Chương 7: Limit Testing

The shopkeeper's blue-white wooden badge holding the symbol of a dagger shone in the dim light entering through the windows. Evel recalled that Arlo had a ferrum dagger, and Monique had a ferrum book. The restaurant owner had a glass badge, and now a blue-white one too.

"Hello, I'm Evel, and I may need some help picking out my weapon." The shopkeeper straightened up and placed down his newspaper.

"But first, what rank does your badge represent?" Evel continued, "I have a few questions and tests I wanna try, and I need someone strong enough not to be hurt." Unbothered by such a simple question, the shopkeeper answered.

"Well, this here is an icewood badge. It represents the 3rd realm, Weaver." Evel etched that title into his mind.

"I'm at the Core stage, would that put me in the first Realm?" The shopkeeper shook his head,"Core is the second realm. The first realm is simply called Layman, for those who have yet to awaken their core. You'll get a glass badge once you become an official recruit. Anyways, what type of ability do you have? It will help narrow down the options greatly." Evel had been contemplating this a lot. Was it worth it for him to reveal his ability to others?

It felt very unlikely that this random shopkeeper ever became his enemy and ended up telling others, and Evel understood that. He also understood that getting help from people with experience could help him save time and avoid unnecessary mistakes. In the end, he decided he'd feel better with an extra trick up his sleeve, and ultimately just didn't want to. However, he also needed the expertise of the experienced, so he came up with a compromise. A smooth but mysterious aura began emanating from Evel.

A transparent hand appeared just above Evel's head and quickly moved to a nearby sword and picked it up. To anyone else, the sword would look like it was floating on its own.

"I have a unique form of telekinesis with less power but more precision and control." This was the story Evel landed on. He would still be able to get the advice he needed, albeit worse, and he didn't have to reveal all his secrets. A magician should always have some secrets.

"Telekinesis is fairly common," The shopkeeper studied the sword.

"But I can't say I've seen one like yours. For starters, the aura you give off is completely different. What sort of tests did you wanna run?"

"I'm not too familiar with using my ability yet, so I just want to see how it will interact with other people and their defensive abilities." This wasn't a complete lie. The shopkeeper agreed and a soft aura emanated from him. His skin looked shinier now. Finally, he had a chance to test the limits of his ability on another human. Someone he didn't have to be wary of hurting. First, he dropped the sword and used the illusory hand to punch the shopkeeper in the stomach. No reaction. That much was expected...

Next, Evel used his core and picked up the sword again, before attempting to swing it in place. Vwoom! Swinging it in the air worked, but... The sword flew through the air towards the shopkeeper. Yet right before making contact, the sword stopped. Evel increased his effort, pushing the sword harder, but the results didn't change. The sword wouldn't budge, as if he had lost control of his own power. With a sigh, he let the sword fall to the ground.

He then lifted a bow with his left hand and used his invisible hand to take a shot at the target across the room. The arrow zipped through the air and fell flat on the ground, not even making it to the target. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Wow… Even if that arrow had more power, it was completely off! He tried brushing it off as part of his experiment, but the quiet smirk on the shopkeepers face told him he wasn't doing a great job.

He moved on to the next step, this time he tried aiming the arrow at the shopkeeper's foot. He couldn't let go of the string. Interesting. I'm almost sure I'll miss regardless of whether or not I release the arrow, but even then, I still can't let go. Is it the intention that matters? There was one more thing he wanted to try out. His third hand reached into his pouch and grabbed a card from his deck. He floated it close to the shopkeeper, then he threw it at him.

The card softly hit the shopkeeper's forehead before swaying in the air and falling down. So it has to be the intention to harm. He did a few unnecessary tests to hide his true intentions, then cleaned up the mess he made. So the invisible hand refuses to harm, even if it's indirectly through a weapon like an arrow. Evel politely took off his tophat and bowed his head, after having put the final arrow back in its quiver.

"Thank you, I think I'm done with my experiments."

"So, get any ideas on what type of weapon you wanted?" Evel shook his head, exasperated.

"Originally, I thought a bow would be good, but..."

"Your aim sucks." He sighed again. It was a partial lie, since the real reason was that his hand simply couldn't shoot the bow. Either way, it was no good. He recalled Arlo's advice of using throwing knives or darts, but it was completely useless to him. No matter what he thought of, he couldn't think of a fitting weapon that his hand could use. How was he supposed to win a fight without harming his foe?

"I know you're keeping some secrets of your ability from me, as you should, but I think I can still provide some good general advice." Evel leaned in, and the shopkeeper continued.

"One mistake many people make early in their journey is trying to serve their ability rather than letting their ability serve them." Evel narrowed his eye. Wasn't he supposed to use his ability to help him become stronger?

"Imagine someone who has a bird summon. One option is to strengthen it as much as possible and use their time, energy, and money on making the bird as strong as possible. Alternatively, a different person with an avian ability decides to learn how to use a long-distance bow, and focuses their time on getting faster and more nimble, then uses their summon as a scout. Who do you think would win in a fight?" It was so simple!

He had been completely tunnel-visioned in using his power as his main weapon, but he had other options, too! The shopkeeper didn't wait for a reply, taking Evel's stunned expression as understanding enough to keep talking.

"Now, for your telekinesis, I'd maybe use some throwing knives, and even if you can't generate the speed to harm your opponent, you can still use it as crowd control to force them into your main weapon for the kill." Evel nodded but dismissed the idea. He couldn't use knives effectively since he couldn't cause harm, and had already come up with a better idea.

"Do you have some strong wire?"

"Ah! That's not bad either, since it's lighter, it'll also be easier on your Energy. You'd also be able to make use of your improved control better that way too! They're back there!" Evel walked to the back of the store, where the shopkeeper had pointed him to, and saw four types of wire, with descriptive signs below. [Ferrum Coil] High-tensile refined ferrum, durable and elastic. The standard for binding and snaring. | 5 Credits [Barbed Coil] Spurred Ferrum wire, designed to grip and lacerate.

Causes persistent bleeding and pain. | 10 Credits [Electric Coil] High-purity conduit metal, pliable and highly conductive. Delivers disruptive electrical surges. | 15 Credits [Crystal Coil] Complex crystalline metal, pliable, elastic, and difficult to spot. Premium product for traps and overall flexibility. | 25 Credits Evel noted the prices. He wasn't willing to spend his credits just yet. He needed to properly budget if he was to make the best use of his credits.

With a broadened mindset, many ideas quickly flowed into his head for what his main weapon could be. Still, he wanted to hear other possibilities. There could be many things he hadn't considered.

"Is there a suitable weapon as a finisher? Assuming I can snare them, or find an opportunity, of course." The shopkeeper thought for a moment before answering,"A spear would probably suit your needs." Evel considered it; a spear didn't need as much power to swing as a sword, and he could simply thrust it whenever his opponent was incapable of moving. It was honestly a good choice. However, he liked his own idea better.

"Do you have any crossbows?" The shopkeeper raised his chin in thought.

"The ones that shoot for you?" Evel nodded, they were a fairly common weapon among 'Laymen' game hunters in Yosten.

"Probably, one second." The shopkeeper shuffled behind his counter. After a few minutes, he stepped out and walked around the store " I'm sure we have a few in the storage, but I doubt we have any out on display. People usually prefer regular bows due to their simplicity to make, and their future potential" Evel waited as the shopkeeper searched a bit more before he came back empty-handed.

"I'll have to go to the warehouse since it's not in storage either. Come back tomorrow morning. Did you want to buy the wire now?" Evel shook his head.

"Could you point me in the direction of the cafeteria?" After getting directions and thanking the shopkeeper for his help, Evel walked out of the building, the soft chimes on the door sounding again. He activated his ability. The hand danced around in the air, grabbing heavy objects and placing them back down. Doing this quickly drained him of his Energy and he let it recover again. He had been doing this as much as possible.

He found that by frequently using his ability, he was able to extend its maximum duration for longer. Despite the slow progress, Evel wasn't disheartened. When he initially got his power, at his most desperate moment just a year ago, he could activate and leave his hand stationary for about eight minutes. Of course, this was assuming the hand remained still, and no additional strain was added. Unfortunately, he hadn't been quite in a position where he was able to train daily.

Exhausting your Energy caused a deep fatigue, and without food or a consistent shelter, it simply wasn't worth it. Basking in the addictive feeling of progress, Evel went to grab himself a meal. One week. He had less than one week.