Mr. Sai's training

Homeroom ended, and another teacher entered. He was a scrawny old man with puffy gray hair, appearing to be of Indian descent. "Hello class, I'll be your theory teacher. You may call me Mr. Ardy." He set a brown briefcase down on his desk. "Unlike most teachers here, I am an ordinary human being. I've had a passion for studying espers ever since you first started appearing 50 years ago. A lot has changed since then, and we've come to better understand the esper phenomenon over the years."

"Now..." Mr. Ardy opened his brief case and took out several round objects. Each one had a mixture of different colors. They looked like rainbow-colored marbles. "Does anyone know what these are?"

An Asian girl at the back of the class rose her hand. She had perfectly straight hair that was half black and half white. Her dark black eyes glimmered with excitement for knowledge. She had a slim build and appeared to be about 1.65 meters tall. "Those are mana-cores. They come from mutant's heads when we kill them. They're crystals composed of highly-concentrated mana. Only some mutants have them, and they vary heavily in quality based on the density of mana present. Stronger mutants typically drop better mana-cores."

"Correct. Good answer, Yuki." Mr. Ardy handed a mana-core to a student. "Go ahead and pass that around the class. As Yuki stated, only some mutants drop these. Why did mutants appear? Why do humans gain powers and become espers? Why do nightmares exist? The common consensus is due to the energy known as mana. It appeared in our world 50 years ago. Through studying the mutants and espers, the scientific community has come to a number of important conclusions."

The mana-core reached Ed rather quickly, since he was in the front row. He rubbed its perfectly smooth surface. He could feel the concentrated mana inside but had no way to absorb it. He passed it to the student behind him.

Mr. Ardy continued speaking, "One of the earliest major discoveries regarding mana was the mana-core. Every single esper has one in their head, while only some mutants have them. It took several years of research, but we confirmed that all espers already had a mana-core before awakening. However, most humans do not have a mana-core. Therefore, a human must meet two criteria to become an esper. The first is a mana-core. The second is an extreme emotion that causes their power to awaken."

"Then why are there mutants without them?" A student interrupted.

"I was just getting to that." Mr. Ardy continued. "Mutants without a mana-core have bodies filled with mana. Their bodies are extremely resilient and often contain unique powers. This makes them hard to differentiate with mutants that do have a mana-core. It took a while, but we discovered that mutants with a mana-core are the only ones that can use long-distance attacks. Ordinary mutants can only use their physical strength in close combat. Over several decades now, most research has been focused on how mutants grow in strength."

Mr. Ardy drank from a bottle of water. He then began to draw a diagram on the chalkboard. A sketch of an ordinary mutant and a mutant with a mana-core appeared on the board. "Mutants without a mana-core absorb mana into their body. Mana exists in a gaseous state within the body. Stronger mutants condense the mana into a liquid. Then they condense it again into a solid. This allows the body to absorb more mana and become stronger. Mutants with a mana-core train their bodies the same way. However, they also absorb mana into their mana-core. The mana-core grows and becomes denser. The scariest mutants are those with a strong mana-core."

"Why should we care about this?" Jake interrupted. "What does any of this matter? We should be learning how to kill mutants. Not wasting time on stupid theories!"

"Haha!" Mr. Ardy laughed. "It is foolish to not desire knowledge! There is a reason I'm explaining all of this." Mr. Ardy drew a human on the chalkboard. "Humans who have awakened as espers are weak at the beginning. This is true for every esper. Most realize very quickly that they can absorb mana to grow their powers stronger. Most espers in the early days didn't realize that they were just growing their mana-core larger! This is the exact same thing as what mutants with a mana-core do! Based on this idea, espers started absorbing mana into their bodies by copying ordinary mutants. It was through this method that we discovered that espers can gain bodies just as strong as the mutants!"

Mr. Ardy gave a smug look towards Jake, "Do you see why we need to research these things? Today, almost all research is still dedicated to studying ordinary mutants. It is believed that we may be able to discover a way for ordinary humans to train their bodies as well! If we can succeed, then we may be able to take back the vast wastelands from the mutants!"

The class continued to drag on. Basically, espers should absorb and condense mana into both their body and mana-core. This will allow both their body and power to grow stronger. Occasionally, other theories would be brought up, and the strengths and weaknesses of the theory would be discussed. Most of the students showed little interest in these theories.

The class ended, and Mr. Ardy left. Mr. Sai returned to the class. "Okay kids. We're doing gym class next. Follow me."

Mr. Sai led the class to a large field. "The best way to absorb mana is by physically exhausting the body first." He made a serious face, "From now on, all of you will be doing the same workout routine during gym class. 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10-kilometer run! Every single day!!!"

"Teacher! That's way too much!" Several students complained.

"Oh?" Mr. Sai grinned. "I was worried some of you may not have wanted to do the exercise. Don't worry. I am an understanding teacher that respects his students." He raised a fist to his chest. "Fortunately, I prepared alternative training for those that don't want to stick to my routine." He pointed to an empty spot. "Those that do not wish to train may stand over there."

Half of the twenty students walked to the empty spot. Ed chose to participate in the training. He glanced at Jake. 'I've got to get strong. I don't want to let others walk over me anymore! I don't want to be blackmailed into doing the government's dirty work! I want to work on my steam tech and be free! I want to find a way to recover my arm and become a mech pilot!'

Jake returned Ed's glare and yelled, "What?! Still pissed off at me? Don't expect me to apologize-"

"Okay! Time to start!" Mr. Sai yelled, interrupting Jake in the process. The 10 students began doing the exercises.

"Huff! Huff!" Ed was already exhausted after three sit-ups. He couldn't even do the push-ups since his one arm was too weak. 'Gotta keep going! Get stronger! No one will stand in my way again!'

He turned to look at Jake and his eyes widened. Jake was doing one-handed push-ups effortlessly while occasionally switching arms. Even more shocking was the girl, Yuki. She was doing one-finger push-ups!

Most of the class struggled heavily with the push-ups, sit-ups, and squats. Then came the 10-kilometer run. "Huff! Huff!" Ed walked while sweat poured down his body. He had barely managed to jog for half a kilometer before slowing down to a walk. 'I always sucked at gym. This is awful. I need to invent flying shoes. Running sucks!'

Jake easily jogged at a steady pace for the entire 10 kilometers. Yuki sprinted the entire 10 kilometers! Ed stared at her in shock, 'Is she even human?! Oh, wait. She's an esper. Maybe she's just trained already?'

Ed finished 2nd last amongst the students. He was only faster than a fat boy. He waited for the fat boy at the finish line.

"Huff! Huff!" The fatty breathed heavily. "Thanks for waiting for me. You're Ed, right?"

Ed nodded. The fatty was even shorter than him. He had short blond hair and blue eyes. His fat wobbled as he walked. He looked like he weighed around 300 lbs.

The fatty smiled, "I use my hunter name now. You can call me husky!"

'Husky?' Ed thought to himself. 'Does his power involve dogs or something?'

The duo walked towards the rest of the students that finished. Six of them were crowding around Jake and Yuki. The two appeared to be arguing.

Jake pointed at Yuki. "You must have already trained as an esper before coming here! Don't think you're better than me! I'll surpass you in no time!"

Yuki frowned, "I didn't train as an esper before coming here. I just gained my powers a week ago, loser. I already trained my body before my powers awoke."

"Lies!" Jake yelled, "How could a girl be that strong before becoming an esper! I'm not falling for it! I'll beat you. Just watch!" He turned around and headed back to the classroom.

"What's his deal?" Husky questioned. "Hey Ed, that's the guy that made you lose your arm, right? Is he crazy or something?"

"He is, but…" Ed shook his head. "He wasn't like this before. He was an ordinary school bully. He's always been strong, but that's all. He was never popular, nor did he care what other people thought. It's weird to see him react that way to somebody else. Maybe he likes Yuki or something?"

"Mm." Husky nodded. "A lot of espers have personality changes when they awaken. I've read about it before. The books never clarified why but based on what we've learned in class so far, I'm guessing it's due to what he experienced when he awoke his powers." Husky began walking towards the classroom.

Ed stood still for a moment, deep in thought. 'I never thought about it before, but what did Jake experience to awaken his powers? He awoke during the Flame Nightmare attack just like me… I wonder what happened?'

Ed returned to the class and sat down. The nine other students that ran were with him. A few minutes later, the door opened. The ten students that skipped training stumbled through the door. They were pale and walked like zombies. Two of them were folding their arms to their chest while shaking.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Jake questioned.

One of the students shook their head. "It was awful. Never opt out of the training!" The student sat down and stared blankly into the air, seemingly lost in whatever terror they had just experienced. Several students tried asking the terrified students what had happened, but none of them answered. They all seemed lost in their fear.

"Idiots." Yuki shook her head. "To opt out of my father's training. You all must have had a death wish."

'Eh? She was Mr. Sai's daughter? Oh, well she is Asian. Seems obvious in hindsight.' Ed turned to look at Yuki. "Do you know what they went through then?"

"I might." She smiled. "Since this was their first offense, he probably went easy on them. My guess is he took all ten of them to the moon to play for a bit."

"The moon?!" Husky gasped in shock. "How could that even be possible?"

"Humph!" Yuki snorted. "Don't underestimate my father. He's the strongest man in the world!" Her eyes gleamed with respect, but also revealed a slight hint of fear. "As for his other punishments… The moon seems like paradise in comparison."

Husky gulped in fear. "I... I'll… I'll definitely never skip his training!"

"It's not that simple." She sighed while shaking her head. "He'll increase the requirements on the class in the future. Anyone that doesn't meet the cut will be given hellish punishment training by him…" Her body trembled. "Do you know why my powers awoke? He's been training me since I was a child, pushing me to limits ordinary humans shouldn't be able to reach. But I was never good enough. The training kept growing harsher. Last week, I finally awoke my powers from a combination of the stress and the Flame Nightmare attack."

"Sounds like domestic abuse to me." Ed blurted out without thinking.

"Shut up!" Yuki glared at him, her voice hoarse, "You have no right to criticize my father! You have no idea how hard he works or how many lives he's saved. He is a great man! You should be thankful to even be in the same room as him!"

'Eh? Isn't it obviously parental abuse? Why does she defend him after being driven so hard that she awoke her powers?' Ed sat there in confusion. "Does she have Stockholm Syndrome?"

"What the hell did you just say?!" She stood up and screamed.

'Eh? Did I just speak my thoughts aloud? Shit. I always speak without thinking. Well… whatever. It's not like I'm wrong.' He sighed, "Isn't it true though? It's none of my business, but it seems like a messed-up family relationship to me."

"You!" Yuki's face turned red from anger. Her black and white hair started to lightly float in the air as if she was going to attack!

"Shut up already!" Jake yelled "We get it! You're a daddy's girl. Nobody cares!".

Yuki turned towards Jake. "You!" Her face turned even redder. A mix of white and black snow began to form around her.

Bam! The door to the classroom swung open as Mr. Sai walked in. "Okay class. I got your assignments for your electives."

Yuki quickly settled down and sat in her seat, acting as if nothing happened. Mr. Sai was busy looking at the papers and didn't even notice.

"Come up and grab your paper when I call your name. It will provide information about your elective and where to go for it. Three of you are in the invention elective. Three in the support elective. 14 in the combat elective." Mr. Sai began to call names and hand out the papers.