A Tarnished Hero

Chapter 2: Enter Stage Right

Izuku was furious. The ten months living... no, surviving The Lands Between wasn't something a normal person would be able to go through without substantial changes. After all, humans are nothing if not adaptable. However, it didn't mean he did not loath every second of traversing those dangerous paths.

He remembered that stupid commoner-looking guy who transformed into a giant bear - runebears, if he recalled correctly - and had him for lunch because he was too stupefied to call Torrent. If not for the guidance of Grace, then Izuku's story would have ended there.

But that's not all.

While traversing Limgrave's very own Agheel lake in search of more weapons and armor to take down Margit, he came across a tiny patch of land with worshipping... Izuku didn't know what to call them. And as if Murphy decided today was not his day, a fire-breathing dragon came flying out of nowhere and obliterated a bunch of them!

Of course, being the sensible teen he was, Izuku hoofed it out of there with Torrent and then came across a basement-like structure with a chest inside.

Surprise surprise, Murphy wasn't done dealing him shit yet, and once more, he was fucked in the ass. It took him a few blinks before he realized he was in some kind of mine with a bunch of old looking people that had stone-like skin mining crystals with their sorcery.

And then those dreaded cockroach things. Oh, how he hated them with a passion.

Luckily, he was able to escape the damned mines, despite repeatedly being locked inside after each death. He swore he would come back and get his revenge.

And so what if it isn't hero-like? Try saying that after getting punctured to death for the eleventh time in a row when all you wanted to do was get the fuck out!

Izuku sighed, drifting about in this void for who knew how long was getting to him. The last thing he remembered was defeating the second flying dragon he encountered during his journey across The Lands Between and getting sucked into a giant black portal.

He still didn't know what the portal was, but if this what was inside, then he'd rather stake himself in the heart right now and hopefully wake up in the last Site of Grace he'd frequented.

... He'd wait for another hour... That is if he could even notice time pass while floating in this damnable void.

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Izuku was done waiting. He's been floating in this pit-black void for who knows how long already. Every time he wanted to shlunk All Strike down his chest, he thought to wait for another hour, and every time after that. It kept on delaying to another hour, until he was just done with waiting and decided to take action.

Grabbing All Strike from his back, Izuku positioned the blade point right over his chest. Just when he was about to plunge it down mercilessly, a tiny bright light on the horizon surprised him, letting his grip around the blade slacken.

His other hand quickly made for a break for the blade before it drifted of into the nothingness. As he grabbed the blade, the light continued to grow.

And grow.

And grow...

Until finally, most of the inky-black void was nothing but an afterthought. Here, surrounded by blinding, white light, Izuku couldn't help but marvel at the grandiose of the radiance.

It felt warm. Comforting. Like it tore down the semblance of chaos budding deep within and sprung up order in its stead.

A smile graced his lips as Izuku embraced the light, encompassing him in its brilliance.