After about a ten-minute break, Talia clapped her hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Let’s resume. Akim and Zesty, you should go sit at one of the tables. I will come in a bit.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

“Y-Yes.” Zesty and Akim sat down at one of the tables a few meters from the rest point, waiting for Talia to give the instructions.

Meanwhile, Talia looked over at Sanya, Ellen, and Ashia. “So, what are you going to do?”

Ellen put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes. “Maybe play around with my ability. Or calculus. I dunno.”

Ashia gave Ellen a sideways glance and tilted her head. ‘Calculus? Why?’

“...Fine. And what about little miss?” For some reason, Talia slowly nodded upon hearing Ellen’s answer. She then turned toward Ashia and prompted her for an answer.

“Eh? Ah, I will also train my ability I think.” She joined the session because of her brother, so she had not put a lot of thought into it. Still, she was quite young, meaning that she had lived with her ability only for a short time. She knew it of course, but her control of it was nowhere near perfect.

Talia grinned and pointed to the somehow bored Ellen. “If that's the case, you should ask Ellen for advice. Between me, an abilityless person, and a S-ranked the one most qualified is obvious.”

“Eh? S rank?? Big sister is amazing!” Ashia immediately faced Ellen, who was standing still, eyes sparkling. She took a few steps in her direction and looked up at her in curiosity. Ellen faced away with a blush. Getting this girl’s attention all of sudden was a bit too much for her.

She scratched her cheek and nodded. “...Yes, I’m an S-ranked. My ability allows me to teleport things around me. You just saw it, right?”

“S rank...Woah.” Ashia continued to look up at Ellen, making her unable to look directly at her. But, she still pointed at one of the tables.

“Want to continue there..?”

“Yeah, let’s do this!”

Sanya and Talia watched them going in silent. Sanya then turned to her lover. “What was that just now?”

Talia crossed her arms with a teasing grin. “I believe that Ellen has a thing for Ashia.”

“Eh? Really?” Sanya raised her eyebrows in surprise. She didn’t expect this answer. However, remembering Ellen’s interactions with the other little girl, it would make some kind of sense.

They waited a moment and observed the two kids talking at the table. Talia finally turned to Sanya. “What about you?”

“Me? Mmh, I kind of want to move my body a bit.” Sanya touched the tip of her lips while thinking.

Talia nodded as she understood. “How about running around the property? That would be a good start to build up stamina.”

Sanya agreed, but she still looked in Akim’s direction. “I don’t know if I can…”

In response, Talia turned toward Akim. “Hey, Akim. Can Sanya go outside and run a few laps around the house?”

“Huh? Ah, yes of course. Go on. If someone asks you who you are, just tell them you are my friend. Same if you need anything.”

Sanya smiled and tied her hair into a ponytail. “Thanks. I will go then.”

She began to start walking toward the door under the gaze of Talia. The blue-haired girl’s eyes were glued to the fresh hairstyle of her girlfriend. A shade of red was slightly visible on her cheeks while caressing her own hair.

“...Talia.” A few seconds later, a voice woke her up. Talia looked at Zesty who came up to her. She gave one final glance at Sanya, before bringing all her attention on Zesty.

“Yeah?”

“...It’s just that we don’t know what to do about this mind training.”

“Ah, yeah. Let’s get down to it.” The two girls and the boy went to sit at a table not far from the two little girls. Akim and Zesty were facing each other, while Talia was on the side. The two pupils were looking at the teacher.

Talia closed her eyes for several seconds, before opening them. It seemed she was organizing her thoughts. “As I said before, Akim’s training will definitely put a toll on his mental state as it will go on. You might be fine now, but after some sessions, you will start to feel powerless. Fear and lack of confidence will take over, making you unable to continue.”

Akim grimaced upon hearing those words. It would be lying to say he was confident that he would never break. However, Talia's plan had this covered.

She pointed at her head. “That's the reason you why need to train. The more you train your mental fortitude, the less likely you are to panic and fail under the pressure. Your concentration will also peak due to a cool mind. This is almost mandatory for someone willing to become strong. Otherwise, you will just be a hot-blooded brawler.”

Akim nodded after frowning. He still asked one final question. “How do we do this?”

Zesty also looked from the side, waiting impatiently.

“The beginning will be the most important part. First, Zesty will connect her mind with yours. She will then send signals to your current thoughts. Then, I want you, Akim, to empty your mind and focus on those signals, to understand their nature and the link between you and Zesty.”

“...” Akim was frozen. Signals? Link? It felt like a foreign language for him. However, Zesty had not the same reaction.

“I see. So, we need to start from there.”

“Huh? You understood what she just said?”

Zesty tilted her head, slightly confused. “Yes…? I mean, my ability is based on minds, so, this is an everyday thing for me… “

Akim was gasping in shock. His knowledge of abilities was limited to his family and school. It went without saying that he was not so familiar with the aspect of having an ability.

Talia was internally relieved after hearing those words. As a Grand Master magician, her mind was trained far more than an average human. Still, this was just a secondary consequence. Compared to someone well-versed in minds, her knowledge was shallow.

It seemed that Zesty was not using her ability solely on instinct. She was aware of the steps behind it and had at least a vague understanding of the theory. Thus, Talia could hold a conversation with her on the subject.

“Glad to hear this. I will let you take over for now, Zesty. Call me if there is either any problem or if you are done with this step.”

“U-Um, understood…” Zesty stiffened before slowly nodding. She then turned toward Akim and gathered her courage to start this training session.

Talia smiled and stood up and left the two of them to train. However, she didn’t go far as she went to see how the two little girls were doing. The moment she arrived near them, she narrowed her eyes in wonder. “What are you doing?”

Ellen was teleporting between three different chairs, while Ashia was pointing at one of them with a big smile. Each time Ashia’s finger changed its target, Ellen moved by teleporting onto the corresponding chair. When they noticed Talia, their movements stopped and Ashia grinned. “It’s such fun! She is moving around so fast!”

Talia’s eyes then met Ellen’s. The little girl was blushing while behaving like a domesticated puppy. ‘Is she too embarrassed to resist Ashia’s demands. It’s kind of understandable if she has a crush on her.’

Talia sighed and put a hand on Ellen’s head and faced Ashia. “More importantly, were you not supposed to train your ability?”

“Ah, yes. I forgot...Did you come to see how we were doing? Are you sure it’s fine to leave my brother with this Zesty alone?” Ashia still had some reluctance to leave her dear brother alone face-to-face with a girl of his age. Even more so with a girl that had such assets at her disposal. She was still young, but she was already aware of the mindset of boys of her age.

However, Talia brushed it off. “It’s fine, it’s fine. Zesty is a lot more amazing than she may seem. Don’t underestimate her. Anyways, can I see how you train your ability?”

“Euh, yes I guess. If big sister Ellen is fine with it.”

“‘Big sister Ellen’...” Ellen blushed a shade redder. Still, she sat up and cleared her throat.

“Fine for me. I also have a question for you Talia after.”

“Oh? Ok. Now then, what is your ability, Ashia?”

Ashia tilted her head with a frown. She thought for a moment before mumbling something. “Hmh, rank D Sound Wave Amplification I think.”

“You think?“ The question came from Talia.

Ashia groaned while cutely tilting her head. Her silver brand of hair swayed in the process. “The name is a bit difficult and I don't really understand what it means. Even after father and mother tried to explain to me, I still find it hard to understand what I can do.”

The number of abilities was as big as there were humans on earth, minus those with colorful hair of course. Each child had to pay a visit to a branch of the government specialized in defining the nature of their ability. This way, their ability would be classified and this would prevent people from roaming around without a registered ability.

Talia put her hand on her chin. “From the name, I guess you can kind of amplify the intensity of a wave in the air or something along these lines.”

Ashia’s expression beamed as she pointed toward Talia. “Yes, Yes! That’s it. This is how they told me about it. But, for me I just use my ability without thinking. I usually train it just by singing or talking.”

“Uhm, I see. Can you do a demonstration, please?” Talia’s knowledge about how abilities worked was quite limited due to her status as an abilityless human. However, she had seen her load of strange powers, so it was not like she was of no use.

Ashia nodded and took a deep breath with her eyes closed, her mouth slightly opened. Talia’s pupils shrank in size as her senses were focusing on detecting the variations in the air. Almost immediately, something happened. A high-pitched noise began to resonate. From Talia’s point of view, Ashia was producing a very light sound wave with her vocal cords. After it propagated a bit in the air, the intensity was amplified through some certain means. ‘This is...I think I understand.’

The sound stopped shortly after and Ashia looked up at Talia. The blue-haired girl hummed before speaking up. “I think your ability is not too complicated to understand if I got it right.”

“Is that so...?” Ashia was in fact a bit interested in Talia’s opinion on it. If she could get someone to simply explain the logic behind it, this would help.

Meanwhile, Ellen had her head on her hand, watching the conversation from a bystander’s place. Still, her attention was at its highest peak. It concerned this girl’s ability after all.

Tallia began her explanation. “I don’t know how you see it, but I think your ability amplifies the sound pressure. I will not enter into details, but basically the intensity of a sound wave is dependent on its speed and its pressure. So, either you increase the speed or the pressure to vary the intensity. As I have not felt a variation in the speed of your voice, I would more lean on the pressure. This is the case if your ability follows the laws of physics of course. I already saw some abilities that were more than borderline on this aspect…”

Talia narrowed her eyes and glanced at Ellen. The little girl picked up the meaning and frowned with a pout. “How rude! My ability follows every law! I currently work on trying to demonstrate the logic behind it using maths!”

Talia grinned and leaned her body forward to get her eyes at the same level as Ellen’s. “Oh, how amazing!... Did you perchance determined where the energy necessary for one teleportation of yours comes from?”

Ellen flinched with cold sweat on her back. She averted her glance to avoid Talia’s eyes. It was with a lot of difficulties that she answered back. “...I might indeed have some trouble in regard to this. But! This is a common problem for everybody! Nobody knows where the energy powering the abilities comes from.”

Ellen’s flushed red in frustration. As a researcher herself, being unable to explain such a fundamental point made her sometimes quite frustrated. Well, she was not the only one in this situation.

Talia stopped smiling and thought a bit for herself. ‘Unless they discover how the world truly works, they will never solve this problem…’

She straightened up and petted Ellen’s head with a kind smile. “One day, gamine. One day.”

“Gamine...?” Ellen tilted her head to this foreign word. ( Note: 'gamine' means young girl in french but in a really familiar way )

“Anyways.”

Talia turned back to the perplexed Ashia. “Can you amplify a mechanical wave in another medium than gas, like liquid or solid?”

In response, Ashia shook her head a few times. “I can’t do that. Only air.”

‘Only air...That’s quite interesting. It seems a lot of abilities have limitations through certain forms. Her ability is ranked D and can only be used in gas, while Ellen is S-ranked and has close to no restraint. So, one of the criteria of an ability evaluation could be the range of use of it. Well, moving on. Let’s give her a hand.’

“Your ability is indeed useful and easy to use, but there is a big flaw. It’s a double-edged sword. A sound wave can be used as a weapon by simply amplifying the intensity. However, if your enemy is close or you can’t control the dispersion of the wave then you will take the hit. One of the first steps for you should be to master the control of it. If you can narrow the zone where the sound is amplified, it should reduce the probability of self-harming. If you need some tips don’t hesitate to ask as I might be able to help. However, Ellen would do better than me regarding how to use your ability. Understood?”

Ashia narrowed her eyes with a growl before looking up at Ellen with a neutral face. She nodded and replied to Talia. “Thanks. I will do so.”

“Good. I will then see how Akim and Zesty are doing.”

“Wait, Talia!” Just as Talia was about to go in her classmates’ direction, Ellen stopped her. The blue-haired girl slightly turned. When she saw the look inside the little girl’s eyes, her sight became sharper. The air felt a tad chillier.

Ellen didn’t flinch, in fact she took a deep intake of air. Her mindset abruptly changed as she faced Talia. She opened her mouth. “Would you be up...for a little game?”

Silence stalled for a moment. Ashia was only an onlooker, but she was still able to feel something was going on. She dared to look at Talia for her reply. However, the thin smile that suddenly crept on the teenage girl made her blood run cold.

Ellen’s heart skipped upon seeing this smile. Regardless, she also curved her lips up.

The blue devil kept her grin as she answered the initial question. “Sure.”

/----/

* w *

Sanya stopped her legs and leaned forward, her hands on her legs as she was taking deep breaths. She then wiped the sweat tinkling from her face with the back of her hand. The bell around her neck was tingling with the movement. After resting for a bit, she began to walk on the path before her. Her curious eyes looked at the scenery that she had already seen a few times as she was running around the mansion.

Many trees and plants were decorating the surrounding. The colorful leaves were shining under the light from the sun. Sanya had been running on a paved road that circled around for more than twenty minutes now.

‘The property is so big that they were even able to make a walking path…'

She continued to walk for a bit and arrived at an open area on the side of the front of the mansion. She had already passed here some time ago. However, this time something caught her attention. “Who is this?”

Sitting on the grass with his legs crossed and his eyes closed was a middle-aged man. Sanya had already seen some of the personnel of the mansion as she was running, but this man was certainly different from them. First, his casual purple shirt and brown pants, clearly not practical clothes for labor work. Then there was also the fact that he was leisurely in the middle of the garden. Just like it was his own.

‘Could it be...Akim’s father?’ Sanya made her way closer, allowing her to have a look at the individual’s features. With a single glance, she was practically sure that it was indeed Akim’s father. The impressive build and face were too similar. Still, the man had a dignified air around him, something that Akim was still lacking.

Sanya was about ten meters from him. Suddenly she heard a soft sigh coming from his mouth. She immediately stopped all movement. A tickling sensation spread at the base of her neck. She could not help but have a bad intuition.

A few seconds passed. Sanya squinted her eyes as orange flickers began to fly around the man. It lasted until a massive mass of shining fire was circulating with Akim’s father as the center. Sanya opened her eyes wide in surprise. ‘Amazing! Akim’s father’s ability is fire-oriented! And this amount...Depending on how he controls it he has to be at least B-rank.’

The three-meter thick tornado of flames started to change shape. Soon later, it took a more peculiar form.

“A wolf?” Sanya looked with a frown at the wolf-morphed flames in front of her. The flames had taken the form of a two-meter tall wolf. If Talia had been here, she would have compared it to summoning magic or elemental familiar conjuration. Without the magic part of course.

The head of the fire wolf turned in Sanya’s direction upon hearing her words, plumes of flames waving like it was its fur fluttering in the air. Despite the flames, the vegetation was strangely not harmed. The lack of distinct features made it impossible to read its emotions, if it even had any to begin with. Still, Sanya flinched back in response. She began to pour Radiant Energy inside the bell just in case.

However, this was an unnecessary fear.

“Disperse.” With a tone of voice that could hardly go deeper, the man stood up and made the fire wolf disappear. His firm pupils landed on Sanya as he brushed off the grass of his pants.

“I don’t believe we have met before. Who might you be, young lady?” The man walked up to her until he was about two meters away from Sanya. She slightly panicked before giving an answer.

“M-My name is Sanya Cliff. I’m a friend of Akim.”

The man touched his beard with a pensive face. “Akim’s friend...Been a while since I saw one of his friends.”

Sanya tilted her head upon hearing those words. Was there some kind of special meaning behind those. However, before she was able to ask more, the man snorted with a calm small smile on his lips. “My apologies. I have yet to introduce myself. I’m Akim’s father, Adel Aym.”

“So, you are really Akim’s father…” Adel just nodded in response. He then looked at Sanya’s from the toes to the top of her head, like he was evaluating her. The young lass was not entirely sure what to do. She was already accustomed to being observed by a higher entity, so this simple gaze was nothing.

“You were running around the mansion, then you stumbled upon me who started his ability training. Am I correct?” Sanya’s head went up and down a few times in response.

Adel exhaled and scratched his head. He proceeded by turning to look at the flourishing garden in front of him. “I finally finished all the important work that had piled up this week. I took the opportunity to exercise a bit to relax. However, I forgot to greet my son’s guests.”

Sanya relaxed after hearing those words. Adel’s presence was certainly really impressive, but he also seemed polite and not a bad person at that. Sanya waved her hands with a smile. “It’s fine, we know that you might be busy. It should be us who are sorry. We used your mansion without asking.”

Adel glanced in the direction of the said mansion. “...Well technically speaking, that’s my wife’s mansion. She is the one who designed it and supervised its construction. Apparently, esthetics is not my forte.”

“...Is that so.” A first look at him was not enough to tell this, but after closer inspection there were some details that made it hard to link this house to him. First of all, his clothes, despite being of good quality, were really simple. Another detail was the watch on his wrist. The obviously old object looked no more different from what could be found in a general store. Nothing too fancy here, or at least backing the image of a big company CEO.

Sanya didn’t know what to say more as an awkward silence fell between the young girl and the grown-up man. Adel looked at the time. “Maybe I should go see my children and the rest of their friends.”

He began to walk in the direction of a nearby french door without waiting for Sanya to respond. She naturally followed him while thinking about her first impression of Adel. At first, he seemed like a calm middle-aged man despite his impressive build. However, Sanya knew that she could not judge someone only on their outward appearance. Otherwise, Talia would only be some harmless little girl.

Adel had built such an important company by himself. What was needed to do such a feat was more than mere talent and leadership skills. In Sanya’s opinion, Adel was more than just what he was showing.

The unusual duo made their way to the training room. Adel turned the doorknob to enter. However, the scene that greeted them was...