Chapter 60 – Alias

“You made the right decision,” Erika said as they exited the train station.

She had barely spoken a word the entire trip to the Reclaimed Zone, and Sal was left to sit beside his new team in silence. Rochelle hadn’t spoken, but she stole a few glances in Sal’s direction and had shared an awkward smile at the ridiculousness of the situation. Brophy, the team’s Offense—who was apparently broken—had tried to start up a conversation from the beginning, but Erika had cut that short with a few choice words. Which left Ioseph, who was an absolute anomaly to Sal. He sat quietly and stared forward in contemplation. Sal put him down as a strong silent type who didn’t want to engage in useless chatter.

“Reading my mind again?” Sal guessed as he carried his metal case in his right hand. He had been wondering whether he had made the right choice for the duration of their journey, and Erika’s statement confirmed that she had been prying into his thoughts.

“If you keep doing that, I’ll start imagining things you won’t want to see.” Sal smiled and conjured an image of what Neuro would look like naked.

Erika gave him a withering look. “I’d like to see you tr—” Her face paled as she locked eyes with Sal.

Her eyes were shimmering in gold as she seemed to look straight through him. Sal held her gaze and imagined Quest joining the naked party with a glass full of whiskey. Erika’s cheeks colored, and he couldn’t tell whether it was anger or embarrassment. When Sal was about to speak, he found himself incapable of opening his mouth.

“Not. Another. Word,” Erika hissed as she turned around, her eyes returning to their natural blue. Her shoulders trembled ever so slightly, and Sal grinned at her involuntary shudder.

Rochelle nudged him with her elbow. “You can move around when she’s not looking at you. She needs to keep eye contact to make you do stuff. Be careful, though…she can use reflective surfaces and other tricks to extend her ability.”

Rochelle touched a finger to Sal’s jaw, and a trickle of essence relieved his tension. “If you resist the effects, you’ll end up hurting yourself. Don’t ask me how I know that.”

Sal sighed as he massaged his jaw, looking at Erika walking ahead of them. It was good to know her limitations, and even better to keep her out of his head.

“Thanks for the heads-up and the healing. Don’t suppose you know much about the rest of our team? Didn’t really get to know much from the train ride here.”

Rochelle snorted as she turned around and walked backward, looking at each of the group trailing behind them.

“Our Offense class is the charming Mr. Brophy. Top of literally every class he attends, but you wouldn’t know it if you spoke to him. Pretends to be one of us academically challenged people.”

Sal turned around in time to see Brophy clutch his chest and give Rochelle a pained expression.

“You wound me, Miss de Verdon. I couldn’t possibly hope to achieve your level of grace. I feel all too privileged to be a part of this wonderful team.”

His eyes were playful as he gave her a dashing smile.

Sal couldn’t help but feel like he found a new Barry, but not in a good way.

Brophy’s eyes darted to Sal, that same easygoing smile still on his lips. “And to meet the esteemed Mr. Argento! I should count my lucky stars. I’ve seen you at several functions, but I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure of a formal introduction?” He gave a good-natured laugh as he waved the comment away. “I blame the organizers. Those seating arrangements were barbaric!”

With just a single sentence, Sal recognized him. It was hard not to remember him with all the parading and promotion from the United Guilds Association over the years. The unbeatable Super Rookie. He looked older and more mature, but there was no mistaking his identity… and that name wasn’t Brophy. Sal returned Brophy’s smile and chose his next words carefully. “We haven’t met before, but it’s a pleasure. I recognize you too, but I think I misremembered your name.”

A flicker of annoyance crossed Brophy’s face before the smile reignited.

Rochelle pointed to Ioseph, who carried a duffel bag over one shoulder. “Mr. Bitterwater, who likes to go by Ioseph. I say he likes it, but I’ve got absolutely no idea. He’s our Defense class and is way more than meets the eye. You wouldn’t think he was a Healer, would you?”

Sal had to do a double take. There was no way this man was a Healer. He had a similar build to Dominic Walters, in the sense that he looked like he could shield their entire team with his body alone. Muscles that defied logic in a broad frame. His expression was still passive, but Sal guessed that he could tear their heads off if he was so inclined.

“You’re a Healer?” Sal asked in bewilderment. He was tempted to take out his visor from the case to verify the claims, but there would be time for that later.

Ioseph tilted his head to one side and gave Sal a bored look. “Something like that.”

Sal took stock of his team and sighed inwardly. Eager to please, Rochelle. Legacy Hero, Brophy. Silent mountain, Ioseph, and megalomaniac control freak, Erika. There was infinitely more potential than his original team in the Silver cohort, but Sal would have picked that team over this new one in a heartbeat. If they were being marked on their cohesion and reliance on one another, then they were absolutely screwed. Maybe their only way of getting through this would be to let Erika control them across the victory line.

Rochelle grinned, completely missing Sal’s reservations about the team. “Pretty incredible, isn’t it? Ioseph, Erika, and you all won in your cohort tournaments. We’ve got three of the top trainees in our team, and our academic ace!”

Brophy laughed and gave a mock bow. “You flatter me too much! They’re just tests, at the end of the day.” When he stood upright, he flourished his hand and gestured at Sal. “My curiosity is piqued at how an Appraiser managed to win, out of all the people in his cohort! I think that is much more deserving of praise.”

His smile grew wider, and Sal couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the tired joke. He had endured that same reference from every client who thought they were being funny.

Sal was grateful that he found a kindred spirit in Ioseph, who merely grunted and lengthened his stride. It wasn’t long before he had caught up to Erika, maintaining his pace a few steps behind her. Rochelle, on the other hand, had found the joke hilarious. Sal wanted to warn her against encouraging Brophy in case he started making a habit of it, but didn’t have the energy.

Forcing a smile onto his lips for the sake of salvaging some form of team chemistry, Sal turned around and distracted himself by looking around the area. The train had stopped at a recently repaired platform, that stood out as a stark contrast to their environment. It was as if they had stumbled into a post-apocalyptic world, where overgrowth and scenes of carnage reigned supreme. What had probably once been a populated city district was now a shell of its former glory.

Ruined buildings had crumbled and collapsed in on themselves, with rubble and shattered glass being reclaimed by the mounds of uprooted dirt. Huge fissures in the ground showed remnants of a ferocious battle from quite some time ago, with symmetrical claw marks in the ground, hinting at something terrifying in size. Each of the fissures was as wide as he was, and Sal truly hoped it was from a skill and not a demon.

The streets were wide enough to accommodate the marching group of students, but the atmosphere felt too lively to Sal. It was a monument to sacrifice and carnage, and the chattering and laughing of students made him feel hollow on the inside. Was it because he had fought the leechers in the dungeon? He couldn’t tell why he was feeling a sudden sense of melancholy, and he tried to push it out of his head. No matter where he looked, he saw scenes of devastation and wondered how the Heroes had managed to push the demons back.

Although it was nice being outside of the academy for a change, he wished it was under different circumstances. The weekend had flown by and before he knew it, it was time to go on the excursion.

He smiled as he recalled Blathnaid’s elation at her newfound capability with the Construct ability. After a lot of goading, he and Upgrade had managed to convince her to keep the armor that she had crafted. It was lower grade than what she had equipped, but had a lot of potential for the future. Chatfield giving his consent seemed to be the pivotal factor, since he had already created copies of the equipment with his Concept ability.

With the blueprints drawn up for a single set of armor and a prototype in place, Chatfield seemed to be satisfied with their efforts. Sal thought he’d need to draw up more variants, but Chatfield had told him that wouldn’t be necessary. He had what he needed to get approval from the Hunter Bureau, and Sal and Blathnaid had been invaluable in getting it over the line. Sal wouldn’t have gone so far as to say that, but he was happy that he had one less thing to worry about. He found himself wondering what impact it would have on the future, if all the students were equipped with evolutionary armor.

“Hey, stranger,” a voice called out from the distance, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Sal turned around and saw Divinity giving him a wave. Behind her was Melanie and Hannah, with only one of them making eye contact with him. He guessed that Hannah still needed time to get over the ordeal with that bastard Controller, but he was happy to see that she found her way onto Divinity’s team.

“Two Controllers?” Sal asked with a grin. “Looks like you’re just being greedy!” He veered away from his group to speak with Divinity, and they walked side by side.

“Melanie is acting as Support until she has a better grasp of her powers, so it totally checks out. I could ask some questions about your choice in Healer, though.” Divinity’s smile challenged him as she looked past him to where Rochelle was pretending not to notice.

Sal chuckled at that with a shake of his head. “Check out our Offense class. That’s the real surprise for me today.”

Divinity frowned as she looked at Brophy, nothing registering on her face. “Should I know him? He looks very…normal.” When Sal didn’t answer immediately, Divinity activated her ability and looked directly at Brophy. It took a few minutes for her expression to change to one of shock.

“Oh…”

Sal sighed. “There has to be a reason he’s keeping a low profile and not showing his power. I’m getting Barry vibes off him.”

Divinity didn’t answer as she continued to stare at Brophy. Her expression grew more conflicted with each passing second.

Sal filled the silence with a thought that had been bugging him. “Why is he using a fake name? He was plastered over every piece of consumable media as the hope of our generation, but not a single word about him in the last few years. I can’t get my head around it.”

Much to Sal’s surprise, Divinity had an answer for him. Her eyes returned to their normal blue as she gave Sal a pained expression. “He’s here because he can’t activate his power anymore.”

Sal turned around to see Brophy grinning like a madman, with Rochelle laughing beside him. The Super Rookie who had cleared his first dungeon at the age of eight years old. Son of the tenth most powerful Hero, Prestige. His Hero name had been selected for him at birth, but now he was pretending to be a regular first-year at the academy under the name Brophy.

“Gallant,” Sal muttered in confusion. “What the hell happened to you?”