A Hero's Thoughts

In New Asia's highest building's top floor.

A meeting of the top agents of the agency was held.

20 men were sitting around a conference table discussing the situation of the bank robbery yesterday. At one end of the table sat the president of the agency, his name was August Beckman. He was a tall man with short silvery combed back hair. His appearance was neat and tidy. On the other end of the table sat another tall man. But his appearance was the exact opposite. He had a bald head, one eye hidden by a black leather eyepatch, and wore a loose-fitting robe. Further to mention was that only his left arm was visible, the right one might or might not be hidden under his clothes. His name was Sealer. No one except the president knew his real name and for the last 30 years, his real name didn't leave anyone's lips even a single time.

The president stood up and started the meeting.

"As you all know, yesterday the plague of the hero broke out again! Today's meeting is about how to handle the situation. Seven years ago during the last hero's emergence, our Agency was nearly destroyed. Only recently we managed to recover all of our lost power. I won't sit here and watch this happen again." He slapped his hand on the table.

After the president stopped his speech Senior Agent Marco Filoni stood up.

"The hero seems to still be extremely weak. Otherwise, he would have easily managed to escape from the building without anyone noticing. His status as a Newbie is what I want to use for our strategy. He will make mistakes someone with more experience won't do. I propose to send 3 teams searching for this 'Wannabe Hero'.

Every team will include one person with high sensory powers. We will spread us out through the city and keep an eye open. The greatest weakness of people like him is that they can't stop saving people after they licked blood. He will save anyone he stumbles upon."

After Marco Filoni's statement, they kept further discussing the situation.

But during all this time the person named Sealer only listened silently. In front of his inner eye, a scene played from seven years ago.

In another part of the city, Dave was in his little shabby apartment. He was here to fetch some new clothes and gather his other stuff. Ayano proposed that he could take his stuff and move over into one of the rooms at the lab. First Dave was confused about why Ayano was doing so many things for him but she only told him, "Dave I simply want to help you. Someone once told me that it is a waste to use powers like ours for everyday stuff and that if we don't use it to make the world a better place then there wouldn't be a need for us or our powers." When Dave heard these words something in him moved and he didn't question her motives anymore. 'Maybe,' he thought, 'she just feels still bad that she couldn't save Mike. Even though I don't blame her for it, she might think that it is the only way to repay Mike for helping her.'

After he gathered his stuff he sat down on his bed and thought about what happened yesterday again.

'Less than two weeks ago I was a normal guy, who liked to play computer games. What exactly am I now and what do I want to do with this power? I know right now is my goal to take revenge for Mike but what is going to happen after that?' Dave frowned. 'I can't make a living by saving people and I can't ask those, who I saved, for money.' Dave shook his head.

Then the new abilities after solving the hidden quest came to his mind.

[Hidden Feature: Hero Skins]

[You unlocked the Hidden Feature [Hero Skins]. You discovered the hidden power inside you. By changing your appearance into that of a hero, you disguise your identity and acquire greater powers.

Unlocked: Hero Skin Shop]

[Apprentice Hero's Skin]

[Take the appearance of a beginner hero.

Unlock the following abilities while wearing this suit.

[Apprentice Hero's Punch] [F]

[Strong Movement]

All stats rise by half a rank. (Max. Rank SSS)

Every time you activate this skin it costs: 500 Heroism.]

[Apprentice Hero's Punch] [F]

[When push comes to shove the only thing a hero can trust is the power of his fists. Unleash your strongest punch.

If your punch hits a villain then your Heroism rises by +1.

Effect: 10% increased attack power

Costs: 35 Heroism per use]

[Strong Movement][F]

[Accelerate 2,5 seconds in a straight line.

Effect: 20% increased max. speed

Costs: 25 Heroism per use]

Dave liked these new abilities very much. In fact, he even tried them out yesterday. He combined the ability [Strong Movement] with the effect of [Apprentice Hero's Cape] to jump from one roof to another. Furthermore, his identity was covered through the [Apprentice Hero's Skin].

The ability Dave had the biggest expectations for was [Apprentice Hero's Punch] though. Right now it was an extremely expensive ability but he had the premonition that with the rising of the skill's grade, it would change.

'If the costs get reduced and the Heroism I gain, when I hit a villain, rises then I might increase my Heroism with every punch.' He thought expectantly.

Something else he noticed was that the Hero Skin increased his stats by half a rank. 'It is really that a hero needs to transcend his abilities. With this suit that will be easy for me. The best is though that I finally know where my stats limit is. The Skin said that the max. stat rank is SSS.'

Dave hit himself motivating on his knees and stood up.

'Let's check out the [Hero Skin Shop] before I go back to the lab.

He activated the shop and a big window appeared in front of him.

It was divided into tiles with always 3 in one line.

The first tile at the top left corner showed his [Apprentice Hero's Skin]

The one to its right was grey with a black man in a hero position on it. On top of it stood the following.

[Hero's Training Outfit][Locked]

[Requirement to unlock:

Increase all stats to A-Rank

Train continuously for 1 month

Pay 10.000 Heroism]

The following tile looked the same only the text was different.

[Hero's Skin]

[Requirement to unlock:

Upgrade your class to Rank 3

[Apprentice Hero's Punch]: SSS

Pay 50.000 Heroism]

There were more tiles like this with steep growing requirements to unlock.

The ones at the bottom needed even millions of Heroism. Dave didn't know when or how he was supposed to acquire this much right now but he was sure that when his quests grew more difficult in the future, he would get more heroism as well.

'I have the feeling that this ability wants to push me into becoming a hero. I don't know why though... Ayano said that our abilities are influenced by our personality and character. Does that mean in truth I am the one, who wants to be a hero? Is that my desire? I was never the kind of person, who would risk his life for others. Yeah right now I help a lot of people I don't know but I never had to risk my life yet. Will I be able to do it even when the risk rises?'

Dave didn't know the answers.

'Another thing I don't understand is why my [Bubble Control] doesn't consume my Heroism. It is as if they aren't even connected in any way. Is this what the foggy voice did when she told me she could grant me a power boost? If that is the case then which one is my true ability?

Wants my true character to isolate itself inside a bubble or shine in front of everyone as a hero? These two abilities are from a completely opposing nature!'

In deep thoughts, Dave took his belongings, and with one last look left his apartment!

'I really want to know where this path will lead me!'