บท 26: Chapter 26 - Meeting The Top Ten
The CEO of the Hero Camp invited Ambrosia and me to an emergency meeting of the level 7 heroes, more specifically, the top ten... our meeting was scheduled for 7:00 PM, in order to give the top ten enough time to quickly come back to Alpha, had they already been transferred.
Ambrosia and I accepted the meeting, left the admin building, returned to the hotel to notify the others of our plans for the evening, and then went about our day until then, completing tasks and discussing future plans as usual.
When 7:00 PM rolled around, we returned to the administration building, entered through the front, and made our way to the designated meeting room. Two guards ushered us in and closed the doors behind us...
The meeting room was large. This room was reserved for the top 10 heroes in The Hero Camp only, for them to discuss political matters regarding the monster situation in Etheria. Due to my relationship with Ambrosia, and my ability, I was allowed in on their meeting, despite only being a Level 2.
The room was decorated with numerous blueprints, planning boards, lists, missions, and other decorations. It had advanced technology that resembled computers, but they seemed to be different from Earth. This world seemed to be a hybrid of modern and medieval.
There was a large rectangular table in the center of the room, decorated luxuriously with 5 chairs on either side. Against the wall, were 5 more seats, for the 4 highest-ranking administrators, and the CEO of the Hero Camp. All of the seats were taken, except Ambrosia's, Hero's, and an extra chair set aside for me.
There were people I had never seen before. I had only met 3 level 7 heroes, and only one of them was in the top ten. I was in a room full of terrifying individuals. There were 7 guys and 2 girls. Most of them appeared to be in their 30s and 40s, which made sense, considering it took years to rank up to this level.
However, one man appeared to be elderly, this was probably "Grandmaster", and there was a girl who appeared to be younger than Ambrosia. She was wearing a blindfold, which confused me. There also appeared to be a boy around my age...
Ambrosia and I took our seats, and the meeting commenced. I was about to meet the Top Ten members of The Hero Camp... the CEO then spoke.
"Thank you all for showing up to this emergency meeting. However, it appears that "Hero" is still absent. If any of you contact him in the near future, please notify him of the contents of this meeting."
"Yes sir, will do," said Ambrosia. It appeared she was in charge until whoever "Hero" was returned from whatever solo mission he was doing.
"Thank you, Ms. Esper Witch. Alright, now, I'm sure all of you are aware of the person in this room with us. This is one of our most recent additions to The Hero Camp. Yukio Sazuke, alias "Scarlet Antihero"."
Every single face in the room turned to look at me, with the exception of the blindfolded girl, who remained looking forward with a devious smile. Their gazes alone were enough to paralyze me. I was being stared down by people who could kill me in an instant. They ceased their gazes after a few seconds.
"He comes with Ms. Esper Witch bearing news which some of you will find shocking. However, before he delivers this news, I'd like you all to introduce yourselves to him. You and he will become close allies..."
"Yukio, I'd like you to meet the Top Ten Heroes in the Hero Camp. These individuals have shown exceptional ability and accomplishment within the camp. They are your ultimate superiors, and should be treated with the utmost respect."
"Top Ten, please introduce yourselves to Yukio."
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~~HERO CAMP TOP TEN HEROES~~
(Author Note: This chapter's purpose is to introduce the top ten, it is not required to read, but for the purpose of the story, it is recommended, so you have extra knowledge of who they are, as they will have roles later on)
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1st Seat --- Unknown Name - "Hero" - ABSENT - Not much is known about Hero outside of his professional life. He has white hair, gold eyes, and wears a silver and gold hero outfit with a large white cape. According to Esper Witch, he is capable of obliterating any monster that interferes with him in an instant. It's currently unknown how he attained such power, as he refused to be studied. He prefers to work alone, killing monsters by himself with his bare fists. He doesn't report his solo monster kills to the administration often, causing him to have a relatively low confirmed kill count, but his sheer abilities alone were enough to propel him to the number one spot. He hasn't been seen in 5 months, according to Esper Witch, who said her last contact with him was when he informed her that he was going on a dangerous solo mission.
2nd Seat --- Ambrosia Heroux - "Esper Witch" - Don't let her young appearance fool you, she is the 2nd most accomplished hero in the entire camp. She uses her Esper abilities to fight, as well as to gather information from others. She has full mastery of telekinesis, psychokinesis, telepathy, and many more psychic abilities. She can use her mind to lift objects over 300x her own body weight. She can disarm you in an instant just by thinking about it and can take control of your body whenever she wishes, however, to remain in the hero camp, she was ordered to hold back her abilities, as to not accidentally kill everyone. The only person who surpasses her is "Hero", who she claims is completely immune to her abilities.
3rd Seat --- Benji Goya - "Grandmaster" - The oldest member of The Hero Camp, and former first seat until Hero claimed it. Benji is a tall gentleman with spiky gray hair, brown eyes, and a black ninja outfit. He uses his mastery of martial arts, incredible strength, and speed to defeat monsters. He seems to have an ability to infuse his attacks with elements around him, which allows him to deal massive damage to monsters. He is also very agile, and hard to hit. Being in the Hero Camp for nearly 50 years has allowed him to rack up an insane total kill/quest count, as well as learn how every species of monster works, boosting his rank tremendously, allowing him to defeat every monster he comes across, and preventing anyone from entering the top 3. He said he doesn't plan to retire until he's dead.
4th Seat --- Natsuo Ren - "Divine Knight" - A simple hero who wears a white knight's coat. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. He wields a very large golden sword with a brilliant blade. He claims to have encountered God, who lent him his strength, which the other heroes seemed to take seriously. His attack style is unusual, as he said it usually only takes him one swing of his sword to defeat any monster, regardless of size. However, this uses a lot of his energy, causing him to have a low kill count. But the majority of his kills are level 7 monsters, which is enough to boost his rank. He prefers to complete quests to help society, which further boosts his rank. He prays before every battle/duel, regardless of threat level.
5th Seat --- Saburo Hisao - "Death's Twin" - A mysterious man in a black cloak, who wields a large scythe. His appearance resembles that of the Grim Reaper himself. He has long black hair, blood-red eyes, and a soulless look to him. What's unusual about Saburo, is that the more injured he is, the stronger his attacks get, as he approaches death. Some say he could possess infinite power if he ever came within a hair's length of dying, but this has never been tested. He fights with the intent to kill, and won't give up until he finishes his mission. He claims to be the "Death Incarnate", and that it's his job to seal the fates of anyone who gets in his way.
6th Seat --- Daphne Verne - "Omnispective Maiden" - A petite girl, about the same size as Ambrosia. She has lavender hair reaching her shoulders and a black and gray blindfold. She has spiky teeth and a dangerous-looking smile. She is totally blind, relying on her significantly heightened sense of sound and feel to understand where she's at, causing her to become hyper-aware of her surroundings. The slightest noise or movement will set her off, and she will be able to calculate your exact position, and movement pattern perfectly. Once she knows where you're at, there is no stopping her. She has the 2nd highest kill count in the hero camp, underneath Grandmaster, according to the CEO. However, she hasn't completed many quests, causing her rank to fall slightly. She fights with dual-wielded iridescent daggers.
7h Seat --- Alanzo Rossi - "Steward Slayer" - An older gentleman with gray hair and green eyes, who wears a black suit with a pink and yellow rose. He wields a long rapier which he uses to pierce monsters in the eyes and heart, killing them. He works on the side as a butler and private guard for a very wealthy family somewhere in Etheria, however, he is bound by contract to not release the details of his occupation. He is the second longest-serving hero, underneath Grandmaster.
8th Seat --- Senka Akiyama - "Rebirth Man" - A man with dark green hair and black eyes. He wears a forest green and maroon hero outfit to match his hair, and opts to not wield any specific weapon, but rather resort to the usage of what's around him, making him well-rounded in combat. He has the ability to regenerate limbs and rapidly heal injuries, an ability currently being studied by the Hero Camp. He has also died multiple times, but is able to resurrect himself, given his body is still mostly intact. The only way for him to truly die is if his body is reduced to a minced level.
9th Seat --- Jirochi Iwato - "Gunslinger Master" - A middle-aged man with dark red hair. He sports a cowboy hat, boots, and shades. He has whiskery facial hair, and a straw of wheat coming out of his mouth. He's known for being the most accurate sharpshooter in the Hero Camp, and has mastery of all types of artillery. As long as he has sufficient ammunition, he should have no trouble gunning down monsters. He also works to develop ranged weapons for the lesser-ranked heroes who specialize in ranged weaponry.
10th Seat --- Tasuki Hiroto - "Profiling Prodigy" - A boy, around Yukio's age, with navy blue hair, silver eyes, and a black and white hero outfit. His ability is the most unusual in the camp, as he claims to be able to almost perfectly replicate anyone's fighting style after seeing it in action, and learning it. This has caused him to become a jack of all trades, as he has a little bit of every hero's tactics inside of him. Any attack you can do, he can do just as well, with the exception of supernatural abilities. Due to his mimicking technique, he tends to win or draw most of his duels against other heroes. His profiling abilities caused him to exponentially raise his rank, entering Level 7 in just 2 years, the quickest of any member in the entire camp's history. As the 10th seat, he is the gatekeeper of the top 10, and tries his best to keep people out.
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The Top Ten introduced themselves to me, and I did the same to them. These people had seen it all, and experienced it all. They all intrigued me with their abilities. How did they obtain them? Were superpowers just something you were born with?
Grandmaster in particular had a specific aura around him. He was different from the rest of the heroes, not because of his old age, but because of his demeanor. He had the eyes of a man who had seen true war and experienced every pain imaginable.
After our introductions, I heard a faint voice coming from one of the seats, it was Daphne, AKA "Omnispective Maiden." she was raising her hand.
"Hey, guys? Um, I have a question, if that's alright…" she asked. Her voice was naturally soft and childlike, similar to Ambrosia, but it had a frighteningly chilling aspect to it. The CEO answered.
"Go ahead Omni, what's your question?"
Daphne smiled, turned her head in my direction, and spoke. Despite her wearing a blindfold, her sharp-toothed smile and slight tilt of her head threw me into emotional chaos.
"This Yukio Sazuke hero...what does he look like?" asked Daphne, calmly. I was confused by this question. If she was blind, how would she have any idea what to imagine? She's never seen people before. Divine Knight, seated next to me, then asked me a question.
"Scarlet, are you okay with Daphne analyzing you?"
"Um, yeah, I guess that's alri-" I was suddenly cut off by Daphne, who lunged from her seat, across the table, directly at me at a high velocity. She landed on the ground next to my chair, inches from my face, and began to feel me.
"WH-" I tried to scream, but she covered my mouth with her hand. She snickered.
"Shhh, you don't need to yell. You shifting around in your seat was enough to tell me where you were..." she said, softly in my ear.
Ambrosia was laughing while watching me struggle. It seemed she and Daphne had a connection. The other heroes paid no attention to Daphne's sudden intrusion, they were used to her.
"You're very tall, have soft skin, and wear a nice jacket similar to Natsuo… you have a much different scent than everyone else here, where are you from?"
"It's complicated, I'd rather not explain it right now, if that's okay with you.."
"No worries, we won't get into it. Gosh, your features are so nice…" said Daphne, caressing my face. Her mouth opened slightly, revealing her sharp teeth. Did she do this to everyone?
"Don't get too comfortable Daphne," said Ambrosia, gently pulling her hand away from my face. Daphne giggled and walked back to her seat. She was weird. The CEO then spoke.
"Alright, if everyone is here, and introductions have concluded, then please, listen to what Scarlet Antihero and Ms. Esper Witch have to say. Their news could change the direction of the Hero Camp..."
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