4 Chapter 4 - Her Temperance

{4} - Evans Smith: Her Temperance

It really was terrifying just how smart Izumi was.

"Badassium." She whispered. The small slab of metal on her palm glowed a luminescent blue, full of energy yet stable. She giggled. "What a name."

Evans grinned. "It's no better than 'Izumin'." He said back, and laughed when her cheeks turned red with embarrassment.

"I-It was just a suggestion!"

He laughed even more.

It's been nearly three weeks since Izumi first became his student. Over a couple dozen Lectures were done, most of it spent tinkering to recreate Iron Man's armor. Their progress was stellar—Izumi's incredible intellect and his infinite [Library] giving them an edge the original creator didn't have.

A day after their first Lecture, Izumi learnt how to fly using repulsors. A week after their first Lecture, they created a miniature Arc Reactor. And now, nearly three weeks later, they'd recreated Stark's beloved Badassium.

It did require him to add a Particle Accelerator into his Engineering Lab, but that was 5000 Mentor Exp well spent.

At this rate, it wouldn't be long before they'd reach their goal. Of course, Izumi would still need to recreate the armor in real life. She was worried over how she'd even begin. She could make the repulsors, and she could cobble together a functioning suit from scraps, but the miniature Arc Reactor would be impossible to make. At least one that didn't cause her Palladium poisoning.

He didn't worry. Even with just a pair of repulsors, she'd make it into UA. And once she did, they'd no doubt pull out all their stops to help Izumi once they saw how intelligent she was.

Of course, she'd need the Skill to actually fight her way through. Being intelligent was one thing, but being able to fight was an entirely different conundrum.

But, well,

[-Mentoring Lv 21 (12%)-]

[Increases Students' Skill Growth Rate by 42%. Increases the amount of Mentor Exp gained after every Lecture by 42%.]

He'd be learning alongside her, but that was fine. He had more than half a year before UA's entrance ceremony. He had more than enough time to help Izumi catch up for all the years she'd lost.

He'd make sure Izumi Midoriya would become a monster. He was her teacher, and that was his responsibility to make up for all the useless dregs that dared call themselves a 'teacher'.

And then,

"Smith-sensei?"

He patted her head and smiled. "Just thinking." He said. "You're going to be a great Hero-, no, the best Hero." He grinned. "I'm sure of it."

She smiled. "I'll do my best!"

........

"So you finally made them?" He ducked moments before a fist flew over his head. He spun and kicked her in the stomach. She leapt back before his kick could land. "Where did you even get the metal?"

Izumi smiled as she charged at him. "There's a beach close to where I live," she began, her fist sent towards his chin and her elbow to his gut. He twisted out of the way of both. "It's been a junk heap for several years now." He stepped back as she punched. Her fist came just inches from his chest. "It's a good source of scrap."

"Community service, huh." He kicked. She caught his foot and sent a punch his way. He dove out of the way. "Tack that onto your CV."

She giggled. He made use of the chance to strike her. She ducked beneath his punch. "I think I will."

She reared her arm back. Her fist clenched.

He twisted to the side. He aimed his foot at her head.

They moved, limbs blurring as air twisted out of the way, and they-

An alarm rang through the room. They froze. Her fist stopped just before his eyes. His leg hovered just next to her left kidney.

They pulled themselves back, and a series of panels appeared between them.

[Izumi Midoriya's Lecture [Combat Training]: Success!]

[Evans Smith: +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Agility, +2 Skill, -Kung Fu- Level Up]

[Izumi Midoriya: +1 Strength, +1 Endurance, +1 Agility, +1 Skill, -Kung Fu- Level Up]

[Izumi Midoriya may now return to her world]

He took a deep breath. He wiped away the sweat on his chin. "It's been an hour already…?" He whispered as he stared at the alarm clock at the corner of the classroom. 

"It didn't feel like it." Izumi chimed in. She gave her hands a quick shake. "I'm not that tired."

He turned to her and shrugged. "Me neither."

They shouldn't be surprised. This wasn't the first time they'd sparred so intensely, and it wouldn't be the last.

It'd been nearly three months since Izumi first became his student. They'd successfully recreated one of Iron Man's suits—the red-gold Mark III. They could've continued to tinker on, but there was no reason to rush.

Instead, they began learning how to fight. The moment Izumi returned back to her world, she'd read as much as she could about hand-to-hand combat. While he waited, he'd do the same—he'd parse through the infinite catalog of information his System provided.

They chose -Kung Fu- as their style. There wasn't a reason they chose it over others, and it simply stuck.

And he'd say that his Lectures had done them both wonders.

[Name: Evans Smith]

[Age: 21]

[Level: 1 (50 Mentor Exp to Next Level)]

[Strength: 122]

[Endurance: 86]

[Agility: 101]

[Intelligence: 155]

[Skill: 179]

[Skills: -Mentoring Lv 58-, -Engineering Lv 38-, -Kung Fu Lv 35- ]

[Mentor Exp: 42,178]

It was an impressive jump from his initially lackluster capabilities. He could punch through concrete, leap from one end of the classroom to the other in moments, and run for hours without tiring. He could get even stronger if he started leveling himself up, but he wanted to save his Mentor Exp for further upgrades to his School.

He was fine with that. The Lectures were giving him more than enough stats to keep him satisfied. It wouldn't last forever though—he'd need to ramp up the intensity of his classes if he wanted to maintain these gains. But he'd worry about that at a later date.

Izumi was no different.

[Name: Izumi Midoriya]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 10*]

[Strength: 122]

[Endurance: 110]

[Agility: 138]

[Intelligence: 199]

[Skill: 188]

[Skills: -Analysis Lv 59-, -Engineering Lv 44-, -Iron Suit Control Lv 12-, -Kung Fu Lv 19- ]

[Student Exp: 1,018]

By this point, Izumi was no doubt the strongest Quirkless human to have ever lived. He was confident she could even square up against Heroes and win. And yet she continued to train—continued to better herself with almost reckless abandon.

He worried, but it wasn't as if he had the right to say anything. He was working as hard as she was.

After all, they only had four months before UA.

"Let's call it a day." He said. "Today's gone pretty well."

She nodded, her smile wide. "Mm!" She bowed. "Thank you for your help, Smith-sensei!"

He huffed. He still wasn't used to her calling him that. It felt…impersonal. He'd tried convincing her to call him by his name, but she just refused to. "Just call me Evans." He said anyway.

She grinned and said nothing.

He grinned back. "Let's do some [Endurance Training] tomorrow." He frowned. "Or maybe another day in the Engineering Lab." He hummed. He turned to her and asked, "What do you think?"

She hummed. "Um, maybe the latter?" The smile she gave was shy. "It's been a while since we made anything together."

He smiled. He patted her head. "If that's what you want, sure."

She beamed.

........

Four months later, Izumi Midoriya stood before the gates of UA. Hope and fear swam through her chest, and with a smile she walked forward.