form of your Quirk through upgrading it, you could also choose different Dragon Forms, essentially allowing for a pretty powerful shapeshifting ability, one that only the Lords had.

The problem was, Izuku was really struggling. Just like with Magic, Breath Attacks and Dragon Forms should come naturally to an Onyx. But Izuku seemed to lack some of those instincts, and unlike with Magic, he couldn't just speak some Spell and get the grasp of it through that.

"When you're stressed, you feel that pit in your stomach, right?" Enji placed his hand on his abdomen. "Focus on a sensation like that, allow it to well up."

"You're saying I need to get stressed?"

"No, just that it feels similar."

"What if I can't do it?"

Enji smirked. "Every NULL Lord thinks they're special. That they're different from the last. The truth is that you're all more similar than you'd care to admit." Izuku couldn't deny that, he'd already started feeling the pull of the Onyx's biological degeneracy. "You're a NULL Lord, and your powers will be no different than the past ones. There will be some variation, but you can do everything they can, don't worry." Izuku sighed, trying for the umpteenth time.

*******

"Come on, we're heading out today," Kaina said, leading Izuku to the front door.

"What are we doing?"

"We're going hunting."

"I thought the Onyx had beef farms?"

Kaina smiled, revealing her slender, yet aerodynamic wings as she stepped into the biting cold wind of the outdoors. "We're not hunting for food."