“Listen up. I will take you to see the main training field. I know it is past your schedule, but I just want to let you have some more fun without having others to stare at you or mock you. Plus, I feel like showing you where you will be taking your final exam. And maybe, if you pass, that will be where you will attend school. With this being said, Komori, I need you to check on Ayato.”

Komori nodded and walked out of the classroom, straight to the infirmary. Once there, she saw Ayato laid on the bed, fully recovered. (The nurses at the hero schools were neons with great healing powers; there would be no scars left on a person’s body once they were recovered completely. The healing powers are rather complicated to explain.)

Ayato was just looking at the ceiling, yet Komori caught his attention. He got up and smiled at her. She sat on the bed, next to him and petted his head.

“Ayato, Nova-sensei said he will take us to the main training field right now, so I came to pick you up.”

Upon hearing that, Ayato jolted up excitedly. He grabbed Komori’s tiny hand and rushed to the classroom. He was so hyped. After all, that place was part of N3oN Academy, a place where only the strongest people from the hero schools would get. Both him and Zack were competing for a place there, but they were still too young.

Seeing Ayato in one piece and so full of energy, Nova sighed in relief. He carefully put Jia down and walked in the center of the room. He gestured all his students to join him. Then, they held hands and formed a circle. The man was about to perform another teleportation technique. He looked at the kids and his eyes became golden again. They all closed their eyes and saw the image of N3oN Academy. Then, they felt an electric current going through their bodies and they disappeared from the classroom. Nova used that same ability he used on Jia to connect to their minds and make sure they would all get there safely.

Once they opened their eyes, they saw a huge building in front of them; ten times bigger than their school. It was looking very similar to theirs, but the garden surrounding it was much darker.

Nova led them all the way to the back of the building, where they saw another construction in the shape of a dome. It was all black; the glass appeared like it was obsidian. The walls and the entrance gate were made of platinum and decorated with neon lights. It was such a view that the students could barely hold their excitement.

They walked inside, first got past the main hall where there was a registration desk and some chairs, like in a waiting room, then they finally reached the actual training field and saw that there were three different levels above them, where there were supposed to be spaces for people to watch and some more rooms where the students would get their equipment and get dressed. The main area was very big, like the size of ten football fields, and they had all the space for themselves since there were no other students of the Academy training there past their program.

Zack and Ayato started chasing each other and fighting while the girls decided to explore the higher levels. Jia was following Komori and Hinata quietly. They went to look at all the complicated tech devices that were laying there, but Jia found her way to a balcony and stood there, looking on the window.

Suddenly, Nova appeared next to her. He smiled as he saw she shuddered and looked back at him. He could tell she was not feeling that great. She looked rather sad…

“Are you alright? Why aren’t you trying to train your new powers?” he asked.

“Actually… I wanted to ask you something…” said Jia. “Do you know what creature is powerful enough to destroy an entire section like NightCity?”

Nova immediately knew what she wanted to figure out. He knew of the destructions too, but he was clueless about what creature was causing them. Even so, he knew something about it and that it was being controlled by a mastermind… By the person who wanted it to destroy… He had a theory on who might that mastermind be…

“Actually, I do not know who or what causes them. But I know what is going on. Most people say it’s Neo Vantablack. He used to be the strongest Devil Killer of all time, but he betrayed the association and became a lone wanderer. He had a strong energy and he was able to control both the Neon and the Darkness. But whatever happened in these two cities the past few days is beyond what he was capable of, with his powers, he couldn’t manipulate such a creature... It has to be either a God or a Deity, and no one can control these beings… Whatever it is, it cannot be stopped. And I fear that NEON’s Destroyer commanded this to happen. I’m sure she’s still out there, waiting to start a new war.”

Jia became so curious about it. She usually disliked the subjects of reality, but this time, the whole thing about Neo Vantablack and NEON’s Destroyer caught her attention. Nova knew so much because he witnessed a series of horrifying events, like the Night Raid battle that lasted only 24 hours, but brought so many damages and caused so much chaos than a regular war could. That man was not just a regular person. He used to be a warrior, paid by the Government of 002 to fight in the Raid… After witnessing countless horrors, he chose to take a different path and help others train to stand a chance against the enemies… He knew they were still out there, that Night Raid was just the beginning of a greater disaster… After all, the mastermind and its army hadn’t been defeated, they had retreated… And along with them went his best friend… His best friend, that was on the same team as him in the fight, ended up abandoning him and joining the evil…

He was now quite sad upon remembering all these. But Jia hugged him, trying to comfort him. That was something she was very good at. Nova hugged her back. He petted her head gently. He found the perfect time to reveal the mystery of his thoughts… He found the opportunity to ask her about that ‘Vantablack’ guy…

“I am still very confused. How could someone as evil as Neo Vantablack adopt someone as adorable as you? I guess you can melt even the heart of the most dangerous terrorist of all time.” he whispered.

“He’s a kind-hearted guy on the inside. And I’m sure he never meant to harm anyone.” giggled Jia. She didn’t know what Nova actually wanted from her and that was what she truly felt about Neko. She knew he was not the Neo Vantablack everyone was talking about, he couldn’t possibly be a terrorist. But the thing that made her more interested than the Devil Killer’s true identity was the war leader, NEON’s Destroyer. “But hey, what is the deal with NEON’s Destroyer? Who is she?”

“She is the most dangerous and powerful villain of all time. Nobody knows her name or origins, but she is a God-level threat. The whole story began when she started the First Galactic War. The longest and most chaotic battle that had ever occurred in all Universes. She captured the Goddesses of Hell and Heaven and used them to manipulate the world. She created the most powerful cyborg weapons in existence and put Xen, the DemiGod of Destruction to shame. That is all that I know about her and the War.”

That was the most catching story Jia had ever heard. She was so fascinated, she couldn’t even imagine that those things had actually occurred; A very long while ago, but they did. And she started to like the subject of war and power. That Nova guy was a very smart person. He needed to have a deep connection with everything though. Otherwise, there was nothing that could explain why he knew so much. And not just Night Raid. There was more about him that remained unknown… More of what he knew… Jia was curious about it, but she decided not to assault him with more questions, or they would probably be questioned by whoever was around. And also, she didn’t want to bring up his bad memories. She didn’t want to see him suffer. She didn’t like to see anyone suffer…

After their little chat, Nova offered to train Jia again. She looked delighted by that fact now. She began to enjoy the time spent around him. He really was a great person with a lot of patience and understanding of things. They both had the chance to show their powers and have a bit of fun. She was impressed after seeing how well he could control his blue flame power.

Much later, in the afternoon, Nova escorted all of them back to Nexxis School, where their parents were waiting. Most of them were quite angry and worried that their children had been that late, but Neko was very relaxed and he was wearing a hood that was covering most of his face, revealing only his eyes, that were glowing brightly.