Some attain great power by studying martial arts. Others perform yoga, or study juggling or acrobatics. Masters of these disciplines will tell you that they are primarily mental, and it takes talent and years of diligent work to become expert at them.
Then there are skills that are purely mental. Becoming a great author takes talent and practice. Great leaders who can stir thousands of souls with their voices are born and trained to it.
Some skills grow to have new relevance as they develop. A master chef is also a dangerous knife fighter. An insurance agent changes jobs and makes an excellent detective.
Kent Ward knew he was a talented teacher. He taught Mathematics at Paragon State University. After years of honing his talent, he could grab the attention of a classroom, and mold their minds like a sculptor molds clay. Unfortunately, while he longed to be able to bring enlightenment to the masses, his true talents seemed to lie in bringing boredom, frustration, and mental anguish. He could hold a classroom in rapt, terrified attention, and boggle their minds with writhing logic, but he could not make them understand. He had learned how to use an expression and a slight gesture to compel a student to waste their weekend on hours of busywork, but at the end they would have no greater love of mathematics than before.
What real use could these talents be? Professor Ward often worried that his life was a dead end. Until the day came when he saw a crowd of street punks beating a police officer, right in front of the city building in Atlas Park.
He stood tall, and began to Lecture!
The ensuing battle was intense. The punks fired guns and threw punches. Kent retaliated with word problems and logical conundrums that paralyzed their minds. He destroyed their self esteem by mentioning poor grades and hinting at summer school. He used all the tricks he had learned in the classroom, and eventually the thugs were exhausted and sobbing.
He then turned his powers to the poor, beaten police officer, soothing his pain by talking softly of extra credit and encouraging him to just try a little harder, work a little more carefully, and all would be well.
So now Kent Ward patrols the streets of Paragon City with a new sense of purpose as The Ultimate Unfathomable Math Professor, when he isnt teaching classes, of course! With TAs, Grad Students, and his classroom powers of hurt and healing, he now brings students to enlightenment and villains to justice!
Now I KNOW FOR SURE you are spying on The Ulitmate Unfathomable Math Professor!