After solving the misunderstanding with Todoroki and Raphtalia, the 7 heroes and their new party member headed to the church to raise their level capacity. There was one problem, however, after the quote on quote "betrayal" of the king, their reputation was left on the low negative regardless of the number of quests they did while laying low in the forest.
"...and he still hasn't told me what he meant, he just walked away." Motoyasu said, having a conversation with Deku and Itsuki after Todoroki regarded him as "not the sharpest knife in the crayon box."
"Yeah, Todoroki-kun tends to do that when he doesn't want to sound as bold as he usually is. It always ends up confusing them." Deku replied.
"This isn't the first time this happened?" Itsuki asked.
"Nope, and I have a feeling this won't be the last time, either." Deku said.
"Alright, we're here." Yagi said, stopping the group in front of the church.
"Well, we're here! Let's move it!" Bakugo yelled, clearly impatient.
"Would it kill you to be a little more well-mannered?" Motoyasu asked.
"Hah?! What are you trying to say, ponytail?!" Bakugo spat back.
"I think he's telling you to stop being... Well, you." Todoroki said.
"Screw off, Icy Hot!" Bakugo yelled.
"That's enough. Now, we should get inside." Yagi said, breaking the incoming fight between Bakugo and Todoroki.
"Sensei's right. The faster we're in, the faster we can get this over with." Ren said.
Everyone agreed, with Bakugo letting out a "Tch" in hesitation. They made their way into the church, finding themselves facing the Red Hourglass of the Dragon's Era. No one could tell how much time was left until the next wave, but judging by the very little sand there was left on top of the hourglass, it had to be in a few days.
Yagi couldn't want to take any chances, he needed to figure out the exact time the waves of calamity would occur. Then, he got an idea. He noticed there was a box of red sand, presumably to refill the hourglass in case it breaks. He took some of the sand and poured it on top of his shield, unlocking the Dragon Hourglass Sand Shield, which told him the precise time until the next wave which was 1 week away.
"Alright students, the next wave is 1 week away. We're very well capable of handling it with ease. So in the meanwhile, we'll be training young Raphtalia." Yagi said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good idea Sensei, if Raphtalia is gonna help us fend off the waves, she has to be strong enough to handle them." Itsuki said.
The rest of the heroes understood the situation and agreed to train Raphtalia. Even Bakugo, who was reluctant before accepting to train the girl. With all that said and done, everyone headed to do some quests and accelerate the leveling process. Yagi also made a training schedule for Raphtalia in which she would go on quests with different people, all including himself.
The first three days would be dedicated to looking for what weapon fit Raphtalia best, as she was unarmed and hand-to-hand combat wouldn't be an option anytime soon. Considering the amount of money they acquired via quests, buying weapons of the highest quality wouldn't be a problem. She would have to work hard to become one of the strongest members of the team, given the fact that her role wasn't at least as important as the other seven.
Day 1: Long-range with Itsuki
Itsuki spent most of the day teaching Raphtalia how to handle a bow properly, as well as how to aim and fire it. Unfortunately, all of this was easier said than done. Bows were a lot more complicated to handle than a sword or spear. Raphtalia shot at a few targets, but her aim wasn't exactly the best. Itsuki decided to let things slide for now and moved on to archery. He showed Raphtalia the basics and then began explaining all sorts of tips and tricks about how to use a bow.
Day 2: Short-range with Ren
Ren had Raphtalia eliminate a few monsters and soon found out that she had a fear of blood, making the learning process a bit complicated. She still managed to pull through her fear and found the sword to be quite easy to handle. She was able to cut down a few monsters in no time, and quickly adapted to the sword's fighting style.
Day 3: Medium-range with Motoyasu
Motoyasu wasn't exactly the best teacher out there but still managed to give Raphtalia an idea of how to properly use a spear. However, he got sidetracked with occasional flirting. Yagi took notice and sent Deku to politely tell Motoyasu to stop. To Motoyasu's bad luck, Bakugo had beat Deku to it and blasted him into the sky.
By this point, it was best that Raphtalia stuck to swords as they were easier to handle than the other 2 weapons. Now, it was time to put Raphtalia's skills to the test in real combat situations.
Day 4: Saving people with Deku
Deku worked alongside Raphtalia to save people from monsters. On the way, they encountered a cave that held a two-headed dog that gave Raphtalia horrible flashbacks of her parent's deaths. Raphtalia was frozen with fear at the sight of the monster but was quickly snapped out of her trance when she was about to get devoured if wasn't for Deku using Blackwhip to pull her out of the way.
Deku quickly noticed that the beast struck a nerve in Raphtalia which caused her to freeze, she was scared of the beast for more than one reason. Whatever that reason was, Deku had to find a way to get rid of Raphtalia's fear of the beast.
"Raphtalia! Don't be scared of that thing! Whatever it did to make you scared only makes you stronger! Face your fears! You can do it, I believe in you!" Deku yelled, trying to motivate her.
This small speech Deku gave Raphtalia wasn't enough, she was still scared. Deku knew what he had to do, he let himself get hit by the beast, knocking himself into the walls of the cave and getting "trapped" in the rubble. Raphtalia saw this and got the boost of bravery she needed, she wasn't gonna lose anyone to that beast. Not again.
She slashed at the monster and stabbed it right in the heart. The monster fell in defeat, Raphtalia had faced her fears. Deku smashed his way out of the rubble and congratulated Raphtalia. She'd never have to face anything that scary again, right?
Day 5: Stamina test with Katsuki
As it turns out, Raphtalia was very wrong. Bakugo was ruthless, pushing Raphtalia to her limit and beyond that. To a point, Yagi had to intervene and make sure Bakugo wasn't going too hard on Raphtalia's training. Bakugo was always up for a challenge and was the type who pushed himself to the brink just to see how far he could go. He wanted to push Raphtalia as far as possible so that she would grow into a person capable of facing anything.
Day 6: Temperature resistance with Shoto
Raphtalia was dreading this day as she had to face Todoroki, as she hasn't gotten over the misunderstanding. This got even worse when she was told she had to go in the water, being watched by Todoroki. She covered up enough to make sure she wasn't left without clothes. She hopped in a big barrel of water while Todoroki repeatedly boiled and froze it. He went with small temperatures, just to make sure no burn marks or frostbite came up.
Day 7: The first wave
Speaking of dreaded days, this one had to be the scariest day of all, as Raphtalia had to go against one of the waves of calamity. However, with the 4 cardinal heroes and 3 new heroes, victory was assured. However, Raphtalia felt that this wave would be way different, something felt wrong, it just did. Whatever it was, the 7 heroes could fight through it. Everyone was teleported to the village where the waves would be taking place.
The skies turned red, with blue portals opening up. A Chimera, a four-headed monster with the body and head of a lion, the head of a goat, the head of a dragon, and having a snake for a tail, was sent through the portal. And that's it.
"Really?! It's just this thing? This will be easy!" Bakugo said.
Out of a sudden, more portals opened up. More portals opened up, leading to more beasts which were: a Soul Eater, an Inter-Dimensional Whale, a Spirit Tortoise, 2 Phoenix, and a Kirin.
"Uh... Is that supposed to happen?" Deku asked, slightly nervous.
"I don't think so!" Itsuki said, preparing his bow.
"It can't be... I think know what's going on!" Motoyasu exclaimed.
"What is it, Motoyasu?" Ren asked.
"This is... A BOSS RUSH!" Motoyasu shouted, pointing at the sky.
"BOSS rush?! What's that?!" Bakugo asked.
"It's like a wave where multiple bosses are thrown into battle at once! We're absolutely not prepared for this!" Motoyasu exclaimed. "What, who's that?"
Motoyasu pointed at the sky, revealing a man wearing the outfit of a priest. "Shield Demon! Traitors! I am Biscas T. Balmus, and I shall punish you in the name of god! Prepare to face every wave at the same time! Ah, and I made sure that these beasts are at their best! Farewell!" He said before floating away, taking Raphtalia with him.
"That bastard! You're not going anywhere!" Bakugo said before preparing to blast himself to chase after the priest. However, he was stopped by Yagi.
"No, you stay here and fight the waves, we need your firepower. Young Midoriya! Chase after the priest." Yagi said.
"On it!" Deku said before using the floating quirk to fly after the priest.
"Well, this is how it ends, huh?" Motoyasu said.
"No! We can do this! I know we can push through! Sensei didn't spend the last few months training us for nothing!" Itsuki yelled.
"Itsuki's right! Let's do this!" Ren yelled as he readied his sword.
"Well, we have no other choice. If we die, we die as heroes." Motoyasu said as he drew his spear.
"Don't be so dramatic, ponytail!" Bakugo said.
"Focus, this is not gonna be an easy battle. Don't hold back." Todoroki said, infusing his daggers with his quirk.
"We've come far, I'm not going to let them take me down now!" Itsuki replied.
"Let's give these bastards hell!" Bakugo yelled.
Yagi activated the One for All shield and gave a massive power boost to every member within range. No one was going to die. They would all live as heroes, they would live to see themselves triumphing over evil.
"Alright students, training's over. Time to test what you've learned by my teachings and by yourself. Push yourself beyond your limits!" Yagi shouted.
"PLUS ULTRA!" Yelled everyone in unison, lunging at the monsters.