The whispers and murmurs continued until—
"Be quiet!" Jayden hissed as someone walked up onto the stage.
"It's the Headmaster!"
Luke Garcia swept his gaze over the gathered students with a small smile, then proceeded to speak.
"Welcome, members of the Hero Course. As you have all been informed, today you shall meet your new practical teachers. I hope you will all get along, and that you learn a great deal under their mentorship. Before I introduce them, I want you all to understand that these Heroes have come here in secret, so it would be best none of you took any pictures. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Headmaster," they answered.
"Good. Now you may meet the Heroes."
Seven people walked up to the stage, and all twenty-five members of the Hero Class gaped at them.
"No friggin' way..." Jayden whispered in shock.
The first Hero was a tall man wearing a large black fur coat. His skin was marble white, and his eyes looked like liquid gold. His long black hair was tied back in a ponytail, and he seemed to glide across the floor.
"Nocturne, the Vampire Hero..." Lance whispered.
The girl sitting beside him giggled and turned to the seat behind her.
"He's the Rank 50 right? A Top-Class Hero in our school!" she giggled excitedly as she made eye-contact with the seat owner.
"Kizuki, you're from his Clan right?"
The small vampire girl nodded shyly, putting both her fingers together. "Yes. Um.. Daji, maybe you should sit properly."
Daji's long, orange ears twitched around before drooping a little.
"Aw~ Do you not want me to-"
"The Heroes are watching," Kizuki sighed.
Daji quickly resumed her seat, her expression one of amusement.
The next Hero was a middle-aged man wearing a large black leather coat over a brown sweatshirt. The tips of a clump of his short, wavy hair were colorful, and his white pupils locked on the students in front of him.
"Barrier, Rank 40... okay this is getting crazy," Daji muttered, staring.
"Isn't his Venma Forcefield?" the girl beside her asked.
"Yep," Daji answered.
The next was a young man with an easygoing presence. He was casually clothed, his shirt and jeans both grey in color, with a few yellow and orange accents. His hair was black, and he had a small scar on his right eyebrow.
"Holy-!" Jayden jumped.
"Sumoka, Rank 34. All of them are the Top 50," Sam muttered in shock.
The next Hero was a seven-foot-tall giant of a man who wore a dark green hoodie with ripped sleeves and camouflage-print cargo pants. His hair was short yet messy, and he gave off a domineering presence.
Obanai's eyes sparkled. "Goliath!" he whispered in excitement. "Top-Class Rank 30! This is insane!"
The boy beside him nodded as a new person appeared.
The Hero had red hair and was dressed in a suit of black and green. He grinned at the students and waved, and more than a few marvelled at his green eyes, which were shaped like a four-leaf clover.
The girl sitting beside Daji shook so much the mass of brown spikes on her head nearly shot out.
"It's Leprechaun! Leprechaun, Daji!"
The Rank 28, Lance thought in shock. Top-Class Heroes are our teachers?!
"Hey all!" a voice shouted from the stage.
The entire Hero Class fell silent in pure shock.
The last two were both women. One was tall and carried herself with quiet dignity, possessing bright blue eyes in which concentric circles glowed. Her hair was brown, and her clothes were also in camouflage print, although hers were brown instead of green.
Sam stared in wide-eyed shock.
Hound?! RANK 19?!
Then everyone turned to the source of the voice, and their thoughts aligned for one, glorious second:
SPIRIT?!
Spirit, short, green hair styled in a bob, wearing a white blouse and black trousers, laughed. "What's up? How do you feel knowing Top-Class Heroes are gonna be teaching you? Pretty great right?"
She was met with stunned silence.
"Well, Legacy asked that I do this, since Dawn is pretty famous and all. So why not send the Rank 10 Elite Hero Spirit am I right?"
As the students continued to stare in shock, Luke took the stage once again.
"Haha! You all seem very excited to begin your training," he laughed. "Don't get ahead of yourselves. You will still have your regular classes, although these people will take over your practical lessons."
The students began to chatter amongst themselves excitedly at the prospect of being trained by the best of the best. Luke gave them a bit of breathing room, then interjected.
"Two weeks from now you will embark on a month-long training camp under these Heroes, however, some of you may not be here for that."
The atmosphere shifted almost immediately, and most of the students expressed the worry on their faces.
Unlike the Hunter Course, nearly half of the applicants for the Hero Course entrance exam were eliminated, and as time went on, more and more of them would be removed for various reasons, all so that the quality of Heroes in both conduct and strength remained high.
The students all knew what lay ahead. They had been placed in a constantly competitive environment where underperformance could actually cost them their place, all to prepare for a chance to graduate as a member of the Hero Class and become a Hero.
Their unease was palpable, and it could manifest in many ways, some beneficial, others dangerous. The greatest danger born from that pressure—
I have to prove myself somehow!
Was an obsession with superiority.
Luke Garcia smiled with narrowed eyes at the students before him.
They say children grow through overcoming their own problems with the minimum requirements of help, and a healthy amount of pressure.
"Well, I shall leave you to get more acquainted with your teachers. Good night."
Luke turned, hands behind his back, and walked away.
Dawn creates pressure to reveal excellence, he thought as he glanced back.
But pressure doesn't only reveal excellence.
He smiled one last time as he walked through an automated door.
It reveals character.
****
Much later in the evening, Luke Garcia stood at the gates of the Teachers' Estate.
It seems they're almost here, he thought as his ears reverted from large, ribbed, black-and-pink organs to regular human ears.
Speeding up the broad road before him was a jeep-like vehicle. It was large, green, and had no doors, windows or a roof. With his sharp eyesight, Luke counted nine people, and he could hear the clear sound of laughter and shouting from within.
It approached at neck-breaking speed, and when it was fifteen meters away the driver hit the brakes and twisted the wheel.
"Tch," Luke clicked his tongue as he closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Young people these days."
The squeal of tires filled the air as the driver drifted the car to a stop a meter away from the Headmaster, sideways.
"Man that was awesome!" the driver stretched.
"Never again," mumbled a gloomy-looking passenger.
"Senior, again!" laughed another.
"All of you be quiet," said the man riding shotgun. He jumped down and walked around the car before facing Luke.
"I greet The Sleeping Dragon," he said as he snapped to attention, left hand held behind him, his right forearm held close to his chest and bent at an incline to the ground, fingers held out as straight as a razor.
The others quickly and smoothly moved to copy him, and Luke narrowed his eyes at them.
"Hmm... the rest of you have a long way to go," he said as he waved his hand to dismiss the salutes.
They knew without a doubt who had been excluded from the collective dismissal.
"Come in," Luke smiled as he turned towards the gates. "A valet will take your car. We have much to discuss if you're going to be members of my staff. Wouldn't you agree, Kane?"
The large black man, the first to salute, nodded. "Indeed we do."