Ed waited for nearly an hour. Suddenly, he heard the loud roar of an engine combined with billowing wind. He looked up and saw a quadcopter flying in the sky. It was made of steel and looked like a giant drone. The four propellers had steam shooting out to create more lift. The propellers slowed down, and the steam slowly faded as it landed on the ground.
Mr. Lee smiled, "That's our ride."
The duo stood up and headed towards the quadcopter. In the middle of the four large propellers was a large cabin that could fit twelve people. They both walked inside. The cabin had two rows of seats lined up against the walls. Each seat had straps to buckle them in. Small windows were situated next to each seat. The pilot sat in a leather chair in the front cockpit of the quadcopter. Whoosh! Steam poured from the propellers, causing them to slowly begin spinning. The quadcopter lifted into the air and began flying north.
Ed looked out the windows with interest gleaming in his eyes. He turned towards Mr. Lee, "This is amazing! Why don't they use these to fly between cities?"
The woman piloting the quadcopter yelled towards the cabin, "These things are too expensive for civilian use. We only use them for transporting hunters and government officials. Enjoy the ride. We should reach our destination in 20 minutes."
Ed continued to watch the surroundings through the windows. He had never been up this high before. 'I wonder if I can fly one someday?'
Mr. Lee waited for Ed to calm down before speaking, "Ed, do you know where we're heading?"
He shook his head. "No."
Mr. Lee smiled, "We're going to Steam Work Academy. You will learn to control and grow your powers there. You'll be able to meet many young espers your age. All of them are working hard to become hunters. Some by choice and others due to their own circumstances."
"Where is Steam Work Academy?" Ed questioned.
"It's on Governor's island. The island was repurposed into a training academy when Steam Work city was built. The facilities there are top class. I think you'll like it there."
The quadcopter landed on a large platform on the 172-acre island. The duo exited the quadcopter. The woman piloting it got out and began to do some checks.
Mr. Lee gestured for Ed to follow him. "That will take her a while. Let's go. I'll take you to the headmaster."
Ed followed behind Mr. Lee obediently. He looked around the island. There were many large buildings and training fields. Some of the fields had other young people exercising or practicing their powers. One practice field was completely devastated by large chunks of ice. He looked out towards the bay and saw the statue of liberty surrounded by water. It wasn't the original statue of liberty. This was a new statue that had a shiny bronze hue. It was built upon a platform that continuously shot out steam, which caused the statue to slowly rotate 360 degrees. As the steam floated up, it gave the statue a mysterious vibe.
They reached a large building on the island. It was constructed differently than most buildings. It was made of old fashioned bricks, wood, and glass. It looked like something from an older time-period. Mr. Lee pointed towards the building. "This is where indoor classes are held in the afternoon. You'll spend a lot of time here."
The duo walked through the halls. It looked like an ordinary school with classrooms lined up on each side. They climbed three sets of stairs and reached the headmasters office.
Bang, bang. Mr. Lee knocked on the door.
"Come in!" A feminine voice called out.
Mr. Lee opened the door and Ed followed him inside. He saw a middle-aged woman sitting behind a large oak desk. She had short blond hair and blue eyes. She smiled, "Hello gentlemen. I'm Headmaster Willow. Please have a seat."
The two sat down in two leather chairs. Ed glanced around the office. It was ordinary and had a classical style. Several bookshelves were aligned along the walls. The floors consisted of tiles that were rather dark. Light filtered into the room from a large window behind the desk.
Ms. Willow sat down behind the desk. "It's nice to meet you, Ed. Quite a few new espers awakened during the Fire Nightmare attack on Reef city. We've already had one other esper from that incident join us. I'm expecting a few more to arrive in the coming days."
"Eh? Why would multiple espers awaken during the nightmare attack?" Ed questioned.
"It's not really a secret, but we don't really try to advertise it either." Ms. Willow sighed, "The key to awakening as an esper is a huge spike in emotion. It can be pain, stress, pleasure, or any other emotion. Most espers awaken from strong pain, fear, or stress in times of crisis. We avoid publicizing this information in fear that people would put themselves in dangerous situations on purpose to attempt awakening."
Ed nodded. 'So that's how it worked. Come to think of it, I was suffering pain and stress when I awakened. I was also stressed when I tried escaping that esper on the train.' He looked past Ms. Willow and stared at the bright sunny sky. "Is the awakened power related to the emotion? Do the environmental conditions affect the awakening? Or is the power innate?"
"There isn't a definite answer on any of those questions." She replied. "The current consensus is that it's a combination of all three. However, it's heavily debated on what factors hold the most weight. You'll learn about those theories in your classes." She glanced at Mr. Lee. "Go ahead with your report, Mr. Lee."
Mr. Lee nodded and opened his briefcase. He put a metal gauntlet and a folder on top of the desk. "Edward has already signed the contract to join Steam Work Academy as a hunter in training. In exchange, he wishes for his father to be pardoned of all crimes related to desertion during the nightmare attack. His powers seem to be related to either metal or technology. More data is needed to come to a concrete confirmation."
"Okay. Good work." Ms. Willow took the file and glanced through it. "I'll have Chopper head to Miami to deal with his father. You're heading for London next, right?"
"Yes. There's a promising new esper that awoke in London. The higher-ups are sending me to try and recruit her." Mr. Lee stood from the chair. "The steam boat leaves this afternoon. As I've finished my report, I'll take my leave now." He headed out of the office.
Ed stared nervously at Ms. Willow. She picked up the gauntlet. A white light shone, and the gauntlet started to bend and fall apart.
'Eh? Why is she destroying the gauntlet? Wait, no! She's reverting it back into the original pieces?!' He watched as the steam engine broke apart. Pieces of metal flew out of the various parts and came together to form parts of a lawnmower. The steam engine reassembled into the original broken engine. The rest of the gauntlet formed various scraps from the lawnmower. Then all the parts fell on the table.
"My powers are quite handy, right?" She smiled. "Unfortunately, my power has a time-limit on organic things, so I can't restore your arm..." She sighed, shaking her head before speaking again. "So, these are the parts you used to make that weapon. It's pretty good for a new esper. Everything fused together beautifully. Was there any rust on the original metal when you created it?"
He nodded, "Most of the engine and lawnmower were covered in rust."
"Hmm…" Ms. Willow thought for a bit before speaking, "Based on the initial report, I originally thought your power was related to technology. There are quite a few espers that have powers that aid in inventing. Usually they have no combat ability but can create gear that allows them to fight. Many of our best weapon development teams consist of invention espers. However, your ability appears to be some type of metal manipulation. You might end up being a combat type of esper. It's too soon to make any definite confirmations though. Some powers are well suited to both." She stood up from behind her desk. "Follow me. I need to try testing your powers before assigning you specific classes."
The duo exited the room and left the school building. They walked across the street and reached a much smaller building. This building was constructed completely out of thick steel.
They entered the room and Ms. Willow shut the door. Ed looked around the building. It was as large as a small warehouse. In the middle of the warehouse, there were several piles of materials. They walked towards those piles.
Ed saw piles of metal scraps, wood blocks, stones, dirt, glass, and other things. All sorts of random junk. There were also several barrels of water.
Ms. Willow walked towards some barrels filled with oil. She lit a match and threw it into the pile, causing a large fire to start. "Okay Ed. Go ahead and try to use your powers on all the materials you see around us. Your power seems related to metal, but assumptions based on what you've built so far may give us the wrong picture."
He nodded and concentrated on one of the piles of metal first. It consisted of scraps of bronze, iron, steel, aluminum, and other metals. He could feel waves of mana spreading out from his body. The scraps slowly rose and began to melt. Every type of metal within the pile easily combined into a bulky ball of various colors.
"Mm. Seems you can manipulate most, if not all, types of metal. The process is rather slow, though that may improve with time. For now, it doesn't seem to be that useful for combat." Ms. Willow pointed towards the pile of wood blocks. "Try all of the other piles as well."
Ed stared at the wood and repeated the process. The various blocks of wood also rose in the air and melted. They combined into an ugly wooden ball. 'Eh? My powers work on wood too? Since when does wood melt? Shouldn't it burn or something?'
Ms. Willow eyes widened in surprise. She excitedly encouraged him, "Hurry and try the other materials! It looks like your powers are different than we thought!"
He nodded and stared at the pile of glass next. The same process repeated itself and an ugly glass ball formed. Then he stared at the water and tried again. "Eh?" He turned to Ms. Willow, "It doesn't work on the water. Weird."
"It would be odd if it did work on everything. Now keep going." She continued to watch as excitement gleamed in her eyes.
Next, the stones rose into the air. Then the dirt. Both melted and created ugly balls. Ed tried the fire, and nothing happened. He continued to cycle through the other materials. Sometimes he succeeded and other times he failed. When he finished going through all of them, he sat on the ground while panting from exhaustion. He felt like he had just finished a marathon. Mana slowly entered his body from the atmosphere. It felt like a cold breeze brushing against his sweat, causing his entire body to relax and feel pleasure.
Ms. Willow was writing down some notes on a clipboard. When she finished, she smiled and looked towards Ed. "It appears we were completely wrong about your power. It isn't metal manipulation at all. It appears to be some kind of fusion or welding ability. You can melt all solids and combine them together. Your powers do not work on any liquids or gases. Interesting. We have a couple more tests we need to run."
She waved her hand towards the various piles of material. A bright white light shone on all of the objects. Everything Ed had fused together slowly broke apart and returned to their original appearances. Then they settled back into their piles. She grinned, "Pretty impressive, right? My power is time reversal. It works on anything, including people. The Hunter Association classified my powers as SS grade. I want you to try combining metal, wood, stone, and glass this time."
Ed nodded and began to use his mana to attempt it. Each of the four materials rose in the air and slowly fused together. They once again fused together into an ugly ball.
"Mm. Good. Your powers would be far less useful if they couldn't fuse different material types." She continued writing notes down on her clipboard. "Okay., we're done here. You'll be assigned to the invention classes and be registered with the Hunter Association as an invention type. Your power isn't useless, so it should receive an initial grade of E. Follow me. We still have one more test left."
They left the warehouse and got into a steam wagon. Four pistons worked to turn the wheels. Steam poured out from exhaust pipes behind the wagon. They traveled down the road for several minutes. Ms. Willow pulled a lever and the engine slowed down. Steam exited exhaust pipes in front of the wagon to help slow the wagon down faster. The two exited the wagon and entered a small white building.
Upon entering the building, they could see hundreds of cages. Each cage was filled with white mice. A woman in a white lab coat was hunched over a desk while writing notes. Her black hair was a frizzy mess. She turned to look at them. Ed couldn't tell her eye color due to how thick her glasses were, but he could see two white horns sticking out of her forehead.
"Ms. Willow!" The woman yelled in a high-pitched voice "Did you finally change your mind about wanting horns? I can give them to you again! I promise you'll love them!"
Ms. Willow shook her head, "No thank you, Kate. I removed them the last time you gave me them. I'll remove them if you give me them again. I've already removed them for others many times. I wish you would quit that odd habit of yours."
"Lame." Kate saw Ed and smiled, "I haven't seen you before! What do you think? My horns are pretty sexy right? I can give you a pair too!"
Ed quickly took a step behind Ms. Willow as he stared vigilantly at Kate. "I'm quite happy hornless. If you can regrow my arm, then maybe we can talk."
Ms. Willow shook her head, "Kate can't regrow body parts. Her power is bone manipulation. She can only remold existing bone. She has a weird hobby of trying to give people horns. This is the organic building. Espers with powers that affect living animals or plants often train here." She led Ed towards a small cage. "Go ahead and try your powers on the rats. It's okay if something goes wrong. I can reverse it."
Ed concentrated on the rat. Then he shook his head. "Nothing."
Ms. Willow wrote down some notes and led Ed to the roof of the building. Many plants and vegetables were growing in pots. She gestured towards Ed, encouraging him to try his powers on the vegetation. He tried manipulating the vegetation, but it didn't work.
"Okay." Ms. Willow nodded. "Looks like you can't manipulate living animals or plants. Since you can manipulate wood blocks, then you can probably manipulate other dead plants as well. That's the full profile of your powers. They may change over time, but usually the base stays the same. Classes won't start for a few days. We like to recruit a batch of new espers before starting them. That way, everyone is on the same page. I'll take you to your dorm next. Follow me."
Ed and Ms. Willow got back in the steam wagon and traveled down the road.