9 The Big 4

For someone like Clint who was supposedly a leader of a gang, his house actually looked quite decent.

Even if it was located in the slums, Alex could see that it was made up of materials sturdier compared to the materials used to make the other houses.

Even the way that the house was built was carefully planned, with each of its structures seemingly on their perfect position.

"Whoever made this house deserves to get a good pay." Alex said as he and Clint arrived in front of his house.

"Daddy!" An unmistakable cheery voice could be heard by Alex coming from inside the house.

Clint, who was looking like a terrifying debt collector earlier, was now wearing an ear-splitting grin as he ran towards his house.

The gate swung open, and a little girl came out, heading straight towards Clint.

"Daddy!" The little girl squealed in laughter as Clint enveloped her in a tight hug.

"Your daddy just disappeared for an hour, yet you already miss him?" Clint said as he continued wearing that foolish smile on his face.

Clint then dug out something from the bag on his back, which turned out to be a stun gun.

"Daddy just bought this stun gun for you!" Clint said, ignoring the shocked expression on Alex's face. "You can use that to stun those that you do not like!"

"Yay! I will use this on big bro!" The little girl said as she rushed back to the house.

Alex then saw a small figure running away from the little girl.

This small figure was a male, and judging from the way that he looked, he's obviously older than the little girl.

"Hehe big bro, come taste this new toy of mine!" The little girl said as he brandished the stun gun towards her big bro's location. "Just let yourself be hit!"

"No way!" The small figure, who was the big bro, shouted as he ran back to the house. "I am not like Dad, who's happy getting electrocuted by Mom! If you want to stun someone, then use it on Dad!"

"I won't do that! I love Daddy! He gives me these toys!" The little girl declared as pursued her big bro inside the house.

"… Did you just give your daughter an effing stun gun?" Alex asked as he and Asteria could only stare blankly at the event that transpired. "And you are even letting her use it on her brother?"

"Well… like mother, like daughter you know." Clint sheepishly said as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Both of them loves electrocuting stuff… so I have no choice but to comply."

"Hmph, this Clint just likes getting electrocuted by his wife! He's the greatest pervert here!" Asteria said as she let out a hopeless sigh. "I thought this guy and his family will be a decent one… It will be better if they are just cardboard characters…"

"Wait, but how about your son?" Alex said as the chase between the little girl and her big bro continued. "Isn't it unfair for him to get hurt?"

"Oh, do not worry about him." Clint said as he went through the gate. "Both me and my son have ways to resist electricity, so we have no qualms getting shocked like that."

"Is that a hint of your Esper Ability?" Alex asked as he went through the gate too. "Don't tell me that your Esper Ability is controlling Electricity and Magnetism?"

"Your answer is actually just 1/4th correct." Clint said as he gave Alex a smug smile.

"How could my answer be 1/4th correct?" Alex said as he tilted his head. "I mean, can an answer even be 1/4th correct?"

"Well before I answer that question of yours, let me ask you something too." Clint said as he looked at Alex.

"Do you know the Four Fundamental Forces of the Universe?"

"Of course I know about that." Alex said as he enumerated what he knew.

"The first one is the Gravitational Force. It is the attractive force between objects, as long as they have mass. It is also the weakest force, but it has an infinite range. It is a fundamental part of the Universe since gravity is what holds most of the things together in the Universe. "

"The second one is the Electromagnetic Force. This force affects everything with electrical charge, which produces magnetic and electrical effects. It is long-ranged, but its power is less than the Strong Nuclear Force. My Esper Ability, EM Manipulation, can be said to be derived from this force."

"The third one is the Weak Nuclear Force. It was called weak, since it deals with very weak interactions, like radioactive decay. This force has a very short range, and it deals with stuff like conversion of a proton into a neutron(This phenomena is called the Beta Decay)."

"Last and not the least is the Strong Nuclear Force. Just like what its name says, it is extremely strong. In fact, this is the strongest amongst all the Fundamental Forces. However, it also the one with the shortest range. This force is responsible for holding the nuclei of atoms together. But basically speaking, it was the gluons that carry this force."

"Hohoho… it seems like you have a great knowledge in physics!" Clint said as he gave Alex a slow clap. "Now that you have said those things, have you already realized why your answer is only 1/4th correct?"

"Don't tell me…" Alex's eyes widened in shock as he managed to piece together the clues that Clint left for him. "Don't tell me that your ability is the manipulation of the Four Fundamental Forces?"

"Bullseye." Clint said as he gave Alex a wink. "That is indeed my Esper Ability. As long as an object is within my Range, they will succumb quickly under my power!"

"That is so broken!" Alex shouted as he took some deep breaths to calm himself down. "Even if I do not have your ability, I can already imagine all the stuff you can do. Hell, you can even destroy this planet just by using your Gravity Manipulation!"

"That's right." Clint smugly said as he opened the door of his house. He looked back at Alex, who was still shaken by Clint's revelation. "What, are you coming in or not?"

"Tell me…" Alex suddenly muttered as he stared directly at Clint. "Are you one of the strongest Espers in the world?"

"Well technically speaking, I am the 3rd strongest Esper in the world." Clint said as he ignored the pointed look given to him by his wife.

"What? There are two Espers that are stronger than you?" Alex said as he shook his head to clear up his mind. "Is their Mental Power greater than yours?"

"Nope. My Mental Power is just similar to the Mental Power of #1 and #2." Clint said as he leaned back on the doorframe. "The only reason they are more powerful than me is because their Esper Abilities are more ridiculous than mine."

"Hah? What ability can even outmatch yours?" Alex said as he tilted his head in confusion.

"I promise you, there are abilities like that." Clint said as he opened the door wider. "Come, my wife is serving dinner. It will be bad if you miss the food."

But to Clint's surprise, he suddenly saw Alex dashing towards him, only stopping when he was right in front of him.

Alex then kowtowed in front of Clint, with his head touching the ground.

"Please, teach me, Master!" Alex shamelessly said as he continued on kowtowing in front of Clint. "You have the ability to manipulate Electromagnetic Force, so you are the best teacher that I can have! Please teach me!"

"...….." To Alex's dismay, he only received a silent stare from Clint. Alex was about to give up and leave the place when Clint suddenly said,

"Why do you want to get stronger? Why are you in a rush?"

"I… I have to do it, or else I will die." Alex truthfully said, as he decided to not lie.

"Hmph, you are speaking the truth… but your reasoning is unacceptable to me." Clint said as he turned around, with his back facing Alex. "No matter what happens, everyone will still die. Even if I teach you, your death will still be inevitable in the future."

"....." Alex dared to not speak back as he just listened intently to Clint.

"But… I can sense that you are not a wicked person and that you have a quick wit. One week!" Clint shouted as he gave a narrow stare at Alex. "I will teach you for one week starting tomorrow. It will only depend on your effort and your skills if you will learn a lot within that one week!"

"Thank you, master!" Alex said as he did not dare to stand up right now.

"Ugh, stop calling me master, ok?" Clint said as he pulled Alex up. "You are my friend, so just call me Clint. However… during my lessons, you must treat me with respect, or else, you will get the prime treatment of my wife."

Alex ignored this weird shift in Clint's tone as he nodded rapidly like a chick pecking on grains.

"Ok, now that we have fixed that up, its time for some dinner." Clint said as he dragged Alex with him.

Asteria, who was still sitting at Alex's shoulder, could only snort aloud as she told Alex,

"It's good that you followed my advice to make this Clint your master. With him as your guide for a week, your chance of completing the mission will be much higher compared to before!"

Alex's only reply to this was a grateful look to Asteria. Upon seeing this, Asteria's reply was,

"Make sure that I will get 10 jars of high-quality honey tomorrow! I will not forgive you if you mess that up!"

"....."

****************

"Are you still in your right mind, Clint?" Natasha said to her husband as she washed the dishes.

They just finished eating dinner, and her daughter and son were at their respective rooms, sleeping peacefully already.

As for Alex, he was provided the attic as his room and right now, Alex was busy cleaning that attic.

"What do you mean wifey?" Clint shot back as he cleaned the dining table.

"What do I mean?" Natasha glanced at the direction of the attic, before her head swiveled back at Clint as she said,

"You just told about your Esper Ability to a complete stranger! You have done your best to keep your identity as the 3rd Strongest Esper a secret. But why did you tell about your secret at that stranger? Not only that, but you also agreed to be his teacher for a week!"

"But… he is not a stranger!" Clint said as he looked at the attic with desperation. "Look at his face! He looks just like-"

"Your student is already dead 2 years ago, Clint." Natasha said as she gave Clint a leveled stare. "Even if that guy looks like your former student, he is still not him! I mean, even their Esper Abilities are not similar!"

"...…." Clint's only response to this was to stay silent as he looked down on the floor with a weary expression.

"I've… always wondered." Clint suddenly said after he stayed quiet for a minute. "What if I listened to my student's request before? What if I joined him going at his home? Will he still be alive today?"

"There are no ifs in like, Clint." Natasha said as she hugged Clint from behind. "What's done is already done."

"Natasha… please…" Clint gave his wife a pleading look as he leaned his forehead into her forehead. "Just let me do this…"

"Fine…" Natasha mumbled as she broke up the hug. "But if that guy turns out to be an Intruder, you will be the one to kill him! Do you understand that?"

"Yes Mam!" Clint said as he bounced up with a delighted expression on his face.

"Oh, and let me remind you one thing too." Natasha said as she locked the front door of the house. "I knew that you knocked me out earlier, so as a punishment, there will be no sexy time for a week. Use all that pent-up testosterone of yours to train that Alex guy. Hehehe, there is no way that he can endure a 'starved' person like you."

"Nooo!!!"