My Hero Academia Untold: The Knights of Fafnir (Izuocha)

Companion Chapter I

Oh, wow. I am so sorry, everyone; I did not expect to be gone for so long. A number of things happened in the past month (both good and bad), and it got a little overwhelming. Thankfully, I am through the worst of it, and I am happy to be back and able to upload again.

That being said, while I was hoping to increase the frequency of my uploads to make up for it. I can't promise it as things at home, while stable, are still changing, so please bear with me in the coming months.

That being said, if there is anyone who deserves thanks and an extra shoutout, it's my young brother. (At his request, he will be referred to here as Mangobro.) Mangobro managed to salvage my work when my old PC decided to shit itself to death. (This included a hard drive failure...that had all of my most recent work on it.) While I do make back-ups (including Cloud saves.) I had gotten a little too confident and failed to make a recent backup on either.

Mangobro quickly stepped in and salvaged it without much issue. Now, I have made a point of making both digital and physical backups on a daily basis. So, yeah, if there is anyone you guys should thank, it's my younger brother, who came in clutch and saved my ass a massive headache.

Alright, it's time to get down to business.

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So, for new readers, I'm going to have to provide some context for this chapter.

In the previous versions, Alexander Springfield was an Original Character of minor significance. However, several of my older readers fell in love with this bastard. (This was completely unintentional because he was never supposed to have any fundamental role beyond my initial plans.)

My way of using named OCs is to follow at least two of the following criteria to warrant their existence in my stories.

One: Help advance the story without taking the spotlight from Canonical Characters.

Two: Assist development or open a window for Canon Characters.

Three: To showcase the world-building and differences from canon.

Four: To fulfill a role that canon characters cannot fill (Due to either causing possible plot holes or because it would be out of character for them to do so, AU be damned.)

Alexander Springfield is a character who ended up fulfilling all of these terms.

(Although in the story's first version, he was only planned for two of these terms. Namely, parts 3 and 4.)

However, as the story progressed, Alex began delighting several of my previous readers and me as a writer. As I said before, he wasn't supposed to be a mainstay and had been planned to be written out late in Arc II. However, as opportunities arose, I began to consider this character for longer-term use.

Now, for people who are pretty concerned about OCs.

You might be surprised how often I've gotten reviews in the previous versions of this story that shared how much they enjoyed this character, even from people who usually hate OCs. So, I simply ask for a chance to prove to you why this strange character, who was once only planned to be used briefly, got a life of his own in this story and beyond.

He is the star of a non-canon spin-off, In Another World With My Smartphone: The Lost Hero. He will be one of the main characters in a canon spin-off, My Hero Academia: The Shields of Spring.

(The prologue of which should premier shortly after this is uploaded.)

I decided that while Shield of Springs will not be required reading when it crosses over with Fafnir Knight, it is important to make sure we're not completely lost in the mix.