Chapter Text
It was a typical day for one Izuku Midoriya. After a day of classes at UA high he was left worn out not only did his homeroom teacher Aizawa run his class through the wringer but his friend and trainer All Might otherwise known as Toshinori, ran him ragged bearing down on more training so he could handle a higher percentage of One for all. Honestly the power in it self still boggled his mind to this day. A power cultivated by one person before being haded off to another, continuously growing more powerful with each new successor, the power had proven just how hard it became to master after all those years of being cultivated and handed down, with Izuku being the ninth holder of One for all he learned this lesson first hand when he broke all the bones in his arm and leg the first time he used it, a physically untrained body can’t handle the overflowing power that is one for all. With training Izuku found that he could handle about 5% of the power without strain or harm but after recent events events with the league of villains and Stain the hero killer, Toshinori saw it fit to try and speed up the training process by making the said training more hard core and frequent. Izuku was honestly sick of the workouts and needed some time to relax so he did what he use to do when he got home from middle school, he played some video games. Scrolling through his minimal collection of games he found nothing of interest, he had already invested so many hours into them that they were no longer appealing. So he starting browsing through the consoles online store to see if anything cheap or on sale stood out to him.
“Dark souls 3 huh?”
He had heard about the game and even seen some gameplay while it looked ok it wasn’t really his cup of tea for he normally stuck to playing strategy games or shooters, he wasn’t really one for RPG’s or lore heavy games but seeing as it was on sale for 5 bucks he decided to give it a go.
And thus our tale begins.
“Man this game sure took its sweet time installing, oh well now that its done I guess I can finally play”
Loading up the game he created his character, being unoriginal he decided to try and make the character look like himself which he managed to do somewhat and picked the knight class. After watching the cutscene and Starting the tutorial are he spent a few minutes familiarizing himself with the controls, X to interact ,R1 to attack ,L1 to block, L2 to parry, R2 for heavy attack, O to dodge and sprint, Δ to two hand the weapon, ☐ to use an item. D pad to select items and change equipment and spells, touch pad for equipment and item menu and of Course the analogue sticks for movement and camera controls.
Preceding through the cemetery of ash he encountered the ravenous crystal lizard and proceeded to get his ass kicked a few times before he started to see the patterns in its attacks and memorize the dodge timing. After defeated the lizard and collecting his 4000 souls he continued down the beaten path and found his first bonfire, lighting it and replenishing his health and estus he slowly made his way to the boss room being sure to loot any items on the way.
Izuku entered the plaza like area and approached what at first glance appeared to be a statue of a man impaled by a sword, interacting with the statue caused his character to pull the sword from from the statue revealing in turn revealing it to be not a carved slab of stone but the first boss of the game. Iudex Gundyr a giant of a man wielding a stylized halberd, his attacks themselves were fast but since the boss fought almost non aggressively there was enough pause between his attacks for Izuku to bait an attack and memorize the patterns.
The back and forth of bait, dodge, attack when on until Izuku had gotten Iudex down to about 60% health, then the boss entered phase 2. A puss of man ruptured fourth from Gundyrs body encapsulating his upper half save for his weapon holding arm in a black mass that took the form of a serpent with a grotesque arm of decaying bone. After panic rolling away from the transforming boss Izuku managed to avoid the mid transformation attack.
The boss became bore aggressive and had a wider attack range which through Izuku for a loop and forced him to use all of his estus while he chipped at the bosses health.
“Ok out off healing and at halve health but the boss is at quarter health.. I can do this easily!”
He said with a cocky grin until the boss on jumped into the air and landed on him taking out the rest of his health bar.
As the red “YOU DIED” flashed on to the screen Izuku immediately got a grasp on what this game would do to him as a new player.
Restart at the bonfire run past the fodder through the fog gate and collect the dropped 4000 plus souls he collected before returning his attention to the boss getting past the first phase easily without the need of estus he started phase 2 again only this time he played slightly more aggressivly and instead of dodging most of the big one hit attacks he blocked with his shield and immediately followed up with a slash from his sword, rolling occasionally and blocking frequently he managed to deafest the first boss of the game netting himself another 3000 souls in the process.
“Heheh I think I might be getting into this, I wonder when I get to level up though”
Following the pathway up he entered Fire link shrine. Walking down to the center he saw a white haired woman in a black gown with a solid silver mask covering her eyes.
At this point Izuku’s hands started to tingle slightly but he ignored it and proceeded to speak with the white haired woman who had introduced herself as the fire keeper.
Izuku listened to the dialogue and planted the coiled sword into the fire link shrine bonfire. After lighting it he turned back to fire keeper who know offered to grant him strength in exchange for soul. He hit accept and the fire keeper spoke what he was sure was an iconic line in the game.
“Then touch the darkness within me”
A states leveling screen appeared and with it the tingling in Izuku’s fingers grew more unbearable, no longer a light tingle but a searing pain in his finger tips. Try as he might though he couldn’t let go of the controller the pain forcing him to tighten his grip, just as the boy was about to scream all pain had ceased and what was left was a bright blue light emanating from the tv. He stared into the blue light and he could’ve sworn he felt it looking back. The blue light kept growing brighter and brighter developing the room until it was suddenly gone and in its place infant of him stood the Fire keeper.
“What?” Asked Izuku in a confused yet monotone voice
Looking around the room and then back at the tv to see were she once was in comparison too where she was now standing she kept her calm facial expression. After taking a minute to look back and forth between the tv, the room, and the boy sitting on the bed infant of her she spoke.
“If I may say ashen one, this does seem to be a rather..curious arrangement”
“What?”
“Yes ashen one ?”
“But”
“Are you ready to speak thine desire?”
“How?”
“Forgive my Impertinence but you were the one whom summoned me correct?, would thou state thine desire”
Izuku took a second to gain his bearing and answered the woman that now stood infant of him
“….I would like to ..level up please?”
He asked as more of a question rather than a statement or suggestion as he was still bewildered by the fact that an what was once an npc in a game he had literally been playing for only a few minutes was now a living breathing person standing in front of him.
“Then take nourishment from these sovereignless souls within me”
Nothing happened for a minute till the the Fire keeper coughed and gestured to the floor in front of her.
Izuku looked at her then to where she gestured.
‘What does she want me to do?’
Izuku glanced at the tv from the corner of his eye.
‘Oh the character in the game knelt before the status screen came up right?’
After his realization he got off the bed and moved to kneel in front of the fire keeper, making sure to mic the pose that his in game character did to the best of his abilities, reaching his had out palm up he felt the fire keeper place her hand onto of his and a flow of weightlessness wash through him.
He closed his eyes and he could see it a status screen with with attributes and levels, only non of them matched what his character had in the game, the stats were way too low with the only acceptation being intelligence with was at 20 but strength was only at 5, endurance was at 10, dexterity was at 12, vitality was at 15 and luck was at 18 the other stats for attunement, Vigor and faith however where non existent.
Looking at the top of the screen he found he was level 14 and needed about 700 souls to level. Then he looked at his soul count and found that he had just over 7000 souls, the same amount he had in game. After filming away his questions for later he looked over at the other parts of the screen to find his base values and a curious effect.
One for all. A power that is built off of the stockpiled physical prowess of past users. current holder: 9. Izuku Midoriya.
Current minimum percentage: 5%, Current maximum percentage: 15%
He felt the percentage description odd but focusing on it provided more information that had answered is question
One for all minimum percentage: The amount of stockpiled power the user can wield without any discomfort or lasting negative impacts.
One for all maximum percentage: The amount of stockpiled power the user can wield without any lasting negative impacts.
He read the two descriptions noticing the lack of the word discomfort and the use of the term “lasting negative impacts”
‘OH I get it!, it means broken bones and muscles, so I can use 5% without damaging myself as well as not feel any kind of “discomfort” while using it. So that means I can use 15% without breaking any bones but since my body isn’t at that point physically to be a paper vessel I’m going to feel the force of the power thus causing me “discomfort”.’
Looking between the usable percentage and his stats he dropped a point into strength and saw the minimum percent go up from 5 to 6 and the maximum from 15 to 16 he also saw other numbered factors go up slightly such as equip load but defense stayed the same.
Dumping the other 4 points her could manage into strength he saw the minimum and maximum continue to rise along with his equip load but defense had only risen by 1 point leaving him at a solid 20, focusing on the stat he saw its description pop up.
Defense: Mainly influenced by outside variables. Such as equipment or the quirks of others.
What intrigued him most about the description was the it knew about quirks, It wasn’t a carbon copy of the games menu it was refurbished to accommodate his world.
Rereading the description again he deduced that defense was really only affected by things such as clothing and support items.
“Fascinating”
“What is ashen one?”
“Wha ..oh nothing sorry”
In the end he decided to allocate all his current lives to strength bringing it up from 5 to 10.
“Wow so I can level in real life by using the souls I acquire in the game this is amazing!, but was why can I do this is this a quirk, is it mine, is it part of one for all?, I gotta call All might !”
Seeing as her job was done the Fire keeper turned and sat on the edge of Izuku’s bed.
Feeling the soft comforting fabric she thought back to the world she had just came from while it was her home she couldn’t deny that it left much to be desired.
It was a weird feeling seeing a version of herself on this moving screen while sitting in an unknown place. While normally one would be under duress her upbringing had allowed her to stay calm.
“If I may ask, ashen one how did I end up in thine ..abode?”
“thats what Im trying to figure out, I think it may have been a quirk, possibly one that I’ve always had but never knew about.”
‘but why did it act out now, it seems to be tied into video games but its never happened before’
He thought back on the games he used to play, predominantly strategy games and shooters….strategy games?..”
He quickly ran to his desk drawer and pulled out one of his hero analysis notebooks.
He read through the analysis’ he wrote , how detailed they were. Suddenly something clicked
‘It makes sense now, I’ve always had a quirk its just been hidden. I got my analysis and strategy skills from the shooters and top down games and the fire keeper to level up from dark souls. So my quirk allows me to take key functions of the game and apply them to myself?”
“Fascinating”
“What is ashen one?”
“What?, oh nothing I just found out that I’ve had a quirk all this time!”
Happy tears began falling down the boys cheeks, while the fire keeper couldn’t see she could sense and feel her surroundings, she could sense the tears falling from the ashen one and hitting the floor. Without hesitation she knelt down in front of the boy and began wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“What is wrong ashen one?”
“N-nothing these are happy tears”
“Forgive me but I do not understand, how does one cry when they are happy”
She had been living in a world of black and white for so long you were either in the grips of despair are barely holding on by shunning away all emotion, she was struggling to process the emotions and currently before her.
"Im just a bit overwhelmed by it I’ve wanted a quirk of my own for so long and now I know I finally have one, now I have two actually”
He chuckled to himself as he put his hand onto hers.
“Thank you so much”
“…Thou art welcome, ashen one”
A moment of comfortable silence passed before Izuku realized what was actually happening around him.his quirk basically brought a life from a fictional world into the real world, since he hadn’t lost his strategic ability since he first acquired it it was safe to assume that the changes his quirk made were permanent. Meaning he would have to provide food, clothing and shelter for the now very real woman infant of him.
He quickly scrambled to his phone and placed an emergency phone call to All Might.
~A HERO’S DUTY IS NEVER DONE~
~A HERO’S DUTY IS NEVER DONE~
Hearing the emergency ring of his phone all might scrambled to the phone and looked at the caller ID.
“young Midoriya!?”
“yes Midoriya i’m here what’s wrong?!”
“I think I’ve had a quirk all this time, it suddenly activated and now theirs a woman who was once a character in a video game standing in my room living and breathing !, what do I do ?!”
“What ?”
“How do I get this approved by the school? she’s technically my quirk so does that mean she has to be with me at all times?, how do I go about getting food and clothing for her?, will she have to share a room with me?, Im not good with women man what do I do ?!”
“O ok ok ill be there shortly”
At that All might ran out of his office in his hero form and speed to the Midoriya household and and knocked on the door. A short chubby green hair woman answered and almost fainted at the sight of all might at her door.
“A-all-all might!!! What are you doing here?”
“ Young Midoriya called it sounded like an emergency, please miss show me to his room!”
The woman lead All might into her house and to her sons room hurriedly opening the door to find a strange woman sitting on Izuku’s bed.
“Wha ?”
“Good evening art though companions of the ashen one?”
After what seemed like an hour of explaining Inko and All Might had calmed down from the sight of a random stranger in Midoriya’s bedroom.
“Um may I ask something?”
“Yes mom what is it?”
“What do you mean by you had a quirk all this time weren’t you a late bloomer and isn’t your quirk super strength?”
“Ah allow me to explain that Mrs Midoriya”
“you can drop the prefix I’m widowed after all”
“Ah my condolences, anyways it all started about 200 years ago”
After explaining the history of One For All All might shrunk down into his weakened form to further push the fact that he wasn’t lying at which Inko fainted.
“Is she going to be ok young Midoriya?!”
“It happened when she’s overwhelmed shell probably wake up in an hour or so, but what do we do about her All Might!?”
Izuku gestured to the whit haired woman still sitting on his bed patiently waiting while they had their conversation.
All Might reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to dial a number.
“Ah hello Principal Nezu I have a bit of a situation”
Izuku sat on his bed next to the Fire keeper who nodded at him when he did so while he waited for All Might to finish his call.
“Could it be that I have brought ill fortune upon you ashen one?”
“Wha No no not at all, Its just little sudden is all and we have to figure out what to do since it seems you’ll be existing in this world with us from now on”
“I see”
“All right young Midoriya I have spoken to nezu and since she is your quirk she will have to go with you to your classes and such, is she combative?”
“Thou hast never bared arms in her life”
“Then with the exception of hero classes and future hero work she will be your new shadow”
“I see”
“well now that that’s settled I should really be going, good luck and do try to come up with a proper explanation for class tomorrow”
And with that all might buffed back into his hero from and jumped out Izuku’s window into the night sky.
The following night was awkward to say the least, having a strange woman that use to be a lifeless file of code join the mother and son for dinner weird experience seeing as any topic the woman tried to talk about was met with confusion and Inko decided to end the converstation early when the Fire keeper started talking about her own life seeing as she didn’t want to dehydrate herself before bed.
“Um where is she going to sleep Izuku?”
“I shall stay beside the ashen one”
“I don’t know how I feel about my son sleeping with a woman he just met”
Izuku spit out his drink
“wha wha mother, Its n-not like that!”
“Have I offended thee in any way ashen one?”
“Um no i-its not that um could you maybe just call me Izuku”
“As you wish”
Izuku sighed as he lat his head rest on the table.
‘I just wanted to relax today’
After a while of debating it was decided that the fire keeper would share a room with Izuku much to Inko’s displeasure. As Izuku crawled into bed the fire keeper just sat in his desk chair patiently.
“what are you doing you need to sleep too you know”
“ Never before hast I been in need of sleep before, thou shall sleep while I await thine awakening”
“yeah but that was in your old world, in this world people get tired and need to sleep”
“I am fine Izuku though it warms my soul to see you care”
“..If you say so”
Izuku roiled over and went to bed while the Fire keeper sat and patiently awaited for sunrise. Izuku couldn’t sleep and as time went on he could hear the fire keeper occasionally rustle her gown.
‘she must be getting impatient, time probably goes by slower in this world’
Then finally the fire keeper let out a yawn and her head grew heavy.
“told you in this world people get tired and sleep”
Izuku said as he opened the blanket to allow her into the bed, which she did so hesitantly.
Lying down on the mattress and facing the ceiling the two laid there in silence, the fire keeper because she had nothing to say and Izuku because he was trying no to free out at the fact that he was currently in bed with woman.
“Izuku, How does one fall asleep ?”
“Oh uh-um well you close your eyes and think of what makes you happy or of what relaxes you and eventually you’ll fall asleep and you’ll wake up in the morning, what makes you happy?”
“….that feast thou carer had prepared was most lovely”
“Then think of that along with all the other foods that you’ll be able to try now that your in this world”
Izuku smiled relaxing some as he slowly got use to the bed feeling warmer than it usually was.
“I shall look forward to it then”
Izuku closed his eyes and let sleep slowly over take him as the fire keeper joined soon after her unconscious mind filled with the memory of having a meal with someone who had talked to her as a normal person and treated her with kindness, all the past ashen ones merely used her as a tool to further their growth. Her body rolled over towards the warmth of the kind boy.
Her Ashen one.