"The raid on Afghanistan has failed once again. The warriors that rushed in from the North have either been killed, or gravely injured. Sultan Ghazi, the current tyrant of Afghanistan has declared that any further attacks on his territory will result in disproportionate retaliation and unforgiving consequences."
"My land belongs to me and I will not allow any foreign powers to come inside without my permission. If the world tries again, I swear to god that I will burn the entire world."
The news was on every single screen whether inside a house, or in public. The American Warriors had rushed in with their energies burning furiously only to be slaughtered by one man. Sultan Ghazi's power was said to rival the US President's.
Here's a little backstory,
Exactly 5 years back, the evolution happened. An organization called Hades revealed a research that allowed people to gain superpowers. The cost was extremely high. A measuring system for power levels was created, the cost was measured.
Power level 1 meant your one full power punch had the force of 2 Thousand Newtons and you can lift a mass of 200 Kg or 440 lbs. over your head, and, if you wanted to be a warrior of power level 1, it would cost you 1 Million USD. The strongest warriors in the world were the presidents....
The President of the United States, Jackson Wraith – Power Level 1800
The President of Russia, Mikhail Dragunov – Power Level 1200
The President of China, Liang Zhenyu – Power Level 1150
The President of Germany, Alaric Eisenwald – Power Level 1100
The President of India, Aarav Vardhan – Power Level 1000
The President of South Korea, Seo Min-jae – Power Level 975
The President of Japan, Takashi Arakawa – Power Level 950
The President of the United Kingdom, Victoria Ashbourne – Power Level 950
The President of France, Étienne Moreau – Power Level 945
The Vice President of the United States, Cassidy Raines – Power Level 925
Safe to say the nuclear weapons were a thing of the past. Power level 1800 was maximum that Hades was offering. The question that public asked was who created Hades and how powerful is he? Hades simply refused to answer and no one bothered, or rather dared to question further, because why would you even consider messing with Hades?
-------------------
Rishi jumped back, barely dodging Adyant's attack. Adyant came charging at him, pulling his fists back. His punches looked instantaneous, as if his arms were snapping. He smirked and spoke.
"It's been a month since your arrival Rishi, but you still seem to be too slow. If you keep growing at this rate, you might land a hit in 1800 years."
Rishi frowned, he always hated Adyant's arrogance. Adyant wanted Rishi to respect him as a teacher, Rishi was looking for opportunities to kill him.
"Alright! You two! That's enough!"
Adyant and Rishi stopped in their tracks, both looking at the man standing at a distance.
"You are right on time Aaryan, I almost decided to kill the loser today." Adyant's voice was full of bitter arrogance. He looked down at Rishi and spoke "You will never aid us in the fight against Hades if you are that pathetic."
He looked at Rishi with narrow eyes one last time and walked away.
Aaryan approached Rishi and knelt to reach down. He gently placed his hand on Rishi's shoulder and started healing Rishi of all the damage he had taken. His voice was calm and more polite when he started speaking "Your first mission will be tonight. It is about time your skills are tested in real time. Meet me in my lab later on."
He said it, got back on his feet and walked away. Rishi stumbled when he stood back up on his feet, panting from the exhaustion of the torturous sparring he just had.
2 hours later, Rishi knocked on the door. "Come in!" the voice was heard from inside. Rishi opened the door entering a lab. It looked like any other chemistry lab, except these were not chemicals, but magical potions.
"You called me?" Rishi asked Aaryan. His hands were inside his jacket.
"I have a mission for you!" Aaryan's voice was calm, he kept his eyes on the small book in front of him. "There is someone you need to kill for me!"
"Who?" Rishi narrowed his eyes.
"Adyant!" Aaryan did not move his eyes.
"What?" Rishi widened his eyes. "Why do you want me to kill our leader, and most importantly, how am I even supposed to do that? Do you even know his power level?"
"It's 180, I measured it myself. It took him 540 years to reach this power level, that is very impressive if you ask me. Unlike those public warriors that Hades is creating for money, we are not limited by a lifespan. So each and every one of the members of X-Graders has an infinite life to keep growing more powerful." Aaryan explained.
"I am more shocked about the fact that you all can grow in power just like that." Rishi exclaimed.
"No, you all can, I cannot. I am not a warrior, I am more of a.... supernatural scientist and I am not immortal. You on the other hand are." Aaryan spoke it all so casually.
Rishi's eyes narrowed "I cannot be killed?" He asked.
"You can be killed, but you won't die on your own. Just like Adyant can be killed." Aaryan finally stood up and turned to Rishi.
"But why do you even want him dead? And how will I go up against a power level of 180, I might be barely at 2 or 3 right now."
"100! Your power level is 100. It's just even a difference of 2 or 3 can sometimes look huge in this world. You can kill Adyant with some assist, I'll tell you how to do it."
"But why? And why should I help you?" Rishi narrowed his eyes as he asked those questions. He knew that answer could be anything.
"If you help me kill Adyant, you can have this!" Aaryan opened a small drawer and pulled a small vial filled with a transparent liquid that seemed to have glitters flowing in it. "These.... are your memories that I extracted from you when we turned you. Your entire past life, right here. Kill Adyant, and it's yours!"
Rishi took a deep breath, he almost reacted but held himself back just in time. Aaryan put the bottle back in the drawer and turned around and went towards a cupboard. Rishi walked up to the drawer, grabbed its handle and tried to pull it open, but it did not even move.
"Don't try, you cannot open it! Even Adyant cannot!" Aaryan said, still running his hands through the contents of the cupboard.
Rishi looked at the text on the book and his eyes narrowed, he murmured under his breath. "The Anomaly.... Agastya Verma.... Power Level 1200. The Level 2.... Aditya Rathore.... Power Level 1500. The Tyrant of Afghanistan.... Sultan Ghazi.... Power Level 4000. The Silver God.... Achyu-"
He could not finish reading, Aaryan slammed the book shut, his eyes fixed right on Rishi's. That was when Rishi saw it. Aaryan's left eye changed appearance. It started having an entirely black look with a red hexagon shape in the middle that looked like an iris. Rishi stepped back, clenching his fist.
"This little thing is my shield and spear against warriors like yourself. I do not have your physical strength, but I can do things that would make your regret disobeying me if you ever tried." Aaryan's voice was cold.
Rishi took a few steps back, his mind was filled with the thoughts of what he just read, there are people with such power levels and no one in the world knows about them.