Air Hero

Training camp

A few days later, Max is driving his motorcycle to head to the location that is given by the man in the suit. The place itself is pretty far from the main road, and it is located outside of the city.

“Is this the right place?”

Looking at the coordinate that is given by the GPS of his bike, this seemed to be the right place. However, nothing can be found here. As Max tried to look around the area, he could see Iki and Beastboy not far from him, waving their hand.

“Max, over here.”

Without waiting for anything else, Max then approached them.

“Wow, nice bike. Is this yours?”

“Yeah. Since this place is outside of the city, I guess it won’t be convenient to take the bus, so I bring my ride over here. How did you reach this place? Not to mention Alan is with you too.”

Alan is the actual name of Beastboy. As they exchanged contact, they become friends and could refer to each other without using their hero names.

“My agency drives me here, and Alan comes with me since all of the drivers in his agency are busy.”

“Oh, but, is this the right place? There’s nothing here.”

When Max looked around the area, it is only trees and an open piece of land. There doesn’t seem to be anything special in this place. Not long after, few cars arrived, and Kieran, Elica, and Giovanni came. Kieran doesn’t have anyone accompanying him as he gets off the car alone. As for Elica, the driver opened the door for her.

Giovanni, as always, is creating a commotion as his butler and maids accompanying him.

“Wow, people from a rich family are different.”

As Iki said that, Max and Alan nod in approval. If Kieran, Elica, and Giovanni come from a wealthy background, the trio could be said to come from a humble family. Before becoming a hero and get contracted to the agency, Iki comes from a modest family. Alan also doesn’t have it any different. Alan is the third son of his family, while all of his brothers become a white-collar workers. His father is also a government official. All in all, he isn’t living in riches but not poor either.

After everyone arrived in this place, finally, the man they met at the headquarters showed up.

“Oh, everyone is here already. Okay, follow me. Oh, Air Hero, you can just bring your bike with you. There’s a parking spot inside. Anyway, I think anyone unrelated to this can just go back.”

“Inside?”

Max seemed to be confused but quietly followed the man. The same with everyone else, but Giovanni’s butler and maid understood what the man means as they bowed to Giovanni before leaving the area.

Following the man, they finally arrived at what seemed to be a tunnel. It looked average from outside, but as soon as they stepped in, they realize that the sight from outside and inside the tunnel is entirely different.

Contrary to what it looked like from the outside, the inside of the tunnel is made from some kind of particular metal. There’re a lot of security cameras inside, signifying the degree of security that this place has. Walking further for a few minutes, they finally arrived at some kind of checkpoint where two C-rank heroes are standing guard.

“Mister Muto, good morning. How are you today? Are these the candidates?”

“Ah yes. Here’s the paper.”

The guards checked the paper and found there’s nothing strange, so they allowed them to pass. At the end of the tunnel, there’s a bright light coming out at the end of the tunnel, and then they could see what exists behind the tunnel.

It was a scene that nobody expected at all. They can see mountains, rivers, and it looked like typical mountain scenery that you could find when traveling to the countryside.

“What the heck?”

Iki, as the most spontaneous among them, couldn't help but let out his voice of surprise.

“We were walking inside a futuristic-looking tunnel and went through a strict security test only to come to a normal camping site?”

Iki’s question clearly becomes a representative of what everyone is thinking. The man called Muto then answered his question.

“Well, the thing is, what we’re protecting isn’t what is inside the tunnel. What we’re watching is the person inside the tunnel. That is also the reason why you are here and going to went through your training.”

“Oh, so you’re saying that we’re going to see someone special?”

“Of course! You will realize it later when you see him. Now, less talking and we should quicken our pace. Air Hero, you could just park your bike anywhere and come follow us.”

“Alright.”

Feeling that there is really no need for him to bring his bike over, Max decided to park his motorcycle near the tunnel exit and walk behind the group.

Not long after, the group stumbled upon a simple cottage in the middle of the woods. In front of it, a figure can be seen cooking a fish on a skewer in front of a fire pit. As soon as they come near the person, Muto’s expression that is smiling earlier turned serious.

“Is that you, Muto?”

“Yes, Master. I’m here bringing the kids with me. These are the people that will be under your care for the next few weeks.”

“Alright, you can leave now. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them.”

After that, Muto looked at Max and the group as if he is envious of them.

“I will be leaving you guys with Master. Remember, no matter what, you should cherish this opportunity. If you have anything urgent or you want to stop the training, you could call my number. However, I suggest that you won’t do anything so foolish like that. After all, this is a golden chance for you guys to get stronger. See you later then. Master, I’ll take my leave.”

Max and the rest of the group is now more interested in the person that Muto called as master. After all, to see that degree of reference from someone like Muto, the person in front of them could be anything but ordinary.