Rise of the Crusader
Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Villain Academy

“We are here!”

Raphael raised an eyebrow as he stared at the surrounding which he was in. When he lowered his head, his body shook in fear, and he couldn’t help but glare at the woman who was beside him.

“The academy has a lot of portals around the cities, so whenever a student leaves, we can always return instantly, without having to travel miles to get there. Impressive right?” Serena had a smile on her face as she spoke to Raphael.

Raphael, however, wasn’t in the mood to listen to what Serena was saying to him, “Which academy are you talking about! We are in the middle of an ocean!!!!!” He exclaimed as his legs trembled in fear.

He and Serena were hovering in mid-air, right in the middle of an ocean. Though Raphael was balanced up there, he had an intense fear of height, and as such he was scared.

Serena giggled when she saw Raphael in this state, “You really can’t see anything. Why don’t you close your eyes, and open them again then?” She said.

The expression which Raphael had on his face when he heard Serena was priceless, “I won’t do something like that.” He shook his head as he spoke.

.....

The only reason why he hadn’t even started screaming yet was because of his pride, if not, his voice would have reverberated the whole area.

“Come on, trust me.” Serena stared at Raphael who was beside her, and seeing that same look on his face again, she placed her hand on her face, “Would I bring you all the way here to harm you.” She said.

Raphael shrugged his shoulders in response to Serena’s words. He, however, soon heaved a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Now where is th-” Raphael paused, his mouth then opened slightly, “What the hell!!!”

In front of him was an 800,000 square meters of land. This place was so massive, that it made Raphael startled about how something this huge could vanish out of sight.

With his legs of course still shaking, he kept staring at the area with disbelief written all over his face.

Serena had an expression full of pride when she saw the dazed look Raphael had on his face. “This is the tip of the iceberg, wait until you step into the academy, it would really blow your mind away.” She spoke with complete confidence.

“Let’s go!”

And before Raphael could even react, he felt himself advancing towards the area. There seem to be abundant air at his feet, and when he moved, the air propelled his body forward crazily.

Raphael shut his eyes closed, as his heart raced in panic. The breeze threw both his hair and cloth into a disheveled state, and Raphael kept laying curses on Serena, who seemed to be having fun while he was freaking scared.

A few minutes later, and the duo landed right in the middle of the land. Serena had a smile on her face, while Raphael glared at her as though he wanted to shred her into pieces.

“It wasn’t so bad. Don’t worry, you will get used to it after a few more times.” Serena chuckled, “Let me show you around the academy before I take you to your dormitory.” She said.

With that said, she soon began to walk toward one of the buildings ahead, completely ignoring the stares which she was getting from the student who was in the surrounding.

Raphael and Gus, however, had their eyes staring at the people who were on the campus, as they walked behind Serena. “This really is an academy!” Raphael couldn’t help but exclaim after seeing the uniforms which they were all putting in.

The male students were putting on a white shirt, then worn over the shirt was a blue button-up blazer, paired with blue pants, black shoes, and a blue long tie.

As for the female students, they were putting on a similar uniform, consisting of a white shirt, a blue button-up blazer along with a white miniskirt, then black socks that differ from calf-length to thigh length, black shoes, and finally a blue long tie.

Raphael hadn’t really believed that Serena was really taking him to an academy when she spoke, he had assumed that it was going to be the organization, for which she worked for, and was only using the academy as a cover to get his interest.

But now that he was in the academy, with the facilities, he was seeing, Raphael couldn’t help but be excited. Even Gus was delighted.

Suddenly, when Raphael and Serena arrived in front of one of the buildings, she paused, then stared at him. “This is the administrative block, if you ever encounter any problem in the academy you can either come to this place or come to me directly.”

“It would, of course, be much better if you come to me instead.”

“I have already sent your measurement to the people there, so by tomorrow morning you should have your uniform delivered to your doorstep.” Serena was all smiles the whole time she spoke to Raphael.

It was like bringing Raphael to the academy was her biggest accomplishment.

“Walk faster, there are still a lot of places I have to show you.” After showing Raphael, the administrative block, Serena moved away from the building and soon made her way towards another one.

“We have the cafeteria over there, the library, the gymnasium, the clubs, the student council room, the classrooms, the dormitories, and most especially the malls.”

Serena was unable to keep up with Raphael’s movement, and she soon had both of them hover in the air once again. She then flew towards each of the buildings in the academy and explained in detail what it was for.

While Raphael was scared of height, Serena had flown at a height that he was able to handle, and to be honest, he was amused by what he was learning about the academy.

Time soon passed, and before the duo realized it, two hours had passed since Raphael came to this place. Despite the hours, Serena had yet to even touch some of the buildings in the academy when a loud bell rang on the campus.

“We will go over to the rest of the building some other time, now I have to take you to your dormitory,” Serena said.

Raphael nodded his head when he heard Serena, and without any delay, she flew him straight to the male dormitory she had come across earlier. “By the way, Serena, what is the name of this academy.” Along the way, Raphael couldn’t help but inquire.

“There’s really no name. But most people call it the villain academy.” Serena replied.

Most people would have reacted in some way when they heard Serena, but all Raphael did was mumble the name of the academy, before he soon began staring at his surrounding.

“I was expecting a little bit of reaction from you when you heard the name.” Serena stared at Raphael as they advanced towards the dormitory, but all she got in response to her word was a straight face from him.

“It’s pointless. Whether hero or villain, I really don’t care all that much. The both of you pursue the same goal which is to rebuild the world, one believes their method is the right way, and the other believes theirs is better, but the truth is regardless of what you both do, the world will still be full of hate.”

“You all seem to forget that, just by existing, people hurt others without even realizing It. So long as humanity exists, hate will also exist. There won’t be peace in the doomed world as long as hate exists between us.”

Serena’s mouth opened slightly, as she stared at Raphael. It was startling to see the person who was saying all these words is a 15 years old boy.

“You’re a weird one, Raphael,” Serena muttered.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Serena and Raphael arrived in front of one of the rooms in the dormitory. Her first two knocks at the door gave no response, it was only after the third one sounded, that someone pushed the door open.

Most dormitory rooms in academies were usually a single rooms, but the place Serena selected for Raphael was a two-bedroom apartment.

The person who opened the door was a teenage boy with very distinctive features. He had gray hair, delicate eyebrows, and smooth skin that would make anyone mistake him for a woman immediately.

“Who is-” As he opened the door, he was about to question who was banging the door that hard, when he saw Serena in front of him. He closed his lips right away and soon ran back inside his room.

Serena shook her head, before then walking into the room, “Well that goes your weird roommate.” She said, staring at the door, which had just been slammed shut.

“But I can’t replace any other person to pair you up with apart from him in the academy, since you are both freaks,” Serena said. “I will leave you to tidy up, I have to go attend to someone else.

“Serena, are you one of the instructors in the academy?”

Raphael couldn’t help but ask. He had seen the look of adoration that everyone had on their faces when they saw Serena. Though she was very beautiful, there wasn’t any look of lust on their faces, and instead, it was one filled with respect instead.

“Dumbass, I’m also a student just like you. Hehehehehe! You should address me as senior sister because I’m two classes ahead of you.” A proud smile could he was seen on Serena’s face as she spoke.

“Hmm, I see, so there isn’t an age requirement. Anyone can attend the academy.”

In most academies, only meta humans who are between the age of 13 to 18 can be enrolled in the school.

The smile which was on Serena’s face vanished immediately. “How old do you think I am?!” Gus flapped his wings as if telling Raphael to keep his mouth shut when Serena asked him that question, but Raphael spoke regardless.

“23 24, 25.” He soon placed his hand on his chin, “If those are wrong, then you should be in your late twenties or early thirty.” Raphael said with a voice filled with certainty.

“Y-You...” If looks could kill, Raphael would have died over and over again as Serena glared at him. “Screw you! I’m not even twenty yet.” She said, and without a second look at Raphael, Serena left the room with a deep frown on her face.

Raphael’s eyes twitched when he saw Serena leave the room, “I wonder why she is so angry. It is not like I called her fat or something.”