Scarlet Mage's eyes had been twitching for quite a while now. There was currently another set of students having a match in the center of the training hall, but her attention was completely settled on Riley.
She had been observing him from the start of their battle, and not even once, did his heart fluctuate. Even as he pierced his opponent's hands, even as he was about to stab his head with a knife, never once did his heart fluctuate.
During the interview, Scarlet Mage thought of this as some sort of a plus; as a hero that is always true to himself would more often than not, end up making the right decision when the time comes. However, she completely dismissed the other side of the blade.
Riley doesn't know when to hold back. His heart was so pure that it will always go straight to the end result; this time, he wasn't going to stop until Danny stopped breathing-- his morals were all over the place. And so, from this day forth, Scarlet Mage promised herself she would take extra care of Riley.
He doesn't belong in the Potential Villain list-- she would stand by her decision. Riley is just a lost pure soul that would have to be guided with every step. She should probably visit Whiteking soon in order for her to gain more information about Riley.
And as for the person of interest, Riley was currently being isolated by the rest of the class. Even Silvie could not help but slightly move away from him as she was a bit uncomfortable with how much violence he was capable of; she was even starting to think that what happened during the entrance examination wasn't an accident.
The only person that was left near Riley was Gary, who was letting out a curse every time something interesting happens during the matches.
"Why do you always curse so much?" Riley then asked.
"Eh? I don't know," Gary just shrugged his shoulders before turning his attention back to the ongoing battle. Seeing this, Riley could not help but slightly furrow his eyebrows.
When he was still running around as Darkday, he had also encountered a lot of superheroes cursing him. Cursing him as he crushed their bones, cursing him as he slowly ripped out their heads, cursing him as he gouges out their eyeballs.
It was the only thing that messes up their otherwise beautiful screams. Riley then suddenly closed his eyes as the memories of the people he had killed resurfaced in his mind, his breaths trembling in excitement. He made an oath to himself to not wear Darkday's costume until Mega Woman recovers, but every time he reminisced all the blood and anguish, there was a part of him growing, wanting to be bathed by it again.
"...Are you okay?"
Riley's thoughts were then disrupted by the sound of Silvie's voice, who approached him as soon as she saw the somewhat pained expression on Riley's face.
"No," Riley quickly responded as he looked Silvie straight in the eyes. No matter how much he looked at her, she truly reminded her of Mega Woman. He wanted to ask her if she was related to her in any way, but for some reason, he was hesitating.
What exactly would he do if she was? If anything, what he needed to know right now was Mega Woman's situation. Was the government helping her to recover? But based on Prophet's words during the entrance ceremony earlier, they were talking as if Mega Woman was dead.
Is she? If not, what exactly are they doing to her?
Maybe he should visit them and find out? But he just told the world that Darkday is retiring for now. He would be breaking his word if he just suddenly barges in their office, wherever that is.
Seeing Riley once again being lost in his own world, Silvie could not help but let out a sigh. Why was she so afraid of him? Riley is literally a different person than most of them. His violence could just mean something else for him entirely.
"You're not fine? Do you need som--"
"I challenge Silvie Savelievna of Class 1-V."
"...Hannah?"
Silvie could not help but blink a couple of times as Riley's brother, Hannah, suddenly walked to the center of the stage, calling for her with a smile on her face.
"What… are you doing?" Silvie muttered. In truth, she and Hannah had actually been talking to each other through social media; she could be considered her first friend in the Academy even before they were officially enrolled. So seeing her challenge her now… did she do something?
"Let's show these guys what happens to the people who mess with my brother," Hannah said as she started stretching her limbs.
"I am sure they already know that," Silvie said as she turned her head towards Danny, who was still crying on the side as the medics were trying to heal him. Riley was far from a dame that needed protecting, but it would seem a sister's care is something deeper than that-- she wouldn't know, of course.
"Let's just go do it," Hannah scoffed, "Or are you scared, future Mega Woman?"
"...Fine."
"Ooh shit."
Once again, Gary covered his mouth as he looked back and forth between the center of the hall and Riley, "You seem to be the main attraction of the Academy, Riley bro."
"That tends to happen to people with albinism," Riley muttered as he focused his attention on the upcoming match between his sister and Silvie, "We either get hunted or be treated as a god."
"Oh, which one are you?"
"The Devil."
"Boy, you edgy as fuck," Gary once again let out a gasp, "I love you already."
"I'm afraid I am heterosexual, Gary."
"Shut the fuck up, man." Gary chuckled as he too finally turned his attention towards the match.
"Hannah Ross of Class 1-F."
"Silvie Savelievna of Class 1-V."
The two nodded at each other before turning their heads towards the three instructors. And as they did so, Scarlet Mage raised a finger, once again summoning a small glint of fire.
"You know the drill."
And a few seconds after she said that, the small flame she summoned popped. And as Scarlet Mage's fire disappeared, Hannah's entire body grew ablaze.
And without any warning, she rushed towards Silvie, leaving a trail of fire in her wake.
"!!!"
As she was only a meter away from Silvie, Hannah suddenly spun her body, her foot threatening to burn Silvie's face. Silvie quickly leaped and flew back, but as she did so, the flames on Hannah's leg spew towards her.
The only thing that Silvie could do was cover herself with her arms, her skin scorching from the heat of the fire.
"Kh!" And due to her body's durability, she wasn't used to feeling pain-- and so, she could not help but let out a slight grimace as she turned to look at the flaming Hannah.
"Oh gosh, your sister is so hot!" Gary cheered.
"That is true."
"Ew, dude. That's your sister."
"How does that diminish the fact that she is currently hot?"
"I'm not talking to you anymore," Gary said as he once again focused on the battle going on in front of him. And it wasn't only him that was invested in the fight, almost every student in the hall was watching Hannah and Silvie intensely.
Besides Riley's, the other matches truly were a bore to watch. After all, most of them were fledglings, not even knowing the basics of fighting another Super. But now, seeing Hannah and Silvie, they could not help but imagine what the future holds for them-- it was truly starting to feel like they were in an Academy for Superheroes.
"...Have you been training?" Silvie said as she gritted through the pain.
"I've been watching videos of other Elemental controllers," Hannah said as she slightly glanced at Scarlet Mage, "You could say I learned a thing or two."
"And the martial arts?"
"My father is a bit of an enthusiast," Hannah let out an arrogant chuckle, "I've been training since I was in diapers."
"...I see," Silvie let out a sigh as she once again slowly floated in the air, "Then I better get serious, then."
"Let's do this!"
And after 3 minutes, Silvie won.
"Ah fuck, I'm not doing this again." Hannah grabbed onto Silvie's shoulders as her gasps were loud enough to travel throughout the entire hall.
"I almost lost."
"Pft, fuck you."
Through the first minute of the battle, it was close; with neither of the two losing to each other.
However, when the 2nd minute came, Hannah's flames began to wither. And by the 3rd minute, Hannah was practically fighting Silvie barehanded-- and everyone knew the outcome of the battle then.
"That was very good."
Nightwalker, the supervisor of Hannah's class, clapped his hands as he approached the two students, "However, please do mind your language; we're not barbarians."
"Yeah, yeah," Hannah waved her hand as she pushed herself away from Silvie, "I'll see you and my brother later. You owe me ice cream for beating me."
"...Sure thing," Silvie nodded hesitantly before returning to Riley and the others.
"Damn, your battle got me hyped up!" Gary also clapped his hand as he welcomed Silvie back.
"...Thanks?"
"Now, it's my turn," Gary scoffed as he lifted up his sleeves, "Watch me as I challenge one of the instruc--"
"That's enough for today."
But alas, before Gary could even take a step towards the center of the hall, the three instructors gathered and started gesturing for all of them to come forward.
"So, does anyone know what the point of this exercise was?" Scarlet Mage was the first to speak up.
"...Isn't it to teach us humility?"
"Yes, but there is actually one more thing-- for you to know your limitations and where you belong," Scarlet Mage followed, "Some of you will no doubt grow as a superhero beloved by the country, maybe even by the world. However, most of you will just remain doing your job in the streets, cheered only by the few because of the simple fact that you are weaker."
"...Eh?"
"It might sound harsh, but such will be your reality as superheroes," the muscular instructor of the other class grunted as he stepped forward, "I can be considered as street-level compared to Scarlet Mage. But that is okay; because not all battles need to decide the fate of the world. Sometimes ensuring that a victim of a mugging could safely return to their children…
...is more than enough."
***
"Boy, that got depressing towards the end, didn't it?" Gary wiped the imaginary sweat on his forehead, walking backward as he talked to Riley and the others.
"Why? Still can't get over the fact that you're just street level?" Hannah smirked.
"You haven't even seen me fight!"
"Pft."
"Even you, Silvie!? Why is the world against me!? Help me out here, brother!" Gary was about to cling his arm over Riley, but he quickly dodged to the side. "A… anyway, since we were dismissed early, what are we going to do now?"
"Train?"
"Sleep?"
"Boring," Gary quickly rolled his eyes from Silvie and Hannah's suggestions, "What about you, Riley? Anything you want to do?"
"...Visit Mega Woman?"