Chapter 4 - First day back

The first thing they had to do was attend the start-of-year assembly, which involved the welcoming of the new year of students, as well as announcing what's to be expected for this year. One of the new students that will be arriving in the first year is Nathan Bacardi who, just like his brother, managed to earn himself a scholarship. 

The group walked into the large auditorium, which only had a few people in since they were very early. They were so early in fact that the stage was still being set up, only a handful of students were actually present in the colossal auditorium. Among those students were some of the fourth years, not just any fourth years, they were the top two teams in the senior ranking from their previous year. These were the new rivals that Jon and his team will be competing with.

Among those monstrous individuals one stood out, with blazing red hair that almost looked unnatural, and skin as white as snow. She was the most dangerous and most exceptional of the lot of them, having continuously ranked first throughout all her time at the school. With clear, platinum-blue eyes giving a majestic and regal impression, she had a definitive presence as one that would never be overlooked. Even at first glance you could tell she was royalty, not by her appearance but by her demeanour and oppressive presence, she was the princess of Antarctica. It appeared she sensed the team's gazes, as she turned her head a whole 180 degrees and flashed them a devious and knowing smile, sending piercing chills down their spines. She then continued with whatever it was she was doing, speaking with her own team and the members of staff. 

"Holy shit that was horrifying! We're seriously gonna be competing with a monster like that? What a scary woman" Matthew was the first to speak, as was commonly the case. 

"You scared? Of course they're gonna be terrifyingly strong, that's what we've trained our asses of for. Don't show them any weakness, be scared but never let them see it." George adding his words of wisdom with the intention of easing the worries of the team. 

"Yeah listen to George and stop being such a wimp Matt. What happened to the 'Mighty Lord of Lightning' that you proclaimed would 'electrify the world' itself." Maya mocked Matthew, never missing an opportunity. "Now let's go and take our seats, we can't just stand around all day." And with that they all sat down.

***

The assembly went by, having taken only an hour and a half. The new first years received a welcoming speech and were informed on what was expected from the school. The rest of the assembly composed of more mundane matters, some events planned for this academic year and so on. The mention of tournaments and practical assessments were more notable and garnered more excitement from the students.

The most interesting topic brought up in the assembly was obviously the announcement of the senior ranking rewards. The ranking system composed of 2 categories, team ranking: where the results of the teams of 6 were assessed, and the individual ranking which assesses the individual. The rewards announced were as rumoured; the top 5 teams and any in the top 30 of individual rankings, should there be students not from the top 5 teams that make it into the top 30, of the first semester will be given the opportunity to spend a fortnight on the Moon. For the second semester, it will be a fortnight on Mars. And for the third and final semester of the year, a 3 month expedition in Antarctica has been confirmed for after the school year has ended. 

'So it's all confirmed, huh. I can't wait.' Grinning from ear to ear Jon and the gang walked towards their first class.

"Can't believe we've got Mr Beardmanman for our first lesson. Like what sort of name even is that?" Maya was right, their professor for super engineering did have a ridiculous name. "Anyway, Matt you gonna show off your skills to our new professor? I've heard he's tough to impress."

"Nonsense. There is not a human alive that will recognise my brilliance. I will bedazzle him with my incredible skills." He gave his response, affirming his confidence in his abilities. "Now let us go and impress the professor with the silly name."

"I'm glad to see that you're confident" Jon added with a sigh, "I swear upon the Immortals that there will never be someone as eccentric as you."

"You believe in the Immortals? I understand that there is the Ice King, The Platinum Woman and The Scholar, but a whole secret group of undying individuals shaping the world's development is something I'm sceptical of." David spoke up. "I'm not denying their existence, since there are already some known to the world, but I'm not sure I could believe that there are a whole group of them."

"If there's 3 of them that we know about, why wouldn't there be more? At least we know for sure that some exist. That's enough for me" 

"Fair point, we'll leave that there." 

As they got nearer to the super engineering building, having been walking in a queue across the massive campus of the school. Which seemed more like a university, with all sorts of different buildings, but it was understandable when superhumans are involved.

"Finally here" After about 5 minutes of walking, they reached their destination. "Let's see what our new professor is like" Jon taking the initiative and entering the building first. The building itself was large and simplistic, with a cubic shape the size of an opera house. The interior matching the exterior kept a simplistic and minimalistic appearance, with a black and white colour pallet.

Having reached the door to the main classroom, they entered and saw a variety of familiar faces, the students that they have been competing with during the past 2 years. Met with fierce eyes from all those rivals, the team entered, walking with extreme confidence.

"Greetings classmates, I'm sure it brings you great pleasure to be able to attend class with the great Lord of Lightning." Matt spoke up with his usual exuberance. The group sat down at one of the empty hexagonal tables, designed to fit a whole team.

"Not a very warm reception heh" Maya said with a chuckle. Clearly they had been the target of those in their year, with their dominant performances in their second year they were the team to beat and the target of all.

"It would be weird if were given a warm welcome wouldn't it?" With a giggle Rosa responded. "We did leave quite the impression last year, so of course we're the subject of envy, hehe." 

"Let's not get complacent, I'm sure we're not the only ones that have improved." George inputted, with his deep and masculine voice sounding soothing and pleasant on the ears.

"Oh, I think he's here!" As Jon said that, the professor for senior level 'Super Engineering' entered the room. He wore dark robes draping down to his feet, a pair of spectacles with circular frames and thick glass. The man was extremely lanky, with pasty white skin and deep bags under his dark brown eyes. He looked worse for wear, as if he hadn't slept in days and hadn't seen the Sun in weeks, and on his face he had quite the miserable frown.

"Hello children, my name is Mr Beardmanman and I will be teaching you on the applications of superpowers in engineering industries. NOT a single comment on my name will be tolerated, I will toss you out of the window if I hear a single mention of it!" Introducing himself with a scowl and an ominous warning, the lanky man sat down at his clean black desk.

'Quite the charmer' Jon thought to himself. His initial impression of his teacher was that of someone who gets overly immersed in their work, rationalising his irritable personality to be the result of fatigue and stress from overworking.

***

The lesson went by, lasting 2 whole hours, it mainly consisted of an introduction to the material that will be covered this year and a refresher on the previously covered content. Despite his bleak appearance and sour disposition, Mr Beardmanman was a spectacular educator. Showing passion in the subject and not overcomplicating the lecture whilst delivering the details effectively and in a precise manner.

The second lesson was mathematics, located within the standard academic building, this was followed by a lesson on history, then a chemistry class, followed by a general languages class. The final lesson of the day was the combat abilities practical, their first practical of the new year, this was located in the massive combat building, which had a very much similar exterior as the engineering building. This practical was a joint lesson with both the 3rd and 4th years participating, the whole of each of those years participating.

The building was truly massive, the largest of any superhuman school, standing at a height of 135 meters tall, with a width of 215 meters and a length of 225 meters. A colossal structure, in which the combat practical lessons of the superhumans attending this prestigious school took place.

Upon entering the gargantuan building the team saw hundreds of students standing around the centre of the field. The interior of the building was like that of a massive playing field, with artificial lighting illuminating from the walls and the distant roof.

Yet again they were met with countless eyes staring at them, something that had been occurring all day, not all these eyes were the same though. The fourth years looked at them with curiosity and expectation, as opposed to the fierce eyes of determination that their fellow third years possessed.

 With his 'eyes', Jon could see the incredible strength that all the fourth years possessed, not knowing the depth or nature of their powers, but instead he recognised the fact that they were all extremely capable. He also was able to notice that his fellow third years had grown, seeing their presence and 'aura' having grown more profound and prominent. 'This is gonna be challenging, very interesting' a large grin appeared on his face as he and his team walked towards the central point where they were all gathered.

"Jon Bacardi, a pleasure to meet you." One of the fourth years approached Jon and the team, she was tall, roughly 6'1, and spoke in a refined and polite tone. "I've heard much of your team's exploits and I must say that I'm impressed. My name is Sarina Martinez, I do hope we have the joy of facing off against each other in the future." 

"Likewise, I do hope we compete some day" Jon responded with enthusiastic confidence.

"That's good to hear, I will say goodbye now, it really was nice to meet you" And with that she walked away, back towards her own team and a few other teams talking with them.

"I think she likes you Jon" with a little chuckle Matthew spoke up, "It's the perfect build-up for a rivals to lovers plot." 

"Ohh I could totally see that! Did you see the way she was eyeing him up?" Maya joined Matthew, giggling as she spoke.

"Our diligent leader having a love escapade with an older woman, what a splendid development" David decided to carry on the teasing, as the whole team erupted into a cheerful laughter.

"VERY funny guys! But seriously, it seems like we've been put in the crosshairs of not just our own year but also caught the interest of the fourth years." Jon tried to subdue their teasing and kill their laughter.

"WE? No my good friend, it was YOU that she singled out. And speaking of interest, she did seem quite INTERESTED in you, If you get what I mean." Ultimately Jon's attempt failed as George spoke up, eliciting more laughter from the team.

As they were laughing, it appeared that the atmosphere had changed. Their laughter died out, as did any speaking of the other students. The instructors had arrived, signalling the start of their first practical lesson of the year.