After an oddly satisfying meal of rice, cold tea, and wheat crackers with jam, Roy returned to his earlier position near the center of his room.
“How much longer do you think this will take?” he asked Geon as he settled in and began cultivating once again.
“I can’t be sure, but the Essence here is even more high quality than I’d first thought. With that cycling technique of yours, it’s sped up the purification of Essence even more. If I had to guess, I would say that with four to six hours of cultivating each day, you should make it by the deadline. If you push for eight, you could make it in only eleven days.”
Suffice it to say, that Roy knew which option he would be taking. He’d come way too close last time and was cutting it close this time as well. If he had to spend eight hours a day cultivating, then so be it.
27
Tonde Irusaru sat outside of Roy’s small house with his back to the wall. He could feel the Essence in the air practically funneling into the boy with no sign that he was going to stop. He wondered where he’d learned such an advanced cycling technique and decided to ask him when he got the chance. For now, however, he was snooping.
It wasn’t very honorable, to be sure, but he was curious, and he’d never dealt well with not knowing things. Roy seemed like a hardworking and genuinely good boy, but he was extremely secretive about which clan he came from, and why he left.
He’d listened very carefully during the boy’s entire conversation with Aika. She had a way of squeezing information out of people. Her friendly and open nature would put them off-guard, and they would spill their secrets. Not Roy, though. He’d kept his guard up the entire time, and whenever she touched too close to a sensitive subject, he would steer the conversation away.
Irusaru didn’t doubt that Roy harbored no ill-will towards his clan. He hadn’t even known who he was, which was why he’d agreed to take him in, in the first place. That, and his Essence type, along with apparent lack of attachment to any clan, made him the perfect candidate to bring into the school. Roy wouldn’t know this, of course, but he was currently the only non-clan member in the entire school.
They’d never let in an outsider before, and he was sure he’d hear from the other Masters about it. They’d already let him know what they thought of his leaving without any warning, not that he cared one way or the other. He was irreplaceable. None of the other Masters were even close to his level of power, and their clan leader, Kaeru, trusted him to keep them in line.
He’d watched Roy for nearly a month before introducing himself and suspected that he would have continued shadowing him, had that Crater-cat not attacked him. He seemed to be quite talented for one so weak. But if he was so talented, then why was he weak? It just made no sense. Then there was that odd quirk of his. He talked to himself, but he’d noticed that he only did so when he was alone. Like now, for example.
Despite the thick stone walls of the small house, Irusaru had no problem hearing what Roy was saying. His hearing had become progressively sharper as he advanced, and now, he could probably hear Roy from halfway across the campus. It was easier to listen when he was close by, as he didn’t have to filter out all the other sounds.
“…I can advance in ten days. I’m cutting it too close as it is, and in case you’ve forgotten, both of our lives are at risk…”
Now, this was something new. Roy had never referred to someone else before. Could he be talking, not to himself, but someone far away?
Irusaru immediately dismissed that thought. No. If he had a construct capable of long-distance communication, he would have sensed it by now. And what was this about his life being at risk if he didn’t advance? Was that why he’d seemed so insistent on advancing quickly? If so, what could be threatening his life that advancement was needed to prevent it?
“…I know, but for how much longer? I don’t want to have to spend the rest of my life pushing to advance under the threat of death…”
Was someone threatening to kill him if he didn’t advance quickly enough? Is that why he’d had that run-in with those people back in the Waterwood? Irusaru felt his interest growing more and more the longer he listened. If there was truly another side to the conversation, he desperately wished he could hear it.
But as of now, he thought he had a pretty good understanding of Roy’s situation. He was either being threatened by someone, or something, to advance quickly. If he didn’t comply, he would be killed. Whoever this was, he didn’t believe that the Tonde clan could protect him from them. That was bad for many reasons. The first of which, was the fact that he was putting the clan at risk by bringing Roy into their midst.
He’d have to change his plans on how to train the boy now. He couldn’t be allowed to stay here; he would have to be isolated from the others. If Roy had been following any other Advancement Path, he might have cut him loose then and there, but Power Essence users were too rare for him to do that. If he could train up another person on the same Path as him, his clan could benefit greatly.
He would also have to accelerate the rate at which he pushed for the boy’s advancement. When it came to advance to the next Dan in any Belt, it was only a matter of power. When it came to move up to the next Belt, it was out of their control. A new trial would open for him when he was deemed ready and not a moment before.
Irusaru decided that he would confront Roy about this directly. If he was going to do this, it would be a big expense for both himself and the clan. He would have to dedicate an inordinate amount of time to training him. Not to mention that the only place he could advance quickly enough would be in a Dungeon near the center of The Crater. It was an extremely dangerous place for someone of his advancement level, which meant that he would have to keep an almost constant watch on him.
Irusaru sat there for another hour, making his plans as Roy continued to cultivate. At one point, Aika came along, but he just shooed her away. She glared at him and made a few rude gestures, but in the end, left without a word. Seeing her gave him another idea.
If Roy had spent his life as an outcast, perhaps making a friend would help him open up more and become less guarded. This would present him with more opportunities to discover more about him. He still had no idea where he’d gotten that artifact, or how he had learned such an advanced cycling technique. His granddaughter could also benefit from some hard and rigorous training. She’d been stuck at 4th Dan Orange for far too long. She needed to advance quickly. Otherwise, she risked stunting her future growth, and the Dungeon he had in mind would be perfect for pushing her to her limits.
Rising with a small grunt of effort, he headed away from the housing area. He hoped Roy hadn’t gotten too comfortable in there, because they would all be leaving that night.
***
Roy started as a loud knock came at his door. He’d been deep into his cycling and had accidentally shut himself off from the world around him. Not that it would have done him any good if he hadn’t. The person at the door had suppressed their cores to the point where he couldn’t feel a thing from them.
Opening the door warily, he peeked out to see Irusaru standing there with a small pack slung over one shoulder. Standing behind him was Aika, looking none too pleased.
“Good, you’re awake. Pack your things. We’re leaving.”
“Wait…What?” Roy asked as the old man slid past him and into the small house. “But I just got here.”
“Yes, and now we’re leaving,” he said, setting his pack on the floor and looking around.
Roy turned to Aika, whose expression softened when his eyes landed on her.
“Don’t ask me. The old man just showed up at my house and said we’re leaving for training and that I should pack my bags. I tried to refuse, but…”