"See, when air heats up, it expands and becomes less dense. When it cools down, it contracts and gets denser."
"When air is less dense, it rises and creates a low-pressure zone. Denser air forms a high-pressure zone. Because of the pressure difference, air moves from high to low pressure areas, creating natural wind."
Sitting on the grassy field of the playground, Misaka-senpai still looked a bit downcast.
She stole a glance at Shirai-san, who was diligently pulling weeds, as she patiently explained these basic concepts to Sonoko Natsume, a first-year junior high student.
"Ohh, I see," Sonoko Natsume replied with earnest focus, listening carefully to Misaka-senpai's lesson.
She wasn't taking notes, but Sonoko felt this knowledge wasn't particularly difficult to grasp, even for a new middle school student like herself.
Concepts like thermal expansion and contraction or air circulation were already familiar to Sonoko.
She just hadn't considered applying them to ability development before.
Her main focus had always been on her specialty—Temperature Control. Manipulating the atmosphere should really be the domain of aerokinetics, after all.
'You have to learn to walk before you can run, right?' Sonoko quietly justified to herself.
Misaka-senpai was truly remarkable—someone who'd developed the Railgun using her own delicate hands.
Not only did she possess incredible calculation power, but her knowledge was also impressively broad.
As for developing her own Temperature Control ability, Sonoko had entertained some ideas before, though she'd never delved too deeply into them.
Sonoko briefly recalled the principles and knowledge Misaka-senpai had mentioned.
Her mind began accelerating, sparks of computational power flying inside her skull as she fully unleashed Sonoko Natsume's Personal Reality.
Before long, the surrounding temperature, which had been perfectly normal, suddenly became anything but.
Extreme heat and cold coexisted in alternating patches, causing the air around them to begin flowing in a distinct, patterned rhythm.
A satisfied smile touched Sonoko's lips as she watched the strong winds generated by the pressure difference blow the sweat from Shirai-san's face some distance away, without causing any major mishaps.
'Could I really double as an aerokinetic?'
It seemed many Level 5s could manage side specialties—apparently she had the talent for it too!!
With that thought, Sonoko's mind immediately began making creative leaps, playing with this new concept.
Around Sonoko's palm, high and low temperatures rapidly alternated as she used her ability to manipulate the air pressure nearby.
The difficulty felt similar to when she'd created that ice Gekota not long ago.
Soon, a miniature whirlwind gradually formed in Sonoko's hand. When she relaxed her focus slightly, the vortex dissipated, releasing a small wave of air that spilled outward in all directions.
After several attempts, Sonoko finally managed to maintain a stable small cyclone in her hand.
She blinked, her expression filled with the curiosity of someone discovering a new toy.
'Compared to pure Temperature Control, affecting air pressure through temperature changes uses much less energy. Just maintaining brief temperature shifts lets me achieve fascinating effects using pressure differentials,' Sonoko thought, tilting her head with a pleased expression.
'Winds, heed my call!'
Considering the temperature range she could currently control, as long as her calculation speed remained sufficiently fast, she could definitely create small whirlwinds by continuously altering the nearby air pressure.
Under these conditions, Sonoko could naturally control the whirlwind's movement direction too.
However, creating large-scale whirlwinds or even tornadoes—while fundamentally similar to generating a vortex in her hand—would require computational power thousands of times greater.
That would likely fry her brain instantly.
"Natsume-san, you're really quite clever," Misaka-senpai remarked with some admiration. She'd only offered a slight suggestion, yet Sonoko had grasped the concept so quickly and run with it.
"Not at all, I'm not really controlling it that well. I'm just experimenting with rapid temperature changes," Sonoko replied, a slightly embarrassed smile appearing on her face at Misaka-senpai's praise.
Now that she thought about it, Misaka-senpai was really quite nice.
Sonoko had merely mentioned in passing that she was worried about next week's regular assessment, hoping to be recognized as a Level 4 "Superior" user by Academy City, and Misaka-senpai had immediately started seriously offering advice.
"Onee-sama, Natsume-san's calculation ability is definitely Level 4. She just needs to meet the testing requirements," Shirai Kuroko chimed in, pausing her work to place weeds on the already sizable pile.
Shirai instinctively rubbed her sore shoulders before walking over to where her beloved Onee-sama and the others were.
"The comprehensive regular assessment—what we usually call the physical exam—is an activity that systematizes abilities and evaluates them according to established standards."
"Every school evaluates students based on their ability's precision, intensity, speed, range, and duration, among other factors. As ability levels increase, their application scope widens, so the assessment criteria correspondingly become more complex and multifaceted."
Shirai Kuroko explained methodically, smoothing her skirt as her gaze drifted to the empty spot beside Misaka-senpai.
Seeing that Misaka-senpai showed no objection, Shirai happily sat down, a genuine smile immediately appearing on her face.
For once, it wasn't one of her strange, creepy smiles, but rather a properly demure expression as she sat properly beside Misaka-senpai.
Sonoko didn't believe for a second that Shirai had actually changed her ways—more likely, she was just trying a different approach, Sonoko suspected.
"Different abilities have different evaluation methods. But from what I know, all abilities are generally divided into two categories: ESP-based and psychokinetic-based. ESP abilities are further divided into different modules during physical exams, while psychokinesis remains a single category."
Shirai raised one finger, and seeing that Misaka-senpai was listening attentively, a faint, proud smile appeared on her lips.
"For example, my Teleportation, Natsume-san's Temperature Control, and Onee-sama's Electromaster abilities all fall under the psychokinetic category. Though we share the same broad classification, the assessment methods focus on different aspects."
"As for my Teleportation, evaluation involves three elements: object size or mass during movement, distance, and precision."
"If Natsume-san wants to reach Level 4, the simplest approach is to focus on the key evaluation factors for Temperature Control: the extreme values of temperature change, the range over which changes can be effected, and the precision of those changes."
"As for Onee-sama's suggestion, that would count more as an ability application rather than something factored into the physical exam scores."
Shirai rested her chin on her hand, thinking for a moment as she seriously analyzed the situation for Sonoko.
Meanwhile, a faint blush appeared on Misaka-senpai's cheeks. She hugged her knees, offering a slightly awkward smile.
"However, if you could develop air pressure differentials into something like Onee-sama's Railgun, the school might create special evaluation criteria just for you, Natsume-san. From what I know, every Level 5 esper has a dedicated research team assigned to them," Shirai added.
"By the way, 'comprehensive regular assessment' is such an outdated way to put it. You should break those elementary school habits, Natsume-san," Shirai said, facepalming as if she rarely heard such old-fashioned terminology anymore.
Sonoko's face reddened slightly—it was indeed a habit she'd carried over from elementary school, even though both terms meant essentially the same thing.
The sun gradually descended from its zenith as time marched on.
The sweltering weather did nothing to dampen everyone's enthusiasm for labor.
On the athletic field, three figures bent over, clearing weeds, drawing curious glances from passing Tokiwadai Middle School students.
At some point, both Misaka-senpai and Sonoko had joined the weed-pulling effort, and unconsciously, the relationship between the several girls had grown closer.
Misaka-senpai bent over pulling weeds, alongside an even more diligent Shirai. Sonoko trailed behind them, looking somewhat breathless even though she only had to bag the weeds.
"Finally finished."
With trembling hands, Sonoko picked up the last weeds in sight before plopping down onto the field, feeling like her body was about to fall apart.
Misaka-senpai, in much better condition, went to buy drinks from the school vending machine, which Shirai immediately accepted with delight.
"Strawberry soda?" Sonoko picked up the drink Misaka-senpai had bought, surprised to find it was the less common strawberry flavor.
"Onee-sama, Natsume-san, I have patrol duties with Judgment. I should get going," Shirai Kuroko said after gulping down her soda, casting one last longing look at Misaka-senpai before speaking.
The moment she finished speaking, Shirai vanished without a trace. Teleportation really was something to envy.
"That girl is always so busy," Misaka-senpai murmured, taking a sip of her drink as she lay back on the grass.
"Natsume-san, there's something I've been meaning to ask—don't you need to attend club activities?"
Misaka-senpai turned her head, curiously looking at Sonoko who was also comfortably resting on the grass.
"Don't worry about that, Misaka-senpai. I'm in the Urban Legend Investigation Club. We don't have a dedicated clubroom, so lying here actually counts as investigating urban legends."
Sonoko replied, opening one eye to look at Misaka-senpai while who-knows-what thoughts ran through her mind.
[When wind turbine blades spin backward, strange events occur in the city]—the very embodiment of this urban legend, Misaka Mikoto, immediately showed surprise, seemingly marveling that Tokiwadai Middle School had such a lax club that left its members to their own devices.
"That's quite a special club," Misaka-senpai remarked with feeling.
"It really is special," Sonoko agreed seriously, nodding in firm agreement since she genuinely believed she was, in a way, investigating urban legends right at that moment.
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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!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.