Axel hesitated for a split second as he was still in shock, and then, with slow steps—very slow ones, actually, ones that even he could bet a snail was faster than—he entered the office.
After doing so—
BAM!
The door shut back.
Axel was terrified by the sound, but nonetheless, in his terrified state, he tried to remain calm.
A man with huge muscles, light complexion, clothed in a white singlet that clung to his body, making his muscles feel all pumped up and looking really sight-pleasing.
He was clothed in black trousers, seemingly made of cotton, considering that they looked light. His facial expression was similar, and Axel thought he would easily fit as a model. He had a pointy nose—not too pointy, a little backward—the top seeming like layers of a painting. It was dotted with sweat, and looking at it, only it alone was hot. His eyes were almost almond-shaped, only that his almond was trimmed a bit by the top and a little by the bottom, making them really pleasing to stare at, considering they were blue—light blue.
His mouth was almost small, almost big, and almost average. It looked like the mouths of figures in Renaissance paintings.
Axel felt like he looked like a statue, even having woman-like lashes. His feet were encased in nothing! He was barefooted, and that added to his unique look.
The martial arts teacher was sitting on a table with two steel chairs facing it. Axel noticed that the room wasn't that spacious. It was similar to Royal Cloak's, with less sophisticated things, though.
"Welcome, my new student," the teacher said.
Axel bowed slightly. "Thank you."
The teacher pointed to the seat in front of him.
"Sit," the teacher said, pointing to the seat in front of Axel.
Axel complied and sat, the expression on his face showing uneasiness.
The man came down from the table and gently sat on the other chair. His eyebrows perched upwards, making him seem weird. He looked directly at Axel and said in his soft voice:
"Name: Axel. Superhero name: Inferno Blaze. Cool! So, um, yup, ummm."
Axel's eyes shifted uneasily.
"So, um, Royal Cloak told me you're good. You can fight—that's on the norms level. But on this mission you're going on, you'll have to be able to fight more, and that's where I come in—to teach you. And teaching you, that's for a week," the teacher said.
"Correct," Axel said slowly.
"Nice," the teacher said. "Don't worry, you're here for talking, as you already know. We won't be starting tomorrow."
Axel only nodded, genuinely not knowing which other action to take.
"So, uh, um—"
Axel, watching the teacher speak, found his accent weird. It was Gen Z-like, similar to the ones the DUDES back at Montre's High had. He had noticed that people like this tended to use OMG or LOL in their words.
But then, that was mainly for girls. His now martial arts teacher, looking like someone in their late twenties, almost thirty, was using "um" and "uhh" more often as he spoke to him now.
"Okay," the martial arts teacher said. "Let's say you can fight but not with precision. Let's say you only see a challenge, face it, get beaten up, and then depend on your powers to help you—which they do—and boom! You're free!"
Axel didn't say a word, at least his teacher wasn't expecting him to.
"You see, sometimes luck runs out. That's why you see many famous superheroes die or are killed trying to save the day whilst being attacked by a villain. That's what you upcoming superheroes should learn from—their mistakes.
"There are many superheroes out there who don't have powers but are really, really good in combat, and so that is actually their power. Some have high-tech weapons, while others don't. But you see them pulling up a really epic fight against great villains with great superpowers.
"And then, you guys that have superpowers don't actually learn real combat training. You just depend on your fancy powers to help you, which, even though it is quite good, isn't really."
He paused, caught his breath, and quickly continued.
"If you want to be doing normal superhero stuff—saving falling cats from trees, fighting powerless individuals who are just normal thieves with bombs and guns trying to rob a bank or something, or that sort of thing—then you don't have to learn martial arts or combat training."
Axel was listening. This was good information, actually—something he perceived as golden.
The teacher continued:
"But if you want to be saving planets, stopping warlords, and going on epic fights with nemeses—dangerous villains who can tear towns apart—then you need to learn how to actually fight and how to be tactically good when fighting. How to dodge punches effortlessly, deflect incoming blows, and really be tough like your opponent."
Axel nodded like he was really immersed in what he was saying.
"So, I'm here to teach you, and I can assure you that after I'm done, you'll really be a superhero. At least, a really good one. By the way, I have just six days to teach you, as you'll be heading to the Monseryan Sub-realm."
Axel nodded in the affirmative and was tempted to ask, which he eventually did:
"How are you a superhero?"
It came unexpectedly, and so the teacher had to smile, gently stroking the dark curly hairs on his head.
"I was, but not anymore. I retired, and now I teach people how to fight in martial arts. Not necessarily martial arts, as I teach other fields of combat too. Only that I fight more in a martial arts style, and so if I want to teach other styles, I incorporate martial arts into it."
"I see," Axel said, trying to stop himself from asking another question, which he greatly wanted to ask now.
Not being able to hold it in any longer, Axel asked the teacher:
"What is your superpower?"
The teacher smiled, and hesitating for about two seconds, he said with a wide grin:
"Combat."