Midnight.

Alex had already finished cleaning up the attic, turning it into something habitable for him.

But instead of sleeping, Alex opted to leave the attic first, as he felt the desire to talk to someone.

The floorboards creaked as Alex treaded the living room. He made sure that he was quiet, so that none of the sleeping residents will wake up.

“Still can’t sleep too?” Alex looked behind him, and there he found the person that he was looking for.

Clint was currently lounging on the sofa, with his legs placed on top of the sofa’s armrest.

Clint was puffing a stick of cigarette, producing a plume of smoke that hovered around Clint.

“I find it hard to sleep today…” Alex said as he sat on the chair in front of Clint. “Besides, there is one question plaguing my mind right not, and I want it answered.”

Clint raised his eyebrows after he heard what Alex said. “You need to sleep right now, because tomorrow’s training will be a hard one. So, tell me that question of yours so that you can already sleep.”

“Well...” Alex looked around him warily before saying,

“If you really are the 3rd strongest Esper, then what are you doing here? I thought the strongest espers will be more… free. But looking at you right now, that does not seem to be the case.”

“Oh Alex…” Clint shook his head while smiling, as if he found Alex’ s question humorous.

“Let me tell you something.” Clint said as he inhaled a deep puff of smoke. “Once an Esper has reached the peak of their strength, they will find no freedom. Instead, they will be restricted far more than they can imagine.”

“What do you mean by restricted?” Alex said as he leaned his head forward in interest.

“I cannot explain it fully to you due to the rules, but here is a simple explanation.” Clint stood up from the sofa as he threw his cigarette on the ash tray.

“Once an esper enters the top 10 rankings of the 10 strongest Espers, something will happen to them that will restrict them from doing one thing.” Clint said with a sigh as he found out that he had no more cigarettes left. “D*mn, seems like I have to buy a pack later.”

“And what exactly are they restricted from doing?” Alex asked as he tried to ignore the Clint’s smoky smell.

“They are restricted from interfering with normal affairs.” Clint said as he laid back on the sofa.

“After all, the top 10 Espers were too strong, and if they were to use their abilities to the fullest, a lot of innocents will surely die. So, they are not allowed to fight on normal situations.”

Clint said these words with a disappointed expression on his face.

“However.” Clint added as he raised his index finger. “If there is a catastrophic event or an extremely powerful enemy that appeared, someone from the top 10 Espers will be allowed to deal with that problem. But if the situation is not that catastrophic, all the espers at the Top 10 will not be allowed to do something to it.”

“Wait, hold on.” Alex said as he raised his hands in front of him. “Are you telling me that even you, with all that power that you have is also restricted from fighting? Maybe its just me, but I find it hard to believe that someone like you can be forced to not fight.”

“Alex, you may not believe me, but there is something in this world that is able to restrict all of us Espers.” Clint said with an undiscernible glint in his eyes. “Even I have no choice but to follow the rules. If I don’t, well you can say that my end will not be pretty.”

“… I understand.” Alex said as he stood up. “Well… see you tomorrow at the training I guess?”

“Yeah, just sleep tight for now.” Clint said as he rummaged the cabinet beside him, maybe in an attempt to find a stray pack of cigarette. “Tomorrow will not be a really good day for you.”

Alex stumbled on his way to the attic, as he tried to downplay the ominous tone in Clint’s voice.

“…………..”

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

“Sigh, I thought I will have an easy time completing the mission now. Turns out I still have to rely on myself.” Alex muttered to himself as he lay down on his bed.

Asteria, who was playing in the pillow, let out a snort as she sneered at Alex.

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“When you discovered that Clint is the 3rd strongest esper, you thought that you can use his power to complete the mission, right? Hahaha, too bad for you, he cannot help you at all!”

“Yeah, it really sucks…” Alex said as he let out a heavy sigh.

Alex did not expect that the strongest Espers were actually banned from participating on the normal or mundane matters of the Esper world!

And they were just allowed to make their move if the problem is too much to handle!

“Well, imagine what the other people would think when they see someone like Clint who can control all the fundamental forces.” Asteria sighed as she began to shred the skin of the pillow. “They will see a monster, who can easily kill many people if he willed it.”

“With that kind of fear present, it is not unexpected that the higher-ups will place a countermeasure against the strongest Espers.” Alex said as he tossed around the bed. “However, I still could not fathom on how these strong Espers were restricted from doing as they please.”

“Well, this is an Esper World, so you should expect that something technological exists that can restrict all these strong Espers.” Asteria said with her back facing Alex. “So don’t overthink it and just accept the facts.”

“Hmm…” Alex narrowed his eyes as he heard that Asteria’s tone sounded somewhat… evasive. “Asteria, let me guess. You know the thing or person that is restricting the Espers, right?”

“Hah? What are you talking about? Just go to sleep already!” Asteria said as she kicked Alex’s shin.. “Didn’t you say that you will have your training starting tomorrow? Then start conserving your energy!”

“Hooh… so you will not tell me huh. Well fine then, I will find it out by myself.” Alex said as he covered himself with the blanket.

“Hmph, remember about my honey!” Asteria said as she saw Alex falling into a slumber.

“………..”

Alex’s first day here in the new world was an eventful one, and Alex was not sure if the following days can top it off.

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

As it turns out, they really can top it off.

“S**t.” That was all that Alex could say as he lay down on the cold floor, gasping for air as he recovered his breath.

His body looked battered, with sweat drenching his clothes and his skin looking extremely flushed.

“That’s all that you got?” Clint said as he looked down at Alex coldly. “I thought you were something good. Turns out you are just all talk. Natalia, zap him.”

“Yes daddy!” Natalia, who was Clint’s daughter, brandished her stun gun and fired it at Alex.

“Grrh!!” Alex gritted his teeth as electricity travelled all over his body.

“Hmph, electrocution might be painful, but it will also help your body familiarize with the EM Field!” Clint said as he watched Alex writhing on the floor.

“…………”

Training started earlier when Alex finished eating his breakfast.

According to Clint, his training will consist of two portions.

In the morning until noon, it will be power training.

Clint will release variations of EM Waves from his body, and Alex must do his best to control them.

Doing that will be hard, as these EM Waves were personally bolstered by Clint.

If Alex fails to control these EM Waves under a minute, then he will be zapped by Natalia, who seemed to be extremely eager to do it.

This torturous process will continue until noon.

Right now, there’s still an hour before noon, and Alex was already at his limits.

His Mental Power is near rock-bottom, and none of his attempts have worked.

“By now, you should have at least tugged the EM Waves around me, even by just little.“ Clint coldly said at Alex who lay panting on the floor. “Since you failed to do that, you’ll get another zap from Natalia.”

“Yes Daddy!”

“Ah!”

But even when the pain from electrocution was too much, Alex did not dare to complain about the punishment given to him.

It was because everytime he gets electrocuted, his body somehow feels more and more attuned with the EM Waves around him. This helped Alex to sense the EM Waves easier.

After repeated zappings, even Alex had the suspicion that maybe the whole point of the power training is to just repeatedly electrocute him.

Of course, Alex did not dare to say this thought out loud, as he feared it might just tick off Clint more.

“Ok, today’s power training session is done.” Clint said as he and Natalia left Alex, who was lying down spread-eagled on the floor. “You have 1 hour to rest and replenish your energy. After that rest will be ability section.”

“…….” Alex was unable to give any reply as he found it extremely difficult to speak right now.

“Ugh.” It took Alex some seconds before he can fully stand up. He then hobbled slowly towards the attic as he intended to rest there.

However, when he went in, the sight that he saw made him feel more depressed.

He could see Asteria slurping down a jar of honey through a makeshift straw.

Honey, which was supposed to be extremely viscous, acted just like a softdrink as it entered through the straw and towards Asteria’s mouth.

Alex could barely suppress a frown as he saw how carefree Asteria was.

“I am being repeatedly zapped there and all you did during that time is to slurp some honey? I am really lucky that you are my Guide.”

“Hmph! Don’t you know that it is rude to interrupt a girl from eating her comfort food?” Asteria said as she did not stop slurping the honey.

“Shoo! Shoo!” Just bother me later!”

“……” Since Asteria was this obstinate, Alex was left with no choice but to leave the attic.

He then headed straight to the bathroom to wash of all the accumulated dirt and sweat on his body.

“Tsk, that woman really is irritating!” Alex muttered to himself as he shook his head.

When Alex gave Asteria the 10 jars of honey that she demanded earlier, Alex thought that Asteria will eat these jars of honey in moderation.

But that expectation of his went astray as Asteria told Alex that aside from her, even the honey that she will eat will also turn invisible to other people.

Because of that, Asteria became fearless on consuming all of her honey.

“S**t, if that fairy asks for more honey after this, then I will just tie her up.” Alex mumbled to himself as he reached the living room.

There, he saw Clint and his daughter Natalia playing a board game with Natasha.

Natasha flashed Alex an indifferent look, which seemed to be much colder than the look that she gave him yesterday.

“Seems like you have recovered already.” Clint said as he glanced at Alex. “If you can recover that fast, then maybe I should amp up the voltage of the stun gun tomorrow.”

“Do it daddy!” Natalia said as she flashed Alex an excited smile.

“……….” Before Alex could give a retort to Clint, he and the others suddenly heard a robotic voice.

This voice was not only heard by them. Everyone at the Dragon Esper City could hear this voice, and they could not help but get angry when they heard what the message was.

“Due to an unconfirmed threat of a Class-S Intruder, the whole city will be in a lockdown. The lockdown will only be lifted is the threat is confirmed to be neutralized.”

“Due to an unconfirmed threat….”

“Due to an unconfirmed threat…”

“Now isn’t that interesting.” Clint commented with interest, as if he was not that worried by what he heard.

“Well, if it is unconfirmed, then this lockdown will not last for long. Maybe around 1 day at most.” Natasha off-handedly said as she made her move.

“Yeah, I think that will be the case.” Clint then looked at Alex as he said,

“Alex, don’t expect that this lockdown will lighten your training. Maybe you can expect it to even get harder.”

“………..”