Villain's Rising

The never-ending blue summer sea. The everlasting boundless blue sky. The rustling of the salty sea breeze gently wraps around the body.

Yes, the only word that may come to mind is "Paradise".

There were many other people who seemed to agree with the aforementioned statement.

"Wooooh! This is the best!!"

The one who screamed that from the deck of a luxury liner was a brown-haired boy Seth Ambrose. Seth was one of the students of 1st year Hero Academy belonging to the Warrior class.

Yes, he was in the same class as Sam.

Usually, people would object to a person screaming like a mindless idiot, but today every other student present on the deck was also enjoying this blissful sea scenery.

However, as the rule of exception suggests that there will always be exceptions, there were still some people who weren't enjoying this heavenly view.

"Eww look what terrible scenery!"

The one who said that was a pink-haired girl named Miyuki Blackway. She was a beautiful half-Asian girl with a bitchy personality.

A group of girls was following behind her as Miyuki was the "class queen". She was another one of the students in the 1st year Warrior Class and despite her delinquent attitude, she was one of the top students.

Except for her and her group, everyone was doing the best they could to enjoy the view because soon they'll arrive at the island and will have to face a Special Exam. After that, they'll also be going through midterms and finals.

This could be the last break they can hope for before a series of hardships would befall them.

Sam was no different. The deadline of the plan he made with Rebekah was growing closer. Soon he'll have to dig up the Dragon's dead body and revive the whole Dragon race.

Then he'll have to get a hold of the Los Angeles' relic and then he also has a whole world to conquer.

Thus, Sam was enjoying himself today too. He was leaning on the boundary of the deck and slurping on a soft drink can in his hand.

However, he couldn't help but steal short glances at the girl standing beside her.

Robin was excitingly looking out the deck, her blue eyes shining while looking at the shimmering ocean surface.

She was there alone, which is a rare sight to see because usually, you would find Drake and her together but today he was in his room desperately holding himself from throwing up. Yes, Drake has sea sickness.

"Are you enjoying this trip, Sam?" turning toward Sam, Robin asked.

Backed by the ocean and blue sky, she looked even more shining than usual. She had tied her blonde hair into a bun and her captivating blue eyes were fixed on Sam.

Even Sam, who is usually indifferent towards girls, couldn't help but admire her for a second before replying: "Yes, I am indeed enjoying this. Drake and Tony are the exceptions though."

Yes, just like Drake, Anthony was also suffering from seasickness.

"Haha! Yes, this trip has taken a toll on both of them!" Robin giggled lightly before continuing. "By the way, what's going on between you and Kiara?"

"What do you mean?" Sam pretended to be ignorant.

"Don't play dumb, Sam. We all can see the clear tension between you two. You two have been ignoring each other for quite some time now. Even before the dueling practice, and even today she chose to stay in her room." Robin leaned sideways on the deck's railing while she made her point.

"Sigh, yeah you are right. We are fighting over something." Sam decided to give her a clear answer.

"Well, I hope you two make up soon." Robin nodded. "By the way, you don't seem like a person who enjoys traveling."

"I'm not." Sam replied. "I hate traveling. However, the coming days will be hectic so I decided to enjoy myself."

"Yes, with midterms and finals coming the days will be tough ahead." Robin sighed exhaustingly.

The poor girl had no idea what Sam had actually meant by his words. Nor did she have any idea that she was standing beside a person who will claim the whole world for himself in the future.

Before their conversation could continue, the main electronic speaker of the cruise beeped.

-Beep!

After a loud earful beep, an announcement started.

-"Attention everyone. As you may know on this cruise are all the first years of the Academy present. If you all come to the deck you will see a deserted island on which your special exam will be conducted."

After that short curious announcement was done reverberating throughout the ship, all the students started gathering on the deck to witness the island on which they'll be living for the next two weeks.

Yes, the special exam will be a two-week-long event.

"There you are guys!" suddenly a voice called out to Sam and Robin from behind.

They both found the source of that hoarse voice to be Drake. Although he was in a Hawaiian shirt and loose shorts, his appearance was sickly contrasting his cool getup.

"Have you grown more sick?" Sam asked, genuinely worried about the red-haired boy.

"Cough! Yes, I think it's getting worse. But worry not! This little seasickness is nothing compared to my manliness!" flicking his neck long hair while coughing in between, Drake spoke with an assuring smile.

"Yeah babe, sure…" worried and concerned for her sweetheart, Robin gave Drake a shoulder to support him.

"Have we arrived?" he asked in a weak voice.

"Yes," Sam replied while pointing in the distance. "Look at that, that's our destination."

Sam was pointing at a deserted island. It was big, around the size of 900,000 sq mi! Maybe even bigger than that! But from that far away, it was looking more like a dot than a huge island.

"I think we will reach there in 30 minutes or so." Sam commented before turning around and started leaving the deck.

"Where are you going?" Robin asked curiously.

"To my room. We should save as much energy as possible. We don't know what's coming." He said without turning back around before leaving the deck.

The students of the Academy were given top-tier luxury on this cruise ship. A spa parlor, a 4-star restaurant, a theater, and even a huge pool.

They had every luxury they could ask for so why should one not relax when they have time?

Sam had no interest in indulging in any more useless topics. He will just relax during his remaining time on this cruise.

***

"Everyone, attention!"

Thirty minutes went faster than usual. Sam didn't even get to finish the anime he was watching before another announcement happened and everyone was called out to the deck.

All freshmen students were standing in 5 lines, representing their 5 classes.

-"What do you think they called us here for?"

-"To explain to us the rules of course! Dum dum!"

Indeed, the faculty did call them out to explain the rules of the special exam.

-"Hey look there, look at EagleClaw."

-"Yeah, man he looks beat!"

At the back of the line, some mutterings about EagleClaw fell into Sam's ears. Intrigued, he looked toward where EagleClaw was standing.

Iroha Eastfolk, the homeroom teacher of the Warrior class was standing tall in the middle. Beside her to the left was standing EagleClaw.

…And from the looks of it, he wasn't looking very Heroic right now. His heart was messy and because his mask only covered his eyes, his untrimmed beard was fully visible.

And by the looks of the faculty members standing beside him, it looked like he didn't take a bath for the past few days either.

Seeing him all miserable like this, Sam couldn't help but grin. He wondered what would happen if he tell him about his fiance.

What kind of face would he make? What reaction would he give? Thinking about things like this, Sam's amusement hit 7th sky.

'Maybe I should torment him some more.' he thought in his mind.

(Just focus on the upcoming days for now.)

"Now, I shall begin explaining the rules of this special examination to you all!" Iroha spoke through the speakerphone in her hand.

Everyone's ears perked up at that announcement and the murmuring between them died down.

"First off, let me tell you all this, you will be left alone on this island for the next two weeks. Your goal… is to survive against each other!"

===

[Information Available On]

Bird Control/Aviankinesis

•User can control birds. They control them to do their bidding, help them during situations, use them against foes, use them to see locations and get information about a particular place, and use them for flight. Some can see through the birds' eyes that are controlled, allowing them to spy on others. Users can also understand or communicate with them, hence creating and strengthening friendships.

-Limitations

•May be limited to only certain species.

Some can only control the birds they create or summon.

The language may be limited.

Depends on the environment.

===