Not much time passed before they found themselves at one of the other lone buildings – a workshop, Evan realized, as they knocked on the door. It had four floors, and he started to wonder why they mined out the ceiling so much.

When nobody answered, Alison pulled out a key to unlock the door – which seemed like quite an invasion of privacy – and they entered.

It was much less open than he had been expecting, and they found themselves in a straight hallway that led to a set of stairs. From the size of the building outside, he knew their left side to be an exterior wall, and the right had a single door along with several windows.

Through them, he could see the messy workshop. It was disorganized, with random pieces of half-finished equipment lying about in full view of the uncovered window. Had this been his own workshop, his master would have beat him silly, former or not.

From the window he could make out a faint noise of someone working, as well as the silhouette of someone. Whomever was inside was working on something at a table they couldn’t quite see from their position.

“This is Theo’s workshop. He and Rory are usually around here, but if they’re not, Theo should know where he is.”

Phew. For a moment there, he had been truly worried that he would be asked to share a workshop, but thankfully Starspire knew there was a limit to the patience of most crafters, military or not.

Forcing him to share a workshop, where his secrets could easily be stolen, was a serious offence and one he would pass up the chain of command – something like that was exactly why the branches were separate, now.

He didn’t know much about the guild and how they operated, but maybe they would have taken up his case as well. That reminded him to see about finding a branch of the guild at some point.

Considering the size of Goldspire, and the population of crafters required to keep it running smoothly, he figured there should be one here somewhere. Hopefully not too deep, though. Part of him was still a little anxious about going any deeper into the ground, especially given that only increasingly powerful people could be found the deeper he went.

“I’ll have my own workshop, right?” He thought about mentioning how much of an offense it would be to be asked to share, and that he would outright refuse, but that would be unnecessarily rude, and Alison seemed quite nice, if a little strange.

“Of course, nobody would be willing to work down here otherwise!” She answered him in a sweet voice before suddenly shouting. “Theo! Rory! It’s Alison, and I have the new guy with me that I’ve mentioned before!”

It was loud enough to hurt his ears in such an enclosed space, and he winced.

How long had they known he was coming? The organization of the place continued to amaze him, but he realized that he might not see it that way if it took weeks for any assistance to actually arrive.

“Coming right out! One minute!” He heard the voice of the man working at the table before they quickly finished whatever it was they were doing and turned around, glancing at them through the window.

A broad grin spread over their face as they raced over to the door and opened it, hurriedly beginning to speak before they had even shut the door behind themselves.

“So, you’re the new guy, huh? We’ve been waiting for you to arrive for what seems like ages. I’m Theo, Rory is upstairs.”

Alison seemed to decide her work was done, for she started heading for the door. “You three have fun. Now you can finally quit complaining, Theo! Evan, when you’re done here meet me back at the office and I’ll have everything laid out for you. Bye!” Then she was gone, quick as quicksilver.

Evan regarded the man before him. He was about his age and was about the same height. He had a thicker, more muscled build than he did, with brown hair and blue eyes that seemed to contain endless energy.

He didn’t like him already.

After having spent so long with Isaac, it was inevitable that he would pick up some of the man’s habits, and of them was the unhurried pace the man seemed to drift through life with. Theo also somewhat reminded him of Arnav, and it made him uncomfortable.

It would be best, he decided, if they got right down to business. “What do you mean by upstairs? Do you share a workshop?”

“No, each floor is its own workshop, and everyone has a key to their own door for privacy. You want to come check out mine? I know things are a little disorganized, but I have a system.”

To invite him into his workshop was a great sign of trust and openness, that he found a little foolish, and he outright refused.

“No thanks, and you shouldn’t invite strangers – especially other craftsmen – into your workshop. What if I tried to steal your secrets? There would be nothing you could do.” He resisted the urge to also say something about the windows not having their blinds drawn.

Theo seemed confused. “I would just tell you to leave? How would you steal my secrets right out from under my nose?”

Evan decided against arguing with him. It was about the principle of the matter! Was Theo not trained properly? Information security was a cornerstone of being a proper formations master.

“Nevermind. What task is it that is so demanding you needed more help?”

“Well, now that you’re here, it’s a little embarrassing to just outright say. Let’s go get Rory first.”

They moved up the stairs, where he encountered a hallway that seemed almost a replica of the one below. Just like it, the hallway was lit with lanterns that were hung up on hooks.

It also must be fairly cold, as Theo asked him how he could be so comfortable in his relatively thin clothes. Had that been why he got strange looks on the surface?

Ever since he had upgraded his thermostat with his new cultivation it had been much better. It no longer struggled to keep the air around him regulated as he walked around outside, and he hardly noticed the temperature outside now.

Sometimes, he would even wear it to sleep, but it still decayed at a quick enough pace he usually deemed it a waste of money.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“I have a device that regulates the air around me, so I’m not cold or hot while I walk around. You should build yourself one.” He wanted to talk about it more, but this was a fellow formations master, and it would be rude to speak of how comfortable he was while Theo lamented about the cold beside him.

On the other hand, this was a fellow formations master – someone who would truly understand everything he said, which was just more satisfying than talking about it to a layperson. Arnav and Illiana had never taken much interest in talking about design work at depth, and with his master it just felt… weird.

“That’s so cool! What a great idea. I made a heater for my workshop but hadn’t considered making one for carrying around. How’d you manage that at the first Collapse? I don’t think I’d be able to fit all the imbuements on something small enough to carry. Is that you have attached to your side?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t get it any smaller.” He lied, not wanting to reveal his shield or talent. The first could save his life, and the second might just ruin any positive relationship between them. He remembered how it had poisoned his relationship with Illiana until they eventually made up.

Once they arrived at the door, Theo knocked on it loudly and waited. He seemed more patient than Alison.

Not even a minute had passed before the door opened – the windows had their blinds closed, so he couldn’t see inside, and another man greeted them.

They had a build much like Theo’s but had a calmer disposition that was evident from the first words they said to him.

“Hello.”

After the introductions were out of the way, Evan learned that there wasn’t any true lack of manpower – they were both just lazy, and he gathered that neither had been properly trained. He didn’t ask, as that was beyond rude for several reasons, but their tasks weren’t that difficult or even time-consuming.

They would each rotate through all the various systems that kept everyone down here alive, taking turns doing maintenance. Maintenance was only done occasionally, but even they realized it was important to regularly check up on the formations their lives depended on.

Even if the open air of the shaft was not far, they were still 1500 meters under the ground, and all sorts of formations were required to ensure there weren’t any accidents. This included ones for ventilation, checking for bad air, the beams that kept the roof from collapsing, and some sensors that would alert them if anything changed.

That was just for the cavern itself – there were also the buildings to consider. This was the only true issue the two of them had faced, as neither of them had any training, instruction, or experience with compositions – the proper term for the collection of formations that a building had.

Since Evan had all of those things, they decided to leave the buildings to him from now on, and the two of them would continue to do maintenance on the cavern. He noted that this seemed to disappoint them but they agreed regardless. It was less work for them, and even better, work they didn’t really know how to do anyway.

He chatted with them just long enough to confirm they weren’t part of the military, and picked up that their talents weren’t that great.

Not long after that, he left – he wanted to check out his workshop, which would be on the third floor, but wouldn’t be able to get in without the key, so he didn’t bother and instead returned the way he had come. Hopefully, Alison would have everything ready, and he could finally get to his residence and kick back for the day – he was quite tired, even if he’d spent most of his time recently sitting down inside a vehicle.

Thankfully, once he returned to the office and found Alison, he was able to get everything sorted and obtain the keys to both his home and workshop, as well as directions for his residence.

She wanted to keep chatting – she seemed awfully curious – but he begged her off saying that the trip had left him exhausted, which was mostly true.

The directions he was given were incredibly straightforward, and he soon found himself at the largest building in the cavern – the block of apartments where everyone stayed. Everything was labeled with numbers, which made it easy to find his own room. It was on the second floor, and not far from the stairs – something he was glad for.

Moving in was even easier – after the fire that had consumed his old home, he had few belongings, and hadn’t picked any more up before he left for Goldspire, apart from a set of spare clothes.

Everything else was something he kept on his person – his thermostat, his shield, and his dagger, along with some coins should he need to purchase anything. If anything had remained of his notes, he would have bound them together into a notebook and kept that on him, too – he had learnt his lesson.

Despite this, the apartment felt cramped, and he wished there was something better he could live in. He reckoned that the stronger cultivators deeper into the shaft didn’t have to put up with something so small.

All he had was a small bedroom, a bathroom – it came with actual plumbing, which was a rare bonus – and a kitchen.

There were no formations, neither for the house nor the appliances, and when he entered the room was dark and likely a little chilly. He would need to buy some lanterns he could hang up. He had a stove that needed wood for fuel, and some sparse space for preparing meals that he didn’t look forward to using.

As he climbed into the bed – that he noted was stiff – he wondered why his lifestyle had taken a downgrade and drifted off to sleep.

***

The following day, Evan did what he took to calling his rounds’, checking up on all the buildings and finding them in need of maintenance – something he had expected, given the lack of know-how Theo and Rory admitted too.

While he had gathered their talent wasn’t great, he was only now able to get a good estimate of it by inspecting the strength of what little maintenance they’d done on the buildings, and if they followed a cultivation plan like his own – dedicating everything they could to their intent, barring keeping their increased needs in check – then what he found could only be disheartening.

He knew that his talent was only somewhat better than the average crafter, and while he had an advantage over Illiana and… Arnav… it wasn’t to an incredible degree. Every little bit mattered, of course, but it wasn’t so bad he outclassed them in any way – it was just enough to get a little more for his products, and to make a little more money with the same effort.

Comparing himself to Rory and Theo, though, things were different. He could only tell they were at the first Collapse, not how close they were to the second, so he assumed they were at the very beginning.

If that was the case, then he would say they only had around half the talent he did, and he wondered why they decided to become crafters. His estimation even took into consideration that he was no longer at the beginning of the first Collapse, using an estimate of what his abilities were at that point.

Even with lacking talent, crafters made an incredible amount of money considering the lack of danger and oversight they had, and so he could somewhat see it, but they would always be lacking compared to crafters of the same level as themselves.

As he busied himself with maintaining the compositions of the various buildings, having already picked up the Substance he needed from the office, he considered whether he would have still become a crafter if his talent had been so lackluster.

The military wouldn’t have offered him such a ‘nice’ deal and may not have offered to take him in at all. He could have ended up assigned to someone other than Master Isaac and would have needed more cultivation to make the same products, drastically reducing his ability to derive an income.

With a talent half as good as his own, one would need double the cultivation to produce the same items as him – that was why talent was so important, as while it could be made up for with a stronger cultivation, the lacking strength would cripple the rate of progress they could make.

The Evan of the past would have still taken the same offer, whether it made his future more limited and difficult or not, he realized. At the time, he had just wanted the easy money crafting offered without the risk hunters had to face.

Now, though, he had set his sights on moving up the ranks of power, both so he could enjoy more wealth and security, and so he could leave the planet. Crafting had become more than just a job to him – he wanted to truly improve, and not just subsist on what he had – within limits.

In those myths, the great heroes typically went through harsh ordeals, pursuing strength and keeping their lives by the skin of their teeth. That wasn’t him. Each Collapse might be an ordeal unto itself, but it was the distant kind he could face when ready.

Maybe one day, he would turn those myths on their head, and instead of conquering those trials, he would build them. Surely, that would count for his Myth, right?