3 months. That’s how long I had to wait until I could begin my hero training.

I was lucky to have another superpowered individual training with me. Everyone else who wanted to be a hero was going to special expensive schools or after-school training clubs, but I had nobody except for Martelle. It made the training more “personal”, but not perfect. She wasn’t a professional teacher, she was a crazy teenage girl.

For the first few weeks, it was tough. I still couldn’t bring out my tentacles on command, and she was still using that extremely heavy hammer to beat me up. I lost all of those early sessions. However, during our 26th session…

We were in the same basketball court as always. We found out a few students used this particular court to train as well, and the floor would get heavily cracked every time. Luckily, one of the teachers could generate cement from his hands to repair it, so there weren’t any big issues.

When I entered the court, Martelle wasn’t in her usual battle stance. Instead, she was pondering.

“Uh… Hello,” I said.

“Hey. I’m trying to think of ways for you to take your tentacles out on command,” she said.

“I’ve been thinking about that myse-“

She suddenly turned around and charged at me with a small knife, aiming it at my chest. As with any attack, my tentacles instantly came out and wrapped around her arm, raising her up in the air. She dropped the knife.

“Alright, now try to keep them in that position!” she yelled.

“Isn’t this cutting off the circulation to your arm?!” I said.

“Now drop me!”

I let go, and she fell to the ground face first. After being on the ground for a few moments, she stood up, then sat down.

“They’re still out,” she said.

“Huh?”

I hadn’t noticed, but the tentacles were there, aiming at her. I was shaking and unsteady on my feet.

“Try to hold still,” she said. “There’s no danger, but they’re still out.”

They started to retract, but I tried to pressure them into staying out. I clenched my fists and focused on hardening my back. I had to close my eyes.

“You’re doing it! Keep going!”

I felt a sudden relief in my back. Like I had been carrying a heavy weight and had just unloaded it. I opened my eyes.

“They’re there!” She stood up. “Can you feel them?”

“Barely,” I said. “They feel less heavy now.”

“Alright, so, now you’ve managed to hold them out without being in danger, but can you bring them out on command?”

“I’ll try.”

They retracted safely into my back. However, I couldn’t bring them out again, no matter how hard I tried.

“Hm… We’re going to have to iron this out before the entrance exam,” she said. “Maybe they’ll excuse it if you get a perfect score on the written test.”

“Hopefully,” I said. “Hey, you should try using more things than just a hammer. If it weren’t for my tentacles you would’ve stabbed me. I had no time to react, compared to your big, heavy and extremely predictable hammer.”

“True!” She lit up. “Guess we both still have a lot to learn…”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

That’s about as much progress as I could make for the time being. I did get more adept at using the tentacles, and being able to hold them in after releasing them was useful. At one point, I went an entire weekend with them out, but then I was told by school staff to not bring them out during class. The tentacles appeared to have a mind of their own, and they were extremely sensitive to pain and easy to cut off. I noticed a few of them had their own personalities, like one that preferred to catch things first and another one that preferred to stay back until I was on the offensive.

When I activated my power, not all of the tentacles came out. Depending on the occasion, six, seven or eight tentacles might've sprung up. One thing I tried is using them to transport myself, with them holding me up as I laid at an inclined angle with my feet off the ground. It worked, for a time: they always got tired after a few seconds and retracted on their own. I wasn’t anywhere close to reaching the full potential of this power.

Martelle got more proficient at using other weapons, though her main is still the warhammer. She’s good with a sword, which she regularly used to cut off my tentacles, and with a really heavy metal bat. I had no idea what that bat was made of, but it certainly wasn’t the type of bat you would buy in a sports shop.

The 3 months came and went. Our school held a graduation ceremony, which was fun, but the entire time my mind was set on the beginning of my hero career. After the ceremony, I headed straight home to see Grandma Shadow.

“Oh, hello dear! Sorry I couldn’t be at the ceremony…” she greeted me as I opened the door.

“It’s fine. I understand why you couldn’t come,” I said. Going outside during the day with no protection is harmful to pure darklings, and there’s no way they would’ve let her come to the ceremony with her usual protection.

“So, what do you plan to do now, young man? Go to Hero College with that friend of yours?” She walked up to me and patted my head.

“Yes… I’m absolutely sure I’ll do that,” I said.

“Oh, I’m so proud. I’m sure your parents would be proud too. You’re going to be a great hero!”

“Thanks, grandma.”

She cooked dinner as I went upstairs to my room. I laid down in my bed and thought about my application. There were a few things I had to go through before beginning my 1-year-long hero training: first, I had to apply and be accepted into Hero College, then do a physical and written examination, and then I would start my training. I had an extra month to prepare. I sent in my application as soon as possible, called Martelle and told her to do the same. In hindsight, it could’ve been a grave error to have told her to do this so hastily, but it worked out in the end: we got accepted!

The long wait began. Martelle and I still trained together, but while she was improving greatly I wasn’t advancing any further. We had found a good training spot used by other heroes just outside the city, which you could get to very quickly by speedtrain. It was a wide, (mostly) green, open field next to a few mesas. We didn’t have to worry much about damaging this area, thanks to the timebacker that’s set up to regenerate the terrain every time it changes.

A day before heading off to Hero College, Martelle and I were at the same grocery store where we had met. We bought a few things to eat that night, and right as we were about to exit the store, I saw a tall, bald, very white man in a black-and-white prison outfit looking directly at me. It was none other than…

“I am Pure Veins! You humiliated me, and I was sent to prison!” he said.

We backed up. “Oh man, it’s this guy again,” Martelle said.

“I broke out just to get my revenge on you! I’ve developed a new power, and I can’t wait to test it out!” He started to cackle maniacally.

Martelle brought out her hammer and struck Pure Veins in the chest, but all it did was make him stop laughing.

“Oh, n-“

Pure Veins grabbed Martelle and threw her against the same freezer she had shattered previously. The cashier had his face between his palms.

“As for you, I’ll show you my new ability! Get ready for this!”

I tried to bring out my tentacles, but it wasn’t working. I was in danger, but I had nothing to protect myself with. I tried to step back, but…

“Acid Spit!”

He opened his mouth and a bright greenish-yellow liquid got launched at full speed towards me. I shook in fear and covered my head with my hands.

This is it, I thought. I’m done for.

Then, I felt like all of my senses had shut down. I couldn’t hear anything. I couldn’t feel anything. All I could do was watch. I felt a chill in my back, far worse than the one I got while bringing out my tentacles.

I saw a large shadow covering me on the floor. I looked up.

It was a giant umbrella shape. It was coming out of my back. It completely blocked the acid from reaching my body. The acid slid off unto the floor and melted the floor tiles.

I came back to my senses. I saw Pure Veins in front of me, with a shocked look on his face and smoke coming out of his mouth. Then, I heard a battle cry from Martelle, as she jumped and landed a direct hit on Pure Veins’ head, knocking him out cold. Her feet hit the ground, and she stared at me.

Martelle was bleeding and panting, but smiling.

“Well, that’s new.”