"For some reason... even though it only lasted a day, it felt like it was a lot longer, don't you think?" Said Jay, who was lying on the bed of his hotel room.
After each of the remaining applicants had received their badges, there was no reason for them to remain on the academy grounds, so after the examiner gave them a simple explanation about what to do now that they were students, they all began to leave.
Of course, this included Jay's group, ending with Sarah, James and him heading back to the hotel they had checked into a while back.
Fortunately for them, they had been cautious and booked a whole week, just in case.
As for Kesar and the others, they had to part ways eventually, not before they had exchanged their contact information with Jay, of course.
"I guess it's because you're not familiar with that kind of environment." Sarah replied, who was unexpectedly looking at something on her smartwatch while sitting on the edge of the bed.
Thinking she was right, Jay nodded and continued thinking of his own things, generating a hushed atmosphere in the room.
Although Jay himself was usually the one who kept the atmosphere lively, now that he had several things to think about, he was busy, if one added the fact that Sarah was also not in the mood to keep the conversation going, the silence dragged on longer than expected.
As for James, he was currently not with them because he had some business to attend to.
Finally, after a few minutes passed, Jay suddenly sat down on the edge of the bed before speaking.
"Hm, it's kind of late already, we should go to sleep, don't you think?"
This time turning off her smartwatch and shifting her gaze to another side of the room, Sarah again replied, "Yeah... that would be the best if we want to wake up early tomorrow."
Despite both of them saying that, neither showed any signs of moving, which went on for a short while longer, it was almost as if they were both waiting for something from the other.
"...Do you want to go training?"
"I thought you wouldn't ask!"
From the moment they left the Academy grounds, even though they were tired, they still continued to feel a desire for wanting to test their abilities, Sarah because she wasn't satisfied with the performance of her tattoos and Jay because of the new parameters of the system.
Therefore, not wanting to waste any more time, they both hurried out of the hotel room before heading out into the city.
Fortunately for them, although it was somewhat late, there was no shortage of places in Kluemwood City where they could practice.
One of these places was the Midnight Dojo, which had dozens of special rooms and other types of grounds for supers to unleash their powers without fear of the repercussions this could bring, always charging a price of course.
Upon entering the building, a friendly looking young man greeted them both, "Good evening, welcome to the Midnight Dojo, the only dojo in the city that's open even after midnight."
His tone, while energetic, was also respectful, though of course this was normal, after all, one never knows if the people coming through the door were simple young supers or people with a scary background.
"Hi, we would like to rent a grade (C) roo, please." Jay replied as he pulled out his special leather wallet...the same one that some time ago had belonged to the boss of Wolf's Fang.
As for why he had kept it even though it was a risk, it was nothing more and nothing less because he found it convenient and cool.
The moment he pulled out his wallet, the metallic sheen of the Eitsirc Academy badge inevitably caught the receptionist's attention.
"Ah, you're students of the Academy?" The receptionist asked, an admiring smile plastered on his face.
As a resident of Kluemwood City, he was fully aware of what an academy student badge looked like, which caused him to become unconsciously excited.
One must know that although the existence of the Eitsirc Academy in other parts of the world was a sign of admiration and respect, in this particular city, the admiration reached a completely different level.
"Is there a problem?" Jay asked.
"Not at all, in fact, it's the opposite, taking into account that you have a bronze badge, you are entitled to receive a 20% discount to the price of the room you're going to rent." Replied the receptionist with a smile on his face.
Hearing that, Jay blinked a couple of times before extending his hand towards Sarah, who quickly understood what he wanted and also pulled out her golden badge.
"A g-g-gold badge?!"
Just like that, with a 50% discount, they both managed to rent a grade (C) room with no problem at all.
With the predominant color being white, both the walls and floor had a checkered design that looked pretty good for a training room.
Size-wise, Jay estimated that at least 2-3 three-story houses could fit inside this room without it feeling crowded.
Putting aside any other thoughts, Jay stood at one end of the room while Sarah stood on the opposite side, the energy of both beginning to fluctuate.
*Swoosh*
Without waiting any longer, the first to move was Jay, running at full speed as a current of wind enveloped his entire body, increasing his speed even more.
Seeing this, Sarah simply changed her position to a fighting one, putting her arms in front of her and waiting for Jay to arrive.
Unlike the exam time, this time only one of the tattoos on her body was lighting up, this one in question was the one that activated a strengthening spell, increasing her physical strength.
Even though she wasn't using nor did she plan to use any of her stronger spells right now, it was clear that Sarah had the absolute advantage in this fight, so instead of taking this training seriously, she decided to take note of Jay's progress.
'His speed is incomparable to when he first learned Phantom Trace... and what's more, he doesn't seem to be using this technique, not bad at all.' Sarah thought, pleased with the progress Jay had made in this relatively short time.
In a matter of seconds, Jay reached where Sarah was standing, launching a kick towards the latter's face.
The next moment, before his kick could make contact, Sarah's hand tightly grabbed his ankle to throw him upwards, completely ignoring the force behind this attack.
'Unlike his physical capabilities, it seems that his combat level hasn't really improved that much...'
However, to her, this was understandable, after all, as amazing as Jay's skill was, allowing him to assimilate other supers' skills, this would not make his combat standards improve, and without a person to teach him or proper learning material, this outcome was inevitable.
Just at that moment, right when Sarah was about to throw him into the air, the entire current of wind in the vicinity suddenly rushed towards Jay's leg, and then, almost in sync, both Jay's body and the wind moved in unison to forcefully move his leg, successfully freeing himself from Sarah's grip.
*Pam!*
"Oh?"
This movement took Sarah by surprise, who for a moment remained in the same position, though of course this state only lasted a few seconds before a smile formed on her face.
'So because his Wind Control isn't as strong as Carl's, instead of using it alone, he's using it in conjunction with his body movements... definitely not bad at all!'
While she was busy with those kinds of thoughts, the person in question was preoccupied as he looked at a window in front of him.
'F*ck me, that alone already took 3% of my energy!?' Jay thought, incredulous that such a simple movement had cost so much.
He had expected the energy consumption to be high when he was in constant movement, but he hadn't expected it to be to such a degree!
At this rate, he would only last half an hour before the system decided to take control of his body.
At this point, unaware that Jay's mood had worsened drastically, Sarah spoke up, sticking out her chest a little in pride, "Jay, I've decided, I'll teach you how to fight!"
"Ah... yeah, great." Jay replied, letting out a sigh of resignation, still focused on his energy use.
...
...
"What's up with that bummed out response?!"
"Ack, sorry!"
***
At the same time that Jay and Sarah were in the training room, in a much more distant part of the city, there was a young man near the ruins of what appeared to be a small abandoned village.
Walking the streets of this village, the young man's gaze began to become more complicated, with various emotions taking hold within him, ranging from nostalgia, sadness, and finally, hatred.
At that moment, as the young man was touching the crumbling wall of a particular house, a shadow suddenly moved behind him.
Of course, this did not go unnoticed by him, but as if he didn't care, he just continued immersed in this house, until a few seconds later, after letting out a sigh, he spoke, "If I remember correctly, I had already told you not to contact me when I had company, right?"
As he finished saying that, although the young man didn't move, the qi in the surroundings began to rampage, responding to this pugilist's hostility.
"Relax, it's not like they're going to notice anything, besides, now that you're no longer under the constant monitoring of the gate, how could we pass up this opportunity to assign you another task?" Replied the shadow, which had now moved closer to the young man, revealing the appearance of a tall and slim figure.
For some reason, when one looked too closely at this person, one would find that their vision would become blurred, obscuring the distinctive features of this person, only revealing its slender body which was wearing a pinstripe suit.
Not wanting to give the young man time to answer, the figure continued speaking, "Anyway, this time I have good news for you, due to certain inconveniences, the higher ups decided that it would be better to keep us hidden for the time being, which obviously, includes cutting off contact with you, at least until the situation improves."
Just as the figure had said, this was good news for the young man, after all, it was quite obvious that he didn't like being around this person one bit.
"Inconveniences?" The young man said.
He was aware that the organization he was working with was immensely powerful, and there were very few things that could force them into hiding, so he naturally got curious.
"I don't know the exact details, but apparently one of the no-suits who were in charge of the A-E plan got caught. Haa, seriously, I don't understand why they entrust important tasks to such useless people, they couldn't even self-destruct properly! Can you believe that?"
It was quite clear that the contempt this person felt for the mentioned "no-suits" was strong, in front of this, the young man didn't react much, it seems that he was used to this person's attitude.
"Do they know who it was?"
"It's not clear, but suspicions are among the Heroes Association or the Academy, only they would be able to dispatch so much individual power without being noticed. Anyway, it doesn't matter who did it, but how they managed to discover us."
After hearing that, the young man asked no more questions, he could already get an idea of what had happened and where the information leak had occurred, unfortunately, it was an inconclusive answer.
The competition for wanting to take a slice of the pie known as the Academy was incredibly intense, and the organizations participating in it spared no expense in expending a great deal of resources or using a variety of questionable methods to gain even the slightest advantage agains their rivals, and among these methods, there was, of course, creating problems for other organizations.
"Okay, so same as always, I just have to be more cautious than usual, I understand."
Having finished saying that, the young man started walking in the direction of the city.
"Oh right, if you can, try to convince your friends to join us-"
Immediately, the young man's figure momentarily disappeared.
*BAM*
With that sound, the figure's face, which was originally blurry, for a moment became completely clear, a product of the fact that it had to concentrate on blocking the young man's sudden attack.
"Alright, damn it, you don't have to get like that! Geez! Forget I said anything!" Added the figure quickly, raising both hands in defeat as it walked away, "Cocky brat!"
With those words as his last, the man disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving the young man in a somewhat sour mood, his golden eyes showing a slight murderous intent.
