Chương 64: What is a Weaver?

To many, 'Weaver' simply represents the next step along the Path. However, it is vital to understand the fundamental shift that occurs when transitioning from the Core stage to the Weaver Stage. Consider what happens to your body during the awakening of a core. Following the catalyst event, your physiology changes in two distinct ways. First, your body, rather than rejecting the ambient Energy, chooses to absorb it instead.

When people claim they are 'replenishing' their reserves, they are fundamentally drawing from the world around them, rather than generating energy from within. Second is the profound transformation within the brain. Evidence strongly suggests the 'Core' resides within the cerebral cortex. Upon unlocking it, you gain rudimentary command over the ambient forces of Energy, alongside a specific 'Core ability' uniquely tailored to them.

Why a specific ability manifests remains highly contentious, but during the unlocking of the Core, your brain is essentially given the blueprint for that power. However, there remains a common misconception of your Core ability. Most believe their Core ability is an immutable, lifelong identity unique only to them. This notion is entirely incorrect. In theory, a Weaver possesses the capability to manifest every Core ability ever recorded. Every single one, without exception.

Though the blueprint in your mind will remain an invaluable asset, it will no longer be your only source of control over the world, should you advance. Energy is not a collection of particles; it is a tapestry of strings. A Weaver is simply one who can unravel and rethread those strands to weave Energy into any form they desire. Evel paused to take a deep breath as many questions immediately flooded his brain. Could he learn every power? Even weirder ones like that of Lucien? What about Eth?

Were there others in the world who had their own Eths? How did they best make use of it? Until now, he had been all alone. Having a unique ability had its benefits, but he never got to take advantage of the power of accumulated human knowledge. Things could possibly change in the distant future should he ever get access to large databases of abilities. His eyes darted to the clock. It was getting late. In terms of being at his top form for training like Albert demanded of him, he should go to sleep…

Yet the passage before him was so interesting, revealing many answers he's been craving so deeply. His eyes landed back on the book. Despite his exhausted body, his mind felt fully rejuvenated, encaptured by the information.

I'll just learn the most efficient way to train, then stop there…

"You alright there, Revel?" Evel blinked.

"Yeah… just a little tired." After a wide yawn, he bit into his remaining sausage. Originally, the plan had been to read another page or two then go to sleep… But the contents were just so interesting! He had learned so much, and just couldn't stop flipping to the next page! In the end, he had completed the entire book in one night.

"Once or twice isn't a problem, but multiple all-nighters can deteriorate your mental state very quickly, you know," Albert advised, placing his fork on the table.

"I didn't pull an all-nighter, I got a full hour of sleep." Evel corrected. And he had learned a lot! The most important of which was the 'proper' method of training his ability. Abilities greatly varied, and each one had slightly different methods of training. Generally, a few things remained constant. The first was that extensive use of an ability was far more useful than short bursts of training.

Instead of training whenever convenient, if he only trained from when he had a full capacity of Energy, then it would provide much better results. This was the single biggest reason those of lower affinities struggled so much more to progress along the Path. Without a larger pool of Energy to work with, it was impossible to keep the ability active for as long, making for worse training sessions. This compounded over weeks and weeks of training, significantly widening the gap.

Pushing your ability to the max two times a day was the ideal amount. Any more than that, and the effectiveness decreases significantly, and if you do it too much, it's even possible to overwork the core and regress in progress. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. In the past, he had been pushing his ability for as long as possible, but had trained it as frequently as possible, and often began exerting his core before it was fully replenished.

Of course, this varied from one ability to another. It was impossible for Brenton, for example, to keep his ability active for a long time. Large parts of the book covered different types of abilities and what sort of training worked best for them. It was a developing field, constantly upended by new revelations and improved efficiencies. Just a few decades ago, it was believed that training any more than just once a day was a waste. Although the first session provided far more value, the second was still useful!

The other way to boost your training was to 'fulfill your ability's purpose'. A healer should heal, a body hardener should survive heavy impacts, and so on. The exact extra boost also seemed to vary. So what was Eth's purpose? Three theories had immediately come to mind. Protection, trickery, or indirect impact. The first would make sense with the hand's incapacity to harm. If the reason it couldn't harm was that it could protect others, it would make more sense.

The second aligned with how Evel had been using it in the past, to bluff his way out of perilous situations, as he did with the spearman or even Diana. The final theory aligned with the hand's absolute intangibility. It could not be felt nor seen, as if it were a 'nothing' to the rest of the world. In this case, its purpose wouldn't be to interact with the world, but to bypass it. A weapon designed for the ultimate setup.

Evel currently leaned towards the second option based on his past experiences, and that's the one he'd test out first. In the end, the purpose of the ability mattered very little for Core and only became more important as you progressed along the Path. The important thing was to spend your time in Core experimenting and figuring it out for the future. Another mind-boggling thing he had learned was the method to advance from Core to Weaver! It required you to—"Still with me?"

Albert's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Y-yes, sorry." Albert sighed and got up from his chair, taking both their plates with him.

"I'll meet you downstairs once you finish your weight training. Don't doze off." Evel massaged his eyes and shook his head. Right now, he needed to give his all during this training session. He took a quick bathroom break to wash his face once more, then immediately hit the weights. He wasn't able to push his body to however far he might've been able to should he have gotten the proper rest, but he gave it his all regardless.

"So, what was it that kept you up all night?" Swallowing the bite of his turkey sandwich, Evel smiled.

"Advancement to Weaver."

"Oh, that's a big one." Albert whistled.

"I always bought the individual books for each of the subtopics. Put me 1400 credits in the hole, but at least I got the key information quicker, I suppose."

"I also ordered Metal Cards to be delivered here, which leaves me with a remaining 890 credits… I'm not the rich man I once was."

"Oh, poor you, with your measly 890 credits without having completed a single task… how will you survive?" They continued eating in a peaceful silence. Perhaps it was his tired state that made him more direct, but he eventually went ahead and asked the question that had been on his mind since he first met Albert.

"Are you really not interested in advancing further?"

"Why do you want to get stronger?" Albert countered.

"I just don't want to live on the whims of others, and without strength, that's impossible." Albert shook his head.

"In the grand scheme of things, I'm pathetically weak, but aren't I living on my own whims? Eating what I want, sleeping when I want, working when I want. What could getting stronger give me? I'm not interested in returning to the front lines, and I'm not a good enough person to want to dedicate my life to saving others, so what's left?"

"But you still have to do tasks, don't you? You have to train me, for example."

"Yes, that's true. Other than training you, I frequently get called to other cities to make use of my ability, which is a bit of a hassle, but there's one thing you're missing here, Revel."

"Evel." Albert continued, unperturbed.

"So what if I was able to make it to the next stage? I'd still need to do these tasks, wouldn't I? Even if I got strong enough to rival the two emperors themselves, I'd just be locked in a constant, never-ending war."

"What about your lifespan? According to the book, advancing from Layman to Core to Weaver changes your life expectancy from 60, 80, to 110, respectively. That's a massive difference, and it'll keep going up from there." Albert snorted.

"Show me one soldier in this world who has lived to the end of their lifespan, and I'll consider it." Evel sipped his tea, taking in each word carefully. It was a good point. What's the point of an extended lifespan if you never make use of it? Albert continued.

"I'm not saying your goal isn't enough. In fact, as a Core soldier, you are very much at others' whims. But after you survive the frontlines and return as a powerful Weaver, you'll need a strong reason to keep on pushing forward. Assuming a usable talent, drive is the greatest difference between heroes and the unremarkable. Without a good drive, you'll simply burn out. I don't have a reason to push forward anymore, so I choose not to."

"I see." He wasn't sure if he agreed or disagreed with Albert, but could appreciate a different view. He finished the rest of his meal and helped clean up.

"Here." Albert pushed forward a large pouch filled with Riak.

"What's so expensive that you need all this for?" Evel smiled.

"An investment."