Chapter 12 - Preparations for the exam

In the time leading up to the entrance exam, Michael's been training as hard as he could, Haruto could only beat him about once every twenty fights, usually through surprising Michael. Haruto's been training much harder to stay ahead, but Michael was still able to catch up and surpass Haruto by a mile. While Haruto was better than Michael with pure skill, Michael was faster and stronger, he wasn't a slouch by any means in the skill department either.

Michael was able to use all seven of his martial art styles as one, creating his own fighting style, which he called the Steel Dragon style, making use of his massive strength and speed while executing skills from seven different types of martial arts. Michael tried to have Haruto learn the style so he would be able to pass it down, yet even Haruto, a very talented master of martial arts had too much difficulty to learn and make use of it. Michael was an exception when it came to learning it, he would be it's sole user because no one else was talented enough with just the right type of quirk to learn it.

Naomasa Tsukauchi sent the video to U.A, who, with Michael's permission, decided to upload it to both U.A's website and the general internet. The video instantly exploded in popularity, with U.A uploading it as proof of its validity. When people realized it was Michael in the video, his social media accounts exploded once more, reaching the millions, instead of just in Japan this time. He had fans worldwide, as well as people expecting him to be the next All-Might. Michael expected the video to have a large effect, but underestimated it, he was glad for the boost in fame, as it would help him in his path towards becoming the greatest hero, and saving more people.

Izuku ended up getting angry at Michael for not telling him about the Muscular fight, to which he replied that Izuku never really told him about the Sludge villain attack either. They started training together with All-Might at the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park. It was completely filled with trash. All-Might very quickly realized that while it may be perfect training for Izuku, Michael could easily carry anything out of the beach. He started sparring with Michael instead, to gauge his skill level and find a new form of training for him.

Michael very quickly realized that while he was able to defeat an injured Muscular, he was unable to beat All Might. Muscular might have been incredibly strong, but he didn't have much in terms of skills, he wasn't too intelligent and adaptable either. All Might was completely different, he used his strength in a way that left you unable to defend, creating air vibrations due to its sheer strength. He was much, much faster than Muscular as well. Michael was able to hold his own. Much to the shock of All-Might and Izuku, just being able to fight with All-Might, the strongest hero in the world was an achievement, but doing it at 14 years old and holding your own? That was incredibly impressive, he wasn't using his other powers either, just his strength, speed and his quirk.

Due to the three hours limit on All-Might's power, they weren't able to spar for long. All-Might had to do his job as a hero. He decided to have Michael wear super compact weighted gear while training, moving the heavy trash to the garbage truck. Michael had a lot of trouble moving at first, but quickly figured out how to redistribute his weight and strength to make up for it. He figured out how to use his quirk more effectively, as well as growing his strength and speed.

Izuku had to move garbage too, but he was able to train longer than Michael, who lived further away and was sometimes busy going to the dojo, he had previously trained to help him become a hero, but it was nowhere near this level of difficulty or effectiveness.

They had 10 months left before the U.A entrance exams. Michael was able to end his training at the very last day, able to use the weights with his quirk on to fight at his previous level before his training, but his previous peak, when he had his quirk turned on, was stronger than he currently was while holding back. If his power level before training while his quirk was turned off was 10, then his power level after training while wearing his weights and with his quirk turned on was also 10. This meant that his strength improved drastically, he was much stronger than he ever was without even using his quirk, when he did use it, he could probably draw with All-Might in a spar.

Izuku received All-Mights quirk two weeks before the U.A entrance exam, he quickly realized he was completely unable to use it, as he would only harm himself, this was until Michael told him

"You quirk is part of you, don't think of it as a power move, try thinking of it as a blender at the lowest setting, no, below the lowest setting, have it as close as you can to being turned off, then punch."

Michael also started attempting to fly, telling Izuku and All-Might, that he theorized that he could use his quirk around him to fly, and was experimenting with it. He could jump incredibly high while being perfectly fine, but no matter what he did he was unable to actually fly. He did manage to hover, but only for a few seconds, and it was only once. He didn't lose hope however and decided he would keep on practicing at U.A.

Michael Steele, now a minor celebrity before even becoming a high school student, went to sleep completely exhausted, unable to move, he had sparred with All-Might with his weights on and the spar left him bȧrėly able to move. All-Might was a lot stronger than what people back in his previous life expected, changing the very weather with a single punch was a terrifying feat. This was even after giving away his quirk to Izuku, and his injury to All for one, he was even able to go past his limits to deal with multiple opponents, including Nomu.