Upon entering the building, Damien was greeted by a large reception hall similar to a hotel. Various chairs and tables were set along its area and many heroes sat there to chat. There was even a small cafeteria area where restaurant chains had set up branches.
Aligned with the back wall, there was an area where the reception desks stood, but instead of just a single receptionist, there were dozens of them lining the entire wall.
Each of these receptionists had a queue lined up in front of them. This was to be expected, though, since Asgard wasn’t just an American organization, but one that spanned the entire world.
They only had a single headquarters where people would come to get inducted as heroes and ranked, while many smaller branches of the organization spanned the globe to manage heroes in their selective countries.
Still, this was a centralized organization, and to make sure that the power balance within it wouldn’t be disrupted, many official activities were carried out solely within the headquarters.
Damien took a minute to admire the sights before joining one of the queues. He didn’t consider himself a patient person, but he also wasn’t problematic enough to cause a fuss over a little bit of waiting.
It took about two hours for Damien’s turn to finally arrive, but he wasn’t bored in his waiting. Returning to earth also meant returning to technology, specifically cellphones.
Damien had made it a priority to get himself a phone during the month he had been relaxing, so he could spend idle time like this listening to music and scrolling through social media apps. Social media was another surprise Damien received.
While it was obvious that social media would always be a popular facet on earth, he didn’t expect it to blow so out of proportion. There were countless people who made a living through creative uses of their powers on social media, yet the term influencer didn’t quite fit them anymore.
The advent of a super-powered world made people’s opinions much harder to sway since status was mainly built on strength nowadays.
Anyway, Damien arrived at the desk, where the lady politely greeted him.
“Welcome to Asgard headquarters! Are you here to become a hero today, or did you have any special inquiries?”
Damien didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t just begin the conversation with “I want to speak to the leaders” or something without sounding like a criminal, but he didn’t know how to lead into that topic either.
“Ehem, do you mind telling me what the structure of the higher floors is like? Ah, not like physical structure I mean the people who work there.”
The lady was a bit suspicious, but after Damien’s clarification she assumed he was thinking about working a desk job in the building, so she answered his questions.
“Right, the Asgard skyscraper is 200 stories tall, making it the tallest building in the world. And due to this height, there are various facilities available for use.
“Let’s start with the bottom 30 floors. These act as both a testing and training area for heroes. As you know, when a hero wants to join Asgard, they will be tested and assigned a rank that ranges from F to SSS. This rank determines their privileges and the level of activity they are allowed to engage in.
“The facilities used to test and determine these ranks are present on the first 10 floors. The next 20 floors are filled with various training areas for new or even veteran heroes to use. These were designed specifically by our founders, so their functionality is proven.
“After that, there are 30 floors that function as a sort of hotel or apartment complex. The people who work in this building sometimes choose to live within it as well, since the entry and exit tend to get crowded on a daily basis.
“And from there, we get to the more work-related floors. Everything from the 61st floor to the 196th floor is used for logistics and management. Since Asgard is a global organization, things can get hectic without proper order.
“As for the final 4 floors, I am not allowed to disclose that information, as they are strictly reserved for the founders and those allowed by them.”
Damien listened to this explanation with slight surprise. The 200 stories seemed unnecessary and simply for vanity purposes, but it looked like they were all put to good use. After all, support staff for every country in the world was bound to take up a lot of space.
Still, he didn’t know how to feel since the explanation didn’t really give him any help. Sighing, Damien decided there wasn’t any way to alert them besides causing a scene.
“Looks like I have to do this the hard way. Miss, with your strength, you’ll probably get hurt in what’s about to come, so please back up to a safe distance.”
Damien didn’t have any interest in harming civilians, but he made sure to say his words in as strict a tone as he could muster. Feeling suffocated by the invisible pressure Damien was giving off, both the receptionist and those in line behind him backed off.
Once they were at a distance Damien deemed safe enough, he fully released his aura as a 3rd class.
The entire hall descended into silence. The pressure gripped the hearts of many within the room and instilled fear into their very beings. Nobody knew what Damien wanted, but his actions made him seem like a villain who’d arrived at the headquarters to cause harm.
On the top floor of the building, Yin Jian also felt this pressure. Though it didn’t suffocate him, he felt it was familiar. Yet, it wasn’t the aura of any 3rd class he knew. ‘Unless…’
Thinking of the possibility, Yin Jian immediately flew off the balcony and descended to the pavement below. It was the easiest way to make it to the ground.
Re-entering the building, he saw Damien standing in the middle of the room. “Boy, I don’t know why you’ve come, but I hope it isn’t to cause trouble.”
Damien turned to the sound of this voice and smiled before retracting his aura. “Ah, it’s my fault. I wanted to do things the civil way but I really couldn’t think of another way to contact you.”
The old man sighed helplessly. Indeed, they didn’t know each other so this was the fastest way to elicit a response. He could only marvel at Damien’s boldness against the assumptions people would make.
“Alright, if talking is all you came for, come with me to the top. It’s inconvenient to stay here.”
Yin Jian left and once again began flying to the balcony he came from, and Damien followed him with a light smile on his face.
Although Yin Jian was a bit apprehensive, he felt that with his other two companions together, they wouldn’t have to worry about Damien in the slightest.
And this assumption was partially correct. Although Damien’s combat prowess allowed him to fight high-level 3rd class beings, this was only in 1v1 fights. In a group scenario, he’d be extremely limited. Still, escaping would be easy so he had nothing to fear.
Arriving at the penthouse, Yin Jian led Damien to the conference room where the three old men had met previously, before calling his companions.
“Just wait a few moments for them to arrive, then we can begin any discussion.”
Yin Jian watched as Damien sat with a leisurely look on his face. He was aware that Damien would be able to sense the other two existences within the penthouse, but seeing the relaxed expression on his face, Yin Jian began having some doubts.
‘It can’t be that he thinks he can take all three of us at once, right?’
It didn’t take long for Xiao Zhen and Qin Huo to arrive. Looking at the boy in front of them, both of them hid their surprise.
‘Indeed, his talent might even be on par with those geniuses from the Central Continent.’ Xiao Zhen thought.
Still, he kept indifferent on the outside. “What have you come to discuss with us?”
Damien looked at this man with only a single thought. ‘Strong.’ Xiao Zhen was strong enough for Damien to be on alert, but he still responded in kind.
“Mm, my purpose today is simple. I’m here to determine whether you lot are allies or enemies. As you already know, I’m a native of this world, so I can’t allow you to destroy it or impact it negatively.”
The three men became serious.
“I assume that you’re already aware that we came here for selfish intentions,” Yin Jian said, “but we have no intention to do anything permanently harmful to this small world.”
Damien nodded. He had guessed this much from the beginning. There’s no way people from a much stronger world would descend here if they didn’t have some sort of machinations or plans.
“Then? What exactly do you have planned?”
This time, it was Xiao Zhen who spoke.
“We can discuss these more intricate things later. Just know that rather than us, you should beware of whatever those fiends in Niflheim have planned.”