Chương 9: R&R Ch. 9 — Burning Opposition

Nicholas wasn't interested in his last class for the day, even if it was supposed to be the one with a tutor for his power. Once he had noticed that around half of his classmates were checked out and just going through the motions, he had become irritated. People not trying for the same dream he had poured his everything into pissed him off. Enough, so he had asked Jasmine earlier, and her explanation had ticked him off even more. But that was fine.

Most people who got powers never became superheroes, and that was just something he had to accept. They would be the people he would ascend above. To reach the top was to leave most of his friends behind. Not that the slackers would ever be his friends. People who wanted to use the power to save the world instead used it to line their wallets with cash. Nicholas suspected that several of his peers with domain powers would fall into that group. There was little he could do with his powers that didn't make money.

The power to warp reality makes a ton of money though, Nicholas's workings had little permanency. That would probably change; there were some ideas he had that could create more permanent changes. Though whether he wanted to do that was another question. Permanent changes would be a lot harder to do and cost a lot more energy, and even if they were permanent, there had to be a reason most domain types didn't specialize in them. Though a shapeshifting word would be good. And not having to sustain it would be lovely.

Though permanently transforming his body until he transformed it back sounded a tad bit excessive. How often would he need to be someone else? He pushed that thought to the side as he found the room he and the other domain specialists were going to be meeting in. And much to his irritation, it was full of the people who had been sandbagging earlier wanting to use their super powers to make money. That ruined much of his enthusiasm.

The smell of alcohol on the person playing the role of his tutor killed the rest of it. Whatever Nicholas was doing to get out of all of this would be whatever he could do on his own, clearly. Nicholas took a seat away from their instructor and mentally tuned out as introductions were being done. He didn't care, and the worst-case scenario would be the class is pointless and all it does is give him time to work on his ability on his own. That suited his needs just fine.

He had gotten this far on his own, and he was positive he could go farther by himself too. When he actually needed help, he would ask people who actually bothered to care. This class was going to be a waste of his time.

"Alright, I think today's lesson should be on the one universal truth all domain types have to accept eventually," Leo said as Nicholas mentally tuned back in. That could be useful.

"You all will never go anywhere as superheroes, so those of you who picked this power to have the fast track to unlimited power, get it out of your head. But most of you knew that already. What our power is really good for and what I'm sure all of us chose it for is that we can make all the money we want." Leo said. Nicholas scowled, trying to decide if he wanted to say something.

"Alright, I'm heading out," Nicholas said, standing up to leave. Nicholas lost control of his body as he fell to the floor.

"Do you have some problem with what I said?" Leo asked as Nicholas regained control of his body and stood up.

"Yeah, I do, and I'm going to become a hero regardless of what you think. So I'm leaving to have a more productive lesson." Nicholas said, dusting off his jeans, trying to swallow his annoyance. He was pissed, but this was still someone who could snap him like a twig, and it wouldn't do to try and directly antagonize him.

"Really you? How many of the pinnacles are domain types? The answer is none; it's pointless; you're better off accepting it." Nicholas scowled. Before he knew what he was doing, he was speaking once again.

"How many of the pinnacles are the first of their power? Newsflash lots of them. So what? I will reach the top because, unlike you, I'm willing to do hard things." Nicholas said, throwing his head back to laugh. Leo gaped before settling on a cruel smile.

"So you're going to go the whole distance, are you? Fight every challenge and break through every wall?"

"Why not? That's the point of dreams, isn't it? So I can reach higher?"

"And that's why you'll be a great example for our first lesson just for you and the reason the rest of us use our power for what's worth it. Making money. Most other powers don't need to worry about it for decades if they grow at a normal pace. But from day one, we have to deal with the concept of authority." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Nicholas considered walking away to see if there was something else he could do, but his interest was piqued.

And it would be better to start the trend of what he did to people that denied his dream sooner than later. The world would rot and the sky would burn before Nicholas gave up on himself, so it would be a good reminder to him to crush someone's doubts with his own belief.

"Authority is basically your ability to tell the world what to do. We have low to middle authority over everything; that's why we can do everything. All other supers have middle to high on their specialty." Leo said, glaring at Nicholas. The expression was something between hatred and pity, and both of them were irritating for him to see and deal with. Both irritated Nicholas.

"And what does that mean for us?" Nicholas knew where this was going, but it was time to play along, not to strike yet. Leo said something about a demonstration. Nicholas would prove his point then.

"It means that in a direct contest we will always lose." Nicholas admitted with a shrug. There had to be a cost for the versatility he enjoyed from his ability. If you couldn't figure out how to turn language into power, it was on you in his estimation.

"And that's exactly it. Domain types will always lose." Nicholas wanted to point out that's not what he said but thought it better to wait for the perfect moment.

"We can never win, so there's no point in it."

"Directly, you keep forgetting that word, but a direct fight isn't the only option," Nicholas said, suppressing the desire to roll his eyes.

"Authority also comes into play when you fight people ranked higher than you. It's not the same, but it is why you don't see rookies fighting up that high," Leo said, carrying on and ignoring Nicholas.

"So can we just get to the part where I embarrass you?" Leo pulled out a lighter as he gestured for Nicholas to get onto the stage. Nicholas moved robotically as he ran through options to deal with a pyrokinetic. There were several options, but it had to do with the direct challenge. Nicholas didn't think that he could win in a fight, but he could prove a point, and that was worth some harm in his estimation. Today wasn't about winning; he was new with his ability; it was the chance to prove a point.

Leo dropped his lighter, fire spilling from it and filling the arena with serpents of fire that burned with a hungry energy.

"With me being two stages for you, this should illustrate just how hopeless your journey is going to be."

"And my task is just to put the fire out, right?" Nicholas asked, forcing himself to yawn as he thought about the problem. There was a solution; he just needed a moment to figure it out.

"And you won't be able to wrestle control with me, or douse it with water or ice; your authority is less than mine. Give up." Leo scoffed. Nicholas came up with three solutions. The first sounded like it would be too difficult to manage with his current skill level. The second would set one of his precious cards down a path that he doesn't have an interest in walking. So he went with option number three. Even if it was the most boring.

"Did you know pyrokinetics are never sent out to fight an aerokinetic if they can help it?" Nicholas asked, putting his hands together. Half of his mind was gathering his will and power, and the other shaping the card he was going to play.

"Why does that matter?" Nicholas couldn't summon the effort to roll his eyes.

"If authority was the end all be all that wouldn't happen, but seventy percent of pyrokinetics make actual fire. And no matter your command of that, you can't do shit if I burn all your fuel." Nicholas said, the world trembling at his command. As if popping popcorn the sound of the air exploding rapidly echoed through the chamber. And the fire is gone no longer able to be sustained. Nicholas stepped off the stage, slinging his bag over his shoulder. Leo gaped. Everyone else stared. Nicholas began walking away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Leo asked as Nicholas looked back, yawning.

"Back to my room. I'm pretty sure we just proved I'm not going to get anything from staying here, so I honestly have no interest. It's almost as if I just proved that with two weeks of practice I understand our ability archetype better than you." Nicholas waved cheerily. Leo growled something incoherent as Nicholas walked away, but Nicholas didn't bother listening to it. As soon as he was out of earshot, Nicholas sagged to the ground, rubbing his throat as he tried to calm himself down.

That had been monumentally stupid to try and do that, but he had done it anyway because he was so angry. That it worked was the only thing holding him together. He had proved his point and succeeded. Once he was no longer shaking from irritation, Nicholas pulled himself to his feet and went to his suite before instantly heading towards the workspace. Jasmine would most likely not be home for another hour, maybe two, and they would certainly need to have a conversation about this.

He wasn't sorry about the situation, but he was her teammate, and what he did was certainly going to blow back on her somehow, so they would need to talk about that and their potential plans. More than that, he wanted to do some research. It wasn't wrong to look at other examples of his power; he just had to be sure that he would be the one to surpass the perceived limit. The numbers on his stat screen didn't matter; all he really cared about when it came to who believed in him was himself.

Though that reminded him, Nicholas pressed his wrists together while imagining his power rippling out of him in a wave to show his current status. Nicholas Level: 1 Belief: 13 Karma: 2 Power: Domain: Words All other information restricted. That wasn't the status he remembered. For one, he was sure his belief was supposed to be in the single digits. And his karma had certainly been at zero before. He had no clue who the second Karma was. The first was probably his, though he couldn't be positive.

It could be Jasmine's, but he doubted he had done something to knock her life off course. She hadn't said much, but she had confided that her mother had wanted her to have a team and train out of their home country. The thirteen was another question entirely. One was him, and the other Jasmine. That much he was certain of. He supposed several of them could be his peers, while he had been less than stellar in gym. If he was being nice to himself, he had snubbed the nose of a teacher. That could be worth some points.

"Fuck," Nicholas said to himself, rubbing the back of his head. He had to research, he had to practice, and most importantly he needed to start the visualization training to design his next card. Burn had worked fine, but it had been a spur of the moment creation. They had six days until they would start practical training, and he would be damned if he did that without at least two words built fully. Preferably three.

The second card he would build was one he hoped would be able to supplement their teams' already existing abilities. He could manipulate the battlefield. And hopefully it wouldn't brush against someone's authority issues. He wasn't going to try and control the river, just change the direction the river flowed.