10 RIP

The class began murmuring. A global level threat was already quite impressive, but a galactic threat level hero? That was rare, even among veterans. And because of their powers, most became villains. But the icing on the cake was his ability. It was unknown.

Threat levels were of six categories.

The first was Regional Threat Level. It meant that the said powered individual had the ability to destroy a whole region. The second was the National Threat Level. This meant that the powered in question had the ability to destroy a whole nation. The third threat level was the Cardinal Threat Level. It meant that the person had the ability to destroy a cardinal part of the globe, like maybe the whole northern hemisphere of earth. The fourth was the Global Threat Level. These powereds were known as world destroyers. They could bring a whole planet to its knees. Then there was the Galactic Threat Level. These powereds could end galaxies with their abilities. They were very rare. Then the last but not the least were the Universal Threat Levels. These ones were even rarer. There were only seven of them alive today. And it was a miracle that they were all heroes, granted the title of Guardian.

Meanwhile, Nightwalker was grinning. He had just hit the jackpot. Among the top ten of his students, the weakest was a cardinal threat.

–They would be useful for the cause.-- He thought to himself.

Troy went back to his seat with his head held high. Now they had no choice but to look at him with more respect.

"Your previous education has thought you the therory aspect of being a Hero. The final three years of your education here will be to teach you the practical aspect. You should all be in field training by now, but somebody had disrupted our plans!" Professor Nightwalker said, glaring at Troy.

Troy just turned away, whistling a tune. Threya suppressed a chuckle.

"Now, you'll be split into ten teams of six members. Five of you first years, and a second year Cadet to monitor you.

Professor Nightwalker was about to read out the list of names when a portal opened up right in front of Troy.

"Troy Silver. Your attention is urgently needed in the principal's office. Now!" A voice said from the portal.

Troy's heart beat faster. What had gone wrong now?

He crossed over and it closed behind him. He was once again in the familiar but not so welcoming office of the principal.

"I bring grave news, Troy." Dove said from behind her desk.

–Yeah. As if summoning me from the middle of class wasn't a bad sign.–

"Your uncle is dead."

Troy suppressed all the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. He just saw his uncle this morning. Now he's dead?

Dove was mildly surprised. She had expected a breakdown, or an emotional reaction. But so far, Troy remained passive. A holographic screen appeared, showing the fight scene.

Storm, Blade and two others attacked him. And it was in front of their house! Uncle Chris wasn't dumb enough to go back to their house, was he? Unless…

Unless he wanted them to kill him. With his death, they would think the major supporters of the PWRS movement were dead. Well they are. Troy didn't give a duck about any of that. All he wanted was to be famous. And being a world renowned Hero was the first step.

Storm.

Storm, again. She killed his parents, and now his only guardian. He thought he would only shrug of Uncle Chris's death, but that wasn't true. He felt it to the bone. Now, he was truly alone.

Storm…

This just got personal.

Dove was moved from surprise to worry. If Troy's passive expression was mildly surprising before, now it was disturbing. She had seen that gaze many times. The dull stare of serial killers. Their anger, euphoria, and sadness all melted into one expressionless expression.

As soon as she noticed it, it vanished, replaced by a calm smile.

"Thank you. Ms. Peters. But as absurd as it may sound, Uncle Chris told me to expect this. I promised him I won't be weighed down by his death." Troy said, smiling.

Dove was seriously tempted to give him a psychological evaluation. But she decided against it. She was one of the few people that knew Chris Star, and not Chris Silver. So she gave Troy the benefit of the doubt. He was okay.

"I just need some alone time." Troy said.

With a nod and a snap of her fingers, a portal appeared, leading him to his room.

"See you later, Ms. Peters. Stay beautiful!"

"Eh?"

Troy vanished into the portal, and Dove left it open for a few seconds in a dilemma.

"Me? Beautiful?!"

Meanwhile, Troy went straight to the bathroom, and sat in the shower for hours.

He she'd no tears, but his pain wasn't any less. He had lost all his family members. The only 'family' he had now were his grandfather who disowned his son, and his aunt. And he had never considered them family. None of them came to his parents' funeral.

A few hours later, he exited his room. Eddie and Patricia were not yet back. Well that wasn't much of a surprise. As second year Cadets, they were probably on a field exercise. And tomorrow will mark the beginning of his own.

He went straight to the teleportation array.

"Nurse's office." It was the close of the day, and earlier, Doctor Iris had told him that she had requested a few hours leave. There was no telling what could happen while she was gone, and leaving without notifying her superiors was not a good move.

Thankfully, Dove had obliged.

Troy appeared in her office, and his breath was taken away. Doctor Iris was even more beautiful. Her dark skin was shining. She wore a red gown that highlighted her luscious curves. He lips were painted with red lipstick, and her hair was left wild. Turns out it reached just below her waist.

"You look amazing, doc." Troy said, and he meant it.

"You don't look bad yourself." Doctor Iris said with a flat tone that oozed sarcasm. "What are you wearing?"

Troy looked at himself and scratched the back of his head.

"Well, you seemed kinda awkward, so I didn't want to make you more uncomfortable by overdressing."

"Wow thank you so much Troy. Wearing your uniform on our first date really makes me feel better."

Troy burst out laughing. This woman was better at sarcasm than he was.

Doctor Iris pouted. And grumbled.

"Fine. Give me five minutes." He went to the bathroom, then he snapped his fingers. In the blink of an eye, his uniform was replaced by a two piece suit that was in his dimensional pocket. He didn't need make up or any of the seemingly unlimited 'finishing touches' that girls needed to just swallow up more time. He just combed his hair and straightened the suit.

Doctor Iris whistled as he came out. "That's what I'm talking about!" She admired him with a smile. "It's too bad that damn receptionist's shift is over. If not I'd shove it in her face. I have a date!" She giggled and took Troy's hand.

Troy broke out in cold sweat. The receptionist! He had completely forgotten about Maki! He couldn't help but thank God he had dodged that bullet.

"I have one question, though." Doctor Iris asked.

"Shoot." Troy replied with confidence. This wasn't his first date, so he knew that mostly, this moment was reserved for questions like: "Why did you choose me?" Or "Why do you like me?" He was more than confident that he could answer all those questions.

"You like older women, making you a gerontophile. Does that mean I'm a pedophile?"

Troy almost choked.

"What?"