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–2 Weeks Ago–

“Sam, you okay?” Drake placed his hand on Sam’s shoulder from behind.

Sam shook out of his thoughts and replied: “Yeah, I’m fine. The training was hard, right?”

It wasn’t actually that exhausting for Sam as there is no end to his stamina. But he still pretended like he was worn out and asked Drake.

“Nah, I can do this all day,” Drake said, making a reference to a superhero movie he recently saw.

“Sure, haha!” Sam laughed. He wasn’t faking his laugh. He really found Drake funny.

Although Sam won’t ever admit it, he was enjoying his time in the academy.

He had picked up some usual teenager hobbies, and he had even made some friends. Both of the things he never thought he would be able to do.

“Oi, you both okay?” Walking up to them, Robin asked.

“We are fine~!” Drake said while waving one hand while putting another around Sam’s shoulder.

If it were anyone else, Sam would’ve instantly ripped his sweaty arm off, but for some reason, he let Drake be.

“Sure, you’re sweating rivers, but you’re fine, sure.” Robin arched her eyebrows at the transparent lie.

Drake frowned in reply.

“Do you not believe me?!” He said in a dramatic voice. “I thought you trusted me!”

“Shut up, weirdo.” Robin shook her head.

“Haha, by the way, where’s Kiara?” Drake asked. “She went back to the changing room?”

“Yup, it seems like she’s actively avoiding someone.” Robin replied with a slight shrug.

Before Sam could speak anything, Drake placed his arm around Sam again._.

“Don’t worry, champion! We’ll make a karaoke plan for this weekend and settle things between you two!” Drake assured with a bright smile.

Sam couldn’t help but put up a smile of his own and nod. “Thanks, man.”

This was the first time someone was interacting with him without any fear or without being in his mind control.

On that day, for the first time, Sam realized the price of his dream.

If he wished to achieve his dream, he had to sacrifice all this. He had to sacrifice… all of them.

*

–Present Day–

“You okay, Sam?”

A voice shook Sam out of his daze before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw the source of the voice to be Drake.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you nervous, though?”

“Nah, I can do this–”

“Yeah, I know, I know.” Sam cut him off before he could finish his cringey dialogue. “Where’s Robin, by the way.”

“At the end of the line,” Drake said while pointing at the back of the line they were standing in with his thumb. “Can I ask where’s your girl now?”

“My girl?” Sam scoffed. “She didn’t even come to the karaoke just because I was coming. She’s in the front, by the way.”

“Oh c’mon, she never said that she didn’t come because of you….” Drake waved his hands and tried to defend Kiara.

“But it was clear from the way she refused to come after looking at me.”

“Haa,” after a short sigh, Drake nodded. “Okay, it might be a little difficult to patch things up between you two right now, but we can try again after this stupid midterm is over!”

Sam genuinely smiled at that suggestion. His smile wasn’t vicious or malevolent as usual. And instead, it was a bright warm smile that was coming from his heart.

Sam casually placed a hand on Drake’s shoulder and said: “Thank you for everything. Although we’ve only known each other for five months or so, you and Robin were really kind to me.”

Not knowing how to reply to the sudden heartfelt confession, Drake smiled back at him. “What’s up with you? Weirdo.”

“Okay, now that everyone has taken the energy drinks, let’s get to the first test!” The examiner said.

“The test is pretty simple–” before the examiner could continue with his instructions, a loud voice rang out in the training field.

“Stop!”

Many students instantly recognized that thunderous authoritative voice. Those who didn’t recognize it looked up to see who it was.

Sam turned his gaze up and looked at a man hovering over them.

The man was in a tight body fit white and golden battle suit that did nothing to hide his large frame and ripped muscles.

The man had flaxen hair and a matching beard. He was also wearing a golden-colored cape.

On his chest was inscribed the letter “S” like a bolt of golden lightning.

However, the most distinctive feature about him was his eyes. His golden-colored crystal-like eyes looked as if they could pierce through a person’s soul.

Everyone, every single one present there, instantly recognized him.

Some were worried following his unexpected appearance, while others quickly started cheering his name.

-“Wooooh!”

-“Starsuper! Starsuper! Starsuper!”

-“Willburn! Willburn! Willburn!”

The scene resembled a God himself descending to earth with his followers worshipping his arrival.

Sam, however, stood there calmly. He just faced that God knowing the reality.

Sam wasn’t scared or worried. In fact, he had expected him to arrive here sooner or later.

He wasn’t scared because he knew the truth about him. That man wasn’t a God. He wasn’t even a human. He was just his stepping stone.

“Starsuper,” the examiner exclaimed in surprise. “It’s a surprise!”

Starsuper calmly landed beside the examiner and nodded. “Yes, it’s me.”

That was a simple sentence, but it made the crowd of students start cheering once again.

-“Woooh!”

-“For the cause!”

-“It is indeed you!”

“I want everyone to calm down.” Starsuper calmly spoke. His voice didn’t need a mic. It was as if he was speaking to everyone’s ears.

Everyone followed his request and calmed down.

After the cheers and the clapping sound died down, he spoke again.

“It’s been a difficult past few months–” cutting his own words, Starsuper shook his head. “No, actually, this whole year has been a difficult one.”

“First, we lost White Walker. He was one of the closest friends I ever had along with one of the most generous men I ever knew.” With a heavy throat, Starsuper continued while pushing his tears back.

“Then an unknown Villain appeared in this city! The city that’s been called the Heart of Heroes in the past. That monster killed several of our Heroes. But we got back up from that, ready to fight.”

-“Yes! Fight!”

-“Justice for White Walker!”

-“Burn that Villain to the ground!”

“Then my own daughter was targeted. Yeah, she was kidnapped. But I don’t let that monster get to me. I didn’t break under his psychological game. I got back up, ready to strike back.”

-“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

-“We know you can’t break, Starsuper! We will fight with you!”

-“I love your daughter!”

“If that wasn’t all, then the students of our prestigious Academy were attacked! Our students! Our future was attacked!” Starsuper took a pause and let the hype build-up. “You know what we did?”

-“We fought back!”

-“You saved us!”

-“We will fight!”

“That’s right. We fought back. Now my daughter has been kidnapped again, and many other city residents are disappearing. But I still came here, you know why?”

-“To fight!”

-“To cancel this pointless exam!”

-“To strike!”

“That’s right. I came here to fight.” Starsuper held his head up with a fiercely determined gaze. “As you all may have already heard, the Progenitor has returned.”

No cheering or applause broke out this time. This time, it was a dead silence that filled the training ground.

That’s the fear that the title of “Progenitor” carries. Unfathomable and unchallenged fear.

“I know it’s scary news, and I won’t lie, kids. I am scared too. I know I shouldn’t be saying this as I’m the face of the heroes, but it’s the truth. I am scared.” Arthur continued in a slightly shaky voice.

It was apparent that he was trying to calm himself down after remembering the past trauma that occurred from his battles with the previous Progenitor.

But after clenching his fists and regaining his determined gaze, he continued. “However, that doesn’t mean that I will back down. No! If anything then that means I will certainly not back down!”

“I know our world is cruel, but it’s the only one we got, right? And that man– that monster named Progenitor is trying to take our world away from us! I won’t let him!”

-“Yes! We know you won’t!”

-“Fuck you, Progenitor! We aren’t scared of you!”

-“Kill the Progenitor! Kill the Progenitor!”

Sam clenched his fists and desperately tried not to outright murder every single one of them.

No, he wasn’t scared anymore. He knew doing that would mean revealing himself as the Progenitor, but he was prepared.

After all, now that the Starsuper is here, he was about to be found out anyway.

So why did he not kill them? It wasn’t out of mercy. It was simply because the students still served some use to him.

Gritting his teeth, Sam forced a smirk on his face. He raised his hand and spoke: “And where is this Progenitor, Starsuper?”

Starsuper paused at that question briefly before starting to reply.

“He’s in the city. That’s why we’re doing an inspection. I’m your inspector, so I’ll be thoroughly checking every one of you with my eyes.” As he said those words, Starsuper’s eyes glowed in the shade of golden.

Sam saw right through that bullshit. He knew that Starsuper knew that the Progenitor was someone among the first-year Academy students.

Maybe he was just avoiding breaking panic among the student body. Or maybe he was just playing till the main force of Heroes got here.

Whatever the case may be, Sam decided to play along.

A disturbed grin appeared on Sam’s face. His former bright smile was nowhere to be seen as he readied himself for the incoming battle.

(Let it begin!)