A cascade of sleek, raven-black hair swayed, releasing a faint, pleasant fragrance. The ornate folding fan in her hand snapped shut with a soft click.
Kongou Mitsuko lightly tidied a few stray strands before standing up at the teacher's call and walking into the examination classroom.
Senior Kongou was the first. Natsume Sonoko, positioned right behind her, was naturally second in line.
The queue had grown quite a bit by now; seven or eight girls had already gathered behind Natsume Sonoko. The time was already eleven o'clock.
Sonoko craned her neck slightly to peer into the physical assessment classroom.
There were no obstructing curtains, and she could see Senior Kongou sitting across from the teacher, her fan held aloft.
A vague sense of unease tightened in Sonoko's chest, as if she was worried this senior might do something utterly bizarre or spout some very strange words.
But Natsume Sonoko's worries were unnecessary.
The senior merely used her fan to shield the lower part of her face and proceeded with the exam quite normally, finishing it in just two minutes as per the teacher's instructions.
Senior Kongou's test was rather interesting. The teacher actually brought out a small triangle and asked Kongou to use her ability to play a short melody.
The melody Kongou played was also very familiar to Sonoko—it was the most familiar sound of Tokiwadai's class bell.
As the chimes faded, it signaled that Natsume Sonoko's own assessment was about to begin.
Senior Kongou retrieved her medical form from the teacher and walked out of the classroom. Seeing the crowd of waiting students all looking at her, a look of triumphant pride instantly flashed across her face.
"Is this all there is to the physical exam? How disappointing. Were you all captivated by this lady's music?"
"..."
"Next."
The teacher's voice came from inside the classroom. Sonoko didn't have time to speak with Senior Kongou and hurriedly entered the room, noticing that the small triangle had already been put away by the teacher.
"Natsume Sonoko, first year. Ability: Temperature Control." The assessing teacher picked up Sonoko's medical form, then looked up at her sitting properly in the chair.
"Alright, Natsume-san, please lower the temperature of this cup of water. Iced water will suffice." The teacher filled a cup from a nearby water dispenser and smiled at Sonoko.
"Okay, no problem." Sonoko nodded to the teacher, glanced at the water cup, and the surface of the water very naturally began to freeze over.
Natsume Sonoko's test went smoothly, even a minute faster than Senior Kongou's.
However, by the time Sonoko left the classroom, Senior Kongou was already nowhere to be seen.
Checking the 'Passed' mark on her medical form, Sonoko headed straight for the sports ground.
The basic assessment for telekinetics felt more like a simple ability demonstration.
In fact, the remote operation evaluation for the telekinesis department was the real test that reflected an esper's level.
As long as an esper's ability met or exceeded the standard for a certain rating, their level could be raised accordingly.
Arriving at Tokiwadai's sports ground, Natsume Sonoko once again passed by the outdoor swimming pool.
It was still empty of the swimming club members, filled only with an array of testing machines and equipment. Guards were stationed near the pool entrance, seemingly not allowing unauthorized personnel inside.
"It's Misaka-senpai." Sonoko's eyes widened slightly.
Misaka-senpai was already standing in front of the pool, looking somewhat bored. Beside her were several stern-faced men and women, probably the specialized personnel responsible for testing Level 5s.
Misaka-senpai was casually tossing a few coin-like objects in her hand—these were naturally the projectiles for her Railgun.
"Ok, instruments are calibrated. Misaka Mikoto, you may begin the test." The lead researcher waved to Misaka and the others operating the equipment, signaling the start.
The area around the pool had been cordoned off. Sonoko could only watch the testing from a distance.
Boom.
A dazzling pillar of light streaked across the calm sky, blue-white electricity crackling above the swimming pool.
The sound of the blue-white beam impacting the water surface roared, like a sudden clap of thunder in broad daylight.
A massive water column, forty or fifty meters high, shot skyward. The powerful shockwave vibrated through almost half the campus.
Even cushioned by the water, the Railgun's projectile retained immense kinetic energy. Someone who had made only simple preparations and was quietly waiting to watch the Railgun fire was directly knocked to the ground by the vibrations.
Caught completely off-guard, Natsume Sonoko lost her grip on the small sapling she'd been holding onto and could only land on her bottom, feeling the persistent aftershocks. She struggled to get back up.
Boom.
Again, a huge water column erupted. Sonoko staggered and fell once more.
After eight consecutive massive impacts ended, and waiting another ten-plus seconds without hearing further impacts, Sonoko finally cautiously got to her feet, looking down at her pleated skirt now stained with dirt, feeling like she might cry.
"Recorded. Muzzle velocity: 1030 m/s. Rapid-fire capability: eight rounds per minute. Impact point distribution: 18.9mm. Comprehensive evaluation: Level 5."
The broadcast from the pool area echoed in the distance. Meanwhile, Sonoko was brushing the dust and dirt from her skirt.
"As expected of Misaka-senpai." Finally having dusted off most of the dirt and hearing Misaka-senpai's results, Sonoko couldn't help but feel a wave of admiration.
Especially the fact that Misaka-senpai's eight consecutive shots had an impact distribution of only 18.9 millimeters.
This level of precision, down to the millimeter, was the true mark of Misaka-senpai's dominance.
With Misaka-senpai's test concluding, Sonoko naturally hadn't forgotten her own remote operation test.
After all, today was the crucial moment for her promotion to Level 4.
Sonoko waved from afar to Misaka-senpai, who had just finished her test, and then headed first towards the changing rooms near the sports ground.
Activity on the sports ground required changing into Tokiwadai's gym uniforms, even for short assessments.
It had been the same a few days ago when she, Misaka-senpai, and Kuroko-san were pulling weeds near the field.
The Tokiwadai gym uniform was a sleeveless, round-necked shirt with red trim on the armholes, and a combination of round and V-neck red trim lines overlapping at the collar. The Tokiwadai emblem was on the left chest.
Sonoko's gym uniform was always stored in the school's changing room. After changing, she found a teacher to begin her ability assessment.
On the way, she spotted Kongou-senpai in the distance, engaged in a heated discussion with Kuroko-san. The atmosphere between the two didn't seem very good.
Thinking about it, it made sense. Kongou-senpai wasn't the easiest person to get along with, and Kuroko-san could be quite forceful on usual days.
It took five minutes to find the testing site. Sonoko arrived at a corner of the sports ground.
It was a straight, sandy track marked with a white starting line. Temperature detection targets were set up every twenty meters, with the farthest one being one hundred and forty meters from the start.
Computers were set up around, presumably connected to these large targets.
Simultaneously, there were numerous firefighting equipment and teachers holding fire extinguishers near this monitoring point, as if they weren't very confident in temperature-related ability users like Sonoko.
There was another student at the testing point, a Pyrokinesis user.
In fact, this site was probably originally built for Pyrokinesis users. Her own Temperature Control ability was just benefiting from sharing the facility with a related ability type.
Under Sonoko's amazed gaze, the other student was rubbing her hands in the air, producing a thirty-centimeter diameter ball of fire, and controlling it to hurtle towards the fourth target, but it landed just beside the mark.
Since it didn't deviate too far and landed on the sand, the flames quickly died down, leaving a charred mark on the ground. The teacher holding the fire extinguisher finally relaxed.
Although the previous student's results weren't ideal, it didn't shake Sonoko's confidence.
When Sonoko handed over her medical form, the several teachers visibly sighed in relief. At least she wasn't a potentially hazardous Pyrokinesis user.
"Natsume Sonoko-san, we'll begin with the first step."
"Use your ability to affect these detection targets as much as possible. Once you reach your limit, maintain the temperature of the farthest target you can reach at fifty degrees Celsius." A teacher nearby instructed Sonoko to begin the remote detection test.
"Mhm." Sonoko nodded to the teachers.
Sonoko didn't need assistive hand movements like the previous Pyrokinesis user; she just seemed to stand there dumbly.
Under the teachers' puzzled gazes, the first temperature target began receiving and feeding back data, followed quickly by the second, the third, the fourth, all the way until the fifth target.
One teacher, wearing simple protective gear and holding a handheld thermometer, hurried over to the area near the fifth target, marking a white line at the farthest point where the temperature change was detected.
The first test was complete, but Sonoko's assessment wasn't over yet.
At the teacher's request, Sonoko began exerting her ability at full power on the nearest target, whether to heat it up or cool it down.
The temperature around the target began rising at an extremely rapid pace, as if the very air was becoming scorched.
The surrounding temperature also started to increase. Waves of heat assaulted the people standing around, and sweat began pouring down uncontrollably.
"So hot!" someone among the teachers couldn't help but cry out.
"That's enough, Natsume Sonoko-san, you may conclude the test." The assessing teacher, while enduring the intense heat, carefully monitored the data changes on the computer.
Seeing the curve begin to plateau and the peak value confirmed, he promptly called an end to Sonoko's test.
Truthfully, the remote operation evaluation only tested a few intuitive aspects of the ability, merely to determine the esper's proficiency level, as this wasn't a professional research institute.
"Finally, it's over." Several teachers had the feeling of having survived a catastrophe.
Just being on the periphery of the ability's effect, the temperature around them had nearly reached over fifty degrees Celsius.
Sonoko withdrew her ability, a trace of nervousness about her results appearing on her face, but there were no signs of her having been affected by the high temperatures.
The more Sonoko used her ability at full strength, the more she maintained her body's surface thermoregulatory layer.
'Is it Level 4? I'm a bit nervous.' Sonoko's heartbeat quickened.
"Recorded. Temperature control effective range: 103.56 meters. Maximum temperature alteration: 101.33 degrees Celsius. Temperature deviation: 6.51 degrees Celsius. Comprehensive evaluation: Level 4."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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If you guys wanna check it out.