19 A New Path (1/2)
”Huff! Huff!” Ed breathed heavily as he looked for an escape route. His back was against the wall of a building. 'Should I melt a hole in the wall and run through the building again? No. It'll just keep chasing me. I won't win a battle of endurance.' His eyes sharpened with resolve. 'It's immune to my flames. I'll have to use my power on it!'
He lowered himself into a running stance and positioned his arms behind him facing the wall. He injected mana into only the wind mana-core batteries within his arms. A large burst of green wind shot from his hands as he ran towards the fox mutant. The wind increased his speed significantly. The fox shot three fireballs from its tails. Ed poured mana into his legs and jumped as a large burst of wind boosted him upwards. The three fireballs exploded beneath him and spread flames to the surrounding area. He landed on the ground and rolled forward near the mutant. He was now within 3 meters of the fox and could use his powers!
He hurriedly aimed for one of the mutant's legs and attempted melting it with his mana. The skin on the fox slowly started to melt. 'It's not melting fast enough! Is it because it's so much stronger than me?!'
The fox felt its leg burning and roared in pain. It jumped to the side and breathed flames towards him. He hurriedly covered his head with his arms. The flames shot past him and singed his clothes. 'It's not as hot as I thought it would be? The mutants I killed to make these clothes were pretty fire-resistant… lucky me.' The man and beast continued to exchange blows. Ed would occasionally get close and manage to melt a small amount of skin and flesh on one of the mutant's legs. The fox managed to burn him once every few tries.
'This isn't working. We're just tiring each other out… Let's try that!' He pulled the belt of potions he got from Luny off his waist. He got close and threw them at the fox. They exploded right near its leg! A mix of lighting, fire, light, acid, and other powers caused a loud explosion! The smoke blocked his view for a moment. When it cleared he saw the fox missing an entire leg! He saw no sign of it on the ground. Some ash in the wind was the only thing remaining from it.
The fox growled towards him and opened its mouth to shoot another stream of fire. Ed prepared himself for it when the fox suddenly turned around and ran away on its three remaining limbs. 'It's too fast. I can't catch up. Tsk, what a waste!' He looked around the area and saw the flames slowly burning all over the ground. He decided to leave the area before he got trapped.
'Mm. The new limbs are pretty good. The steel was much better quality than the crap World Walker had given me. The flames work great against non-fire type mutants.' He began to walk towards the railroad once more. On the way he saw some scorched bodies lying on the ground. He searched them and found a small bag that must have been fire-resistant. It was completely fine. He opened it and found several hundred flyers.
He read a flyer. 'Join the Sinless today! Espers take everything valuable from us. Our wealth, our land, our loved ones! The evil ones resort to crime. The kinder ones become corrupted government slaves that receive special treatment. We say no more! The Sinless group has members in almost every city in the world! Join the growing movement to resist the espers! Together, we'll take back what is rightfully ours and restore balance to the world!'
”Heh.” Ed chuckled. ”What a bunch of nut-jobs. How can ordinary people beat espers?” As he continued walking towards the railroads he thought back to his father. 'Would dad have wanted to join the Sinless? He always thought espers were overrated and technology was king…' He soon reached the railroad and prepared to make a simple steam engine cart to travel towards Miami. 'I should get back to Steam Work city. Then I can get some mana-cores from World Walker and start focusing on my research… Wait! Why am I even going back? No one can threaten me with my father anymore… World Walker couldn't protect me or my father like he promised. He also betrayed Jarrod.'
He hesitated a moment before turning around and heading towards a nearby railroad station. He walked across the concrete platform until he found the abandoned manager's office. He broke in and sealed the entrance. 'I'll sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.'
…
Steam Work City. Steam Work Academy.
Nearly seven weeks had passed since Ed and Mordy left the academy.
”Die!” Jake yelled as his body was covered in flames. His body slowly grew larger until he stood 4 meters tall. He swung his fist towards Mr. Sai, who easily blocked it while yawning.
”Mm. You've steadily improved. It's uncanny how similar your power is to the Flame Nightmare. Okay. Next!” Mr. Sai yelled.
”Bastard!” Jake muttered as he shrunk to his original size and walked away.
Relm walked up onto the small stage to spar. ”I hereby declare that gravity will increase by 10 times!” A purple light spread out to form her domain. Anything within it was subject to her rules.
Mr. Sai stood there completely unaffected. ”Hmm. It only feels like 8 times at most? There is a limit to your mana. You should try to stack different effects instead of making a single powerful one. Your power to manipulate the laws of physics within your domain has the most potential out of any esper I've ever met.”
”I think you exaggerate too much” She shook her head in disappointment. ”It's only effective within 10 meters. I'm also not good at close combat.”
”Haha. Give it time. You'll improve the size of your domain and your combat abilities steadily.”
”Okay…” She nodded.
Dexter stepped on stage next. Well, stepped isn't entirely accurate. He controlled a large steel mech! It was 10 meters tall. It didn't look like ordinary mechs. It resembled a human! Each hand had five flexible fingers and it wielded a large spear. A steam core spun rapidly within its chest and steam poured from small holes all over its body.
”Oh?” Mr. Sai smiled. ”It seems Mr. Ardy really likes you to let you pilot his toy?”
”Wrong! I built it myself! I had to use my powers to add artificial intelligence to Mr. Ardy's mech before I could get funding for my own. The military has already made a contract with Mr. Ardy and me! I'm going to be rich! Hahaha!”
”Okay, okay. Let's get this over with. The proper path of an esper is to train the body. Not rely on hunks of junk.”
”Don't insult mechs!” Steam covered the mech in a shroud as Dexter piloted it forward. He stabbed the large spear towards his teacher. Mr. Sai stopped the spear with a single finger. He flicked it and the mech took three steps back!
”Damn!” Dexter ground his teeth. He pulled a lever and the mech's fist took aim. A large cable fired from it towards his teacher's head! Mr. Sai titled his head to the side and the cable flew past him. The cable struck into the ground and locked into place. The mech began to retract the cable as it charged forward using wheels on its feet. The spear was lifted high in the air as it swung down from above!