Villain's Rising

Standing in a long file line that just kept on getting shorter, Sam was doing his best to calm down his nerves.

He glanced ahead and saw that Kiara was sweating buckets.

(How to make it obvious that you're a Supervillain) the voice in Sam's head sarcastically commented after looking at the scene.

He moved his gaze further forward and saw Starsuper inspecting every kid one by one.

His eyes were glowing golden, and he was looking at people like he was reading something.

(What is he doing?) The voice in Sam's head asked.

'Who knows?' Sam shrugged, genuinely in the dark about what Starsuper was doing. 'His eyes are moving like he is reading something.'

(Look closely. He isn't looking at people directly! He's looking above their heads!)

At that remark, Sam narrowed his eyes and closely inspected the man in the golden cape.

His inner voice was indeed correct. Starsuper was looking 'above' their heads.

But why? If his ability was something eye-related, then shouldn't he be looking directly 'at' the kids? Why was he looking above them then?

Also, what was he reading? There was nothing in sight? Was he reading something invisible?

At that moment, a sudden realization hit Sam.

All the clues were there, and Sam, who already knew that abilities could be something very, VERY unimaginable, didn't take a lot of time to make a guess.

'Is he reading… stats?' With a frown, Sam thought in his head.

(Stats? Like in those video games and novels? Are you watching too much anime again?)

At the apparent distrust in his guess, Sam rolled his eyes.

'No mom, I'm not watching too much anime!' Irritatingly he replied with a sarcastic overtone. 'Just think, though, it could be the case! We have already seen so many unimaginable abilities!'

(Sigh, I wouldn't say I like it, but you could be right… So, what does that mean? Can he see who we are?)

'I think, yes.' Sam nodded. 'Since he's not asking any questions, I think he can just see what abilities we possess.'

Initially, Sam thought that Starsuper was just going to ask a couple of questions, and he would just play them off and buy time for his plan to take action.

However, now that things have taken a turn for the worse, Sam will have to resort to his Plan B.

(I'm not too fond of your Plan B)

'No one likes a Plan B.'

-"Next! Robert Woods! Ability, Hardening!" The instructor standing next to Starsuper announced a name, and the boy standing at the face of the line stepped forward.

"Relax and smile," seeing the boy standing in front of him tense and anxious, Starsuper spoke. "The world isn't ending just yet."

Although he said that with a smile, and it came out as a joke, making the boy smile, Starsuper was truly worried about the future of the world.

It wasn't a tiny threat they were dealing with here.

Even if they found the Progenitor here in this Academy and he really turns out to be just an 18-19 years old kid, that kid would be an [Apocalypse-Rank] threat.

The last time Starsuper had to face a [Apocalypse-Rank] threat, two of his brothers died, and he too nearly died.

The Progenitor was not to be taken lightly. Though it was clear that he hadn't broken his limiters yet, that's why he was lying low.

Starsuper was ready to kill this kid while he was still weak.

Starsuper didn't care about his age, nor did he care that killing a child wouldn't be a heroic or noble thing to do.

The fate of the whole world was resting on him after all.

"Haa," with a short sigh, Starsuper activated his divine sight once again.

His eyes were already starting to hurt, but he had to keep going. He had to inspect every single first-year student.

It wasn't definitive proof, but it was very evident that the culprit behind all the recent crimes in the city was a first-year student.

Why? Because the timing matches.

Just as soon as this year's batch started, things also started happening. It was a perfect coincidence. And there are no 'perfect coincidences.'

Now there was an off chance that it was a second or third-year student who might have waited this long to make a move and pin all the suspicion on first-years, but it was also improbable.

No way that a threat this big could have been right under their noses for this amount of time.

Besides, why would the Progenitor waste two to three years while he could be doing so much more in that time?

No, it was definitely a first-year student. And if it wasn't, then it was a recent resident who had just moved into the city. Or it could be an instructor who the academy recently hired.

Whatever the case may be, one thing was clear. The Progenitor was someone among them.

Shaking his head and collecting his thoughts, Starsuper activated his ability.

For now, he just had one task to inspect. Other things can come later.

His eyes once again glowed in the light shade of golden. The whole world turned a little dim, and a golden screen appeared in his vision.

=====

Name→ Robert Woods

Date Of Birth→ 28.07.321

Strength→ 97 (+1,008)

Stamina→ 105

Agility→ 98

Speed→ 87

Endurance→ 77 (+976)

Ability→ Skin Hardening (Turns skin into Diamond) || Strength Enhancement

Rank→ B+

Status→ Currently Tired

Do you want to suppress his ability?

Yes/No

=====

Sam's theory was indeed correct. Starsuper could actually see a video game-like status screen on top of everyone's head.

This screen lets him know everyone's stats as if they were in a game.

The state includes name, strength, speed, ability, etc.

What's more, is that this system-like screen also allowed him one more function. That was to 'disable' or suppress someone's ability.

However, he does so by cutting off one's connection to their ability biologically. Progenitor, the one who literally manipulates biology, is immune to this effect.

Not only that, but this ability also lets him see the person's location whom he had 'scanned' before.

That was his [Divine Sight]