Hey guys! It is I, the phoenix, FINALLY back with an ACTUAL chaoter of Event Horizon!

First of all, I'd like to apologize for not updating this for so long, but due to all the flamers on this and on Radix Point, mainly just the Fate elitists who hamstring me for every Nasuverse rule I accidentally break because I'm just an anime boy who never read the VNs, I sort of put this story on hiatus.

However, recently, I managed to toughen up and said to myself 'screw those guys, I can write what I want as long as I stay true to my own ideals' and got cracking on this and Radix Point once again.

So now I'm back writing Event Horizon, and in this chapter we finally get some progress towards One For All, and a slight glimpse into Izuku's character and maturity.

This chapter is actually so big that I had to separate it into two halves because I couldn't cram everything I wanted to. Even split in two, this chapter is a solid 8k of actual content.

The Servant interactions are in part 2, unfortunately.

Hopefully, it won't take me as long as it did to get this chapter out because my engines are running again.

Anyways, I think I've taken up enough of your time, and I bet you guys are excited to get back to Event Horizon, so without further ado, let's get on with the story!

Chapter 7 - Master and Servant [Part 1]

[You know that the Servants would willingly help you with this, right? Especially Jeanne and Galahad.]

"Yeah, I know." said Izuku, grunting as he pushed an old refrigerator off the beach. Having gotten it out of the immediate vicinity, he wiped his forehead with a towel that Emerald gave him, and got right back to work, clearing the trash from Dagobah Municipal Beach.

"But I don't want to inconvenience anyone. This is something I can do on my own. Besides, with today, I'll be done."

He'd been at it for months now, and while it had been slow going at first, the strength he'd gained from training alongside Mirio and Tamaki had helped him pull through.

In only six months, he'd been able to clean up the entire beach.

Why had he done this seemingly random task?

Well, six months back, he'd been playing chess with Mr. Kaito, an old man who ran a bakery at the edge of Mustafu.

The man had remarked that Dagobah was once a beautiful place, until illegal littering and pollution had turned the place into a veritable junkyard.

It was tragic, and Izuku had been affected by the sheer heartbreak in the seventh year old man's voice.

Mr. Kaito had apparently met his wife there, and had a deep connection to Dagobah, which was why he could only look on sadly as the beach which he had nothing but fond memories of got spoiled by human wastefulness.

The water currents around that area moved in such a way that any trash dumped into the waters would end up there, and countless people had taken advantage of that fact when illegally dumping their trash, leading to the beach going from a serene tourist spot to a scrap-infested wasteland.

The elderly man had remarked wanting to see the beach in its old condition one more time, just as Izuku trapped him in a checkmate and won, for the very first time since they had started playing.

Izuku had gone home that day, happy that his level of skill had risen to the point where he could defeat a former Nationalist, but Mr. Kaito's story about Dagobah made him think deeply about what it meant to be a Hero.

Did being a Hero only constitute beating up Villains?

No, it didn't. That was a question he had already asked himself and answered.

There were still many evils in society that even All Might's fists couldn't smash, such as racism, pollution, and the like. Those were issues that couldn't be solved by the Pro Heroes of today, who focused on more flashy acts like defeating Villains. It was up to the people to solve those problems on their own, because no Quirk in the World could fix them.

It was just a fact of life, and something that bothered Izuku.

It led him to wonder why humans were their own worst enemy.

Anyways, he had resolved to do something about the state of Dagobah, as it was something he could do in order to help people, which meant it was something he would do, if only so that the beach's former beauty could be seen once again.

...

...

...

But Mr. Kaito had died the day after their final chess match.

Izuku had been devastated at the loss of the kind old man, especially since he'd died with that ache in his heart, the ache of never seeing the same Dagobah he'd once met his loved one at.

He had died without his final desire being fulfilled.

Izuku had started clearing the beach the moment he returned home that day, determined to clean Dagobah so that Mr. Kaito's spirit could rest easy, and so that people who had similarly held such fond memories of the place could once again gaze upon the beach in all its splendor.

It was what a Hero should do, and a service for the community.

And now, after six months, he was nearly finished.

Maybe, once he'd finished pushing that old laundry machine off the beach, the old man would be at peace somewhere in the afterlife.

[I guess that's true. Still, it's impressive that you cleaned up a beach of this size by yourself in such a short period of time. I've seen the pictures of this place before you got to work, and I can't believe this pristine beach is the same place.]

"Mhm." said Izuku, walking over to the last piece of trash, the laundry machine.

He put his hands on his lips and allowed himself a small smile.

With this, Dagobah Beach would once again be trash-free.

"With a little bit of effort, even an average person like me can do something good for the community." he said pleasantly, as he prepared to push the washing machine.

[Average? Yeah right. You're like a freaking shonen protagonist.] muttered Emerald to himself, floating in the air near Izuku as he began to push.

After a few minutes, Izuku finally pushed the washing machine over to the other pieces of trash that he had grouped together at the very edge of the beach.

He wiped himself off again and drunk a bottle of water, before plopping down on a bench nearby, and asking a question that had been on his mind for a while.

"Emerald-san, how did people learn to summon Heroic Spirits?"

It was something that had been buggin him. Since he'd accidentally lost all the Class Cards and bonded to Emerald, he'd been hearing the term Servant being used over and over again, even by himself sometimes, to describe the Heroic Spirits who were now contracted to him.

What he wanted to know was how?

Who had developed the process of calling forth a Heroic Spirit of legend from the Throne of Heroes and binding him or her to themselves like a common familiar?

How had the Mages of mankind achieved that power?

[Hmm... now that's a good question.]

Emerald floated around to rest in his lap, tapping his faceplate with one of his wings, collecting his thoughts.

[To understand the Heroic Spirit Summoning Ritual, we need to first talk about the event that... popularized it, so to speak; the Murder Death Ki- I mean, the Holy Grail War.]

Izuku raised an eyebrow. What had Emerald been about to call it?

[Basically, the vanilla Holy Grail War was an event that took place every 60 years in the town of Fuyuki, right here in Japan. It was created by the heads of three prominent Magus Families; the Einzbern, the Toshaka, and the Maikiri, later known as the Matou in 1970. What they basically advertised to the wider Moonlit (Supernatural) World was; 'Hey, we've got this Holy Grail over here in Japan that can grant your dearest wishes! So if you see any red markings on your hands, and you haven't been to a tattoo parlor recently, then grab yourself a Servant and come on over to sunny Fuyuki, where we're arranging a city-wide Death Battle to see who can grab the Holy Grail and get their wishes granted!']

"Well, that could only end well." said Izuku sarcastically, something that was out of character for him, massaging his temples.

He had a pretty good idea he knew where this was going.

And it wasn't in a good direction.

[You said it. The Holy Grail War was a Battle Royale that took place between 7 Master-Servant pairs. The pair to kill all the others would be the winner and get the Holy Grail. The Masters were selected by the Grail beforehand, and would manifest Command Seals. Then, they would Summon a Heroic Spirit, who would be bound to them by a contract, symbolized by the Command Seals, which allowed up to three absolute order a Master could levy on their Servant, whether the Heroic Spirit liked it or not.]

"That's horrible!" said Izuku, aghast. "They're basically enslaving mankind's greatest heroes and forcing them to fight and die for their own selfish gain! How could anyone be okay with this?!"

He'd felt awkward enough by having Heroic Spirits call him Master, but to think that they were usually enslaved and forced to do their Master's bidding was downright revolting.

He was glad he didn't have any Command Seals. But it reinforced the fact that he had to interact more with his Servants. They were people, not tools, weapons or slaves. He couldn't be like those other Masters out there. They were assisting him in his quest to gather all the Class Cards, and were contracted to him, meaning that he had an obligation to look after them in turn.

Emerald let out a snort at Izuku's statement.

[You'd be surprised how few people cared about that in the grand scheme of getting their deepest desires turned into reality. Mages, especially the modern ones, are amoral bastards who will cast aside their own friends and family in order to learn the secrets of Magecraft, and reach the Root, the origin of all things. In Magus society, things such as human experimentation are commonplace and only frowned upon when it threatens to expose the existence of the supernatural to the wider World. To them, enslaving a Heroic Spirit wasn't even a moral conundrum; in fact, many were eager to do it, hoping to meet Heroes from times long past and possibly learn their secrets. But still, it's not as one-sided as you might believe, even if you're right in believing that it isn't right in any way. You see, the Heroic Spirits get a sales pitch of their own too; 'Come over and serve a Master, kill all the other Servants, and get your wishes granted'.]

At this, Izuku's eyes widened. Things were starting to make a little more sense now.

After all, Command Seals could only give three orders, and could probably be worked around in some manner or another.

So why would a Heroic Spirit even bother serving somebody, especially people like the Magi of the Moonlit World?

The answer; because they got something out of it too.

If a wish was so valuable to them, people who had never truly experienced anything closely resembling adventure and hardship, then how much more valuable would it be for people like Heracles or Karna, who'd lived lives full of misfortune and tragedy?

[Many Heroes died with regrets, so this was like a second chance for them to right the wrongs that they may have committed and fulfill any wishes they had when they were alive. Considering the various Heroic Spirits out there, a lot of them had a reason to participate in the Holy Grail War. Some, like Tamamo, just want to live again and maybe find someone to love and be loved by, while others, like King Arthur, want to change their legends and reach a happier ending. The desires varied, but the Heroic Spirits were willing to participate in the Holy Grail War, barring a few exceptions, even if it meant lowering themselves to serve Masters.]

That was food for thought, but for Izuku, it didn't change the fact that the whole premise of the Holy Grail War was both horrifyingly logical and irrationally messed up.

He also realized that the Deck of Heroes altered this process slightly, making it so that Servants could only be summoned if they felt like it.

It was characterized by the ability to summon themselves even without him calling them. When he called upon their power, it was more like a request than a command in his case, which they could choose to answer if they were agreeable.

Even the Class Card of the Heroic Spirit in question would go inert if they didn't want to assist him.

Which also made Izuku realize that the Heroic Spirits that were currently working with him were doing it while getting nothing for their trouble.

There was no Holy Grail to grant their wishes here.

The way it looked right now, the Heroic Spirits were kind of like his unpaid interns.

That thought made him queasy.

Any good relationship required effort from all the involved parties, which meant he had to offer something to the table as well. Even if they didn't complain or ask anything, Izuku wouldn't feel right just leaving them be like that.

He had to do something about it, but what?

What could he, a common nobody, possibly give them in return for their assistance?

[Hey, don't feel bad.] said Emerald, whacking him lightly on the head with one wing. [I honestly don't think any Heroic Spirit under your command will find a problem with you as their Master, even with no Holy Grail in sight. Even if the Servants you have now are all people who are rather amicable and easy to get along with, something you won't always see, you're not the kind of person who would elicit those kind of feelings from them. You won't understand it now, but you will in time; that much, I guarantee.]

Izuku still felt tense, but there was nothing he could do now but listen to Emerald, so he just decided to let it go for the time being.

But he still would do everything in his power to treat the Heroic Spirits right.

That was a non-negotiable promise.

[Anyways, getting back on track, a Master-Servant relationship is something extremely important for the Holy Grail War, because a Master and a Servant who aren't compatible or cannot get along won't get very far. Masters have to be mindful to cater to their Servant's specific needs and personality quirks. You could say, although the Servant is the inferior party in this relationship, there are still a lot of responsibilities that fall on the Masters, but I'm thinking that, you being you, you've already figured that part out, so I won't talk about it anymore. So we should talk more about the Servants themselves along with their summoning, which are what you want to know about.]

Emerald hummed to himself for a moment, before speaking once more.

[I'll spare you the technical explanations on Class Containers and the like for now, since it isn't important, but basically, Servants are are summoned into one of seven basic Classes, which I've already told you about; Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, and Berserker. Extra Classes may rarely be summoned, although the Ruler Class is only summoned as a mediator for the War to prevent people from breaking the rather loose rules, since Rulers like Jeanne are people who have no wish for the Grail. Anyways, the Summoning is only possible thanks to the Holy Grail supporting the Masters, otherwise it wouldn't work due to e massive amount of magical power required, which is why no Heroic Spirits are seen running around in the period between the Grail Wars, once again, with a few exceptions, but those cases are far from the norm. Anyways, when a Servant is killed, their soul is absorbed by the Lesser Grail, which is usually the Einzbern participant, and-]

"Wait, the Holy Grail is a person?!" asked Izuku in shock.

[Well, yes and no. First of all, the Holy Grail in this scenario is not the same one from legend, but is actually a man-made structure that was created in the pretense of being a wish-granting machine. It is divided into the Greater Grail, which is its main body, in a manner of speaking, and sort of like an altar to summon the actual Grail, and the Lesser Grail, which is like a storage tank for the souls of the defeated Heroic Spirits. Until now, the Lesser Grail has always been a person as far as my data banks go, so I can't really answer otherwise. Anyways, the energy from the defeated Heroic Spirits is used to call down the actual Grail and then grant the victor's wish, before it disappears and goes into hibernation for the next 60 years, building up magical energy and resetting the cycle.]

"The Lesser Grail also dies in the process, right?" said Izuku, glaring at the ground.

Emerald hesitated for a moment, but ultimately decided to answer.

[Unfortunately, yes. As the Heroic Spirit Death Toll increases, the Lesser Grail's body condition starts to deteriorate rapidly, and most die only days into the War. The Lesser Grail Unit still remains functional even after the body has died, and eventually does its business before terminating, requiring a new Lesser Grail to be present for the next War. According to my data banks, there was only one who was a special case, but that was because she wasn't born to be the Lesser Grail like her predecessors, but was later modified to become one. She did die, however, but it is theorized that saving her could have been possible, even if extremely difficult.]

"H-how barbaric." said Izuku, trembling with rage. "This whole War, just the concept of enslaving a Hero and condemning an innocent person to death, the needless bloodshed; it's just so wrong! The more I hear about it, the more I realize just how awful it truly is! Is this what Heroic Spirits were meant to be summoned for?!"

He put his face in his hands as he tried to calm down, knowing that getting worked up about the matter wasn't going to help him. He was getting too emotional for something that was no longer a thing in his World anymore.

[That's what I was about to tell you; it isn't. The Holy Grail War, which you're completely right about by the way, was the first time Heroic Spirit Summoning was done in recorded history. However, the Holy Grail War was not the origin of the Heroic Spirit Summoning Ritual. In fact, the Ritual used in the Holy Grail Wars is a bastardized version, twisted to be used for selfish means. While the evidence is still scanty, it appears the Ritual was actually meant to summon seven Heroic Spirits of incredible power... to fight an equally powerful threat. That is the true nature of the Heroic Spirit Summoning Ritual, and that of Servants; they are meant to be guardians who answer the call to protect humanity. To be honest, you're actually using them for a reason closer to their intended purpose than most other Masters.]

In the end, the answer to his initial question was a rather simple one, all in all, one that made a great deal of sense.

"One more thing; nobody has ever actually won the Holy Grail War, right?" he asked.

It was a sneaking suspicion he had the moment he'd heard about the War's premise. Some things were too good to be true, and there had to be some sort of catch

Emerald laughed at the question.

[As far as I know? Nope. Not even one. There's a bunch of reasons for that, especially since the whole War was just a trap to begin with, but none of them are relevant right now. Fuyuki is gone, and there is no way a Holy Grail War could possibly take place in your World anymore due to the collapse of Magecraft in the present Age. As far as we're concerned, the Holy Grail War is just a figment of a past that has long since ceased being relevant.]

Fuyuki...

That name sounded familiar.

Izuku took out his smartphone, and opened one of his folders, scanning through some information before his eyes widened.

"No way..." he said.

[What is it?] asked Emerald, floating out of Izuku's lap to take a look at the screen before he froze in place, the small emeralds that made up his eyes growing comically larger. [I don't believe it...]

You see, the reason they were so shocked was because the document Izuku had pulled up on his phone was an old construction record from about a century ago, right around Mustafu's creation.

Mustafu was the name given to the city built over the ruins of an old one, which was almost completely razed to the ground in a mysterious incident.

The name of that destroyed city... was Fuyuki.

break

Izuku and Emerald eventually got up, both of them deep in thought over the recent revelation.

Mustafu was once Fuyuki City, the site of the Holy Grail War.

The Deck of Heroes and Emerald had mysteriously made their way here, and a strange reaction had caused the Class Cards to be spread out across the Mirror Dimension, with Mustafu once again being the epicenter.

Could this all be connected somehow?

It was impossible, from a logical standpoint, considering that magic was now practically dead, but Izuku couldn't help but wonder if the incidents were more than just a coincidence.

After all, it wasn't just the supernatural; Mustafu had other things that made it unique. U.A. High School had been built in the city, numerous corporations and the Endeavour Agency also set up shop in the quaint little city.

He shook his head, as if swatting an annoying fly.

Becoming a conspiracy theorist wouldn't help anyone.

He looked at all the trash he had rounded up, and prepared to haul it off to the Mustafu Landfill, where they should have gone in the first place. It was literally down the street, so it wasn't too much of a hassle.

Plus, he now got to see the beach as it was before, serene and sparkling, which lightened his mood considerably and made him wish Mr. Kaito could be at ease now.

He smiled fondly, thinking about the old baker, before he was drawn out of his thoughts by Emerald tugging on his shirt.

[Izuku, someone's coming!] hissed the Kaleidostick, retracting his handle and disappearing deep into Izuku's right pocket.

"Excuse me, young man." came a voice from behind him, and Izuku turned to see a rather tall man who, in his honest opinion, looked like a skeleton with skin.

His eyes were strange too, with black sclera that bordered bright blue eyes, something Izuku realized was no doubt a side effect of surgery, and he had no eyebrows, youth he had long blonde hair, with two bangs extended in front of him like goat horns.

His frame was sharp and angular, and he had a long neck. He was dressed in a white shirt and khaki cargo pants that seemed at least five sizes too big.

Though he didn't really stand out, mainly thanks to the wide variety of shapes and sizes that humans could take in this Age of Quirks, he was still certainly extraordinary.

Strangely enough, the man seemed to have a visible presence, not unlike one of his Heroic Spirits, something which threw him for a loop.

"Can I help you sir?" asked Izuku kindly.

"Are you the person who cleaned up this beach?" he asked curiously, looking around at the newly cleared coastline in slight awe.

Huh, it appeared this man was someone who had once seen the beach in its original glory.

But why did he seem so familiar somehow?

He was missing something here, and it was starting to niggle at the back of his head until he ruthlessly quashed it, focusing on the conversation at hand. It would be disrespectful to just zone out in the middle of a conversation like that.

"Yes, I did." said Izuku, with a small smile. "Did you come to this beach before, Sir?"

The man chuckled at that, a smile of his own appearing.

"No, I can't say that I have spent time here, but I do know that this beach once used to be a popular place until the dumping took place, and it ended up like a junkyard." he said. "Young man, if you don't mind me asking, what compelled you to clean the entire beach on your own?"

Izuku's smile slightly dimmed at that as he remembered Mr. Kaito, but he composed himself and answered the man's question.

"I had a friend who met his wife here when he was younger." said Izuku, looking out at the beach himself. "The last time we met, he told me about how sad he was that public dumping led to a beautiful place like this getting closed down and abandoned."

The man's eyes widened at that, understanding the implication.

"Is he-? Oh, I'm so sorry for bringing it up. Do forgive me." he apologized, slightly embarrassed at intruding on such a sensitive matter.

"There's nothing to apologize for." said Izuku pleasantly. "He lived a full life, even if he was unable to get his last wish granted. But... it made me realize that there are several fragments of evil in our society that the Pros neglect. I mean no disrespect to the Heroes, but things like illegal dumping and racism don't really attract their attention, which means they go on, unchecked, in the background. The Hero I want to be is someone who fights all the evils of society, not just the ones that throw around Quirks. That's why I wanted to clean up Dagobah, and make it so that people can come back here and enjoy its beauty. It took me a couple months, but the beach is finally all cleaned up."

Izuku suddenly realized that he was beginning to monologue when Emerald subtly poked him, and flushed as he realized he had begun a speech of his own when he had been asked a simple question.

"I-I'm so sorry." he stammered awkwardly, gesticulating wildly. "I just went off on a tangent, and-"

"There's nothing to apologize about." said the man, repeating Izuku's earlier words. "I'm actually glad that at least one person among your generation understands what it means to be a true Hero."

The blonde man seemed to be genuinely happy, as there was a skeletal grin on his face that looked ghastly on his sunken face, but at the same time, didn't really elicit any fear.

There was also a slight look of appraisal in his gaze, and for a moment, Izuku got the strangest feeling that he was being subtly judged or tested for something, before the sensation vanished without a trace.

"Youngsters these days only see Pro Heroes as glamorous costumed warriors who fight Villains and save the day, and more subtle things like this completely fly over their heads. Unfortunately, that image has come due to several factors, such as the mainstream media, for one, which makes a spectacle out of them." said the man, letting out a ragged sigh.

Shaking his head, he turned to Izuku again. "You said you want to be a Hero, right?" said the man whose name he still didn't know.

"I do." said Izuku resolutely. "Originally, I wanted to be a Hero like All Might. It was my dream ever since I could walk on two feet."

"Originally? What changed?" asked the man curiously.

"I didn't manifest a Quirk." said Izuku simply, and the man's eyes widened in realization, and some other emotion he couldn't quite identify. "Even then, I wanted, no I needed to become a Hero like All Might. Because I want to help people just like he does. I knew that I wouldn't get much in the name of cash or fame if I somehow managed to become the first Quirkless Hero, but that didn't really matter to me. I was never in it for those reasons to begin with."

Izuku looked down at the sand, thinking back to the times that had shaped his dreams and ideals into what they were today.

He didn't know why he was telling all this to someone he had just met, but there was something about the man that just seemed to put him at ease, almost as if he was someone Izuku could confide in.

Since Emerald, who could actively monitor his nervous system to tell if someone was using their Quirk on him to influence his perception or mind, wasn't ringing any alarms, he knew that the man didn't mean any harm.

"I suppose it was later that I realized that no amount of determination would make my dream work the way I wanted it to. Becoming a Hero like All Might... was something that was never meant to be for someone like me." said Izuku.

True, that may have changed, considering Nezu had taken him on as an apprentice, but even then, Izuku had the impression that he would be more of a Hero who worked things behind the scenes like Sir Nighteye or Nezu himself than someone like All Might or Endeavor.

Also, there was Emerald and the magical powers he now had, but those weren't truly his, and would probably disappear as soon as he collected all the cards, so he couldn't rely on them.

"Why is that?" asked the man. "You cleaned up this whole beach on your own in just a few months. With that kind of determination, I'm sure that you could become a great Hero, even without a Quirk."

Izuku smiled gratefully at the man's complement. After he'd been helping out around Mustafu for a few years, the amount of people who had told him that had drastically increased in number, and it warmed his heart each time.

After being condemned as a failure in his younger years, it definitely felt good to have his dreams acknowledged.

"Because the people don't want a Quirkless Hero."

That statement threw the gaunt man for a loop, and he looked slightly confused. Izuku could understand, it was something that many didn't pick up on at first glance.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said. A Pro Hero also needs to be accepted by the people before they can save anyone. People would never listen to a Quirkless Hero. They wouldn't feel safe around a Quirkless Hero, and that could lead to them getting hurt because they would never accept the words of a Quirkless Hero with the same weight as they would the words of another Hero like Edgeshot. Heroes can pull off heroic feats partially because the public also cooperates with them, allowing them to save more lives. A good example would be Gang Orca's debut, right here in Mustafu. A bank robbery was taking place, and Gang Orca intervened. One of the robbers had an Explosive Quirk, and was about to detonate the building with some charges he had placed, and so Gang Orca gave specific instructions to the civilians and tried to lead them to safety. However, they were scared by his appearance and thought that he was another Villain, and refused to listen to his claims that he wasn't. They didn't follow his instructions... and all of them died."

Izuku quieted down at that last part, before turning to the stunned man with a small smile.

"Gang Orca immediately began to involve himself with advertising and media, and within a few months it became widely known that he was in fact a Hero, despite looking like a Villain. Only then did he go back to Hero work, and then, he was able to succeed and flourish without any problems. The public trusted him then, and as such he faced minimal problems trying to help people." said Izuku, finishing his small lecture. "You see, Sir, the people themselves would never trust or accept a Quirkless Hero. That's just the way our society is. If I tried to become a Pro Hero, no one would trust me to rescue them, because in their eyes, I would be someone even weaker than them, trying to act like a big shot. In this day and age, a person's competency and potential are judged by what Quirk they have, not what they have done or what they could do. I wanted to become a Hero like All Might, but I realized that the dream I had could lead innocent people to their deaths through situations like that one. That would make me the Villain, and a failure as a Hero."

"That... is excellent insight, young man." breathed the man, deep in thought. "So what do you intend to do now?"

"Well, I guess the future is somewhat uncertain for me, because there have been a bunch of developments recently, but my end goal is to help as many people as I can in any way I can. That's always been my dream. Even if I couldn't achieve it the way I wanted to normally, that doesn't mean it has changed in the least." said Izuku, but before he could speak any further, his phone went off in his pocket, and he checked his messages and found one from his mother.

He could see why. He was running a little later than usual, and wasn't there in time for breakfast.

"I'm so sorry for taking up your time, young man." said the blonde skeleton, understanding what the message was probably about. "But I thank you for sharing your views with me today. You've definitely given me a lot to think about."

"It's no problem at all, Sir!" said Ozuku quickly, embarrassed. "I hope you have a nice day!"

"Oh, before you go; young man, what is your name?"

"Izuku Midoriya, Sir!"

"My name is Toshinori Yagi, Midoriya-san, and for what it's worth, I believe you'll become a great Hero." he said, smiling at him.

"Thank you very much, Yagi-san!" said Izuku with a bright smile.

A lot of thoughts seemed to be running through the man's frame, as he waved goodbye, and both of them parted ways, Izuku moving the trash to the location where it should have gone, while Toshinori walked down a street, deep in thought.

The moment the man had gotten out of sight, Emerald peeked his head out from Izuku's pocket, making sure no one else was there, before he flew out and hovered in front of his eyes.

While Emerald didn't have a face, Izuku had learned to read his emotions somewhat based on the way his features shifted.

And for some reason, he seemed to be very surprised.

[Izuku... that man... was radiating magical energy. Enough to power the Mage's Association's Rituals for a month without any issue. Hell, even Casters would be put to shame by how much he had.]

"What?" asked Izuku in disbelief. "I thought you said there was no one with Magical Energy left in the World beyond the paltry amount I have!"

[Yeah, I thought that was the case, but apparently, I'm wrong. That man... he also gave off a different vibe too, which makes things even crazier...]

"What do you mean?"

[Toshinori Yagi, whoever he is... gives off the same aura as a Heroic Spirit.]

break

"So why did you want to see me, Sir?" asked Toshinori as he sat in front of Nezu at the chimera's desk, awkwardly adjusting his oversized blue suit.

He'd certainly had an eventful day, if he did say so himself.

Because he'd finally found a worthy successor for One For All.

It was a meeting that had happened completely by accident, but Toshinori Yagi, or as he was better known, All Might, couldn't help but wonder if it was fate.

Izuku Midoriya.

That was the name of the child who he believed had the greatest potential to become the next Symbol of Peace.

He'd been impressed at first that the boy had actually cleaned up the entirety of Dagobah Muncipal Beach on his own.

Like he said, he hadn't actually seen the beach in its original state, but had read about it several times in a small section of the newspaper and had done a little research on it too.

Honestly, he was going out there to check it out himself and try to discreetly do something about it, but the green-haired boy had beaten him to the punch.

He hadn't thought too much of it then, but he had acknowledged that the boy had a powerful work ethic.

His evaluation had truly begun when he had asked the boy why he had cleaned up the beach.

When Izuku had described what being a Hero meant to him, it had struck a chord within him, and it was probably then that he decided to consider the boy as a possible candidate for One For All.

Some might call him impulsive for jumping the gun like that, but what people didn't realize was that punching things wasn't the only thing he knew how to do.

His mentors had taught him much more than how to fight, and one of those skills was how to read people.

Such an ability was necessary for a Hero, as they needed to know when someone was lying, and more importantly, to judge the kind of moves a Villain was going to make, and to see whether they had truly given up or not at the end of a battle.

Admittedly, he wasn't good at dealing with the results of his readings, at least when it came to people and not Villains, and tended to make things awkward, but that didn't mean he lacked the skill to do so.

The boy was a pure soul, a rarity in the World. Few could honestly fit that label. Even he wasn't a pure soul, at least not on Midoriya's level.

It was probably what had drawn his attention in the first place.

But it was nothing compared to how the rest of their conversation would effect him.

If telling the reason why he had tried to clean up the beach and telling what he believed a Hero should be had caused him to consider the boy as a possible candidate, then Izuku's analysis on his own dreams and the path he had chosen had cemented his decision and told him that he wasn't going to find anyone better.

For the first time in a rather long time, Toshinori had been well and truly stunned.

After all, he had never met a person who was so selfless that he would abandon the dream he possessed since he was a child not due to a lack of ability or effort, but for the sake of others?

People who aspired to be Heroes often claimed that they wanted to do so in order to save everyone like All Might did, but very few of those people were actually willing to make sacrifices towards that end.

And none of them had ever sacrificed their own ambition for the sake of helping people.

Especially those who had taken the brunt of society's scorn.

He had seen the look in the boy's eyes when he had described his Quirklessness, something which had admittedly formed a bond of kinship between them, as Toshinori too had come from nothing, although the pain in Izuku's gaze told him that the green-haired boy had it much worse than him.

It was something he could understand; when Toshinori was Izuku's age, Quirks still hadn't been fully accepted into society, and only about 40-50% of the population had them, meaning that Quirk Racism wasn't all that high, and lay in a precarious balance.

If the Quirkless suicide rates were anything to go by, this was clearly not the case in the current age.

Izuku clearly had a history of bullying, and yet he still found the strength to continue to help others in any way he could, and even gave up his dream of becoming a Pro because he didn't want to put people in danger.

Toshinori was impressed. Children that boy's age were more focused on getting into the dating game, experimenting, and trying to show off and look cool, while Izuku was running around doing public services and had a level of maturity that was practically unprecedented.

The boy's insight and his reason for becoming a Hero was just the icing on the cake.

The only reason he hadn't offered his Quirk then and there was because he didn't want to surprise the boy like that out of the blue and dump that kind of pressure on him.

He still had plenty of time to choose a successor, maybe even a few years, although his power was fading fast due to the injuries he had sustained fighting All For One.

Currently, he had about 14 hours a day in his Muscle Form, but he doubted it would stay that high for long, especially if he pushed himself too hard.

He had more than enough time to get to know the boy a little better, not to judge whether he was a worthy successor, because Izuku had already surpassed any possible test or criteria he could come up with, but to become a little more familiar with him before popping the question.

After all, the boy had no idea he was All Might nor did he have any knowledge on his circumstances, so some skeletal man coming in out of the blue, claiming to be All Might and offering a Quirk, might ring some alarm bells.

If he had some time to befriend the boy and become a little more familiar, he would know whether he would even accept One For All, considering he seemed to have moved on from his old dream of becoming a Pro, and even with the passage of his Quirk out of the subject, Izuku Midoriya seemed like the kind of person who would be an excellent confidant like his friend Naomasa Tsukauchi, successor or not.

Honestly, his decision was already set in stone.

The future of One For All depended on whether the boy accepted it or not.

"Well, Toshinori, the reason I've called you to U.A. on such short notice is to discuss a potential candidate to receive One For All from you." said Nezu stoically, causing Toshinori to wince.

His former principal really couldn't have picked a worse time for a conversation like this, literally only hours after he'd made his decision.

"Well, about that Sir..." he said awkwardly, fiddling with his tie.

"What is it?" asked the chimera, looking up at him with something akin to both curiousity and expectation.

"I've already found a successor I believe is worthy to receive One For All from me." said All Might, sagging slightly. "Just this morning, in fact."

"Oh, really?" asked Nezu curiously. He didn't see, to be upset in the least, but that was just to be expected from the principal, who likely had foreseen this very situation.

"Have you already passed down One For All or informed your candidate of your decision?"

"No." said Toshinori, shaking his head. "I didn't get a chance to yet, and since I'm not in a hurry, I want to get to know him a little more first."

"Well then, I don't think you stand to lose anything by looking over the candidate I've chosen." said Nezu, placing his teacup down and sliding a dossier forward.

"Well, I suppose so..." said All Might, picking up the folder, though he was firm in his belief that there wouldn't be a better candidate than Young Midoriya.

He might not have been the most accomplished of candidates; there may have been tons of people out there with strong Quriks that would mesh well with One For All, granting them the capability to be far stronger than even him, but Izuku just felt right, and that was a feeling that couldn't be replicated by achievement.

He opened the dossier... and promptly coughed up blood in shock when he saw the name and the picture present there.

"Wait, the person you were talking about was Young Midoriya?!" he cried in shock, before looking at his former principal. "He's the person I was talking about too!"

Nezu just stared at him for a moment, temporarily dumbfounded, before erupting in high-pitched, squeaky laughter, falling out of his chair.

Toshinori alternated between staring dumbly at the dossier and staring dumbly at the chimera currently rolling around on the floor.

"A-and h-here I was thinking I needed to talk you into it." said Nezu in between his laughs. "T-Truly, Midoriya-san doesn't do anything by halves."

It was then that a certain detail on the dossier caught Toshinori's eye.

"Wait, he has a doctorate in Quirk Analysis?!" exclaimed Toshinori in surprise, blinking rapidly to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. "From I-Island University?!"

"Oh yes. Despite not having a Quirk, Midoriya-san is quite the gifted individual." said Nezu, who had mysteriously returned to his chair like nothing had happened. "He is also a new teacher at U.A., and I've taken him under my wing to train him into a Pro Hero."

Okay, hold up.

Toshinori just needed to take a quick breather, because he was starting to get overwhelmed.

No offense to Young Midoriya, but he was a monster.

In a good way.

It was like he was intentionally made Quirkless in order to avoid becoming a literal High-End.

He couldn't be older than thirteen, and he was already a Doctor and a teacher at U.A.?

Oh yeah, and he couldn't forget the boy being Nezu's apprentice.

Was this what Izuku had meant when he had talked about 'recent developments'?!

Yeah, it looked like his intuition had been right.

"So I guess there's nothing more to really say, is there?" said Toshinori awkwardly, setting the dossier down.

"No, I don't think there is." said Nezu, positively radiant.

After all, things were going much better than he had planned. He'd even recorded their conversation in the hopes of swaying All Might, only for Midoriya to go and impress the Number One Hero on his own.

Honestly, that child was a gift from God, and he didn't even know it.

Nezu was excited, and emphasized it by rubbing his paws together.

"I truly believe that Izuku Midoriya has what it takes in order to become the next Symbol of Peace, if not more. He already has a body fit to receive One For All, so it is best to transfer it as soon as possible. After all, it takes years of training in order to reach an appropriate level of mastery with that Quirk, and that is ample time for me to train him as well. He will be safe as he develops within the halls of U.A., and since he isn't a student he will remain more or less under the radar until he is ready to take up your mantle."

"Well, it looks like you've figured everything out Sir." said All Might with a grin. "So I guess I don't have any complaints. Even if I keep One For All, I only have a few years at most until my injuries leave me unable to use it. Even if All For One is still out there, he definitely needs time to recover before he can make any more big moves, and that's the time we can use to train Young Midoriya. With your guidance Sir, I think this is the best course of action."

"Very good." said Nezu, leaning back and taking a sip of tea. "Tomorrow, he will visit U.A. for an orientation of sorts. That's when we'll ask the question, and make the transfer."

"Are you sure he'll accept it, Sir?" said Toshinori curiously. "He said he'd moved on from his dream of becoming a Pro."

Nezu chuckled at that.

"You already know the answer to that, Toshinori. Midoriya-san decided to avoid becoming a Pro Hero so he could avoid causing any casualties among the ranks of those who would discriminate against him. That concern would become invalid if he received a Quirk. For that reason, there is no doubt in my mind that he will accept One For All."

He looked out towards the window, at the noonday sun, the warm rays setting his fur aglow.

"After all, Izuku Midoriya is like you in many ways, Toshinori. He is the kind of person who would shoulder the weight of the World if it would help people."

A moment of silence as the chimera finished his tea.

"And ultimately, that is what makes him worthy to become the next Symbol of Peace, more so than any qualification or Quirk."

Aaaaand Cut! That's all for now, folks!

Honestly, there was supposed to be a lot more action and Servant shenanigans in this chapter, but that got cut into part 2, which is still looking like it will break the 10k word limit.

Honestly, when I get into something, I really get into it.

Next chapter also has the appearance of a certain snek-face, who I'm sure many of you were waiting for.

And is it really a suprise that Izuku would hate the very concept of the Holy Grail War, being who he is?

My information came from the Fate Grand Order games, so don't sue me over any errors in the information.

Also, the revelation in this chapter; Fuyuki is in fact Mustafu.

I know that geographically, there is probably no chance that they are the same place, but hey, they are both fictional cities, so whatever. There's no reason to kick up a fuss over it.

For all we know, a tectonic Quirk could have shifted the location of Fuyuki City to where Mustafu is now.

Additionally, I reformatted Izuku and All Might's meeting to be more accommodating to the new Izuku. Canon Izuku was a lot less confident and mature than Event Horizon Izuku due to the divergence in their childhood, so their interactions with All Might would of course be different, especially since the situation and the time is different as well.

Also, anyone who has a problem with my emphasis on Quirk Racism; just take a look at the state of the World right now, especially America and what happened with that police officer, and then tell me it isn't as bad. Hell, in the MHA World, it is arguably much worse, considering the aggressors are almost the entire population and they have SUPERPOWERS.

Don't feel bad that the two One For All buddies don't seem as close as in canon. All Might and Izuku still share their canon relationship; that's a bond I'm not breaking, even in a fanfiction story.

Oh, and I'm sure All Might knew All For One survived, because Gran Torino specifically mentions that All For One escaped by taking advantage of All Might's emotional state.

Anyways, I don't know what to say anymore and I need a nap, so I'll be leaving things here.

Please don't leave any flames unless they actually have a logical basis, and if you have any questions or ideas, please leave a Review or PM me.

I hope this fic can rise to glory, and ascend to the Throne of FanFiction; TVTropes, though that seems like a longshot.

Stay safe you guys.

Spatialphoenix here, burning to ashes.