The ride to the heroes League academy was long and amazing. I was seated in a Lamborghini urus- window side precisely, my gaze navigating through the beautifully built HLA estate. From the tall skyscrapers to small shopping complexes, the enormous parking garage, the footballs field, the baseball field, the basketball court, the golf field and race tracks. The school was positioned at a lateral end. It was a tall building made of glass. The glass reflected the ray of sunshine making it's striking beauty evident.
The driver steered the car to an open parking space and stopped. I opened the door and walked out pulling my luggage behind me after which I shut the door. The driver also alighted, he was dressed in a black top and a blue jean with sneakers and a cap. The top had HLA inscribed at the back. We walked for about a minute before getting to the main entrance of the building. Standing close to the building made me realize how ginormous it actually was.
We walked in briskly and made straight to the receptionist's office. After going through a lot of processing, we were finally granted entrance into the main building. We got into an elevator and made for the 65th floor. That was where the principal's office was located. After asking two people for directions, we got to the office.
The office was designed like every other offices. It had trophies in literally every corner of the room. It was well ventilated and there was a good illumination of light coming from the glass wall behind the principal's chair. The table was scattered with books, archives, and files. After a warm greeting, we were ushered to our seats.
"Good to see you, Mr Grayson." The principal greeted and I replied with a warm smile.
"It's very rare to see Mr Eldon send letters of approval by himself regarding a superhero student especially when it comes to his own assembled super seven." She began and I felt a sudden chill run down my spine.
"Now that you are here, I can't help but wonder how powerful you really are." She said and a small smile appeared on her face and her curious look remained unchanged.
"Not many people like my powers so I'm as surprised as you are." I said and she relaxed back.
"Well authorities are authorities. There's nothing I can do once the god of magic has signed your being here." She remarked and stood up. She walked to a shelf and brought out a book. She opened the book and began to trace with her finger. She flipped about three pages still tracing. She eventually stopped and dialed a number on her telephone. It rung for a while and the call connected.
"Mrs Victoria." She paused for a while and continued, "Richard Grayson, eighteen years, special grade class, code name Stormforge." She said and paused again.
"Affirmative." She concluded and ended the call before seating down, her gaze met mine.
"You may start today." She said and relaxed back.
The driver already cleared himself with the principal and I was led to the classroom by a staff. As soon as I was ushered into the classroom, the atmosphere changed. A teacher was currently on duty. It was almost like my gaze was meeting theirs at the same time. My feet trembled. I adjusted my grip on the schoolbag strapped to my back. My luggage I held firmly.
"Introduce yourself, will you?" The teacher asked politely but her words struck me and I must have been startled.
"Richard." I said
"Richard Grayson."
Everyone greeted me warmly and I was shown an empty spot where I would stay. I worried about my backpack since I wasn't directly taken to my hostel. The teacher, a lady, proceeded to continue her work. Throughout the day, I could barely assimilate anything she'd said. A part of me was definitely lost but I couldn't get a hold of that thing. The more I probed into my memory, the darker it was. I just couldn't picture the one thing that was missing. A memory, a person, a figure, an animal, just what was I missing?
The rest of the session ended and I quickly evicted myself from the classroom. I made my way to the council office. Though I didn't know where exactly it was, I was taken there by a student.
The council office was a separate building from the HLA building. It was not as tall and ginormous as the HLA building but it's interior was more intriguing. The interior was like a very long hallway that ended with a giant door like the one at the incredible forces tower. On each sides of the hallway had offices. At first it was a large reception followed by a sliding glass door and then this hallway. There was an opening at the end that had an elevator in it. I stood in front of the sliding glass door admiring the building. I was here already, wasn't I?
I heaved and took a step and it was followed by a very strong aura. These rooms were filled with very powerful people. Maybe as strong as the god of magic or stringer. This was the council. I stood unsure of who to go to. A door opened and a lady walked out. Her aura wasn't as deafening as I expected it to be. She was casually dressed and she was on heels.
"H- hi!" I said and waved weakly.
The lady reduced her walking speed and approached me.
"I've not been shown to my hostel." I protested calmly. The last thing I would want is to cause a scene here. The auras coming from the rooms were deafening and we're more than enough to knock me out but the one oozing from the door on the end of this hallway was even more suppressing.
"You're the new intake, yeah?" She asked gleefully.
"Yes ma'am!" I replied submissively.
"You're a member of the super seven, that is, you don't get to sleep on the hostels. You should return to a more suitable location where the driver can come pick you up." She said and I realized.
I turned around and made to speed off but I soon realized and walked back holding in my over excitement, "thanks ma'am." And with that I sped off leaving only shockwaves behind for her.
I stopped as soon as I got to the outer part of HLA. The students were gather outside the garden. Each person doing one activity. I stood clutching my backpack and luggage to myself. I dipped my hand into my pocket and brought out my phone and began to scroll through Facebook.
I was so engulfed in my phone and got jolted back to reality when a hard basketball hit me at the back of my head. I held the spot tightly with my unused hand and turned back Sharply to see the culprits. A group of four boys, obviously strong. The first one wore his basketball jersey kit and he had an overconfident smirk on his face, the second one wore a black hoodie over his shorts, the other two on only their jersey tops.
"Pass the ball." He snickered and the others made silent chuckles.
I picked up the ball and stretched my arm, "come have it." I said, my tone spelling anger and vengeance. I was going to make sure to leave them with at least one or two Injuries.
"Hey, go and grab it." The first one ordered his counterpart to his right and the latter agreed. He approached me with esteemed caution and placed his hand on the ball and proceeded to pull it out of my grip. I grabbed his arm at high speed and flung him to the ground and returned to my former position still holding my hand out with the ball on it.
A group of boys who had been watching all along gasped loudly and alerted a few passerbys. I wasn't bothered by the scene I was causing. All I wanted was to make these boys pay no matter the method.
The remaining three watched as their partner lay on the ground wincing in pain. Their leader's countenance changed and it spelled anger. He raised his arms and flame filled them. He separated them and his entire body was covered in flames.
"That's enough!" A masculine voice rung from among the crowd. He made his way through and stepped into the battle zone with his gaze fixated on me. His look was bright. His hair slightly silver and his eye color teal. He was on a tight black top that revealed his body physique. His trousers white in color, well fitted. His gaze finally left mine and faced the guy whose flames slowly started coming off.
"Mr Aspen!" He yelled in shock and quickly scurried away.
There I was. I also made to leave.
"Richard Grayson, yes?" He said and I stopped on my tracks.
"Affirmative." I didn't look at him.
"Come with me otherwise we'd be late." He said and left almost immediately. I stood there for a few seconds processing what he'd just said. Either he was an officer sent to neutralize me for punishment or he was the man assigned to bring me to the super seven.
I had no other choice but to follow him. We got to a limousine parked at a vip parking space. A man in a black suit waiting at the entrance, holding the door for us. We didn't stop walking. After Aspen, I entered the car and dragged my luggage and backpack in. The car was typical. It had all the features I'd seen in most movies.
"We're honored to have you here, Mr Grayson." He started.
"We received message from the council late hence the delay, forgive us."
"Once we cross the borders between HLA and S-7, you're now to be addressed as Stormforge." He said and my heart raced, chills ran down my spine. Happiness wasn't just the word to describe me currently. With that he sat back and relaxed. I did the same.
The journey commenced. It was a smooth and quiet one. I rested my head on the side windows and after sometime, sleep enveloped me. By the time I opened my eyes again it was already night time. The journey was still on or so it seemed for the next few minutes. The car finally came to a stop. We alighted.
In front of me was another skyscraper. I was just in awe. I walked side by side with Aspen as we walked into the building. Surprisingly he was well known so we had to skip a few process. We walked to an elevator and rode to the final floor.
As soon as the elevator dinged and the door opened, I saw the most beautiful and captivating sight. One I never saw at the incredible forces tower. The wall was well arranged with televisions. There was a square meeting table in the middle and there were seven chairs round about it. The floor was smooth and the room was spacious. A part of the room was just glass complimenting the glass exterior of the building.
There was another part of the room that looked exactly like the first one and it had high tech computers for analysis, surveillance and strategic planning, an armory where tools such as katanas and boomerang were kept. There was also a crime lab where forensic tools were kept and equipment for scientific investigations were made. There were also advanced systems and features to keep the building safe from intruders.
The light hanging from the chandelier illuminated the beauty of the room.
"Let me take you to your room." Aspen said and I followed still haunted by surprise.
We walked to a room right in front of a japanese-styled room with wooden sliding door painted with old Chinese drawings. It was a drawing of forest life. My room was just a corner from the main room to a dead end and the only rooms were mine and this person's.
I pushed open my door and Aspen said "Good night, we have a big day ahead tomorrow!" With that he left. I was taken aback but my happiness just wouldn't let me think much about it. I walked in and let the beauty of the day take over me. I still had a feeling I was missing something.