Noboru had never eaten reheated food before; the idea that food that had gone cold could be eaten again was absurd to him, and yet there he sat across from Markus, eating reheated chicken.
"You want some?" Markus says mid-bite, glancing at Noboru's empty plate.
"...Yea." He sighs as Markus slides him a few pieces. "How come they don't serve food here?"
"Food's not a right."
"What??"
"Food isn't a human right—well, in the four major kingdoms it's not. In the other two it is, but not here. Either you pay for your food, or you get admitted council goods if you're a student, which you aren't." Markus explains. "Basically, you'll have to buy your own food or enrol into a school. Since you have to anyway to be a hero, you'll be fine."
"Which one should I go to? Which one do you go to?"
"Like hell I'll tell you. I already got Amber tormenting me in all my classes. On a real note though, it doesn't really matter since you're doing this course. You'll spend most of your time here; you just also need to do national tests."
Noboru sighs, biting into the chicken. "And if I fail?"
"You get three attempts total until they decide you aren't hero material and kick you out." Markus says, holding up a chicken leg and finishing it in three bites. "Three strikes, no more."
Noboru pauses his eating. "So what else is different between the kingdoms? Food not being a right is a bit harsh though."
"True, true, but Nexus don't care. Even if they did, the kings don't. Anyway, the world's split up into six kingdoms, the four major being north, south, east, and west, of course. The other three being the Sky Kingdom up above the clouds, the Kingdom of the Sea, and the old kingdom across the forest behind the East Kingdom which got wiped off the planet so its technically not a kingdom. The last place, which would technically be the eighth or seventh kingdom depending how you categories it, isn't really a kingdom. It's called the Underground, mostly known as King's Gambit."
"Isn't that basically a government for criminals? Also, could I have more chicken?" Noboru says, chucking a bone in the trash.
"Fatass." Markus slides him the plate. "Anyway, yeah, more or less an anti-government. They have their own set of legal rules, like no stealing or scamming from within the Gambit. That way Nexus can't attack or arrest all of them. Anything outside the Gambit that doesn't slander it is fair game to them. The last sort of powerhouse is the Six Scales, the rank-one hero of each kingdom apart from the kingdom beyond the trees, since they don't exist anymore aprt from a few small tribes. You can enter and explore the place just fine, but the second you dig deep, you apparently find strange and obvious fake dead ends, like they don't even try to hide the fact they're hiding something."
Noboru finishes his food and tosses the plate. "How come I've never heard of the Six Scales? I've heard about most groups but not the laws. How come I've never heard of the Scales?"
"No one really talks about them. They aren't really a fighting team since they live on different parts of the planet. They all meet rarely in the Kingdom Above the Skies."
"I have one last question."
"If it's about any of the other kingdoms, like the Sea Kingdom, I don't got a clue."
"No, I was gonna ask if you have any more food."
"I'm going to force-feed you a chair, you fat shit." He says, pulling out a box. "All I got left is a salad." When he looks at it, the box is gone and already in Noboru's grubby hands. "Motherfu—"
Amber appears behind him, smiling, covering his mouth. "Try not to kill each other."
Noboru opens the box and starts to eat, then gags. "The hell is this? It tastes so dry and it's scraping my tongue."
"Black Frost?" Amber asks.
"Nah, I probably freezer-burned it in my bag with my powers." Markus yawns, picking a vegetable and tossing it in his mouth. "Eh, not bad."
Noboru slides him the box. "Think I've lost my appetite." He turns to Amber. "So what we got for today? Also, how do I apply for school?"
Amber pauses. "Well, I had Markus apply for me, and for today the workers said to complete spars down stairs not in our groups though. Our time slot is in a bit, so we should head down soon."
"How soon?" Markus asks. "Because we did just eat and I don't want cramps."
Noboru stands up. "Good thing I digest fast." He says, walking towards the stairs. "I'll see you two there."
A few minutes later, Markus and Amber arrive in the hall and sit next to Noboru on the side as other groups file in. "What'd they say?" Markus asks.
"Bracket spars. Each group member gets a number one to three, and whichever team gets the best overall score wins. Each bracket winner gets personal points and a prize as well." Noboru explains, staring at the empty brackets on the screen.
He places his hand on the pad and the first dial lights up. Markus goes next and dial three lights up, meaning Amber will be in bracket two.
Noboru squirms in his seat. "What do you think you'll get?"
"Who cares," Markus says, eyeing the cameras in the sparring room. "Seems they're just doing this to collect data. Prizes will probably be gift cards and the leaderboard won't actually mean anything. It's a random test, not a tournament we were told about beforehand. And see the room? It won't accommodate anyone with large area attacks since they'll also harm themselves."
Amber looks through the glass with him. "Do you think it'll make that much of a difference?" she says, looking at the mechanical arms that claw out of the walls setting up the room.
"Definitely. Like that one kid from our old class, remember? He could turn into a giant. Imagine if he tried to use his power in there." He says with annoyance. "They should've done this test outside."
"Why don't we ask them?" Noboru suggests. "We could say it won't be fair for some groups if they get shoved in a room that goes against their powers."
"We could say it would also provide better data if everyone could use their powers more freely." Amber adds.
"It won't matter," Markus sighs. "It's not just to get data. Look around. The majority of people with a power that could work great in a small space are wealthy. It's quite obvious this exercise was set up for them to shine. I shouldn't have a problem. Neither should Noboru, since speed can be used in a lot of ways. But you, Amber—you won't be able to dodge much in a small space, and your power's not really attack-based."
"So what you're saying," Noboru thinks for a second, "it's impossible for all three of us to win."
Amber groans. "That should be considered a crime. They can't just alter hero tests to make certain people get better scores. What if someone really OP gets a low score and it messes with their future?"
"Sadly, Nexus isn't in charge of the hero courses. They're in charge of main schools, and hero courses are supplied by private Nexus branchs."
"Well, we still have to try," Noboru says, determined.
"Of course. I'm just saying it's impossible for Amber to win, which means we can't get the team points for any high bracket." Markus sighs as the board changes and shows the first matchup. "Guess I'm up." He pats Noboru's shoulder and walks through the door. As he steps through it; it swings shut, locking him in. Opposite stands Nathan, the kid from before.
"Crazy to see you here, Markus. You're so going down." Nathan smirks as the timer beeps and he lunges forward, pulling a bunch of seeds out of his pockets tossing them at Markus.
Markus sidesteps and a pillar of ice shoots up, catching the seeds and freezing them in place. "Really? Seeds? Don't tell me you can control plants."
"Bingo." And like that, the seeds somehow impossibly grow in the ice, and shoot out, grabbing Markus's arm, and slamming him into the ground, coiling around him.
"Shit." He tries to wriggle free, but the vines tighten. "Dammit." He grabs hold of one of the vines and encases his body in a block of ice. The frozen vines now shatter like glass.
More seeds spill out of Nathan's pockets until half the room is covered in vegetation. "Let's see you freeze this." The plants begin to mutate; some spit acidic liquids and poisons at Markus as he blocks with ice.
Markus swings his arm back and past him, sending an icicle straight into the side of one of the plants, running up his pillar, ripping its head off and aiming it at the other plants, covering them in acid, melting them down as he jumps in between and under plants, making stilts of ice, killing off all the vegetation and spin-kicking the air as ice shoots out under him, freezing Nathan's feet, climbing up his legs, encasing him up to his neck.
"Forfeit before you get frostbite." Markus says, sitting down cross-legged. "I'm quite patient."
Nathan sighs, his head sticking out of the top of his ice box. "Fine, fine, I quit. Goddammit, you're strong."
The ice melts and Nathan catches himself and smirks. "Can't believe I got out in round one. You better not settle for anything less than first place." He says as he walks out the exit, rubbing his hands and breathing on them.
Markus exits the room and takes a seat next to Noboru. "Is it Amber's turn now? Where's she gone?"
"Yeah, it is. She's gone to room two. While you were doing your thing, two matches have gone by in her bracket."
"What? How? I was in there for four minutes, tops."
"It was crazy. One dude charged through the other's attacks and slammed him through the exit. The guy in the second match just gave up and walked out after his opponent blew up the side of the wall with her hand." Noboru says, giving Markus a small overview.
Bracket 3: Second Match – Kawata vs Joshua
"Guess you're up." Markus pats his shoulder. "Try not to cost us points. Don't worry, I'll let you know what happens with Amber."
Noboru stands up and walks to the third training room, sliding open the door and walking in as the locks click behind him. Opposite stood a boy with bluish-grey hair. His fingers twitched, but his eyes looked bored, waiting.
"Let's do our best," Noboru calls out as he gets in a stance. The boy looked up a bit, then got into a wide stance, his fingers outstretched, palms wide.
The timer hit zero and Noboru dashed forward for a quick finish, aiming an overhead hook at the guy's jaw. In response, his opponent leaned forward and intercepted it with his hand, and a bolt of electricity burst out at the collision. The white light blinded Noboru as he stumbled back, rubbing his eye.
"Aw, what the hell," he says, rapidly blinking, looking around as the boy darts over, aiming a finger jab at Noboru's stomach, his hand laced and crackling with electricity. Noboru quickly darts back, still trying to adjust his eyes as the guy straightens up, lightning crackling and hitting the ground off his body violently.
The boy changes his stance and runs to Noboru's right, aiming his arm and sending shockwaves of lightning. As Noboru dodges, he finds himself getting cornered. "Shit."
Noboru steps back, closes his guard, and squats low, focusing his energy, then bursts forward towards the boy, going for a hook. The boy slides on his knees, leaning back, narrowly dodging Noboru's punch, spinning around and swinging his arm, sending a line of lightning across the room, causing Noboru to step on the wall and jump off over it, landing back opposite the boy.
"Ha, you're sick at this. What's your name, dude?"
The boy doesn't respond and instead grabs his wrist, channeling all his energy into one hand, forming a lightning bolt.
"You're fast, but so is lightning."
He darts right and chucks the bolt at Noboru, and as Noboru dodges, it blows up into mini-bolts flying in all directions, making Noboru have to slide low, tripping and rolling across the floor.
When Noboru lifts his head, about to push off and get back in the fight, he whips his head left to see the boy mid-jump, about to strike a lightning bolt at Noboru's skull. So Noboru bursts forward and reaches out towards the bolt, pivoting slightly on the ball of his foot, narrowly dodging it and grabbing the boy's arm, spin-slamming him into the wall.
Jumping back, Noboru can feel pain in his shoulder where the bolt skimmed and singed him. The boy takes the opportunity to toss more smaller bolts to keep Noboru away as he gets up.
Noboru darts around the room, running around the boy until he's a single blur closing in. The boy squares down, placing one hand on the ground as beads of sweat roll down his forehead, and he grips onto the ground, sending a burst of electricity out of him in every direction.
Noboru takes a step and dives through the wave, narrowly dodging all the electricity as he somersaults and sprints, grabbing the guy by the throat and slamming him into the wall, knocking him out.
The lights flicker and a screen lights up with his name, and he exits the room, seeing Markus. "Hey, where's Amber? Also, got anything to eat?"
Markus points to the corner of the waiting room, where Amber sits on the floor, knees to chest, tears down her cheek. "She lost so quick. It was depressing to watch—like actually just sad." He tosses more frozen vegetables. "Eat up."
"Mhm, how tasty," Noboru says, plopping food into his mouth and glancing at Amber. "Who did she fight?"
Markus points to a boy reading a book on one of the seats. "That's Roku. He can basically turn his entire body into sand. Give him more, and he can grow larger or make anything. His twin brother is even stronger and better at using the power. But yeah, she fought Roku."
Noboru sits down next to Markus, finishing the vegetables. "This Black Frost over-freezing stuff you do—food don't taste too bad, to be honest. Maybe you should call yourself Black Frost."
"I'm not naming myself after something you like to eat, dude."
"Anyway, Amber got last place in her bracket. We can't settle for anything less than first."
"Yeah, that's given. My next spar's in a few. Go comfort Amber or something—maybe she'll like your frozen snacks." Markus stands up and walks to a line, taking his place, as Noboru strides over to Amber and takes a seat on the floor next to her.
"Hey, you good?" he says as Amber raises her head, tears down her face.
"I was useless. I didn't even get points for battle time—that's how quick I lost. Now we can't get team rank points, which means my rank will fall shorter, and so will yours, even if only a bit. I just don't know why I even came here. Markus convinced me I should at least try, but I keep failing. I haven't scored a single point other than in the hallway race, and you and Markus carried that. I just don't know what to do at this point." She rants and wails as Noboru flicks a frozen vegetable into the air, catching it in his mouth.
"You know," he cuts her off, "I got told by someone I met a long time ago: 'Victory doesn't just come from power, because power is not just what you can do, but the will to do what you can do.' When I heard that, it made me happy. I didn't need to keep overexerting myself focusing on my power, but more on the reason why I wanted to be a hero in the first place—why I wanted to save lives. Don't think of yourself as useless because you can't fight. Use your skills in the way they work best even if it ain't on the front lines."
Noboru plays with the vegetables as he remembers the man from back then—the wrinkly hand that reached out and ruffled his hair the first day he had gotten lost using his powers, telling him not to cry and that a real hero would save those who cry, not cry for them.
Amber sniffles, rubbing her eyes. "But I have no skills. My grades aren't the best. My power's really useful only if trained properly, and I can't even do that without passing out. And I have no one to even work with apart from Markus. My dorm mates are just dorm mates—we're not actually friends. Markus is the only one I have, the only one I've ever had since… since…" Her breathing becomes more rapid and unhinged as her face loses colour and her eyes dim.
Noboru places a hand on her shoulder, and the colour returns to her face as she looks him in the eyes. "Well, you got me now as well." He smirks. "Me and Markus won't let you give up on the dream you've had for who knows how long. Now let's go cheer the guy on before he wins his fight and we miss all the action."
He stands up, holding Amber's hand, pulling her along, and her breath returns as she stands up and walks, her tears drying. And she smiles, because she now has, two people she can believe in.