In the hushed stillness, the handler stood with the stoic grace of a sculpted statue. Her vacant eyes, devoid of emotion, pierced Tia deeply, as if attempting to decipher her very being.
As Tia's unease grew, the handler finally broke the silence, "You are one of us now. Prove your use, and you will find us more than accommodating."
A bitter thought flitted through Tia's mind, 'Loyalty, use? What a farce.' She remembered giving her everything to the witch council in her previous life, only to be discarded and betrayed.
"You are valuable. From a mere I-class latent Esper, you've evolved into a formidable mid-tier G-class. You can now take down entire enemy squads on your own."
'G-class, also known as squad level—the superhumans supposed to be strong enough to fight off entire squads of mundane enemies. That fits my current capabilities.' These classifications rang a bell, but she'd never bothered to place herself within them.
Tia pondered in silence, 'Above my G-class, there should be an F-class with powers strong enough to annihilate entire buildings.'
In the meantime, the woman continued. For the second time since their encounter, a hint of excitement and admiration tinged the handler's voice, "Since you have joined us, your power radiation has surged from 87 to 169 GODs."
Tia blinked, taken aback. "GODs?"
"Gotwell's Energy Degree," the handler explained, "quantifies a superhuman's power by their radiation levels. You possess a potential that even I, an Esper of the F-class, can only dream of. With your pace, you will reach the 300 GODs marking the limit of G-class soon, and enter F-class."
Tia's mind raced, 'She's an esper too? What could her abilities be?' Despite racking her brain, she couldn't recall ever witnessing the handler display any powers, the thought of not knowing the powers of her potential foe, unnerving her.
'The peak of F-class? Wouldn't that mean she could destroy an entire building with a wave of her hand? Could she be just bluffing to scare me?'
Beep!
<<<<<<>>>>>>
<<<<<<>>>>>>
"Rest up and resolve any matters with your cousin. We move in three days." The handler's words were crisp, leaving no room for debate. She turned away to walk towards the exit, her imposing silhouette gradually receding.
'Three days? That's workable.' Tia wasn't one to idly wait. Realizing that magic runes could enhance not just her Esper powers but also the energy bolts of her gun, she resolved to capitalize on this knowledge.
'I have witch points to spend, needed materials, and basic tools—everything I need. It is time to enchant my gun.' The embers of vengeance slightly blazed upon the thought, 'Every bit of strength will make my vengeance closer.'
The handler paused just as she was about to exit. "Don't delude yourself into thinking your emotions are hidden. Every facial twitch, each bead of sweat, and even the most minute change in your voice betray your thoughts and emotions."
Tia's exterior remained unflinching, but internally, turmoil raged. 'Does she know I am disloyal?!'
The handler continued, her voice seeping in a chilling undertone, "Seeking vengeance? For what? Killing the people you hated? Unlikely. Or perhaps you believe we were the ones who targeted you."
Her words grew colder and sharper. "Believe me, if we wanted you gone, you wouldn't be standing here. Your death would be useless for us, especially when you can't claim any inheritance due to your legal incapacity."
At last, the handler slipped out of the room, and the heavy thud of the doors signaled her exit, encapsulating Tia in a cocoon of silence and introspection.
'Then who was it?'
Wobbling, Tia got out of her bed, her pale, bare feet touching the sun-heated wooden floor. With an unsteady pace, she walked through her apartment, stopping in the living room, the table overflowing with her various tools.
She hated the dilemmas and schemes around her; she needed to relax.
'What is better than combining something useful with relaxation?'
In an elegant motion, her gun manifested in her grasp. With a resonant clink, she set it down on the table.
'The durasteel alloy the gun is made of isn't mana-conductive. I also can't dabble with its internals, as I have no clue how this thing even works. The last thing I need is to blow off my fingers.' Tia was a witch and an esper, not an engineer.
'Enchanting mana-non-conducive materials isn't very effective.'
Luckily, Tia already knew the solution to her problems.
With a soft chime, a finger-sized nugget, awash in a lavender hue, appeared gracefully in her palm.
'Rudite, a highly mana-conductive metal.'
(AN: You can find more of the information on the classes in the auxiliary chapter as I wanted to avoid info-dumping knowledge that should be common in the world for the MC.)