Chương 105: Shrinking Responsibilities

The next morning, Evel went to Albert's house and immediately used the rest pod. His quality of sleep in the past week had been terrible, and last night was supposed to be one of those days when he finally caught up on rest. Instead, he ended up using a third stempack and continued training throughout the night. After his training, he'd finally taken the second step to becoming a Weaver.

To push along the Path from Core to Weaver, there were two requirements: First, you need to saturate your Core with Energy to increase its maximum capacity. As a percentage, you've fulfilled this step once you reach about 80% saturation. The problem was that the higher your percentage, the more difficult it became to saturate further. Evel was nowhere near eighty percent, but his continuous training pushed him closer and closer every day. The second requirement was a little different.

To become a Weaver, you needed to learn how to Weave. It was a bit counterintuitive; you'd think you'd gain the ability to Weave when becoming a Weaver, but it was the other way around. Before becoming a Weaver, you needed to understand Energy and have a basic grasp of the simplest forms of Weaving. The goalpost was far, but after taking his first steps, he felt closer than ever. The main way he practiced this was by studying the book to ensure he had all the key aspects memorized and studying the movements of Eth.

A lot of secrets were hidden within the strange hand. He was making progress, and that's all that mattered. He could always sleep another night. Exiting the rest pod, he had the breakfast prepared by Albert, then went to train. A few hours of solo training, followed by sparring with Albert. This time, he used his new weapons and continued increasing his proficiency with them. Between them, words were scarce. Evel almost considered asking him for advice on how to handle Colton and be better prepared for the fight.

In the end, he decided not to. He couldn't rely on Albert forever, and he needed to find his own foothold. As Albert turned to leave at the end of the training session, Evel spoke up.

"Wait," He heaved, his body still bruised from Albert's terrifying fists.

"I'll be taking another Sunken Vial today." Albert raised his eyebrow.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"You do know what this means, right?" Albert held his gaze.

"Yes," Evel repeated.

"Using this type of—""Yes," Evel snapped.

"I've read the books. I know it isn't recommended, but I'm still choosing to do it regardless. Do you have a problem with that?" A rare frown touched Albert's face as his gaze lingered on Evel. Evel tightened his fist. He's looking down on me... With a sigh, Albert walked out of the room, and just a few minutes later, he came back with the vial.

"You know the price for my cleansing services. Just let me know when you want it." Evel nodded. Albert sighed again, then walked out the front door. Probably wasting his time on tending to his flowers, or killing off weeds. Whatever. Evel got what he needed, and didn't care about what someone who'd quit thought of him. He shook his head. Dammit, this headache isn't going away. It wasn't as intense as the day before, but the constant dull pain was constantly weighing him down. Evel took a deep breath.

Albert has good intentions in mind, and he's helped me so much. If he wanted to take care of his garden, who was Evel to tell him how to live his life? If he wanted to quit, that was also his choice, worth respecting. He just didn't want to live that way himself. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Unlike Albert, Evel wanted to actually strive for a better future. Without giving it much thought, he summoned Eth and downed the sunken vial.

"Eth?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of his daze and nodded.

"Right, sorry, go on." He was sitting in his office in the brand-new building in Upper-Ichoris. Across from him, Yuna was seated, holding a few papers in her hand.

"Most of the information we've received is trivial, but I've written it down in case you're interested anyway." She placed the page on his desk. He nodded for her to continue.

"There were three things I thought I'd highlight. First, Redigo hasn't been sending out people for their usual shakeups. A couple of different people noted it, but we weren't able to determine the cause. My best guess is they're lightening the pressure on those with debt so they can recover to the stage where they can work in the mines again." Evel tapped his finger on the desk. Those who relied on Redigo's debt forgiveness couldn't afford to quit the mines. When they did, they'd be hunted down and forced to pay.

Clara's dad was one such case, and he was unable to work in the mines after many years of hard labour. Clara had fortunately been able to pay off his debts after he hired her, so he managed to avoid any calamity.

"The second piece of interesting news is that the population of the slums is reaching its limit. Ever since I moved here, there have been way more homes than people, so it's never really been a problem. Now, even those who want houses can't get them. I… I haven't really figured out how it'll impact the circus yet."

"And the third?"

"A lot of the workers have reported many different people requesting that the circus make plays too. It wouldn't be news, but the amount of demand is a little shocking… I'm not very experienced in plays, but I think we have enough people and talent to make it work.

"I see. We'll look at it further in the future." Yuna lingered for a bit longer, but in the end she didn't say anything. With a light bow, she gracefully left. Evel blankly stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before taking a deep breath. When he'd asked his circus members to gather information for him, he hoped for something a bit more sellable. None of the information so far was really that helpful. He was responsible for the first, and the second felt inevitable, but it wasn't his problem to fix.

The third was interesting, but right now, his focus was on spending less time at the circus, not more.

"You called for me?" Mateo stood awkwardly by the door. Evel refocused.

"Yeah, come sit." He pointed to the chair.

"I'm giving you a pay boost." His eyes went wide for a moment as he quickly walked to the chair and sat down.

"A-again?"

"As one of the original people who helped start up the whole thing, you deserve it more than anyone. This also means you'll have more responsibilities. You'll be responsible for coming up with new material and training the super new guys."

"I'm not sure I'll even be able to do that…"

"You can. Get a few of the others who are in training for the magician people and hold brainstorming sessions. Use my old tricks and lessons as inspirations to come up with things."

"Will you lead some of the meetings?"

"I don't have the time. They're in good hands with you." He didn't actually know if that was true. Mateo was a capable magician and was loved by everyone, but those weren't necessarily the qualities of a good teacher. A teacher had to be harsh when students were wrong and was able to explain complex topics in simpler steps. Evel himself wasn't sure whether he was a good teacher himself, let alone whether Mateo was qualified. In the end, it didn't matter.

The less Evel had to do around the circus, and the more he could focus on his personal strength, the better. So what if the quality of performances dropped a little? Everything came at a cost, and this one was an easy price to pay. Mateo scratched the back of his head.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Nobody else is fit for the role but you."

"Well…" He paused.

"I always thought you enjoyed teaching others the magic stuff. I don't wanna take that away from you. If you're busy with other stuff, maybe I can help with that extra stuff instead? There's a lot of really capable people working here… so I'm sure they'd be able to help somehow." Evel remained silent. The round-faced man shook his hands and began retracting his words, "Sorry if I overstepped, I w–""My responsibilities haven't shrunk to zero, so I'll still be around.

This is more for you to get the chance to move to the next step. You can reject the offer if you'd like." Mateo nodded, now much more enthusiastic.

"In that case, I'll get right to it!" Evel took a deep breath as Mateo left the room. Closing his eyes, he listened to the distant chatter coming through the door of the circus folk as they trained their routines and came up with new ones. When the door shut behind Mateo, the sounds vanished. He kept his eyes closed for a few more minutes before pushing up and fixing up his clothes. He'd done all he needed to do for the day. It was time to get back to training.

The days bled into each other as the routine became set. The days were short, but they provided him with ample opportunities to train. With rest pods, the opportunities were even greater. With the addition of stempacks and Sunken Vials, he could push even harder in the same amount of time. As he pushed his training further, he felt a gradual improvement in his energy levels.

His physical strength and skills also rapidly developed: his aim improved, his flicks grew fiercer, and his body developed a noticeable amount of muscle. He was no longer the frail man who walked into the recruitment trial with no experience. Every day was both mentally and physically exhausting, but the positive results were only proof that his methods were working. He'd need to get stronger, though. Strong enough that no 'powerhouse' could possibly defeat him.

Before he knew it, the next circus performance arrived—this one in the slums. It went about as well as he could expect. He messed up a trick, but the audience didn't seem to mind, and they continued roaring in celebration. He didn't really care either. He had more pressing things to worry about, so he let his muscle memory lead him along. New fresh faces kept popping up, but old staples such as Clara's father, who seemed particularly energetic, jumped around with the merchant Moe from Upper-Ichoris.

It was successful in terms of turnout, but utterly useless in terms of both information and credits. The entire concept of performing in the slums was useless. The worst part was just how much the circus still relied on him. He'd given Mateo more responsibilities, but the gap was still there, and they relied on his experience to fix their odd mistakes. It wasted a lot less time than it used to, but in the future he'd need it to waste even less.