Ch 45 – Secret Esper Division

Inside a white room that looks similar to an office with the black metallic desk, minimalistic design, the overbearing silence, and more, but it does not belong to any office, it belongs to an office straight out of science fiction from the holographic displays on the walls, floating metallic cubes in the corner of the room drape in shadows, the metallic sheen encapsulating the whole room like a cold snake.

And sitting within that very room was Freidrich Braun with his scorch black hair, his crimson eyes staring at the man in front of him with calm, stoic eyes, his legs plastered to the ground to show his calm attitude, his back slumped to the back of the comfortable office chair he was sitting on as if nothing was wrong.

While the man in front of him looks at him with an intrigued stare. His slick black hair has gray strands all around it, a black pair of glasses covering his eyes but the wrinkles of time still show through the cover, his black suit giving him a foreboding presence that demands respect and authority, a powerful figure is what you would perhaps think of when looking at him at a first glance.

"Freidrich Braun," the man said, his eyes darting to the holographic tablet lying on the table below him, glancing at it, Braun sees his files, data, information, nearly everything about him that was gathered by Zenith Academy was stored and showed in that tablet.

"Yes?" Braun responds, leaning forward while putting both of his hands on his lap, a small smile appears on his face bringing a sense of calm and tranquility to the tense air around them.

"Tell me, how did you suddenly gain your esper abilities out of nowhere? What do you estimate your level to be? What do you think is your current limit and future potential?" the man asks, a small smile also appearing on his face to ease Braun's potential nervousness, but it seems like he doesn't need to considering Braun's lax attitude.

"Well, it all happened at exactly 6:58 am. It was a fine morning, I went for an early jog at the park and did the usual activities to keep my body healthy. But the mystery starts when I finally went home, I sat down on my old crappy couch, sorry for the cursing, it just became a habit all of a sudden, but yes, I sat down on the couch like normal, then I stood up to make breakfast, then bam, my mind suddenly became dizzy and if you were to look at the electrical readings at that time, there should have been a constant fluctuations of up and down, it was due to the lights inside the living room suddenly flicker on and off, then I woke up 2 days later which was today at 7 am and now here I am," Braun responds with crystal clear clarity, showing what happened in the recent events in detail that allowed the man to know Braun's memory was enhanced, a clear sign he is perhaps a Level 1 esper already.

"Go on," the man said as Braun nods his head.

"Then strange things start to happen, my confidence went up, my brain power something became big brains squared, and all kind of cool things. It's like meditation but more… potent if you will. As for my current level? I believe it should be Level 1," Braun said causing the man to raise his eyebrow.

"And why do you think you're Level 1? You have clearly shown Level 3 Telekinesis and Pyrokinesis last time, so why do you think that way?" the man asks, a smile appearing on his face to show his curiosity was piqued.

"Well, I must explain, you know I'm a genius, right?" Braun asks causing the man to chuckle.

"Yes, I know you're a genius, perhaps even smarter than most of your class,"

"But that was when I was Level 0, while everyone else was Level 1 or 2, some were even Level 3 or 4. Now, what does that mean? I was able to contend in the battle of minds with people who has their mind modified due to their high level, so clearly, my natural talent is much higher than theirs. So I theorized that I can exert Level 3 strength while my brain is only Level 1 in processing power," Braun explains as the man leans forward on his table, leaning his chin over both of his arms raised to the air.

"And why do you think you only have Level 1 processing power when you can clearly exert Level 3 abilities? We all know processing power equals might around here, so how are you able to exert Level 3 with a Level 1 brain?" the man asks, intrigued at what Braun is going to say.

"It's because of how my ability works. For me, it works by knowledge and understanding, so for Pyrokinesis, I basically copied how Amber used her ability to replicate Level 3 feats and strength as my knowledge compensated for my processing power. It's like how a brain processes objects in our everyday life like it has precognition, I already know it before and could just basically copy and paste those actions like copy-pasting a series of codes to do the exact same actions," Braun explains while a small orb of crimson flames appears at the tip of his right index finger pointed to the sky.

"Hmm, so you're basically a copycat?"

"Indeed, you can say I'm a copycat. As for the current limits, I estimate I can only have up to 5 abilities at any time as of now, I already compiled a set of limits and restrictions inside this drive so you could look it up yourself considering it's pretty hard to explain on the spot," Braun said while digging for his pockets and taking out a flash drive, giving it to the man, Braun watches him insert it into his tablet and a series of files opened right in front of them floating in the air above the tablet.

"Ability, Lucky 5, quite a good name, can copy up to 5 abilities at the same time, and the knowledge is stored in the brain like muscle memory. The limit is 5 due to how much the brain could process at any single moment, it could become damaged from sensory overload, information overload, and more which is very dangerous for the holder Freidrich Braun. But the holder can replace any current ability with a new one and store the already gathered knowledge in a part of the brain to use it again later, but the longer an ability is left unused, the weaker it will get due to the user losing knowledge over time along with the "mental muscle memory" fading away, it is estimated that a Level 1 would become 0 in a day, Level 2 in 3 days, a Level 3 ability will revert to Level 2 in a week, a Level 4 degrades in a month, and Level 5 degrades in a year. Hmm, you did your research quite thoroughly in just a day," the man said, impressed at Braun's diligence and secretly praising Braun more in his mind.

"But, if your ability is to copy other espers, how were you able to have telekinesis from the start?" the man asks.

"Well here comes the second, still theoretical, part of my ability. I believe that my ability to replicate other abilities is not just from knowledge, but also due to my telekinesis which might be something akin to Psychic Force Manipulation, which governs nearly any psychic abilities under my domain," Braun explains which further intrigued the man.

"Then, is your telekinesis a part of your Lucky 5? Or is it a separate ability of its own?" the man asks while rapidly reading the series of documents Braun gave him.

"Well, I already have 5 abilities already which are Space Manipulation, Pyrokinesis, Body Augmentation, Invisibility, and finally, Aerokinesis. And considering I still have my telekinesis," Braun said, and for demonstration, he points his finger at the metallic pellets on the black metallic desk the man was leaning on and controls it to float in the air. "It must mean my telekinesis is quite special."

"Okay, that's a lot to unpack but I get the general gist of it. But now, what do you think you can achieve in the future?" the man asks, a smirk donning on his face while leaning back on his chair.

"I believe I can become a King of Academy City," Braun said, the conviction in his eyes gleaming with resolve.

"Oh? And why do you think you could become a King?" the man asks, a small chuckle escaping his mouth.

"It's because I don't want to achieve it, I need to achieve it," Braun said, causing the man to look at him with intrigue, not for his power but for his reason.

"I can see it in your eyes… You're doing this for someone close to you isn't it?" the man said, his smirk widening while letting out a small sigh escape his mouth.

"Yes, this is for my… friend," Braun explains while a smile pops up on his face, a mix of emotions ranging from embarrassment, hope, resolve, uncertainty, and a mixture of chaotic, heartfelt emotions.

"Oh the joys of youth, I still remember when I was young like you. The world was chaotic, the new grand world of espers and supernatural, the people rioting for the ones gifted with the blessings of Academy City, envy, jealousy, whatever you would like to call it, everyone wanted to get a piece of that grand pie that we live in. But it was due to us that keeps America a great place, even though we're not number 1 anymore, I think that it's better for us overall, gone was the America numba 1 pride from the older generation, did you know? Guns were allowed to be bought by 18-year-olds before! How irresponsible was that! Tsk tsk tsk, America or US was fucking stupid!" the man said, going away from the original topic which he noticed, and coughing to ignore his previous antics.

"Eh herm, it seems like our interview has been quite productive Freidrich, I must say you're quite the likable boy with great potential. It was a nice time meeting you," the man said, standing up from his seat and walking behind Braun who also stood up.

"It was also nice meeting you, sir!" Braun said as the man chuckles and pats him on the back.

"Don't be so stiff around me, where's your lax attitude just moments ago?" the man said, a smug grin on his face causing Braun to chuckle and let his shoulders drop down, his calm returning back to his mind.

"Hehe, it was just so sudden that you stood up. But what was it like before all this? Before it was peaceful and under control?" Braun asks.

"Glad you ask! Well before, it was pretty normal, espers weren't that widespread and North and South America was divided. But after some hardships, America became one country and Academy City bloomed at full throttle. But our purpose, our goal is to keep America safe from those mindless espers who threaten to take away the people's peace and safety, bringing nothing but death, chaos, and destruction like animals of the wild," the man said, slipping his hand away from Braun's back and putting it inside his pocket.

"Well, I must say my congratulations for successfully joining the Secret Esper Division of Academy City, our newest member, Freidrich Braun, the… what do you want your code name to be?" the man said, taking out a card from his pocket that shows Braun's picture, name, a series of numbers, and more while a certain line was left unwritten.

"I would like to be called… Monarch," Braun said after a pause, a gleam escaping his eyes as the man lets out a loud, audible chuckle.

"Monarch, how fancy. Well, welcome to the family, Monarch," the man said, giving Braun the card and a badge.

"I'm glad to join your ranks, Commander," Braun said, a grin appearing on his face while his mind remains cold and calculating.

'Finally infiltrated the SED, another way of having the city under my control if the other plans failed. But why stop at the city when you can have the whole world for yourself by being the king of the economic landscape.' Braun mutters in his mind, thousands of probabilities played out in his mind every constant second and the rule over the economic world starts with a certain family of Phoenix, for their rebirth looms near when certain cards are finally set on a chaotic table of probability, variables, precogs, luck manipulators and a clusterfuck of other bullcrap in the world dominated by crystalline entities under the control of humanity.

AN: This is 2164 words, you're welcome.

I'm going to be risky now by making grander plans and smarter actions, I've been nerfing him too much and now I want Braun to be a really smart character.

And considering he has millions of IQ in his trancsendent non-biological form and have tens of thousands of IQ in his mortal form, it should have been easy for him to have the whole world under him already in mere weeks or days even, but I'm fucking stupid okay! I'm no genius or a prodigy! I could confidently say I'm above average but smart? Nah bro, I'm mega dumb.

(June 9, 2022 – 197th day of writing)