Evel walked out of the cafeteria, stuffed. The heat of the midday sun seared into his skin, but the cool wind balanced out the heat to leave him in a perfect mood.

  He had spent one credit on a sandwich. Evel had decided to prioritize eating, and making sure he was getting the proper meals, so he picked the filling one-credit options instead of the smaller half-credit or the more luxurious two-credit options.

  There was also a free supply of cornpods. They weren’t very nutritious, healthy, tasty, or filling, but they were extremely cheap, no matter which city you find yourself in. They were the perfect meal in times of desperation.

  If I have three meals a day for the remaining six days, each meal costing one credit, that will cost a total of 18 credits.

  It could also be seven days…

  His body, not in the habit of eating two full meals well before evening, felt extremely lethargic.

  But my mind feels so clear!

  He activated his ability, and the hand flew around wildly. He was moving it as fast as he could. He strained his ability to the max until it naturally faded away, leaving Evel lightheaded.

  Four minutes at top speed, I can work with that.

  The lack of Energy in his core from straining his ability was draining, but he remained steadfast, and made his way to the training hall on the other side of the camp.

  Along the way, he greeted his fellow recruits and struck up small

  The services provided by the training hall were simple, there were two free services, and two paid services.

  The weightroom and field were open to everybody. When Evel stepped inside, the air was heavy with the scent of metal and sweat. He found Fern there, already mid-set. Her freckles popped against her skin as she struggled under the weight, her hair tied back in a hurried knot.

  Fern had excused herself early from the celebrations and left, feeling she was already far behind with an affinity of 70.

  She decided to replace the lacking talent with hard work.

  And, in a way Evel had also inspired her to put in the extra effort.

  She spotted Evel and they began talking, after which they trained together for half an hour.

  Evel was out of his element when it came to weightlifting, so Fern guided him through the basics and he had focused on working on his legs for the day.

  Fern had initially planned on saving most of her credits, like many others and spending it responsibly, but after talking to Evel she realized that she had completely misunderstood something critical.

  Her life was in danger.

  Anyone who aims to reach higher realms was in danger.

  She needed to spend her credits, as well as the riak she brought from Yosten soon, and put it to good use.

  He thanked Evel for the conversation and left quickly to the shops.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Evel had simply told her about his day, but unknowingly had lit a fire under her feet that caused her to push forward with all she had.

  Half an hour later, Evel had completed the plan that Fern had left him and went to look at the two paid services.

  The first were the free rooms. They could be rented out and shaped into any shape the customer wanted.

  One person may want it as a range of their archery, another person a freezer to train their temperature ability, another as simply a soundproof room to train their sound ability and so on.

  The cost varied depending on what you wanted the room to be set up as, and how much damage you ended up doing to it. To Evel, this service was useless. His hand was very easy to train on the go, and he didn’t mind using rocks as target practice for his crossbow.

  The final service was the one that really excited him.

  It was a rest pod.

  A person could spend ten minutes inside of one and come out with their body aged eight hours older.

  This allowed for both your physical energy as well as your core Energy to recover.

  This allowed for you to train more frequently, and push your body and core further to their limits.

  It had two main drawbacks, first you wouldn’t get the proper mental rest that sleep would give you. It was not a replacement for sleep, but something that helped stall a bit longer.

  The other drawback really made Evel excited. The eight hours that the pod aged you would use your body's nutrition to sustain itself. Evel could eat more frequently and he may actually have time to recover his frame.

  The price wasn’t cheap, five credits for a Core stage recruit per use, and the price grew at an alarming rate as you increased your rank.

  50 per use for a Weaver? Who’s living in that sort of luxury?

  The pods were large, twice the height and length of a human. The huge grey containers lay flat on the ground and were making a soft humming noise. A small cylinder was connected at the base of the pod, containing blue liquid getting slowly depleted. The particular one that Evel was looking at had low liquid and was about to run it. Out of curiosity he decided to wait.

  Less than 30 seconds later, the liquid ran out.

  FSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH

  The lid of the pod rose a bit, causing a large amount of a steam-like substance to come out of the pod. After a few more seconds, the steam fully dissipated, and the lid slid off to the side to reveal a young woman lying there flat on her back. She had jet-black hair, and sharp, defined eyebrows. Her athletic build was evident through a form-fitting tunic of dark, supple deer-hide layered over grey linen trousers. She had a reinforced leather bracer on her forearm which caused Evel to mark her as an archer.

  Her eyes slowly opened from her slumber revealing her amber eyes. Taking a deep breath, she gracefully got up and scanned the room around her.

  Soon, she found a man dressed in ragged clothes and a cheap top hat staring at her intensely as she stepped out.

  Her face warped with disgust.

  Had this man been watching her sleep?

  She decided she was above wasting her time on a creep, so she walked past the man, purposefully and aggressively bashing shoulders.

  Evel stumbled back a bit by the impact then stood there stunned,

  Was she angry at me?

  Do I know her?

  Evel tried his best to remember, but he couldn’t. She had a very distinctive air about her and he would normally remember such people.

  She must just like picking fights, some people are just so weird.

  FSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH

  Just then another pod had run out of liquid and the steam released into the air.

  A subtle yet familiar feeling of dread washed over Evel.

  The lid slowly opened and a copper skinned man with a deep scar on the right edge of his lips slowly stood up. He stretched a bit, before emotionlessly getting out of the pod and walking to the exit. On his way, he locked eyes on Evel and stopped momentarily.

  “Hello Evel.”

  “H-Hey Bremin, how’s it going?”

  Evel took a sharp breath and regained composure. He needed a bit of time to acclimate to the dreadful aura.

  “Fine.”

  And with that, Bremin took his leave.

  Evel took a breath of relief as the aura disappeared.

  I can’t even deal with his aura, so how am I supposed to fight somebody like him if it comes down to it?

  Evel grit his teeth.

  I’m not working hard enough.

  If I plan on using a crossbow, I need to get the strength required to load it, as well as the stamina required to be on the run.

  Evel left the training grounds and began his jogging training. Although coats weren’t usually ideal for running, his status as a magician, a job that required a lot of movement, had caused him to buy clothes that wouldn’t impede him.

  He spent the rest of the day alternating between running, training with his imperceivable hand which he lovingly decided to call Eth, short for ethereal from now on, and taking short breaks to rest his body and mind.

  He took one longer break to have dinner where he found Leo quietly eating by himself. Apparently the group had all decided to begin training as well, completing their celebrations. He talked to Leo while enjoying his meal before getting back to training.

  At night, he returned to the residential area, where thankfully the lodging was free.

  He washed up, cleaned his clothes then collapsed into bed.

  It was a dreamless night.

  He preferred it that way.

  The next day, Evel woke up and headed to the shops immediately following a quick breakfast and a brief training session.

  It was finally time to get his weapon.