Air Hero

Promotion meeting II

The person’s whole body is covered in armor. It looked like the armor of knights from the medieval era, but it looked high-tech at the same time with inscription and metallic lines on top of it. The armor itself is entirely black, and the metallic luster being emitted from it makes everyone feel a cold chill when seeing that.

The thing that makes everyone feel silent is that this person is the strongest person inside the meeting room right now. Metal arm is the name. It is pretty weird since the metal parts about him aren’t only the arm, but his whole body is covered in metal.

The moment he steps inside the room, everyone feels in silence. However, he doesn’t seem to mind it as he finds his own place to sit and didn’t do anything out of the ordinary afterward. After a few minutes in silence, finally, Iki started to talk, and Aqua Jet followed suit as she talks to Yuna.

Her conversation with Yuna immediately attracts everyone’s attention as it was a topic that everyone is interested in.

“Is it true that Pyrogen will be coming here?”

“From what I know, he won’t be here today. He and the Thorn Queen have their schedule, but they will appear on the promotion day.”

“Ah, what a bummer. I was expecting to see him. After all, he is so handsome, and I want to see how he looked like in person. Is it only an exaggerated rumor, or was it true?”

“Well, he looked normal, in my opinion. Not to mention he is such a freak that is only focused on training. After all, he wanted to become an S-rank hero, so that much hard work is to be expected.”

“Wow, handsome, hardworking, and have a bright future. I think I’ve found my perfect husband material.”

“Even if you say so, Pyrogen might not like you, though.”

“That’s why you should become our matchmaker.”

Everyone in the room is listening to the girl’s conversation the moment Pyrogen is mentioned. However, after the conversation went astray, the male population inside the room coughed and tried to talk among themselves again to ease the awkwardness.

Not long after, Muto finally comes inside the room, and the meeting started. He doesn't know how much of a savior he is that saved the people inside the room from the awkward situation.

“Alright, since everyone is here, we’ll start the meeting. I think everyone knows that the result of your one-month training is out and you all have passed it with flying colors. Because of that, we’ll proceed with your promotion. As mentioned before, Air Hero, Child of Light, Beastboy, Flamefist, Frozen Rose, and Howling Lion will become C-rank Hero. Fiery Fairy and Aqua Jet will become B-rank heroes, and Metal Arm will become A-rank. As for Pyrogen and Thorn Queen, they also will become S-rank heroes.”

When they hear the announcement, they didn’t show any surprise on their face. On the contrary, their face is full of excitement and eagerness. After all, getting promoted one rank higher is not a tiny achievement. Not to mention that Max and the other are promoted after only being in D-rank for less than one year.

“This promotion ceremony is significant since the United Heroes association will be using this opportunity to repair the image that has been damaged due to the recent incident with the evil mastermind. Many people are also looking forward to it. After all, after so many years without any new S-rank hero, we will finally get a new S-rank hero and two of them at the same time to boot.”

After hearing that, Max finally realized that it is indeed an enormous achievement for the association. He is also starting to wonder about his big sister that is out of reach for some time. However, since she will be present on the day of the ceremony, he can still wait patiently.

“So it’s like this. The promotion ceremony will start with a speech from Mighty Red. Continuing after that, you will be summoned to the stage to take your new hero license. Starting from the C-rank, B-rank, A-rank, and finally S-rank. Here’s the layout of the stage. You will be entering from this place and stand according to this pattern. Make sure you are wearing your hero costume on that day since it is an official ceremony.”

After that, Muto explaining the details of the promotion ceremony and answered some questions that arise from the participants. Finishing with that, everyone goes back to their own place since they have other business to do. However, before Max goes out of the United Heroes headquarters, someone he didn’t expect is standing in front of him.

It was Metal Arm, the hero who will be promoted to A-rank this time is blocking his way. Feeling nervous, Max swallowed his saliva and asked Metal Arm.

“Is there anything that I could help you with?”

“Yes. Can you spare me some time?”

Hearing the robotic voice that comes out from behind the armor, Max nodded as he couldn’t find any excuse to reject the invitation. After all, he also wants to know why Metal Arm is calling out to him. It is bizarre since they have never met or interacted with each other before.

Walking towards a nearby park, some people asked for signatures from Metal Arm and even took a picture with him. It can be seen how the difference in popularity works here. Although Metal Arm is only a B-rank, he is going to be promoted to A-rank next. As A-rank is almost equivalent to a celebrity, it can be seen how much consideration the association went through to choose Metal Arm as the candidate. His popularity alone is already reaching the A-rank. Especially among the kids, he is very popular. After all, his iron knight appearance is unique and very attractive for the boys with dreams of being a heroic knight in shining armor.

Finally, after half an hour of sudden meet and greet event, the people leave them alone. It also makes Max smile wryly at how nobody is asking him for a signature. Although some people recognize him as the finalist of the hot newcomer competition, but that’s it. After all, the competition winner isn’t announced, and there is an incident with the evil mastermind. Because of that, the participants of this year's hot newcomer awards aren’t that attractive in public eyes.

“So, what do you want from me?”

Max asked Metal Arm straight to the point since he doesn’t think that he can exchange pleasantries with him. He seemed cold from the metallic exterior, and the robotic voice that comes from it makes Max doesn’t want to talk with him for long.

“I only want to give you my number. Here, take my contact information. I am doing this because Master Tenshi asked me. In the future, if you want to contact him, there’s no need to come to his shelter. You can contact him through me.”