Chapter 48: Group surprise

Aurora just gave the group a smile without explaining the reason for her words.

“I am the leader of the mercenary group. Alice is the ‘second in command’ and Liam is the third in command,” Aurora communicated, officially introducing the members and looking at the group, she clarified. “From now on, you are the new members of the group. We can get to know each other, we can get along. However, I expect that on missions you will act with professionalism and accept the orders of your superiors.”

Her serious and solemn look made the students quickly nod.

Following orders was important if everything was to go smoothly... And making explicit the boundaries of friendship on the job was paramount.

“Although you are in an Academy Practice, we will take you as real members of the group. You will be treated as an equal to the other members and total dedication and professionalism will be demanded,” Aurora explained, and looking at each of the students, she warned. “As a group, we will protect each other, but the situations are real and the dangers clear. Depending on the mission, we may not have time to help you.”

The danger was not only about the upcoming missions and the uncertainty of the situation, but about the situations that could lead the students to continue to think they were in a ‘Practical’ and would be protected like in the academy.

As a group, they would protect each other, that didn’t mean they would be like babysitters and be by their side all the time.

Aurora wanted to emphasize that point, which was vital.

“Anyway, at any time you guys can abandon the practice and withdraw if you find the situation too exhausting or can’t stand it,” Aurora reported sincerely, and looking at the group who were standing firm, she stated. “That’s it. Liam will lead them around.”

The students nodded and left with mixed emotions.

“They must think you look strange right now,” Alice commented with an amused smile.

Aurora’s lips quivered, but she couldn’t deny it.

Relaxing at work, it was hard enough... Even in her free time, she was always thinking about work.

Although Liam had taken care of most of the tasks and had left no backlog of work, Zerzura City always had work to do.

And lives depended on most of this work, so she had to warn the students carefully.

Shaking her head, Aurora muttered. “This is nothing. Tomorrow we’ll start with the genuine work.”

Give the students’ work and at the same time, they would get to work.

******

“...”

The group silently followed Liam to the third floor.

They had used the elevator to go up, and although the building was quiet, the hallways felt like a regular house.

A small break room on the third floor was the first thing they found when they exited the elevator.

Paintings, pictures, and decorations lined the hallways.

It all gave the place a homey look, which made it feel quite warm.

“Well, the rooms are big, but there are only a few of them, and then we will have guests. So I ask you to split in two and share rooms,” Liam said and when he opened the door into the room, the group found themselves in another room.

Clémentine, who entered realized that the ‘rooms’ were actually separate ‘apartments’ with their own rooms, living room, bathroom, and bedrooms like a residential building.

Only instead of a kitchen, it had a refrigerator with all kinds of snacks and drinks.

“There are times when we have special guests, so this private setting is the best place to relax,” Liam explained faintly.

Privacy was important and relaxing... That everyone had their own separate room, like an apartment made it possible for visitors to rest easy.

“Occupy two of these rooms. As for Andrés, you’ll have to stay alone,” Liam ordered, giving him a signal to get organized.

Clémentine shared a room with Nicole and Leslie with Érica.

The dorms and rooms as a whole were nice and had all the necessities needed to make for comfortable living.

Liam was sure that even those students who had lived in more luxurious homes could be accommodated.

After only five minutes, the quintet quietly filed back out.

“Surprised?” Liam asked with an obvious smile.

“Yes,” replied the entire group in unison, and when they looked at each other, Érica giggled.

“I thought Alice was the leader of the group,” Érica said honestly.

Although Alice seemed rather lazy and gluttonous, she was actually someone quite strong even among the A Ranks and had been from the beginning.

However, Aurora ended up being the leader even though she was a B-Rank fighter a month ago.

That fact was striking to the entire group, and the reason was because they got carried away with the idea that the strongest was the one who led.

“And what did you think of me?” Liam asked doubtfully.

“Well...”

Andrés tried to answer, but then fell silent, not knowing what to say.

Certainly, when they met, he seemed like an important person, but that image slowly... It was broken by Liam himself with his friendly aura and attitude.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. Aurora is a good boss, and she’s very serious about her job, surely very different from what you know,” Liam said with a pleasant half-smile, and after thinking about it, he added. “I recommend you to take this job seriously and be prepared for a heavy and difficult month.”

Clémentine, Leslie, and Érica came from wealthy families, usually being a caring environment, but this job was very different from what they were all used to.

Liam was sure that for them, it would be a big jump from going from dungeon clearing or doing group quests to doing other types of quests... Still, he was grateful that Aurora was preparing a ‘progressive’ month.

“Come on, I’ll give you a quick guide through the building,” Liam commented with a smile.

The group followed him curiously, and this time instead of taking the elevator, Liam used his holographic watch and opened a portal.

“There are times when the elevator is very slow and so are the stairs. That’s why the building has a portal system to travel between floors,” Liam explained, and before entering the portal, he added. “I have already given you access to open your own portals.”

Hearing those words, the group hesitated for a moment.

That the elevators and stairs were ‘slow’ was rather strange.

Liam could see that doubt, but didn’t respond.

It wouldn’t be long before they learned the reason why it was ‘slow.’

After entering the second floor, they found themselves in a lobby with a hallway to different rooms.

Only this time, the room had a small bar and a refrigerator of refreshments in which a drone was flying overhead cleaning.

“If you wish you can ask the drone for something. It uses artificial intelligence so it can pick up commands easily,” Liam commented with a smile.

Andrés was the one who watched the drone curiously and asked for a drink, which was quickly given to him.

The ability with which the drone moved made it clear that the artificial intelligence controlling the drone was not low level.

“The artificial technology has been developing quite a bit and much of the building is systematized, so you don’t find it strange if in the early morning you see drones cleaning the place,” Liam explained without giving it too much thought.

Leading the group, he first passed through the alchemy lab.

When talking about magical alchemy, the first thing that came to mind was a rustic and ancient potion brewing lab, but that was only a partial image.

The alchemy lab was a fully equipped laboratory with modern and newer magical equipment.

It combined both science and magic to produce potions of all kinds.

As the room was as large as a conventional apartment, anyone with a little experience would consider it a rather impressive private laboratory.

Divided into sections for both different potion creations, there were some magical plants and alchemical elements for development.

“Érica if you wish you can use it and practice your alchemy, the alchemical ingredients are neatly stored in the space rings in the drawers,” Liam said, and with a low tone, he muttered. “If I’m honest, Alice asked to create this lab to create her own ‘seasonings’, but she usually doesn’t use it.”

With that revelation, Liam left the place.

Érica was stunned and just glanced at the lab with a strange expression before following the group.

In her mind, she couldn’t understand why someone would create such a highly developed lab just to create ‘dressings’... That could be created in the kitchen.

So she just thought it was Liam’s joke.

After entering another room, Liam gave Leslie a look and pointed. “Usually, firearms are only used by drones. However, you can take whatever you want out of this room.”

“...” Leslie was silent.

All around this room were different weapons of all sorts of calibers, in neatly arranged sideboards, some of them being weapons of war.

There weren’t many, but it was eye-catching.

The most impressive thing was that all the weapons had the latest assembly designs that could be used by drones or combined with other weapons to give it more power... The same way Leslie used her weapons.

Liam smiled at seeing her surprised.

Most of his paycheck went to advanced drones, and these types of weapons were usually always a bonus because they could be assembled with the drones.

There was also an automated maintenance and fix section for the weapons.

“Sometimes we have other guests, and it is necessary to prepare a section for them,” Liam added without too much concern.

Sometimes they worked with foreign groups, and instead of sending them to luxury hotels, it was more efficient to stay here not only because of the tech rooms, but because of the portal system the group had.

“Aurora allowed a budget so you can order weapons or ammunition, you can store them and check them out here,” Liam added, and after looking at Érica, he specified. “Also, the Alchemy lab has a budget for their ingredients if you need it.”

The mercenary group was covering the needs of all the students.

The reason was not that they were getting paid by the hero academy, but it was because the more the students improved, the better it was for the group and Aurora.

Entering the library, Liam used his holographic watch, and the group began to feel their minds clear and become more focused.

“If you are bored or want to be informed you can read in this room, most of the books are Alice’s collection imported from Terra nova or books by important authors from Earth. Other books are stored in the building’s network in virtual format,” Liam explained, and looking at Clémentine, who was in awe, he detailed. “The entire building has a system that allows you to increase the magical or psionic energy in any room. It will serve you for when you train or meditate. You already have access to that authority.”

Magical energy usually invigorated the body, while psionic energy focused on calming the mind.

However, for mages or psionics to be in those environments where they were more energy-dense would serve as a perfect place to train.

Clémentine and Érica had this type of system in their homes, so they were not surprised but amazed.

After all, they both had to continue their training to increase their magical energy source in Érica’s case and their psionic energy source or mental strength in Clémentine’s case.

Liam after going through the scientific and medical lab, passed by the drone room that had a large 3D printer that could recreate drones using magical metals, but as the other students in the group apart from Andrés were not interested, he had to postpone that visit, and they went downstairs.

He led them through the garden and outdoor training yard, then created a portal, and all the students went inside to find themselves in a huge basement.

“This place is underground. It’s the training ground. Just like the academy, it has advanced autonomous attack dummies and can recreate multifaceted scenarios for every profession,” explained Liam, carefully looking around the large training basement.

It was a tall place, making it clear that they were quite deep underground, and it was also quite big capable of recreating different scenarios.

While it wasn’t like Leslie’s training basement that created scenarios on a realistic level, this place created small sections such as shooting ranges, fighting, and scenarios for psionics to show their strength.

“Follow me. I’ll show you the most important thing,” Liam directed, giving a signal for them to follow him.

Heading to a doorway in the corner of the room, the group stepped inside and found themselves in a large room where a big portal was present.

It was a portal much like the Cosmos Portals they were all familiar with, but it was of a smaller size.

The entire room was not only engraved with different types of runes, complex and different magic circles, but also different machinery of all kinds was buried in the wall.

“This is the personal portal system. Not fixed portals like the Cosmos Portals, but a large artifact capable of creating portals to send us anywhere in Zerzura City and anywhere hundreds of kilometers around,” Liam explained with a rather proud expression, and with a cheerful tone, he added. “It also allows us to connect our own portals to get back, although due to the energy expenditure it has a limit.”

That was the reason why guests stayed here instead of in other places.

In case of emergency missions, it was necessary for them to mobilize at high speed, and the personal portal system allowed them to move quickly.

And likewise, it was also the reason why there were portals to move between floors.

Sometimes just a few minutes delay could cost many lives.

Liam knew this very well, and he was sure that his new companions would also understand the reasons in due course.

Eventually, they returned to the main hall, and Liam left them alone, saying they could move as they liked.

When Liam disappeared, the entire group looked at each other without hiding their somewhat stunned expressions.

“They’re more impressive than I expected,” Andrés muttered with a sigh.

He had expected an impressive place after dining at a very important restaurant with exorbitant expenses, even so, no mental focus could prepare them to take it all in.

Laboratories, a building of their own, a training basement, and a portal capable of opening long-distance portals... That was already too impressive for a ‘small B-Rank group.’

“Are they rich? Do they have sponsors? Or do they take donations?” asked Nicole doubtfully.

It was more believable that it was all three options combined.

The training basement alone was quite expensive and not to mention the personal portal.

It wasn’t something that was normally sold, and it didn’t come with a cheap price tag either, and more so, a portal of that magnitude... Talk of tens of millions of dollars wouldn’t be too far-fetched.

“I looked into them, but... The only thing I found was that they were both sisters. Aurora and Alice Campbellm” Érica revealed sincerely.

Her research was personal, and she could only find out that they were sisters after finding out their last name from the academy.

It was normal for the data to be protected; Érica knew that both her personal data and Leslie’s or Clémentine’s were the same.

That was because they came from important families with large companies that ensured that the information did not flow freely.

However, Alice and Aurora had no information about them at all.

As if they had always been ‘normal,’ so normal that they went unnoticed.

“Are they sisters?” Andrés asked, dazed and perplexed.

He had read their last names but had thought they were just similar or a coincidence.

He had also thought they were cousins or distant relatives, but sisters... Such a fact hadn’t crossed his mind.

“I’m actually adopted,” Alice said from the doorway, and as she looked at the group, she explained calmly. “I was adopted when I was young. That’s why I have Aurora’s parents’ last name.”

Her tone was calm and simple even though she could tell Érica was revealing a worried look.

“Don’t worry, it was good that you researched us, though you might not find too much if you use normal methods. Our parents were members of the Church of Time and Space a few years ago and because of their retirement, our records were wiped clean and classified... You know, in protection from retaliationm” Alice calmly expounded.

The Church of Time and Space was one of the churches that interfered the most in all kinds of scenarios for the protection of humanity.

Whether it was the war in the United States against ability users, the European civil war, or the later European-demon war in the Middle East.

Enemies in that period were common, and among them, there were some who had no code of non-retaliation, no matter if they were innocent.

In that sense, the churches were very strict about protecting the families of their members.

Of course, Alice, in her explanation had hidden that they usually acted discreetly and secured their personal information.

Érica was the first to nod in relief.

She had thought that by investigating them, they might be frowned upon; after all, some might take it as a violation of privacy.

“You guys don’t have to worry about financial matters,” Alice said suddenly, and eating her chips, she declared. “Today will be a day of rest. Get used to the place and try to adjust. Tomorrow we will start work. You will be sent a briefing that may be of use to you and you should be ready very early in the morning.”

The group nodded slightly excitedly.

They were ready to work.