Austin managed to finish the rest of his rounds without problems. He finished checking on the guards, scouts, and hunters. After checking on them, Mike separated himself to do some logistical work. Specifically, he wanted to work on Austin’s request to add more training time.
Austin’s last stop was the school and childcare facilities. They had dedicated a few of the houses to it. Luckily, the neighborhood had plenty of houses, and they were able to use extra houses as bases of operation.
A group of single-story houses in a cul-de-sac made up the childcare facilities. Austin specifically wanted to check on Elliot, and so he entered the house for toddlers. As he entered, he saw Ava overlooking the children as they ran around the inside of the house. Most of the house had been cleared of furniture to allow the children a place to play.
Austin approached Ava, who was wearing a blue dress. One luxury that Austin was happy for was the fact that people could wear what they wanted now. It was a little thing, but Austin thought people enjoyed expressing themselves instead of wearing the same clothes. Even with all the changes in the world, it was something that gave them a sense of their old lives.
“About time you woke up,” Ava said through a stifled yawn.
“I didn’t really have a choice,” Austin shrugged. “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have slept at all.”
“I know, I know. Just messing with you. I’m sure if you could figure it out, you would never sleep again,” Ava replied. “I, on the other hand, would love some sleep.”
“These kids really drain it out of you, don’t they?” Austin asked.
“You try watching kids all day, every day, and see if you don’t want a break,” Ava laughed. “So, what brings you here?”
“I just wanted to check how everything is going since I have been out for a week,” Austin said. “Not to mention, I wanted to see Elliot.”
“Coming to see Elliot and pretending it’s work then,” Ava teased.
“Maybe,” Austin said with a grin.
“That’s fine, we have everything managed here,” Ava said before she pointed to the group of children. “He’s playing over there.”
“Thank you, I really appreciate your work. Without you, I don’t think Maya and I could do everything we do,” Austin said.
“It’s no problem at all. I enjoy looking over them even if it makes me tired,” Ava nodded.
Austin walked through the children to find Elliot. He was wearing a pair of overalls over a striped shirt. The children were running around him as they played tag. For a moment, Elliot was caught up in the game and did not notice Austin. Then he ran past Austin and noticed him. His eyes lit up as a wide smile came across his face.
“Daddy!” Elliot yelled as he tackle-hugged Austin’s leg. Austin almost fell over at the hug, but managed to keep his balance. “Nap time is over?”
“Yeah, I finished my nap,” Austin laughed.
“Play?” Elliot asked with a look of anticipation.
“I’m sorry, I can’t,” Austin said. “Daddy’s arms and legs hurt.”
Elliot frowned and hugged Austin’s leg tighter. “I hope it feels better, daddy.”
“Thanks, when it does, we will play. I promise,” Austin said with a smile as he knelt down to Elliot and ruffled his hair.
“Pinky promise?” Elliot held out his pinky.
“Pinky promise,” Austin said as he hooked his pinky around Elliot’s. “Now, go play.”
“Okay!” Elliot said with a smile as he ran back to join the other children.
Austin was impressed with Elliot’s attitude since they arrived back on Earth. He had become more understanding of Austin’s and Maya’s work in his own way. Austin thought maybe it was because Elliot made friends with the other children. He also thought that maybe Essence had some sort of effect on his understanding. Austin felt like many of the children had grown more mature than their age. He decided that he would discuss it with Ava at a later time. He could feel his body’s exhaustion and decided that he needed to get some rest.
As Austin left the childcare facility, he waved to Ava. He was happy to get everything he wanted to get done for the day. He would finally take the advice that everyone had given him and rest. Even with his exhaustion, he felt good about the day. Everyone had done their part well and the town was really coming together as a stable community. He started to have hope that they could create a life away from conflict.
Austin entered his house, and Maya was not yet home. She must have still been out on her scouting mission. Austin was fine with that. He could use the quiet to study some. Since he had ascended, he wanted to at least get to work on developing a new set of techniques. While he could not practice yet, he could at least work on the ideas behind them.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
As Austin entered his office, he immediately went to his stack of books. His finger traced the spines of the books as he looked for ones to choose from. Before he could find what he was looking for, an emerald light started to radiate from his chest. As it did, Austin pulled his amulet, the source of the light, from underneath his shirt.
“Good, you are all alone,” Artas’s voice came through the amulet.
“Uh, yeah, what’s going on?” Austin felt confused as to why Artas decided to contact him.
“I wanted to wait for you to be alone,” Artas’s voice grew quiet and serious. “So, I could reprimand you! What were you thinking, creating two branches during your ascension?”
“Oh, right. I guess it just seemed appropriate. It felt like I needed to do it to give my Essence a proper flow from the core,” Austin explained himself in defense.
“Just so you know, I’m facepalming right now. I figured you should know because you can’t see me,” Artas’s voice grew irritated. “I did not think I needed to explain that you should only do one branch at a time. I thought you were smart enough to get that. The mind can only handle so much concentration. If your concentration broke for even a moment while creating the second branch, then you could have caused irreparable damage and ruined your path.”
“But I managed to succeed, and now I’m further through Iron than if I just did one,” Austin said.
“You are either very lucky or a once-in-a-generation talent. Just because it worked doesn’t mean you should do it that way,” Artas said. “I do not have a single gray hair, and I swear you are going to give me some. Not even my children gave me gray hairs.”
“Okay, I get it,” Austin sighed. “From here on out, I’ll do things one at a time.”
“Good, that’s also why you are still exhausted. You are lucky that you were not knocked out for a longer time. Try to make sure no one else does that.”
“Noted, I’ll remind people not to. Is there anything else, or did you just want to lecture me?”
Austin was caught off guard as the light from his necklace grew brighter. The light filled the entire room and forced Austin to close his eyes. As he opened them, he was no longer in his office. Instead, he was surrounded by wild plant life. Directly in front of Austin sat Artas in front of his shrine.
“Welcome back,” Artas said with a smile and a wave of his hand.
“You can’t just pop me into here whenever you feel like,” Austin rolled his eyes.
“Obviously not, there are limitations for how often you can come here,” Artas said calmly.
“That’s not what I meant. I have things to do. What’s going to happen when Maya comes home and I’m not there?” Austin said in irritation.
“You are already forgetting about the difference in time,” Artas said as he waved his hand dismissively. “Everything will be okay. You’ll probably be back before she gets back from her scouting mission.”
“Okay, I guess that’s fine,” Austin said. “Why did you decide to bring me here, though?”
“Well, now that I am done lecturing you,” Artas stood up and gestured to the side with his hands. As he did, an array of flowers bloomed from the trees. The flowers varied in color and completely covered the nearby trees. “Congratulations on making it to Iron! You just made your first step to being a real Essence user!”
“You brought me here just to congratulate me? Also, what do you mean by "real Essence user?” I have been using Essence until now,” Austin said with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, you are here for more reasons than just celebration, but I’ll get to that in a minute,” Artas explained. “As for being a real Essence user, you aren’t really an Essence user until you create a branch. Eventually, everyone who is Essence aware can create their first core. Iron is a whole other deal and really proves you have potential to follow the Path to Gold.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Austin nodded. “So, why else am I here?”
“I need to go over some things with you, and the time difference here will help you heal,” Artas said. “I know how badly you want to get back to your work. This will make it so it’ll be like no more time lost.”
“Oh, thanks,” Austin said in partial shock. He did not even consider the time dilation’s potential for his recovery.
“No problem, just looking out for you. Now, please come closer. I want to inspect you,” Artas said.
Austin nodded and walked closer to Artas. He was not sure what Artas wanted to inspect, but he figured that it could not hurt. Artas looked Austin up and down and extended his hands forward. Green light radiated from his hand and started to cover Austin’s body. Austin’s body felt warm as the green light covered him. As the light faded, Austin felt considerably less exhausted. He even felt revitalized, like he was shocked to wake by a cold shower.
“There, that should help. Now you can get to training,” Artas said with a smile. “I’m sure you have a plethora of techniques you want to experiment with.”
“I am still thinking about it, honestly,” Austin sighed. “I think I want to create some Shaper techniques, but I’m not entirely sure how it would work with my affinity.”
“That could be difficult with your affinity. Shaper techniques are based more on energy, and metal is a very physical concept,” Artas nodded. “More reason for you to spend time here. It will give you the time to research and develop a technique.”
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Austin said. “I guess I appreciate you bringing me here.”
“It’s no problem at all. Before you get to work on that. I want to talk to you about your future and things you need to look out for.”
“What do you mean? I know that I have to worry about other species on Earth, but you make it sound like there is more that I do not know.”
“Yes, there is something that wasn’t made clear to you that you need to know. The dungeons are made known to everyone, and many people claw at the chance to conquer a dungeon. Which makes sense, there are a lot of valuables in a dungeon. There is something more important than the dungeons, though. That’s the towers.”
“Towers?” Austin asked with a confused expression.
“Yes, the towers. These structures are designed to challenge the up-and-coming best of the planet,” Artas continued to explain. “They have restrictions in place for only Iron and below Essence users to challenge them. They are specifically meant as a challenge to Irons and provide rewards greater than a dungeon. The thing is, only one person can conquer a tower and take its treasure. So, it is not only a challenge but a race.”
“So, that’s the real reason you brought me here,” Austin concluded. “You want me to train here and be ready for a tower the moment it arrives.”
“Exactly! And then you will solidify yourself as one of the up-and-coming powers of Earth,” Artas said. “So, we do not have a moment to waste.”
