Chapter 1 - Being Tempted

You see, in a world of heroes, where every single step you take is measured by your innate talent, it is really hard to blend in with a weak power.

Hi, my name is Dan, the first born son of two very famous heroes.

Dad [Hero name: Sthorm; Power: Lightning] never really payed too much attention to me while I was growing up. He always, and I mean /always/ prioritized his hero work. Sure, he had me go to schools specifically tailored to the needs of a Hero, but he still ignored me most of my life. He said I was weak. He might have been right.

Mom [Hero name: Flaire; Power: Flashbang] paid a bit more attention to me, but that was simply because dad didn't. She never cared about me, ever since I manifested my powers.

Oh yeah, by the way power, mine is [Charm], or so the inspectors told me. What it does, is that it sways the people around me in my favor. Except, it doesn't. Well, not really.

If I think about it more carefully, it only worked on real weak minded individuals. People like shopkeepers, cleaning staff at school, the old lady at the cafeteria - well, that sort of people. People, who don't have a clear goal.

I didn't mind this power, but I was kinda pissed when I realized the limits of it.

Well, at the very least I wouldn't get bullied in school because of it, right?

Just an example: last week, I was walking down the hallway, you know, to get from one of my classes to the next. When I turned the last corner, I noticed that someone was standing - waiting - there. I didn't know him, or actually, I probably knew of him, I just didn't care enough about him to remember his name, or even face.

So right after I turned around, he turned towards me. He raised his hand, and from his palm, a ball of fire erupted. Classic, fire type powers. Unique, well done.

Just to remind you, /he didn't say a single word,/ he just held up that flaming ball in my face, and I could do absolutely nothing.

'I can't do anything. I'm weak,' or so I told myself. I just stood there. I couldn't care about the burn marks, I couldn't care about the pain, nor the humiliation. I was just stood there. Uncaring, unknowing. Truly, a broken man.

So yeah, those are the sort of situations I had to go through /daily./ Just as a slight reminder, I was attending a pretty famous academy. School of Herocraft, Heracleon. Named after the first ever hero recorded in history, the school was determined to pump out great heroes year after year. Great heroes my ass. These kids attending school were utter garbage. Really, they were the leftover scraps of the lowest tier of society. The sons and daugthers of /heroes,/ same as me.

Now tell me, if these /heroes/ act like this, are they truly worthy of becoming one? Or is it the other way around? Are heroes actually just garbage? I barely know my parents, the supposed heroes of humanity, saviours of the broken, and the beaten, bringers of justice, yet they can't pay attention to their only kid? Amazing heroes. Truly, a wonder of society.

As for what's happening right now? It's my birthday! Not like there's anyone other than me, who cares about it. I'm turning eighteen, and with that, finally I'll be able to graduate, and finally move on with my pathetic life.

I won't be a hero, even if I wanted to, I couldn't be one.

I'm too weak, and in this world of Survival of the Fittest, I couldn't make it until my first paycheck. No, I'll just become a salesman, and use my abilities there, to sway people to my future companies products.

I don't know if it's scummy, or if it violates any laws, that's the best way I can live my life.

So why the hell am I even attending a school entirely designed for heroes?

I literally can't leave. Dad wouldn't allow me to. I would try to talk to him about it, but he doesn't seem to have any freetime for a non-talented heir.

Probably even mom wouldn't have a say in it, and it's not like she'd care about my problems.

They never did. I think they just want me to disappear.

And with that, finally my school life came to an end. Last day of school. I spent the entire day trying to evade any and all possibilities of someone attacking me, and more or less it worked. I only got punched a few times, which in the grand scheme of things, was a happy day for me. I didn't get any cigarette butts extinguished on my skin, no one tried to poke my eyes out, and I wasn't threatened to get all my bones crushed by anyone.

Truly, an amazing day.

Of course it wasn't.

Of course it couldn't be like that. Not if some of the worst folks in my entire school, the "Legends," as they called themselves, would find me.

So they did.

Just a small rundown on all of them: Justin, head of the trio [Power: Super Strength], Claire, his girlfriend [Power: Poison Touch], and Kevin, the sorta grunt of the three [Power: Third Arm].

They cornered me behind the school's main building, as I was trying to sneak past the fences, so that I wouldn't have to leave through the main gate.

Well, that was a good plan, except turns out it wasn't.

"Hey Charm-boy! Whaccha doing out here? Trying to leave without saying your goodbyes?" I already know what Justin is up to. If I say "No," he's gonna punch me for talking to him. If I say "Yes," he's gonna punch me for running away from him. Let's not say anything.

"What's up, someone stole your tongue?" added Claire to my silence.

Still, I didn't reply.

"Hey, hey! You /really/ should start talking. If not, I'm gonna punch you. You wouldn't like that, would you?" It's funny how they still think that. Like I care. I don't have a single bone left in my body, that's not fractured, or has recently healed.

"I'm more durable than that, jerk," I accidentally uttered. I really shouldn't have said that.

"What the fuck did you just call me?" asked Justin while already coming at my throat.

"Let's teach this little fucker a lesson, shall we?" added Claire again. Classic Claire. Always just follows her man.

Justin grabbed my throat, almost ripping my skin. That really hurts- I rarely get this much attention.

He then proceeded to lift me up, only grabbing my throat. I got choked occasionally, but having a super-strong person do it is on a whole other level. It's not that I could /barely/ breath, I couldn't breath at all!

He used his super strength to throw me into the side of school building, making it crack after the impact. Few of my ribs got fractured from that, and I think I'm pretty sure I heard my shoulder crack as well. I literally couldn't move. The impact left my body in a shock.

"Let's make this a bit more fun," said Claire, "Kevin, hold him down."

"Aye," the three armed guy said.

He held onto my throat, although with a much weaker grip, than his boss.

The girl came up to me, and slightly poked my leg. I knew at that point, that I fucked up.

Just for recap: Justin has ridiculous strength, literally all the time. Kevin has a thrid arm reaching out of his back, and Claire can touch someone, and if she wants it, she can poison them. Her poison is sort of a rotting poison, that starts to melt your skin, starting with a light burn. It's more like acid, but apparently it's a poison. The posion stops, if she wants it, her will to fight is gone, or if she loses consciousness.

After she touched my leg, at first I felt a sting, much like that of a bee's. After a second, it started to burn. Not with a fire, but internally it started burning my leg. It hurt so much, that I almost fainted right there. I managed to hold onto my mind, and screamed in pain.

"Shut it, or someone will come! Kevin!" Justin appeared to be aggravated, and yelled at his lackey.

"Aye," he added.

Kevin moved one of his regular arms, to cover my mouth, which I insinctively bit. I was about to call for help, when it dawned on me: Not a single person would come to my aid. I swallowed that the words that almost left my mouth, and decided to not give them any more amusement.

I bit my mouth, so hard, it started bleeding, but I wasn't gonna shout anymore.

And then the situation changed.

"Hey Justin," started Claire, "what about we give him a parting gift, to remember us by."

Justin smiled. They probably planned this from the beginning. What were they gonna do.

"Kevin, rip them off." That doesn't sound good. Rip what off?

"Aye." Usual Kevin. He let my throat go for a second, only to then apply his other normal hand back onto it. "I don't feel anything with this," he finally said something, "so I'm gonna use this to rip them off." Rip what off?

He started moving his third hand towards my legs. Is that it for them? Am I gonna loose my legs? Will I actually bleed out, and die here?

While these sort of thoughts occured to me, I almost failed to notice, that his hand stopped, somewhere around my thighs. He wasn't talking about my legs.

My blood froze. I don't know which option is worse, but I had to do something. Can I fight them? Can I do anything? I need help, but none will come. My last resort was to just talk. Nothing else was an option here.

"STOP!" I shouted, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE?!"

I could barely see anymore. My eyes were tearing up, drops of it were sliding down my face. And I felt something. Something I couldn't quite place.

That's it.

Power.

Hate.

Temptation.

The next moment I heard a scream, and someone running. Did someone come to help?

I also heard a deep muffled sound of something hitting the ground.

As I opened my eyes, I noticed no one was holding me anymore, only a heavy weight on my legs.

Then something warm.

He-