...
"Can you wield a sword?"
One of the knights asked.
Midoriya nodded his head, "yes, I'm above proficient level"
He replied.
"Then you'll just have to pass the test, if you can wield a sword above proficiency then you should be able to pass.
Come with me and we can have you take the test now."
Midoriya's eyes widened with joy as he stood up and followed the knights.
They took him to a building with many other knights.
Those knights were all training when they came in.
Midoriya was taken straight to the head of all knights, he was the one who was to evaluate whether or not he'd be allowed to become a full time knight.
"State your name and business"
The captain of the knights said as he sharped swords.
"My friend here wants to become a knight, he has good sword handling skills."
"Hm"
He glanced at Midoriya who sat there with a big smile.
"Fine.
You'll have to go through a test. Grab a sword and follow me"
Midoriya was shown a couple swords, he grabbed one and followed the captain.
He was lead back to the training grounds.
"You'll fight him"
He pointed to someone who was in the middle of fighting another person.
"He's the minimum amount of strength you have to beat to be able to enter.
Think you can do it?"
Midoriya looked over, "he has a decent build of muscle. His swords skill is obviously not below proficient.
The precision he has with each hit is also pretty good.
But he's not that strong in comparison to me."
He thought to himself.
"Yeah I can.
I just have to subdue him, right?"
Midoriya asked.
"Disarm him or leave him unable to fight back.
You also need to do it within 10-20 minutes.
Anything above that and you don't qualify.
Understood?"
Midoriya nodded his head, "alright."
"Okay then.
Hey!
You!
Come over"
The captain shouted.
The spar was paused as Midoriya's opponent approached.
"What do you need?"
He asked.
Midoriya could hear his heart beat out of his chest, there was obvious sweat rolling down his forehead, and he had been breathing pretty hard.
"Fight him.
We're testing to see if he's allowed to join"
"Alright.
Let's go"
Midoriya followed his opponent to a proper match ring.
The sun was overbearing, the heat made the nasty smell of sweat and musk worse.
"Alright.
Try as hard as you can
We start now."
His opponent said, holding out his sword.
"Okay"
Midoriya replied, holding out his sword as well.
The man quickly charged at Midoriya, holding out his sword ready to strike with all his strength.
Midoriya gripped his sword and blocked the strike from the other sword with sheer force and body strength, which he didn't need a lot of.
He locked swords with the man.
The man struggled to push Midoriya to the ground, who didn't even look like had had been struggling.
Midoriya pushed, easily stronger than the man, and watched him fall onto the ground holding his sword almost desperately.
He quickly jumped back up and tried to slash Midoriya but Midoriya dodged and kicked him.
The man quickly recovered and dodged Midoriya's attack, but he lost balance while trying to do so and fell hard on his back.
Midoriya held the sword to his neck, making it difficult for him to move.
As a last attempt, he tried to slash Midoriya's sword out of his hand but he only ended up losing his own sword in the process.
"I win"
Midoriya brightly cheered.
"That was amazing, under 3 minutes too!
You're way above just proficient, you're advanced.
Who taught you?"
The captain said, marveling at Midoriya's effortless strength.
"I'm self taught"
Midoriya replied wearing the brightest grin.
"Self taught??"
Everyone around said in Pure surprise.
"How??"
"I'm not sure myself, I just picked up the sword and figured it out."
Midoriya said as he scratched the back of his head.
The truth was that he had watched the knights train at night for years and learned from them.
"That's truly amazing!
To be so good when you're just self taught...!
Welcome to the Kingdom's knights!"
The captain said, truly amazed.
Midoriya smiled, rivaling the sun in brightness.
"Thank you! I won't let you down."
From there the knights he had befriended earlier took him out to eat, as tradition for any newly joined knight.
"Pick anything you want from the samples and it's yours for free."
One of them said, pointing to trays of food that had been put out.
Midoriya's stomach quezed as the scent of food hit his nose.
"...I can't eat this"
He glanced at the other knights who had been smiling, waiting for him to select what he'd eat.
"I'll just pretend to eat some... What's the smallest option here"
He pointed to a very small meal option.
"You don't want anything bigger like a steak?"
"I'm fine, I'm not too hungry"
Midoriya replied.
"Alright then"
After pretending to eat a small meal, he shared his very first gathering with friends.
It was from that day on that the group hung out.
Midoriya was beyond joined to have actual friends to hang out with, they were his first...
They were the first humans Midoriya trusted with all his heart.
Years passed, Midoriya didn't age a day.
Nor did he have any scars from accidental injuries.
It was something all the knights noticied but ignored.
Midoriya enjoyed his friendship.
Until a war was started.
"Captain!
No...!
You can't die like this!"
One of the knights screamed.
During the battle, the captain had taken a sword straight to the liver.
Because they weren't medically advanced, there wasn't any way to treat the large wound. The sword had gone straight through the armor and hit the liver whole.
"...I'm sorry...
That I have... To go this way..."
He forced out, glancing at all his knights.
Midoriya was amongst the crowd, he stared at his captain with sad puppy eyes.
The captain was the reason he had been able to make so many friends...
And now he was dying.
"Don't talk like that!
You'll get better...!
We need you...!
It's the only way we'll win the war!"
"I fear...
There's no way I'll survive...
Please win the war.
And Midoriya..."
He paused as he glanced at him.
All the knights side glanced at Midoriya who stared at the captain.
"Please take my place as the captain...
And make sure....
This war...
Is won..."
The Captain's eyes shut from there, he was...
Dead.
"CAPTAIN!! NOO"
An outburst of screams erupted as they all crowded his dead body, it was too late.
He was gone.
But there was no time to mourn, they were in the middle of a battle and had only found a hiding spot that wouldn't last too long.
"You!
You're the captain!
What do we do...?!"
One of the knights asked frantically.
Midoriya glanced back over at the battlefield, the enemy was scouring around in search of them.
They each had been carrying swords.
Among them was a decorated man on a horse, holding a fancy sword.
There was also a crown on his head...
He was the king of the enemies.
"...if I used my telekinesis I could easily kill all of them.
But then I'd be revealing myself.
...this is bad...
Ugh why can't humans just get along with eachother???
And why do they die so easily?
They're so fragile.
Someone like captain just died from a simple stab.
A stab.
He was the strongest of the humans and he died just like that.
There's no way these humans are surviving then...
But my friends... I don't want them to die...!
Ugh..."
He shook his head, fluffing his straight brown hair.
He had always been shapeshifted.
He never revealed what he truly looked like.
He didn't know how the humans would react if they found out about his natural green hair.
"I know you're all hiding.
I have an offer that I think you should all listen to"
The king shouted.
Everyone fell silent as they listened in to what he had been saying.
"If you all kill your strongest soldier with your own hands, I will end this war with a spoken treaty!"
The king shouted.
Midoriya felt all eyes land on him.
Their gazes were desperate...
Too desperate...
"Grab him!"
Midoriya was restrained and dragged out of the hiding spot for the king of the enemies to see.
Midoriya felt his heart shatter to pieces as he stared at his friends wide eyed.
He could easily break out their grasps but he felt so hurt that he froze up entirely.
"Do you swear you'll end this war if we kill him?!"
One of the knights, Midoriya's closest friend, shouted.
"I swear.
You just have to dehead him."
The king said, looking down at Midoriya with a smug grin.
Midoriya's best friend approached him, holding out his sword.
Midoriya stared back wide eyed, "...wait!?"
"What."
"Did our friendship mean nothing..?!
It's obvious the war won't end with killing me...!
He just wants to get rid of his biggest theat!"
Midoriya shouted, frantic. Tears stung his eyes as the knights stared him down with pure malice.
"When were we ever friends?"
Midoriya sat there weakly as the words repeated in his mind.
"...but-"
"You were always a thorn on my side. The captain favored you too much!"
"Yeah! I knew the captain since I was young and he didn't like me as much as he liked you...! And you were even made captain!"
"And you're so weird! How come you haven't aged a day!? Or have a single scar?!"
"Captain's last words went out to you! He didn't even know you for 5 years!"
"You were just some pain that stuck by"
"I only befriended you because of how desperate you looked to have friends."
Each word hit Midoriya like a bullet as he watched the sword, the same sword he had gifted his so called friend, rise against him...
"...how could you..."
Midoriya said as tears streamed down his face.
He felt anger, betrayal, and pure sadness rage in his heart as the sword struck down...
His head flew off.
"I never liked you anyways."
His 'bestfriend' said as he watched his head fly off and roll onto the ground.
However...
No blood spilled.
Midoriya's headless body was dropped.
"We did it! Now end the war!"
"Yeah!"
"He's dead!"
"Pfft-
Did you all seriously think that's what would've ended the war?!
I was just getting rid of my biggest threat!
You should've listened to him."
The king laughed.
"HEY"
"YOU SWORE"
"HOW COULD-"
They all fell silent when Midoriya's body walked over to his head and reattached it.
Midoriya stared at all of them, he wore a cold hard glare.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
"HE'S A MONSTER!"
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
Midoriya shapeshifted back to normal, "I can't believe any of you...
I trusted all of you...
...I thought we were friends...
But you all betrayed me...
Just for a fake opportunity...
You betrayed me on the enemy's words..."
He hissed, baring his fangs.
He stood there, tall.
His hair fluffed back to normal as his skin went pale.
Claws returned back to his hands as his eyes went from brown to crimson.
"You're a monster!"
"Who are you?!"
"Are you really the Midoriya we knew?!"
"There's no way...!"
"...I thought we'd be friends til the end.
...I thought you were all trustworthy.
But...
You're humans.
What was I expecting...?
Being friends would food wouldn't work out...
...but even then....
I wasn't ever going to betray any of you...!
I left you all alive because I genuinely believed that we were friends...!
...I can't believe any of you..."
He wiped off the tears that streamed down his face as the soliders all around stared in pure fear.
It was obvious Midoriya wasn't human...
But with his wording, it sounded like at any moment they'd be killed.
Which...
Happened to be the case.
"...Die"