Your Girlfriend Calls Me Daddy-Chapter 6 | How to Fail an Exam by Passing Too Hard

Nobody moved.

He smiled.

"Good. Let’s start with the basics. Combat at this level isn’t about who has the strongest Essentia. It’s about who uses what they have the smartest. Essentia is a tool. Tools are only as good as the person holding them. Most of you will graduate and become mid tier heroes who handle street level threats and gate containment. A handful of you might make it to the big leagues. The rest will wash out before year three."

He pointed at someone in the front row.

"You. Stand up."

A guy with messy red hair stood.

"What’s your Essentia?"

"Flame manipulation sir."

"Rank?"

"C."

"Good. You see fire as your weapon right?"

"Yes sir."

"Wrong. Fire is one application of your Essentia. You can use it for mobility. Distraction. Environmental control. Intimidation. If you walk into every fight thinking I’m going to burn this guy you’re not thinking like a Hero. Sit down."

The kid sat.

Boone started pacing.

"Your Essentia is not your identity. It’s a resource. Manage it like one. Every ability has a cost. Stamina. Focus. Essentia reserves. Time. You need to know your limits and operate inside them until you can push those limits further. That takes training. Discipline. Pain."

He stopped and looked around the room.

"How many of you have been in a real fight?"

A few hands went up.

"I don’t mean sparring. I mean someone trying to hurt you for real. Someone who doesn’t stop when you tap out."

Most of the hands went down.

Only three stayed up.

Boone nodded.

"Honest. I like that. The rest of you are going to experience it here. Not today. But soon. By the end of this semester every single one of you will know what it feels like to push past your breaking point. Some of you won’t like it. Some of you will drop the class. That’s fine. Hero work isn’t for everyone."

He pointed at the door.

"But if you stay you will be better than you are right now. That’s my job. Making you better. Your job is not dying while I do it."

Someone in the front laughed nervously.

Boone didn’t smile.

"I’m not joking. Last year two students were hospitalized during practical exercises. One of them quit the program after. The other came back stronger. Which one you become is up to you."

He clapped his hands again.

"Today we’re doing evaluations. I need to see where you’re all at so I know what I’m working with. When I call your name come down to the floor and demonstrate your Essentia. Don’t hold back. Don’t show off. Just show me what you can do."

He pulled out a tablet.

"First up. Anya Brooks."

A girl with short black hair stood and walked down to the floor.

I watched as she activated her Essentia. Blue light wrapped around her hands and she punched the air. The light shot forward and hit the far wall hard enough to leave a scorch mark.

Boone made a note on his tablet.

"Good. Control is sloppy but the output is there. Work on your form. Next. David Chen."

The demonstrations went on for twenty minutes. Fire users. Ice users. Someone who could manipulate metal. Another girl who turned invisible but you could still hear her breathing so it wasn’t that useful.

I started tuning it out and looked at my quest tab.

[STORY QUEST UPDATE]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS AT COASTLINE HERO ACADEMY

TIME REMAINING: 68 HOURS

Less than three days to sleep with someone or I die.

No pressure.

"Rome D’Angelo."

I looked up.

Boone was staring at me.

"You’re up."

Shit.

I stood and walked down to the floor.

Everyone was watching.

Boone looked at his tablet.

"Your file says you’re registered as a Passive Null. That right?"

"Yeah."

"So no active Essentia?"

"Not that I know of."

He frowned.

"Then what exactly are you going to demonstrate?"

I shrugged.

"I can throw a punch."

A few people laughed.

Boone didn’t.

"This is an Essentia combat class. If you don’t have an active ability you shouldn’t be here."

"I’m here anyway."

"Then show me something useful or sit back down."

I looked around the room.

Thirty pairs of eyes watching me.

Can’t use Essence Drain. That would expose everything.

Virgin Killer is passive. Can’t demonstrate it.

Specimen and Hard to Kill are passive too.

I’ve got nothing.

I walked over to the training dummy in the corner. Solid rubber. Weighted base. Built to take hits.

I hit it.

Not hard. Just a clean straight punch to test the range.

It didn’t move much.

Boone sighed.

"Sit down Rome."

I hit it again.

Harder this time.

The dummy rocked back.

My knuckles didn’t hurt at all.

Hard to Kill doing its job.

I hit it a third time. Put my weight behind it. The impact echoed through the room.

The dummy tipped backward and slammed into the wall.

Silence.

Boone stared at the dummy.

Then at me.

"You said you’re a Null."

"I am."

"That’s not a Null punch."

"It’s just a punch."

"No. That’s enhanced strength. Either you’ve got a physical augmentation Essentia or you’re on something."

"I’m not on anything."

He walked over to the dummy and checked the base. It had a crack in it.

"This thing is reinforced. You shouldn’t be able to damage it without an active Essentia."

I didn’t say anything.

He looked at me for a long moment.

"Get tested again. Your Vitae Scan might’ve missed something."

"Sure."

"I’m serious. If you’ve got an unregistered Essentia that’s a legal problem."

"I’ll get tested."

He waved me off.