Natsume Sonoko's Level 5 assessment was still underway, but the test site had changed along with the adjusted evaluation criteria.
Natsume Sonoko tossed a coin into the air. It sliced through the space, flipping counter-clockwise as it climbed.
Just as it reached its peak, the coin seemed to snag on something invisible, hanging suspended for the briefest of moments.
The surrounding air pressure rapidly converged on that single point, instantly forming a crude pneumatic pump. A massive amount of compressed gas gathered around the coin, providing a powerful forward thrust.
After hanging motionless for only a second, the coin shot forward at an incredible velocity.
It released a faint heat from friction with the air before slamming squarely into a stationary target a hundred meters away.
"Super-Pneumatic Cannon. Complete."
Letting out a soft breath, Natsume Sonoko gazed indifferently at the coin embedded in the target.
Her face showed neither pride nor joy, completely unfazed by the fact she'd just copied the Railgun's signature move.
Coins continued to dance through the air as she tossed them up one after another. Then, at a speed almost impossible for the naked eye to follow, she sent each coin streaking towards the target in sequence.
Second shot. Third shot. It wasn't until the staff called a halt that Natsume Sonoko finally stopped. A glance at the coin box beside her showed she'd already used over half the coins provided by the researchers.
"[Average] Muzzle Velocity: 250 meters per second."
"Rapid-Fire Capacity: 20 rounds per minute."
"Shot Group Distribution: 53mm."
"Target Impact Energy: 103 joules."
The staff's voice emerged from a nearby robot, reporting the results of Natsume Sonoko's test.
Imitating Misaka-senpai, she gently brushed aside the strands of hair falling over her forehead and shook her head, seeming less than satisfied.
Achieving this level with pneumatics was decent, but what bothered Natsume Sonoko was the poor shot group distribution.
Even when holding back, Misaka-senpai could maintain her Railgun's precision within a 20mm spread—the maximum distance between any two projectile impacts. Her own results had directly exceeded 50mm.
It showed there was still a significant gap in accuracy compared to Misaka-senpai. Truly worthy of the legendary Railgun, never missing its mark.
Aside from the shot grouping, however, the other results were surprisingly good.
Even accounting for air friction, the final impact energy far surpassed that of most handguns. Of course, it was still nowhere near the Railgun's power—it couldn't even match a rifle.
"Let's move on to the next item immediately."
Natsume Sonoko called out to the small robot beside her.
Nearly an hour had passed since the assessment began, much longer than a standard physical evaluation. Natsume Sonoko was starting to feel bored.
Thinking about today's assessment, the initial tests were actually quite similar to those for Level 4. The instruments looked more sophisticated, but they were still fundamentally examining the nature of Natsume Sonoko's temperature control ability.
Back in the room with the square floor tiles, that had been the focus of her evaluation.
Precision, maximum effective range, followed by testing the upper and lower temperature limits under standard atmospheric pressure—essentially the thresholds—topped off with an assessment of instantaneous computational power.
But tests for thermal conductivity, as usual, weren't included. That was because Natsume Sonoko's ability didn't involve absorbing or transferring macroscopic heat.
A previous report had theorized that Natsume Sonoko, along with certain other thermal-system espers, derived their power from the molecular level, converting molecular kinetic energy into macroscopic heat.
Another point was that, while Natsume Sonoko's ability could theoretically affect all matter, that scenario lay beyond the boundaries of a Level 5.
It would require not only endless reserves of knowledge and experimental data, but also vastly greater computational power.
So for now, Natsume's ability remained largely confined to air, water, and similar substances. The only notable exceptions were copper, iron, and their corresponding alloys.
When it came to the evaluation of derivative abilities, however, the staff gave Natsume Sonoko significantly more freedom than before, even allowing her to choose test items herself. The Super-Pneumatic Cannon just now was one of Natsume's selections.
Considering the difference between Level 4 and Level 5, aside from the hard requirements of computational strength and the city's official recognition, the biggest gap likely lay in these derivative abilities.
Take Shirai-san, for example.
Her Teleportation is impressive, but she's still just using the core ability itself, and her application methods are quite limited.
She can't use her spatial abilities to develop something like a summoning technique to call forth demons from other dimensions or anything.
Alright, that's probably asking a bit much of Shirai-san.
But nearly all Level 5s share a common trait: they've progressed from utilizing a single core ability to applying it in multiple diverse ways.
Some Level 5s don't just dominate their entire ability system's skill set; they also develop numerous derivative abilities from other systems. This is quite different from the Level 4 focus on the ability itself.
You can see it in some Level 5 titles too: Accelerator's Vector Manipulation, Shokuhou Misaki's Mental Out.
It essentially illustrates their progression from singular ability usage to a comprehensive mastery of their entire ability system, allowing for a diverse manifestation of powers.
In contrast, you have Gokusai Kaibi's Measure Heart, or Hata Ranko's Gravity Control, which remain just straightforward applications of the core ability itself.
Returning to Natsume, her ability within the thermal system has a similar dynamic. She'd already branched out months ago, becoming a pilot while also moonlighting as an invisible woman and a flash-freeze specialist.
Even the name of Natsume's ability fits a Level 5 perfectly; she wouldn't even need to change her title.
But back to the matter at hand.
Natsume Sonoko's next evaluation was about to begin.
No matter what test items Natsume selected, the research institute staff could swiftly locate a suitable site and prepare the appropriate instruments. It felt a bit like shopping in a supermarket—whatever you wanted, you could find quickly.
"Natsume, the next experiment requires another site transfer." The robot beside Natsume Sonoko issued another reminder.
--+--
"Tornado Rating: EF3."
"Wind Speed: 65-68 meters per second."
"Height: Approximately 83.5 meters."
"Diameter: Approximately 35.35 meters."
At a certain location within the Pan-Ability Research Institute, Natsume Sonoko stared with an impassive expression at the colossal phenomenon looming right before her.
She herself was being lifted into the air by the immense wind pressure, moving along with this behemoth known as a tornado.
A squat, thick tornado raged through the Pan-Ability Research Institute, yet it caused no chaos or alarm. All staff members worked methodically, recording data.
Detection robots were periodically swept into the vortex, continuously feeding the latest data to the staff's computers.
The tornado now began drawing in the surrounding air, causing the ambient air density to drop rapidly. Combined with the dust and grit whipping everywhere, it created a spectacle that made it hard to keep one's eyes open.
Quite different from a typical tornado descending from the clouds, this one grew directly from the ground, giving it a rather unimpressive appearance—rather like a hot dog from a supermarket—though its power remained formidable.
An EF3 tornado can demolish houses, snap power lines and towers, and strip a tree of all its branches and leaves in an instant.
Encounter a parking lot, and the destruction is absolute. Anything short of a heavy-duty vehicle stands no chance against its fury.
The wind speed was now approaching 68 meters per second, but Natsume Sonoko felt that with a little more effort, it could reach EF4 level, exceeding 74.2 meters per second.
However, due to certain considerations and the limited space, she decided against further acceleration, instead gradually stabilizing the tornado's rotational speed.
Recently, Natsume Sonoko's wing formula had been meticulously optimized layer by layer by Kiyama Harumi, resulting in this tornado performing significantly better than anticipated.
It even surpassed the wind speeds Accelerator achieved when he controlled the atmosphere not long ago.
Natsume's wings had, without her quite realizing it, taken a strange turn. Scaled down, they allowed her to be a pilot. Scaled up, they became a form of meteorological weapon.
Small, they offered high mobility.
Large, they delivered immense destructive power.
It seemed, however, that Natsume had no intention of revealing the winged form of the tornado. Instead, she included the enlarged combat version in her assessment.
In Natsume's mind, offensive techniques like this held relatively low value.
The sole exception was her shock therapy—she'd worked hard to find that precise balance point where she could incapacitate someone without causing injury. That was Natsume's technical patent.
With that single technique, Natsume Sonoko could potentially take on an entire army. Soaring high above, leaving nothing conscious in her wake.
Snapping out of a brief daze, Natsume Sonoko guided the tornado past a parking lot within the Pan-Ability Research Institute. Moving so fast, she almost failed to turn in time.
Still, a few vehicles were caught in the periphery, effectively totaling nearly half the parking lot.
She'd just been thinking about something similar, and now it happened. She wasn't sure whether to feel pleased or dismayed.
Watching car parts and steel fragments flying chaotically through the air, Natsume Sonoko couldn't help but blush.
'I messed up.'
But this was all for the Level 5 assessment. Surely Academy City would cover the damages, right? Natsume Sonoko thought to herself.
As she rode along with the tornado, circling the area, Natsume Sonoko gained a real appreciation for the institute's vast size. It even contained a runway long enough for fighter jets to take off—the very location where Natsume was currently being tested.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 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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