"What is she talking about?"
"Kill Kaiju?"
"I–I knew Aria was crazy, but this crazy?!"
...
"Shit, did I say that out loud?"
All across the table, confused murmurs spread across the table. Adam quickly realized some big things. Even if they were working to improve their strength, it appeared that at least some of them didn't even know the looming threat.
Although they had spent considerable time with Aria, considering that they called her by her first name consistently and talked as if they had spent plenty of time together, they still didn't know about the Kaiju until just now. This lined up perfectly with Adam coming to their little space. For some reason, he was special.
'Though there was that kid I had been stalking,' Adam mused as he looked to his right. That kid was sitting right next to Aria now. A slight smile formed on Adam's face as he realized the kid was trying to hide in the shadows.
Maybe, if the kid survived whatever crazy mission Aria talked about, Adam would teach him the proper ways to hide in a shadow.
For now, though, Aria had stood and began pacing around each of her comrades.
"Yes. Soon, we will be going to one of the warped planets, Ereshida. Do not worry too much, as none of the Kaiju there should be any stronger than [Fledgling] class."
She stopped behind Red Hair, a small smile tugging at her otherwise serious face as she added, "Basically, I'll be able to save you if anything goes wrong."
He rolled his eyes as she continued walking. After making a full circle journey around the table, she stopped at her seat again and took a seat.
"Before we do all that though, I thought it would be nice if we all had a good meal." After her word of approval was announced, Aria instantly dug into her food like some kind of animal, devouring bite after bite of steak.
Adam shrugged at the lingering unease of the other kids. All of them were too scared to eat their food. Well, except Red Hair, of course. Sighing to himself and wondering what bullshit the near future was going to throw his way, Adam decided he was content as long as he grew stronger.
...
Aria jumped up from her seat the second she finished her food. Pushing her chair in delicately, she created a medium sized ball of swirling light and then sent it hurling into the wall.
Boom!
'The fuck?! Is she trying to kill us?!' Adam thought as he instinctively focused his Qi on defense.
A blinding light filled the room for just an instant before it was replaced with some kind of projector. So, no, she wasn't trying to kill anyone. However, her methods of creating something as simple as a hologram involved pure destruction.
He was sure there was some button that she could've pressed to achieve the same effect. But if she did that, he supposed she wouldn't be giving people heart attacks.
Satisfied with her work, Aria turned to the kids and exclaimed, "OK! Now, in the future I'll only be one of your many instructors. However, the future is tomorrow and tomorrow is a day away, so today I'm your only boss!"
'She's very energetic now...' Adam noted. He wondered if stuffing her face was the reason. Didn't seem too unlikely.
Aria placed her hand on the projector and turned it at a 90 degree angle, which made it show some sort of fantastical landscape.
It was unlike anything Adam had ever seen before. A mixture between a sci fi and fantasy world, there were these cold, metallic cubes floating in the air amidst a jungle overrun with foliage and mythical beasts—or kaiju.
He wondered what he cubes could be, but before his mind could wander off Aria exclaimed, "So, Ereshida is one of the... safer warped planets. You might be wondering what those cubes are, and don't worry because we are too. Heh."
"All we really know is that they seem to keep the world stable. So, try not to damage them. In fact, this is an order."
Aria's face darkened slightly, imperceptible to all but Adam. And Red Hair.
'Hmm. It would seem that we're the strongest here.' Adam noted, happy to have a benchmark for his progress as well as a potential rival.
When Aria spoke again, her voice was much lower than before. "While we are in Ereshida, you only go to the places I tell you to. You only fight the Kaiju I tell you to. In fact, unless I advise you to breathe, you are to keep your noses sealed. Do you understand?"
Most nodded, however one of the kids raised their hand. He looked fairly fit and casually dressed, with just a low-taper fade, a basic red t-shirt and navy blue shorts.
Doing his best to stay calm though he was obviously distressed, the kid asked, "What if we don't want to go? Are we forced to?"
Aria looked around the room for a moment as she saw a mix between judgemental faces and sympathetic faces. Then she nodded and assured, "If you want to leave, it may be for the best. Live out your last few days to the fullest before the apocalypse descends and exterminates humanity. However, every person who is here was selected for one reason. You don't want to leave."
Turning back to the projector, she added, "If you can't tryst yourself, trust that."
Adam watched as an uneasy silence fell amongst the boy, the girl who sat next to Adam, and another girl. He understood his hesitation, especially since these people apparently didn't regress like him. However, he also understood that it could get them killed.
"We are going to the warped planet Ereshida in order to collect an artifact. When exploring any warped planet, you'll find many lost temples, civilizations, and stuff of that nature. Usually, they yield fantastic technologies we can use to better our chances against the Kaiju."
Aria twisted her hand again, and this time the projector showed 9 different Kaiju. Adam instantly knew that she was showing their different ranks.
"Ok. Here we have the 9 known ranks of Kaiju. As you can see, [Leviathan] is only the 3rd rank. Don't mistake this as them being weak, though. All this means is that humanity has an uphill battle against extinction."
Adam listened as she taught them about the 9 different ranks.
The first rank was [Fletchling], which was supposed to be the highest rank of Kaiju on Ereshida. Then there was the rank [Beast] followed by [Leviathan], [Goliath], [Alpha], [World-Eater], [Herald], [Sovereign], and then simply [Extinction].
Adam had learned these ranks from the same entity who gave the world Qi. Quickly following the message it had sent detailing what ki was, this entity uploaded a message into everyone's mind detailing the ranks of the Kaiju.
In his previous life, only one [Alpha] had ever appeared on Earth. And it had killed over 100 Exalted. Just thinking about the higher classes made him anxious for the future—strengthening his resolve for power even more.
"Okay. Well, that about covers it. Since this is our first expedition, I'll make sure to end it fast. I know that most of you have lives back home, or would rather spend your time training here rather than in a deadly and hostile world. Now, let's go!"
Aria smiled as she snapped her fingers, seemingly 100 percent confident that everyone would be safe. The next instant, Adam felt his entire body collapse into itself before finding himself in an entirely new place—Ereshida.
Overhead, a huge boom rocked the entire planet.