"You're useless and will amount to nothing. So just give up already."
Black platform boots slammed against Hermes' stomach.
He curled up in a ball, unable to do anything but to take the abuse.
He can't lose this job after all. This was the only heroes' guild who accepted him, albeit as an unpaid intern and a punching bag.
Hermes panted, wincing in pain. "I won't give up, Sir..... I want.... to be.... a hero....."
It had been his greatest dream since he was a child. He had posters of the greatest heroes of all time— M Dash, Reverso, Lady Luck and hundreds more. Hermes has copies of every issue of the Heroes' Call magazine and can name every hero featured per date.
But he was hated by life itself. Because....
His power was only F-class, and made him look like a nasty glutton.
"You stubborn piece of sh*t." The office worker bullying him spat on his face. He was a drunkard C-class, but he mistreated Hermes like everyone else because he was a 'superior'.
Another female D-class joined in and jibed. "Hey, why don't you lick the dirt under his shoes? Maybe you will gain the ability to turn into mud like Erosion."
"It doesn't work that way…." Hermes said.
The power registered under his name was 'Copy Cat', which was also his superhero name. Not his choice, he suggested something cooler like 'Essence Devourer' or 'Feastcraft' or 'Chimerate'. But no, the guild really wanted to show how much of a second-rate he is.
'Copy Cat' wasn't even that accurate to what his power truly was. It had no relation to cats, and he does not actually 'copy' but rather 'steal' traits from a living organism through ingesting their DNA.
He had to ingest a lot of the organism for it to even work. And the traits he gained were not for him to decide.
So no, he could not just gain the traits of the germs and microbes in the air and land. He can't just ingest a bird and gain the ability to fly. Most of the time, it was the creature's unflattering traits that he acquired, like a chicken's beak or a pig's snout.
"Hah. You're really useless." The female office worker just tossed her hair.
One of the older and more mature office workers spoke up. "Hey, stop bullying the poor lad already."
Hermes' eyes lit up, staggering to his feet to see the face of the one who had spoken…
Only to realize that it was one of the old bastards who treated him like a slave and liked to boss him around.
"I need him to give me my black coffee and daily newspaper." The old man sneered. "It's already 9AM, and I'm getting impatient."
Hermes wiped the blood off his mouth.
He reminded himself that he had to stay calm, that he had to endure. He had only been an intern for what, 8 months?
Maybe they will stop picking on him after a year. Maybe he will gain an official position by then.
But the cynical part of him said, 'Are you serious? That's what you told yourself 4 months ago. And the month before that. And the month before that."
He clenched his fist.
He graduated with high intelligence scores in the Hero Academy. He worked harder than everyone else, and he cared more about people than anyone else.
Since he was young, he had been saving the people in his village. Sure, his actions were small, but it should count for something.
Speaking of….
Hermes couldn't help but sigh as he remembered the people of Village AD18. Most people there are non-users, meaning they do not possess any powers.
So having someone like him was already rare, and they had believed in him. He couldn't just let them down.
"Hermes! Thank you for saving my cat from being stuck on a tree."
"Hermes! Thank you for diving into the pool to save my drowning son!"
"Hermes! Congratulations on being accepted to the Academy! Here are some treats for you. Please don't forget us when you become a big superhero!"
Hermes waved goodbye to them with tears in his eyes. "I won't! I promise I will make you all proud!"
But…
Reality hit him hard, both physically and figuratively.
Since moving to the Super City, it had been nothing but constant abuse and insults. He had no friends or allies. He almost gave up a dozen times, but when he remembered the faces of the villagers….
Those faces are full of pride and joy… and faith in him….
He could not just return and see those become faces of disappointment and shame.
So he needed to stay in The Golden Apple guild, the only guild who accepted him despite his F-class ranking.
He needed to just get stronger, to gain more experience….
Bam!
"Out of my way, F*ckface-class loser!"
He got hit hard on the shoulder by Somner, an S-class user and one of the directors in the guild. He was only 23, a year younger than Hermes. And yet, he already got featured in the Heroes' Call and other promotional material.
His face was in the billboards since he had angelic features that are fitting for heroes. Blond hair, smooth skin, pink lips… He looked like he was sculpted by the gods themselves.
But his mouth was less angelic than his face.
He liked calling F-classes as the 'F*ckface-class', E as 'Embarassing-class', D as 'Dumba*s-class', C as 'Coward-class' and B as 'Boring-class'. He only has respect for A-class users and fellow S-class users.
He knew that Hermes was an F-class because of his uniform. People in the guild were made to wear uniforms with different designs and colors to easily identify their rank and standing.
F-classes wore red, and were interns. E wore orange and were entry-level employees. D wore yellow, C wore green, B wore blue— These were all medium-wage workers or veterans.
A wore indigo, and S wore violet— They are usually managers, directors, and executive officers.
But in the field, when they are fighting monsters from the Void or villains, they can wear their superhero costumes of any color. This is the only time when Hermes does not have to be afraid of being picked on. He had chosen and black and purple costume so he could feel like an S-class for once,
Hermes gave Somner an envious look as he brushed himself off the ground.
Somner arrived in the cafeteria to his friend group, who were all rich nepo-babies like him. He was the son of one of the former Guild Masters.
"Yo Som! Got any of that good stuff?" His friend elbowed him.
Somner elbowed him back hard on the stomach. "Shut it, Fiero! People will hear you."
"Oh come on, Som!" Another one of his pals rubbed his hands together. "It's not like you'll get punished for bringing some booze in the office. Come on, let's do shots! You brought us Stardust and Lava, right?"
Somner sighed. "Fine, fine. Here it is. I had to hypnotize the Astral monk protecting the Stardust winery to give it to me. Those stupid shrivelled prudes think they can say no to me because of some silly superstition? Hah!"
Hermes just minded his own business, getting in line to get his lunch. Even the lunches are divided in classes, and the higher your rank, the better they are.
Which means that F-classes like him get disgusting unidentifiable slop.
He lifted his spoon. "Is this mashed potato? But what are these green moldy bits…?"
Hermes just swallowed his dignity and ate it anyway. It was disgusting, and he soon grew holes in his skin with tiny sprouts.
"Huh. So it is potatoes... But can I also eat these?" He thought, looking at the sprouts in his skin.
He does know that sprouted potatoes are usually toxic but…. He was pretty sure the slop in his bowl was also dangerous to eat anyway.
Wait, if he ate it from his own skin, does that count as auto-cannibalism? He doesn't care anymore.
As he was about to pick one from his neck, he heard the rambunctious laughter of Somner and his friends as the alcohol he bought had gotten them wasted in mere seconds.
"Wow, Som…. BURP! This is really good stuff…"
"So strong… I think I can see the Andromeda galaxy from here…"
"HOT! HOT! My stomach is on fire!"
Hermes just sighed. Somner got up his chair, swaying from side to side like one of those inflatable tube people in car dealerships.
"Wooh…. I need to get some water or something…. Ah, I'm seeing stars…"
He stumbled around…
And ended up slamming against Hermes again!
Hermes caught him by impulse before he can fall and hit his head on the table. "Hey there! Careful!"
Somner looked at him and chuckled. "You look funny… Black hair, tall, handsome face but… You have so much acne…."
Hermes awkwardly corrected him. "Uh, that's not acne. It's actually potato sprouts."
"Oh really?" Somner chuckled. "I looooove potatoes."
He touched the one hanging from Hermes' lower lip, giggling to himself.
"You have one here, Mister…"
And he suddenly bit Hermes' lip, practically kissing him in the middle of the cafeteria!