"Haah…. haah…. Haah…. finally..." The kid gasped for air. He breath heavily as if he were suffering from immense torture he'd never experienced. Several moments later, he regained his composure and looked at his phone. "Oh thank god! I made it just in time!"
Time on his phone displayed. "8:08, I still have 2 more minutes left. My class, where's my class!? I need to get th—!"
"Are you okay?"
The teenager turned behind to see who called. It was a girl, probably about the same age as him. He tries to calm himself however, judging by his reaction the girl seemed to think that something was upsetting the poor boy. "Are you feeling alright? Your face seems red. You're sweating buckets as well."
"Huh, oh, ye-yeah! I just came here running all the way from my house, that's why." The teenager wipes his sweat from his face with his uniform sleeve. However, now his sleeves were wet instead of his face. He then tries to search something for his backpack, struggling to look into it.
"Here you can borrow mine." The girl then offers him a small towel. "It may not be much, but it can ensure that you dry your face a bit. Maybe yourself as well!"
"Oh, thanks!" He reaches for the towel as to show he's accepting her generosity. He uses it to wipe off the leftover sweat. After a while, he hands the towel back to her. "Here, this is yours."
"It's alright, you can keep it. I have more. Besides that, why were you running to get over here? Are you training for something important or what?" She asked, with a slight hint of curiosity.
Suddenly, the boy's face turned in shock. "That's right! My class! I don't know where it is!" He then grabs the girl's hand. "Come on, we have to hurry or we're going to be late if we don't get there in time!!"
"But, what are you worried about? Class doesn't start until 8:20."
Hearing this, the boy pauses for a moment. "Pardon?"
The kindful girl takes out her phone, and shows something to the boy. "This is the schedule for the academy. From Sunday to Saturday, classes don't take until 8:20. It's 8:12 at the moment, so we still have eight more minutes before school starts."
Baffered, the boy also took out his phone. As expected, she wasn't bluffing, school really doesn't start until 8:20.
"...." The boy sighed miserably. He mumbles something, probably talking mack about himself not being about to comprehend sooner. Despite it being the first day of school, already to be soon adults, he'd can't even check something so obvious? Yet, regardless of the notification that was sent to all students who were attending, he couldn't just do a simple act and look at the message?
"Stupid…. stupid…." The boy crouched with both hands covering his head as it was tucked in his chest, he seemed only to self-pity as he couldn't cover the troubles he had caused along his way. Heck, he couldn't even reflect on his actions. He was like this for only a couple of seconds before the girl extended her arm towards him open-heartedly.
"Don't worry. Even if you were to be late, I'm sure you had your reasons. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably have done the same! " She smiles gently. Her warm smile was as gentle as if heaven's angels were descending about earth to announce a blessing. A blessing that would reassure happiness upon everyone.
The teenager lifted his head up, seeing how the girl had already reached her arm towards him. He hand reached out to him assured that everything would be alright. Besides, it would be rude to not accept a lady's kindness.
He reached out for her hand and lifted himself up. She's strong, the boy thought. They came face to face with each other. Apart from their size and height being different from one another, this wasn't a bother to her. The girl lifts her hair from covering her ear and with a smile, she then introduces herself to the unknown kid.
"I'm Alessia Levin! Nice to meet you!" Taking a better look at Alessia, her dark brown hair was long, reaching down her waists. As for her eyes, they resemble the color yellow as if it were pure shining gold. Yet despite her beauty, her face was smooth and clean which reflects from the morning bright sun, her eyelashes were very well taken care of nevertheless. Even then, all of her features, her face didn't include a single ounce of make up. Regardless of all that, her strength was something else.
"Chris Wilson. Nice to meet you too as well!" Chris smiles brightly. Clean and flesh light brown hair. Eyes like shiny stone emeralds with clean skin added to his features. His muscles weren't big but it was clear that he had some muscle under his bones no doubt about that. He glances at the sky. Today was the start of a new school year.
The leaves from trees soon fell like loose paper without any guidance of itself. The wind was cool and fresh, expected no less from the fall season. Even for the start of a new season, the wind is already becoming chilly with extra colds this year as well. D*mn allergies.
Chris sighed and faced Alessia. "So, shall we get going?" he asks. Although it may seem weird that a person you've barely just met is already inviting you to walk besides them, for some reason Alessia wasn't affected by it. Rather, found it quite exciting.
She nodded her head "Yeah, sure." Both of them walked inside the academy. As they were just at the entrance, once walking a few steps into the academy, it was enormous.
"Quite big for a school eh? I thought the building was going to be smaller than I originally thought it would." Chris comments, he wipes his nose with a finger.
"With the help of some big shots and the leftover savings from the last academy that happened before war broke out between heroes and villains. From the articles and reports, I'd say this isn't even worth a lot of their money!" Alessia replies.
Chris was amazed. "Really? There's no way! Then surely it must've cost millions!"
"Billions in fact. If you exclude the size of the academy, you'll soon notice that both the Chairman of the Hero Association and from different powerhouse families have put a lot of effort into the school's resources!" Alessia nodded, signifying that it wasn't a hoax. If what she said was true, then shouldn't this mean something.
"Then, wouldn't this mean…"
"Yes," Alessia glances at the academy. "This is the world's best hero academy. Atlantis Ashur!" She smiles. Both her and Chris then entered the academy.
This is where a new story of heroes will now begin to take place. A new era. A new beginning.
***
While walking together. Both Chris and Alessia admired the inside of the academy. Their surroundings were filled with many students who were accepted into the academy.
"I thought this building would've contained art creations like my old school. But this is awesome! It's like we're living in a sci-fi novel!" Chris exclaimed. He came in contact with the walls as he inspected it. Smooth and clean. Those were the words that came into mind. "Smells kinda nice in here as well!"
Alessia nodded her head in agreement. "Looks like they have gone all out with the project of the academy. Although I couldn't imagine what would have turned out, I didn't expect them to go with a more future realistic genre." She scans her surroundings. "Seems like there are students already heading into their classes. Shall we get going as well?"
Chris nodded excitedly. They both carried on with their destination within the academy.
A few minutes then go by. While taking a troll at the magnificent things the academy had contained, they still kept their heads up to look out at any odd activities that were in session. For instance they ran into students who were using their powers inside the building. There's already been signs of prohibiting using their abilities while in school without one of the teacher's or principal's consent, however it seems that rule isn't applied to them.
Super strength, levation, summoning fire as well a few other abilities, they were testing to see if the academy walls were durable enough. They wanted to feel self-esteem perhaps or probably feel honored for being able to crush costly walls.
Chris and Alessia sped off quickly, not wanting to get involved with their problematic activity just for one's enjoyment to be amused. "So much for being the "best academy" in the world. I'm already seeing misbehaved students in the academy…" Chris couldn't help but comment as he sighed.
"Yeah you're probably right." Alessia took a deep sigh as well. "Even though the title 'best' is a component to the hero Aurora because of her attendance in the same academy. It isn't quite accurate, never in the least."
"Then in other words, it's hypocritical through fame and honor by using Aurora's name?"
"Mhmm, exactly. Despite everything the hero Aurora had done in the past few years, her righteousness was helpful towards the innocent and many others that not only were inspired but she was given three medals of honor. For her not only to be courageous but also to put herself first, sacrificing for those who couldn't protect themselves from calamity. If it weren't for her bravery, humanity could have lost millions of innocent people."
"What were the other two medals given for?"
"That is something I don't know, sorry." She gives an awkward smile. She scratched her head. "I'm still trying to study more about her. She's my idol after all!" Her eyes shined like bright stars.
Chris only smiles. Seeing how Alessia's expression is shown, it actually makes her look cute.
"Anyways," Alessia pulls out her phone. "I've got to do something first before I head to class. You don't want to be marked tardy on the first day in the academy, right?" She smirks. "I'll see you around later if I get the chance!"
Chri could only nod with a smile in reply. "Yeah. Of course."
They both waved at each other before heading towards their separate ways.
***
"Whew, looks like this is my class. I had a lot of trouble finding it but looks like that's the end of all the trouble I caused." He mutters. "So much for all the directions I was given..."
Standing in front of the classroom door, he started to sweat buckets underneath his uniform. The nervousness overcame his body as his hands started to sweat as well. He shakes them lightly, trying to at least get a bit dry.
"Fuuu… alright let's do this." He took a deep breath as he extended his hand to open the door. Leading inside was a mystery.
He opened the door and walked inside. In the corner of his eye, he spotted several students, who were already in their seats, all glanced at him as he walked through the classroom. The room was filled with an unsettling atmosphere. Nobody had spoken a word until Chris entered.
"..."
"..."
"..."
'Haaa… give me a break please!' Chris cursed to himself. Only bad luck keeps following him everywhere. Truly unfortunate. He walks inside the room in order to find his desk, however no matter how much he tries to avoid eye contact with the other students, through his peripheral vision, he still sees the eyes of others. This kept on until Chris found his desk by the back in the middle row of the seats. Soon everyone continued on with their conversations across each other's seats while others simply kept their heads resting on their arms.
'...At least I found my desk.' Chrish took his backpack and placed it on the desk's hanger. Only a minute left before the bell rings for the session to start.
Ding, ding, Ding, ding, Ding!
Going from a low note to a high melody tone, then low once again, the academy was filled with a soft pitched xylophone. The start of the school year begins now!
"…"
"…"
"Soooo, when's the teacher coming?"
"Probably stuck in traffic. Happens all the time in the city."
"Maybe he needed to do something before class?"
"I doubt that. This is the world's best hero academy. What does he need at this hour of time anyways? Therapy?"
"That could be a possibility. This school is already causing trouble in the back, yet it seems that the teachers aren't taking notice of it yet. Some of the students have already gotten into trouble."
Soon, one of the students present in the room scoffed. "So much for the world's best academy. They can't even handle the students well, yet they expected everyone to see this as the greatest academy? Don't make me laugh!" Both their feet were on the table as he layed back on the chair relaxing.
They laughed however it didn't last long enough until someone else spoke up to them across from them.
"Hey, you better watch your mouth. Don't bring shame upon the academy's honor just because of your childish things. Such insolence." The previous individual who had scoffed earlier roared at them.
"Huh? You wanna go at it you f*cker?" He let out a bloodthirster expression. He put his legs off the desk and walked slowly towards the person who called out across.
"You better stop this nonsense you're trying to pull. This is a school where you study and learn new things." They said loudly in a strict voice. "Not some preschool for children that need extra care because their intellect is nonfunctional."
The other individual couldn't take the humiliation that was cast upon them. They clenched their teeth and shouted. "You b*stard."
"I swear, commoners need to know their place." He got up from his seat and faced the individual.
As they were standing a bit not far from each other. Suddenly, the two students rushed towards each other with sparks emanating from their bodies. They both charged at one another, throwing punches and kicks. The more wild beast student threw a jab which the other student blocked perfectly. They also threw a jab, however his opponent dodged the attack perfectly as well. Shocks were created as their energy started to rise incredibly.
"Oh my god…"
"Their speed and strength... It's incredible!"
Those who weren't in any conversations started to pick up at the fight as well. The cheers and praises the students yelled at the two fighters are exceptionally loud.
Both fighters exchange strikes for a few more rounds until they suddenly stop. Their fists almost touched together.
"What'd you guys stopped? Exchange more blows!"
They didn't listen nor did they care. They didn't move an ounce of inch. For a short period of time, they turned their heads.
"… Why are you guys staring at me like that? It's creeping me out."
They stared at the person, however they didn't move their lips nor did their eyes blinked. It's as if they were possessed by an entity.
"...Alright I was joking. There's no need to throw anymore punches. Are you guys happy now?"
"..."
"..."
"Guys!? Hello!? Are y'all seeing th—"
All of a sudden, someone was loudly slurping a liquid substance.
Slurp!
Slurp!
The person who was worried that he had done something wrong moved to the side. What revealed behind was an overgrown man, who looked to be in his 20s at the very least.
Slurp!
He was sipping in a cup with a straw on it as his body was laying on the desk with his hand supporting his head.
Slurp!
"Are you done?" An individual broke the silence that was surrounding the whole room.
The adult only continued to slurp in his drink as he did not respond.
He took the straw out of his mouth. "What are you guys doing? Come on just like my boy said, throw more punches!" They cheered with both excitement and high-spirited.
'What the hell is this guy even doing?' Everyone thought.