Chương 66: Chapter 65 - Hunger Games
As soon as the event began, the crowd turned to the tunnel entrance, feverish and excited.
There were numerous heroes present that day, and speculation - as well as betting - was rife.
- He's a cocky kid, says one, shaking his head seriously. Guys like him come through the profession every year; they never last long.
- I could have believed that if he hadn't put that stupid restriction on himself about not using his quirks. He's the son of Endeavor, you know ? One bolt of fire and all the students in the tunnel would have been gone. But now…
Some felt their excitement drop like a missed bellows, seeing no chance of the million-dollar kid surviving even the first ten minutes.
- I tell you, if I'd been in the arena with him, I would have made mincemeat of him and his million.
The whistle blew and a crowd of students emerged from the tunnel.
Some watched as Bakugo rose to the front of the pack, nodding in approval.
Others frowned when they noticed that no one else came out of the tunnel except the starting group - which consisted of about forty students.
- The kid's stupid, one muttered disappointedly. He let himself be ambushed in the tunnel: it's all over for him.
Many shook their heads, resigned to the fact that the most exciting part of this first trial was already over.
The minutes ticked by as the forty or so students made their way past the robots and into the ravine. However, no one had yet emerged from the tunnel.
- You'd think they were fighting over his body, one half-joked.
- Me, as broke as I was at fifteen, I would have done it, another replied with a smile.
They were curious, wondering if a group of students or just one had managed to dominate the battlefield.
They could only speculate since the tunnel entrance was dark and they couldn't hear anything from the stands.
Aizawa watched the race in silence, his eyes constantly returning to the tunnel entrance. His fingers tapped nervously on the table.
- We should have a visual of what's going on inside that tunnel," Aizawa grumbled. No one should have left those kids alone in there without supervision.
Should I expel Shoto if he loses to other students ?
The championship was both a test for the students of the heroic course and an opportunity for those of the general course. If he failed-
A shadow shot out of the tunnel like a rocket, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. It was difficult to make out its features, but gradually the smoke began to thin.
- It seems that the first student to emerge from the tunnel is... Shoto Todoroki ?
Mic himself was surprised and leaned forward to get a better look.
But no one could mistake the unusual hair and mask.
Surprised gasps went through the crowd. They turned into a roar when everyone realized that no one else was coming out except him.
At the same time, the giant screen showed live camera feeds from the tunnel: bodies littered the ground as far as the eye could see, their faces plunged into an eerie darkness. No one moved, everything was silent.
Aizawa's eyes widened imperceptibly.
Mic swallowed his saliva loudly and put his hand on the microphone.
- Are they...?
With a small pad in his arms, Nezu trotted back into the room.
- No, of course not, he reassured them, his eternal smile on his lips. Just fainted, no big deal. Recovery Girl is already on her way.
He waved Aizawa over.
- You should see this, Shota.
Mic wanted to leave his position and see what was going on in the tunnel, but he couldn't because he was the appointed commentator for this event. He glanced enviously at Aizawa, who was crouching behind Nezu.
Nezu played the video from the beginning of the event.
It showed Shoto crushing his opponents one after the other without never - ever - faltering.
His movements were unreal, the ease with which he moved superhuman.
If you had told Aizawa that the whole scene had been choreographed for a movie, he would have believed it.
- How can that be ?, he murmured.
He didn't know what Enji had been feeding him all these years, but he was sure that it had paid off.
- He's fast, isn't he ?, Nezu exclaimed in a cheerful tone, his eyes shining. Really fast…
Mic wanted to join them, tugging at his hair.
And the look of pure surprise on the face of the ever stoic Aizawa…
- Rahhhh!
He turned on his microphone again.
- We're coming back after a short break.
Then he turned it off and rushed behind Aizawa and the principal.
His eyes darted across the screen, trying to see what could have caused such a fright, and - oh. His eyebrows rose so high that they disappeared under his blond curls.
- Are you sure this is the right video ?
Mic had experience as a hero, and in all his life he'd never seen a fight so unbalanced. To say that Shoto beat the other students hands down was an understatement: it was a literal slaughter.
He watched in fascination as the boy arm-locked a student and used him as a human shield.
- Not very heroic, Aizawa grumbled.
- Very energy efficient, countered Nezu.
Then Shoto jumped over the crowd barrier and even ran horizontally along the wall for a full second.
Mic's face twisted when he saw him leap on a student with both feet, crushing his extended fingers.
- Ouch ! That must have freaking hurt.
Moments later, Shoto found himself in the middle of a huge crowd, destroying student after student. He never really looked at them, even as he fought (beat, rather) them, his attention already focused on the next one.
He would anticipate, react accordingly, and reduce any counterattack to ashes.
He was a true martial genius.
- He reminds me of someone, Mic hissed, looking falsely innocent. Aizawa gave him a sidelong glance knowing exactly what he was getting at.
- I am nothing like this kid - (Shoto grabbed the scarf of one student and used it as a makeshift rope to restrain another)... he's doing it on purpose.
Then they saw Shoto alone against a human tide, making all who stood in his way bit the dust. It was incredibly majestic and violent.
Nezu sped up the rest of the video to the point where Shoto threw the metal disk to eliminate the last student.
- Remarkable, said Nezu, rocking back and forth. See how he threw the disk before he even turned around ? His spatial perception is simply extraordinary. Yes, almost supernatural…
Aizawa cast a puzzled glance at the headmaster.
- What's wrong?, he asked.
The small black, shining, intelligent eyes, looked up at him.
- Shoto Todoroki seems to be a student of rare quality, he quipped. Take good care of him, Shota.
And he trotted off without giving them time to add anything.
Was that advice or a warning ?
- I should have asked him if we could play the video for everyone, Mic groaned, pulling at his face in dismay.
He walked with heavy steps to his commentator's seat, looking dejected, before assuming his heroic persona again, his face lighting up.
He grabbed the microphone, ready to blabber as much as he could:
- Shoto Todoroki broke all records by performing a historic feat in Yuei : that of defeating, single-handedly and without even using his Quirk, 241 freshemn in just ten minutes !
The crowd erupted in cheers, and the noise grew louder by the second.
- We can already speculate that Shoto is a formidable opponent in hand-to-hand combat! Professionals of all kinds, it's my opinion that having a boy like him on your side would be a blessing (the heroes nodded at his words, mumbling under their beards). However, he still has some catching up to do if he doesn't want to be eliminated in the first round. One thing's for sure: he's surprising enough for us to hope for a turnaround on his part. Will he live up to our expectations ?
*
As soon as the smoke cleared around me, I heard the crowd roar with joy.
Cheer me on, don't stop.
A lazy smile threatened to creep across my features. I'd just massacred a bunch of teenagers, and now I was being applauded for it ?
This really is paradise.
The clock in my pocket chimed, signaling the end of the allotted ten minutes.
I picked up speed before jumping as high as I could: flames shot from my hands and feet, propelling me like a rocket.
The wind whipped against my skin, blowing my hair back. I heard the speakers turn on, but I was moving so fast that the sound reached me only as a faint buzz.
If the Sharingan hadn't slowed my perception, I would have seen things blurry.
In a handful of seconds, I found myself in front of the first ordeal, the one with robots. Almost all of them had been destroyed, some even missing limbs.
Only one person came to mind when I thought of such a level of destruction.
I flew over the area like a red comet, a huge robot, missing its legs, weakly stretching its fingers towards me.
I sped away without looking at him, my attention focused on the little black dots at the other end of the ravine.
The last ones were just finishing the gorge and the first ones were about to finish the minefield.
The adrenaline made me almost nervous: Bakugo could come through the tunnel at any moment. I wouldn't let that happen.
Projecting an incredible amount of chakra into my Fire Quirk, I clenched my teeth and prepared myself for what was to come.
According to my c-
- BOOM !
An explosive sound like a detonating rocket rang out, drowning out all other sounds with its supremacy.
My flames exploded like bombs, turning from blood red to icy blue. If I'd felt relatively fast before, it was nothing compared to now.
Even with my Sharingan spinning at full power, the corners of my vision blurred.
The wind hit me in the face, threatening to break every bone in my body.
I gritted my teeth and circulated more chakra through my system to avoid being reduced to a pile of dust.
The colors around me became flashes, the shapes blurred and indistinct. In a few moments I was over the ravine, already at the end of the minefield.
My eyes burned, the irritation threatening to make me close them at any moment.
I forced myself to keep them open and focused my attention on the tunnel entrance.
If I ever decided to start my descent, I risked killing a student.
I was a veritable rocket; the deflagration that would result from my crash landing would either be an explosion that would take out everyone around me, or…
I looked up at the tunnel itself, engulfed in the arena.
...or I'd cause the arena to collapse.
There was only one solution: I would go over the tunnel.
After all, there's nothing saying that you have to go through the tunnel to pass the test, right ?
My arms began to ache, my legs shook.
I frowned, fully focused on the result I wanted to achieve.
Too early and I would crash into the crowd, too late and I would break every bone in my body on the cement floor.
I couldn't hear them, but I could see them pointing at me as I flew over them.
A bead of sweat rolled down my forehead and caught on my eyelash like a pearl.
Not yet, not yet, not yet…
I forced myself to make a half turn in the air, cutting through the flames at my feet.
For a split second, I found myself floating in the air, my face facing the sunny sky.
My hair floated and I fluttered my eyelashes.
Once again I sent a huge dose of chakra into my hands to change my trajectory.
I have to disguise myself, if I don't, they'll see me-
I landed with my feet together on the ground, bending my legs on impact to absorb the shock.
Pain shot through my body, but I gritted my teeth and forced myself to stand for a few more seconds; I'd just cracked the arena floor, there was a crater beneath my feet, and the dust would soon settle.
Then everyone would have a chance to see - to understand.
It wasn't the time yet.
A thick layer of ice rose from beneath my feet, covering the entire area in a matter of microseconds. I had designed it as a reverse cupola and found myself in the hollow, central part.
For anyone wondering how I had landed, the answer was simple: I had changed my trajectory in mid-air, using my ice to create a sled capable of picking me up with delicacy.
Gradually, the dust settled, revealing the entire interior of the stadium.
Midnight blinked.
- Sho-Shoto Todoroki is our winner !, she shouted into her microphone.
I fell to the ground, crossing my legs with difficulty as the pain radiated through me. My hands on my thighs glowed with a faint green light.
The crowd roared, half the stadium rising to their feet to cheer me on.
- SHO-TO ! SHO-TO !
Applause mingled as I laughed out loud.
In the background, I could hear Bakugo screaming as his explosions shattered every inch of the ice blocking the tunnel entrance.
I almost died, but I won.
*
Author's note :
250 power stones = bonus chapter on sunday
P@treon : Nar_cisseENG where you can read up to 50 chapters ahead.
See you in the next update everyone !
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