Chapter 36: "Okay, So Maybe Being a Hero is Kinda My Thing"
In which I discover emotional growth is weirder than ghost hunting and possibly more exhausting.
Okay, so here's the thing no one tells you about winning a fight—
it hurts. A lot.
Like, I'm talking cartoon birds circling your head, every bone vibrating like it's in a rock band, and your body screaming:
Why did we do that?!
while your pride is like:
Because we're awesome, that's why!
So yeah.
I was hobbling down the hallway with Mara holding my right arm and Toby on my left, and we were headed straight for the nurse's office like war heroes who had barely survived a napalm explosion made of judo throws.
Toby was giving me a play-by-play of the fight I had literally just lived through.
Weirdly helpful.
"And when you hit that sweep—bro, Derek's soul almost left his body."
"I didn't know you could sweep someone that big," Mara added, smirking. "I thought we'd need construction equipment to move him."
"Pretty sure I fractured something," I muttered.
"Your dignity survived," Mara said. "And you finally stood up to that idiot. Worth a few bruises."
I was about to answer when he showed up.
Right in front of us.
One moment—
empty hallway.
Next—
Asterion was leaning against a locker in spiritual form like casually materializing inside a school was completely normal behavior.
"Nice work."
I blinked.
"How do you keep doing that?"
Asterion raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a soul fragment of a nearly thousand-year-old cultivator."
He shrugged.
"You'll need to be more specific."
Fair.
He fell into step beside us, looking like a coach walking his students off the field after a particularly violent scrimmage.
"I watched the match."
His tone was calm.
But there was that weight behind it.
The kind that made praise from him actually matter.
"You've come a long way."
"Thanks."
I limped harder.
"I almost lost."
"You didn't."
Simple.
"You adapted."
He glanced at my bruised face.
"Questionably, near the end."
Mara snorted.
Asterion continued.
"But you made your decision knowing it would hurt."
He looked directly at me.
"And you didn't freeze."
I...
didn't have a comeback for that.
So I grinned through the bruises and tried to straighten my back.
Bad decision.
My spine immediately filed a complaint.
Then Asterion's expression changed.
The amusement disappeared.
Sect Head mode.
"This was only the beginning, Evan."
Mara and Toby both looked toward him.
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
Asterion was quiet for a moment.
"I've been discouraging some of the stronger spiritual activity around Havenbrook."
That got my attention.
"What?"
"You needed time."
His eyes moved between the three of us.
"Time to build basic strength. Learn how to move. Learn how to think under pressure."
Toby made a tiny squeaking noise.
"So..."
He pointed weakly.
"Derek wasn't level one?"
Asterion looked at him.
"Derek was a school fight."
"That's somehow worse."
Asterion ignored that.
"The things you will eventually face won't care about school rivalries."
His tone remained level.
"They won't stop because a teacher blows a whistle."
Mara narrowed her eyes.
"So what are you planning?"
Asterion's gaze returned to the hallway ahead.
"I'll stop keeping every stronger spirit away from you."
I stopped walking.
"You're what now?"
He glanced back.
"You can't learn to handle real supernatural threats if I ensure you never encounter any."
"That's not the same thing as inviting them!"
"I didn't say I would invite them."
A pause.
"I said I would stop removing every obstacle before you see it."
Okay.
Slightly less insane.
Still insane.
"But why?" Mara asked.
Asterion's answer came immediately.
"Because you're choosing to protect people."
His eyes sharpened.
"That choice has consequences."
Silence.
"If you want to protect Havenbrook..."
He looked at me.
"Your friends."
At Mara and Toby.
"Your family."
Then back to me.
"You can't remain untested."
My ribs hated every word of this conversation.
My brain was chanting:
Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea.
But my heart?
Unfortunately...
my heart was already interested.
Because deep down?
I wanted this.
Not because I wanted ghosts attacking people.
Not because I enjoyed almost dying.
But because I wanted to become strong enough that one day, something like Derek really would feel like the easy part.
Strong enough that when someone needed help—
I wouldn't be the kid hiding behind everyone else.
I looked at Asterion.
"Fine."
Mara stared at me.
"Evan."
I ignored her.
"When it happens..."
I swallowed.
"...we handle it."
Asterion studied me.
Then nodded.
"Good."
Not bring it.
Not because I wanted danger.
Because I was done pretending danger would politely stay away if I wasn't ready for it.
Asterion's form faded.
Toby stared at the empty space where he'd been.
"We're going to die."
Mara looked at me.
"You're insane."
I pushed open the nurse's office door.
"Maybe."
Then winced because apparently doors required more shoulder movement than expected.
"But at least we'll look cool."
Mara shoved me inside.
"Idiot."
Honestly?
Still felt like a win.
Let me paint you a picture.
I had just beaten my lifelong bully.
Had the best school lunch of my life—
two burgers, a milkshake, and the kind of fries that touch your soul—
and was fully prepared to go home, collapse onto the couch, and pretend my skeleton wasn't made of bruises.
Instead?
I got kidnapped by capitalism.
Okay.
"Kidnapped" might be dramatic.
But I did not voluntarily climb into a black SUV with tinted windows after one of Sebastian's men said:
"Mr. Sebastian would like to see you."
Technically, Sebastian actually existed.
Unfortunately, so did whatever Asterion had planned for me.
The SUV dropped me in front of Sebastian's Giga-Mart Ultra-Mega-Center, which I'm pretty sure was the approximate size of a small European country.
I walked inside expecting maybe another mission.
Perhaps equipment.
Possibly a lecture.
What I got?
A cash register.
And a name tag.
HELLO, I'M EVAN
MANAGER IN TRAINING 😊
I slowly turned around.
Asterion stood several feet away in Evan-visible spiritual form, looking far too satisfied with himself.
"No."
"Yes."
"This is a joke."
"It isn't."
I pointed at the register.
"This?"
"Your new part-time assignment."
I stared.
"I'm already working for the organization!"
"And now you'll understand one of its businesses."
"By scanning groceries?"
"Among other things."
I looked around.
"This is punishment."
Asterion folded his arms.
"You want to become stronger."
"Yes."
"Strength isn't limited to combat."
I sighed.
Here came the lesson.
"If you're going to lead people someday," he continued, "you should understand what their lives actually look like."
He gestured toward the store.
"Customers."
"Workers."
"Managers."
"Suppliers."
"Problems that cannot be solved by punching them."
I stared at the barcode scanner.
"So scanning cereal boxes somehow makes me emperor of Earth?"
Asterion's mouth twitched.
"No."
Then:
"But surviving customer service may improve your patience."
I hated that this was probably true.
So...
I clocked in.
And fifteen minutes into my thrilling adventure of restocking mints and learning what a price override was—
Mara and Toby walked in wearing uniforms.
I stared.
They stared.
"YOU TOO?!"
Toby adjusted his vest like a betrayed office intern.
"They got me with the 'team-building' speech."
Mara looked approximately two seconds away from setting the customer-feedback terminal on fire.
"He told me we'd learn about modern power structures."
She lifted the pricing gun.
"I didn't realize he meant minimum wage."
I sighed.
"So this is our life now."
"Yep," Toby said. "We've been scammed into character development."
Asterion passed nearby in physical control of my body—
Wait.
No.
That would've been weird.
Instead, Sebastian himself walked past with a store manager while Asterion's voice came through my mind.
"Pay attention."
I mentally glared.
"You'll thank me eventually."
"No, I won't."
Mara looked at me.
"What?"
"Talking to Asterion."
"Tell him I hate him."
Asterion answered immediately.
"She doesn't."
"He says you don't."
"I hate him more now."
Our shift began.
Was it glamorous?
No.
Did a woman yell at me because she believed ten percent off meant free?
Yes.
Did Mara start talking about labor rights before the second hour?
Also yes.
Did Toby crash one of the self-checkout machines while trying to access its operating system?
That's still under investigation.
But weirdly?
It worked.
Between arguing over shelf arrangements, laughing at Toby trying to ride a mop bucket like a scooter, and dealing with customers who apparently considered expired coupons a human-rights issue...
I started noticing things.
How managers handled pressure.
How workers covered for each other.
How customers reacted when they felt ignored.
How quickly a tiny mistake could become a huge problem if nobody communicated.
Maybe leadership really did start somewhere like this.
Not because cash registers were mystical.
Because people were.
One customer at a time.
One problem at a time.
One barcode at a time.
The automatic doors opened with all the drama of a budget science-fiction movie.
Lena Mercer—
straight-A student, psychology major, supernatural researcher, and full-time suspicious older sister—
walked into Sebastian's Giga-Mart Ultra-Mega-Center like a woman on a mission.
Her eyes swept across the polished floors.
Overachieving bakery section.
Seasonal decorations that seemed to have forgotten what month it was.
She didn't immediately see Evan.
But she did see a giant sign reading:
OUR EMPLOYEES STRIVE FOR LEGENDARY EFFICIENCY!
Lena stared at it.
Then sighed.
"Asterion."
She didn't need proof.
She simply knew.
She moved past an elderly woman arguing with a robotic vacuum and a toddler wrestling a family-sized bag of gummy worms until she finally found Evan.
Behind a register.
In a vest.
Scanning toilet paper.
He saw her.
His face became the face of a man who had lost all remaining dignity.
"Lena."
She stopped.
Looked at the name tag.
MANAGER IN TRAINING.
Then looked at him again.
"I'm not laughing."
"You are absolutely laughing internally."
"Very loudly."
Mara was several registers away, currently explaining store policy to a customer with the controlled rage of someone defusing a bomb.
Toby was helping two children negotiate ownership of a plush dragon.
Lena slowly looked around.
"Why are all three of you working here?"
Evan pointed upward.
"Ancient mentor reasons."
Asterion appeared beside Lena in spiritual form.
"Correct."
She didn't even flinch anymore.
That was concerning progress.
"We need to talk."
Asterion nodded.
"About?"
She gestured broadly toward the store.
"This."
"They're learning."
"Retail?"
"People."
Lena crossed her arms.
Asterion's expression became more serious.
"The world isn't only combat."
His eyes moved toward Evan, who was now attempting to explain to a confused customer that coupons had expiration dates for a reason.
"If he wants responsibility, he needs perspective."
"And you expect Evan to become some kind of great leader because...?"
Asterion went still.
That subtle shift Lena had already learned to recognize.
No joking.
No teasing.
Sect Head.
"Because his fate is pulling him toward larger things."
Lena's expression tightened.
"How large?"
Asterion watched Evan for a moment.
"Large enough that fighting ghosts in Havenbrook won't always be the biggest problem in his life."
That wasn't comforting.
"What kind of threat are we talking about?"
Asterion didn't answer immediately.
And when he did—
his tone remained careful.
"One he doesn't need details about yet."
Lena frowned.
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one I'm giving."
Her eyes narrowed.
Asterion continued.
"I'm buying all of you time."
Not:
The world only spins because of me.
Not dramatic.
Just factual.
"Time to learn."
"Time to build."
"Time to become capable before capability becomes mandatory."
Lena swallowed.
The fluorescent lights suddenly felt less ridiculous.
"But..."
Asterion's tone lightened slightly.
"...today, Evan's biggest threat is a woman demanding reimbursement because she misread a sale sign."
Lena looked toward the checkout lane.
A customer was, in fact, waving a receipt like a declaration of war.
Evan looked ready to fake his own death.
Lena sighed.
"This is seriously part of saving the world?"
Asterion smiled.
"No."
Then:
"It's part of teaching him how to live in it."
That...
was annoyingly reasonable.
Lena walked toward the bakery.
"Fine."
A pause.
"But if you make me wear one of those vests, we're fighting again."
Asterion chuckled.
"Noted."
One Week Later
One week.
That's how long it had been since I beat Derek, started training even harder, and somehow became a cashier at a megastore.
Honestly?
I expected to feel like a zombie by now.
The kind that groans about work schedules and eats frozen pizza for breakfast.
Instead?
I felt...
weirdly alive.
And I don't mean supernatural alive.
Still human.
Still very capable of bruising, bleeding, and regretting stairs.
I mean this.
Helping people.
Learning things.
Figuring myself out.
Somehow all of that felt just as important as fighting ghosts.
Maybe more.
I'd started waking up early.
Sunrise early.
The birds-haven't-even-decided-whether-they-hate-you-yet early.
I'd stretch.
Train.
Meditate.
Which mostly meant sitting cross-legged while trying not to fall asleep.
Then I'd go out.
Not hunting ghosts.
Not hiding in my room.
Actually...
outside.
With people.
One Saturday, I went back to the park near Elm Street.
Rusted swings.
Trash everywhere.
Graffiti that looked suspiciously capable of summoning demons.
I cleaned it.
Took most of the day.
Collected enough bug bites to qualify as a food source.
But when it was finished?
Kids started playing there again.
One kid high-fived me.
That's it.
A high five.
You'd think I'd saved civilization.
But all I'd done was pick up garbage and chase away two raccoons with criminal intent.
Still...
it felt heroic.
Not flashy.
No cameras.
No supernatural monsters.
Just something better because I'd done it.
Asterion once told me:
"If you only help people when someone is watching, you're performing, not serving."
That one stuck.
After that?
Helped an elderly woman.
Donated food.
Spent time at the community center.
Helped repair a broken vending machine—
with tools.
Not punching.
I'm growing.
People started noticing me.
Not in the:
Oh no, that's that weird kid
way.
More like:
"Didn't he help my aunt last week?"
That felt different.
Better.
I wasn't chasing attention.
I was chasing the feeling that I'd actually done something with my day.
And weirdest of all?
I started getting along better with my family.
I know.
Shocking.
It started small.
Breakfast with Mom and Dad instead of grabbing food and disappearing.
Asking Lena about her psychology work.
Actually listening to Dad explain spectral-plasma viscosity.
Don't ask.
I even cleaned the garage with him.
Voluntarily.
Without Asterion controlling my body.
Voluntarily.
Dad nearly cried.
Years of me zoning out and them being...
well...
them
meant we had a mountain of awkwardness to climb.
But slowly?
The distance closed.
Lena smiled more around me.
Mom started inviting me into lab work instead of assuming I'd run away.
Dad—
Okay.
Dad actually teared up when I called him "sir" as a joke.
That's just Dad.
This version of me?
I didn't hate him.
Sure, I still got ectoplasm on my shoes.
Still had Asterion dropping surprise training sessions on me.
Still occasionally woke up remembering Rian throwing me into a tree for educational purposes.
But I was learning to handle more than fighting.
I was learning how to handle...
life.
For the first time in a long time?
I felt like I belonged somewhere.
Not as the awkward kid.
Not as someone's disappointing son.
Not as the guy suddenly getting attention because he beat Derek.
Just...
Evan.
Working at Sebastian's market wasn't exactly superhero material.
No glowing swords.
No interdimensional portals.
No ancient ghost kings threatening civilization.
Just a register.
Coupons.
Inventory.
And customers who regularly attempted to negotiate with printed prices.
But strangely?
I liked it.
There was something grounding about standing behind that counter and doing simple, honest work.
No ghosts.
No life-or-death decisions.
Just me.
Barcode scanner.
And the realization that retail workers may genuinely be among humanity's strongest survivors.
Asterion called it perspective.
His exact wording?
"Someone who wants authority but understands only authority usually becomes unbearable."
Very Asterion.
He wanted me to learn every layer.
Cashier.
Stocking.
Warehouse work.
Customer service.
Eventually management.
Not because every leader needed to literally do every job forever.
But because it was harder to dismiss people's problems once you'd actually experienced them.
So?
I made plans.
Waiter?
Sure.
Dishwasher?
Why not.
Warehouse stocker?
Bring it on.
I was becoming a one-teen employment simulator.
And...
I kind of liked it.
Then there was school.
Let's just say the food chain shifted.
Fast.
After I beat Derek, the bullying basically stopped overnight.
People who used to ignore me suddenly smiled.
Some avoided me entirely.
Others started trying to sit with us at lunch.
At first?
Flattering.
Then I started noticing patterns.
The too-careful compliments.
The sudden invitations.
People laughing a little too hard at jokes that weren't funny.
They weren't all interested in me.
Some were interested in the guy who beat Derek Holt.
Social value.
Clout.
That was new.
And surprisingly easy to recognize once I started looking.
I wasn't angry about it.
Just...
not interested.
I already had my people.
Mara.
Toby.
Lena.
My parents.
And Asterion lurking inside my head with cryptic warnings about fate and responsibility.
That was enough.
And then...
there were my grades.
Look.
I wasn't stupid before.
Mostly.
I just didn't apply myself.
Now?
Things came easier.
Not magically.
Asterion's memory formation helped me retain information, sure.
But I was also studying.
Actually studying.
Equations started making sense.
History wasn't just dates anymore.
It was causes.
Patterns.
Consequences.
Literature became people making bad decisions with symbolism attached.
Economics became surprisingly interesting after working retail.
My teachers noticed.
Mostly because I started asking questions.
A lot of questions.
Questions about economics.
Ethics.
Physics.
Energy systems.
One science teacher nearly short-circuited when I asked whether ectoplasmic energy could theoretically be converted into stable electrical output.
Asterion later confirmed that there were plausible ways.
Which was great.
Less great?
Trying to explain why I had thought of it.
I wasn't trying to show off.
I just...
wanted to understand things now.
Every class.
Every shift.
Every conversation.
It felt like another piece of some giant puzzle.
So I started keeping a notebook.
Actual notes.
Things like:
People respect strength, but understanding earns trust.
A job isn't just work. It's a window into lives you don't live.
Fame is loud. Trust usually isn't.
Yeah.
I'm getting deep.
Blame the ancient cultivator in my brain.
Not long ago, I was drifting.
Now?
I was becoming...
something.
Someone.
And honestly?
That scared me a little.
But it also made me smile.
So...
apparently saving people, developing confidence, and beating the school athlete in front of half the student body does interesting things to your social life.
Who knew?
Talia was the first surprise.
She used to barely acknowledge me unless I fell over something.
Now?
She waved.
Talked to me.
Smiled.
I think she invited me to hang out after school once, but she mentioned ghosts and anime in the same sentence and my brain temporarily failed to process the conversation.
But she wasn't the only one.
Other girls started looking my way.
Some sat closer at lunch.
One asked me to explain supernatural physics.
I did.
Mistake.
I lost her somewhere around ectoplasmic polarity and:
"You see, spiritual entities interact with physical matter through—"
She escaped.
Probably wise.
Then there was Sofia.
Sofia had been my crush forever.
The girl who looked like she belonged on a magazine cover and absolutely knew it.
But lately?
She'd been different.
Not:
I'm ignoring you because you're beneath me
different.
More:
I'm rethinking several parts of my life and I'm annoyed that you caused it
different.
Which was...
honestly interesting.
She wasn't giggling.
Wasn't playing social games as much.
Rumor said she'd started spending time at her father's company.
Learning how things worked.
Sitting in on meetings.
Apparently preparing herself for some future role instead of just assuming everything would appear when she wanted it.
Good for her.
Mara noticed the attention, obviously.
Before you start imagining some cliché jealous-girlfriend nonsense—
no.
Mara was Mara.
She rolled her eyes.
Made one comment about teenage boys being walking hormone disasters.
Then kissed me and apparently decided that settled the matter.
Which...
yeah.
Pretty great.
We'd gotten closer.
A lot closer.
She laughed more.
Relaxed more.
She was getting stronger too.
Asterion's training.
Regular workouts.
Learning how to actually fight instead of just charging danger with righteous anger.
And I'm a teenager.
So...
yes.
I noticed.
Definitely noticed.
But more importantly?
I respected her.
I liked what we were building.
That didn't magically erase the fact that some part of me still had old feelings tied up with Sofia.
I'd liked her for years.
Those feelings didn't disappear just because life became more complicated.
That didn't mean I needed to act on them.
It just meant...
feelings were messy.
Asterion had already made one thing clear when we'd talked about relationships:
My life.
My choices.
And if I was with Mara, then I owed her honesty and respect.
Simple in theory.
Much harder when your teenage brain had approximately six departments all arguing at once.
I wasn't trying to become some kind of player.
Definitely wasn't interested in collecting girlfriends like achievement badges.
I was just...
figuring myself out.
Who I liked.
Why I liked them.
What kind of person I wanted to be when feelings got complicated.
And apparently?
That was another kind of training.
Trust me.
Ghost hunting?
Way easier.