ã€ŠThe Path of Infinite Planesã€‹


 Prologue 1

    In the endless and ever-expanding realities, there was a world where people harness the energy of heaven and earth to strengthen their body, spirit, and soul. This world wasn¡¯t unique or anything and was similar to how many other worlds functioned. On this tiny planet, there was a man in search of treasure in a certain ruin. This man was accompanied by a team of 10, gathered for this operation, exploring an area full of mountains and rocky terrains.

    ¡°Are you sure this is the right place?¡± said a woman with a cute face and a petite curvy body, named Xi Yanxi. She had long black hair and was clad in white robes. On her waist, a thin katana was attached without a scabbard.

    ¡°According to the map we obtained in the auction, this place should contain an entrance that could be hidden nearby,¡± said the giant of a man who was holding a map, named Roy. He was bare chested showing of his particularly muscular physique with a giant crimson sword on his back, ¡°Now it is up to you guys to find the entrance; I have done my job.¡±

    Addressing the servant he had purchased for this specific reason, the man who seemed to be the leader of the exploration team, Shin Akatsuki, who was wearing a black robe with golden phoenix embroideries ordered, ¡°Ryan, go search and find out the entrance. If you find it in one day, I will reward you with a golden spirit coin. If you take more than a week, be ready for your death. Don¡¯t try to escape, for I will give you a painful death if you do so.¡±

    ¡°Yes, as you wish, master,¡± Ryan replied with a fearful tone and skimmed away to search for the entrance with his special talent, [treasure seeker].

    As Ryan tried to search for the entrance in the nearby rocky areas, he thought, ¡®Oh, today I am going to strike it rich. A single golden spirit coin can last me for decades. I will live the life of a king using it.¡¯ Dreaming about all the riches and pleasures he would enjoy; he got a signal from a place he was looking towards. When he approached, his talent was buzzing very fast.

    ¡°Master, I found it!¡± he exclaimed, bringing his master''s and his two companions'' attention toward him.  He pointed at the place, which had a huge rock. ¡°Here it is, I am pretty sure about it. We just need to remove the rock, and we''ll find the entrance behind it.¡±

    As Shin neared the place, he swept his divine sense over the rock and found that he could not see through it. So, he used a single palm strike, but the result was anything but simple. A huge palm appeared and broke the entire rock, as big as a mountain, into pieces. As the dust settled, the entrance to the ruin was visible for all to see.

    ¡°Good job,¡± said Shin, while he tossed a translucent golden coin toward Ryan. Ryan happily received it and exclaimed in joy. ¡°Thank you, master.¡±

    ¡°Now let''s enter and find out what this ruin has to offer,¡± said Xi Yanxi.

    ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t know what kind of treasure this place holds or what kind of ruin this is. What kind of crappy preparation did you do before coming here? Isn''t it basic to find out the danger that we''ll face here?¡± exclaimed Roy with surprise and anger. ¡°Aren''t we just courting death if this ruin has something far beyond our cultivation level?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about that. Shin here knows what was written on the backside of the map, and he said that this ruin wouldn¡¯t be too dangerous,¡± replied Xi Yanxi.

    ¡°What? Where did you learn to read the language written on the map? I tried everywhere but was not able to read it.¡± exclaimed Roy displaying a hint of frustration. But soon this turned into curiosity as he continued, ¡°And what exactly was written on the map, Shin?¡±

    ¡°The language is called ¡®xamaphic urhadio.¡¯ It was an ancient runic language lost eons ago, utilized in the beginning eras of our world but has been lost since,¡± Shin replied. ¡°Do you remember that I said that I once used to be in a sect that primarily practiced dual cultivation?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do. But that was a long time ago, how is that related to this.¡± replied Roy.

    ¡°You never told me about it. Oh, is that why you are so good in the bed. I thought you were a natural,¡± replied Xi Yanxi coquettishly.

    ¡°Oh, shut it, Xi Yanxi. We know you are a slut; why do you have to announce it to our servants too?¡± said Roy.

    ¡°What did you call me? I dare you say that to me again,¡± replied Xi Yanxi angrily. ¡°It''s not like you are not a playboy. How many innocent girls have you tricked into sleeping with you?¡±

    ¡°At least I have standards, not like you who would do it with anyone,¡± grinned Roy. ¡°Anyway, who am I to complain? All three of us are quite the same in our way of doing such things.¡±

    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t bring me into this. I haven¡¯t done anything with her or anyone for that matter, for more than half a century now,¡± grumbled Shin. ¡°Anyway, where was I? Yeah, as I told you, I was in a dual cultivation sect, where my sect master, who was a beautiful woman, was interested in learning the history of the world. She would go and sleep with anyone who would help her in her ambition and she collected a lot of text from old languages.¡±

    ¡°My own ambitions were similar to hers and therefore we hit it off quite well when we met face to face. At that time, she shared with me all her discoveries, and in one of those texts, we found this language with some of its translations. With the help of that, we were able to put together the language. Never thought that it would be useful one day,¡± sighed Shin as he recalled some of the older and despair inducing memories which he soon shrugged off.

    ¡°So, you did get something useful from your experience in that sect. Yet, all I have seen you complain how you didn¡¯t like that sect.¡± Roy voiced his thoughts.

    ¡°I never said I hate that place. I just don¡¯t agree with their lifestyle of having intimate affairs without any emotions attached. Each and every person is just thinking about their own cultivation and therefore dual cultivate with just about everyone without an inch of shame or guilt within themselves.¡± Shin replied with a look of disgust in his eyes.

    ¡°It¡¯s not like we are any different. We kill others for our own cultivation without much of a guilt.¡± Roy argued back stating his opinion.

    ¡°Dual cultivating and killing are two different things, Roy. You can¡¯t logically compare them with the same standards. But I agree that we are no different than them when some mortals would look at us. Yet, I can¡¯t help but feel that I shouldn¡¯t cross some lines no matter what. After all, if we don¡¯t have a moral code that we would stay on then we are nothing but mindless beast.¡± Shin remarked with a serious look on his face.

    ¡°Well, I would agree with Shin on this one Roy. Even though we kill people, yet even we have some boundaries we won''t cross.¡± Xi Yanxi articulated with a solemn smile, ¡°And even I don¡¯t like those from the dual cultivation sects as they judge people based on their purity. Thankfully you didn¡¯t take after them, Shin.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because I stayed with them for only about a year and it was during the time I had just started cultivating. I swiftly left that place after understanding the depravity that takes place there.¡± Shin then said with a sad smile, ¡°From then on, I only had such relations with women whom I came to care for during my life. And although I had my heartbreaks as some left me, some died along the way and some I chose to cut ties with, I still don¡¯t regret anything.¡±

    ¡°Aww, does that mean you care for me too. That¡¯s so lovely.¡± Xi Yanxi smiled captivatingly as she stared into Shin¡¯s eyes, though there was a touch of sadness in her eyes.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Cough! Cough!

    Roy who was feeling like a third wheel in this situation suddenly cracked his throat and said, ¡°Anyway, lets return to the topic at hand. Exactly what was written on the map that made you so confident about this place?¡±

    ¡°Well, it said that the ruin is of the trial type, where we will face different trials individually, and these trials will be based on our cultivation level, so we don¡¯t have to fear any danger beyond our cultivation levels,¡± admitted Shin. ¡°Through this entrance, we will enter into a separate realm where these trials will be held. If we pass these trials, we will be rewarded; if not, we will be teleported outside with our memories erased. So basically, no danger other than forgetting about this place. I am also sure that we would have to take an oath to never talk about this place.¡±

    ¡°So, no danger. See, I told you that Shin will never lead us astray,¡± Xi Yanxi said with a smug.

    ¡°I never doubted Shin. I only doubted you, Xi Yanxi,¡± reminded Roy. ¡°I have been friends with Shin for more than 500 years, and in that time, I trust him with my life.¡±

    ¡°Hmph,¡± snorted Xi Yanxi.

    ¡°So, this is why this place has never been discovered. Anyone who came here has their memories erased or has been given strict oaths. Wonderful, now let¡¯s enter this ruin and gain the best rewards there are,¡± said Roy enthusiastically. With anticipation, he ordered the servants, ¡°Enter the cave, pass the trials, and give the reward to us, and we would give you at least 1 celestial spirit coin minimum no matter the reward. If the reward is good, we will give you even more accordingly.¡±

    Both Shin and Xi Yanxi ordered the same to their servants. The servants, including Ryan, entered the cave, and they immediately vanished. Seeing this, the companions were not surprised, as Shin had previously explained about this happening.

    ¡°Good luck out there.¡± Roy waved his hands while he entered the cave and consequently vanished.

    ¡°Thank you for telling us about this. We know you could¡¯ve found this place alone but still brought us here. I also know that you are planning to leave the world and ascend to the next world. And this being our last trip together, I wanted to thank you for everything.¡± Xi Yanxi walked towards Shin, spread her arms out and wrapped it around his neck and kissed him deeply expressing her love and sadness.

    After a little while, Xi Yanxi parted from the kiss and looked deep into Shin¡¯s purple eyes, ¡°You know, even though we never solidified our relationship into something that really matters, I loved every single day I spent with you. We started out as rivals and friends, and we are still acting as friends, even though you and I had many intimate moments. That was because we both knew that with your talent you would one day ascend and I with my mediocre talent would be stuck here forever.¡±

    ¡°Still promise me one thing Shin. Promise me that you wouldn¡¯t be saddened by our parting but instead use it as a fuel to achieve your dreams. Do not look back but keep moving forward, ok.¡± Xi Yanxi smiled. ¡°I would be more than happy to be your driving force for your achievements in the future. So, promise me Shin.¡±

    Shin looked at the breathtaking woman in front of him and recalled all their memories together.  From how they had met, the time they had spent together to the time where he temporarily parted with her about a century ago to focus on his breakthrough. They are all beautiful memories and he wished to spend even more time with her, but he knew that was not possible.

    And Shin accepted this with a slight heavy heart even though he had ensured that he would not become extremely attached to her. He looked into her eyes, ¡°I promise Xi¡¯er, I promise.¡±

    Xi Yanxi gave her signature charming smile as she stopped hugging Shin and walked towards the entrance of the ruin, ¡°Oh, Roy also knows about your departure but he is way too awkward at goodbyes, so he left it to me,¡± said Xi Yanxi tearfully while entering the ruin and she vanished but not before voicing out her last words, ¡°Goodbye Shin, and may you achieve all your ambitions.¡±

    Looking at the now empty entrances, where Xi Yanxi had just entered, Shin murmured, ¡°So they both knew, huh? I had been a fool to think they didn¡¯t know about my breakthrough. I finally entered the pinnacle of this world after all these years of hard work, but this is so sorrowful,¡± sighed Shin.

    ¡°I too hate goodbyes, so I was thinking I could ascend without saying anything after this exploration, but well, now that plan of mine was an utter waste of time.¡± Shin took a moment to sort out his feeling and then put a smile on his face as he entered the cave while muttering, ¡°All things aside, I am the pinnacle of this world now; let''s see if this place could entertain me for a bit.¡± And he also vanished. Shin didn¡¯t know at that time, but in the near future, he would come to regret his words.

    ¡­

    Shin opened his eyes to examine where he was and when he looked around he noticed that the area he was teleported was devoid of all colors other than white. He was currently in the center of a square room, which was made entirely of white. He could neither hear nor see any other person beside himself in this room. Suddenly he heard a voice in his mind and consequently he noticed a translucent blue screen floating in front of him with the same words that he had just heard in his mind.

    [ Trial 1 - Ambition And Code of Conduct ]

    Shin was rather surprised by the screen in front of him, as he had never heard or seen anything like this in his entire life. He felt that the place that he was teleported into and the ruin that he was exploring was more mysterious than he had previously assumed.

    Shin contemplated about it and concluded that something this enigmatic could not be made by anything of the world he resided in, but only of something of a higher world. This made him excited for what was to come and what kind of rewards he would be able to earn from this place. As he was lost in thought, the voice in his head continued.

    [ The first trial is very simple. The candidate ¡®Shin Akatsuki¡¯ would have to mention his ambitions and list out one thing that he would never do to achieve his goals. He would be judged based on the content of the ambition and the boundaries he sets for himself in order to achieve those set goals. ]

    [ The candidate can, of course, lie, but he will be negatively judged for that. Then he will be asked to answer some questions about certain scenarios. The judging method will not be given to the candidate. The result of this trial has a direct effect on the kind of reward you will receive at the end.]

    Shin contemplated the words and concluded that answering honestly would be the key to pass this round. It was clear to him that lying was not a good choice because of the fact that the voice clearly said that there will be negative marking for any deceptions. Shin thus also concluded that the trial had some sort of an ability to detect lies.

    Additionally, it''s not like his ambitions and his dreams are secretive. Probably most, if not every one of the people that he has interacted with in his life knows what he desires the most. So there is no problem in being honest there. However, the question about his moral code is something that could be used against him in the future,

    So, Shin deliberated about it a little and he arrived at an answer that would not cause any backlash in the future. He then voiced out, ¡°My ultimate goal is to obtain knowledge of all things. And since I love the process of exploring and researching to get ahold of this knowledge, I would hate it if you stuff knowledge into my brain as a form of reward or something. The one thing I would never do in order to achieve my goal is sacrificing someone I come to care about, be it a friend or a lover. Of course, unless I find out they are betraying my trust.¡±

    [ Answer the following questions

    1) If you ever cross the boundaries that you have set for yourself, not just the boundary that you have mentioned, but also the others that you have not. What will you do then?

    2) Imagine a situation where you reach the absolute pinnacle and you find no methods to advance. What will you do?

    3) You mentioned that you would hate it if one were to stuff knowledge into your brain, so imagine a situation that there was a trial ahead where you would be sent out to a place about which you have no knowledge of and there is information available about this place that can be transferred to you into your mind, would you reject such information?

    4) What is your greatest fear and your greatest regret?

    5) Imagine a situation where you lose all your current abilities and powers but you gain something in return for that. How would you feel? ]

    Shin thought about all the questions and he determined that only the fourth question and that too only the fear part was somewhat problematic, at least for Roy and Xi Yanxi and their servants who were also taking the test as it could be used against them in the future.  Though he was not sure that the others were even facing similar trials or something else entirely.

    Anyway, Shin didn''t see a situation that this could be actually used against him because of the type of fear he has. His fear was based on a possible situation related to himself and not any external factor.

 Prologue 2

    Once Shin grasped all the questions, he opened his mouth and started answering, ¡°If I ever cross my boundaries, I would like to say that I would kill myself off, however, I really don''t know what I would do if I cross them. Because if I become so corrupted that I go against my own morals, there is no way that I would kill myself off in that situation. So, I desire to create something that would do that in my place, but currently that task is an impossibility. Hopefully after ascending to the next world, I may find something to solve that problem.¡±

    ¡°For the second question, I will always believe that there is a mountain above a mountain and do whatever I can to find it and achieve it, even if it takes my entire life. I will never stop in my pursuit.¡± Shin folded his arms and continued with a serious expression, ¡°I do not like someone stuffing my knowledge into my brain but I am not also an idiot, so of course I will accept the information that is being given to me for the third question. After all, who would like to arrive at a situation unprepared. I may be a risk taker but I only take risk after preparing myself thoroughly.¡±

    ¡°My greatest fear is that I may one day find myself stopping my pursuit of knowledge and breaking all the moral codes that I have set for myself. Because on that day, I would be nothing more than a mindless beast without a purpose.¡±

    Shin then took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he recalled his greatest regret. It still pains him to this day for allowing that to happen and it was from that day onwards that instead of just having the desire to know and comprehend all things, he came to have the desire to become strong, strong enough to prevent something like that ever happening again in his life.

    Shin clenched his hands tightly as he spoke, ¡°During the initial stages of my cultivation, I focused more on my ambition and my research instead of putting any effort into cultivation. Still, I progressed in my cultivation rapidly with a speed comparable to my peers which was testament to my talent. I had entered a sect, a dual-cultivating one, and I met a woman who I really liked. She was the master of that sect. Her name was Zara.¡±

    ¡°She was very similar to me and we hit off quite well. And although I didn''t like her ways of obtaining the knowledge, I respected her for it. She was ready to sacrifice a lot for our own ambitions. I stayed with her, cultivated together with her and eventually fell in love with her. She liked me back too. And therefore, she stopped selling her body to obtain knowledge. And we considered some other ways to reach our ambitions.¡±

    ¡°We both left the sect itself, and started exploring the world. Years went on, and piece by piece, we were taking steps towards our dreams. During the journey, we met many friends. Some of these friends were great women whom I started to care for as well. Zara respected my preferences and therefore I had a relationship with multiple girls including her. We met many enemies too, but Zara overpowered them all. She was strong, strong enough to make me wonder, why did she even choose me as her partner.¡±

    ¡°For this reason, I never put any efforts to cultivation. And this was my greatest regret. One day....one unfortunate day, we were ambushed by a strong enemy, who killed them all in front of my very eyes? Even Zara.¡± Shin gritted his teeth and continued, ¡°She sacrificed herself to let me escape. And that day I realized, the truth of this world...that all that matters is strength. And I, who had the potential to reach greater strength, was a fool for not doing my best every single day.¡±

    Shin stopped reciting his story and sighed. This had happened a thousand years ago and he had somewhat accepted what had happened to him. He used that rage, that wrath he felt on that day towards himself, as a fuel to grow. And lo and behold, he was here at the peak of the world, ready to explore whatever waited for him in the next. He had vowed to himself that day that he would never, ever be what he was before and always put his greatest effort in achieving his dreams that now included a drive to grow stronger.

    ¡°Anyway, now that is over, I will answer the fifth question. I would feel despair if I lose all my strength that I have gained. But if I receive something, something equal in value or greater than, what got lost? I will crush my unhappiness and keep moving forward. If it''s lower than what I lost, then I would get revenge on whoever caused me that loss some or the other way.¡±

    As Shin finished saying this, the words on the holographic screen changed and he heard the voice in his head.

    [ The candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the first trial. ]

    Shin was surprised as he didn''t feel that it would be this easy to pass the first trial. Although it brought forth some sad memories and regrets, he couldn''t really say that it was something hard for him. So, Shin guessed that the first trial was just an appetizer for the next trials.

    [ Trial 2 ¨C Intelligence ]

    [ The candidate will be given three riddles to solve. He has to answer all of them correctly to pass the trial. ]

    Hearing what pertains in the next trial, Shin started to laugh. This trial was going to be easy as solving puzzles was his strong point, although he can''t say that for the others, especially how he remembered Xi Yanxi who was an absolute idiot in these kinds of things.

    [ I copy your actions, yet remain unseen, In still waters, my likeness is keen. I''m not alive, yet I faithfully follow, A silent companion in sunlight or shadow. What am I? ]

    After quite a bit of thinking, the answer that Shin came up with was ¡®Reflection,¡¯ which he prudently answered.

    [ Correct ]

    [ In the realm of slumber, I come to play, A phantasmal wanderer, elusive in the day. Born in the mind''s twilight, I dance and gleam, A cryptic enigma, what am I, not what I seem? I weave tapestries of unreality in the silent night, Yet vanish with the dawn, an ethereal flight. Visions and fantasies in my elusive stream, Can you unveil the mystery? What is my theme? ]

    Shin smiled as this also was an easy question. He spoke out loud,  ¡°The answer to that is ¡®Dream¡¯.¡±

    [ Correct ]

    [ In the corridors of wisdom, I quietly reside, A phantom elusive, in shadows I hide. Not in plain sight, yet fundamental and vast, My nature obscured, a puzzle to contrast. I''m sought by the seekers, elusive and rare, Yet in every soul, a flicker I share. Transparent and silent, I persist in the mind, What am I, the conundrum you must unwind? ]

    That was a real difficult question even for him. Shin contemplated the riddle over and over in his mind, yet he was getting confused between two answers. Truth or Knowledge. Therefore, he choose to go with what his gut was telling him, ¡°Hmm¡­Knowledge?¡±

    [ That is an accurate answer ]

    [ The candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the second trial ]

    Shin breathed a sigh of relief as he heard that although the trial was quite easy for him, slowly and steadily these trials are getting harder and harder. He waited for the next notification to come and he didn''t have to wait for long as he heard the voice in his head once again.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    [ Trial 3 - Comprehension ]

    [ The candidate would be given multiple martial arts/skills. He would have to learn two of them till complete mastery. After this, the candidate will have to fuse the two martial arts/skills he has learned. The candidate would be judged based on the time taken to master and fuse the skills and the quality of the fused skill. He would fail if the quality is worse than the initial two martial arts. Choose the two martial arts wisely. ]

    Ok, so this trial is basically testing his comprehension speed, critical and logical thinking. He would have to choose two martial arts, ¡°Wait! what do you mean by the term ¡®skills¡¯?¡±

    [ Martial arts and skills are not exactly the same thing despite numerous similarities in their characteristics. However, for your simplicity you can consider skills as martial arts. ]

    That didn¡¯t clear his doubts at all. In fact, that made him even more confused. Shin questioned once again but he didn''t receive any more help or answers. ¡°Aah, whatever. I should do what I can with the knowledge I have since it did say that martial arts and skills are similar. With my comprehension, it should be somewhat of a doable task, as I had created many martial arts during my lifetime some that I still use.¡±

    Just as Shin finished saying this, multiple books appeared in front of him with various titles such as ¡®Fire Fury Storm¡¯, ¡®Thunder Armor¡¯, ¡®Blink fault¡¯, etc. He wasn''t much surprised to this sudden appearance as he had guessed that they were his so-called skills two of which he needed to learn and fuse.

    Shin started going through them all one by one and it took him a lot of time, about an hour for him to go through every single one of them, as there were nearly 100 books. And most of them were not martial arts at all, at least like what he is used to seeing. Maybe that''s why the trial was mentioning them as skills. ¡°Still, this gives me a lot of confidence and I think I would be able to clear this trial with some effort. The only one thing that I didn''t really understand is their classification. Most of them are ranked common and uncommon books while one of them is a rare.¡±

    Shin had asked the trial to give him more information about this classification but yeah, as he had expected there was no reply. Still, he had his own theories though he didn''t know how aptly they applied to the skills. Anyway, after contemplating on the synergy of the skills, he decided to select ¡®FIREBOLT ENHANCEMENT¡¯ and ¡®FIRE PHOENIX¡¯.

    The fire bolt enhancement skill uses the fire element to improve the strength and explosive power. It also utilizes the lightning element which is higher version of the fire element and uses it to improve dexterity, reaction time and overall speed. It is basically comparable to a buff type martial art. The fire phoenix skill on the other hand creates a small phoenix using flame element that could be used to heal injuries.

    Both of them were of the common classification, as Shin didn¡¯t want to take the risk with the obviously higher ranked uncommon or rare skills both of which were much more complicated than common ones. The major synergy between the two skills, he had selected is their fire element. Though, he could also observe other some similarities between them.

    When Shin made his choice, the rest of the books that were spread across in the white room vanished, leaving the two chosen books with him. Shin shook his head at that fact and sighed with relief, ¡°Thankfully I had read all of them or else this would have been quite a loss.¡± Then he sat in front of the two books contemplating on ways to fuse them together into one.

    ¡­

    Four months later,

    Shin was sitting in a cross-legged position deep in meditation when suddenly multiple red lightning bolts erupted from within him, dancing across his body. His eyes also snapped open and anyone who was observing could see that the color of his irises had changed into vibrant red from his normal purple. Shin stood up from his seated position and then moved across the white room with a speed so tremendous that it felt like he was teleporting. He even created sonic booms whenever he moved.

    After experimenting for a little while, Shin abruptly stopped and thrusted his left hands forward, delivering a powerful punch.

    BOOOM!

    The very fabric of space cracked from the impact, but those fixtures quickly repaired themselves. ¡°Even though I used my full power, I could only cause cracks in the space. Wow! This place is quite sturdy and it even repaired almost immediately.¡± Shin mused with amazement as the red lightning continued to course throughout his body.

    Looking at his left arm,  Shin conjured up a sword in his right arm with his qi and made a deep cut. The entire arm suddenly erupted in orange flames and the wound healed instantly as though it had never existed. ¡°Finally, I finished creating the new martial arts, or should I call it skill? Anyway, I''ll name it the THUNDER FIRE NIRVANA.¡±

    [ Skill created ¨C ''Thunder Fire Nirvana'' is a common skill that utilizes the elements of fire and lightning to enhance the strength, speed, and regeneration.]

    ¡°What? It is only a common skill? I thought it would be an uncommon at least. Did I fail?¡± Shin questioned with anxiety.

    [The new skill that is created is better than the two that were used for fusion. Therefore, the candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the third trial. ]

    ¡°Oof, I was worried for nothing,¡± Shin side with relief. ¡°Thankfully, the trial didn''t require me to create an uncommon skill or else I would have easily failed.¡±

    [ Trial 4 - Isolation ]

    As the voice in his head pronounced the beginning of the fourth trial, i.e. isolation, the entire floor of the room, Shin occupied vanished, revealing a dark expanse below. Shin attempted to fly away, but soon discovered that his movements were completely restricted and therefore he found himself plummeting down into the abyss. Darkness enveloped him as he felt a pull from his divine sense, indicating a clear shift in space. Shin immediately recognized that he had been teleported to another dimension entirely. Once the spatial shift had settled, Shin realized he had reached his destination.

    ¡°Oh, my heavens. I can''t see anything; it''s completely black. I can''t even see my own body. This place is void of any sound or smell.¡± Panic welled within him as he spoke, but he quickly regained his composure shortly afterwards.

    Soon, he noticed another scary detail. When he had spoken earlier, he was unable to hear anything. As the realization of this fact set in, another terrifying detail was noticed by him. He wasn''t even able to feel his own body. ¡°Did the trial seal away all my senses? Oh no¡­until now, I had thought that if I sensed anything dangerous, I could just teleport over. Now, I have a premonition that I won''t be able to do so. I was thinking of this place too lightly.¡±

    Terror gripped him as he comprehended that he couldn''t escape this place and the fact that he was completely at the mercy of the trial. Shin didn''t like this situation at all. But he was the one who entered this trial anyway. So, he had to lay on the bed that he had made.

    Shin took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. At least he was able to feel himself breathing even though he didn¡¯t understand how that was possible as his senses were sealed. The same was with how he spoke. He knew that he had spoken, but he can''t hear anything. He was utterly bewildered and scared of his own situation, and within what felt like minutes to him, Shin calmed down and started analyzing the situation.

    ¡°I was sent here by the trials after it announced that I passed, and the next trial was named Isolation. So, I just have to make sure I don''t have a mental breakdown staying here alone for who knows how long, unable to do anything. The trial is probably testing how much I can endure anyway.¡±

    Shin thus waited, waited and waited for a considerable amount of time before boredom started to set in, prompting him to attempt meditation. Unfortunately, the results were not promising as he had initially assumed. It seemed that he couldn''t even meditate in this peculiar and mysterious place.

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡­

    ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAH! When the hell are they going to take me out of this place?¡± Despair was seeping into his soul. Based on the calculations racing through Shin¡¯s mind, it had been at least a century since he became trapped here. The most despair-inducing fact was that he couldn''t even do anything to distract himself from this crushing loneliness. ¡°When is the trial going to end? I probably won''t be able to take more of this F#%& Bit$% #%&*$% #$%&¡­¡­¡­.¡±

    ¡­

    ¡­

    A long, long while later, as Shin neared insanity after what felt like hundreds of thousands of years to him, his sufferings finally ended. He was teleported back into the white room. The moment Shin re-entered the room, he was overwhelmed with euphoria. A ray of light penetrated his brain and soul, stripping away all the despair and negative feelings that had accumulated from that terrible trial.

    ¡°Huuuu.....¡± Shin sighed and he felt like he was in heaven. The light was calming his soul so effectively that it was much better than any of the spirit healing medicine, he had ever experienced. With the lights effect, Shin''s mind slowly yet steadily started to clear up. It took time however eventually Shin regained the calm and serenity that he normally used to have.

    [The candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the fourth trial.]

    [Trial 5 ¨C Inner Reflection]

    ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey! Please give me at least some time to rest. Please! I beg of you!" Shin cried and implored, but his pleas went unheard.

    [ The candidate will be going through an illusion that would contain his greatest fears. All the candidate has to do is confront them and accept them. ]

 Prologue 3

    ¡°Oh, wow and here I thought my fear would not be used against me. Such an idiot I am. And what do you mean by accept them? I don''t mind confronting them, but accepting? That is not going to be possible for me at all,¡± Shin exclaimed and then continued with slight disappointment, ¡°Am I going to fail after this coming so far? Ha, at least I will escape from this wretched place.¡±

    The previous trial had given Shin enough of a nightmare that he won''t forget ever in his life. Shin closed his eyes in irritation and when he opened it, he was completely in a different place.

    Shin stood high above in the air, and as he moved his body, there were no changes in the environment. "So, I can''t directly interact with this illusion," he thought.

    He sensed a shift as he observed a copy of himself emerging from a ruin, looking extremely happy after obtaining a great reward. Days seemed to pass quickly as the copy chose to conquer the world instead of ascending to the next one. Using all his powers, the copy eliminated the remaining ascension-level cultivators, established an empire named ''The Akatsuki Sovereignty,'' and forced the remaining clans into servitude under the threat of death.

    Once the world was conquered, the copy became drunk on power, abandoning his ambitions and indulging in a life of leisure. Publicly, he tortured anyone who opposed him, instilling even greater fear in the citizens of the empire. Arrogance consumed him, leading him to believe he was special and that others existed only to serve him.

    The copy forced himself upon women, toyed with them and their families, and eventually killed them. His cultivation regressed, yet his tyranny continued unabated. He believed no one would dare oppose him, as they were, in his eyes, nothing more than slaves.

    Observing all of this, Shin burned with fury. If looks could kill, the soul of the illusionary Shin would have been obliterated. At that moment, he suddenly gained the ability to influence the illusion. Without hesitation, he teleported into the palace, appearing in the room where the copy was abusing his female servants.

    As soon as Shin arrived, his overwhelming presence caused all the girls to erupt into a blood mist, dying instantly. The illusionary Shin panicked, shouting for his guards, but no one came. Seeing Shin, the copy screamed, begged, and pleaded, but his words fell on deaf ears. Shin picked the copy up by the neck. The copy struggled, but with his weakened cultivation, he was powerless.

    Face to face, the copy stared in confusion as realization dawned upon him "Who are you? Why do you have my face?" The copy was completely bewildered. He was just having the time of his life with those sensual women whom he had graciously taken as his slaves. But that situation drastically shifted when the man in front of him, entered his palace and now he was at the mercy of that person. Nevertheless, what confused him even more was that the man had the same identical face as his. Was he some doppelganger of his created by one of his enemies to take revenge on him?

    "I am you. I am here as your executioner," Shin replied, his calm eyes filled with fury. He was calmly considering what to do with this copy of his. Death was a surety but he was contemplating on the necessity of torture in this situation. Shin¡¯s furious reply was met up with the copy¡¯s terrified spluttering, "Who... what... why... how...?"

    After all, who could blame him, the current circumstances were so perplexing yet he was not even given the time for comprehending it. Shin continued with serenity as he had come to a decision of what to do, "Before you die, I''ll at least tell you why. Just so you know what you did wrong."

    "What...?" The copy started resigning himself to his fate. He had at least some hope that if the man in front of him was his doppelganger created by an enemy then he would not die here but the current declaration made him aware that he was not getting out of this alive. This filled him with frustration and unending wrath but there was no possible outlet.

    "You abandoned your pursuit of knowledge and truth. You committed countless atrocities¡ª" Shin started listing the various mistakes made by the copy according to him, but he was suddenly interrupted, "Atrocities...? I''m pretty sure you would have done the same."

    "No, I may have the power but I would not ever go so low as you. And even if there comes a day, I do such atrocities, it would be a means to an end, not for self-indulgence as you did.¡± Shin admitted with disdain. With those words, Shin tightened his grip, ending the copy''s life. Closing his eyes, he felt a sense of resolution. When he opened them again, he was back in the white room.

    [The candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the fifth trial.]

    Staring at the white background of this white room, that he had found himself back again, Shin contemplated on a bit of what the previous trial was about. He had come face to face with the worst of his fears. And he made sure to fulfil what he had promised himself. He soon comprehended that the fifth trial was not just about confronting the greatest fear, but also about being true to himself and following through what he himself had decided and vowed to do during such a situation.

    [Trial ¨C 6 Pain and Death]

    The sudden, though not unexpected start of the next round made Shin who had a serene expression on his face quickly become pale. He immediately understood what the next round would be, simply through its name. And he just hoped that whatever he was thinking would not come to pass. But he had been not that lucky during these trials, so he didn''t expect any miracles anyway.

    [The candidate will have to face all kinds of pain known to the world and die through that pain.]

    [The candidate is warned that the pain and death are not illusions but a complete reality. The trial will utilize death and life elements to keep your soul tethered to the world and resurrect and heal you from all kinds of injuries respectively.]

    And yeah, the description of the trial just made his fears come true again. He sighed, but then accepted his situation and spoke up. ¡°I am ready.¡±

    ¡­¡­

    In a room entirely made of white, one could see a man lying on the floor, panting hard. He had a handsome face with sword-like eyebrows, black hair, purple-colored pupils, and a sharp jawline. Currently, though, his face was an unnatural pale, and he alternated between breathing hard and grinding his teeth.

    ¡°Finally¡­, finally, it''s over, haaaa, haaaa.¡± The man rubbed his forehead using his left hand. ¡°Finally, that hell phase has been completed. I died so many times. I suffered pain many times worse than anything I could ever imagine. It made it seem like all the suffering I had in my life was child''s play. This pain is something I wouldn''t want my worst enemies to suffer.¡±

    The man then calmed himself down and sat up straight and cross-legged. He looked toward the translucent screen in front of him, which showed his achievements with a hint of pride.

    [The candidate Shin Akatsuki has passed the sixth trial.]

    [Since this trial was extremely traumatic, the candidate will be given some time to rest before the final trial begins.]

    [The candidate will not be given the soul light, which he received after the 4th trial, as it will negate the benefits you received in the trial.]

    Shin then began to recollect how it all began. The moment the trial instructions were given, his soul was taken out of his body and then teleported to some unknown place. Then his soul was transferred into a person. He was unable to utilize any of his abilities in that body. When he looked around, he found himself in a village taken over by bandits.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    He was then taken by the bandits and tortured by them, experiencing his first hell, where he died by a thousand cuts. Again, his soul was transferred, this time into the body of a person in prison. The soldiers took him, cut his arms and legs off, and let him bleed to death. Again, his soul was transferred into the body of a person tied to a stake. He was being persecuted for being a wizard, whatever that is, and he was burned to death at that stake.

    This continued on and on, as his soul was transferred into various situations where he experienced different kinds of physical pain such as death by freezing, death from pleasure by a succubus; a type of devil that sucks your life force through sex, castration, blood eagle; where his ribs were torn out of his body in the shape of the wings of an eagle, impalement, crucifixion, boiling; where he was tossed into boiling hot water and simmered alive, and so on. He also suffered pain from soul injuries, tearing, destruction, and other excruciating soul-type pains.

    After all this, he was seemingly transferred into the body of an infant, where he didn''t immediately experience pain and death. So, he tried to live a life, grew up, made friends, and when it seemed like his sufferings were over, he experienced betrayal and died. He then experienced despair, loneliness, depression, and mental anguishes.

    To maintain his sanity, he counted the number of deaths he had to go through. He kept counting even though these deaths were seemingly endless. At one point, he got so used to death that the only thing bothering him about this trial was the different types of pain he had to suffer. Basically, he became indifferent to death. After a long time, this suffering came to an end as his soul was tossed back into his real body in the white room with a message on the holographic screen that he passed the trial.

    After this, he became unconscious, and he had woken up about an hour ago. Shin could still feel his soul shivering from the trauma he had experienced.

    ¡°Nine hundred and ninety-nine deaths¡± Shin closed his eyes again and went into deep meditation. ¡°It would benefit me tremendously to reflect on these deaths. I also would have to manage my indifference to death properly, as although it is a good thing, but if I don''t keep it in check, it can cause my death. Since here if I die, I would die permanently.¡±

    ¡­¡­.

    After an unknown amount of time,

    Shin woke up from his meditation with a serene expression, his eyes reflecting the wisdom and insight he gained from this experience. He then took a deep breath, stood up, and announced, ¡°I am ready for the next trial.¡±

    [ Trial 7 ¨C Fortune ]

    [ This is a trial as well as the reward. The candidate would be teleported to an area with multiple doors. Behind each door is a different reward that you have gained the qualification to receive through these trials. ]

    [ Some doors have better ones, while some have worse ones. But do not worry; each and every one of them would be extremely useful to you. ]

    [ You can only choose one of them. ]

    Shin was then teleported to a dark place illuminated by the light of thousands of doors. Wherever he looked, whether left or right, front or back, up or down, there was a door. Every single one of them was golden in color. There seemed to be no difference among them.

    [ Now Choose. ]

    [ MAY YOUR FORTUNE GUIDE YOU ]

    The doors appeared to be placed without an order, and when he sent out his divine sense, he found out there were exactly ten thousand doors in the entire space. "May fortune guide me, huh?"

    Shin then put up a grin and created space loops in front of every door and connected each space loop with all other space loops. Then he added a bit of order element into these connections and made sure that only one of the connections worked every time. Then he added the chaos element to randomize the selection of the connection that would work.

    Through this work, he created a chaotic teleporter that would teleport him randomly from one door to another. Then he closed all his senses, including divine sense, and walked into one of these loops. He then began to blink from one place to another and finally stopped after the nine hundred ninety-ninth blink. He then opened his senses, removed all the space loops, and entered the door in front of him.

    This entire fiasco was completed within a minute, showcasing his great control over elements especially the element of space.

    ¡­¡­

    When Shin entered the door, he again felt the changes in space, which signified that he has been transferred to another space. He was getting used to the sudden transfer as it had happened so many times by now in this trial already. He looked around to get a grip on where he has been teleported to and he found out that it was a similar white room that he was in before. There was just a slight difference in it.

    In the middle of the room, directly in front of him was a small table. However, Shin raised his eyebrows as he recognized that the table was entirely made of solid qi, the quality and the density of which were phenomenal! His own qi had only reached the level of solidification recently when he had a breakthrough and the quality of his was incomparable to that of the table.

    On that table there was just a cube-shaped object, its surface covered in sharp, geometric shapes that jutted out like pieces of a shattered machinery. Lines of glowing blue light traced its edges, giving it a futuristic appearance. The patterns seemed layered, as if the cube were built from countless interlocking plates, each one carefully arranged.

    Suddenly, a spirit materialized on his right side. It looked like an old man dressed in standard butler-type clothing. ¡°Congratulations, you have passed all the trials, and your fortune has led you to the greatest reward this place can give to you.¡±

    ¡°The greatest reward? This little cube is the greatest reward?¡± Shin was a little skeptical about it but gave it the benefit of doubt, after all this trial had made him learn the lesson of not  judging a book by its cover. Therefore, he questioned, ¡°So what is it? And who are you?¡±

    ¡°I am but a mere servant, who was given the duty to manage the trials by my creator,¡± the spirit said with a humble expression. ¡°This artifact, if it could be even called that in the first place, is the legacy treasure left by ¡®The Great Ivis Luminous.¡¯ She is a being who has surpassed this dimension of existence and entered the heavens. She left this treasure for a fated person to come and collect it. And it seems you are the fated person as you have passed all the trial which was created with some unique specifications.¡±

    ¡°She entered the heavens? Does that mean she¡¯s dead?¡± inquired Shin as he didn¡¯t comprehend what the spirit meant by surpassing the dimension of existence.

    ¡°Fool, it means she became a higher dimensional entity,¡± the spirit spoke with an irritated expression on his face. Then he continued, ¡°Anyway, this treasure is a shortcut left by the great mistress to become a higher dimensional entity.¡±

    ¡°What is a higher dimensional entity in the first place?¡± Shin was very curious about this topic.

    ¡°Only those who reached the qualifications know in detail about it, and regretfully I don¡¯t have any such qualifications,¡± the spirit seemed sorrowful. ¡°But I know to get the qualification, you, Shin Akatsuki, would have to ascend at least ten times depending on the world to which you ascend each time.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°The plane you are from is of Rank 1 and to get the qualification you have to ascend to a Rank 11 plane and become a pinnacle expert there. And just to ascend from one rank to the next one you would have to first reach the heaven''s will world in your plane and then ascend.¡±

    ¡°Just so you know, the world that you entered from is of the lowest classification in your plane i.e. a mortal world. After the mortal world comes lower thousand worlds, then middle thousand world, then greater thousand world, and finally the heavens-will world, which is the peak of a plane. Only by ascending to the heavens-will world each time you ascend, would the number of total ascensions required would be 10, otherwise it increase accordingly¡±

    Shin stared at the spirit with a dumbfounded face. He was beginning to get an inkling on just how mighty a higher dimensional entity would be. However, with his small humble mind It would impossible for him to actually even begin to image that level of power.

    ¡°Yes, what you are thinking is absolutely right. And that is only the level where you will reach the peak of this existence. To reach the higher existence is a near-impossible task,¡± the spirit educated Shin. ¡°And this treasure would allow for a shortcut in this long and arduous journey. Now do you understand the importance of this treasure?¡±

    ¡°Y-y-yes,¡± Shin nodded his head so absentmindedly as he processed all that information, he just got that he failed to notice that the spirit had just read his mind, ¡°But I don¡¯t understand one thing. Why leave such a great treasure on a small mortal world?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s where you are wrong. We are not in your world. The entrance on your world is a mere gateway to this trial. Similar gateways are put on an ever-increasing number of worlds in an infinite number of planes.¡±

    ¡°Ohhhh.....that would explain it.¡± Shin nodded in understanding and sorted out everything that he just heard in safely tucked it in the corners of his mind for later review as he knew that what he learned today would be greatly useful for him in the future.

    ¡°Now enter the energy, in your case, it would be Qi into the cube. After you do that, everything else will be explained by the fragment of the consciousness left by the mistress.¡± The spirit declared as he vanished into nothingness.

    Shin was a little cautious but still did what he was told. Then he felt a weird feeling in his soul as the cube vanished. That feeling also went away quickly as he went unconscious.

 Prologue 4

    Shin woke up in a really peculiar place. He looked around to observe and found out that instead of a white room or a place with a void of colors, this time he had been dropped into a mysterious expanse. The place appeared to be filled with white mist and was quite familiar to him, but he wasn¡¯t able to recall it, even though he had quite a good memory.

    He tried to move around, but he noticed that his own body appeared translucent. He was dazed at first, but after a bit of thinking, he came up with two possible explanations. ¡°Either this is a space inside the cube and I have entered it with only my soul, or I am inside my own soul.¡±

    He came up with the first possibility because he entered this place as soon as he touched the cube, and the spirit said that he would meet the creator¡¯s consciousness here. The second one was because of the familiarity and the fact that he had once heard that at a higher level, one can access their own soul. Though he had doubts on either of the possibilities being true, for various reasons.

    Suddenly, he heard a mystifying voice, ¡°You are partially correct about being inside your soul. I commend you for thinking about that possibility, even though you are from a world, where the system of power has nothing to do with souls and its usage yet. ¡±

    Shin looked around and tried to locate the source of the voice. He looked around but couldn¡¯t find it anywhere. While he was searching for the voice, he was able to make out some of the boundaries of this strange space he was in. It looked like a sphere and he was in the absolute centre of it.

    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to find me, as I am consciously concealing myself. But this is for your own benefit, as if you see me, you will definitely die.¡± The voice paused for a second and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t take it as me boasting, but I am incomprehensibly beautiful, and your mortal mind would not be able to comprehend it, thus shattering into pieces, if you see me right now.¡±

    ¡°Are you Ivis Luminous?¡± Shin inquired while still looking around to find the source, in spite of learning the information about him dying, if he ever sees her. However, he wasn¡¯t even able to pinpoint the exact direction much less find the source as felt her voice coming from everywhere.

    ¡°Yes, I am, child, or should I call you Shin Akatsuki?¡± admitted the voice or to be exact, the fragment of the consciousness of the higher dimensional entity known as Ivis Luminous.

    ¡°You can call me Shin. And what did you mean by saying I am partially correct? Where are we exactly, Senior?¡± Shin gave up trying to find her and then focused on the more important question.

    ¡°Do not call me senior, makes me feel old. Call me by my name¡­ just my name.¡± Her revulsion to that title was made very clear to Shin from just her tone.

    ¡°As you wish, I..vis,¡± Shin said with a weird look, not sure if he should be intrigued or confused. But well, everyone had their preferences and he should not judge them based on that. Still, he was having a hard time referring to her by name, as he had become accustomed to call those powerful than himself with respect and she was definitely that and more.  ¡°So, Ivis, where are we?¡±

    ¡°We are inside your ¡®TrueSoul.¡¯ Don¡¯t mistake it with a normal soul, okay? To make it clearer, let me give you an example. So, you know your soul resides in your body in an ethereal form, right? The placement varies from person to person. Some have it in their heart, some in their brain, while some in their lower abdomen, middle of the chest, or neck.¡±

    ¡°Now consider your soul as an apple. The skin of the apple is the slight protection the soul has. The flesh of the apple is comparable to the normal soul which only high-level cultivators from your plane have access to. It contains all the memories and even the ego of the soul. Lastly, the seeds of an apple are comparable to parts of the ¡®TrueSoul.¡¯ These parts are not accessible by anyone under the absolute peak of the existence. Once someone has access to these parts, they would be able to bring them together to form their TrueSoul.¡±

    ¡°Once they form the TrueSoul, the path to higher dimension opens up. Now with the help of most of my power that I had stored inside the cube, I have already formed your TrueSoul, the moment you slipped your energy into the cube or what I call the SYSTEM. Now you would be able to begin your journey to become a higher dimensional entity. Since you don¡¯t have the necessary qualifications, this cube will act as a sort of an assistant for you.¡±

    ¡°So, what should I exactly do?¡± Shin questioned, amazed by what the cube and Ivis had done for him. He had literally skimmed so many steps in the cultivation journey and reached the final destination. His luck and fortune, which was so bad from the start of the trials, has now done a turnaround and rewarded him with this jackpot. Now, there is another new journey waiting for him which, would at the end make him a higher dimensional entity and he was very intrigued on what he needed to do for that.

    ¡°You would be now sent into ¡®The Dream Cradle¡¯ which is a hyperality where you have to live multiple lives, learn skills, and then upload them into your true soul. Mind you, you can only upload one skill per plane. And the maximum number of skills you can upload into your TrueSoul is twelve.¡±

    ¡°Wait! Wait! Wait!....You are going too fast.¡± Shin hurriedly stopped Ivis from speaking any further as he did not even comprehend what she just said. Therefore, he asked, ¡°What is a Hyperality? What are skills and what do you mean by living multiple lives.¡±

    ¡°Oh, pardon me. I forgot that you were not like me when I had first received the SYSTEM.¡± Shin heard the voice giggle as she continued, ¡°Anyway, a hyperality is what you should call a collection of uncountable number of planes connected to each other and has something in common, be it their power system, purpose for existence, etc. There are exactly 333 hyperalities in all of existence and the one you were in, before you entered the trial, contained the planes that has cultivation as its power system.¡±

    Okay, that was way too big of a knowledge for him to easily comprehend. She was talking about millions and millions of planes and because of his own understanding of what a plane is, based on what the spirit had mentioned to him earlier, his sense of reality was shattering and birthing anew at every single piece of information she was providing. However, Ivis continued her explanation without giving a crap about Shin state.

    ¡°Dream Cradle, on the other hand, have planes which are formed due to the imaginations of all beings which has come into actuality. The classic example of this is stories; stories that have been actually written in some or the other form. When one story is partially or completely written, millions of planes are formed containing the entire story inside of them, though each plane have their own twists and additions to the story. And, since there are uncountable number of stories in all of existence, there are uncountable number of planes in the Dream Cradle.¡±

    Shin, this time easily understood what Ivis was explaining as she had included an easy example. He just wondered whether he would enter the planes that are based on the stories and myths that he had read during his lifetime.

    ¡°Dream Cradle is a special hyperality because only those who have unlocked their TrueSoul can enter it from outside. And it is the place where the entire process of transitioning to a higher dimension takes place for all of them.¡± Ivis paused for a little while to allow Shin to process the information. She then continued with something that she thought Shin would want to know, ¡°Oh, and you don''t have to worry about meeting these people because a plane only allows a single being with a TrueSoul to enter itself, with the exception of connected beings, about which you will learn during your journey.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Did you comprehend all that I just said?¡± Ivis inquired and Shin nodded his head. There were still things he wanted to know but he would like to find out about them on his own. ¡°Good, now onto your second question. I won''t be explaining what skills are and I am sure that you got to experience them at least somewhat in the third trial. So, you should now explore them on your own to find out about them.¡±

    ¡°Now, about living multiple lives, you, Shin, would have to first enter a plane, in the Dream Cradle, then live a life, somehow form the skill you would upload after which you would travel to the next plane, create another skill, and go on and on. Additionally, you can never enter the same plane ever again, even any of the million planes that were formed based on the same story.  However, there is a catch. When you enter a plane in the Dream Cradle, you would have to possess a body that is not your own. Therefore, other than the uploaded skill, you have literally lost everything else.¡±

    ¡°What? Does that mean I would lose my current cultivation when I enter my first plane?¡± Shin asked with shock and distress at the prospect of losing everything he had gained throughout his entire life.

    ¡°Unfortunately, yes. But look at the bright side, you would keep at least your memories safe and secure during the transition as they have uploaded into your TrueSoul already¡­ And from what I have learned about you from the trial, you seek more knowledge than strength.¡± Ivis answered calmly.

    Hearing this didn''t really calm Shin down, but he understood that he had to sacrifice some things to gain greater things. Although he would be sad that he would be losing what he had gained after working so hard for thousands of years, he would be happy because he was getting something way, way better than just his humble cultivation level.

    ¡°Oh! by the way, no matter what body you possess, it would automatically change into your own appearance and absolutely no one would suspect a thing. Though, your appearance would still reflect your age or technically the age of the body you possess. Your Truesoul does that by passively manipulating fate, karma, and many other things. Therefore, you don¡¯t have to worry about being found out by changes in your appearance or behaviour.¡±

    ¡°Now where was I before I started explaining you the intricate details¡­ Ah, I was talking about skills. You can only upload 12 skills into your TrueSoul and this rule is applicable to everyone, no matter who it is, therefore make your choices wisely. But the process isn''t over just by uploading a skill, you have to grow that skill as you travel different planes by adding on to it until you finally reach the highest classification of a skill. What these classifications are, you have to find out on your own.¡±

    ¡°There are many other privileges that you get for owning a TrueSoul, like being able to understand the basic languages of each plane you visit, immunity towards control or effect types of mental and soul attacks and supreme control over your skills, both the uploaded as well as unuploaded ones allowing you do to many things that the denizens of the planes cannot. However, there are some limitations such as being unable to tell any other being of your circumstances and the worst of all, being unable to produce your own children at least until you have completed your journey and have become a higher dimensional entity.¡±

    ¡°Those two drawbacks are not much of a limitation. At least I don''t think they are.¡± Shin shrugged with nonchalance. ¡°Maybe they would be a problem to much of a younger generation, but I am not one of them. I''m quite old and I''ve already produced great number of descendants who are living their life and thus not being able to produce children wouldn''t really matter to me at all.¡±

    ¡°Maybe it was not for you, but it was quite a problem for me. After all, during my life as a lower dimensional existence, I focused more on my power and abilities and not on my instinctual desires to produce descendants. Therefore, when I was deprived of such ability, I became depressed and all, and it was a very dark time of my life. And even after I have become a higher dimensional existence, it is very-very hard to create children because of the uniqueness each of us have.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I''m getting sidetracked here¡­.and I don''t even have much time remaining as the fragment of consciousness that I had left in the SYSTEM have slowly started vanishing as I had used my power to create your TrueSoul. Therefore, we don''t have much time for talking. So, ask away your one last doubt and I will see if I can answer it.¡± Ivis declared putting a timer on their conversation. Well, it was more of one-sided explanation than a proper conversation.

    The atmosphere became serious as Shin wanted to talk more with this person since he was curious about her and other higher dimensional existences, but then he shook his head and queried on the most important question he wanted to ask her since the beginning of their little discourse.

    ¡°Why are you giving me such an artifact? I know everything has a price in the world; nothing is free, so what¡¯s the price?¡± Shin became very vigilant as he asked this.

    ¡°Yeah, it is not free. This artifact was given to me in the same way you got it. The difference was I was way more powerful. Anyhow, by giving this to you, all I doing is fulfilling my karma and the price you have to pay is do the same i.e. once you become a higher dimensional entity, you have to create a trial and leave this cube for someone else while leaving it completely up to fate with any personal interventions.

    ¡°Oh! You will have to fill this cube with energy while leaving a small part of your consciousness to be a guide similar to me. Don¡¯t ever forget this information as this will be the only way to pay up the karmic debt you accumulated, while using the SYSTEM.¡±

    Shin was still a little bit skeptical about all this but then he took a deep breath and nodded. He would be able to easily do that once he does become one higher dimensional existence. And well, karmic debt and other things were  not something that he can currently understood and therefore he left it for his future self to worry about.

    Nevertheless, he was quite surprised at the fact that Ivis was also someone similar to him who had received the SYSTEM. He had initially thought that she was the one who created the SYSTEM but it seems that someone else had created and it has been passed down again and again for who knows how long.

    ¡°Anyway, all the other information that you wish to know will be available through the SYSTEM as you unlock more and more of its functions.¡± As she said this, Shin who was distracted in his thoughts saw the cube suddenly appear in the center of his TrueSoul. Blue light emerged from it as he felt a weird sense of pull as his mind went blank.

    The last thing he heard before going unconscious once again was Ivis speaking in her mystifying voice which he had come to enjoy. ¡°Good luck in your Journey, Shin Akatsuki. May you reach the heavens.¡±

    ¡­¡­

    Somewhere far, far beyond the very existence itself,

    A humanoid being stood eerily still, as if the very space and time was frozen. Their form was completely incomprehensible, yet if a normal mind perceived them, they would be seen as eldritch yet mystical.

    The being was a titan, their form seemingly shifting between matter and nothingness. Their body was a mesh of flowing tendrils, spiralling outward like nebulae birthed in the heart of the universe. Each strand pulsated with a life of its own, lively hues of blue, purple, and magenta weaving together a tapestry of endless realms.

    Spread across its towering form were radiant orbs, burning with the intensity of newborn stars. They hung like constellations within its frame, glowing softly yet exuding an undeniable power. Their head wore a crown of writhing energy, chaotic and flame-like, blazing with the light of a thousand supernovas. The being¡¯s presence warped the space around it, as if the existence itself was under their command.

    Behind them, an impossibly bright light originated, a halo of blinding white light that showered on their form. This light merged seamlessly with the orbs that floated in its orbit as though they were extensions of its essence rather than celestial bodies. The lower half of their form dissolved into cloud-like structures, mist-like tendrils blending with the void below.

    Suddenly, there was a change in this mystic yet frozen spectacle. The uncountable number of floating orbs, that surrounded the being, started rotating on their axis¡¯, at high speeds and now with such movement they started resembling like eyes. Again, there occurred another change, as this time the orbs started revolving around the being¡¯s incomprehensible figure.

    A booming voice erupted from the being and it contained a mystical charm, ¡°Finally. My karmic obligation has predominantly concluded...I really didn¡¯t think that the next fated person would arrive so soon. I am so very lucky, unlike my predecessor who had to wait for so long. Hahaha¡­¡±

    If Shin would have been here, he would have easily recognised the being as Ivis Luminous, from just their voice. ¡°Alright, now all that left is a final bit of touch up with my successor and I will be done. Hopefully, he becomes at least a four star like me so I can be proud of him¡­.Maybe even a six star like that being!¡­..Nah I am overestimating him too much, even though he had good potential.¡±

    After the being said this, all movement abruptly stopped, returning back to how it was certain moments before. Completely frozen. It was as if whatever happened was nothing but an illusion.

 New Beginning

    In a dark place, there were big cylindrical containers filled with some sort of glowing blue liquid, and a bare humanoid body floated in each of them. Some appeared to be male, and some were female. There were exactly ten of them. A few of them looked exactly like humans, while others had rough, animalistic features. Each of them had a mask connected to their face, specifically their nose and their mouth. A small pipe then connected this mask, supplying these bodies with air to breathe. Another difference one could easily notice were the labels that was pasted onto them.

    All of a sudden, the lights were turned on, one by one, which illuminated the place entirely. The previously dark place, now filled with light, had a striking resemblance to a laboratory. It was in the exactly shape of a triangle, with the glowing blue containers facing a corner. There was a door on the left and a door on the right side. It had no windows, but the air somehow didn¡¯t feel congested.

    There were a lot of desks in the lab filled with different kinds of paperwork. On one particular desk, there was a timer counting down. Currently, it showed 59 minutes. As the timer continued to count down, sounds of footsteps began to echo outside of the room.

    Then one of the doors was opened, and with that, five people who were dressed in doctors attire rushed in as they talked to each other in an excited tone.

    ¡°Finally, it is about time our experiment shows some result. Hope it''s worth all the time, energy, and money we spent on them,¡± said a female scientist with brown hair, named Lara.

    ¡°We had to come all the way here to Japan for this experiment, so it better show its worth, or I am taking my frustration out on the head scientist who called us here. By the way, where is he?¡± an irritated man, Delvin, scratched his fox ears ruffling up his long crimson mane.

    ¡°He would be arriving as soon as our subjects wake up,¡± said Kiara, a blonde-haired woman as she glanced at the door to her right.

    ¡°Do you have any idea what kind of quirks they would awaken?¡± Shaun, a thin man with dark skin asked as he fixed his unsteady glasses.

    ¡°None. Although we have utilized the DNA of people with all sorts of quirks, since this is the first time our artificially created humans are successful, we have basically zero data,¡± said Lara with a serious expression which couldn¡¯t hide her curiousness. ¡°Still, we could make guesses based on our current observations.¡±

    ¡°It appears four of them have awakened mutant-type quirks,¡± Shaun rubbed his chin, ¡°They would probably even have a hard time living in the society with that kind of appearance.¡±

    ¡°One of these mutants has an appearance similar to a wolf, so possibly she could have a quirk like ¡®Werewolf,¡¯¡± said Kiara, while observing the humanoid in the second containers from the left.

    She had a sturdy, athletic build. Her skin is a warm tan, and her hair was thick, wavy and dark grey. There was even a faint layer of fur cowering her jawline and cheeks. She had her arms and legs covered in thick grey pelt each of them ending with razor sharp claws. The most defining factor however were the fluffy tail that sprouted from her back and her pointed ears that was on the top of her head looking just like dog ears.

    ¡°What is her code name?¡± said a muscular man named Kevin, who was writing down all the observations.

    ¡°It is A045 or subject 45,¡± replied Shaun, while looking through the label attached to the container of the aforementioned h

    ¡°Subject A010 seems to have awakened a mutant-type insect-related quirk judging from the exoskeleton on his body,¡± Kevin continued to note down as he said that.

    The subject had an anthropomorphic body, large compound eyes, and antennae on its head. Their entire body was covered and protected by a layer of thick, dark chitinous armor. Its limbs were segmented, resembling both human arms and legs, while its overall stature is similar to that of a giant person.

    ¡°Subjects A045 and A001 have mutant-type, but their quirks can''t be guessed using their appearance,¡± said Lara while scrutinizing the two. Subject 45 had his entire body covered in dark skin with his limbs ending as tentacles whereas subject 01 was completely blue from head to toe making it very hard for her to discern the difference between the subject and the liquid that filled the containers.

    ¡°We still can''t be sure about their quirks as they could still change within the remaining time until their DNA completely settles. Kiara, how much time remains?¡± Kevin asked.

    ¡°Exactly 26 minutes left,¡± announced Kiara after looking at the timer on the desk.

    ¡°Delvin, be sure to install the Compulsion serum into the pods at exactly 20 minutes on the timer,¡± reminded Lara.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I will do that,¡± grumbled Delvin as he waited for the timer to reach 20 minutes. The moment came, and he went to each and every pod and installed the compulsion serum, which was yellow in color, fit into a small test tube. Once he had done that, he backed and exclaimed, ¡°I am Done.¡±

    ¡°Now Shaun and Kiara, when I announce, press the blue button on the pods, injecting these serums into the pods. The moment they are injected, the liquid will turn a light green color,¡± ordered Lara.

    They continued to take observation and talk as the timer counted down. The moment the timer reached ten seconds, Lara, Kevin, and Delvin counted down, ¡°10, 9¡­¡­¡­. 3, 2, 1. PRESS THE BUTTON.¡±

    Both Delvin and Kiara pressed the buttons, and slowly but steadily, each and every pod was filled with light green-colored liquid.

    ¡°Now within moments, our subjects should be opening their eyes. If they don¡¯t within the span of a minute, then they are failures. Press the RED button on the pods immediately and completely dispose of them,¡± declared Lara. ¡°Kiara, reset the timer to 1 minute.¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± everyone nodded.

    As they waited, they observed five of the subjects opening their eyes moments afterward. Out of these five, four of them were the ones with mutant quirks. The remaining one was a female, looking completely identical to a human teenager and the only distinguishing feature was her unnaturally white hair.

    The group of scientists waited more, but no more subjects seemed to open their eyes. They keep an eye on the timer, with nervous and anticipatory gazes and as the timer reached one, they saw another subject open his eyes, revealing beautiful purple and golden irises.

    Unlike the others, he was smaller in height and looked like a 10-year-old child. He had a strong jawline and high cheekbones that defined his face, giving him an effortlessly striking appearance even as a child. His black hair along with the stunning eyes were a combination that could touch the hearts of everyone who looked at them. The scientists were thus instantly mesmerized by his appearance, but Lara, who was probably the most mindful one, soon came out of her amazement, looked around, and ordered immediately without wasting a single moment, ¡°Dispose of Subject 27, 32, 56, and 99.¡±

    All the other scientists reacted and came out of their reverie, and then pressed the red button on the pods whose code were mentioned. Suddenly, the entire liquid inside these pods was drained, and then the entire content inside started burning with fierceness. In a matter of a minute everything inside had turned into ashes. Nothing was left inside.

    ¡°Huuu¡­.Good, our experiment was fruitful with a 60% success rate.¡± Lara, turned to her fellow scientists, who were steadfastly observing the destruction and brought them out of their reverie once again, ¡°Congratulations, everyone.¡± Then she turned towards the newborns who were watching her with a confused expression from inside their pods and announced with a smile, ¡°Welcome to our world Subject 1, 7, 10, 14,45 and 109.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    ¡°Call the head scientist and tell him that the subjects are awake,¡± Kevin ordered Shaun as he looked at the active pods appreciatively.

    ¡°Let''s wait for an hour before taking them out of their pods to start the other tests,¡± Kiara said while she walked towards at a chair and sat down. She opened a laptop that was placed on a nearby table and started typing.

    Lara nodded and admitted, ¡°I will talk to them and teach them about the world, while you guys take their tests.¡±

    ¡°You are our psychology expert so you do you, I guess,¡± Kevin replied to this and then muttered, ¡°Subject 07, who awakened at the last second, has quite good-looking eyes. Do you think it¡¯s an ocular-related quirk, Kiara?¡±

    ¡°Possibly, it would be great if it would be something similar to Eraserhead¡¯s quirk,¡± exclaimed Kiara, excited at just imagining the prospects.

    ¡°Yeah, that mixed with the superhuman physique we put in each of the subjects could be a great asset. Then all we have to do is teach him some combat techniques, and he could be a great hero,¡± Kevin said sarcastically.

    ¡°Yeah, they were made for that purpose after all, to be heroes who would fight villains. Still, I don¡¯t like Japan¡¯s idealistic society that divides people into heroes and villains, some of the time according to the quirks they have. And they advertise the heroes so much. It should be a job to be done and not something so popularized. They should be teaching everyone to use their quirks and not just some ¡®Hero Course Students.¡¯ Such a waste of resources,¡± Lara snorted, clearly showing her discontent. She had liked how her country America had handled these things and Japan was clearly far beneath it.

    ¡°This country would have been powerful if quirks were militarized and used properly. If they were given freedom to use their quirks somewhere, there wouldn¡¯t be so many criminals. All this country has is a single powerful hero, and when one day that hero retires or dies, this country would head to its doom,¡± Kevin admitted while thinking of the current greatest hero in the world, All Might.

    He was lauded and considered far better than even the Star & Stripes from America, but no one knows if that is even true. Yeah, if one were to compare their fanbase, he might surpass Star & Stripes but in terms of combat capabilities¡­who knows who would win?

    ¡°That is the reason the so-called ¡®Hero Association¡¯ funded our research, creating these artificial humans for the preparation of the day when All Might retires or dies. I pity them. But I hope for their sake that someone among these six is powerful enough to replace him. Since we can''t and won''t be able to create more,¡± Lara sighed while imagining what would happen if such situation unfortunately occurs. She couldn¡¯t help but shudder at the potential changes that would wreck the entire world, when the symbol of peace dies.

    ¡°The huge amount of funds this project has drained, plus the time required to create them are nonsensical. It took 30 years for their creation,¡± Kiara interrupted after finishing up her work, she had to do in her laptop.

    ¡°That is the cost of creating life after all,¡± Kevin said.

    ¡°We don¡¯t actually know if we created life. We just created a body and mind and combined them together. We don¡¯t know and will probably never know, if they actually have souls,¡± Kiara rolled her eyes and continued with a joyful tone, ¡°Anyway, I wrote my report and have even read the reports from the remaining two facilities. Apparently, we are the only ones with over 50 percent success. The lab in Miyagi had only one success while the one in Kyoto had four.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s great. We will be abundantly rewarded by our employer for such a difference.¡± Kevin exclaimed happily as he imagined the money that will be credited to his account.

    ¡°Yeah, that is true too. But unfortunately, this is great success will never be known to the world. After all, the head scientist has probably destroyed all the research works by now. Additionally, any information associated to this research will be erased from our minds too.¡± Sighed Lara, ¡°Well, can¡¯t do anything about that. After all, we signed up for this.¡±

    ¡°The Hero Association doesn¡¯t want anyone, even their own people, to know about this research as it enters forbidden territories. So, of course they would do something like this.¡± Kiara replied with her opinion, ¡°They would probably even go as far as creating fake IDs for them and then make them join the society as Heroes. Though this would only happen after they had gotten acquainted with the world and properly train their quirks.¡±

    They continued to talk about their research as they waited for the Head Scientist to arrive. The subjects in the pods looked toward these humans with curiosity in their eyes. But one of them looked to be quite dazed and unfocused.

    ¡­¡­

    When Shin woke up, he felt himself submerged underwater. He was also unable to move his entire body. He tried to move again and again, yet was unable to do it.

    Finally, after what felt like a long time of trying, he was able to open his eyes at least. As his senses returned, he found himself inside a cylindrical container of some sort of green liquid. He tried to open his mouth and speak, but his voice didn¡¯t escape the mask he was wearing, seemingly providing him air to breathe.

    ¡®Wait! Air to breathe?¡¯ Shin''s eyes widened as he immediately realized something was wrong. As a cultivator, he had completely removed his need for breathing, so why was he doing that currently?

    Then he tried to recollect what he was doing previously, and he remembered his conversation with Ivis Luminous. His eyes twitched as he realized something from their conversation, that gave him an idea of his probable situation, ¡®Did that woman throw me into one of those planes in the Dream Cradle? Can''t she give me some warning beforehand? At least some information about the world I would be going to would be quite better.¡¯

    Crushing the anger that was rising inside of him, he calmly analysed the situation. He could hear people talking in his background, so he attempted to listen in to their conversation. After hearing their discussion, he fully comprehended his current predicament. He was an experimental subject, created by the team of scientists, similar to the other five who were beside him.

    ¡®Hmm, they are talking about artificial humans, so probably I am one of those. I can¡¯t believe they have succeeded in doing something no one has achieved in my previous life¡­..Anyway, it is essential to act in the similar manner other subjects would act in order to not raise any suspicion, at the least for now. But once I learn the situation, I can try for an escape if it is needed.¡¯

    As he thought this, he recollected Ivis mentioning that he would have to start from the ground up. That every time he changes planes, he would lose all his powers other than the one skill he uploaded. And the way, he wasn¡¯t even able to open his divine sense was the clear proof that Shin need to know that he had lost all his cultivation.

    Holding back his tears that came from sadness, he comforted himself, ¡®It''s okay, Shin. Cultivation was a means to an end, and you reached a goal many beings at a higher level than you would crave for. You did great.¡¯ He then remembered every single point of his previous life, his friends, allies, women, and nostalgia filled him. ¡®Thank you for being with me and goodbye.¡¯ He would use his memories, the only proof that he had lived a life prior to this, as motivation to move forward. He, resolved himself that one day he would return and meet them.

    After a little while of tending to his emotions, Shin continued to think and critically analyse about his current predicament. ¡®I need to learn the power system that this world has, try to improve upon it and create a powerful yet useful skill to upload to my TrueSoul. I would need another goal. Hmm¡­ let''s go with ruling the continent or kingdom or empire, whatever they call it here, since that was what my false self did in one of the trials. But first, I would need to learn their language.¡¯

    As he thought this, Shin came to a startling realization. ¡®Wait, why was I able to understand their language? I am pretty sure I have never heard of the language they are speaking.¡¯

    As he thought deeply about this matter, he made a hypothesis, ¡®It''s not that I understood word to word what they said, but I was able to understand the basic content. I do recall Ivis mentioning something like that as one of the privileges of possessing the TrueSoul.¡¯

    ¡®Ugh, why didn¡¯t Ivis give me all the information? Oh!¡­Wait, I am the who declared that I didn¡¯t like information getting stuffed in my mind. Was that why she didn¡¯t. Because she was being considerate of me.....? Well, who can guess the thought process of someone like her. Well, not me, at least. Haaa¡­.Nevertheless, she did say that I would receive them later. But how would that be possible?¡¯ Shin then strained himself to remember everything Ivis talked about and finally thought of something, ¡®CUBE.¡¯

    Ok, that didn¡¯t work, then what about ¡®SYSTEM.¡¯ As he thought that in his mind, a holographic screen appeared in front of him. He was startled then became anxious that the scientists would see it, but considering that they didn¡¯t react to it, Shin concluded that only he could see it. He, looked at the screen that had suddenly popped up. It was blue in color and materialised in the exact same appearance as the trial instruction screen. The only thing that was missing was the voice that come along with screen.

    <hr>

    [STATUS SCREEN]

    [SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE ABILITIES]

    [WORLD]

    [TRUESOUL]

    [UPDATES]

    <hr>

    Shin eyes widened as he was amazed at the numerous options that had come up and focused his attention on the very first option i.e. status screen. The blue screen changed as it opened his STATUS SCREEN, whatever that was.

    <hr>

    NAME : Shin Akatsuki

    TRUESOUL LEVEL : Null

    RANK : 1

    RACE : Artificial Human

    SKILLS : Superhuman Physique, Karmic Vision

    <hr>

 System Options

    The moment the screen changed and new information appeared on the ethereal blue screen, Shin recognized what the option was all about. It fundamentally summarised all his essential information into quantifiable and measurable terms. It was a tool to access one¡¯s own capabilities and something that is needed to be taken into consideration while planning for the future.

    The foremost line was his name, which he already knows, therefore he didn¡¯t grasp why it was even mentioned. However, since the system was made by someone, probably from the higher dimensional, he reckoned that it probably had a purpose which he didn''t understand yet. And therefore, he skipped it, leaving the matter for a future time.

    The second line talked about TrueSoul level, which was currently showing null. After a bit of thinking, Shin theorized that the level indicated a stage of cultivation, but this one focused on the TrueSoul that Ivis talked about and since he hadn''t even started anything in that aspect, it was no wonder it was showing zero as its value.

    Shin then theorized that the rank was also something similar but instead of measuring his TrueSoul, it measured his power or something. It could be either the standard that this plane operates in or it could be the standard the system measures. He deduced that he would have to do a lot of experiments and research to exactly understand what this rank was all about.

    Then came his race, which was an artificial human making his early deduction about him being an experimental creation even more concrete. Though similar to his name, he didn''t understand its purpose of being on this status screen.

    Finally, the last line talked about his current skills, which was probably the juiciest aspect of this data screen. He had two skills already, and he hadn¡¯t even put an effort for it. This made it a lot distinctive from martial arts as they couldn¡¯t be learned automatically. Through this, Shin also realised that the knowledge of his current skills, would make him better understand the concept of skills more deeply and differentiate it from the martial arts.  Thus, aiding in the process of the creation of that one skill, he would be allowed to take from this plane.

    Anyway, speaking about his skills, Superhuman physique was the byproduct or an add-on from the experiment, and it appears that this Karmic Vision was his Quirk, according to what these scientists are discussing. From the other titbits Shin had heard, he could critically evaluate that a quirk is a natural or innate ability that a being is born with and from the way they are normalizing these abilities among their discussion, it appeared that mostly if not everyone in the world is born with an ability or a quirk, to be exact.

    Though he did get an idea about what superhuman physique skill was about just by its name, he still focused his attention on that name in the similar way, that he had opened up the status screen menu from the main menu. However, nothing happened even as time passed. No further descriptions about this skill were made available.

    Then, Shin realized that he was going about this in the wrong way as he recalled about the supreme control over skills that Ivis had talked about, when she listed out the privileges of having a TrueSoul. If he really had such control over his skills, then he should be able to gain knowledge about them easily. Understanding this, Shin took a deep breath, closed his eyes and started focusing deep within himself while thinking about the superhuman physique skill. And lo and behold, in just with a minute, he got a rough idea of what the skill was capable of.

    It was nearly the same what he had deduced from just a name i.e. it granted enhanced strength, speed, dextricity, endurance, and regeneration. Again, since it was just a rough idea, therefore he still didn''t know just by how much percentage, these attributes are actually enhanced. For that he needed to do actual physical testing. But still the fact, he was able to understand something about the skill through this method, was amazing.

    He did the same process for the second skill, i.e. Karmic Vision. This time the information he gained was slightly more extensive. And he would have to go through it a lot of times before he completely understood what the skill was all about. But one thing was clear. This skill or quirk was much more complicated than the superhuman physique skill and he would definitely rank it better than the later, if there was a proper classification, similar to the one he had experience in the trial of comprehension.

    After all this, Shin willed to go back to the main interface and then focused his attention on the second option i.e. [SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE ABILITIES].

    However, that tab didn''t really open up at all and instead a piece of information appeared in his mind and it stated that this option could only be used just before the transfer process from one plane to another. He mentally shrugged at this information although he didn''t like the process how he got it. It had felt very intrusive, since it directly popped into his mind, but Shin also realized that he would have to get used to this uncomfortable sensation, especially because of the SYSTEM, who would keep giving him information in such a way.

    No wonder the trial or probably the Trial Keeper, that spirit, felt the need to ask if he would be not accepting such an intrusive method during the Trial of Ambition and Code of Conduct. He would not have got gotten a hold of this incredible opportunity of owning the SYSTEM, if he had answered that question in a negative fashion.

    Since, the second option didn''t work, he got on to the third one i.e. [WORLD]. Thankfully, this opened up and he found two options: [INSIGHTS] and [ACHIEVEMENTS].

    He opened [INSIGHTS] and once again a piece of information appeared in his mind from out of nowhere. Through it, he discovered that he could get information about the plane he was in and any plane he would travel to in the future.

    There were three levels to purchase and he could only purchase one, per plane. However, this option is only available to purchase during the transfer process, similar to the system-exclusive ability tab. So, unfortunately, he won''t be able to use it to purchase his current plane''s information. Still, he tried to understand it better to prepare for the future when he does purchase the information.

    The first level would give him information an average person belonging to the plane would know about. This would be useful if the power system and the supernaturals were common knowledge. If there is some secret society of supernaturals instead, then this level won''t be that helpful other than maybe the basics to survive.

    The second level would give a full overview of the entire plane, including basic information, power system, races, etc. If for some reason, the supernaturals are hiding from the common world, then this level would also give him intelligence about the numerous ways to enter them.

    The third and last level would give him knowledge of the entire story based on which the plane was formed from. However, there could be differences, since Ivis had mentioned how every plane that is formed from a story is different from the other, in some or the other way. The planes in the dream cradle, only use the story as a foundation and there could be a lot of divergence because of this reason. Still, it was something good, so he won''t complain. Not like he had anyone to complain to, in the first place.

    The currency that would be used for this purchase was called achievement points (AP). The first level would cost him 1000 AP. The second level would cost 2500 AP and the third level would cost 5000 AP.

    To get a better understanding of what actually the achievement points are, he opened the second option i.e. [ACHIEVEMENTS].Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    After going through the information that had once again appeared in his mind, Shin comprehended that they were the titles that he would be bestowed upon by the system itself based on his feats. They were essentially like legends that would define his legacy in the plane.

    The titles are also classified into different categories based on their rarity from common to unique, with each of them giving different levels of Achievement Points. The rarity of the title, that is given by the system would depend on mainly the significance of the achievement, when compared to the entire plane.

    There was also an additional tiding he had learned and that was, the achievement points were not only useful for buying information under the insight tab but would also help in something under the system exclusive ability tab. Though it didn¡¯t mention what exactly it was.

    Still, this made it sure for Shin, that the system itself was actively encouraging him to enter the world and do something, rather than sitting at one place and only focusing on creating the skill he would upload. For what purpose? He didn''t know, again. But he wasn''t going to sit at one place, in the first place. So, it was just an extra reward. One that he surely welcomes.

    The next thing he did was go to the main interface again and enter the TrueSoul tab. When it opened up, he was greeted with a timer in front of him, ticking downwards, which made him slightly confused. But with the information that he received once again in his mind, he comprehended, what it was about.

    It was the time after which he could actually cultivate his TrueSoul, proving that his earlier deduction about the TrueSoul level, true. However, the question of how to cultivate would be answered only once this time had passed. Additionally, this tab, in the future, would contain detailed description of the skills that he would upload and since he hadn''t uploaded anything yet, there was nothing else other than the timer.

    Finally, he went and opened the updates tab, but rather than actually opening, it simply informed him it''s function in the same method that he dislikes. That is, by putting that information directly into his mind. Now it had happened so many times that he was literally getting used to it. And he felt pity for himself and his future selves for having to go through it many times in the future.

    Nevertheless, the function of the upgrade tab was to notify him of any updates or it would be more accurate to say, if he unlocks anything new out of the system. It would also be explaining him those functions when they do get unlocked. And he had zero idea of how or what he needs to do to get them unlocked. It was entirely dependent on the system itself. Or maybe it was dependent on him too. But since he doesn''t know what they are, he can''t do anything about it, rather than simply just waiting for it to happen.

    Once he had obtained all the information he could collect from the system, Shin began sorting it out in his mind. As he was doing this, he saw a new person enter the room or to be precise the laboratory, he was in. He appeared to be a very old man, dressed in casual clothes which included a shirt and a trouser.

    The rest of the scientists who were busy in their world of discussion, stopped talking and turned to face him. And with the amount of deference, he could clearly notice on the faces of the scientists towards this new person, he could guess that the new entrant was their superior.

    Shin wanted to immediately use his Karmic Vision quirk. However, he didn''t know what sort of quirks, the group of scientists or this new person really had and therefore decided not to take such a risky approach. After all, if he was really caught, there could be rather severe consequences that could even lead to his death. And he wouldn''t be able to even defend himself, since he wasn''t able to move in the first place.

    ¡­¡­

    Dr. Misukagi Kageyoshi, the man, who had started and led the forbidden research, and now succeeded in his lifelong dream of creating life, entered the laboratory with immeasurable joy and excitement. His brilliant subordinates, who were had been a great help during this endeavour, approached him and began reporting to him about the numerous observations they had made, after the subjects had awaken.

    He tried to judiciously listen to them, but because of his excitement, he wasn¡¯t able to keep his mind on the report. Instead, his focus kept going onto the six subjects, who had awakened into this world through his hands. Especially after hearing that the other two labs, who were also conducting the experiment under his leadership, had also shown some level of success. As he glanced at the pods, he couldn¡¯t help but mutter quietly to himself, ¡°Finally, I have accomplished what you always dreamt of, May. Now, you can rest peacefully.¡±

    As he said this, Kageyoshi recalled the face of his beautiful wife, who had long passed away. They had initially started this project together; however, life didn¡¯t allow them to complete it together. Just after the first ten years, she became afflicted with a severe disease and soon left the world. Her passing had left a quite deep scar in his heart, making him stop this incredible research, due to severe depression.

    However, after a period of self-reflection and a bit of encouragement from the Hero Association president of that time, who had come to him with a request to continue the research, made him resume the project from where he had left of. And from that time onwards, he resolved himself to finish this project, no matter what, not just for himself, but also for the unfinished dreams of his wife.

    Because of the support of the Hero Association President of that time, who was also his best friend, all oppositions to his research were removed. This was done by Kageyoshi personally, using his quirk ¡®Memory Eraser¡¯ that gave him the ability to erase memories. Using it, he removed memories of his research from the minds of all those who knew of it. Therefore, the only person who knew about this research other than himself and his subordinates was his best friend cum former hero association president. Anyway, because of this extreme measure, he was able to fully focus on this research and complete it five years prior to his initial expectations.

    Anyway, once he came back from his self-recollection, Kageyoshi began giving instructions to his subordinates. ¡°Delvin, drain their pods. Kevin, take note of every movement and interactions, and record them. Also use your quirk to find the names of each of their quirks.¡±

    Delvin went near the pods and pressed some buttons, and the liquid in the pods started draining. Kevin kept a pen in his hands and recorded these events. When the pods were completely drained, the subjects started to move their bodies slowly but freely, touching the surface of the pods, and rotating their heads to examine their surroundings.

    ¡°Shawn, open their pods, and remove their masks. Lara, use your quirk to inject the information packet, we had created.¡± Kageyoshi continued without stopping. The scientists had created an information packet to ensure the subjects who awaken, wouldn''t have to be taught the things that a toddler would learn, like how to move their bodies and use their senses, their daily necessities, the language, etc. Additionally, they had also included the basic information of this world and other common information to ensure more efficiency.

    The pods were then opened one by one, and the masks attached to them were removed. This didn¡¯t take a lot of time but it gave Lara enough time to prepare. Her hands started to shine as she used her quirk, Memory Transfer, that enabled her to transfer a set of memories or information to others through contact.

    Once, every subject was out and about, she walked towards each subject and touched their heads, while keeping her quirk active. However, when Lara touched Subject 07 head, she felt some resistance in using her quirk on him. Still, she pressed on while concentrating more effort into her quirk, which after a while, took its effect on him.

    She turned towards Kevin and said wiping the sweat drops from her forehead, ¡°It seems the quirk awakened in this subject has innate resistance to any kind of mental manipulation, since it took quite an effort from my side to actually use my quirk effectively on him.¡±

    Subject 07 or Shin, the focus of this observation, secretly sighed. When that woman had tried to use her quirk on him, he had felt his TrueSoul stop the quirk¡¯s effect entirely. The quirk would not have worked at all, if he didn¡¯t will it to work on him. And he had done this because that information packet was essential to him, especially because he could not get access to the knowledge from the insight tab for this plane.

    The moment the quirk finished providing him memories, he started to sort them out and delve into them deeply. With his current mental capacities enhanced by his TrueSoul, it didn''t take more than five minutes before he was done with everything and he had gained a lot of information. Some useless, some very very useful. There was even information about the power system of this world, what quirks were, names of some well-known people, societal laws, etc. It was really an extensive package and he was especially thankful towards these people for this.

    After Shin opened his eyes, he saw Lara finish using her quirk on the remaining subjects too and realised that she was quite tired. He guessed that her quirk uses her stamina as an energy source. Though Shin didn¡¯t know if it''s just her quirk that functions on stamina or if every quirk works in a similar fashion.

    Though it would make quite a lot sense, since he hadn¡¯t felt any energy in the air like qi. Even the information packet didn¡¯t contain anything about absorbing any sort energy from the air. However, the reason for the lack of energy in the air of the lab, could also be because this lab was special, and it was removing the presence of energy in the air. Still due to insufficient data, he decided to postpone coming to a conclusion for a later time.

 Karmic Vision

    Shin looked around and he perceived that the other subjects seemed to be assimilating the memories and it was taking them a lot of time, much more than what time he took for it. Not like these poor subjects had former memories or access to the TrueSoul.

    The scientists also took note of this fact, as Kageyoshi ordered Kevin and the rest of his subordinates, ¡°It seems that the ocular quirk of subject 07 has improved his mental capabilities. Keep an eye on him and never utilize any mind manipulation skills on him. We don¡¯t want him having any resentment towards us because of that. Also, it is safe to assume, that the compulsion serum did not have any effect on him.¡±

    The Head Scientist, called out to Lara, ¡°Make sure to grow positive feelings towards us and the Hero Association from him. Even better, make him aspire to become a hero. Other subjects would only need little bit of pushing in the initial stages, due to the compulsion serum, but subject 07 would require much more effort.¡±

    Lara answered, ¡°Yes, I will do that, Head. And it looks like we have a lot of time for subject 07, since the experiment seem to have de-aged him and he looks like a ten-year-old now. Other subjects would have to join various Hero Courses in about a year''s time, but subject 07 only needs to be admitted in about five years. And that is enough time to do instill such feelings.¡±

    ¡°You are right about that, so utilize every moment to help him create a good personality. And don¡¯t forget to teach him how to use his quirk effectively,¡± the Head Scientist said agreeing to Lara¡¯s response.

    He continued, ¡°Anyway, I will now distribute to you, your respective duties. Lara, take care of Subject 07, since he will require the most effort from your side. Subject 45 and 109 will be taken care off by Kiara, Subject 10 and 14 by Shaun and Delvin respectively. And finally, I''ll personally take care of Subject 1. Kevin, you have the overall responsibility to keep tabs and observe every subject and their progress.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Head,¡± they replied in unison. The scientists, grabbed ahold of the subjects they became responsible for, and led them out of the laboratory through the door, which the head scientist had entered from.

    As Shin walked behind Lara, he exited the laboratory into a long but wide corridor. They continued their stride as the others slowly separated from them into different passages. During this, he had come across various rooms, on either side of the corridor with distinctive labels on them.

    Lara, stopped in front of one such room and opened the door using her ID, she was wearing. As she moves into the room, she signaled Shin to follow her in. With a casual shrug, he entered and immediately noticed how spacious it was. It was rectangular in shape with a large bed, kitchen, bathroom, sofa, TV, tables and chairs, cupboards, and many other items.

    Shin was easily able to identify them, only because of the information packet Lara passed onto him with her quirk. Or else he would have stumbled to understand what half of things were, as it was all new to him. Still, he was getting full of curiosity to just try out all the technological instruments especially, the television. But he restrained himself just for the time being.

    ¡°From now on, this is your room in which you will be staying,¡± spoke Lara, seeing how Shin was finished inspecting the room turned towards him. She continued, ¡°Go get a bath, put on a dress from the cupboard, once you have done that, let''s have a proper talk.¡± She then turned around, moved toward the sofa, sat on it and started to watch the TV.

    Though intrigued by the television, Shin still prioritized the necessity to wash and finally cover himself with some clothes, as he had been completely bare till now. Thankfully, he had grown enough shamelessness, to not feel embarrassment, just because some people saw his nudity.

    After entering the bathroom which was pointed out by Lara, he closed the door behind him. In front of him, he saw a large body-sized mirror. as he started examining himself, ¡°Hmm¡­My body is quite young and with a good dose of muscles here and there, I look really striking. Thank Heavens, I have kept my black hair. I had liked it quite a lot and would have been sad if I had lost it somehow. But this appearance is the exact replica of when I was actually some nine-ten years old! Is this what Iris was talking about me, keeping my appearance?¡±

    ¡°Although the color of one my irises has changed into golden. Maybe, it is because of my ocular type quirk?¡± Shin theorised, ¡°If it is true, then that means, skills can cause changes in the base appearance. Another factor, I should take into consideration while selecting the skill that I will upload.¡±

    Shin abruptly clenched his hand and felt himself awfully weaker than his peak self. He sighed once again slightly regretful about his lost cultivation. While consoling himself, he entered into the shower and started washed his body. Once he was done, he quickly dried his hair, opened the cupboard nearby, selected a black t-shirt, a blue trouser and a pair of white shoes, and wore them.

    Once he was all ready and proper, he went upto Lara, who was busy watching the news on the sofa and did not notice him. As he neared the sofa, he coughed to gain her attention and she finally saw him. When she did though, she exclaimed and let out a whistle, ¡°You look quite a charmer, 07.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for the compliment, Ms. Lara.¡± smiled Shin.

    Hearing his response stunned Lara and her expression was so funny that it made Shin laugh a little. He continued, ¡°It seems my quirk, as you call it, gave me high mental capabilities, which allowed me to process the memory you gave me much more efficiently. Thus, I have come to understand what I am and my current situation, in depth. And I felt the need to inform you, about this information. After all, you are the ones who created me in the first place, so I don¡¯t think you would have any bad intentions towards me. ¡±

    Yeah, that was a lie. Though it was mixed with some truth to make it believable. It was not his quirk but instead his former experience as well as the presence of the TrueSoul that had made it happen. But the woman in front of him, or anyone for that matter need not to know about it. Additionally, the reason he decided to tell her about this information was not because he trusted them, but because he didn¡¯t want to waste his time acting like a dumb person, until the other subjects caught up.

    It took a while for Lara to process what he had said. Once she did, she immediately stood up, took her phone and contacted someone. She reported about Shin¡¯s situation and his ability which took a while. Then, she seemed to have receive some instructions of what to do.

    Lara, stopped her call and began asking a lot of questions about the things he had already understood and even gave more information from her side such as the purpose of the experiment, what Shin would have to do in the future, and numerous other things as they kept on discussing for hours.

    During the lengthy conversation, Shin decided to test out his quirk. This was because he identified this was the best time to do so, as he knew exactly what Lara¡¯s quirk was. And from the information packet he had received, he knew that each person in this world, only had one quirk to themselves. Of course, other than a certain infamous villain. Nevertheless, due to this, she would not be able to catch him if he were to use his quirk.

    Now, according to his previous discernment, by looking deep into himself, the quirk grants him a special sight that could see through the karmic threads connected to people and thus understand their emotions and intents, when he willed for it. Additionally, he was also passively immune to all light-based illusions.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    When he activated his quirk, Karmic Vision his sight shifted. He suddenly was able to perceive numerous threads that were connected to him. The same could be said for Lara as well. There was even one thread that were directly connecting him and Lara, while rest connected to who knows where.

    But with his prior knowledge about karmic abilities, he deduced that the threads connected to those people whom they had a slightest of relationship with. For him, that would include the people whom he had met, the people who had aided in his creation directly or indirectly, and so on.

    He stopped focusing on the other threads and concentrated on the thread that was connecting him and Lara. He mentally touched it and suddenly he could feel certain foreign emotions. It was a very small amount, and it didn¡¯t really affect him, but he could guess what these emotions were.

    It was a mix of joy, surprise, anticipation and pride. There was a certain bit of guilt also mixed in, together with sadness. These emotions kept changing from time to time but overall, she had displayed these six different types of emotion during the discussion. He was also able to perceived intents like compassion, kindness, and resolve from her. With the help of these emotions and intents, Shin was able to picture more or less what Lara was feeling at a time.

    There were also certain times where he felt an intent of deceit. And he quickly realized that Lara was speaking some false information when he had sensed that intent. He was becoming more and more amazed at this quirk of his, as he now not only able to feel the emotions and intent, but also detect lies. Shin also discovered that he could discern sentences containing both truths and lies, pinpointing which parts were factual and which were deceptive.

    Though he did hypothesize that, if the speaker genuinely believed what they were saying, he would detect that as a truth as there would be no intent for deceit. Therefore, he understood the necessity of maintaining caution and never entirely trust this aspect of his quirk completely.

    Anyway, the talks continued and Shin kept on testing the various aspects of his quirks and attempted get a good control over all of it. During the discussion, Lara emphasized the importance of training his quirk so that after five years he would be able to enroll into a hero academy. She also advised him to start learning some physical combat techniques that would aid in his future hero career.

    When she asked him what type of combat techniques he would like to learn, he was stumped. He was majorly a pugilist i.e. someone who focused in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore, he didn''t use any weapons during his time in the cultivation world.  However, he knew he could not waste this chance that is being given to him, as learning hand to hand combat would be useless, because he was already an expert in it.

    After a bit of contemplation, Shin decided that he would learn to use weapons and not just one, but different kinds of weapons during his entire journey. For this particular plane, he determined that learning a spear would be the most effective and efficient.

    Well, he could have decided any other weapon but he was more fascinated on a spear when compared to the other weapons and therefore he had selected it as the first weapon. That and the fact that his quirk being a non-combat type, he didn''t really want to fight head-on in close combat and wished to maintain a small distance between himself and his enemies, whoever they would be. For that, a spear, pole, halberd, scythe or something similar would all be preferable and while learning the spear, he would try to learn the other similar weapons too, as the principles they use, would be the same. Therefore, he requested for a trainer who could teach him how to wield these weapons.

    She later mentioned how every scientist including her, and even the subjects would have their memories modified by the head scientist, Dr. Kageyoshi, who possessed a memory alteration quirk. This would take place in about a month''s time.

    She additionally revealed that he would have to sign a contract with the head scientist, since there were high chances that erasing his memory wouldn''t be possible because of his quirk.  In that contract, Shin would have to agree on never divulging any sort of information about the research, though he could freely use the cover up story. This contract was scheduled to be done on the following day itself. Shin, who heard this, found this contract-related quirk quite intriguing and eagerly awaited meeting the person responsible.

    Nearing the end of the discussion, Lara provided him with a small map of the facility, showing him, all the details including his room, a training area, a garden, and a cafeteria where he could interact with other subjects.

    Once the discussion had finished, Lara stood up and headed for the door to leave the room. Just before departing, she turned around and said, ¡°Think about a suitable name for yourself and inform it to the person who arrives tomorrow to create the contract. This is because a name is a very essential component of every contract.¡± With that, she left the room, leaving Shin alone to contemplate his decision.

    The following day, the designated person arrived and drafted the contract using their quirk, stipulating all the necessary details pertaining it. It was nearly the same as what Lara had mentioned yesterday, with some negligible additions. After reading it once, Shin inquired them about the cover-up story that would be used in place of the experiment.

    The person in question i.e. a middle-aged woman named Sarah, who had bright orange hair, explained, ¡°This organization, aka SUBLIME, works directly under the guidance and support of the Hero Association of Japan. The objective of Sublime is to develop top class heroes, who would one day, protect the country. Every subject, would be portrayed as orphans, who were carefully selected by the organization, because of their potential and are here to undergo comprehensive training, until they become eligible to enroll in hero courses and fast forward to the future; work as licensed heroes.¡±

    Shin, asked if this was what the scientists and other subjects would think of themselves after their memories are erased. And to his question, Sarah replied, ¡°Yes and not just the scientists and the subjects but also every person who is associated with this research. The only person who would keep their memories other than you, would be the head scientist. Even the former Hero Association president who was in full support of this research would have his memories altered. This is to ensure that no one would use this kind of research, in harmful ways.¡±

    To this Shin questioned, ¡°Couldn''t the head scientist use his research in a bad way?¡±

    However, Sara shook her head and replied, ¡°No, that is not possible. Because he already has signed multiple restrictive contracts, which would prevent him from potentially doing any such things. Anyway, now that I have answered your question, please tell me the name that you have selected.¡±

    Since he didn''t have any further questions to ask, he answered, "My name is Shin Akatsuki."

    Sarah nodded and wrote his name onto the contract after which Shin was asked to sign it. Shin once again read through the entire contract to make sure nothing was amiss and then signed it. While signing the contract, Shin ensured that he had activated his quirk. And from what he had seen and felt, Shin was inspired about a new way his quirk could possibly be used. He didn''t know if it would really work, but he was sure to try it one day.

    After confirming the contract had been successfully established, Sarah proceeded to hand him numerous documents, containing his fabricated background, instructing him to memorize them for his reference. She also promised to provide him his official ID by evening while informing him that the polearm weapons trainer he requested for yesterday, had arrived.

    Shin, proceeded to the training room he had explored the day before, where he met his teacher and commenced his training. Life then fell into a monotonous rhythm as he focused on honing his abilities in wielding the spear as well as other polearm type weapons. He also learned how to use some advanced military weapons such as firearms, grenades, rocket launcher, etc.

    During his training, Shin used his quirk thoroughly, trying to understand its limits. And he discovered it was a very helpful tool, even during combat. Through it, he was able to understand his opponent''s intents and emotions and therefore easily predict what his opponent would do. He attempted to master this method of understanding and predicting his opponent''s forms and movements, trying to identify all sorts of weaknesses in them. And one day, something new occurred. Something he didn''t really expected to happen in this world at least.

    The blue screen of his system popped in front of him during a spar, surprising the heck out of him, causing him to lose the spar entirely. Though it was not because of the distraction, but more because of his surprise that had made him lose his spar.

    Therefore, Shin asked for a break as he sat down on the floor contemplating what the exactly was meaning of the sudden notice from the system. He looked at the system screen in front of him with a lot of confusion as he couldn''t really understand what was really was going on.

    [You have gained a new skill, Intent Counter.]

    The reason for his surprise as to why he gained a new skill, as he had thought that no one could really gain a new quirk.

    Then it suddenly hit him. He hadn''t gained a new quirk, he had simply gained a new skill and these two are two different things and not the same, similar to how martial arts are somehow different from a skill. He tried very hard to understand the distinction between the two, but wasn¡¯t able to have much success.

 Uniqueness of Skills

    Finally, after a long, long period of contemplation, Shin came up with a theory.

    Martial arts, quirks, or other similar abilities, whether inherent or learned, are classified and defined as such from the perspective of mortals. However, when a higher-dimensional entity observes them, they may perceive these abilities differently, something beyond the comprehension of mortal brains. And maybe, just maybe, skills are the way higher-dimensional entities classify abilities.

    If someone were to ask Shin who would be more accurate in such a matter¡ªa mortal or a higher-dimensional entity¡ªhe would, without a doubt, side with the higher-dimensional entity. After all, higher-dimensional entities can perceive things that mortals cannot.

    To test his theory, Shin dragged his battered body to Dr Kevin, who was technically now his teacher, after his memories were modified, and checked on his current quirks. And, lo and behold, he was correct. He still only had two quirks: Karmic Vision and the Superhuman Physique.

    However, when he delved deeper within himself to check, he found there were three skills inside him. He guessed this was because perceiving how the system or perhaps higher-dimensional entities classify abilities required the presence of a TrueSoul. Since people in this plane, or any other plane for that matter, do not have TrueSoul, they instead classify abilities as quirks, martial arts, techniques, etc.

    When Shin tried to understand what his new Intent Counter skill was, he discovered it was the same ability he had been trying to learn and master in his spars with his trainer. Yet, when he attempted to do the same with his Karmic Vision skill, he realized he could no longer use that method with this skill. While he could still feel emotions and intent, this ability didn¡¯t function during combat that well. For that, he would now have to rely on his new skill i.e. The Intent Counter.

    This suggested that the skill had split out the combat-related aspects, such as detecting weaknesses and predicting various forms and movements using empathic means, forming an entirely new skill.

    Shin theorized that this kind of skill split likely happens naturally for others as well. However, since they cannot perceive it, they mistakenly regard the newly developed abilities as mere extensions of their older ones, rather than as entirely new skills.

    Shin was exhilarated for finding this out yet this still didn¡¯t satisfy him, as there was much more to uncover about skills. He didn¡¯t know the complete classification system, such as what Ivis had mentioned. Thus, he decided to become a researcher alongside his studies and training to gain deeper comprehension.

    To this end, Shin requested access to all available data on quirks to conduct comprehensive research, comparing this plane to his previous one. The findings greatly astonished him and confirmed one of his earlier theories. He concluded that individuals in this world relied solely on stamina as a resource for using their quirks. Furthermore, he was surprised to learn that people here could significantly enhance their stamina through simple physical exercises and quirk training. This improvement came at the expense of other energy manipulation abilities due to evolutionary adaptations.

    After reaching these conclusions, he resumed his training sessions with his Polearm Trainer. With the aid of his new Intent Counter skill and his thousand years of combat experience, he quickly grasped the basics of most, if not all, polearm weapons.

    Within two or three months, he could even defeat his trainer in a one-on-one duel, largely thanks to his Superhuman Physique, which far outmatched his trainer¡¯s super strength.

    Throughout his training and research sessions, Shin kept himself up to date on his fellow subjects'' progress, each having selected their own names and commenced training their quirks. One of them even possessed an exceptionally potent quirk, which made Shin feel a tinge of envy.

    Her name was Ayume Minnah, and her quirk, Force Manipulation, granted her the ability to control various kinetic and potential energies. Her versatility in wielding this quirk made her the strongest among them all, including Shin, if that wasn¡¯t already obvious.

    From what Shin had observed, he inferred that she could absorb kinetic or potential force from any object, even from attacks, store this force somewhere, and finally use it in her own attacks or transfer it elsewhere. This made her a literal nightmare for anyone with physical-based quirks and a formidable opponent against any other type.

    The second female subject, Miho Yume, possessed a werewolf-based mutant quirk, which was evident from her appearance, as she resembled a werewolf except for her face. Her quirk granted her extraordinary physical prowess, speed, and durability. She also had a transformation ability that allowed her to morph into a silver-colored wolf at night. Combined with her superhuman physique, she was undoubtedly powerful.

    There were also three male subjects. The first was Kisuke Shiahara, whose ant-based mutant quirk allowed him to transform into various ant species, gaining their respective powers. However, since he was a mutant, he always looked like a humanoid ant, which made him appear quite frightening to many of the people working at Sublime.

    Still, Shin had to admit that Kisuke¡¯s quirk was highly versatile and gave him exceptional durability and strength. After all, ants are supposed to lift 100 times their own weight, which made him incredibly strong. Combined with the common quirk all the subjects had due to the experiment; he was bound to become an unstoppable beast.

    Then there was Shigeo Ryunosuke, a mutant with a teleportation quirk. However, no one really had a clear idea of what he was based on. Shin speculated that, instead of being based on a living animal, like most mutants, Shigeo might be based on space itself, as his entire body was translucent.

    The final male subject was Kyle Savanh, who resembled a tall, black octopus rather than a human. His quirk, known as Stopper, could completely halt another quirk¡¯s function for a defined duration. However, its use came with a severe consequence¡ªit diminished his lifespan every time it was employed for an extended period.

    Learning about his rivals, friends, or comrades¡ªwhatever they were to him¡ªprovided Shin with even more motivation to improve. Every single one of them had the potential to become top powerhouses in the future, especially Ayume. Meanwhile, Shin felt he would struggle to climb the ladder of success.

    However, instead of demotivating him, this realization spurred him on, as he knew that with his TrueSoul and his thousand years of experience, he had greater potential than any of the others.

    For this reason, Shin began training even harder. Instead of focusing solely on combat, he worked to improve his skills and even gain new ones. Through extensive experimentation, he discovered that by infusing his thoughts into karmic threads, he could telepathically communicate with others. Although the communication was one-sided, it was still incredibly useful. With this discovery, he had gained a new skill called Half-Link.

    Shin would also occasionally spar with his fellow mates to test how he fared against a variety of quirks. He wasn¡¯t surprised to find that, at best, he was the third most capable among them, defeating both Miho and Kisuke since they were primarily physical fighters.

    He could even manage to win against Kyle. Although Kyle could stop all his skills from working, Shin was still left with his mastery of polearm techniques and physical combat. Kyle, with his awkward body, couldn¡¯t defend himself properly. This was only when Shin allowed Kyle¡¯s quirk to work on him, as the presence of his TrueSoul normally prevented his skills from being obstructed.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Thus, Ayume and Shigeo were the only ones who could easily beat Shin. There¡¯s no need to explain Ayume¡¯s case; with her quirk alone, Shin could never defeat her.

    However, Shigeo was a surprise to him. Using his teleportation abilities, Shigeo could repeatedly pop up behind Shin and catch him off guard. Since Shin didn¡¯t yet have sharp instincts, he lost to Shigeo most of the time.

    When comparing just Ayume and Shigeo, Ayume was undeniably more powerful in combat. Yet, neither could win against the other in a one-on-one fight. Shigeo was far too elusive with his teleportation, making it impossible for Ayume to catch him, let alone use her quirk on him. Conversely, Shigeo lacked any real offensive abilities, leaving him unable to defeat Ayume.

    Through these kinds of spars, they all developed a sense of camaraderie with each other. However, Shin didn¡¯t trust them completely. He reminded himself that they had been subjected to compulsion serums. If he ever showed a hint of defiance, there was a high chance these so-called comrades would be used against him.

    In this way, a year passed swiftly. Shin¡¯s fellow brethren, as he had decided to call them¡ªsince they were also artificial humans like himself¡ªwere preparing for the entrance examinations they would attend in about a week.

    Shin, meanwhile, was sitting in his private room, poring over older research about quirks. Suddenly, he heard a massive explosion originating from one of the main halls. Initially, he was tempted to ignore it, as similar incidents had occurred in the past. However, when a second, larger explosion rang out, he decided to investigate, sensing something was amiss. Grabbing his newly commissioned spear, designed for real battles, he rushed toward the source.

    When he arrived, Shin found the area engulfed in flames. Amidst the inferno stood a lone figure surrounded by hundreds of charred corpses. The figure was engaged in combat with guards, effortlessly dispatching them.

    Shin recognized the figure¡ªa hulking man clad in a black tuxedo and a blue mask, his visage marred by scar tissue, making him look terrifying. Shin had seen his picture occasionally in the news, being infamous for his deeds and crimes. He was ¡®The Demon King of Japan and the Symbol of Evil, All For One.¡¯

    ¡°Oh, this is not good at all,¡± Shin muttered with indignation. ¡°And here I was just planning to escape from this place. Haa!.. Hopefully, this situation doesn¡¯t mess up my plans. Or maybe I can improvise and use this opportunity? Although I¡¯m sure I can¡¯t beat that monstrosity. But if I use my brethren, especially Ayume, then maybe¡­ it¡¯s possible.¡±

    Shin said this because he recognized the fact that he would not be able to escape this place without at least defeating All For One.

    From the news articles he had read, Shin learned about how All For One would vanish and reappear in entirely different places, confirming that one of the quirks he possessed was definitely a form of teleportation. This, combined with who knows how many other quirks he had, made it highly likely that All For One would easily track him down after discovering he was one of the students trained here. And since he was a collector of powerful quirks, All For One would certainly not want to miss out on one as potentially powerful as Shin''s.

    Shin immediately began surveying the area for anything that could help in this situation. About 100 meters behind him, he noticed a small gathering of reinforcements disembarking to confront All For One. Spotting his fellow brethren among them, he smirked as his eyes turned cold. ¡°And here are my tools to turn this situation around,¡± he muttered.

    He slowly walked toward them, all the while keeping a careful eye on All For One¡¯s movements. He deployed his skill, Intent Counter, to analyze his opponent¡¯s battle style and find weaknesses. Within moments, he discovered something very intriguing that could turn the situation in their favor.

    Reaching his brethren, he assumed a commanding position and began issuing instructions. "Kisuke and Miho, you¡¯ll be our frontline fighters. Ayume, ensure their safety while preventing our enemy from capturing any of us. Shigeo, use your quirk to evacuate any injured individuals from the battlefield. Once that¡¯s done, stay close to Ayume and keep her and all of us protected from our opponent."

    The ones given instructions nodded, signifying their agreement with his commands and leadership. Even though Shin wasn¡¯t the most powerful among them, he was unmatched in strategy and practical combat expertise. Turning to Kyle, Shin asked, "Can you stop his quirk?"

    Kyle responded nervously, "I¡¯m not exactly certain. This guy doesn¡¯t just have one or two quirks like us. Instead, he has so many packed into his body that their count easily reaches double digits. Still, I believe I can manage. Of course, it depends on whether or not he has a quirk like yours that prevents mine from working on him."

    "Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t think anyone can have a quirk like mine. But I will consider that possibility throughout the battle," Shin affirmed confidently but continued with a serious expression. Recognizing the consequences Kyle might face if he used his quirk on All For One, Shin added, ¡°You¡¯re our trump card, so wait for my signal before you use it. We¡¯ll only have one chance, so we must make sure to use it well.¡±

    "But how can someone have multiple quirks?" Kisuke suddenly interrupted. His question was instantly answered by Miho, who retorted, "That¡¯s because he is All For One, you moron."

    "Who?" Kisuke muttered uncertainly. He wasn¡¯t alone in his confusion, as even Ayume wore a puzzled expression. Their lack of recognition earned unimpressed looks from the rest of the group.

    ¡°How unaware of the world can you be to not know who he is? Don¡¯t you watch the news?¡± Miho asked with a mix of disbelief and irritation. ¡°He¡¯s the most notorious villain in the country, or maybe even the world. His quirk allows him to steal other quirks. That¡¯s why we absolutely must not let him get his hands on any of us.¡±

    "Really? That¡¯s such an overpowered quirk," Ayume exclaimed, her expression grave.

    "You have no right to say that, Ayume," Shigeo joked, earning a nod of agreement from Kyle.

    "He¡ª" Ayume began, but Shin interrupted her before she could continue.

    "Hey, guys, this is a very serious situation. Focus on the upcoming fight," Shin urged and used Half-Link on his brethren to provide them instructions on a moment¡¯s notice. He gave out one last instruction: ¡°Ayume, at no cost should you allow him to grab you. If he gets your quirk, then not only us, but the entire world will be in danger.¡±

    Ayume nodded grimly, following behind Kisuke and Miho as they initiated the battle. Kisuke transformed into a humanoid bullet ant, riding on Miho, who had metamorphosed into a silver-colored wolf. They swiftly reached All For One, leveraging Miho¡¯s speed as Kisuke struck a powerful punch toward their enemy, catching him off guard while he was finishing off the last of the guards.

    The punch landed directly on his face, but there was no impact. Suddenly, All For One quickly turned around and threw a roundhouse kick toward Miho. But Ayume, tasked with protecting them, immediately stopped the kick from a distance by sensing and halting its kinetic force. This caused All For One to scream in bewilderment, his deep voice bellowing, ¡°What the hell?¡±

    Using this precious opportunity, Kisuke landed another punch, this time laced with the painful venom bullet ants are known for. Unlike before, there was an impact¡ªAll For One was thrown back by the force of the attack. They also heard a pained scream from him, likely due to the poison.

    Shin shouted to the remaining guards and reinforcements, "Everyone retreat! We''ll handle this guy until the heroes arrive."

    Hearing this, although reluctant, the guards and the rest of the crowd started to flee the battlefield. Meanwhile, Shigeo efficiently evacuated the critically injured, transporting them to a nuke-proof bunker that was nearby within a minute.

    Returning to the battle, it became clear that one successful attack wasn¡¯t enough to put All For One down. He stood back up, now visibly enraged. Charging forward, a portal opened in front of him, and he stepped through without hesitation. Another portal opened just behind Kisuke and Miho in the next instant, and the angry All For One leapt out, unleashing a torrent of flames from his outstretched right arm.

    Before the fire could reach them, Ayume launched a heavy boulder toward All For One, forcing him to halt his flames and redirect his attention. Waving his left hand, he opened a portal in front of the boulder and another in front of the mutant pair.

    Recognizing the impending danger that her attack, may put the pair of mutants into, Ayume immediately stopped the boulder mid-path using her force manipulation, then pushed Kisuke and Miho slightly away from All For One¡¯s direct reach.

    All For One laughed, recognizing the source of his frustration. He turned his gaze toward Ayume and said with amusement, ¡°Girl, your quirk is very powerful, but it¡¯s wasted in the hands of someone like you. You should just give it to me and I will make use of it in a much better way than you ever would be able to¡­..Or maybe not. I changed my mind, I¡¯ll just take it from you forcefully and in the most painful manner, since that will be more fun for me. HAHA¡±

    All For One thus shifted his focus entirely onto her, trying to reach Ayume while evading or countering Miho and Kisuke''s attacks, occasionally launching flaming assaults or jets of air against either of them.

    However, despite numerous attempts, All For One failed to grab Ayume due to Shigeo¡¯s sudden warpings. He had even suffered numerous painful stings from Kisuke, making it hard for him to keep his head straight, even with his regeneration quirks. Some of these stings, All For One was sure, were made of very poisonous stuff, which was mainly responsible for him currently feeling dizzy during the battle.

    ¡°Ughh... Stay in one place, you damnable bitch, and let me take your quirk!¡± All For One shouted with vexation. Frustrated, he used his portal ability once again to reach Ayume, but this time she retaliated rather than running away with Shigeo¡¯s help.

    She suddenly spoke out with a smile, ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t, if you want me so much.¡±

 Escape

    Ayume immediately took a stance and struck a mighty blow to his right chest, using up a large amount of force she had stored from the beginning of the battle. She also prevented him from dodging by absorbing all the kinetic energy emitted by his body.

    Her blow connected, tearing through his flesh, bones, and many of his organs, drenching Ayume in crimson blood.

    ¡°AAHHHH¡­¡­¡± All For One screamed in pain. He wasn¡¯t even able to defend himself from the attack due to his earlier foolishness. He began regretting ever coming here and underestimating these little brats.

    Ayume didn''t stop there. Instead, she ripped her hand out of All For One and punched him again, in the same place, using the remaining force stored in her reserves. She even stopped absorbing kinetic energy from his body to fully focus on her punch. And again, her attack connected, sending him hurtling through the air as he crashed into a nearby wall, causing a small explosion.

    Such coordinated attacks were only possible because Shin was carefully instructing Ayume and the rest of the group using his Half-Link. He had even made her punch his right chest because of what he had seen through his Intent Counter earlier. It was that All For One had already been injured in that spot when Shin first saw him, and therefore, he wanted to take full advantage of that fact.

    Seeing the attack work like a charm, Shin, who was safely watching from a distance, muttered with a smirk, ¡°Since you dared to come in front of us with such an injury, you should have been ready for us to exploit it. Don''t think of us as the weaklings you¡¯ve dealt with all your life.¡±

    In the crash site, Shin could somewhat see a very badly injured All For One standing up. The smaller injuries he had sustained were healing up very fast, but the one just made wasn¡¯t affected by his regeneration quirk. It kept on bleeding as it was a very deep injury, adding to the fact that there was another one before.

    Suddenly, All For One looked toward Shin and opened up a portal, instantly arriving in front of him and using his air cannon. Shin saw the attack and rolled out of the way, while aiming his spear at All For One¡¯s injury and striking him. However, although Shin¡¯s attack landed, it didn''t do much damage. Still, he continued his onslaught, knowing that his damage was slowly accumulating on his opponent.

    Kisuke and Miho joined Shin immediately with the help of Shigeo, continuing their attacks on All For One, making sure to target his right chest. All For One attempted to create another portal, but this time Ayume was ready with a new move she had thought up.

    She manipulated the Force energy and used it to strengthen the very space itself, causing All For One¡¯s portal to vanish. This distracted All For One enough, allowing Shin and Kisuke to land continuous hits. All For One, grunting in pain, enlarged his arm for a full-power attack on Shin. However, Shin had other ideas. He ordered Shigeo to exchange him with Ayume, who promptly did so, placing Ayume in front of the attack. This led to a repeat of what happened earlier, where she defended without sustaining damage and counterattacked All For One''s chest with a powerful hit.

    ¡°Arghhh¡­¡± All For One roared in anger and pain as he was blasted back once more. This time, Shigeo acted as he warped All For One in the opposite direction, causing him to blast forward toward the party instead of going back. Shin and Miho continued their assault, and Kisuke took up the opportunity to transform into a weaver ant and spew corrosive acid onto the unfortunate victim, All For One. Seeing their enemy covered in noxious acid caused Shin to feel slight pity for him. But he still continued his attacks.

    Suddenly, he noticed a new weakness appearing on his opponent''s knees through his Intent Counter. He telepathically instructed Ayume to push him toward All For One with sudden force, and she complied. Shin was thrown at nearly mach speed and struck the perceived weak point.

    He successfully managed to land a strike, cutting off his opponent''s right leg from below the knee. However, in turn, he received a punch to his stomach, causing him to rock toward Ayume.

    All For One, realizing that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win without drastic measures, utilized a special attack, engulfing the area in extremely hot flames.

    Ayume instantly used another new move she had been saving in her arsenal, creating a circular dome of force to protect Shin and Kyle, while Kisuke and Miho, who were very close to their opponent, unfortunately got engulfed in the attack before she could get to them.

    Shigeo used his quirk to escape the area, while Shin, Kyle, and Ayume felt the heat of the attack under the dome. Shin also felt his Half-Link to Kisuke and Miho being severed, signifying their deaths. Immediately afterward, Shin sensed Shigeo''s death too, realizing that the sudden attack was much larger and wider than he had initially assumed.

    Shin grimly mentioned it to Ayume and Kyle, who clenched their fists and vowed to kill All For One, no matter the cost.

    When the attack subsided, they exited the dome together, only to find the utter destruction caused by the previous attack, turning the entire area where the organization was supposed to be into a desolate zone. The entire facility lay in ruins, including the so-called nuclear-proof bunker, with flaming rubble and ash filling a huge crater.

    In the middle of it all stood a man with charred clothing, missing most of the right side of his body, including his arm and leg. How he was even alive, Shin didn''t know. But he had to acknowledge the resilience and tenacity of All For One to be able to stand in such a situation. In his remaining arm, he was holding onto a mostly charred corpse that Shin instantly recognized as Shigeo¡¯s, making him understand how Shigeo had died.

    But before he could even warn Ayume about this, All For One threw the corpse away and teleported right in front of them, grabbing Ayume by the neck. Shin, realizing the danger, instantly backed away, taking Kyle along with him.

    Shin then heard All For One laughing maniacally as he crushed Ayume''s head right in front of them. Shin had enough sense to understand what had happened. The reason All For One was able to teleport right in front of them was that he had absorbed Shigeo''s quirk and now had successfully absorbed Ayume''s too.

    But before All For One could make a move on them, Shin telepathically spoke to Kyle, ¡®Do it, stop all his quirks from working. You are our last hope, Kyle. Stop this monster¡¯s rampage, and I will avenge our comrades.¡¯

    Kyle nodded and brought his tentacle-like arms forward. He opened his mouth and whispered, ¡°This guy has exactly thirty different quirks stored inside of him. With my quirk and my remaining lifespan, I would only be able to stop 27 of them for ten minutes. But I will at least make sure he can''t use any of the quirks he''s shown us so far, including Ayume''s and Shigeo¡¯s.¡±

    After he said this, Kyle¡¯s octopus-like body slowly lifted into the air and he shouted, ¡°CONSTRICT!¡±

    Sensing the sound and the movement, All For One ceased his laughter and became cautious. This was because he had seen enough tricks from the group of kids to learn the lesson of never underestimating them. However, it was already too late for him.

    All For One saw the humanoid octopus, now flying in the air, turn white from its original black color. All For One knew he couldn¡¯t wait for the enemy to initiate their attack and tried to teleport. However, he suddenly realized he wasn¡¯t able to do so. His eyes widened as he tried to create a portal, but it didn¡¯t manifest, showing that this quirk had somehow stopped working.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    He tried to use some of his other powerful quirks he had possessed, and yet he found the same result. At that moment he understood that the humanoid black octopus had a quirk that stopped all his quirks from functioning and he didn¡¯t know for how long did the quirk¡¯s effect lasted.  Realizing this predicament, All For One started panicking for his dear life.

    Seeing his now flustered enemy, Shin turned toward Kyle, who was slowly turning into dust. His comrade had sacrificed his life, giving him a single chance to subdue his opponent, and he wasn¡¯t going to waste it.

    Shin didn''t know exactly which of All For One''s quirks were still working, but one thing he was sure of was that his opponent had definitely misunderstood Kyle''s quirk. His opponent believed it stopped all his quirks, and Shin wasn¡¯t going to correct this misunderstanding; instead, he planned to use it to his advantage.

    He slowly walked toward All For One with a very confident stride. Once he was near, he stopped and spoke out with a smirk, ¡°Hey, All For One, how does it feel to be bested by some kids? Humiliated, I guess. Oh! ¡­ If you¡¯re worried about your life, don¡¯t be. I made sure he would let you keep one of your regeneration quirks. After all, without it, you would have been dead by now, with your current condition. And¡­ you¡¯re more useful to me alive than dead.¡±

    All For One slightly calm down after hearing this and turned toward Shin, whom he felt was the leader of that group of powerful kids. And what a mysterious kid he was!

    From start to finish, he had never shown his quirk. At first, he had thought it was something like telepathy. But with how he was able to fight him head-on and even detect his weaknesses¡­ He wasn''t so sure anymore.

    Truth be told, he came here thinking this would be a very easy task, like the previous two. However, he was completely wrong, and that had led him to this state where he would even have to bargain with a little child for his very life.

    Still, he was grateful that he wasn''t dead already. As the kid said, he probably had one of his regeneration quirks still active. Or else, he would have already been dead. Hopefully, it was one of the powerful ones. Or else life would be difficult for him for a while if he survived this place. He opened his mouth and spoke in his deep voice, ¡°What do you want, kid?¡±

    Shin, who was using Karmic Vision, was easily able to sense all the emotions felt by All For One and, through them, knew that his bluff had been successful. He answered, ¡°You just have to sign a contract with me. A very simple one. In it, you will agree to give me one of your quirks of my choosing, while also vowing to never intentionally or unintentionally harm me.¡±

    All For One kept silent for a moment, thinking about the pros and cons of this decision. He could see many cons, one of which was being unable to take revenge on this kid. Yet, this sacrifice was nothing compared to being able to achieve his ultimate goal. But he didn¡¯t understand what the kid was actually thinking. So, he asked, ¡°Can''t you just force me to give up my quirks? Why would you even need a contract?¡±

    ¡°Didn''t I say that you''re more beneficial to me alive than dead? And I know you wouldn¡¯t easily hand over your quirks to me. After all, you can''t be certain I¡¯ll let you leave once I get what I want. So, I¡¯ll promise it in the contract to give you enough assurance. I also know how powerful you are¡ªyou killed most of us alone, even while injured from the start. I don''t really want you as my enemy, and maybe, just maybe, in the future, we could even become allies,¡± Shin explained, his reasoning generously, all while keeping a constant eye on All For One''s emotions.

    ¡°I don''t think we''ll ever be allies, since I wouldn''t want to keep a person I can''t ever hurt near me. Still, I''ll agree to the contract,¡± All For One nodded, his charred visage twisted in discomfort. He added, ¡°But... who would initiate this contract? I don''t see anyone else here other than the two of us.¡±

    ¡°Oh! That will be done by me,¡± Shin replied, causing All For One to blink in surprise. Shin smirked. ¡°Are you surprised that you''re not the only one with multiple quirks?¡±

    All For One merely grunted, ¡°I am. Truly. But from now on, I¡¯ll take that into consideration when fighting my enemies.¡±

    Shin shrugged nonchalantly and began to use his Karmic Vision. He had practiced and experimented with this method and was confident in his ability to form an actual contract. However, he had never really gotten the chance to try it out, so it hadn¡¯t evolved into a separate skill yet. He hoped he could pull it off, or his bluff would quickly wear thin, and he would die within moments.

    Still, the risk didn¡¯t frighten him. If anything, it excited him more. He knew that growth only occurred during such moments. After all, diamonds are formed under great pressure, and Shin intended to make the most of his current situation.

    In the world of threads he now saw, thanks to his skill, Shin searched for the one thread connecting both him and All For One. Once he found it, he grasped the thread with both hands, unlike his Half-Link skill, which only required a mental touch. With his hands, he began to tie a knot in the thread.

    It was a difficult process, given there was only one thread and its ends weren¡¯t usable, but Shin was swift due to all the practice sessions he had done for this very purpose. Once completed, he carefully held the knot in his hands, folding his fingers over it as he began to voice out the terms of the contract, carefully noting them in his mind.

    When he finished, Shin turned to All For One and asked with complete certainty, ¡°Do you accept?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I do,¡± All For One nodded.

    Shin smiled, opening his palm to find the knot was no longer there, but in his mind, he knew the contract had been successfully created, and the terms would never be defied. There was no penalty for breaking the contract¡ªit simply wasn¡¯t possible. Karma and fate itself would ensure the terms were kept. Even if Shin wanted to break the contract, he couldn¡¯t. It was that powerful.

    Even Shin hadn¡¯t expected the contract to be so strict, but the stricter it was, the better it would be for him.

    The success of the contract was confirmed by the notification from the system.

    [You have gained the new skill, Karmic Contract]

    [You have gained the new skill, Revelation]

    The second notification surprised him, but it explained what had happened while he was tying the knot. During the process, Shin had somehow gained deeper insight into All For One and learned a significant secret about his main quirk¡ªsomething Shin was sure even All For One didn¡¯t know. He tucked the secret away for later, as there were more immediate concerns. He needed to finish the deal with All For One and get out of this place before any heroes arrived.

    Shin turned to All For One and extended his left hand, declaring, ¡°I want the force manipulation quirk of Ayume, the girl from whom you stole the quirk near the end of our battle.¡±

    ¡°I knew you¡¯d ask for that one,¡± All For One sighed, touching Shin''s extended arm with his remaining hand. He quickly transferred the quirk, though there was an edge of indignation in his gesture.

    [You have gained the new skill, Force Manipulation]

    [You have gained the new skill, Force Manifestation]

    [You have gained the new skill, Spatial Lock]

    Shin smiled at the notification. He knew and had already guessed that the Ayume¡¯s quirk was actually a blend of multiple skills due to its versatility, similar to how his arsenal of 5 skills excluding superhuman physique all comes under the purview of Karmic Vision quirk, when a resident of this world identifies it. So it was not much of a surprise.

    The first skill was the base skill that Ayume had from from the start. He can distinguish this easily because her quirk was called force manipulation and the skill is also named as such. This is exactly the same as how his quirk¡¯s name is the same as his first skill. Anyway, the force manipulation skill allowed the user to absorb, store, and use both kinetic and potential force with or without direct contact. Though the later can only be used within a certain region around the user, the exact ones he didn¡¯t know as of now.

    The second skill, force manifestation, enabled the user to manifest force as a solid object, like the shield Ayume had used to protect Shin and Kyle when All For One unleashed his special attack.

    Finally, the spatial lock skill allowed the user to lock off space, preventing any kind of teleportation¡ªanother skill Ayume had used during the battle.

    Shin considered these skills for a moment before turning back to All For One, after checking the time on his wrist watch, which had surprisingly not been destroyed in the battle. ¡°Within a moment, your quirks should start working again. So, be ready to complete the final part of the contract.¡±

    Shin had included an additional condition in the contract, one that hadn¡¯t been mentioned yet. All For One was to take Shin out of this place and assign one of his capable men to serve him. Shin had been in this world for about a year but he didn¡¯t know much about the outside world personally. Neither did he have any one who knows about him after this incident. So it will be very hard for him to blend into the society that easily.

    Thus to change his background, create fake identities, and many other things, he needed a person who would help him and this he had asked in the contract with All For One.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll do so,¡± All For One nodded and suddenly began healing at an accelerated rate. He sensed the change¡ªhis previously locked skills were now functioning again. Placing his left hand over Shin¡¯s shoulder, he teleported them both out of the now desolate place.

 Titles

    Shin felt a jerk as he arrived at the new location. He was now in a spacious room, very similar to one of those expensive apartments he had once seen during an advertisement. It was even filled with high tech modern tools, giving it a futuristic vibe. He looked at All For One who was just beside him with an inquisitive look.

    Understanding the question in his gaze, All For One answered, ¡°This is one of the five-star hotel rooms that I have purchased for life. This hotel is situated in Tokyo and this location would be an excellent starting point to do whatever you wish to.¡±

    ¡°Anyway, I will be going now and one of my subordinates will be coming to you within an hour or two. This is end of my side of the contract too.¡± All For One sighed for the nth time today, ¡°And I don¡¯t think, you would need anyone, to establish your desired relationship with him; especially with your contract quirk and all. So¡­Goodbye and I hope to never to see you ever again.¡±

    The moment All For One said this, he vanished teleporting to who knows where. Shin kept looking at the place where his former enemy was, while recalling of the entire fight he just had. It was nerve racking but exciting, full of danger and opportunities and yet he had not just survived but came out stronger and better. He was proud of his first accomplishment in this journey. And although he had faced worse before, but that does not take away the euphoria he was currently experiencing.

    As the tension from all that slowly rolled out of him, he slumped down and sat on the floor, which had become slightly bloodied from his and All For One¡¯s wounds. Suddenly a single large notification arrived from the system surprising him.

    <hr>

    You have gained the following titles:

    Deceiver (Common) ¨C Lying to everyone about the exact capabilities of your quirk.

    Fledgling Researcher (Common) ¨C Starting your career as a researcher.

    Gambler (Common) ¨C Taking a possibly lethal risk to get your point across.

    Betrayer (Common) ¨C Breaking the trust of your comrades by not avenging them.

    Commander (Common) ¨C Being accepted as the leader of your small but powerful group.

    Polearm Expertise (Uncommon) ¨C Becoming skilled at the art of polearm weapons.

    Opportunist (Uncommon) ¨C Making a profit out of the fatal clash.

    Battle Strategist (Uncommon) ¨C Creating effective battle strategies against All For One.

    Cold Blooded (Uncommon) ¨C Not showing any concern about the death of your comrades.

    Charlatan (Epic) ¨C Deceiving All For One into thinking that he wouldn¡¯t be able to win against you.

    Victor (Epic) ¨C Defeating All For One with the support of your comrades.

    Tertiary (Mythical) ¨C Being the third person in the entire plane to gain an additional quirk through their own effort.

    Pioneer (Transcendent) ¨C Exploring completely new territories and arriving at the right conclusion about skills so early.

    The Total Achievement Points (AP) earned = 1*5 + 5*4 + 25*2 + 100*1 + 250*1 = 450 ]

    <hr>

    Shin blinked as he comprehended all that he just saw. The system had notified him about his titles, about which he had been wondering about the past year.

    He didn¡¯t understand why there was no notifications about this during the entire time when he was in the organisation. He was sure that he had done enough achievements to earn at least common level titles, but there was no notification. However, now he does get these titles that were rightfully his. And wow, there were so many. And some of them even surprised him very much as they were very informative.

    The pioneer title just confirmed that his theory about the skills was correct. The tertiary title showed him that other than All For One and him, there was one other person in this plane who had earned a second quirk through their effort. This was definitely not talking about any of All For One¡¯s subordinates who possibly had multiple quirks because he had bestowed it upon them. They need to earn it own their own to be probably to be considered here as Shin himself had forcefully snatched a quirk from of All For One.

    Finally, calculation at the end not only showed him the total achievement points he had earned but also the weights of each rank of the title. Now he knows that Common titles only give 1 point, Uncommon ones give out 5 points, Epic would give out 25 points, Mythical would give 100 points and Transcendent ones would give a huge 250 points for each. Using these weights, he could also probably guess the weights of some of the titles that come in between that hasn''t been earned by him.

    Anyway, he had in this way earned nearly half of the points needed for the first level of information under the insight tab and that was just by staying one year in this plane. For this reason, Shin was very happy with his progress. After laughing joyfully about this, he waited for All For One''s subordinate to arrive.

    ¡­¡­

    When the subordinate who was an old man arrived, Shin quickly made him sign a contract to ensure he wouldn¡¯t act as a double agent and would only work for him. This was because, the earlier contract Shin had with All For One only prevented harm from his side, but it didn''t stop All For One from gathering information.

    After this, he made the old man whose name was Yoshi Masato, fully responsible for taking care of him including the fake background, identities, etc. to ensure his seamless merge with the society.

    Later, Shin was informed that he could still use the same identity that was created by the organisation for him. This was the same story that was created in place of that forbidden research which has been removed from everyone¡¯s memories.

    According to the fabricated story, he was supposed to be have been sent to an orphanage because he lacked any ambition to become a hero. This was because they didn''t want to train someone who wouldn''t produce results. Shin then realized what would have actually happened: the organization would have trained him for four more years, until he was old enough to join the hero course. They would have, at that time, used this fabricated background and claim that he gained ambition during his middle school years and justify his re-entry into the programme.

    Additionally in the entire story, it was never exactly mentioned what his quirk was. It was implied to be a powerful one as it was the main reason for him being admitted to the organisation in the first place. So, he could just use his newer force manipulation quirk and fool the entire organization or whatever that was left of it and make them think that he was also dead with others. This, in addition to some of the changes that Yoshi Masato made to his background would ensure that he wouldn''t have any problems from ¡®Sublime¡¯ in the future. Even if he did, it would not be because he was once one of the recruits.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    After this, Shin decided that he would follow the fake background and go to the middle school since he wanted to learn more about this world anyway. Additionally, this would simply teach him the basics that would be needed and essential for future researches.

    In this manner, Shin entered a well-known school in Tokyo and began his studies. Initially, he was overwhelmed by the variety of subjects being taught. He couldn¡¯t understand half of what was being said in class and had to hire tutors to teach him the basics.

    At first, he assumed that school would be a walk in the park, but he quickly realized how wrong he was. In his first year, he struggled greatly, finishing at the bottom of the class and barely passing into the next grade. However, after mastering the basics with the help of tutors, he began to improve. By his second year, he was climbing the ranks, and by his third year, he had risen to the top of his class.

    Shin struggled the most with subjects like science and mathematics but excelled in language classes, which kept him from failing. He enjoyed the process of learning, finding this entirely new knowledge exciting and fulfilling. He realized that most of what he was learning could be applied to his previous world if qi were removed from the equation. Understanding this along with how it deepened his knowledge of the world''s principles motivated him to absorb the material, like a sponge.

    Once Shin had a firm grasp of the basics, the middle school course became much easier for him. He even started purchasing advanced textbooks and studied them with determination and joy. Every new concept he learned brought him a sense of euphoria. By the time he completed middle school, he had studied subjects up to the university level.

    Shin''s first subordinate, Yoshi, played a vital role in supporting him. Yoshi helped arrange everything Shin needed to focus entirely on his studies and assisted him in adjusting to this new plane. He also introduced Shin to many influential people, expanding his network and connections.

    After his third year in middle school, Shin left his part-time job and used his savings to start a small business. He named it AlphaCom, an instant messaging application he developed after learning programming languages. With extensive advertising, AlphaCom quickly became successful, earning him substantial profits. He later expanded its functions by adding group video conferencing, which became an instant hit, pushing him into the upper echelons of Japanese society.

    By the time he entered his fourth year, Shin had purchased and improved several businesses and invested in numerous companies. By then, his assets were worth an estimated 30-40 million dollars, setting the stage for his entry into the hero course.

    During his middle school years, Shin continued his spear training and practiced various skills at night, aware that using quirks without a license was illegal in Japan. Despite the restrictions, he found ways to train less eye-catching abilities. He relied on his prior experience and spars with Ayume to refine his force manipulation skill, although the rest required his own efforts since Ayume hadn¡¯t used many of them before the battle with All For One. Shin even developed new ways in using the force manipulation skill as well the force manifestation skill that, he was certain Ayume hadn¡¯t thought of.

    Thankfully, no new skills were created since they all came under the direct purview of the skill. And the reason he was grateful for it, was because at the end of day, he can only take one skill from this plane. Growing the number of skills may be beneficial for the residents of the plane but not to him. Though he hadn¡¯t as of yet decided which one to upload although there was option to do it in the system.

    Overall, Shin viewed his middle school experience as a success, both academically and personally.

    Once his fourth year was over, Shin didn''t have a hard time deciding which school to apply for his high school. He had already decided when he found out about Japan''s top Hero School, UA High, and he also aimed to enter the most sought-after 1-A class. And he knew for sure that it would be very easily for him, especially with his current capabilities. He also applied for its entrance exam instead of taking the recommendation route so he could gauge the raw talent of the current generation. He was keenly interested in their performance and believed that judging someone by seeing them fight with his own eyes was the best way to assess their abilities.

    ¡­¡­.

    On the day of the Entrance exam,

    Standing in front of the gate of UA High, Shin watched as multiple people, boys, and girls in different outfits entered the gates. He was very excited and observed them introducing themselves, talking to each other, showing a mix of excitement and nervousness as they prepared to enter a new chapter of their lives. After simply observing the conversations for a while with some nostalgia, Shin entered the academy with a confident stride. He followed the markings and ended up in a huge auditorium. It was being filled at a rapid pace, so Shin immediately selected one of the back seats in the right corner and settled down to wait.

    It only took ten minutes before the entire auditorium was filled, and the announcer, whom he recognized as the Voice Hero Present Mic, started speaking in his unique tone and style. ¡°Hey, everyone, welcome to the annual practical entrance exam of UA High. I am sure that everyone is as excited as I am to be here. So, everyone say, YEAH!¡±

    Everyone: ...

    Present Mic continued without minding the silence, ¡°Well, let me explain the rules of this exam. You all have been assigned to different halls where the test will be taken. Your hall is written on your admit cards.¡± Shin looked at his admit card, which he had received while entering the auditorium, and saw that he was assigned to Hall B.

    ¡°In the exam, you will have to immobilize three types of robots, which would be considered Villains, for the purpose of this test. There are 1 pointer, 2 pointer, and 3 pointer robots. You will be given a maximum time of 10 minutes to immobilize as many as you can, and then your total points will be calculated. There are other ways to get points, but they are hidden and will not be told.¡±

    Then one of the attending students raised his hand, to which Present Mic replied, ¡°What is your question?¡±

    The student then introduced himself as Tenya Iida and asked, ¡°The brochure given to us had 4 types of robots. You only explained to us about 3. Is this a misprint? If it is, then I am disappointed at this academy''s management.¡± Then he swiftly turned towards his back and pointed at another student. ¡°And you!....Why do you keep muttering stuff all the time? Can you stop that? It¡¯s irritating to the rest of the attendees.¡±

    The student who was pointed at, muttered with fear, ¡°¡­What?¡± and then promptly shut his mouth, realising his mistake.

    Then Present Mic answered, ¡°Hey, stop that. And the one I didn¡¯t mention is a distraction. It¡¯s the most powerful, yet you do not get any points for immobilizing it. So, your best option is to stay away from it.¡±

    Shin then raised his hand and asked, ¡°What do you exactly mean by the word ¡®immobilizing¡¯?¡±

    Present Mic patiently answered, ¡°You could completely destroy it, trap it so that it doesn¡¯t move, or press a button in the three types of robots I mentioned earlier, to stop them. This button exists at different places in each of them, so you would have to find it first.¡± Shin thanked him for answering the question as he sat down.

    Present Mic resumed, ¡°Now since no one has a question, everyone will move to their assigned halls. And finally remember, a great hero once said, ¡®A True Hero Is Someone Who Overcomes Life¡¯s Misfortune.¡¯¡±

    After this, Shin stood up and moved towards the hall he had been assigned. When he reached the place, a small crowd had already gathered there. The hall was huge and contained a duplicate of an entire city. After everyone entered, Present Mic came and announced the start of the Exam. Everyone started to rush ahead, and Shin saw Iida utilizing his quirk. ¡°A speed type, huh?¡±

    He later saw a student get left behind as everyone rushed out. It was the same student that Iida had pointed at in the auditorium. The student saw him at the back, and Shin mouthed with a smile, ¡°Good luck.¡±

    Subsequently, Shin activated Force Manipulation to absorb all the kinetic forces affecting him including gravitational ones, making him float in the air. Then, he propelled himself into his favoured direction by utilising the stored force energy to push his body. Thus, he made himself fly in the air effortlessly which made the student, he just had eye contact with, look at him with a dumbfounded expression.

    Shin ignored his reaction and flew high in the air to get a good vantage point. Once he reached a place he was happy with, he looked and saw multiple robots and students engaging each other. He perceived that many robots were still unoccupied and set them as his targets.

    He created multiple balls of concentrated force energy around himself using Force Manifestation and propelled them towards these robots with deadly accuracy and speed. The moment the ball of force touched them, the robots got blasted into pieces. During this entire process Shin made sure to mainly aim for 3 and 2 pointers while occasionally hitting some 1 pointer robots in the resulting aftermath.

    While he was doing this, he observed the other examinees and saw some students doing great, including Iida, He was somewhat efficiently utilising his momentum to destroy the robots, though his methods still needed great improvements. Shin also saw a girl, who was using a very interesting strategy. She was touching the robots and making them levitate, then stopping abruptly after reaching a certain height causing the unfortunate robots to slam into the ground, destroying them in the process.

    Shin even occasionally even helped some examinees when he felt they were in danger by creating a shield on them using Force Manifestation. This unusual kindness stemmed from his prediction that, since this was an examination testing the capabilities of future heroes, saving students could potentially earn him points. Nevertheless, he continued his robo massacre at a leisurely pace until he felt he had reached a good score. Once he did, he stopped and started a detailed observation on his so called ¡®competition¡¯.

 Entrance Test

    In a particular room, crowded with individuals who were watching the test and evaluating each person''s performance; numerous discussions were taking place.

    ¡°Hmm, it seems this year''s students are quite good.¡±

    ¡°Yes, it looks like there are some examinees with powerful quirks mixed in.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, examinee Shin Akatsuki seems to have a very powerful quirk. And looking at the ease at which he is destroying the robots, I am feeling pity for those unfortunate mechas.¡±

    ¡°According to his resume, his quirk is Force manipulation,¡± a mouse-like person spoke out and then exclaimed, ¡°If this quirk is what I think it is, then this examinee would be quite formidable.¡±

    ¡°Is it that powerful, Nezu?¡± a thin man with yellow hair asked.

    ¡°Yes, it is. It can be considered a bane to all physical-type quirks, including yours, All Might,¡± Nezu smiled. ¡°If he knows how to properly utilize it, which I imagine he has, then you won''t be able to even scratch him no matter what you do.¡±

    ¡°What, how is that possible?¡± All Might said with surprise.

    ¡°Just watch,¡± Nezu said. ¡°And the reason why I am sure he has thoroughly practiced his quirk is because he used to be part of the SUBLIME, which was training replacements for you when you retire.¡±

    ¡°What, that place was destroyed by an unknown villain though,¡± All Might questioned.

    ¡°He left that location months prior to the attack because he lacked ambition. However, now that he has returned, it appears he has found a purpose to pursue,¡± Nezu excitedly said. ¡°And from the information I have collected about him, he seems to be a prodigy in studies and business.¡±

    ¡°Now enough about him, what about your successor, Izuku Midoriya, was it?¡± Nezu changed the topic. ¡°He seems to be not doing rather well from his current score.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, neither did I expect him to. I was ready to use my influence to make him enter the academy. After all, he hasn¡¯t even used the quirk properly, even once, after I gave it to him,¡± All Might said with a sigh, ¡°Not that I blame him for that, due to the special characteristics of my quirk.¡±

    ¡°Yeah I suppose that is true considering what your quirk represents, ¡± Nezu nodded as he took out a remote from somewhere and pressed a large button on it. ¡°Now then, let''s see how they perform in the next phase.¡±

    Shin, who was peacefully flying in the air, suddenly saw a gigantic robot appear in the distance. It was incomparable to the other mechas in size and immediately guessed that it was the 0 pointer, ¡°No wonder it¡¯s a distraction, as most of the examinees wouldn¡¯t be able to damage it in the first place.¡±

    Although he could defeat it without trouble, he had resolved not to engage with the robot and instead chose to watch how others handled the situation. He saw most examinees run away from it, some in fear and some in search of other robots. As they were running away, Shin saw the girl who had the floatation type quirk getting stuck. He was prepared to employ a shield of force to assist her immediately, but he refrained, intending to observe the faculty''s response. Thus, he held back.

    Suddenly, he saw the clumsy boy he had greeted in the beginning who, according to Shin was unable to give a decent performance, running directly towards the giant mecha.

    Shin until now wasn¡¯t able to recognize what quirk the boy had since he hadn''t used. So, it came as a pleasantly surprise when the boy¡¯s right arm and both legs lit up a little, as he launched himself towards the robot. When he reached high up in the air, he punched the mecha so hard that the robot''s face crumpled like a paper as it fell back. That single punch had destroyed the robot so thoroughly, making a statement of how powerful the boy¡¯s quirk was. The one who was responsible for this was now then free falling towards the ground with his right arm and leg utterly broken.

    Shin instantly started analysing the situation and found out that the student¡¯s quirk was an enhancement type, but it was so powerful that it destroys his body, when it gets used. However, he felt something wrong with his analysis and repeated the entire process again and he muttered what he realised, ¡°It¡¯s as if his body didn¡¯t get used to his quirk. But that is not possible¡­.Maybe?¡±

    At the end he got an idea of what it could possibly be. Maybe he had recently gotten his quirk from All For One and was acting as a spy. But his curiosity was not satisfied with just having an idea. He wanted to confirm, if it was true. Therefore, he utilised Revelation to get a deeper insight into the boy. And from what he got, he was astounded. What Shin had initially assumed was not true. Instead, it was something else entirely and yet the new information was mind-blowing.

    Shin laughed out a little, before flying towards the falling boy and saved him. Once he reached back to the ground, Shin placed the boy down and muttered, ¡°That guy is unbelievable for being able to do something like that. It¡¯s no surprise he¡¯s considered the greatest of all time. I can¡¯t imagine ever being capable of doing such a thing myself.¡±

    The examination wrapped up swiftly after that. Soon after, a short elderly woman arrived at the scene, and Shin immediately recognized her as Recovery Girl. She began handing out healing candies to others and approached the student he had rescued, giving him a kiss. ¡°Ugh, even though it¡¯s part of her Quirk¡¯s ability, it¡¯s still gross. Maybe it would¡¯ve been fine when she was younger, but now it¡¯s just plain disgusting.¡±

    Once the boy was healed, Shin asked for his name, which the boy said despairingly, ¡°Izuku Midoriya.¡± He later went to the girl who was stuck, helped her out, and went back to his place to wait for the interview round. He had already given the written exam, which he was confident to be in top of, which in addition to his great score in the practical exam, guaranteed entry into the academy.

    Now only the last round remained, which was not much of a problem for Shin. It was an interview round, which would be held next week. And it was done mainly for the faculties to understand the behavioural traits of the students before admitting them. Though if anyone exhibits a conduct which was not fit for a hero, they could be disqualified in this round. Days thus passed, with Shin taking a light vacation while half-heartedly preparing for the interview.

    After a week of leisure, the day of the interview finally arrived.

    ¡­.

    When Shin was called inside a room for an interview, he definitely didn¡¯t expect the most popular hero of Japan to be one of the panel members. He saw the principal of UA High, Nezu, sitting in the center of the panel. He also saw Eraser Head, Midnight, and Recovery Girl waiting patiently adorning their respective hero suits. However, Shin felt a bit awkward due to the extremely revealing hero suit Midnight was wearing, which was undermining the professionalism of the current setting.

    Still, Shin made an eye contact with each panel member and sat down on his given seat, but not before saying, ¡°Good morning, everyone, and thank you for calling me for the interview.¡±

    Nezu in the center nodded his head and said in a professional tone, ¡°Good morning to you too. Now, for the interview, could you please introduce yourself?¡±

    Shin nodded and replied, ¡°My name is Shin Akatsuki, with a quirk called Force Manipulation. I have completed my middle school from Serei Midhigh, Tokyo. I am quite proficient in business management and educational studies. My hobbies are to read books and sometimes playing sports such as soccer and baseball. My aim is to become a hero who is a symbol of peace and prosperity.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    All Might, confused, then asked, ¡°What do you mean by a symbol of prosperity?¡±

    Shin patiently answered, ¡°A symbol of prosperity is about being a great hero who would ensure the country''s safety and prosperity even without their own presence. Currently, the entire country is safe because you are there, alive and working 24/7 to ensure that. Now, what would happen if you retire or, God forbid, you kick the bucket? The country would descend into chaos, and lots of villains who never attacked society will do so because their object of fear is not there anymore. I wish to prevent this from happening when I become a symbol of peace.¡±

    ¡°I wish to make villains fear not only the first-ranked hero, but also every single hero. Additionally. I wish to make the law stricter such that the criminals would be fearful of committing any crime.¡± Shin paused a bit to let the panel member process what he said and continued, ¡°To achieve this, I would have to train the heroes by improving the current system and also having more people included. I take the idea from the current America, where the hero system is very militarized. They have more manpower to solve problems when they arise, and they train every citizen how to use their quirk, which according to me is a great use of human resources.¡±

    Eraser Head squinted his eyes and intimidatingly questioned, ¡°You have some great ambitions that many people may not like. What are you going to do about that?¡±

    Shin answered without ignoring the intimidation tactics, ¡°Firstly, I have prepared enough for my goals. I am currently negotiating with the government and Hero Association, some of the changes that I suggested being already applied. Secondly, I would become a popular hero, which would directly help my cause.¡±

    Eraser Head nodded, accepting the answer.

    Then Midnight posed a question of her own with a sly smile, ¡°Which hero do you like?¡±

    Shin instantly answered, ¡°Endeavour. I like Endeavour¡¯s work ethics and the determination as he strives to become the number 1 by surpassing you, All Might.¡± Shin looked towards All Might. ¡°He is both brawn and brains. He thinks about the consequences of his actions clearly while acting. Though I don¡¯t agree with how he handles his family,¡±

    At that moment Shin saw the confused looks on the panel members except Nezu, and muttered, ¡°Though with your confused faces, it seems you don¡¯t know about it.¡±

    Nezu said, nodding his head and with a pitying smile, ¡°Yeah, I see your point.¡±

    This caused the everyone other than Shin to look at Nezu with questioning faces. ¡°I''ll explain it later, if I feel like it.¡± Nezu said while asking Midnight to continue.

    Midnight came back to focus and asked, ¡°This may be a little controversial, but if I ask you to select a villain you think you can learn from, who would it be and why?¡±

    Shin pondered this question and thought of fun answer. He looked towards All Might and said, ¡°Don¡¯t attack me,¡± which greatly confused All Might. Then he said with a grin, ¡°The Demon King, All for One.¡±

    ¡°WHAT¡­?¡± Exclaimed All Might with slight anger in his voice.

    ¡°Let me explain first, before you become all angry,¡± Shin smiled and then ignored All Might as he said, ¡°I do not agree with his ways, but I would like to learn from his determination that he has, to do whatever it takes to reach his ambitions. I somewhat agree with his goals, just I don¡¯t like the way he approaches things. I additionally would want to learn from his skillful and strategic approach to situations.¡±

    This caused All Might to calm down a little and he spoke with gritted teeth, ¡°Truthfully, I didn¡¯t expect that answer coming from anyone. But looking at it from your perspective, I can agree he was a master in strategies and people can learn from him,¡± All Might, then apologized, ¡°Sorry, my hatred against him made me overreact.¡±

    ¡°It''s okay, I don¡¯t mind,¡± Shin smiled and accepted the apology, internally having a laugh at the reaction.

    Recovery Girl, who kept silent until this time, suddenly asked, ¡°Do you know how to treat your wounds?¡±

    Shin, taken aback by the question, replied instantaneously, ¡°Yes.¡±

    Realising his mistake, he calmed himself and said, ¡°I used to train as a martial artist; thus, I was prone to injuries. Hence, I learned properly how to treat my wounds. I am also currently trying to find a way to heal or regenerate using my quirk.¡±

    ¡°Good, then I wouldn¡¯t have to heal you up when you are only slightly injured.¡± She looked relieved, as she was quite tired of healing every small wound that students would get. She even thought that if Shin could learn a way to heal from his quirk, then her burdens would be greatly reduced.

    Midnight brought out another question, this time with a very-very crafty expression, ¡°Among the female heroes of Japan, who is your favourite and why?¡±

    Upon hearing this, Shin¡¯s eyelids twitched. He suddenly got the impression that Midnight''s presence on the panel was meant to make students like him feel uncomfortable. Shin analysed the question and realized she was trying to figure out if he had any crushes on heroines. However, he couldn¡¯t understand the relevance of this question to the interview. He assumed it was more of a personal curiosity than anything else.

    Still, he took a moment to think, as all the female heroines he knew and heard of appeared in his mind. And if he said he didn''t have any crushes, then that would be a complete lie. After all, even though his mind was ancient, his body was still only around 15. Moreover, in the culture he had grown up with, that is his origin plane, age was never seen as a restricting factor in such matters.

    Nevertheless, Shin wasn''t particularly eager to mention them in such a setting. Sure, he would have spoken about it if it were a different situation, but for now, he tried to come up with a more professional response.

    When he did come up on a response, he internally smiled and spoke out with a passionate tone ¡°My favorite heroine would be Mirko, and mind you, she is also the woman whom I would love to date if given the opportunity to.¡±

    Shin continued with a tone full of admiration, ¡°The main reason for that I think is her fierce love for battle. She thrives in the heat of combat, always eager for the next challenge. It¡¯s not about fame or being the strongest for her¡ªit¡¯s the thrill of the fight that drives her. When she steps into battle, you can see how fully alive she is, pushing herself beyond her limits. Her unwavering courage and relentless passion for fighting are what make her truly remarkable and inspiring."

    And everything he just said was true, even the fact that she was his crush, though there were slightly more reasons for that than just what he said. But it does mostly summarize what he feels in a professional manner. And Midnight, who had been expecting an indirect response, was left flabbergasted by his answer. The rest of the panel members too were shocked. Of course, other than Nezu, who facepalmed realising that Shin had answered in such a way, for this very reaction.

    Anyway, after this, Shin continued on with his interview. He was asked multiple different questions by every member of the panel as they tried to understand his personality. Thankfully, Midnight kept her mouth shut after that fiasco and only asked normal questions. This continued for half an hour after which they ended the interview, saying that Shin passed, congratulated him, and provided him with his papers. They also mentioned the starting date to him as they welcomed him to the academy.

    ¡­.

    In the background, panel members were discussing the recent interview.

    ¡°He does have great goals, but I am worried about the path he may take,¡± said All Might with some seriousness.

    ¡°Hey, just because you don¡¯t like his answer to that particular question doesn¡¯t give you the right to criticize him badly,¡± Nezu said seriously.

    ¡°But I don¡¯t like him already,¡± said All Might unapologetically.

    ¡°You do you, but I am sure he would rise as a great hero, no matter what you say,¡± nodded Nezu.

    ¡°In one of his answers, he said he was negotiating with the government or something, is that true?¡± asked Shota Aizawa, also known as Eraser Head.

    ¡°Yeah, is that true?¡± Midnight also jumped into the conversation enthusiastically.

    ¡°Yes, it is true. Do you know that this new interview round was one of his ideas too? And we already see the great uses of this round. We can mark future problematic students and also root out major problems before they enter the academy,¡± Nezu replied appreciatively,

    ¡°WHAT?¡± replied all of them in unison in great surprise.

    ¡°He would bring lots of changes into the current society. From the ideas which are already implemented, I can easily see his aspirations coming true, provided he continues to work for it,¡± Nezu said to his colleagues. ¡°He is already in the upper echelon of society in terms of wealth due to him being a great businessman. If he becomes a popular hero too, it would become easier for him to implement the new changes, he is proposing.¡±

    ¡°Oh, he is a businessman. That is why I felt like I was talking to a greatly experienced person instead of a student just out of his middle school,¡± Midnight said in wonder, ¡°Particularly with that blunt confession of his. If you hadn¡¯t already told us that he had deliberately responded that way, I would still be shocked by his boldness.¡±

    "Yeah, he talks just like a politician, knowing exactly what to say and when to say it to make the biggest impact," Aizawa remarked. "Especially when it comes to turning a situation around."

    ¡°Yeah, that is something you learn automatically when you enter the business world,¡± Nezu said. ¡°What do you think about him, Chiyo?¡±

    ¡°He is great, I already like him. He knows how to take care of his body properly, and he won''t cause himself severe injuries unlike a certain someone,¡± Chiyo, also known as Recovery Girl, smiled as she said.

    ¡°Hey,¡± All Might, who was listening to the conversation from the side, replied to jab.

    ¡°Well, let''s continue and take care of today''s interviews,¡± Nezu said as he called the next person.

 First Day at UA

    On the day of his first day at UA High, Shin was up and about early in the morning, mainly because he didn¡¯t have any sleep the night before. He was quite busy with a meeting that he was attending, and it only ended nearly in the morning. Therefore, he had resolved to just stay up rather than go to sleep, and avoid being late to first day to the high school. After all, first impressions were what mattered the most in these types of matters.

    Nevertheless, the meetings, which Shin deems to be much more significant than his school life, were about implementing new rules into hero schools; something, he had been suggesting for quite a while. The meeting, he had to attend the night before, had been with the Hero Association¡¯s HR department, which also managed the education of new heroes and dealt with any issues related to hero development.

    Now, although he understood the link between Human Resources and hero education, as heroes could be considered as human resources; but using such a name for their department could make the public really uncomfortable. Still, he was quite that was what they had intended in the first place. Really¡­.these guys didn¡¯t have proper business acumen yet they were as cunning as politicians.

    Once he reached the school, it took him a while to ask around and find his own class, especially as there were only few people inside, this early in the morning. After all, it was literally an hour before his classes would begin, at 9 o''clock. When he entered the room, he saw no one, as he had already expected. So, he went and took the seat that was allotted to him.

    On the way, Shin saw a sleeping bag near the teacher¡¯s podium. Out of the blue, he felt a bit suspicious. Therefore, he immediately used his Karmic Vision and, lo and behold his suspicions came true. There was literally a person sleeping inside that bedroll. This made him flabbergasted at the resourcefulness yet frugality of the person, whom he had identified as Aizawa Shoto; one of the persons who interviewed him.

    Shin shook his head and shrugged at this behaviour, as he diverted his focus onto the more important aspect that he had just realised. He recognised that he was entirely vulnerable to surprise attacks. ¡°If that guy was an assassin, I¡¯d be dead now. I totally overlooked the fact that I had lost my divine sense, this entire time.¡±

    He, therefore, acknowledged the need to develop a skill to scan the area similar to his former divine sense.

    ¡°Wait, like my divine sense?¡± Shin opened his eyes wide as he got an idea, which he started to attempt instantly. He tried sending a pulse of force in all directions from his body as a center. Within a minute, he was successful. He then infused the force with his intent, essentially his wish, for it to rebound upon encountering an obstacle. This process took a bit more time to achieve success because he had only recently learned that he could incorporate his intent into skills to shape them however he wished.

    After achieving minor level of success, Shin shut his eyes and swiftly emitted force pulses in a similar fashion, aiming to organize the information by utilizing his advanced mental abilities and the awareness of various forces that he had naturally acquired through the force manipulation skill. In approximately ten minutes, he could discern his environment within a 10-meter radius in all directions, even with his eyes closed. And regrettably, this success was marked with the arrival of the System notification.

    [You have gained a new skill, Force Pulse]

    At that moment, Shin noticed the door opening thanks to his newly acquired skill. Lifting his eyes to see who had entered, he spotted a girl stepping into the classroom. She was tall, with a charming face, black hair tied in a ponytail, and striking onyx eyes. Wearing the school uniform that accentuated her well-endowed figure, she appeared to be greatly startled to find someone else there before her.

    Upon seeing Shin, she retracted her surprise, smiled at him and introduced herself, saying, ¡°Hello, good morning. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu. Nice to meet you.¡±

    Shin replied with a pleasant smile. ¡°I am Shin Akatsuki. Nice to meet you too.¡± He consequently stopped his skill practice as he began to converse with the girl who had introduced herself.

    ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Momo asked curiously as she sat on her allotted desk. ¡°Why did you come so early?¡±

    ¡°Oh, just around 15 minutes ago. Honestly, the only reason I¡¯m this early is that I didn¡¯t sleep last night because of a late meeting. I was sure I¡¯d doze off if I stayed home, so I just decided to head straight to school,¡± Shin answered after he posed a question of his own. ¡°What''s your reason for coming this early?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it''s my first day and I normally like to reach my school early.¡±

    ¡°Oh, an overachiever type, huh?¡± Shin muttered in understanding as he gave her a look over. She was definitely quite good looking, that along with her good brains and excellent work ethics, was a rare combination, that you don¡¯t see in many people.

    ¡°You could say that,¡± Momo didn¡¯t seem offended by the slang and took it in stride. In fact, it even felt that she was quite pleased with that title.

    Suddenly, Shin recalled her introduction, and got stuck by a realization. He therefore inquired to clear his doubts and confirm what he just grasped, ¡°You mentioned your last name is Yaoyorozu¡ªis that the family known for being the second-wealthiest in Japan?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I am a part of that very family,¡± Momo said proudly, ¡°In fact, I am the only child in this current generation, making me a promising heir.¡±

    Shin felt his brows twitch as he recalled an occasion when the current head of that family asked him to marry their youngest, claiming that she was his age. He couldn¡¯t and still didn¡¯t comprehend why the request was made with such insistence, especially considering the vast difference in their wealth compared to what he had earned. Moreover, he hadn¡¯t even disclosed his true abilities, which made the head¡¯s request even more puzzling.

    Seeing his expression, Momo asked with confusion, ¡°What? Why are you making that face?¡±

    ¡°Well¡­..I have met your grandfather, and how do I put it¡­.he is a really annoying person,¡± Shin said, showing an irritated face. ¡°Don¡¯t you ever go and mention that I am in your class to him.¡±

    ¡°What..? You have met him.¡± Momo replied with astonishment, and continued with great interest, ¡°Where did you meet him and why exactly should I not mention you to him?¡±

    ¡°We met at a business party, where our mutual connections introduced us to each other. The reason I don''t want you to bring me up to him is a bit embarrassing, and I¡¯d prefer to keep it private for now. However, I can tell you that if you ever mention to him that I¡¯m in your class, it could cause a lot of annoyance for you as well, and I would rather avoid that.¡±

    ¡°Oh, please tell me! Why are you keeping me in suspense after getting me this far already?¡± Momo said, clearly eager to know. Especially since his description of her grandfather as bothersome indicated that he was really telling the truth, as she had heard similar remarks from everyone who had gotten to know him well. Though she never had ever felt that way with how caring he is towards her.

    ¡°Hah¡­.Okay I will tell you. Just don¡¯t regret about it later.¡± Consequently, Shin recounted the incidents of that day along with various other similar happenings during his other meetings with her grandfather. As his narration progressed, Shin could see the visible traces of embarrassment on her face from the slight reddening of her cheeks and it was gradually increasing. Though by the end of it, it had been changed into a full blown blush. After that she even avoided direct eye contact with him leading to an uncomfortable moment of silence between them.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    Thankfully, they both hadn¡¯t need to deal with the awkwardness for long, as some girls entered the classroom, and Momo immediately moved towards them to converse with them, leaving him alone to dwell in his thoughts. Though even that didn¡¯t last long enough as some boys also arrived. One of them was Iida, whom he had seen during the entrance exam. He was behaving in a stiff manner and trying to act like a model student or something. Shortly afterwards, he started verbally quarrelling with a guy named Katsuki Bakugo over some mannerism issue.

    He later met a guy called Shoto Todoroki, whom he recognised as the youngest son of Endeavor. He and Shoto hit it off quite well, and Shin didn¡¯t dare to mention anything about Endeavor, as he knew it would be a sour spot for him. From what he said, Todoroki had a quirk called Half Cold-Half Hot, which uses both ice and flames, making Shin impressed. After all, it was a quirk which had great potential to become very very strong.

    Still, through it all, he couldn¡¯t stop thinking about Momo. Her pretty, blushing countenance earlier had mesmerised him. She looked so beautiful, that it nearly made him re-consider his reluctance to her grandfather proposition. However, he was instantly reminded of the fact that he was a temporary resident of this plane, and if he would pursue a relationship, that relationship would always end when he made his exit.

    This made him think if pursuing such relationships, throughout his journey, was even worth it. Especially considering the fact that he was now sterile, which would be a major red flag for many women. And even if some agreed despite such issues, it would certainly end with disappointment and sadness for both him and the women, he courts.

    As he was thinking about it, Aizawa, whom he knew was sleeping in the bag near the podium, stood up, surprising the entire class by doing so. Without giving them a moment to process this, he declared that he was their homeroom teacher. Consequently, he announced a physical examination, which he termed as ¡®The Quirk Assessment Test and instructed everyone to get changed to the PT dress and assemble in the ground within 10 minutes.

    ¡­

    In the ground, all the students were gathered within the allocated time, waiting for Aizawa to provide further directives.

    Aizawa looked around and started speaking, ¡°The Quirk Apprehension Test is conducted to realize, each of your own current starting points. Now, everyone knows that you are obligated to participate in a physical testing to understand your strengths and limits properly during your middle school. Right¡­.?¡±

    This caused everyone to nod their heads in agreement. He continued, ¡°But at that time, you were not allowed to use your quirks. So, technically that data is completely wrong and should not be used as a true reference. Therefore, this time you will use your quirks. There will be multiple different tests to find out relevant data from various aspects, which will be used for customising your individual future trainings.¡±  Aizawa observed the students and once he was satisfied with their understanding expressions, he dropped a bomb in his nonchalant tone, ¡°And the person who scores the least overall in this test will get EXPELLED and a new student from Class B will take their spot.¡±

    ¡°What¡­?¡±

    ¡°Expelled on the first day?¡±

    ¡°You can''t be serious.¡±

    ¡°No way that¡¯s fair.¡±

    ¡°Why are you talking about unfairness? Life is not fair, kids. It is instead the duty of real heroes to overcome that unfairness and make any situation into a positive one.¡± Aizawa said with all seriousness.

    Consequently, he commenced the tests which consisted of short-distance runs, long-distance runs, softball throw, continuous sidesteps, sit-ups, grip strength test, long-distance jump, and various others. The students were excelling in some and failing in some, like Iida getting highest in races, Ochaco getting an infinite score as she used her float quirk on the ball in softball throw earning her the first place in that test, Bakugo using his explosion quirk through his hands to jump and propel himself in the air and many others.

    Shin, through this test, was able to clearly observe and critically analyse the various quirks, his classmates had and how well they used their imagination to efficiently use them. He was not doing his best but was still consistently maintaining a middle score which Aizawa noticed.

    Though, he didn¡¯t say anything to this behaviour as Aizawa had realized that the tests were kind of a waste of time for Shin, with his former record of being a part of SUBLIME. Additionally, with how effortlessly he had secured the top score in all the three exams, including the written, practical as well as the interview one, there was a not a single doubt in Aizawa¡¯s mind that the only reason Shin was attending the hero course, was because of the fact that, a permanent hero licence would only be awarded to a student, who completed their entire three years at a hero school.

    Shin, throughout his observations noticed that Izuku, the boy who had demolished the 0 pointer mecha during the practical exam was doing the worst in all the tests, and when the last test arrived i.e. the softball throw, he finally utilised his quirk to throw the ball, with the full intent of sacrificing his arms for it. But he was unable to do so as Aizawa quickly erased his quirk. Izuku was initially confused, but when Aizawa admitted that he had erased the quirk, Izuku realized what had happened as he comprehended who Aizawa really was, as he proclaimed, ¡°EraserHead.¡±

    Some of the other students, who had heard this had their eyes widened. It seemed to Shin, that they hadn¡¯t realised who he was till now. Subsequently, Aizawa went on to say his take about how Izuku could not ever become a hero with his crappy quirk mastery. He additionally pointed out a severe flaw about Izuku, that before even saving a single person, Izuku would be completely disabled with his quirk. Aizawa, after his reprimand, ceased blocking his quirk and ordered Izuku to throw the ball.

    Shin was honestly expecting him to do the same as what he attempted earlier, but was surprised when he saw Izuku only using his quirk on one of his fingers as the ball went flying, crossing a huge distance. The others were surprised at his strength but not as much as Aizawa, Shin, and All Might, whom Shin had seen peeking earlier; at the creativity and determination Izuku possessed. With his innovating and out of the box thinking, Izuku was acknowledged and praised by Aizawa for coming up with a solution on the spot.

    However, there was one person in all of this, who was not very happy for Izuku and his success. Instead, he was greatly enraged when he saw Izuku use his quirk. It was Bakugo, the childhood friend of Izuku, from the conversations, Shin had overheard in the classroom earlier.  Unable to control his fury, he dashed toward Izuku with the intention to beat him up.

    Shin, witnessing this, immediately stopped Bakugo in his tracks, by creating shield using Force Manifestation. He created the shield in a dome shape, which emerged in white translucent appearance, surrounding Bakugo from all sides. Despite this, Bakugo persisted and employed his explosion quirk in an attempt to destroy the shield. Initially, cracks began to form on the translucent dome, but Shin quickly repaired them all by utilizing his stored force. Moreover, he tapped into his stored reserves of force energy to fortify the dome, ensuring that none of Bakugo¡¯s attacks could harm it.

    Yet Bakugo kept attacking and Shin allowed him to do that, as it was not really causing any harm other than Bakugo and himself, suddenly becoming a center of attention for the entire class. After a little while of venting out his frustrations, Bakugo calmed down and took a deep breath while looking at the source of this obstacle that was blocking him. He shouted with a harsh voice, "Why are you stopping me? This situation has nothing to do with you. This is between me and Deku."

    "You were about to attack Izuku. I felt it necessary to intervene.¡± Shin replied in a calm voice, ¡°Why did you want to do that? Do you realise that you could have suspended or even worse expelled, if your actions were to come to pass. "

    Bakugo had calmed down enough to understand the veracity in Shin¡¯s words, yet he answered with a tinge of anger, "He tricked me. Deku lied to me the entire time, claiming that he didn¡¯t have a quirk."

    This made Shin comprehend what was this about. And it was neither party¡¯s fault. It was not like Izuku had lied in the first place.  Therefore, he simply criticized, "That doesn''t give you any right to attack him. Neither it is how a future hero should reacts. Instead, it is how a villain usually behaves." Aizawa, observing this, approached them and requested Shin to remove his barrier, which he promptly did, freeing Bakugo. Subsequently, Aizawa started lecturing Bakugo in Shin¡¯s place as his rightful teacher¡¯s duty.

    During this, Shin moved near Izuku and engaged him in conversation. "Are you a fan of All Might?" Surprised, Izuku asked, "Yes, I am. I mean, who isn''t? Why are you asking?"

    "Well, I noticed you were using your quirk in a way that seemed misguided, so I came to offer some advice." Shin spoke up with an intension to help. After all, he didn¡¯t like when people wasted their potential. So, many a times, he just takes it upon himself to guide them and as a result, one of his titles in his original plane became, the Mentor Saint.  It was an absolutely cringe worthy title, but it did best describe his many actions. He continued speaking, "I can see that your enhancement quirk is quite similar to All Might''s. Therefore, you seem to want to do, what he does in the same way he does it."

    Izuku wore a startled expression, likely due to the implied meaning behind his words. But Shin ignored this look and continued, "In simple words, you try to emulate your quirk in the same manner that you think All Might does.¡±

 Past Memory

    Shin continued, ¡°But you are wrong about how All Might actually uses his quirk. He doesn¡¯t just enhance his hands to throw punches. He passively uses his quirk and just amps it up every time he punches. If he didn¡¯t, each and every movement of his would rip buildings apart. And if he ever does put all his power into a punch, it would straight rip his arm off, similar to you."

    Izuku, hearing this, calmed down and took a breath of relief. He realised that he likely was overthinking the matter. After all, there was no way Shin would know his secret, unless it was revealed by All Might. So, after processes what his classmate said, Izuku inquired on his doubt, "So I need to use my quirk in everyday life?"

    "No. Not exactly. You need to stop treating your quirk like some grand power and start consciously considering it like your limb." Shin answered with patience, ¡°It¡¯s a tool, your instrument and not something you need to idolize, just because it is similar to All Might¡¯s. And since it is yours, you need to use your own methods and style, not someone else¡¯s.¡±

    Aizawa approached them to ask what they were doing after he finished lecturing Bakugo. Shin informed him that he was teaching Izuku on the ways to properly use his quirk. Aizawa became instantly interested and kept a watch on them. Other students who saw this, started gathered around to see what was happening. And when Aizawa explained about it, they all became interested too. All Might, who had been stealthily observing the entire thing, was also intrigued by the method Shin wanted to teach.

    As Izuku became the center of attention, he felt a little nervous, but his determination to wield his quirk properly outweighed his anxiety, so he continued to listen to Shin''s explanation, "You need to use your quirk in your regular actions, before using it for big attacks,"

    Izuku thought for a moment and realized what Shin was saying. "So... I need to run before I can punch?"

    "Uh... Sure. How do you normally visualize it?" Shin questioned with curiosity, ¡°Like the picture that you imagine, when you are activating the quirk.¡±

    Izuku thought for a moment and explained, "Oh, like an egg in a microwave. I am heating it up... but I can''t seem to stop it before it explodes."

    Hearing this, Shin facepalmed and he couldn¡¯t help but speak out, "Wow, you are an idiot, aren''t you?"

    "What?"

    "You use the image of something that will explode, then act surprised when you do explode."

    "Oh... I..." Izuku stuttered as he himself understood the logic pointed out by Shin.

    "Anyway, forget about your way and instead imagine yourself as an empty vessel with no blood. The blood acts as natural energy for the body, and that¡¯s the image you would want. Treat the blood like your quirk. And if mentally, your body is filled with blood, only then would you go boom!" Shin explained.

    Izuku slowly started to comprehend. "This way I could more accurately control how much power I can send into my arms?"

    "You are technically correct however you are missing the point.¡± Shin replied, ¡°Activate your quirk like this. Take one drop of blood and spread it evenly across your entire body, not just your arms.¡±

    "One drop?"

    "Yeah, start with a small amount.  By doing that, you can know your current limits,¡± Shin spoke with confidence, ¡°Through this manner, the strain of your quirk is evenly distributed in your entire body, which would not cause any damage but also improve your entire physique."

    Izuku fell into deep thought as he started to visualize. Shin consequently said to Aizawa, "Erase his quirk if he fails," and to his classmates, "Can you guys back away a little, just in case?"

    They instantly did as he told them, each of them quite interested to see the results. And they were greatly impressed by what followed after.

    Izuku, the center of all this attention, closed his eyes and began to focus. He imagined himself as an empty vessel, took a drop of his quirk and spread it evenly throughout his entire body. Not a single corner was left untouched. He also ensured to move at a steady even pace, deliberately avoiding any rush.

    ¡°One For All: 1%.¡± He muttered as the process was finished. Izuku opened his eyes to feel his entire body strengthened and tingling. He was amazed that he was able to use the quirk finally without problems. Shin quickly said, "Now increase the amount slowly until you feel the strain, and then stop."

    Izuku did as he was told and increased his quirk to 5%, then 10%, and finally 15%, where he finally felt the strain on his body. At that moment, small tingles of azure lightning were moving through his entire body, even making his hair float.

    "Now punch in the air, without enhancing anything more," Shin ordered. Izuku, therefore took a stance and punched upwards, creating a small shockwave. He was surprised at the power and lack of any kind of injury.

    "At the moment, all you have to do is to wait until your body gets used to the quirk at the current strength and then add more progressively," Shin said, clapping his hands in congratulations.

    Then he instructed, "Now go and try all the tests that Aizawa has set up to measure your current limit. Additionally, make sure to acquire that data from him afterwards to use it as a comparison in the future. Finally, one last advise; You are not All Might, you can never hope to be. But you are your own person. Different from your idol. So, don¡¯t go and copy All Might¡¯s fight style and create your own personal one. After all, punches are not the only weapons you have.¡±

    Hearing this, Izuku felt deeply inspired and nodded. A smile spread across his face as he silently vowed not to mimic his idol, but to carve out his own unique path. He walked towards his classmates, who dearly congratulated him for his growth. Afterwards, he went to Aizawa, to act as Shin had instructed.

    In the back, Shin was smiling with a proud expression at Izuku¡¯s behaviour. However, he was immediately surrounded by his classmates, all brimming with awe as they eagerly introduced themselves. Through his Karmic Vision, he was able sense their subtle expectations, as they were imagining themselves in Izuku¡¯s position and seeking his advice and opinions on their quirks. He listened to each of their introductions along with their quirks and began formulating ways through which he could improve their usage.

    His classmates had a variety of quirks, and he was greatly interested in some of them as they had huge potential. They were: the Black Quirk wielded by Shihai Kuroiro, Dark Shadow by Fumikage Tokoyama, Twin Impact by Nirengeki Shoda. He also saw a quirk that could be regarded as somewhat disgusting, wielded by Setsuna Tokage, which allowed her to split her body into 50 pieces and control those parts telekinetically.

    He even came to know about Momo¡¯s quirk as she stopped avoiding him. And wow! It was really amazing. It was a greatly versatile one, and it was named as Creation. As its name suggested, it literally allowed Momo to create any material object, through using her fat as a resource. Shin became greatly impressed in how Momo would in the future develop this quirk and utilize it.

    Still, after the introductions were all over, he continued conversing with his classmates, yet once again his mind was somewhere else. During his small talk with Momo, when she introduced her quirk, Shin was able to sense Momo''s emotions, as he had kept his karmic vision quirk active. And, it gave him a clear idea of what she was feeling; that she had started to like him romantically. It was currently just a small seed, a crush perhaps, though if left unchecked, it''d grow into a full-blown affection. He didn''t exactly know the how or from when, though he had a slight idea.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    This made him once again contemplate on his stance in these matters. As he looked at Izuku, who was performing his tests again, he reminisced about one of his women.

    She was the first woman Shin had gotten together with after the tragic events of his past relationships, where those he loved had been murdered. Even though Shin had taken his revenge and settled all the matters, he was not willing, nor did he have the capacity to love anyone at that time. He feared that the same thing would happen again, but this woman brought him out of that state and into a new chapter of his life.

    Her name was Mariette. She was a simple village girl who didn¡¯t have any cultivation or special abilities. She was just an ordinary mortal woman, living a completely different life from Shin¡¯s. Yet, she didn¡¯t let this difference stop her from pursuing him. She was the one who fell in love with him first, and with her continuous persistence, he eventually gave in, despite his fears, and started a new relationship.

    At that point, Shin was more than satisfied with just her, but it was Mariette who encouraged him to seek out other women. Through her actions, persistence, and the love and care she showed, she brought out his repressed desires once more. As a result, he returned to his old ways of having relationships with multiple women simultaneously.

    Mariette also made him try different types of relationships¡ªnot just the long-lasting ones that would endure until death, but also short-term ones. Something he had never considered after his exit from the dual cultivation sect. She helped him realize that even short relationships held value. Although parting could be sad and heartbreaking, the shared meaning during that time would last forever. She even suggested that he try one-night stands, but Shin¡¯s moral values didn¡¯t allow it. Mariette understood this and thus stopped insisting on that matter.

    She was an enigmatic yet loving woman, one whom Shin would always remember. He stayed with her until the end of her life, and together they had children. Raising their children, who had also chosen not to cultivate, was something Shin truly enjoyed. Taking care of them alongside Mariette and many of his other women added a sense of fulfilment to his life.

    He recalled her words, the ones she often repeated, that seemed the most fitting for his dilemma: "Don¡¯t deny any woman their chance to experience you, Shin. You have so much to offer, and it''s not for you to decide if it''s worth it for them. Let each one choose for herself what you bring into her life, even if it¡¯s only for a short time."

    Shin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them with newfound clarity about his path forward. He decided he wouldn¡¯t shut himself off, but instead, he would actively seek meaningful connections with remarkable women, even if they were brief. He would let each woman he connected with decide for herself whether he was worth it, refusing to make that choice for her. And he would begin this with Momo.

    By the time Shin had come to this resolution, Izuku was done with his test and Aizawa displayed the ranking list. And, Shin looked it up to find himself holding the 10th position in this ranking in their class, which consisted of 22 students, despite originally being intended for 20.

    This change was largely due to Shin, who persistently advocated to the Hero Association for an increase in the number of intakes into the Hero School. As a result, the capacity was raised by 10% this year. Because of the increase in intake and the interview round, two students originally slated for Class 1A were shifted to Class 1B. Similarly, some students who were meant to be in Class 1B were transferred into Class 1A.

    Subsequently, Aizawa declared that his initial announcement of expelling the last-ranked student was a bluff and it was just done to motivate the students to try their best. Shin wasn''t really much surprised from this as Aizawa didn''t really have the authority in the first place to expel students. though most of the students hadn''t considered that from their surprised expressions.

    After this, Aizawa announced the end of the period, and the students returned to their classroom. The rest of the day consisted of regular high school classes and Shin, being already familiar with most of the material, spent his time quietly refining the skill he had developed earlier in the morning.

    ¡­

    The next day,

    The 3rd period was allotted to be a battle trial. Shin didn¡¯t exactly know what it was but could easily infer the combat aspect from the name itself. For this, the teacher assigned was the greatest hero of all time, All Might. Arriving in the room, All Might said, "Entering the room like a normal person," which made Shin cringe heavily.

    But all the other students were really excited to realise that All Might would be teaching them. Even the heavily cringy worthy stuff he muttered was completely ignored and instead made into his favour.

    Ah, the benefits of being a famous and well liked person.

    All Might subsequently opened the side cupboard, revealing the hero costumes for each student. These costumes were designed by the students themselves and submitted to the school, which handled their creation. It was a significant requirement prior to the start of their first class, as the process of crafting them required considerable time.

    Even Shin had designed an outfit, though it was relatively simple: a gray sleeveless hoodie layered under a long, flowing black coat, paired with black jeans and boots. He didn''t want an over-the-top design and therefore just went with practicality more than the appearance. Additionally, he requested a red, cylindrical metallic pole matching his height, which he intended to use as a weapon.

    "Get up, dress up, and onto the field, my fine young heroes." All Might announced as everyone took their costumes and went to the changing rooms.

    About thirty minutes later, everyone gathered in the observation room of the battle hall. This hall housed an artificial town with high-rise buildings, specifically designed for combat scenarios. It was built to withstand extreme forces, meaning even a nuclear explosion inside wouldn¡¯t affect anything outside. The observation room was just outside the battle hall, and it took about ten minutes to walk there from their classroom.

    The only person yet to arrive was All Might. During this time, Shin observed the different costumes worn by his classmates and compared his to theirs. Initially, he had thought that he would rank at the bottom in terms of looks, but he could safely say he was one of the best with his outfit, as many of them, especially the girls, were gawking at him.

    Many seemed eager to approach him, but Momo was quicker than them all. She immediately stepped forward, offering a warm compliment while giving him an appraising glance. "You look extremely handsome, Shin," she said with a smile.

    "You look incredibly attractive too, Momo," Shin whispered softly, then added with a teasing smirk, "With all the skin you''re showing, are you aiming to be a daring R18 hero like Midnight?"

    Momo initially hearing the compliment, blushed slightly as a joyful smile blossomed on her face. Though it immediately changed into an expression of distaste when she heard what Shin questioned, "No, I don¡¯t want to be like her. But my quirk requires direct contact with my skin, thus I have no choice but to use clothing with less coverage."

    "Oh, I can understand that. But there is a simple solution for this and that is using retractable clothes.¡± Shin pointed out and followed it up with an advice, ¡°For that, you could try asking the support department students for help."

    "Is that really possible...? I will definitely try it.¡± Momo beamed with relief, ¡°Thank you so much, Shin."

    "Eh, no problem." smiled Shin. He subsequently shifted his focus to the other classmates and their costumes, with Momo staying close by his side. They exchanged casual remarks, keeping their conversation light as they took in the various designs around them. Some of the costumes were designed purely for aesthetic purposes, while others focused on enhancing the use of their quirks. Fortunately, the majority of students had designed their suits with practicality in mind, rather than just for looks.

    As Shin continued observing, he was suddenly taken aback by a very unusual sight: a completely naked girl with curly green hair, wearing only a set of white gloves and shoes, casually talking to her friends. He paused, taking in the bizarre scene. While he couldn¡¯t help but enjoy the sight, he also wondered why no one seemed to be bothered by her complete lack of clothing. He recognized her from his class but had never fully understood her quirk as she never informed him about it.

    Curious, he turned to Momo and quickly asked her about it, "Hey, what is Toru¡¯s quirk?"

    Momo replied casually, "It¡¯s invisibility. According to her, it¡¯s a mutation quirk which she can¡¯t control, hence why she was invisible from birth."

    This answer caused Shin a bit of confusion. He wasn¡¯t able to identify the reason why he was able to see her. Then he recalled a certain fact about his karmic vision skill. It had granted him complete immunity to light based illusions and that too passively. Maybe that was the reason that he was able to see her. But if that''s true, then Toru had completely misunderstood her quirk. Instead of being a mutation quirk, it probably was an emitter one instead, which bends the light around her, making her invisible.

    He immediately wanted to tell her about what he had discovered, but first, he needed to come up with a plausible reason for why he could even see her like that, as he couldn''t mention his Karmic Vision quirk. While he did enjoy the sight, he didn¡¯t want to be distracted by it constantly. He needed a good excuse, something that wouldn''t raise any unnecessary questions.

    But before he could say anything, All Might arrived and started to praise their outfits, giving out individual compliments. After a while, All Might began his speech, and by the time he finished, Shin had already prepared his excuse. Without wasting any time, he raised his hand, interrupting All Might mid-sentence. All Might, slightly annoyed but maintaining his composure, looked at him and asked, "What is it, young Akatsuki?" causing all the students to shift their attention toward Shin.

    "Ah, please just call me Shin," he replied with a small smile. "I¡¯m not fond of the Japanese tradition of using last names."

 A Competitive Spar

    "¡­Okay, Shin. So exactly why did you raise your hand?"

    "I wish to give some suggestions to one of my classmates, as her actions are making me feel uncomfortable," Shin explained. "Though, I must admit, I do enjoy the sight, to some extent."

    All Might, confused but remembering how Shin had helped Izuku, allowed him to speak. Shin walked over to Toru, removed his coat, and draped it over her. Toru was completely confused by his actions and couldn¡¯t react. Shin then looked at her and said, "Better."

    Everyone else stared at him, shocked by what just happened. Momo, who had been talking to him earlier, quickly pieced things together, and her mouth hung open in surprise.

    Shin chuckled and turned to Toru. "I could see you through your invisibility the whole time. I just didn¡¯t know you had that quirk until now."

    Toru, still not understanding at first, looked down at the coat. As the realization hit her, her face turned bright red with shame. She immediately ducked down, hiding beneath the coat, and stammered, ¡°H-how¡­ do you¡­ see¡­ me?¡±

    Shin shrugged slightly, "Well, it¡¯s a technique I created using my quirk to see through light-based illusions. I keep it active all the time. I thought you had a quirk you were trying to hide, so I didn¡¯t say anything till now. I didn¡¯t realize others just couldn¡¯t see you."

    "But it¡¯s not light-based illusion," Toru retorted, still a lot disturbed but was starting to calm down. "I¡¯m¡­ invisible. It¡¯s a mutation quirk."

    ¡°No, it¡¯s not a mutation,¡± Shin corrected her. ¡°It¡¯s an emitter-type quirk. You just don¡¯t know how to control it yet.¡±

    ¡°Wha-t?¡± Toru asked, clearly puzzled.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± Shin continued, ¡°If it were a mutation, you wouldn¡¯t be able to see, because light has to reflect off your eyes for you to see. Or you¡¯d just be a pair of floating eyeballs.¡±

    Toru winced at the thought, imagining herself as a pair of floating eyes, and felt incredibly relieved that it wasn¡¯t the case. The other students, having snapped out of their shock, also cringed at the thought.

    ¡°So, go back and train your quirk,¡± Shin said. ¡°Until you learn to control it, please wear something.¡±

    Hearing this, All Might spoke kindly to Toru, "Yeah, you can head back. That revelation must¡¯ve been a bit of a shock. And it looks like you''re not ready to participate in the battle training anyway."

    Toru nodded but asked Shin shyly, ¡°Do you know a way to train my quirk so that I could control it?¡± To which Shin replied, ¡°Not currently, but I will think it up and tell you later.¡±

    ¡°Thank you very much, Shin,¡± She said as she rushed back to the changing room. ¡°I will return your coat afterwards.¡±

    Once the fiasco was over, All Might resumed his speech, wrapping it up by providing a brief explanation of the upcoming activity. The class was then divided into pairs, but Shin volunteered to remain by himself, which resulted in a total of ten duos, excluding him.

    All Might proceeded to elaborate on the exercise. It was designed as a two-versus-two scenario, where each match would consist of one duo acting as villains and the other as heroes. The villains¡¯ task was to hide a bomb within a building and either defend it until the 15-minute timer expired or eliminate the heroes. Meanwhile, the heroes¡¯ goal was to locate and neutralize the bomb while overcoming the villains before time ran out.

    Understanding the fixture, Shin asked, ¡°What am I supposed to do? Who will I fight against since there was no one left?¡±

    To this, All Might answered with a grin, ¡°You will be in the hero team, against me, who will be the villain.¡± The entire class was surprised with this match-up and began murmuring among themselves.

    ¡°How lucky!¡±

    ¡°To think he would get to fight All Might!¡±

    ¡°He would definitely lose, but it would be quite an experience for him.¡±

    ¡°Oh, how I envy his position right now. I should have volunteered.¡±

    Shin ignored the conversations around him and simply nodded at All Might with a smile. He was genuinely surprised by the arrangement and felt excited about the chance to fight All Might, the hero who had even defeated All For One once. Shin was confident that, while he might not yet be able to defeat All For One, he could at least fight him to a draw. And with All Might being a bad matchup for his abilities, Shin felt sure of his victory.

    As the battles started, his classmates showed off impressive strategies and creative ways to use their quirks. Shin didn¡¯t overlook this but instead paid close attention, analysing their fights carefully to spot their mistakes. After each duo finished their match, he worked with All Might to give advice, helping them see their faults and suggesting ways to improve. This act of his was greatly appreciated by his classmates. Among all the battles, two of them amazed Shin the most.

    The first was a match where Shihai and Ochaco acted as the villains. Shihai, with his shadow quirk, and Ochaco, with her anti-gravity quirk, made for an unlikely but surprisingly effective team. Their opponents were Shoto and Izuku, two of the strongest in the class, with Shoto¡¯s half-hot half-cold quirk and Nirengeki¡¯s twin impact quirk. Anyone watching would have assumed that Shoto and Nirengeki would win easily. But to everyone¡¯s surprise, it was Shihai and Ochaco who won.

    The moment All Might started the match, Shihai used his quirk to blend into the shadows, taking Ochaco with him. Moving stealthily, they approached their opponents, and Ochaco managed to touch them, activating her quirk. This left both Shoto and Nirengeki floating helplessly in the air, completely unprepared for such a situation. While they tried to locate the bomb, their floating condition made proper movement almost impossible. Taking advantage of this, Shihai and Ochaco used hit-and-run tactics to disrupt their efforts.

    By the time the 15-minute timer ended, the villains were declared the winners. Their classmates, watching the match on a screen, were stunned. This battle made it clear that victory isn¡¯t just about powerful quirks but how cleverly they are used.

    The second battle that impressed Shin wasn¡¯t because of a great fight or strategy but because of one person¡ªSetsuna Tokage. Her quirk, which allowed her to split her body into multiple pieces, might have seemed odd or even gross at first glance. But in the match, she showed just how useful it could be for gathering information during a fight. Setsuna understood her quirk¡¯s strength and used it perfectly, playing the biggest role in her team¡¯s victory. She was paired with Koji Koda, whose quirk didn¡¯t contribute much to the fight, making her performance even more impressive.

    These battles, along with several other remarkable performances during the day, filled Shin with a growing sense of pride in his classmates. While he recognized that they were not yet at their peak in terms of power or skill, he was certain of their potential to grow into exceptional heroes in the future. Shin believed that with time, effort, and the right guidance, this class would achieve incredible heights and resolved help them reach their fullest potential. He even envisioned a day when he would feel genuine pride in their accomplishments.

    Nevertheless, once all the group battles were over, it was finally Shin''s turn to face All Might and was presently standing in front of the building that had the bomb for the match. He took a deep breath, activated Force Manipulation and lifted off into the sky. He consequently wrapped his body with a translucent flowing armor using Force Manifestation as his body took on a slight bluish glow.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    He then used his newly created, Force Pulse to investigate which floor the bomb and All Might were on. He located both on the top floor, so he dropped down to the fourth floor, while still flying, and started to move toward the stairs.

    Once he reached there, he began ascending through the stairway to the top floor. He did this entirely while simultaneously maintaining complete silence.

    Now how should I do this? Ah! I know. This will be fun. Haha!

    Upon reaching the top floor, right outside the room where All Might and the bomb were located, Shin smiled and employed Force Manifestation to swiftly created a dome-shaped translucent shield around the bomb. Without wasting a moment, he propelled the dome with immense force towards the opposite wall. The shield-enclosed bomb smashed through the wall in an instant and began plummeting downward, tumbling out of the building.

    Shin jumped out of the building and swiftly flew toward the falling bomb. He reached it just in time, grabbing it with both hands, but as he did, he noticed All Might charging toward him, preparing to deliver a powerful punch. Without hesitation, Shin caught the punch with his bare hands, using his Force Manifestation to absorb all the kinetic energy. The look of confusion and surprise on All Might¡¯s face as his punch was stopped so easily was a sight that Shin couldn¡¯t help but appreciate.

    Rather than storing the energy he absorbed, Shin chose to use it immediately. He redirected the force to propel himself in the same direction as All Might¡¯s punch. The sudden burst of speed allowed him to break free from All Might¡¯s reach, but the Symbol of Peace wasn¡¯t one to give up easily. He quickly closed the gap, chasing Shin with determination.

    Shin knew he needed to keep moving to avoid getting caught. He used his speed and agility to dart from one place to another, carefully positioning himself to confuse All Might. His objective was to find a spot where he could hide long enough to deactivate the bomb without being interrupted. The chase continued for a while, with All Might staying close behind, but Shin¡¯s manoeuvres, in addition to the two skills, Intent Counter and Force Pulse, working in the background, kept him at least one step ahead from his opponent.

    Finally, Shin managed to lose All Might in the maze of buildings. Taking advantage of the moment, he rushed into a nearby structure, quickly worked to disable the bomb, and once it was neutralized, he exited, ready to face All Might once again.

    ¡°I have deactivated the bomb; you lose, All Might,¡± said Shin as he flew towards All Might.

    ¡°I know, and congratulations for tricking me. I thought you couldn¡¯t use your quirk without eye contact, and that was a mistake.¡± All Might shook his head in frustration. Then his eyes glinted with a competitive look, ¡°But well, do you want to end it here, or do you wish to fight me?¡±

    ¡°Of course, I wish to fight you.¡± Shin replied without hesitation taking up a stance, while bring out his crimson pole that he hadn¡¯t used yet. All Might smiled at this reply and voiced, ¡°Then bring it on, student Shin.¡±

    As soon as he heard this, Shin hopped toward All Might, engaging in close combat. He threw a jab aimed at All Might''s head, followed by a quick roundhouse kick. But All Might easily dodged both, his speed far surpassing Shin''s. Shin quickly adjusted, spinning his polearm in an attempt to catch All Might off guard. However, All Might sidestepped it again.

    Shin propelled himself backward, briefly floating in the air with before landing on a nearby building. He immediately launched himself forward again.

    All Might threw a very powerful punch toward Shin¡¯s chest. With a smooth motion, Shin absorbed the kinetic energy, causing the blow to lose all its power. All Might¡¯s arm shook from the lack of impact, but Shin remained unaffected outwardly. Yet inwardly, his mind was racing with calculation trying to find out the best way to win the fight.

    That punch was quite powerful. It nearly filled up all my force reserves when I absorbed the kinetic energy. It would have quite devasting to this entire place if I had dodged that.

    Shin quickly stepped forward and used some of this excess to push All Might back a few feet. He then manifested tens of orbs of concentrated energy with Force Manifestation, launching it at All Might, who was unprepared. The orbs exploded on contact, sending a huge shockwave across the ground.

    As the dust cleared, All Might stood mostly unharmed, though slightly more cautious. Yet there were small injuries present all across his body. Shin didn¡¯t waste time and used Force Manipulation to create a heavy pressure field around him. The air thickened, forcing All Might to brace himself against the growing pressure. Shin pressed forward; eyes locked on All Might. He quickly moved again, dodging a powerful counterattack from All Might.

    The battle continued for a long time, with each one using their skills to keep up with the other''s pace. As the fight progressed, Shin started to feel the pressure of his own power.

    His force reserves were vast¡ªso large that he hadn¡¯t needed to think about its limits. He could absorb and store kinetic energy effortlessly, but now, facing All Might, the force was accumulating faster than he could manage. He found himself having to direct the kinetic energy, rather than simply absorbing it, to avoid overloading himself. His reserves weren''t enough on its own anymore. The flow of energy was too much, too fast. His mind raced, trying to keep up with the battle, his concentration focusing on absorbing, storing or directing the force adequately to continue the fight. But it wasn¡¯t easy.

    All Might hadn¡¯t even begun using his full power yet, and already, Shin could feel his limits being tested. As soon as All Might unleashed his full power, the intensity drastically increased. The pressure on Shin escalated, forcing him to act quickly. Every time All Might moved, Shin was forced to direct even more kinetic energy, his body straining with the effort. The sheer force of All Might''s strikes, even when directed elsewhere, was pushing Shin to his limits.

    Yet, the pressure on All Might was rising too. All Might¡¯s muscles were straining, and the intensity of the battle was taking its toll on him as well. His speed and power were being pushed to the limit, especially as he realized that Shin¡¯s quirk wasn¡¯t something he could easily overpower.

    Every punch or kick he threw was met with the weird sensation, losing most of its power and momentum, making it harder to land a proper blow. The concentrated blue orbs that Shin manifested weren¡¯t helping either. Each time one exploded near him, the impact shook his body, causing bruises to form underneath his uniform.

    One particularly direct hit left him with a deep cut across his shoulder, blood dripping down his arm. To make matters worse, Shin had created a constant pressure field around him. The intense pressure weighed heavily on All Might, slowing his movements. He could feel his speed decreasing, each step harder to take as the force in the air made it feel as though he was running against a wall.

    The power he was employing was enormous, but even with his overwhelming forte, All Might found himself needing to hold back to avoid overexertion. His body had limits, and pushing too hard could leave him vulnerable. Maintaining such a high level of force¡ªagainst someone who could absorb and redirect it¡ªwas taxing him in ways he wasn¡¯t used to.

    The battle was a stalemate, both warriors locked in a relentless clash, neither willing to yield. Both of them could keep going, but Shin knew they needed to end it soon. All Might, sensing the same, didn¡¯t let up. The tension in the air was palpable. Neither side could afford to make a mistake. The fight was reaching a boiling point, each of them using everything they had to press forward, and yet neither could break the other. It was only a matter of time before one of them had to make a final move.

    Shin shouted while dodging a powerful strike, ¡°Let''s end this in one move. Use everything you have, All Might.¡±

    ¡°Sure, you have survived my punches. You deserve to face my absolute peak power.¡± All Might responded. Then he assured Shin to ensure he doesn¡¯t hold back, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about any injury; I have called Recovery Girl already, predicting this exact situation.¡±

    Shin nodded resolutely before rocketing toward All Might, launching a powerful thrust with his polearm. He poured every ounce of the force he had accumulated into the attack, imbuing it with the full power of his stored energy. In response, All Might yelled his battle cry, "PLUS ULTRA!" as he summoned the full force of his most devastating punch.

    The two attacks collided with tremendous force, sending a shockwave that obliterated every building in the vicinity. The sheer power of the clash reverberated through the air, leaving nothing untouched. Throughout the exchange, Shin continuously absorbed the kinetic energy from All Might¡¯s strike, transferring it into his own attack, barely able to match the raw intensity of All Might''s punch.

    When the dust finally settled and the echoes of the explosion faded, both warriors took a step back.

    Their eyes met, and without hesitation, they spoke in unison, "A draw, then." The destruction around them was undeniable, and with that, they both agreed to cease the fight, acknowledging the sheer devastation they had caused.

    After taking a long look at the wreckage around them, Shin chuckled and said, "I think we went a little overboard for a simple test."

    "Yeah, I think so too.¡± All Might sighed, shaking his head with an apologetic grin, ¡°Oh, I''m definitely going to hear a lot from Cementos and Nezu about this."

    Shin felt a bit sorry for All Might after hearing this, as they walked back to the students, who had been watching the fight safely from the observation room on a screen. Luckily, the artificial town they had fought in was built for situations like this, so nothing outside the area was affected. If it hadn¡¯t been for that, a whole city could have been wiped out.

    Shin noticed the students were amazed by his powers and began asking him questions. He smiled and replied, ¡°The only reason I tied with All Might is because my quirk is a counter to his.¡± He went on to explain how his quirk allowed him to negate and manipulate physical forces, letting him absorb and redirect energy. Afterward, All Might wrapped up the class, and the students headed back to their classrooms to continue their studies, which consisted of normal classes for the rest of the day.