On a sunny day, the sound of two metallic objects smashing into each other were heard coming from the backyard of the castle. The metal sounds were that of two blades, one sword and one trident, smashing into one another as its owners darted around each other while attempting to strike at their opponent.
The owner of the sword was the first prince, Bolten, and the owner of the trident was none other than Lakshman, the Solaris Hero. The two warriors were exchanging blows in the backyard of the castle as a part of their training in getting stronger and improving their skills. The prince requested the king from another world to spar with him so that he sized up just how strong he was compared to Lakshman, who obliged by fighting to his best.
“You’re good, prince,” commented Lakshman, who had stepped back after a furious clash.
Bolten, who was breathing quickly, formed a tired smile on his sweat covered face and said, “No way. You’ve hardly broken a sweat, and I’m already this worn out. Dang.” He collapsed to the ground and breathed a heavy sigh before declaring, “I’m no match for you, Lakshman!”
Lakshman smiled, happy that his opponent realized the difference in strength between them and managed to pronounce his name correctly. It had been a difficult task for Lakshman to make his comrades pronounce his name the right way because it sounded weird each time they attempted to call his name.
“You know, Lakshman? Couldn’t your parents just have given you a better name?” Bolten asked as Lakshman walked over and sat down on the ground near him.
Lakshman faintly smiled and simply replied, “Lakshman actually stands for Lucky.”
“Oh!” Bolten exclaimed, widening his eyes in surprise. “So, your parents gave you a name with that meaning to give you the luck of the world, ah? That’s nice.”
“Thank you,” Lakshman replied with a smile.
Bolten breathed a deep sigh and rose to his feet with great strength. He took the towel offered to him by one of the Royal Guards and cleaned off the sweat covering his face and arms while letting out a small sigh.
“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave, Lakshman. You better get ready for the academy as well,” he said with a smile and turned around before walking inside the castle while surrounded by a few Royal Guards.
It had been a few days since the king announced the rewards and the punishment that was aimed singularly towards Lakshman. The victim, on the other hand, accepted the punishment with minute resistance because he was aware that his situation would only get worse if he were to refuse. Thus, Lakshman ended up with a One Billion Dollars’ worth of dept to repay, and he had no idea yet how to accomplish such a feat.
After recovering from his many injuries, he was requested by Bolten to spar with him one day to measure himself up against him. With the task done, Lakshman looked up at the sky and breathed a sigh, enjoying the peace that he could still have at that time.
He hurried into his room in the castle, had a shower and got dressed before walking out to join the other heroes. Together, they met up with the three royal siblings and went on their way to attend the Hero Academy, where the members of society were trained. Only after successful graduation did they get an official Hero License from the Legion of Heroes and were recognized as heroes in service within society. The Nine Heroes of Legends were already officially recognized heroes, but they still needed to be educated about the rules and the society in the new world.
“Did you think of how to clear the debt?” Martin asked Lakshman with a curious look on his face after the nine of them were at their respective lockers.
“No idea,” said Lakshman easily, smiling a little at him.
While Martin appeared to be taken aback, Maxwell suggested, “Don’t you think it’s a good idea to earn money from performing heroic acts?”
“I may have to rely on that income,” replied Lakshman, nodding his head in agreement.
Vikram sighed and said, “You appear to be really calm about it, but I would’ve been freaking out by now! Seriously!” Then he worse a sheepish grin and said, “Perhaps wooing the princess and marrying her could solve this problem.”
“Marrying into a female side family just to clear one’s debt?! Are you serious?!” William exploded in anger, shooting a deadly glare at Vikram.
“Now, now. It was just a suggestion,” said Vikram quickly, raising his hands while making an embarrassed expression on his face. “I mean, it would be a dream come true considering the princess is beautiful and everything. Okay. Fine. I’ll shut up!” He added at the end, seeing that his words were just infuriating William further.
“Drop it, you guys,” said Natsu in a firm voice, looking severely at them. “He’ll figure something out on his own. Stop needlessly bringing up the topic and worrying him.”
Lakshman chuckled a little and thanked them for taking the time to worry about him. He found Vikram’s suggestion quite comical considering that Erza was going to be wife in the future to come. Still, he was not one that relied on someone else’s strength to perform his duties. Lakshman was the type that would take help if it was offered to him and return the favor, but he would never ask for help directly because of his strong belief in relying on his own strength.
After stashing their bags away into the locker, they took out a device and were greeted by a staff member. The lady in the professional uniform escorted the nine of them away from their lockers to reach the place, where their first lesson was going to take place at. A few minutes of walking through the crowded corridors later, they reached a room that already had students seated behind long benches.
“Please, enter the room and take your seats at the back. Your lecturer will be here shortly,” said the staff member, who bowed to them and departed.
“Uh… Okay,” muttered Fred, proceeding into the room first while generating a nervous aura around him.
The room was filled with chatter from the various conversations flying around the place, all of which instantly died the moment they entered the room. Everyone in the room focused their attention on the Nine Heroes of Legends and watched silently. It appeared as though time itself stopped completely in the room from the way the faces of everyone stared fixedly at them.
Then, one of the people muttered, “Hey. Aren’t they the Nine Heroes of Legends?”
“Eh? You mean the heroes summoned from another world?”
“Wow! Seriously?!”
“Yeah! I’ve seen that tall person’s face, and that guy too! You know, when they fought to settle the battle between classes 1A and 1B,” the same person said, indicating Lakshman and Gram.
At the obvious mention of him, Lakshman smiled a little while Gram snorted and looked away while folding his arms.
Several of the students, both male and female, got off their seats and moved towards them excitedly. Upon reaching them, some of the people began asking them many questions all at once while the rest admired them by praising them. The heroes from other worlds could only stand and watch while forming small smiles at this unexpected reception they were getting.
“W-We certainly are popular, ah?” Martin muttered, forcing a smile at them.
“You can say that again!” Maxwell said, amazed by so many excited people that surrounded them.
Suddenly, all of them flinched when a loud bang came from the outside, and they turned to see a spectacled person, standing in the door, not able to come in, giving them a severe look. Obviously, he was the lecturer and it appeared that he had banged his hand hard against the book he was holding to catch their attention.
“Everyone, if you could move and allow me to enter,” the man said, his voice harsh and stern.
Realizing they were blocking the entrance, the people began to return to their seats in a hurry. At the same time, the Nine Heroes of Legends moved up to the backside of the benches and took the available free seats. Gram sat next to Martin, who was seated beside Maxwell, Ward, William, Fred, Vikram, Natsu and Lakshman. They pulled out their books and stationery in order to put down any kind of notes that their lecturer might tell them to take.
The lecturer moved to the front of the room, placed the book down on the desk and focused his attention on the students. He no longer looked stern but smiled a little at the expectant expressions he could see in all of their faces.
“Hello, students. My name is Sura Nangad, and I’m going to be your lecturer in this session.”
He paused, waiting for them to say something, and when no reply came, he smiled and continued speaking.
“As you might all know, today’s session is arranged by the first prince in order to supply the beginner information regarding our society’s history, laws, and details regarding your studies when you enroll in the academy. Normally, this session would’ve been held on the weekend, but many were absent in the previous session and the first prince believed it is important to give the people who missed out a chance to catch up. It is also an added bonus to have the Nine Heroes of Legends with us today, so please welcome them.”
The students began to clap their hands and the room echoed with it for a few seconds before it slowly died down. Once the class settled down, the lecturer resumed his speech and told them that today’s session was going to be very basic and began by retelling the triggering events in their history that changed their world and society.
“Make sure to pay attention and note down everything the A.I. will explain to you,” the lecturer said, and he turned towards the board before aiming his hand at it and pressing his Magic Enhanced Device.
“A.I.?” Lakshman asked, unfamiliar with the term.
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“It means Artificial Intelligence,” replied Vikram from beside Natsu, who sat in between them. “Basically, it’s like a computer program that’s been programmed to work in a defined procedure and then quit at the end.”
He then faced the front and, a smile of great excitement forming on his face. They did not know that he was eager to learn the history of this world and anything considering he had great interest in the subject. Beside him, Natsu narrowed his eyebrows in seriousness while the rest appeared as if they were as confused as Lakshman.
A moment later, particles of light began emitting from the front before a holographic representation of a person appeared. He was not physical, just a projection of a person that the artificial intelligence had decided to use as an appearance. Once the A.I. had materialised, the lecturer walked away and sat somewhere on the far left to watch the proceedings, leaving the procession of the session in the artificial intelligence’s hands.
“Greeting, users. How are you?” The A.I. man asked politely with a smile. When he received a half-hearted response from them, he smiled cheerfully and said, “Glad to hear it. I am named P, and I’ve been instructed to inform you the key important times in our history that changed our society forever, and answer any of your questions so long as they don’t breach protocols.”
When it asked, “Shall we begin,” there was no response from anyone. He took the silence to mean that he can begin.
“So, the time when our world came be known as Alzard was when the demons invaded us. Our civilisation was on the verge of losing when the Mythological Gods, whom the people had constantly prayed for help, had shone them light in the form of summoning nine people from another world, nine heroes would later come to be known as the Nine Heroes of Legends.”
“Oh! They’re our predecessors!” Vikram muttered excitedly.
“After vanquishing the demons, the heroes were allowed to return to their worlds, and from then the society started to change. It was the year 2051 A.D, which stood for Anno Domini, when the change started within the people. They began to investigate science, develop new technology and started to head towards a future of advancement. In the year 2080 A.D, the people officially changed the calendar year to Dominia Technalaj, also known as D.T for short. That is our we are here in the year 1281 D.T.
Your Magic Enhanced Devices, which were inspired from witnessing the awesome powers of the heroes, are run by the Digital Towers located in key locations all around the world. They supply your devices and execute spells and the such, however, the discovery of the M.E.D had threatened to engulf world in a third world war. After ten whole years of struggle, mankind finally noticed the damage they were causing to themselves. Regretting their decision, mankind finally decided to drop all weapons and focus solely on developing their civilisation to become what it possibly could.”
One of the students raised their hands and the A.I. asked, “Yes?”
“I was wondering. Is there any reason that our world no longer has trees, grass and oceans?”
The A.I. smiled and said, “Actually, there is. With the development of technology came the price of slowly destroying the planet. With the generation of carbon dioxide more than the oxygen supplied by nature, global warming became a serious issue. The scientists tackled this issue by producing Artificial Ecological Balancers. These devices are placed in cities, inside buildings and anywhere that people reside in. They maintain the environment for you, keeping you cool and fresh at all times. Yes?”
`
When he came to an end in his explanation, another student raised their hand and asked, “When were you born?”
The question surprised the AI completely, and the lecturer turned to scold him, “Don’t ask useless questions! This is information gathering for you, so ask relevant questions only. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” the student replied, looking a little crestfallen as he took his seat.
The A.I. man watched the student sit down before he returned to smiling at them as he asked, “Are there any other questions?”
Suddenly, Vikram raised his hand and quickly asked in an eager voice, “Oh! Me! Please!”
“Ah. Yes? What is it?” The A.I. asked, a little surprised to see the excitement in that student.
“What are the Magic Enhanced Devices? Ever since coming to this world, I and my friends are very intrigued to know what they are, so can you explain please?” Vikram asked politely, although, his was very excited to learn about something he had been longing to learn for a while.
“Of course. I take it the nine, including you, at the back are the Nine Heroes of Legends?”
“Yes!” Vikram replied energetically with a bright smile on his face.
The AI nodded and, with a smile, he began giving his explanation in a smooth fashion.
“Magic Enhanced Devices, or M.E.D.s for short. They were invented by the famous doctor by the name Fuji Kamura. His first discovery was the method that would be used to the way to transform our world to support life even without the help of mother nature. They were made to be used for simple operations, such as releasing a specified elemental with a ranged output, activating devices with recognition lock and help people go about their daily lives. Even the Artificial Ecological Balancer was also upgraded to be controlled by the M.E.D.s, which can be used to switch them on and off.”
Lakshman, who listened to this intently, nodded his head reflexively in understanding and thought, “So, every device in the castle can be controlled by the M.E.D.s? Mmm. Somehow, I get the feeling it’s not a good system, although, I’m pretty sure the people had placed safety measures against possible interference or control from an external method.”
“Does that answer your question?” The AI asked with a smile.
Vikram nodded, but he wanted to know more and asked, “Yes, but I’m still wondering how they’re powered. Like, do they draw energy from the supplier, as in their user, or from something externally?”
This time, the AI’s smile slowly dropped as he replied in a sad voice, “I’m sorry, hero, but that information is classified.”
As his words were pronounced, whispers began to occur within the room as everyone put their heads together and muttered about it. They felt it was quite suspicious for such a simple information should be kept a secret from the public, and it made them want to know about it more.
Suddenly, the lecturer, who was able to hear their whispers, turned to face them and said in a stern voice, “Listen, it’s an important key factor in how our society operates, so naturally it’s kept a secret. But if you’re still interested to learn about it, then you better quit the academy and join the Science Association. They are welcoming new recruits.”
His last statement had a dangerous hint, and he smiled wickedly at them. Everyone shivered and quickly straightened up while stating their refusal to heed his advice. There were even some that protested that learning science is far more difficult than becoming a hero. Hearing their words, the lecturer eyed them wearily and turned back to face the front.
“Continue, P,” the lecturer issued the command, and the AI bowed before continuing with its explanation in a smooth manner.
“Coming to the duties of the heroes, you are required to attend classes for one term and participate in the end of term exams. Based on your results, you will be either allowed to proceed to the next course or be given two choices; option one is that you have to repeat term one again and the second option is that you drop out of the academy entirely.”
“Are the questions that difficult in the term one exam?” One of the students asked as soon as he raised his hand into the air.
The AI shook his head and said, “It’s not the difficulty of the examination, but the stressful situation that they are placed in. You see, the academy installs in you the ability to be a righteous hero that protects the society, and in order to do that, one must be fully prepared for almost any kind of situation. That is why, every student is put through numerous difficult obstacle courses that challenge them both physically and mentally.”
“Oh…! I guess that is stressful,” the student replied, smiling and lowering his hand in the process.
The AI, known as P, nodded and continued to explain away the details of the tests and what they should possibly learn from their time in term one. While he was speaking, everyone was paying the utmost attention to his words, but there was one who had lost interest rather quickly. That person was none other than William, the Titanium Hero.
He silently observed the constant delivery of information, the occasional questions being asked and answered, and people taking down notes of the key information that could come in use. This kind of environment reminded him of the situation he had been back in his world, daily sitting in a war barracks and listening to his commander preach on and on about society, history and victory. It made him feel very frustrated.
“Ah… This is so boring…” he muttered finally, unable to contain his emotions.
Fred, who was seated next to him, heard him and asked, “How come, Will?”
“That’s William!” William retorted in a fierce voice, glaring menacingly at him. “Don’t you dare try to shorten the name and give me a sweet nickname!”
Fred laughed nervously and said, “R-Right. William, how come you’re feeling it’s boring?”
“Take a look around you,” said William, casting his eyes around at the people taking notes while listening to P. “This feels more like an information dump than a study session. Seriously! All that AI is doing is blabbing, and the people are idiotically writing it down without considering the usefulness of that information.”
Fred gave him a side long glance and asked, “You don’t like knowledge?”
“It’s not about that. Knowledge is power, I can understand that much, but what the AI’s basically telling is history and whatever else about their society. Sure, he’s now giving us details on what we’re supposed to be prepared for in the term one exams, but do we have to? We’re already heroes, so why should we bother listening to this any longer?”
As he asked such a question, he looked down at his hands in frustration while continuing to speak more.
“It’s like there’s some kind of satisfaction that comes from dumping a huge load of information onto people. It’s… frustrating to say the least!”
Fred observed him for a moment in silence before asking, “From what age did you enrol in the army, William?”
“From the age of fourteen!” William replied in a proud voice. “It was always a child’s dream of enrolling in the army and achieving greatness on the battlefield!”
Seeing how he suddenly got excited made Fred feel he understood a little bit about William.
“So, you never received education, ah?” He asked finally with a small sigh.
“No. Is that a problem?” William asked, suddenly becoming cold towards Fred.
“No. It’s not, but I can see why you don’t appreciate education,” replied Fred with a smile. “I mean, it can appear to be tiresome to hear all this useless information instead of what you really want to know, but that’s the system; that’s how it works. You, me, nor anyone else can change it because it was designed that way.”
“But then, do you simply accept your fate?” William asked incuriously.
Fred shook his head and said, “No. I did not accept this just because of that. I accepted it because I had the thought that maybe this information could be useful sometime later in the future. Think about it. What if you suddenly faced a situation that you were not expecting, a situation that you were unprepared for and suddenly, this information comes in handy at that time? A what-if scenario to consider, right?”
William looked really surprised as he had never thought about receiving information in such a way before. He looked down at the people taking down notes and at P giving out information while answering the occasional questions raised by the students.
“So? They’re taking down notes because it could come in handy at sometime in the future?” William asked, feeling amazed by what he was witnessing.
Fred nodded and said, “That’s right, William.” Then he chuckled and said, “This isn’t a war council, where our commander goes on and on about glory, victory and any self-proclaiming nonsense. This is education, and things that you learn here are not useless. Every bit of what you learn here is useful, but how it becomes useful depends solely on your choices. You get it?”
William slowly nodded and replied, “Yes. It kind of makes sense.” A moment later, he spoke in an apologetic voice by saying, “I’m sorry, Fred, for getting annoyed at you. Thanks to you, I feel I understand the difference now.”
“You’re welcome,” replied Fred in a calm voice.
“Alright. I believe that concludes this session,” said P from the front, startling William in the process.
“Oh no! I haven’t taken any notes down!” William thought, then he realised the obvious and thought, “Hell. Even if I wanted to take down notes, I couldn’t have since I don’t know how to write…!”
He felt frustrated by the situation he was faced with, but thankfully aid came in the form of Fred, who quietly said, “It’s okay. I’ll lend you my notes.”
“R-Really?” William asked reflexively in happiness. Then, realising that he had shown him a slight weakness, he quickly corrected his posture and asked, “You will lend me your notes? But I can’t write.”
“Then I’ll teach you the alphabet. It’ll come in handy at sometime even if you spend most of your life at the front lines,” replied Fred cheerfully, making William look at him in amazement.
He finally smiled at him, a true smile that he had not shown anyone before, and said, “Thank you, Fred.”
“Anytime,” replied Fred with a smile as the friendship between the Titanium Hero and the Bulwark Hero began to develop.
For a moment, William felt as if he was looking at a young girl, but he quickly shook his head to clear away his delusion. The person before him was a male and that his feelings for him were nothing more than friendship. He was satisfied with that conclusion, but he never knew that fate had other ideas planned for them in the coming future.