Chapter 8 I“m a Mad Scientist, Sunnavab.i.+.c.h!
Clint continued to talk to Alex as he answered all of Alex"s question, especially the questions related to the Espers.
According to Clint, the power of the Espers were ranked based on the amount of their Range and their Mental Power.
Once an Esper"s Range was around 1 meter in radius, they will be considered to be a Tier 1 Esper.
Subsequent increase of the Range by 1 meter will increase the number of tiers by 1.
That means that an Esper with a Range of meters will be declared as a Tier 10 Esper.
Alex, at his current state, could be considered to be a Tier 10 Esper.
The only way for Espers to increase their Tiers was by increasing their Mental Power, as this is the only way to increase their Range.
However, Clint noted that once the Range of an Esper reaches 1 kilometer, their designation will change.
Instead of Tiers, Espers with at least a kilometer in their Range will be ranked with Stars.
An Esper with a Range of 1 kilometer will be called a 1 Star Esper, while an Esper with a Range of 10 kilometers will be called a 10 Star Esper, and so on and so forth.
According to Clint, the amount of Star Espers in the world could be counted by hand. That just shows the difficulty of becoming a Star Esper.
Tier Espers like Alex and the majority of the population will have to train arduously if they want to reach that level.
"Hey, is it possible for a Star Esper to be defeated by a Tier Esper?" Alex asked as he looked at Clint intently.
"It is possible. It happened a few times before already." Clint said as he let out a deep breath.
"Eh really? I thought Star Espers will have their advantage because of their superior Range and power?" Alex tilted his head as he drank the bottle of water beside him.
"Range and power are only parts that can make an Esper powerful." Clint said as he stood up from his seat.
"You must know that even the type of the Esper Ability is also important!"
"Oh, I see your point." Alex said as he digested what Clint had told him. "So you mean that some of the Tier Espers have very powerful Esper Abilities that allowed them to win against some Star Espers?"
"That"s right." Clint nodded as he gave Alex some examples.
"For example, there was a Tier Esper whose power is Cryokinesis(Manipulating cold). He fought against a Star Esper whose power is Hydrokinesis(Water manipulation). It is pretty obvious who won amongst the two, right?"
"It"s definitely the Cryokinetic Tier Esper." Alex said as he tapped his fingers against the table. "Even if the Star Esper has far superior Range and power, his Hydrokinesis was unfortunately weak against Cryokinesis."
"That"s exactly what happened." Clint said as he rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Even if your mental power is weaker than your opponent, as long as you use your power ingeniously, you will still have a chance to win!"
"I like this kind of battles…" Alex thought to himself as he let out an excited smile.
When Alex came to this world earlier, he thought that he had to reach the peak of his power if he wanted to survive here.
But it looks like Alex has to rely more on his wits!
Of course Alex will still have to increase his Mental Power, but he knew that his more important priority right now was to perfect his EM Manipulation.
"Oh, it seems like you are wanting to fight…" Clint mumbled to himself as he sized Alex up. "Alex, I recommend that you research ways on how to use your Esper Ability. That is the best way for you to improve your abilities."
"Agreed."
But before Clint and Alex could talk more, the door of the lab suddenly opened, and in came a short-haired woman wearing a labcoat.
Her features were comparable to that of a person living at a cold place.
Pale, white skin, light blonde hair, blue eyes, and rosy lips. This woman was a definition of ice-cold beauty, and the indifferent look in her eyes just exemplified that look.
"Clint, it seems like you are having some fun talking with that guy." The woman said as she slowly approached the terrified Clint. "You told me that you will follow me to our house after a minute. But 30 minutes have already pa.s.sed by!"
"Ah Natasha, just like what I told you earlier, this friend of mine had awakened his Esper Ability earlier." Clint hurriedly said, as if he was afraid of his wife. "I just got held up because I had to explain some things to him."
"Oh?" Natasha raised her eyebrows towards her husband before she looked at Alex by herself.
Her bright blue eyes seemed to be boring right into Alex"s mind as she just stared at him intently.
"So you got electrocuted huh. You"re lucky that you are still alive." Natasha said as she suddenly started roving her hands all over Alex"s body.
"He-hey!" Alex started to panic as he gave Clint an apologetic look, but Clint did not look angry at all. It was as if what Natasha was doing was just the norm.
"Hmm… None of your muscles have atrophied because of the electric shock. And from the way you looked right now, you seem to have no internal injuries too." Natasha mumbled to herself as she finished her "inspection".
"All in all, your Esper Awakening had zero side effects." Natasha declared as she let go of Alex. "Congratulations, you are the first one to awaken through electrocution without any negative side-effects."
"…." This statement of Natasha made Alex realize that he successfully averted a possible tragic fate with the helmet.
"Can I know how the WEO awakens their Esper?" Alex asked as he looked at the helmet with twitching eyes. "I reckon its way different from electrocution."
"From what I know, their Espers will be awakened by exposing those Espers to some kind of signal that will light up the portions of their brain related to Esper power." Natasha said as she idly played with the helmet on her hands.
"I am trying to mimic that phenomenon, but instead of using that signal, I am using electrical current."
"Maybe I am the only one thinking of this, but isn"t using electricity really dangerous?" Alex said as he looked at the helmet with trepidation. "Putting thousands of volts into people"s brains is not really that good…"
"But you just experienced that process right now Alex, and you even awakened your Esper Ability." Natasha said as a manic glow appeared in her eyes.
"Alex, your existence right now just confirms that my efforts on Awakening by electrocution is actually worth it!"
"Now I understand why this Natasha was expelled from her old lab." Asteria off-handedly said as she leaned her back on Alex"s neck. "She looks like a mad scientist."
"She"s a mad scientist indeed." Alex thought as he saw something more with Natasha"s appearance.
Her eyes had eyebags below them, and her skin actually looked paler than normal. It was quite easy to a.s.sume that she had countless sleepless nights doing G.o.d-knows-what.
Clint seemed to have noticed it too, as he gave Natasha a worried look.
"Wifey, you look extremely tired now. I think you should better rest already."
"No." Natasha stubbornly replied as she hugged the helmet tightly. "I need to observe Alex"s body in order to see how he was able to go through the process unscathed. I can use that data from that to improve this helmet. Maybe I can even perfect it now…"
"Oh well, that does not sound well to me…" Asteria said as she gave Alex a panicking look. "Alex, I think you should go and leave now. The way that Natasha looked at you makes me remember about those hamsters used in experiments."
"Its white mice, not hamsters!" Alex thought wearily as he stood up.
No matter how kind Clint was to him, Alex will not allow himself to be experimented upon.
But Alex realized that he does need to leave anymore, as Clint suddenly made a surprising move.
His body disappeared, and before Alex knew it, Clint was already behind Natasha.
Clint then poked a spot behind Natasha"s neck which led to Natasha suddenly closing her eyes and her body becoming limp.
Clint caught the unconscious Natasha as he gave Alex an a.s.suring look.
"Alex, do not be surprised with what I did." Clint said as he hoisted Natasha over his shoulders.
"My wife sometimes gets so engrossed in her work that she stops sleeping for countless nights. Of course, as her husband, I am not allowing her to stay that way."
"So when you see that your wife is about to reach a breaking point due to her lack of sleep, you will personally knock her out?" Alex said as he looked at the sleeping Natasha dubiously.
"Well, as long as my wife stays sane and healthy, then I am willing to do something like this." Clint said as his eyes turned dim. "Besides, there is no way for me to stop Natasha from doing her experiments. It"s like her second life already…"
"...….." Alex chose not to comment on that statement, as he realized that he was about to go into the area of marital issues.
"So, where are you planning to go now?" Clint said as he adjusted Natasha"s position on his shoulders. "If you have nowhere to go, then maybe you can stay in my house first."
"Well, I would love to, but your wife…" Alex hesitantly said as he looked at Natasha. "I am afraid she will do something weird against me."
"Oh, do not worry about her." Clint said as he gave Alex a comforting smile. "As long as my wife is near our daughter, she will behave herself."
"You have a daughter?" Alex exclaimed as he looked at the tattooed body of Clint.
"Huh? Are you thinking that my daughter is a tattooed freak like me? h.e.l.l no!" Clint said as he glared at Alex.
"My daughter is an angel! She"s pure and innocent, and she is the joy of my family!"
"Blergh." Asteria made some gagging sounds as she could not contain the fluffy atmosphere being emitted by Clint. "Its like I am seeing a c.o.c.kroach wearing cute clothes!"
"So, will you stay at our house for now?" Clint asked Alex as he gave him an a.s.suring smile. "If you want, you can just stay there for tonight. If you want to leave, then you can do so tomorrow. But if you want to continue your stay, then we will gladly accept it."
"Well if it is just one night, then I agree." Alex said as he ignored Asteria"s indignation.
"Great choice my friend!" Clint said as he swung his arm over Alex"s shoulders. "You will enjoy your stay there!"
"Hmph"! Asteria could only glare at Clint angrily as her spot on top of Alex"s shoulder was occupied by Clint"s arm. "We shall see if that daughter of yours really is an angel!"
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"Welcome, Tier 999 Esper, Alina." The hole, which Alex had pa.s.sed through earlier, suddenly spoke out a greeting as a masked woman wearing black clothes appeared.
If Alex was here, he will definitely recognize this woman as the black swordswoman who tried to kill him earlier!
This woman gave an indifferent nod as she said,
"I am chasing a Cla.s.s S Intruder right now, and according to my data, this city is the nearest location to the place where I saw the Intruder."
"So, Miss Alina is saying that the Intruder had somehow infiltrated this place?" The robotic voice sounded somewhat amused, as if it had real feelings.
"That Intruder managed to escape from me even when I was just in front of him. For that Intruder to infiltrate this city is highly possible." Alina coldly said from behind her mask.
Before the robotic voice could retort, Alina pulled out something from her pocket. This object was a black card, which glinted ominously in her grasp.
She then showed the black card to the hole as she said,
"With the authority bestowed to me by my Lord, I command you to put this city in a lockdown. Do not allow anything or anyone from entering or leaving this city. The lockdown will only end once I confirm that the Intruder is not here or when I kill him."
"It shall be done, Miss Alina." The voice said as Alina made her way towards the city.
Alina"s black clothes melded perfectly with the darkness of the tunnel, creating the sight of an a.s.sa.s.sin ready to claim her kill.