Shattered Light: A Neglected Izuku Story

chapter 5: getting stronger

The training regimen they put me through was beyond anything I had ever imagined-brutal, relentless, and utterly inhuman. It wasn't just about pushing my body to its limits; it was about breaking me down completely and reshaping me into something else, something more. Every day was a new kind of hell, designed to test the full extent of the One Above All and force me to master it, no matter the cost.

The first part of the training focused on raw strength. They locked me in a reinforced chamber, walls lined with dense, unbreakable metal. My task was simple: destroy everything in the room. But the catch was that the walls were constantly closing in on me, the ceiling slowly descending. I had to punch, kick, and smash my way out before I was crushed. The Void Smash became my lifeline. Every punch I threw sent shockwaves reverberating through the room, shattering the walls, but it wasn't enough to stop the relentless advance of the chamber. I had to hit harder, faster, pushing the energy within me to its absolute limit until I could finally break free. My knuckles were torn and bleeding, but I kept going, the dark energy from the One Above All flooding my veins, driving me to keep fighting.

Next came speed. They strapped me into a suit lined with sensors, then dropped me into a labyrinth filled with automated turrets, lasers, and all manner of traps. The goal was to make it to the center in the shortest amount of time. But the moment I stepped inside, the walls shifted, the floor gave way, and the traps activated. It was a death maze, designed to kill anyone who wasn't fast enough. That's when I developed the Shadow Step. The first time I used it, it felt like my body was tearing apart, the speed was too much for my muscles to handle. But I had no choice. I had to keep moving, faster and faster, until I became nothing but a blur, slipping past the traps, dodging the lasers, and outrunning the turrets. By the time I reached the center, I was barely standing, my muscles screaming in agony, but I had done it. I had survived.

But speed and strength were just the beginning. They wanted to test my control over the dark energy coursing through me. They put me in an arena, surrounded by robotic enemies, each one programmed to attack relentlessly. That's when I created the Dark Whip. The energy whips lashed out from my hands, crackling with power as they tore through the robots, slicing them apart, ensnaring them, and immobilizing them. But the robots kept coming, wave after wave, faster and stronger each time. I had to keep fighting, keep controlling the whips, mastering the energy so that it obeyed my will without hesitation.

The Eclipse Beam came next. They placed me in a chamber with a single, towering target-a massive robot designed to withstand even the strongest attacks. My task was to destroy it. I focused all the energy within me, channeling it into a single, concentrated beam. The first time I fired it, the recoil nearly knocked me off my feet, but the beam pierced straight through the robot's armor, leaving a smoking hole in its chest. But they weren't satisfied with just one target. They kept sending more, each one tougher than the last, until I could fire the beam at will, controlling its power and intensity, making it stronger, more destructive.

For defense, they introduced the Dark Aegis. They pitted me against enemies that were faster, stronger, and more vicious than anything I had faced before. My only chance was to protect myself. The first time I activated the Aegis, the dark energy formed a barrier around me, absorbing the blows, deflecting the attacks. But they kept pushing, kept attacking, forcing me to strengthen the shield, to make it impenetrable. Every hit made it stronger, every attack fueled the energy within the shield, until nothing could break through it.

But they weren't done. They wanted to see how far I could push my combat abilities. That's when the Phantom Strike was born. They made me fight multiple opponents at once, each one skilled, each one deadly. I had to be faster than them, strike before they could react. The Phantom Strike allowed me to deliver rapid, high-speed attacks in quick succession, each one infused with energy, each one more powerful than the last. It became a dance of death, a blur of motion, until my enemies were nothing but shattered remains.