The King of Heroes: Null/Virtue

Travel

"Metara is almost completely underground. There's only a few entrances on the surface," Ryuko said, pointing at the map as they prepared for the journey. "We'll want to enter through the central mountain to reduce our travel time underground. The flight will take at least three or four days depending on winds and our own stamina."

The five were insistent on traveling with Izuku, and that included Rumi, meaning someone would need to carry her. Which meant they'd have to set down every now and again to rest and recover. A trip that Izuku could've completed in a day would take far longer as a result.

"There aren't many settlements along the way, so we'll probably have to camp out in the plains. Which means we'll have to keep a rotating watch for monsters while the others sleep, and hunt our own food." Ryuko said all of this as if she was trying to deter Izuku from going to Metara at all.

The five were not a huge fan of the idea, but they recognized Izuku's plan as an intelligent one. If the council wouldn't get him the things he needed, he'd just find someone who could fill his requests. They could respect Izuku for that. Maneuvering around restrictions set upon you was a skill any king needed.

However, Ryuko was hoping that Izuku, who had spent much of his life living in a comfortable environment, would be put off by the idea of living in the wild for a few days. They had no idea that Izuku's past life was spent sleeping in strange or uncomfortable places while on missions. If anything, he longed for a bit of "camping."

"Shouldn't be too difficult for Onyx then," Izuku remarked, brushing off Ryuko's attempt to dissuade him.

"Alright, stuffed it with everything we could need," Rumi said, appearing with a large leather bag. Everytime it moved, Izuku could hear the clinking of rare metals and materials. The Creation Lord wasn't obligated to have the materials needed for Izuku's request, if they'd even help him at all, so they decided to bring along a lot of the gifts Izuku had received from the nobles.

"It's a good thing we didn't consume all those Xsis crystals for my Quirk," Izuku remarked. Xsis crystals, when melted into a blade or piece of equipment and refined, lost a lot of mass. So even massive quantities of the crystals would result in a very small amount of usable material for a blacksmith. The 20 remaining crystals they had would be just enough for a single blade, if the Creation Lord even decided to use them. But this was likely the blade Izuku would use for the rest of his life, his kingly weapon. It had to be perfect. Besides, once he was older and stronger, he could visit Xsis and get the crystals himself. It was dangerous work, perfectly suited to a strong individual like the NULL Lord.

"Well, I guess if I lose the throne, I can always just go to Xsis and become a miner. I'd make some serious cash off of those crystal reefs." Izuku's current plan was to become the king so as to institute change amongst his people and possibly influence policy about slavery in other countries. However, if that fell through, his backup plan was to use the absurd wealth the NULL Lord had in order to buy up as many slaves as possible and give them a better life. The second option wasn't ideal, but Izuku wouldn't give up just because it was a less effective method. He'd do whatever he had to in order to save as many as he could.

"So far, very few people have ever seen or interacted with the Creation Lord. From what I've heard, she's a young Terran with an aloof personality." Enji grimaced. "Tens of thousands have tried to make contact with her to request her services. There's no confirmation that she's helped anyone. This trip could end up being a waste. You understand that right?"

Izuku nodded. "We have a year, so we'll spend no longer than a couple of weeks in Metara. If the Creation Lord still refuses, we'll give up and settle for normal training. But I think I have a decent chance of succeeding."