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

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

It's already the second week of their stay in Excalion. Project 7 has been doing well. Their missions have gotten harder every time they get a new one. Lance, was still trying to investigate about that incident that happened when George attacked the town. Due to that, he was not able to attend to most of his missions. He was already worrying about how he will be making up to those absences.
It was Thursday, and Lance was still doing some research in the town library. As he was searching for books in the library, he bumped into Albert who suddenly came out of nowhere.
"Oh, Albert! What are you doing here?" Lance asked nervously.
"Don't know. Maybe just searching for some references," Albert said sarcastically.
"Wow. I didn't know that you read," said Lance.
"Never mind what I'm doing. What are you doing?" asked Albert seriously.
"Oh, it's nothing really..."
"You're acting strange since last week," said Albert as he tried to whisper. "You skipped most of our missions and pretend to be sick. Then, when we check on you, you disappear from your room. The weirdest thing yet is that you appear the next day and pretend that you were just lying in bed the entire day. I know you're really lying, so what's... going... on?"
"Nothing. You're just tired from missions. Just chill out. There's nothing going on," said Lance. "You to rest."
"Don't tell me what to do," said Albert. "If you claim that you're doing nothing, then, what are all those books on your table? Encyclopedias of famous people in Excalion?"
"I just read a lot. No big deal," said Lance.
"I know you're hiding something," said Albert. "I can sense it."
"I guess I'll be going now," said Lance as he rushed out of the library.
"Hey, wait!" said Albert as he chased after him.
When Lance got out, he put on his invisibility mantle and disappeared. Albert went out of the library, but he could not see Lance anymore. He was very irritated, so he ran off somewhere and tried to find Lance.
As Albert ran farther away, Lance removed his mantle and appeared again.
"That was close," said Lance in relief.
"What is?" asked a man standing next to him.
Lance was frightened. It was just Paolo.
"Oh! Hey, it's you!" said Lance. "You're Albert's friend! Were you standing there the entire time?"
"No, I just got here," Paolo replied.
"Aren't you supposed to be on a mission or something?" asked Lance.
"Not really. We just got back from a mission," Paolo replied. "How about your team?"
"We had a day off," Lance said briefly.
"I see. I just saw Albert running off. He looked like he was chasing after something or someone," said Paolo.
"Well, I think he's-"
"You don't need to hide it any longer, you know," said Paolo as he interrupted what Lance was going to say. "The final exams is in two weeks. You need to participate no matter what, and you won't survive just with your physical attacks. You'll eventually reveal it to everybody."
"I know, but I'm not ready yet," said Lance.
"Don't say that. You're just being a sorry excuse," said Paolo. "Stop hiding it. Anyway, what's making you hiding your power? Since you're in Excalion, you'll automatically transform. Why are you still in your mortal form?"
"Oh, it's a seal. It keeps my okaerisu stop flowing," said Lance.
"I see. Well, I hope you think about what I said. Albert hates it when people hide things from him. You should know that by now," said Paolo. "I guess I'll be leaving now."
Then, Paolo walked away.

It was already nighttime, and Lance was in his room still researching on some stuff. He was not able to concentrate. He kept thinking what Paolo told him. Then, he pulled out a necklace from his pocket. It was the necklace that he was supposed to
give it to Albert.
Afterward, he decided to tidy things up and go to bed. He just kept the necklace in his drawer and went to bed.

The next morning, Lance was at the meeting place with his team. They were having a short meeting.
"Well, I would like to congratulate everyone for striving hard during our missions," said Mr. McGuillon. "Since you've all made it this far, I have a small token for you."
Mr. McGuillon pulled out a box from his jacket. He opened it. Inside were seven golden rings. Each ring has a red gem on it.
"These are symbols that you are a member of Project 7," said Mr. McGuillon with gratitude.
Everybody took one and placed it on their fingers. They all gazed upon the shimmering effect of the gem.
"The entire week next week will be occupied for your training. Like what I told you last time, it's either you train individually or as a group. I prefer training as a group so you will have a better chance of collaboration," Mr. McGuillon explained. "I can help you guys train. Just ask me if you need it."
"I vote for team training!" said Bryan as he stood up from the ground. "We need to win this thing, so it's better to train as a group."
"I agree," said Shannelle as she nodded.
"Fine. I guess I could use some help anyway," said Marjorie.
Then, the rest also agreed. Mr. McGuillon felt proud of them. He thought that this was the best group he has ever handled.
"Captain!" said Bryan. "We won't be needing your help. We'll surprise you with our progress."
"Then, I'll be looking forward to it," said Mr. McGuillon with excitement. "Okay, about the final exams. It will start the week after next week. It will last about a month. During every stage, each team should have three representatives to fight. Except the last round. The last round will be an entire team collaboration. That's why you need teamwork. When you win, you will be entitled the team champions of your batch. Now, there will be six blocks. Each block will have four matches. To make shorten the exams, two blocks will be held on the same day."
"How do we know what block we are?" asked Roderick as he tried to absorb what Mr. McGuillon said.
"You'll find out when the exams start," Mr. McGuillon replied. "So, when are you guys going to start training?"
"Maybe later afternoon, so we could lengthen our training time," said Bryan.
Everybody seemed to agree on it.
"Very well, then," said Mr. McGuillon. "I have nothing more to say, so you all are dismissed."
They all went back to the school for lunch.
After Lance ate lunch, he quickly left the academy and went to the forest to train.
While Lance was training, his team was also training in another part of the forest.
"Why do we have to train now?" Gavin complained. "We could do it tomorrow. It's Saturday anyway."
"Oh, shut up, Gavin," said Bryan. "I know what I'm doing, so stop complaining. By the way, where is Lance? He's always the one missing."
"Yeah," Albert agreed. "He's also acting strange lately."
"Now that you mentioned it, he was acting strange the other day," said Bryan. "Nevermind him. Let's just start training. Maybe he's training as well."
So, the six of them started training to not waste anymore time.