Chapter 57 Opt Out

The Training Center of the United Superheroes Academy is unlike any other. Compared to other schools inside and outside the vicinity of Tokyo, the training center of the USA is thrice as big on average and could house hundreds of superheroes training at the same time. With the help of advanced technology as well, the terrain of the training center could be modified in any way possible, making it one of the most efficient and effective training centers of all time. Even other professional superheroes who have hit a wall in their career would sometimes book the training center to train there for hours on end. It is said that the training center has helped countless superheroes get the comeback they deserved and that's why it's become super popular.

Today of all days, the training center was once again opened and a split second later, Class 3-1 entered the world-famous training center with Knighthawk in the lead. For some reason, he was wearing one of his mischievous smiles as if he was plotting a crime or something. As usual, he'd come up with practical training that would help the younglings survive in the world of superheroes. Of course, he's got his own biased views when it comes to training but nevertheless, he wasn't the homeroom teacher of Class 3-1 for nothing.

"Still, why's that noisy student of mine absent?" Knighthawk said to himself, clicking his tongue as he turned around to address everyone in his class. Since there are only twelve students in his group, it was hard to miss if someone was absent. "Has anyone heard from Midori?" He announced, lightly stomping his foot to assert a little dominance and to garner everyone's attention. Even some of the superheroes who were currently training in the training center stopped what they were doing to look at him. Some of them did so to gesture that he was interrupting their training, and some were just genuinely curious as to why he raised his voice and stomped his foot. Either way, the act gave him a minuscule amount of embarrassment, causing him to redden while clearing his throat.

"In any case, we have a few handouts to give to everyone and I need someone to give it to him. Does anyone want to volunteer?" Knighthawk asked.

Since everyone, except Satoshi, was looking forward to the training, they all wanted Knighthawk to get it over with but no one wanted the hassle of taming printouts to their classmate's place. That's why no one raised their hands. And besides, Midori was an exceptionally loud person and they didn't want to associate themselves with him.

Meanwhile, Satoshi wasn't paying attention to everyone else. And the moment silence befell the entire group, he got back to his senses and realized that Knighthawk had asked for a favor. Whatever it was, he didn't catch it. He also missed the timing to ask what it was all about and so he just awkwardly stood there like everybody else.

But Kuroe had other plans. Now that Satoshi's guard was down, she used her psychokinetic abilities and tried to raise Satoshi's hands. But just before she did so, she received a light electric shock on her body, warning her that continuing her prank would result in an even worse scenario.

[Unknown attacker detected— superpower, psychokinesis]

[Unknown attacker— obstructed]

[Unknown attacker location— 4 o'clock]

Satoshi, hearing the voice in his mind, immediately glanced towards his four o'clock, only to see that Kuroe was there, wearing a slightly annoyed face. Realizing what happened, he smiled at Kuroe and nodded. 'Dex must've taken some unnecessary precautions. Good job Dex, you can continue doing that until I tell you not to on specific occasions.' Satoshi said. Of course, he knew that Dex wouldn't be able to block mind-reading skills or telepathic talks to each other but at least attacks like psychokinesis won't be a problem anymore.

"All right, if no one wanted to raise their hands then I'll just assign Satoshi for the task. Satoshi, can you deliver these handouts to Midori on your way home to school later?" Knighthawk sighed.

"Ah er, yes, sir," Satoshi said, receiving the handouts from their homeroom teacher. Had he known that Knighthawk was actually asking for something so simple, he would've volunteered right then and there.

As for Kuroe, she didn't know how to feel about the entire situation after realizing that her prank wouldn't have worked in the first place— and the reason why Satoshi gave him the look a few moments ago was that she failed to use her superpowers on him.

"Now that that's out of the way, follow me." Knighthawk then placed both his arms on his back and walked forward. He headed to the portion of the training center where there were lots of dilapidated buildings and desert lands. His students meekly followed.

Compared to the other portions of the training center, this specific location has a higher temperature than the rest, and the moment they stepped foot on it, they suddenly felt very sweat due to the high humidity of the place. It was also unusually bright and some of the dilapidated buildings were even half-buried in the sand. It was clearly a desert and from the sparkles on Knighthawk's eyes, he's planning to have everyone undergo training in such a bizarre place.

"Now, you might be wondering why we're all here for your hero training but there's a good explanation for this. If by any chance you don't know this place, it's called the Ga-ara Desertland and it's one of the most used functions of the training center. This is because it greatly helps superheroes adjust to extreme arid heat and it helps them with survival when they suddenly find themselves in a desert."

"Not only that, it will also help you maximize and limit your movements since the heat of the place could be quite taxing on the body. Well, I don't need to explain the blah blah blah's of this place since you're bound to find out everything about them soon. Just... be careful out there."

"Oh, and also, remember that this hero training is graded. So if you do something underhanded or cheat, then you'd automatically receive a failing grade. Not only that, your rank will heavily affect your grades so make sure that you achieve a high rank."

Once again, Knighthawk seemed like he was speaking in tongues since everyone in Class 3-1 didn't know what he was talking about. All they know is that they're going to have hero training for class and they'll be having it in a desertland in the training room. Even when Knighthawk was already giving advice and suggestions to them, they still couldn't get what the drill is all about. As far as they know, they'll be having their training for the upcoming inter-high.

"Also, the other first-years are going to join you in this exercise. You're all members of CLass 3-1, the best pick for first-years. If any of you were to lose against any other first-years, then that would leave a bad taste not only to my mouth but also to the principal as well since he personally put you in this class. You may not be the strongest first-years but you got the most potential. Don't disappoint us."

Knighthawk then turned around and pretended to sigh heavily before turning around to explain the rules. He decided to do it so that his students would feel more pressure during the exercise. Even though he said that he didn't want any of them to lose to anyone, he was silently hoping that some of them would so their pride would take a huge blow. With that out of the way, his expression returned to that of a normal expression as he walked around his students while explaining the rules.

After hearing that from Knighthawk, on the other hand, everyone felt the intensity and importance of this training that they almost felt like choking. They understood that no matter what happens, they shouldn't perform poorly in the test. From then on, their minds started overthinking— are we going to get eliminated from the inter-high? Is this an audition of sorts? What if I lose? Are we going to fight against everyone?— these questions ran through their minds while Knighthawk started explaining the rules of the training.

"To put it simply, this will be a free-for-all match where everyone is free to do anything. Anyone can be the villain, the superhero, and anyone can take the pacifist route. Anything goes. You can ally yourselves with one another and pick out the weaklings first, you can attack anyone on your team, and you can even opt out to not participate in this training session."

"Just remember that your overall performance is going to be graded. And also, the map will shrink from time to time and the last person or group standing will be the winner. That's all you need to know."

Suddenly, someone from class 3-1 raised his hands. This person had black hair and a scarf around his forehead. He isn't much of a talker, that's why everyone found it weird that he raised his hands first.

"Yes?"

"Then, can I not participate in this hero training?" He asked out of the blue.