'Hmm.' Ed watched as the crowd of espers walked towards him. 'I originally planned on fighting Jake after finishing my recruiting... Oh well.' Each of the espers standing behind Jake were in the overall E rankings. There were some stronger espers within the older classes, but they seemed to be adopting a wait-and-see approach. Such espers often lived much longer than their hasty peers.
The students at the tables closest to the fight backed off, leaving a large open space in the front of the cafeteria where Ed was. Jake continued to grow until he reached the ceiling. He forcefully broke through it as he grew over 10 meters tall. Burning debris and dust fell to the floor. The fire began to spread to the nearby tables and walls, increasing Jake's strength even further.
Two of the three espers behind Jake began to activate their powers as well. Two of them took a large step forward and aimed their fist outwards. The surrounding flames covered both of them. Each threw a kick at the same time and the flames shot towards Ed.
'How disappointing.' Ed sighed to himself. These two were using a mix of martial arts combined with ordinary fire powers. Ordinary control of an element was by far the most common power amongst espers. They had no special distinguishing traits that set them apart from others. Perhaps if they had a cultivation technique then they'd become strong anyways. Controlling an element would be scary if the esper had enough mana for fine control or large attacks.
The flames soon reached him, and he didn't even bother to dodge. He used his own mana to shift the flames away from him. A large part of the reason Ed's power got an S versatility ranking was because his power worked on literally everything. 'Easier than I thought. I usually have a hard time manipulating things filled with mana. Especially other esper's mana. Is this really the best esper academy in America? It's almost depressing.'
"AGHHH!!!" Jake screamed as he slammed down with two gigantic fists. Most of his torso was above the broken ceiling, so his fists crashed through the rest of the ceiling as a result. The collapsing debris revealed the sunny blue sky above. The surrounding students had backed off into the corners now. Some created barriers to protect their fellow students from the damage.
Any of the debris that fell towards Ed was simply melted away. He aimed two fists towards his opponents. High-pressure water shot out as he moved his arms from left to right. The jets of water cut horizontally towards Jake and the others.
"Humph!" The third esper amongst them snorted. He shoved two hands into the ground and a large rocky wall rose from the ground. It blocked the water while taking a good chunk of damage itself.
'That wall is upper C grade defense. The earth element excels at defense. Well, enough messing around.' Flames shot from Ed's feet and lifted him up in the air. He simply ignored the three espers on the ground as he headed for Jake's giant body.
"DIE!!!" Jake screamed as the fire from all over his body began to swirl around himself like a tornado. Large wisps of flame broke off the tornado and slammed towards Ed.
"So weak." Ed shook his head. He easily shifted the flames slightly so that they all missed. He couldn't take control of them completely since they were full of Jake's mana, but shifting them slightly was a cakewalk. 'Those that don't cultivate have such crude control of their mana. I'm a bit insulted that Nexus puts Jake's offense in the same category as mine. I suppose the flames are as strong as mine, but they can't even touch me.'
He got close to Jake and fired two streams of high-pressure water. The flames withered like brittle chalk in front of his might.
"AGHH!!" Two large cuts appeared in an X shape across Jake's chest as he screamed. Blood poured out and was burned away by his own flames
'Mm. Good'. Ed nodded to himself. 'I'm glad his defense can withstand that. It makes the rest easier since I don't have to worry about accidentally killing him.' He began to fly around Jake in all directions as he fired more water. The three espers on the ground threw chunks of rock and flame towards him, but all of it was easily dodged. Jake tried increasing the defensive flames on his body, but it was useless in front of the high-pressure water. He swung his arms wildly as he tried swatting Ed to the ground, but he was too slow.
'Time for the grand finish. Let's see... He burned my face. It's only fair I return the payment with interest.'
The many wounds on Jake's body wore him out. His body shrank as the flames wore down. Soon, he was only 4 meters tall.
Ed blasted forward. He used no mana-powder this time and formed his fist into a claw shape. Relying only on the brute force of his mutant flesh limbs, he slammed his right fist into Jake's right eye. He clawed it out as he yanked his arm backwards.
"AGHHH!!!" Jake immediately lost control of his powers and shrank down to his normal height of 2 meters tall. He rolled around in pain from the missing eye.
"It's gone forever." Ed smiled as he threw it on the ground and squished it with his foot. Flames blasted from his foot, incinerating the eyeball to ash. Not even Ms. Willow would be able to restore it. Not unless she could find every piece of ash that made up the eye.
"BASTARD!" The three other espers charged over without fear. Flames and rock surrounding them.
"Damn nobodies." Ed frowned as he waved an arm. A single jet of water cut across the three espers, sending them all crashing to the ground. 'Tsk. Almost killed them even after holding back on the mana.'
He walked towards Jake and stepped on his face. "OY!!! GET UP!!!"
"Ugh!" Jake grunted as he glared angrily at him.
"What's wrong? Aren't you the one that's going to destroy the nightmares? Where'd all that strength go? Didn't you take pride in being above the rest?"
"Bastard!" Jake grunted as he ground his teeth in frustration. "How did you get this strong?!"
"Simple." Ed replied. "I lived on the edge of death. I've fought mutants, espers, and nightmares. I've been in life and death situations constantly. How can you little plants in this greenhouse be compared to me?"
"YOU THINK I HAVEN'T DONE THE SAME?!" Jake screamed in rage. "I've gone mutant hunting! I've gone esper hunting! I fought the Lightning Nightmare!"
"Oh." Ed nodded. "True. I did see you at the nightmare attack and I suppose the Hunter Association keeps you busy. Well, there are plenty of reasons I'm better than you." He pressed down a bit harder with his foot. "One, I had my 2nd awakening."
"2nd awakening?" Jake questioned in a muffled voice as his head was pressed harder into the ground.
"Right." He nodded as he began to reform one of his arms. A metal blade slipped out from the top of his arm. "Not surprising you don't know what it is. They keep you guys in such ignorance over here." He lifted his now sharp arm high in the sky and slammed down with all his might towards Jake's body.
"AGHHH!!! YOU FUCKING BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOU!" Jake screamed as he squirmed against the ground.
"Sorry about that. Left my good knife at home. This one's a bit crude. Anyways, the 2nd reason is cultivation. Again, not something I'd expect you to know about. I got quite lucky with that one." He lifted his arm up again and slammed down near Jake's right shoulder. Blood spurted out as he punctured a hole through the shoulder.
Jake's screams rang out once again. Tears appeared in his eyes. "Stop." He muttered quietly. "Please just stop."
"The third and biggest reason is our company. You continue floundering around in this small pond and think yourself the biggest fish in it. I became a small fish in the vast oceans, but that small fish is much bigger than you." He slammed down a final time. The third hole he made completely severed Jake's right arm. By now, Jake voice had turned hoarse from all the screaming.
Ed bent down close to Jake's ear and whispered, "We're almost even now. I took your eye in exchange for the scar you gave me. I took your arm in exchange for the arm I lost because of you. Now I just need to collect interest for the arm. Tell me. What do you want to lose?" He took turns gently pointing at Jake's other arm, legs, eye, and other parts of the body. "I'm giving you the freedom to choose. What will it be?"
"Bastard." Jake's voice was so low that it could barely be heard. "Go to hell."
"Mm. Guess I'll choose for you. You know, I theorize the state of the human body affects the 2nd awakening drastically. I wonder what kind of power you'll awaken if you're completely blind? Of course, that's assuming you have a 2nd awakening someday."
Jake's eyes widened in fear. He was about to protest, but it was too late. Ed's hand came crashing down and pulled out the other eye. Jake screamed as Ed tossed it to the side next to the severed arm.
"With that, we're even. I was going to kill you, but we aren't really enemies, are we? We both want to destroy the nightmares after all."
Jake was slowly beginning to fade into unconsciousness. He struggled to whisper, "I'll get revenge!"
"Haha!" Ed laughed aloud. "What was it you told me back then? I wanted to motivate you. To get revenge on me you'd have to surpass me. I have no plans of letting you catch up to me. I'll return those words to you now, but the difference is you'll never catch me. I'll just keep getting farther and farther ahead of you. Maybe I'll let you play the role of my pawn when I get around to killing the nightmares someday."
Ed stood up and walked towards the severed limb and eyeball. He shot flames from his foot once again and both body parts were disintegrated to ash. He even shot some wind to spread the ashes far apart. This ensured that Ms. Willow couldn't recover the body parts. He looked at the rest of the students in the cafeteria. Most stared back at him with fear in their eyes. 'Most of them are still newbies.' He sighed while shaking his head. 'All of the stronger and more experienced ones have already graduated and entered the Hunter Association as full members. This is far too easy.'
"I apologize for that ugly display you all had to witness." Ed activated his powers and used it to melt away the blood that covered his fist. Tiny solid pellets of blood clanged against the floor as he did so. "Jake and I had a bit of a personal grudge. It's his fault I use an artificial limb for my arm and that I have a scarred face."
The students remained silent as he spoke. 'I'm running out of time...' He slowly looked over each student's face. "Anyone else willing to join? As you can see, I offer far better opportunities for strength than the academy does. I'm willing to tell you information they won't. Things such as 2nd awakenings, cultivation, and more."
"What's cultivation?" One of the braver students stood forward and asked. Everyone had heard those parts of the conversation during the fight.
"It's a Chinese method of increasing the amount of mana within the body and learning to better control it. I can't pass out that method at this time, but I have plans to get my hands on cultivation methods I can share with Harmony."
"Where's Jarrod?!" Another voice rang out. It was Liz, the young childhood friend of Jarrod that had tried stopping him from leaving the academy. A short girl with her blond hair cut in an ugly bowl shape.
"Jarrod?" Ed frowned. It took him a moment to remember the relationship between this girl and Jarrod. "He's dead."
"What?!" She replied in shock.
"Dead." He replied again. He thought to himself, 'His body probably got eaten by a mutant and became shit a long time ago. Maybe he's fertilized a tree by now. Better than he deserves. The fucking bastard.' He couldn't just yell that out though. Forge had a reputation to maintain, and he had already damaged it a bit when torturing Jake.
Tears poured from Liz's eyes. "How did he die?!" She sobbed aloud.
Another girl stepped forward and placed a hand on Liz's shoulder to comfort her. She had violet eyes and hair. It was Relm, the princess from London. She frowned. "Isn't it about time you leave? Clearly no one else wants to join you."
'Hmm. Relm Highborn.' Ed stared back at the young woman. 'I don't like her. Anything that interferes with my control of my powers pisses me off.' He forced himself to speak pleasantly, "And what about you Princess? Europe enslaves their espers in mass. The royal family of England had to send you here just to protect you from their enemies. Why not join me? We can clean up Europe together someday."
"Humph!" Relm snorted in disdain. "As if I'd fall for your sweet words. I am of royal birth and am fully loyal to the crown. I trust they will make the right decisions in regard to me."
"Naive." Ed shook his head while refusing to argue. He didn't truly want her to join anyways and was just keeping up appearances.
"Is that really true?" Dexter interrupted. "You really enslave espers over there?"
A complicated look appeared in Relm's eyes and she nodded. "What he said earlier is true. Europe is ruled by ordinary men and the espers only exist to serve as their slaves."
"Wow! That's messed up!" Dexter replied in shock. He looked towards Ed. "I'll admit that your offer was tempting, but I'm not joining. Your technology shouldn't be as advanced as Europe's, so I have no incentive to join. Even if you are going to go to Europe, I won't. I've got no desire to be captured by some crazy slavers just to learn some new tech."
"You're merely the Hunter Association's slave right now. Is that really any different?" Ed questioned. "Join me and I can give you power. I've acquired some European tech and am more than happy to let you take a look. You'll regret missing this opportunity."
"I'm not joining!" Dexter frowned while shaking his head.
'Damn!' Ed ground his teeth in frustration. None of the other espers seemed to want to join either. 'I didn't expect to successfully recruit many of them, but Dexter is the most important piece by far!'
"I'll join." A 2-meter-tall black teenager stepped forward. His body was well-built with strong muscle visible everywhere. His eyes and short hair were an unusual shade of silver.
'Who is that?' Ed wondered while staring at the unfamiliar boy. 'There's no mention of him in the book from World Walker, so he must be one of the new espers from the Lightning Nightmare attack.
Suddenly, a portal appeared in front of Ed and World Walker stepped through it. He was covered in sweat and dirt. "I couldn't hold on any longer. We need to leave immediately!"
Ed glanced at Dexter one more time and sighed, 'Friends or not, I'll do what I must. I can't kill him now due to upkeeping my image, but I need to assassinate him as soon as I can. He's too much of a threat to my plans.' Others might not understand the true worth of Dexter's powers, but he did. He had studied the technology of the past with his father while growing up. Dexter's powers could recreate large chunks of that technology on a case-by-case basis. It wouldn't be enough to change the world, but it would be a huge asset in a battle between two opposing forces.
Ed looked at Husky, Flair, and the unfamiliar teenager. "Let's go." He nodded towards them. The trio walked towards the portal with World Walker.
Suddenly, a purple domain spread out to cover them. "I hereby declare that there shall be no teleportation within my domain. Let it be law!"
The portal disappeared in front of them, leaving the group surrounded by the students on one side and the teachers rushing towards them from outside.
"FUCK!" Ed yelled in rage while glaring at Relm.