Chương 51: Exploring

Evel's body tensed as he jerked his head to Mateo. Instantly, he activated his ability and jumped backwards. He reached into his pockets despite not having anything in there and scanned his surroundings. If this were am ambush, this situation was extremely dire. No movement from the surroundings initially caught his attention, and finally, his eyes landed on Mateo. He was… laughing.

"Oh man, I got you so good!" Mateo fell backward on the ground and wriggled around. Evel dismissed Eth and wiped the sweat that had formed on his neck. Shit. Mateo's laughter intensified as he began slapping the ground and kicking his feet. It was an awful mix of giggling and wheezing that felt like a mosquito buzzing by his ear in Evel's tense state. Evel released a long and heavy breath, but still too quiet for Mateo to hear over his laughter.

After a few minutes, Mateo stood back up, still intermittently giggling.

"So.. what's the effect of the danger zone?" Evel felt his pulse decrease.

"Aw man, I wish you coulda seen your own face, you were so freaked out." Mateo broke into laughter again and fell back on the ground. Evel waited in silence, as the blood rushed to his cheek. After another minute, Mateo's giggles calmed.

"Sorry, sorry, what was the question again?"

"What makes it a Danger Zone?" Evel replied, remaining as calm as he could manage. The only other Danger Zone Evel had encountered in person was the Squalling Desert, and it was extremely dangerous. The rumbling alone would grind someone to dust, but even floating above it, the sound alone had almost killed him, and that was through the custom helmets Arlo had provided, which had drowned out most of the noise. And according to Arlo, that had been a Danger Zone on the weaker end.

Yet in Slack-Stone, the weakest people – Laymen, could just work without issues?

"Oh, it sucks! It's really tiring working there, making it many times more exhausting to do any simple task."

"Why don't specialized workers just handle all the mining?" Mateo shrugged, "Who knows?" Evel narrowed his eyes, and looked back into the massive expanse. There had to be something.

"Let's head back." Evel sighed. He'd successfully seen what Albert had hinted at, so his objective in the slums was complete.

"Sure! I'll show you my place!" Mateo enthusiastically proposed. Are we really that close? After a bit of hesitation, Evel reluctantly agreed. Despite his extremely distasteful prank earlier, Mateo represented knowledge that he needed. Along the way, Mateo explained he came from a remote village nearby and found himself in some trouble. Although Mateo didn't say the specific reason out loud, it was clearly for something he found embarrassing. Once Ichoris offered him a job working in the mines, he accepted.

The pay was low, but with the provided rations and housing, the deal was 'too attractive to pass up'.

"All the girls in the village were either too old or related to me! There was no future for me there." Mateo claimed. He looked at Evel and raised his eyebrows.

"So, you got a girlfriend, maybe even two?"

"No."

"Ahhh, don't worry about it, friend! One day, one day." Evel gave him a funny looked, then focused back on the surroundings.

"We're here!" It was a modest residence. A small house, which could fit at most one bedroom. The structure showed some signs of tear, but overall was still clean.

"You should have seen how it looked before I cleaned everything up. I'll cook us dinner!" Before Mateo could enter his key, Evel interjected, "I won't be staying. I have some things I need to take care of. Thanks for showing me around, though." If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Aw, man," Mateo sighed.

"Maybe another time!" Evel paused, then took a deep breath.

"Say, Mateo, would people working in the mines be willing to do an extra job afterwards?" Mateo's face scrunched.

"Maybe. The work is really tiring, so most people probably wouldn't, but there's also a lot of ambitious people around who came from other cities for a better life. If the pays good enough, then absolutely." Evel nodded.

"Thanks for the little guide." He lightly bowed.

"I'll see you around."

"See ya, Eth!" Evel left the house and made his way back to the slums' center, a vague plan forming in his mind. On his way back, he didn't find Clara or her father, so he continued on his way to the bridge. This time, he took a more roundabout walk, in an attempt to see as much as he could, and the time quickly flew by. Looking at the overhead sun, Evel knew it was probably a good idea to call it a day, at least in the slums.

People grew bolder during the night and he wasn't properly equipped to deal with something like that. Especially since he didn't know anything of the area. Having made his way back to the bridge, he began his ascent on the upward-angled bridge. Before he got far, a voice rang out from the end of the bridge.

"Stop!" Two guards, different from those in the morning, pointed their spears downward.

"State your name and purpose!" Evel narrowed his eyes. After a pause, he continued walking forward, getting close enough for them to hear his voice clearly.

"Eth, and I'm returning to my residence." He replied, his tone calm and controlled.

"Do you have proof?" Evel rummaged through his pockets before he found his key.

"I live on Fernwood. This is the key to my house." The guards whispered something amongst each other, then one of them yelled back.

"A key is not enough! We've never seen you before!" Evel scoffed. He wasn't even trying to traverse between cities, and simply wanted to go from one portion of the city to another. Even Yosten allowed free travel between the different areas. The guard continued, "Perhaps if you dropped a coin or two, we may get distracted." Evel lightly shook his head. He had given the last of his coin to Clara, so his options were slim.

The first was to travel the river south back to Albert's house, take the bridge there, then return to the city. That required him to travel to the western end of the slums, the one thing Clara had warned him against. Alternatively, he could try to find a place to stay in the slums. That still didn't fix the problem, since he'd always be required to spend nights here should he visit. I'm not the same man as I used to be. Evel closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened them, he glared down at the two guards and activated his aura.

"Do I really need to contact the Mayor at this hour?" He demanded, his voice deep. The guards straightened their posture. He took a step forward. The air increased in weight as the beads of cold sweat began running down the guard's necks. Another step. One guard opened his mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. Another step.

"We-we're terribly sorry, sir! We didn't realize your core had awakened." The other guard yelled out as he lowered his spear, as well as the spear of his colleague.

"P-please don't contact the mayor." The guards scrambled to the sides and gave him passage, bowing as he passed by. Evel didn't look back at the guards behind him. After Evel walked for another minute, he deactivated his ability and sighed in relief. After seeing the Mayor's power in person, he decided to make a little use of it. Technically, the man had offered him a job, so he really did have a means of reaching out to him. With that being the truth, the Mayor or anybody else really had no reason to go after him.

Thankfully, his bluff had worked. He didn't know enough to explore the worst parts of the city quite yet. Evel looked up at the clock hand of the distant clock tower as he walked to his house. 7: 50 The skies were darkening; it was time to call it a day. There was a lot Evel hadn't gotten the chance to see, but a basic outline of Ichoris had formed in his mind. In a lot of ways, it was similar to Yosten. As for a suitable place for a circus, Evel had an idea.

One that Agent may not agree to, but Evel wanted to try it out regardless. Despite everything, today could be called a success. As Evel inserted the keys to the door to his new house, a loud series of bell tolls originating from the clock tower caught his ears. After the series of notes played, something unbelievable happened. At first, it was just a flicker. Then, all at once, every house, street, and building ignited with a sudden, artificial brilliance.

Evel quickly realized what he was seeing, after all, the Mayor had boasted about it earlier in the day during the rally. Project Luminescence. The artificial light was a soft, yellow light that almost matched that of the sun. It seemed Evel wouldn't have issues exploring at night either. Not with Ichoris having defeated the night. Still, Evel silently entered the empty house. Falling onto the couch, he lay flat and stared at the ceiling above him. For the next ten minutes, he simply drifted there in thought.

At the sound of his stomach grumbling, Evel jumped up to his feet once more. He had work to do. He walked to his room and sat cross-legged flat on the ground, summoned Eth, and kept the floating hand absolutely still in the air. Evel closed his eyes, focusing on his connection to Eth. The minutes rapidly passed as the hand, and its owner remained absolutely still. Soon, some sweat dripped down on Evel's neck, as the temperature of the room suddenly felt warmer. He remained focused.

His mind began to weigh down, and his breaths became ragged. His connection to Eth waivered. Evel held on. After minutes of desperate struggling to maintain the connection, it snapped. Evel heaved deep and heavy breaths as the immense pain and mental weight of emptying his core hit all at once. His shaky hands were firmly placed on his knees as he forced his head up to look at the clock on his wall. 28 minutes! Evel closed his eyes and collapsed back on the floor as he recovered.

When he had initially gotten his powers, he had been able to maintain them for about eight minutes while keeping Eth absolutely still. The week of training had brought that number up a good chunk, and the recruitment trial had exploded his growth. Evel focused on his empty core. He didn't know exactly where in his body it was, but he knew it was there. His practical affinity was 73, and he could already feel the effects. His Energy was replenishing much quicker than when his affinity had been 60. 96…

Evel shook his head and looked at the clock once more. After a quick break, he still had time to do some training.