Villain's Rising

"As you all may know, a hero's job isn't just to protect civilians. It's also to be a symbol of peace…"

As the female professor kept on talking, Sam slowly drifted into his own thoughts.

'Why do they have to start this hero monologue every time?! Even I'm starting to remember it!' He complained.

(Quit your bickering Sam and think about how we should torture him?)

'Hmm? You mean Micheal?'

(Yeah! He was interested in you earlier. He even has a spatial ability! Can't let it go to waste now, can we?!)

'No no, you are indeed right. An ability that glorious belongs to a God.' Touching his chin for a moment, Sam pondered over the situation.

'Although we can't kill him. Rebekah has ordered me to stay low until the half-yearly function'

(Oh, come on Sam! Don't act like a puppy! Besides, you can just snatch that ability and let him live!)

'Meh, no fun in that' He replied while clicking his tongue.

(Holy lord of hell! Fine! You're no fun!)

Just as Sam was about to reply, the door of the classroom slammed open.

-Slam!

"Sorry, we are late!" A silver-haired girl, accompanied by a flaxen-haired girl and a blonde-haired girl, screamed her apology as soon as she opened the door.

"It's okay, the class was just starting," The female professor replied. "Go settle down at your seats."

Nodding, the trio followed the instructions and went to sit at their designated seats.

"Where's Drake?" Anthony asked Kiara as she settled down beside him.

"He got a call from his family. I think he will join us at the next one."

"You sure he's not skipping?"

"He could be, haha"

"Of course, he is skipping" Robin spoke while shaking her head.

That gesture made everyone laugh except Rebekah and Sam.

The former didn't care much and had an aloof look plastered on her face while the latter was lost in his train of thoughts.

Looking at that, Kiara went to touch Sam's hand to ask if he was doing okay.

However, before she could touch him, Sam instinctively jerked her hand away.

"..." Kiara had a blank expression on her face.

Even Anthony and Robin frowned at what just happened.

"What?" Sam questioned.

"Umm… I was just about to ask if you were feeling well. You seemed lost in your thoughts, something happening?" Kiara replied after a moment of hesitation.

"Yes… Nothing to concern you." Sam apathetically replied.

"What does that-" Before Kiara could even finish what she was saying, the voice of the professor cut her off.

"You all at the back, keep quiet!"

Hearing them being called out, everyone instantly looked at the female professor to give her their attention.

(I didn't want to say 'told you so' but told you so, not killing her was bad when you had the chance. Also, imagine me shrugging right now.)

Sam only rolled his eyes at that comment.

If the voice in his head had a form Sam would've snapped his neck by now a gazillion times by now.

***

"Why are we here again?"

"I'm telling you this Academy loves their students in the training field!"

"Come on guys! At least practical lessons are fun!"

"Yeah! I would prefer this over those classroom lessons any day!"

A few students complained among themselves as they stood in the training fields.

It's supposed to be their practical class.

Practical classes differ from theoretical classes as in the former, they can test out their abilities and what they have learned.

In actuality, the Hero Academy doesn't focus on combat much.

How can they? When everyone has a different ability, it's hard to develop a "technique" and tech them.

Thus, what they do here is teach strategies.

'How to rescue a civilian in a hostage situation?'

'How to help the crowd in case of a full-blown battle?'

'Strategic plans to counter and initiate an attack.'

Not only that but they also teach them the correct way to appear in media and publish themselves as heroes.

Things like that.

The reason the warrior class was present in the Training field today was to practice… 1v1 duels.

1v1 duels are the core reason for the existence of the Warrior Class.

They need to take risks in order to battle their opponents head-on.

They are the strength of the hero society, thus they need to be strong and ready to fight at any given instance.

However, knowing that and liking that fact are two different things.

In today's world, the crime rates are relatively low and people are comparatively safer than in the Dark Ages.

One of the famous research scientists, Ron Maxell, who studied the origin and aspects of abilities said:

```Abilities grow stronger as the user experiences near-death situations.```

His theory only further proved correct as the [Upgrade] phenomenon started happening.

Although no one knows why and how [Upgrade] happens, many people suspect that it happens when a person experiences near-death situations.

However, not many heroes get to experience 'true' near-death situations these days.

It's the era of peace after all.

In the era of peace, heroes have become weak. Many of them never even get the chance to explore their full power.

Needless to say, that affects their offspring too.

Today's top heroes couldn't even come close to the old top ones.

Except for the few ones who are still alive from the last generation like Starsuper or Lightbringer.

Although, when the news of the Progenitor's return made it to Starsuper, he immediately instructed every Hero Academy established throughout the globe to stricten their training regime.

And that brings us to this point here.

As they were ordered to partake in the dueling practice, some students were hyped, while others were not so much.

"Listen up!" As the crowd was mumbling among themselves, a feminine voice resounded through everyone's ears.

Soon everyone turned their eyes to the right end of the field where a podium was given rise to.

On that podium stood a woman dressed in a lavishing revealing scarlet suit, looking as if in her thirties with all signs of aging stopped.

She had a buxom figure with light red eyes and pinkish hair.

She eyed everyone before lightly smiling and opening her mouth again to speak.

"I hope you all have been good!"

'Arghh! Fuck! It's Karma! I hate her!' As soon as Sam's eyes fell on the woman, he couldn't help but curse internally.

There weren't many superheroes alive who can take that reaction out of him.

No, it's very hard to make Sam lose his calm.

…Well unless it's Willburns that we're talking about.

(Ah this bitch! I remember her!)

Yes, the 'bitch' and Sam go way back.

Karma aka the Sleeping angel. The big sister of the superhero Nightingale.

She possesses a sound ability.

She can literally manipulate sound to a certain extent which makes her an S-Rank hero.

Not something special. However, that's not what annoys Sam.

It's not her ability, it's her luck.

Yeah, although she doesn't possess a luck-related ability, her luck is exceptional.

Sam has tried to kill her many times in the past, however, she always manages to escape somehow or the other.

It's like the universe itself is working for her.

The God's favorite.

"So anyway kiddos! As you all may know, the dueling practice is to be taken seriously now!" The woman in red spoke with a shrug.

"So that's what we will do, we will duel. I'm not the part of the warrior class, but your practical instructor is on leave, so I shall take over for him," She continued.

Not only boys but even girls were listening to her kike puppies with heart-shaped eyes.

'She is using the same ability as Nightingale!'

That's also one of the reasons Sam doesn't like her.

The way she uses her ability.

Her ability gives her complete control over the sound to a certain extent.

Out of all the cool things she could do with that, she chose to do the lamest thing possible.

Mind control.

Using her ability to turn sound into one's desirable tone, along with her goddess-like figure, she uses seduction as her main weapon.

Needless to say, Sam dislikes those kinds.

Thots.

"Sigh... I just want a normal day, Is it too much to ask"

(If by normal you mean bloodshed and ruthless killings, then yes)

"So as I was saying, because he is on a leave, I will take over for him," Karma repeated. "So now then, let's get going, shall we?"

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Information Available On:

Sound Manipulation

•Users can create, shape, and manipulate sound, a periodic disturbance of a medium (air, ground, water, etc) that radiates outward linearly in the form of a pressure wave.

The effect of these waves upon the ear is perceived as sound. From the point of view of physics, the sound is considered to be the waves of vibratory motion themselves, whether or not they are heard by the human ear.

•User can mimic, intensify, hush, and distort, as well warp, strengthen, echo, speed up, and slow down sound, using it as a powerful physical force and high-speed movement.

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