Hero's Kingdom

Mind, Body, and Soul

The crowd's cheers became less predominate the further Izumi ran down the path. She surprised herself that she was keeping up with the pack rather easily. When she'd first started her training the men had left her in their dust but now she ran side by side lengthening her stride to practically leap down the path.

The Dagohbans were ahead of them, they were natural born sprinters and their animalistic instincts gave them a clear advantage. Shoto was also a far ahead, his years of training and natural athleticism giving him the same clear advantage as Bakugo. It was something Izumi had anticipated and she didn't want to let it bother her. She wanted to win, but couldn't let herself panic or rush. Once they hit the checkpoints to complete each task they'll be slowed down... hopefully.

Izumi's head jerked up when she heard a guy let out a grunt his face smacking into an invisible wall. Izumi raised a brow jogging over and she ran into that same invisible shield.

"OW!" She rubbed her nose and pressed her hands on the invisible wall. "What's going on?"

"This must be the first checkpoint... since I don't see the Prince or the Dagohbans around I assume they've already moved ahead." Iida rubbed his chin. "How do we get past this?"

"Hey look!" Ojiro walked up to a tree where a red flag and sign was posted. "There's some writing here... but what kind of language is that?"

Kanji... Izumi thought with wide eyes. There was a clue here written in Kanji.

"I get the feeling they're trying to give the advantage to the high borns..." Izumi narrowed her eyes trying to make it out. "Hmmm three tasks assigned, three tests to complete. True warriors pass, and the fakes defeat. Step forward, let your minds awaken. To pass through the veil the low road is taken."

"A riddle written in a dead language... geez they're really- ah Midoriya?!" Ojiro jumped as Izumi went back to the wall feeling along it with the other knights... but instead of trying to ram herself in or jump over it... Izumi got on her belly and proceeded to crawl.

"Miss Midoriya what are you... WHA!?" Iida watched in awe as she bypassed the blockade crawling low several feet and then finally standing up and turning.

"Take the low road! Down on the ground... hurry!" She shouted over her shoulder and ran ahead of the pack. Several others were already following her example and Iida quickly followed her instructions.

"The low road is taken... Miss Midoriya you astound me!"

Izumi astounded herself. She hadn't expected to recognize the Kanji so easily after only a few days studying the language. It was almost as if Sir might was sharing his knowledge with her, as well as his power... but then again knowledge was another form of power wasn't it?

Whatever the case, it was clear to her that it wasn't going to be easy getting to the next round. Even though the king had opened the gates for her and other low class warriors to participate, the knowledge of Kanji was limited to those of noble breeding, which meant he was favoring the high class.

"Don't like to play fair do you, My King?" She said with an obvious frown. "That's alright... because cheaters never prosper. Throw whatever you've got at me!"

"Miss Midoriya!" Iida ran up to jog beside her. "That was insanely clever. You're proving yourself time and time again. I'm very impressed."

"The one who's impressed is me." Izumi panted as she ran beside him. "You caught up to me really quickly, just how fast can you run?"

"I haven't tested my full capabilities yet, but I can run faster than my horse if I want to."

"Seriously? Then why haven't you used that speed?" She panted and turned down the path as it veered.