A slim, dirty blonde haired young lady stood behind Devon, awaiting a response. She was tall for a young adult, with silver eyes and thin lips.
"Hey Ella, yeah, I was just gonna head to the house. Are you going to go train with your dad today?" Devon answered. Ella had inherited her father's dual abilities, speed and lightning, but Devon knew the lightning training had not been going well for her.
"No training for me today, not after how long it took to fix my hair this morning!" Ella exclaimed.
"Did you wake up extra statically?" Devon poked fun at his friend's expense.
"I'll get it under control one of these days!" With a small zap, Ella shocked Devon's elbow, right on the funny bone.
"Ow! That was uncalled for!" Devon pretended to sulk while stifling a laugh, as Ella's hair had gone haywire from that small shock.
"Oh look, the powerless and the useless power!" James interrupted the duo. "Why don't you come by my place for some pointers sometime, Ella? My family could help you, and I could give you some one one one time, haha!"
"No, thanks, let's get going Devon. I'm coming over to say hi to your parents." Ella stated as she got ready to leave the room.
"What's the rush?" James shouted. A trail of ice left his feet and shot toward the door, creating a 2 inch thick wall of ice in front of the exit.
"Let us out! Devon shouted back, but another trail of ice made for his feet, as James froze him in place almost up to his knee.
"I could freeze more but it might kill you, how about backing off and letting Ella walk home with me instead of getting in the way?" James replied to Devon, a menacing smile on his face.
"Let him go and I'll come with you, just for today," Ella replied to James, watching Devon clutch at the ice wrapping his feet and lower legs, unable to find a breaking point.
"Fair enough," James replied. He cut off the trail leading to Devon. "He should thaw out a little aft-."
BZZZT! James started foaming at the mouth, then fell over. Ella removed were hand from the ice wall and concentrated on containing the current enveloped around her body. After a few moments, she regained control, and suppressed her ability back inside.
" I guess no one has taught you how to remove impurities from your ice," she glared at James," who is useless now?"
As James lost consciousness, the ice wall and trap around Devon's feet began to fade away, and soon Devon was free.
"No one has gone after him before, better be wary of payback," he eventually said to Ella.
"I'm not too worried," Ella stated as they left the room and headed down the hall toward the exit of the small school. "He hasn't gotten to the point of separating himself from his creations yet, so I can always send a jolt his way."
The two walked out of the school and into a bright, wooded town. San Antoni, previously the area of San Antonio, looked like a village from the seventeenth century, with a few changes. Most of the houses were log cabins or cottages, with roads and walkways surprisingly made of cement. While the tech era was at an end, a few things still remained, helped along with three hundred year old knowledge. There were stores built similarly to the houses, and even factories made with steel, thanks to steam engines. Making these engines for specific tasks was difficult, and given the fires needed to run them, only absolute necessities could run on steam. Trains were resurrected, and blacksmiths were also able to use steam engines for their foundries and smithing. There was talk of making a steam engine printing press, but as of late those were just rumors.
San Antoni had a population of roughly 25,000, nowhere near the size of the ancient city it sat over. Though small, the residents still thrived. The previous generations would use their abilities in any way that could benefit the city. Those with excellent hearing or other sharpened senses helped track food, and eventually stumbled over cattle to raise for food. Ice users would help butchers keep meat cold, or help create air conditioning for residents in their area alongside the few wind element users in the city. The extra strong would help haul logs in carts, and there were even a few who were highly intellectual who used their abilities to help plan the infrastructure and future of the city. Those with speed were messengers, and would run to the nearby cities as mail curriers. All in all, everyone helped in their specialized field.
Not everyone was able to pitch in however. More than half the city's population didn't have an ability. They worked the harder labor or mundane jobs, whatever they could find that needed bodies, such as janitors, scribes, concrete mixers, or saw mill employees. Those with abilities, at least here, didn't lose over them, and treated the powerless just as well as the powerful. Devon has heard that in other cities, the powerless were nothing better than slaves, with no chance of ever seeing a star stone or breaking free of their chains.
After a few minutes walking, Devon and Ella arrived at his place. Mark was outside, chopping wood to prepare a fire for dinner.
"Hey son, come give your old man a hand! Oh, hey Ella!" Market called out to the duo as they approached the house.
"Hi, Mr. Holder, does Mrs. Mia need a hand in the kitchen?" Ella replied as Devon took the axe from his father to begin chopping.
"I'm sure she would love the help Ella." Come on in," Mark replied as he retrieved the cut wood and entered the house.
"Hey, Devon, I only need about another five logs split, bring them in when you are done, then clean up for dinner," Mark said as he entered the house.
"Yessir,"Devon called out, and enthusiastically started chopping.