Project 7 the First: The Hero's Great Come Back

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Lance got everything packed in his backpack. He felt excited at the same time he wanted to back out. As he went to school, he wore a shirt and a vestlike hoodie. He wore a pair of skinny jeans and also a pair of sneakers. He still kept his necklace under his shirt so that no one would see it.
As he reached school he saw everybody in different attires. They were all giggling while walking around. Some just did not care while some felt really excited. People were gathered in front yard of the school.
Lance was looking for his team, but he could not seem to find them.
"Lance, over here!"
Lance turned and saw Bryan waving his hand. He rushed to his team. He noticed that they had huge backpacks behind them.
"Hey, guys, why do you have big backpacks. I have a lot of stuff, but I carry them in this magical bag. It stores anything and still weigh less," said Lance.
"Well, we don't know where to get that," said Albert.
They kept chatting about Excalion. They seemed to be excited.
"Guys," said Mr. McGuillon, "when we reach our destination, I will be assigning your dorms. Remember, there are separate dorms for the ladies and the gents. There are also higher batches staying at the dorms so show some respect to your seniors."
As they were talking, a guy accidentally bumped Lance in the shoulder.
"Watch where you're standing," said the guy like Lance did sonething wrong
"You watch where you're going," said Shannelle, trying to back up Lance.
"No, Shannelle," said Lance. "Don't make things worse."
The guy had glasses. He wore a yellow polo shirt and jeans. He also wore a pair of sneakers.
He observed Lance from head to toe and began to smile mischievously. "Oh, so it's you. The lame loser who doesn't have powers."
"Hey, four-eyes, you don't have the right to say that. You don't even belong to this team. Furthermore, you don't know who you're dealing with," said Marjorie, staring at him eye-to-eye.
"Whatever. As if I care," said the guy arrogantly. "Your team won't last during the finals. I bet you'll even lose your first match with this loser in your team."
"Oh, yeah? Well, I bet that our team will beat yours in a flash," said Gavin, trying to play along.
"Then, I'm looking forward to it," said the guy as he turned and walked away. "See ya, losers!"
They all felt furious after that argument.
Lance felt like he was bringing the entire team down due to his reputation. He felt like quitting.
"Guys, I'm sorry," said Lance pitifully. "I'm just a burden to this team."
"Hey," said Roderick, "cheer up!"
"Yeah," Shannelle agreed. "You're not a loser. In fact, you have crazy combat skills with that rod you have."
"Thanks. I promise that I'll definitely get stronger," said Lance.
"Yeah. Strong enough to get all the attention," said Albert bitterly.
"Hey, Albert," said Marjorie. "Are you okay? You don't seem like yourself."
"It's none of your business," simply replied Albert in a grumpy way.
"I guess someone woke up in the wrong side of the bed this morning," said Bryan.
"Okay, guys. There will be a ceremony before we go to Excalion," said Mr. McGuillon.
"When will that be?" asked Gavin.
"Good morning to all!"
They all faced toward the school and saw the principal standing on a small stage.
"I hope that everybody is excited," she said. "Before we get going, i would like to give notice to the leading team. They have finished six missions in a day. They have proved their potential. This team is composed of the following: Adrian Hemedy, Breanna Asper, Justin Kindler, Kais Martel, Donna Blais, Julienne Moore, and Charlene Camry. I present to you Team Jupiter with their Advisor, Miss Agatha Wesley."
The team came up the stage by order. Lance was shocked to see the guy who argued with them standing on the stage.
"Who is that guy?" Lance asked.
"He's Kais," said Gavin. "He inherits super strength. The weapon he wields is a pair of silver knuckles. His power isn't that interesting, but people say that one punch of his can wreck an entire building."
"I see."
Kais looked at Lance from the stage. They had a little staring contest. Kais looked at him malevolently.
Lance began to have an arch nemesis. His goal was to beat him in the finals and make him take back his words.
"I would like all of you to be inspired by them. Look up to them," said the principal.
"Over my dead body," murmured Marjorie. "We could become a hundred times stronger than them."
"Would you like to say something, Team Jupiter? Maybe a word of inspiration," said the principal.
Kais stepped forward and walked to the podium. He looked at the crowd like they were worthless ants. "I guess that missions are just easy. A piece of cake. You bunch of losers don't just aren't strong enough." He faced at Lance's team probably because he was pertaining to them. "Don't even try training your ass off just to become stronger than us 'cuz you never will." He walked back to where he stood. He felt all high and mighty inside.
"Okay," said the principal awkwardly, "that was... motivating..."
"Bastard," Bryan murmured abruptly.
"Anyway," said the principal with excitement, "we will now be teleporting to Excalion. We will be staying in Ardenia. It's a big town, so don't wonder around. Ardenia is surrounded by walls for protection. The walls are casted with a fast-regenerating spell, so that the cracks will cover up quickly. The top is covered by an invisible barrier shaped like a dome. Now, you should teleport as a team. I distributed cubes for each team. That is a one-way teleporting device designed by yours truly."
Mr. McGuillon pulled out a silver cube from his pocket. It was small. It had golden lines on it. One side had a red button.
"The button on the cube is an activation switch. Go ahead and push the button, and it's up to your team what to do next," said the principal.
So, Mr. McGuillon pushed the red button. Suddenly the lines on the cube glowed brighter, and the cube grew bigger and transformed into a big metallic bird that was the size of a van. They were filled with awe when they saw it.
Project 7 quickly rode on the bird; and, as everybody sat comfortably, the bird blasted to the sky with one flap of its wings. Everbody held tight to the bird's back. The pressure was so intense that they almost fell off the bird. They were already thousands of feet off the ground. The bird stopped as it reached above the clouds. They thought that was it, but the bird began to tilt forward and dived.
Everybody was screaming like crazy. They thought that they were going to crash, but the bird began to spread its wings and glided smoothly in the sky. Next thing they knew, they were soaring above a bunch of trees. They all looked around and noticed trees everywhere.
"Where are we?" asked Marjorie anxiously.
"We're already at Excalion," said Mr. McGuillon.
"How did that happen?" asked Roderick. "I thought we were about to crash."
"The principal and her inventions... they're filled with surprises," said Mr. McGuillon.
"Get me off this thing!" Marjorie cried. "I don't wanna die yet! First, it was Lance's pet bird; then, this? I'd rather walk instead."
"You can't do anything about it," said Gavin. "You don't even have teleportation powers."
Then, they noticed that they have transformed already, except Lance.
"Even here at Excalion, huh?" said Mr. McGuillon. "That curse is really a bothersome."
"It's okay," said Lance. "It doesn't matter."
"I pity you," said Bryan. "Don't worry. Just let us handle the final exams. You could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."
"Yeah. Let us handle it," said Albert from nowhere.
"Wow," said Shannelle. "I guess someone's in a bad mood this morning. Is it because you were the last one who finished all the training?"
"Shut up, Shannelle!" said Albert, enraged.
"Oh, come on, Albert," said Shannelle, trying to convince him, "just get over it."
Albert just sighed and ignored them.
They finally reached the main gate of Ardenia. When they checked behind them, they did not see the others. They were the first team to reach the gates of Ardenia.
The bird landed on the ground and suddenly dismantled by itself.
There were two people guarding the entrance. They both wore white high-collared coats with black belts strapped to their waist with a sword hanging on them. They also wore simple black pants and leather boots. One of them had long blonde hair. Another had black hair covering his left eye.
"Who are you, and what is your business here?" asked the guy with blonde hair.
Mr. McGuillon slowly approached the guard and said, "We mean no harm. These are students from Manteio Academy. I am the captain of this team." Mr. McGuillon pulled out a card from his pocket and showed it to the guard. It seemed to be his I.D.
"We were expecting you..." Then the guard noticed something. "How come you're the only team?"
"Oh," said Mr. McGuillon. "We just teleported here earlier than the others. They're coming."
"I see. Anyway, welcome to Ardenia," said the guard. They opened the gate, and the team entered the town.
As they entered, they were amazed with the architecture. The buidings were all painted with white and gold. The streets were clean. People were walking around and getting to know each other. The sky was so blue. There were also white puffy clouds that looked like cotton candy in the sky. It looked heavenly.
"Okay, guys," said Mr. McGuillon. "We will be heading towards the east of the town. That's where Manteio is."
So, they started walking to not waste any time. As they walked, they saw people with big smiles everywhere. They were all kind. They greeted them as they walked through town.
When they reached the academy, they were surprised to see that the branch at Ardenia is even bigger than in the mortal world. There were three buildings. The building in the middle was tall and wide.
"I'll now give the room assignments for the dorms. The building on the right is the boys' dorm, and the one on the right is the girls' dorm," said Mr. McGuillon. "Ladies first. Marjorie will be in room G225, and Shannelle will be in room G228."
"Hey, we're not that far from each other!" said Shannelle excitedly. "We could visit each other!"
"Let's go!" said Marjorie enthusiastically.
So, they both went hopping joyfully to their dorms while giggling.
"Okay, next will be the guys. Gavin will be in B302. Bryan will be in B215. Albert will be in B330. Roderick will be in B130. Lastly, Lance will be in B239."
"We're so far apart," said Roderick.
"Well, those were the rooms given to me. Sorry, but I can't make any requests," said Mr. McGuillon. "Anyway, you should go on ahead; so you could still rest a bit."
So, the five guys went to their designated rooms. The building looked larger inside. The walls were painted with turquoise green while the floor was brown. There many windows as well that made the building bright inside. As the sun shone, the room even became brighter.
As Lance was walking, he saw other guys walking around. They must be the upperclassmen. They were looking at him, and they kept whispering to each other. Lance felt very uncomfortable, so he walked faster and looked for his room to settle down. He climbled the stairs to the second floor and searched for his room. When he finally did, he opened the door, got inside, shut it, and leaned against the door.
"Not used to being in these places, huh?" asked Pagos.
"Shut up."
He looked around him and calmed down. He was amazed that the room was fully furnished. The room is not that small. In front of him was a window with blue curtains. The bed was at the right corner of the room beside the window. To the left was a desk with a cabinet and a drawer. There were shelves beside the cabinet as well incase if he needed to place some books. There was another door to the right. It was a bathroom. He started to pull out some stuff from his bag and arranged them. Afterward, he jumped on his bed and took a rest. He felt so tired after the trip that he wanted to sleep.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.
He got up from his bed and checked who it was. A guy stood in front of him with a big smile on his face. He wore a royal blue, long-sleeved chinese top made of silk. He also wore black chinese trousers and a pair of kung fu shoes. He also had a chinese cap.
"Hey!" said the guy. "You're that famous-"
"Don't even say it," Lance interrupted. "And you are?"
"Oh, I'm Johann Liao," he said. "I'm just beside you. Room 238. Wanna go walk around?"
"Bye."
Lance slammed the door and went back to his bed.
"Okay, that's a no then? Well, if you want to hangout, I'm just one knock away!" Johann said still trying his best to make friends.
"Why did you do that?" asked Pagos. "He was being nice to you."
"I don't care," said Lance.
"You should make friends with other people besides your teammates, you know?" Pagos said.
"Make friends? Easy for you to say," said Lance with a sigh. "Besides, he's probably like the others. He'll be teasing me in no time."
"I doubt that."
Time has passed, and it was already lunch.
Lance came out of his room. Suddenly, he saw Johann came out the same time as he did. Johann waved and said, "Wanna go to the main building together? The cafeteria is there after all."
"I'd rather go on my own," said Lance as he tried to push him away.
"Oh, come on," said Johann as he placed his arm around Lance. "We'll get to know each other more!"
Johann dragged Lance like they were close friends. Lance wanted to escape, but he had a hard time removing Johann's arm. Johann kept telling him about his background, but Lance did not seem very interested. He just ignored any question that Johann asked.
On the way, they bumped into a guy who looked sleepy. He wore a green vest with a fishnet shirt inside. He wore gray cargo pants and a pair of military boots. He had a pair of glasses as well.
"Hey, Jonathan!" Johann called.
"What." he replied.
"Let's go to lunch together!" said Johann happily.
"Yeah. Sure." Jonathan replied shortly. "Who's he?"
"Oh, this is..." Johann thought deeper, but he remembered that Lance has not told him yet. "What is your name?"
"It's Lance. Lance Garen," said Lance grumpily.
"Oh," said Jonathan as he rememered something. "So, you're the guy who won second place in the hunt. For someone who doesn't have any powers, you still made it in the top three. I'm Jonathan Gibson, by the way."
"Oh, yeah. Now that you mentioned it, you were that guy as well!" said Johann. "What did you do to hunt?"
"I just used an ordinary weapon thaty dad gave me," said Lance as he tried to hide his secret.
They all went to lunch together. Lance was still trying to escape.
On the way, Lance saw Bryan getting out of his room. Bryan saw Lance and waved at him. As they passed by Bryan, Lance whisppered to him. "Help... me..." he said as he struggled to break free.
Bryan just stared at him and laughed. He stood there laughing like crazy. Lance was cranky. So, the three of them just walked to lunch together.
After lunch, all the teams assembled in different parts of the town. Project 7 assembled at the fountain somewhere in the middle of town.
"So, Lance, how was lunch?" asked Bryan as he giggled.
"Shut up. Don't even say a word," said Lance crankily.
"Why?" asked Shannelle curiously. "What happened?"
"Lance was forced to go to lunch with that Chinese dude, Johann," Bryan blurted.
"What the hell, Bryan," said Lance.
"Wow, Lance, you're making new friends!" said Shannelle happily.
"It's nothing to be happy about," said Lance.
"Of course it's something to be happy about. People kept backstabbing you. You should be happy that tere are still some friendly people," said Shannelle.
"That's enough," said Mr. McGuillon. "Let's all focus on our mission for this afternoon. The mayor assigned us to an easy mission. We will be delivering a secret message to the mayor of Ezmadel. It's not that far from here. There might be some people that might steal this message, so be on your guard."
They left the town and headed to the western gate. They were already walking through a forest.

"That's the boy," said a man floating high in the sky. He was with another man in a black cloak. "The guy who's wearing mortal clothes."
"So, the boy who holds the amulet, huh?" asked the man in black cloak. "We'll have to release Argus Floga quickly."
"Indeed," said the man beside him.
They both disappeared and left no trace like they were not even there. The end is almost near.

***End Chapter 31***