After the management course’s obstacle, came the support course one, where the students were given chits with a specific need written on them. They had to create equipment to fulfil the need using only the given tools and resources. This obstacle tested their skills, creativity, and time management.

  Shin knew that his teammate for this challenge wasn’t particularly strong in this area, but he hoped she would make good use of the advantage of starting early. Unfortunately, while his hopes weren’t entirely dashed, they weren’t fully realized either. Shin’s teammate finished 25th, which gave him a late start for the next round.

  The hero course obstacle was a maze. The maze had a top and bottom cover which made sure that student can’t just skip the maze by flying. This was mainly aimed at people like Shin. The maze had a total of 20 exits. Once an exit is utilised, the exit closes, ensuring no one teams up.

  Understanding the rules and their restriction, Shin employed his Force Pulse to locate the route which was the shortest and least time consuming to travel through.

  An important thing to note here is that his skill, Force Pulse, is not the same as it had been before. It had gone through tremendous changes and improvements during the past month or so. Especially the last week where he attempted to do something and it had succeeded, but not the way he had initially thought it would go.

  Shin’s idea was simple in theory but complex in application. The skill Force Pulse was inspired by Divine Sense, yet the two were fundamentally different. While Force Pulse relied on force energy and his strong mental capacity, provided by the TrueSoul, to cognise the information; Divine Sense simply utilized pure mental energy.

  At first glance, it seemed impossible for him to bridge this gap with his current skill set. However, after some contemplation, he realized that the Karmic Vision skill, along with one of its derivatives—Intent Counter—both possessed certain elements tied to the concept of the mind.

  Among the two, he felt that Intent Counter was more aligned with this concept than Karmic Vision. This led him to consider copying the mind-related aspect from Intent Counter and merging it with Force Pulse. However, he had no clear idea how to achieve this. He tried numerous methods, most of which ended in failure, but eventually stumbled upon one that succeeded.

  This method was deceptively simple: it relied on deeply desiring the change while focusing intently on the design of how and what he wanted to alter. Essentially, he visualized with all his heart that the mind aspect of Intent Counter would transfer to Force Pulse, changing the latter’s base from force energy to mental energy. After several attempts, it finally worked. Yet, something completely unexpected occurred, and his Intent Counter skill vanished entirely. Thankfully, his Force Pulse skill not only transformed to use mental energy but also gained the ability to swiftly sense the intent of others during battles. So, it was not much of a loss.

  However, this unexpected loss ignited a burning curiosity in Shin’s mind. He immediately devised another experiment, this time using Karmic Vision as the subject. His goal was to copy the illusion immunity aspect of Karmic Vision and transfer it to Force Pulse. Using the exact same method as before, with the same level of focus and desire, he attempted the transfer. Once again, it worked, but with a key difference: Karmic Vision didn’t vanish. Instead, the skill remained intact, although stripped of its illusion immunity feature.

  He conducted another experiment, once again focusing on the Karmic Vision skill. This time, he attempted to copy the normal intent-sensing ability and merge it with Force Pulse. Once again, he succeeded, leaving the Karmic Vision, with only the features of perceiving karmic threads and sensing emotions.

  These results left him in a dazed, contemplative state as he tried to understand what had transpired. After much thought, he arrived at the following conclusions:

  Firstly, copying and pasting aspects of skills was not possible. The process was a direct transfer, which explained why the aspects were fully removed from their original skills.

  Secondly, the mind aspect was likely the foundational core of Intent Counter. Removing it caused the skill to collapse entirely, leaving nothing behind. In contrast, the illusion immunity and the intent sensing aspects of Karmic Vision were secondary features, not its base. Removing them only affected those specific elements, leaving the rest of the skill intact.

  Yet despite the loss of one skill, this experiment had resulted in a significant upgrade to Force Pulse, which now was based on mental energy capabilities and had intent-sensing features, both in and out of battle. Additionally, this skill would not be hindered by any light-based illusions. This experiment thus removed the prior weakness he had identified for the passive illusion immunity.

  So, all in all, a great and satisfying upgrade, the method of which he will try in the future for enhancing his skills.

  Coming back to the present, the moment after Shin identified the shortest route, he ran utilising the most of his physical capabilities. He easily detected all traps through his Force Pulse and whenever a robot came to attack him, he created a pressure field using Force Manipulation to stop them in their tracks and subsequently ignored them, full focused on running towards his goal. And he was running on his simple physical capability and not by utilising force manipulation as he had decided to limit himself for the event.

  However, this speed was still much faster than the other competitors, because of his skill, Superhuman Physique which was always passively active. Still, when he reached the finish line, he learned that he was actually the third to finish, and it was a result that he hadn’t expected at all. He assumed that he would be in the tens to finish. But unexpectedly, that was not the case as the maze was quite hard.

  The first to finish was, surprisingly, or perhaps unsurprisingly, Toru. Her support course teammate had been the first to complete their obstacle by a wide margin, giving her a significant advantage, which she used to her benefit. Next was Shoda, who came in second. Despite starting in 10th place, he managed to find an exit close to his entrance, just a five-meter walk. He only had to defeat a machine guarding the gate, which was an easy task for him, thanks to his quirk.

  Afterward, many teams finished, and when 20 students crossed the finish line, Midnight announced the end of the event. The qualifying students gathered and listened attentively as she turned her gaze toward the screen once, restarting the shuffle once again.

  The shuffling once again stopped the moment Midnight declared it to, and the screen displayed the second round in bold letters, “Capture the flag”. Midnight, subsequently, started to read the rules from the paper she had gotten from opening the red envelope that was shot at her, when the round was determined.

  “The student teams will remain the same as they were in the first round. This time, two teams will go head-to-head for a place in the next round. The mission is simple: each team must hide their flag somewhere on the ground. Once the flag is placed, that spot becomes their flag post. From there, they must defend their flag while attempting to capture the opponent’s flag. The team that successfully collects the opponents’ flag and deposits them on their own flag post, wins.”

  Subsequently, the matchups were decided, and Shin and his team’s opponents were Ida and his team. For his match, Shin asked the remaining teammates to defend the flag while he went to collect the opponent's flag. Using Force Pulse, he easily located their position and immediately ran towards Ida and the other team members, beating them unconscious and easily capturing the flag. After capturing and returning to the flag post, Shin deposited it, securing his team's win.

  And he had to say that the fight with Ida was clearly a letdown, even though Shin limited himself. This was majorly because Ida kept using the same tactics, while not adding or changing anything. Thus, Shin was easily able to beat him because Shin had seen all his moves and tactics many times before. The only difficulty Shin faced was Ida’s speed, though it was not something his upgraded Force Pulse could not see through. He noted this, and decided to advise Ida against his unchanging fight style after the sports festival ended.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Other matches, though, were not as one-sided as his, and it took an entire day for all the matchups to finish. The diversity in abilities made for some intense and unpredictable battles.

  One notable match was between Todoroki’s team and Midoriya’s team, which turned into a fierce and evenly contested showdown. Midoriya’s team put up a marvellous fight, demonstrating their adaptability and tactical aptitudes. They didn’t follow the standard route of just sending their hero course student to capture the flag and instead displayed a great sense of teamwork. In contrast, Todoroki just fought on his own, with his incredible control over both fire and ice, showcased his overwhelming power. In the end, despite the close nature of the match, Todoroki and his team managed to secure the win.

  Another important match featured Bakugo’s team against Kuroiro’s team. This fight was significant not just because of Bakugo’s overwhelming power but also due to the noticeable changes in his approach. His usual explosive and reckless style seemed more restrained, with his attacks being calculated and precise. Bakugo’s team worked cohesively under his leadership, and despite Kuroiro’s tactical ingenuity, they came out victorious, leaving a lasting impression on everyone watching.

  As the day drew to an end, the students who hadn’t been eliminated were allowed to stay overnight at the academy to rest and prepare for the challenges ahead. The others, along with the audience, dispersed for the day, ready to return the next morning to witness the upcoming matches

  …

  The next day, 10 teams, i.e., 40 students, were gathered for the last event before the finals. The screen shuffled and showed the ‘Artistic Quirk Assessment,’ for which Midnight explained the rules.

  “Each student would go on stage and showcase their quirks in an artistic style. They would be judged based on creativity, the beauty of the performance, and the overall strength of the quirk. Each criteria have a maximum score of 50. The top 8 students would proceed to the finals. For the performance, you can do anything that can be viewed as art, from music to dance, etc.”

  This led to students brainstorming ideas for good performances. Each student was given 10 minutes to showcase their talents. The entire day was full of variety and fun as Shin got to witness a range of performances: concerts, dances, shadow fights, acting, art shows, and many others. It was an exquisite display of the participating student’s creativity and skill.

  Shin was the twentieth performer. He chose to execute an art show, demonstrating his control over his quirk in a unique way. Using Force Manifestation, he summoned numerous force energy orbs and subsequently burst in the sky akin to firecrackers. Through precise control, he used these explosions to draw images of various pro heroes in midair, carefully manipulating each unit of force energy to land exactly where he wanted. The performance tested his limits, and he thoroughly enjoyed pushing them.

  His quirk, being impact-based, was inherently difficult to control in such a manner. Yet, under the pressure of an audience, he found himself improving. While he had always been able to control the direction of his force energy, during the performance, he began to master controlling the exact destination where this energy would stop. This added layer of control made handling his quirk significantly easier, marking a noteworthy improvement. For Shin, this accomplishment alone made the sports festival worthwhile.

  However, he quickly realized that implementing such precise control in the midst of a battle would be nearly impossible due to the immense focus and concentration it required. Moreover, with his sharp intellect, he deduced that fully perfecting this method could result in the creation of a new skill entirely. This wasn’t desirable for him. Thus, Shin wanted to first understand how to prevent additional features from splitting into separate skills before making such upgrades. With that in mind, he chose to pause his progress on this method, determined to refine his approach in the future.

  After his performance ended, Shin stepped forward, took a deep breath, and raised his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. “Thank you all for watching my performance! I really appreciate you taking the time to see it, and I hope you found it interesting, if not enjoyable.”

  “Now, I know there are a lot of heroes here today looking for interns, so I want to make my intentions clear. I’m only interested in internships from agencies or heroes who focus on strategy and tactical work. My present goal is to develop my skills in handling situations tactically and strategically. I’m also open to non-combat internships, such as those focused on quirk research, business-related work, or even politics in the hero world. These are the areas I’m keen to explore.”

  “However, I am not interested in internships that focus solely on combat. If your offer is based only on training or battle-oriented work, I’ll have to decline, so I ask that you don’t waste your time or mine sending those kinds of offers. Thank you again for watching!”

  Following Shin’s bold declaration, many other students also made their preferences clear in their performances, adopting a similar approach to communicate their intentions. Unfortunately, all the students from the Hero Course had already performed, and some couldn’t help but feel a tinge of regret for missing the opportunity to clarify their interests.

  Nevertheless, the day didn’t end without other moments of brilliances. Several other performances stood out, leaving the audience in awe.

  One such performance came from a young woman in the Management Course, who sang for what felt like an eternity. Her voice was enchanting, and the crowd erupted in cheers as they recognized her. It was Canberry, a name that many of her classmates had heard before but never quite associated with this timid woman. Canberry was a famous singer, known for her performances in the music world, though her identity had always been a huge mystery, as she wore a mask to conceal her face during public appearances. Her performance became one of the day’s unforgettable highlights.

  As the evening drew to a close, the festival wound down, and the students and audience began to scatter, eagerly awaiting the finals that would unfold the next day.

  …

  The following day,

  Eight students were going to compete one-on-one for the title of the Champion. The finalists were Shoto Todoroki, Katsuki Bakugo, Shin Akatsuki, and two other students from the hero course; Mei Hatsume of the support course; Hitoshi Shinso with the brainwash quirk and Canberry with her Illusion quirk, from the management course.

  The first round ended quickly as Todoroki, Shin, Bakugo, and Canberry each ended their fights within minutes.

  For the first semifinal match, Todoroki and Shin were pitted against each other. The moment the referee yelled “START,” both charged at each other with great intensity. Todoroki tried to trap Shin with ice, creating walls and barriers to slow him down. However, Shin bulldozed through everything, charging straight toward Todoroki without hesitation.

  When Shin reached him, Todoroki unleashed a barrage of flames, but Shin employed Force Manifestation to create a shield to block the attack. Without giving Todoroki a moment to regroup, Shin engaged him up close, wielding his polearm with precision. His Force Pulse revealed every weakness in Todoroki’s movements through his intents, allowing Shin to deflect incoming ice shards with swift swings and exploit openings with pinpoint stabs.

  In a desperate bid to create some distance, Todoroki surrounded himself with flames and formed a sword from ice, taking the fight to melee range. However, his lack of experience with sword fighting was evident, and Shin capitalized on this, landing several hits that left Todoroki with small but draining injuries.

  Sensing Todoroki’s growing desperation, Shin feigned a momentary weakness in his posture. Todoroki, eager to turn the tide before his injuries worsened, seized the opportunity and launched an attack. But it was a trap—Shin exploited the opening to deliver a decisive strike to Todoroki’s neck, leaving him unconscious and ending the match.

  Throughout the fight, Shin relied solely on his Force Pulse and Force Manifestation, showcasing the skill and strategy he had honed over time. Midnight announced Shin’s victory, advancing him to the finals.

  The second semifinal between Bakugo and Canberry was a completely different story. Canberry’s quirk revolved around illusions, and many assumed Bakugo would counter it by detonating the entire arena, disrupting any light-based illusions. However, Canberry had hidden a crucial part of her abilities—she could create mental illusions as well.

  This caught Bakugo off guard. While he prepared to overwhelm her with explosions, Canberry trapped him in a mental illusion, manipulating his perception and making him believe he had already won. Under her influence, Bakugo unknowingly stepped out of the arena, handing her the victory. Though furious with himself for falling for such a trick, Bakugo surprised everyone by maintaining his composure. His calm response and promise to defeat Canberry next time demonstrated significant growth in his personality.

  Finally, the much-anticipated finals arrived: Shin versus Canberry. Unlike her previous opponents, Shin had no trouble countering her illusions. His Force Pulse allowed him to see through light-based illusions with ease, and his experience dealing with mental illusions—similar to the mental demons he had faced before—made him immune to her mental traps.

  Canberry quickly realized she couldn’t overcome Shin’s defenses. Aware of her limits, she chose to surrender, acknowledging Shin’s overwhelming advantage

  Afterwards, the rewards were given, with Shin receiving a gold medal, Canberry or Shia Testaki ended up receiving a silver medal, and Todoroki and Bakugo receiving bronze medals. Then the remaining days, Shin watched the events of other year students. He observed many interesting quirks and even got some ideas for his own skill improvement. Overall, he can definitely say that the gains he made during the entire Sports festival were plentiful.

  ……