The Ascension Saga Book One: Ghost

Tempered Steel

All right... I have some stuff to explain.

So there's some things about the Izuka vs Todoroki fight that I've been questioned about. Such as if Izuka was holding back. OF COURSE SHE WAS! If she didn't, she'd most likely reduce Mineta to a small smudge of purple on the arena wall, and that's if there's an arena left.

So I should probably explain ascension a bit more.

The idea for ascension was formed from a combination I had made of One Punch Man, My Hero Academia, and Danmachi. The overall power was supposed to only be accessible for truly quirkless individuals. One who has ascended has heightened physical capabilities. They can take more attacks, deal more damage, and focus their emotions into their own attacks easier.

Those are the base abilities. They come from a combination of Saitama's endurance and strength, and Stains bloodlust abilities. The second ability is a combination of the Argonaut skill from Danmachi and One For All. One who has ascended has a small stamina and strength pool. They can tap into it whenever. The powers use can be seen when Izuka glows faintly, sort of like Bell Cranel.

Another thing that I haven't really made completely clear... Izuka is in no way as powerful as Saitama... not yet that is... Ascension can happen multiple times. We can consider Izuka to be at about a fifth of Saitama's level currently.

The first ascension placed her on par with All Might. Now, some of you might be like "BuT sHe BeAt HiM!" I'm talking about All Might in his prime. During the USJ attack, All Might is not as powerful as he was in his prime. His access to OFA is waning. He's older. Not to mention, Izuka also does some psychological warfare. All Might couldn't bring himself to do anything against her, as she was stronger than he was at that point, and he didn't want to kill her. He still saw her as a mistake he could fix.

Izuka held off the teachers, because at that moment, she realized that All Might could give his quirk away. This discovery further fueled her rage, way past the overflowing point. At that moment she released everything she felt, resulting in what I like to call "Angry Murder Goddess Izuka"

Now, the Sports festival...

Again. It's true that Izuka held back a lot. If she didn't, her adapted special move would turn Todoroki's cavalry battle team to mush. But then again, she did get knocked out... why?

To explain this, we need to go back to middle school health class. There are three types of health, well, main types. The health triangle consists of mental, emotional, and physical health. They are intertwined. When one is disturbed, the others get disturbed as well.

Before the fight against Toga. Izuka had a major panic attack. This took a considerable toll on her. I don't know if any of you have had panic attacks, but when you come out of one, you're exhausted. Izuka still said she felt fine.

In reality, her stockpile of stamina was drained. So her overall power was dampened. Izuka had held back quite a bit physically, but had been mentally and emotionally drained by events that took place in between rounds. Fighting with Endeavor. Shoto's situation. The panic attack. Inko's ghost.

In the end, she held back too much. She ended up taking actual damage. The reason she was rendered unconscious for a bit was because of the combination of mental stress, emotional stress, and a little bit of physical stress.

In an actual battle, Izuka would take Shoto out like he was nothing.

Now, I do plan for Izuka to grow more. She does still have room to grow. There will be times where she goes even further past her ascended state. Second ascension. Third ascension. Maybe she'll eventually reach Saitama's level. Though, I doubt that she'll need to.