Collecting and storing all the information turned out to be a monumental task. Since my techniques were untested, I had to perform multiple different tests on every student to ensure certainty. At least in the first test group.

To make my life easier and to collect more accurate information, I divided the students into several groups. Depending on their placing, a different amount of focus would be spent on them. Anyone with a good enough talent, wouldn’t be an average nobody. So I can rule out the vast majority of people, since by definition, most people are average. And I don’t believe anyone with significant talent could hide from me. And if they can, I will gain nothing by chasing them. Since anyone with the ability to hide from someone that has constantly trained for years is not worth the trouble at this point in time. Someone even more talented than James and capable enough to hide is a monster that I won’t be able to handle. And I cannot afford that.

So the groups were based on my interest.

The first group held the most capable people. Be it mentally, physically, spiritually or supernaturally. They would partake in every test I had the chance to perform.

Maximum amount of attention would be given to them.

Since I am interested in finding people with potential, my tests will be focused on those. I have no use for a test that can only detect the mediocre.

All the other groups had incrementally lower standards and with that, less importance.

Of course, I didn’t forget to pay attention to all of the shy and bullied kids. Given that this is a shonen/seinen world, there are bound to be some cliches. Like a kid afraid to use his powers or something alike. As unlikely as it was, it could still happen.

With all of that done, I took some time off to relax.

***

The best way to relax is to exercise. And if I am exercising, I might as well do something quite beneficial. Strengthen ties with James.

So I started searching for him. To be fair, I could just use [EN] and blitz through hallways till I find him, but where is the fun in that? And I am still cautious of the school.

And so the search began.

***

About half an hour later, I realized something. He was purposely hiding from me. I should have found him by now, or at least, I normally would have. He must have heard from someone that I was looking for him. That cheeky bastard. I’ll find him and teach him a lesson. He won’t get away from me.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

And so the hunt began.

The first thing I did was check out the obvious places. I climbed onto one of the roofs and looked down. With my enhanced senses, I could spot him anywhere inside of the campus. But he wasn’t anywhere in sight. He must have gone inside.

So the next thing I did was to go to the gatekeeper and ask him if he saw anyone. Yet the result was disappointing.

Nevertheless, I continued my search.

Library? Checked.

Dining area? Checked.

Homeroom? Checked.

Roof? Checked.

Sports field? Nope.

I couldn’t find him. He wasn’t anywhere. I doubt he would hide in an empty classroom, since that would be boring. So he must be somewhere else.

And so the search continued. I checked the same place several times, since he was probably moving. Yet still nothing.

I was starting to give up. Maybe he was off school? A doctor's appointment? That shouldn’t be the case since I saw him a few hours ago.

When all hope was lost, I spotted him.

Or to be more precise a shadow of him. I followed the traces, until I stood before a group of people. The soccer (football?) club members. And he was there, chatting with them.

He looked at me confused and in a puzzled tone he said:

“Oh, hi Alan. How are you? Haven’t seen you in a while,”

My expression froze. Have I overlooked something? Didn’t I check the football field?

But my pondering was interrupted by the sound of laughing and the sound of running.

SO HE DID HIDE!

“You are dead!” I said.

But the reply to my threats was just more laughing. And the football club joined.

I chased after James, running until we reached the forest. I was just meters behind him, when a thought struck. How do I stop him?

Without much thought, I cut a corner and stood before him. But he wasn’t looking at me. My eyes widened as I realized. We were going to crash. And soon, he realized it too.

I was just about to jump back to soften the impact, when my heel hit a branch and I fell back, together with a 20 kilo projectile.

“You are going to pay for this!” I said and started tickling him.

But he retaliated. And soon. a full blown tickle war started.

It lasted a good few minutes until we both started laughing.

Between my burst of bursts of sniggering, I managed to squeeze out “No homo”, to which he just replied with a confused “what”, but received no response.

So we laid there, looking at the passing clouds and the orange sky.

We stayed there until the sun set.

It was nice being a child again. Society wasn’t too accepting of adults acting like children, so this was a breath of fresh air. I was able to be a child again and this behavior was expected. In my previous life, I tried to grow up too fast and just ended up missing everything that makes childhood special. And I will not repeat the same mistake. So regardless of the massive age gap, both of us still had a good time.