Three hours of sleep, and Noah was up. A bundle of stress had lodged itself in his chest, and despite having been awake for over 48 hours, just like the past few times, he couldn't sleep for more than three hour mark.
He tilted his head, looking out the window at the early morning sky. Noah closed his eyes for a few moments in contemplation.
‘Ah, fuck it. I'll go for a walk. I think the circus I sent Evan to has a show today, actually. Might as well check it out.’
For the first time in a while, Noah decided not to use his skill to travel. Still in his sleepwear, he walked out of the estate, only disguising himself with a single siren’s coo.
He shut the gate of the estate behind him, and continued to stroll with hands in his pockets. He couldn't help but notice the changes the recently flourishing economy of the Odir territory had brought. The sale of leviathan had been an unprecedented boon for Odir, and the fact that people walked around with cheer on their faces was only one of the positive symptoms of it. None of these people walking the streets were paupers either. Homeless shelters and free housing he had ordered the construction of had long since extracted them destitution.
The people weren't nearly the full extent of change to Odir. Noah’s reforms to bring about cleaner streets had been brought from the modern era, and the lack of the smell of horse feces and filth so ubiquitous in the medieval era was refreshingly obvious. It was usually only the capitals of nations that boasted this level of cleanliness.
The result of his changes turned the corners of his lips upwards. Certainly, he had brought welcome change he could be proud of.
Finally, Noah arrived at a bright attraction shockingly crowded with people. Noah had confirmed that the time was the early hours of the morning. The sun hadn't risen for long. The circus being so popular at this time suggested that demand was overwhelming.
Somewhat astonished, Noah strolled into the circus, not bothering to pay for a ticket. They wouldn't charge him anyway, what with him being the lord. Not that they could even see him.
‘If the circus had blown up to this extent for long, I would have known. That means this is a recent development. Was the previous show they did really good for some reason? Did Evan do something?’
The entire seating area resembled an auditorium grandstand, and the entire auditorium was engulfed in darkness, as several layers of tarp blocked out any light. Noah, who couldn't find spare seating, decided to watch from the back. It took another fifteen minutes for all audience members to sort themselves out, and finally, a boisterous voice began to echo.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome a show you will once your lives! As you may have heard from the last show, a grand talent has been added into our midst. Let us allow his dexterity to shine once again as it has once before! Former Hero, Evaaaaan!”
The lights flicked on, and as everyone's eyes adjusted between excited cheers, a clown stood at the center.
Noah’s eyes crinkled in amusement. He still couldn't believe Evan had agreed to it. Noah could vaguely see Elara in the front row. Clearly, magic had been used to disguise herself, but Noah could easily detect the mana presence she emitted. When he saw her looking at Evan in pride, a tinge of guilt pricked his heart, but he shook his head.
‘No, no. She's proud of him. That's a good thing. Even though he's a clown. Yep. Definitely. Good thing. Yep.’
Noah fought to keep snickers from escaping his mouth. As much he did treasure Evan and his mental health, the scene before was just too funny to him.
He wasn't laughing much longer.
Soon, Noah's suppressed laughter slowly turned to awe as he watched Evan.
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On one finger, just one index finger, Evan balanced a metal rod with a plate on top attached to it that a hobgoblin stood on. And he was doing that on both hands at the same time. The feats only became crazier from there. Evan flicked his indexes, throwing them.
Both rods and hobgoblins traveled in parabolas as they swapped fingers. Evan then let the ends of both rods fall on his index, then caught the somersaulting hobgoblins on the metal plates.
For over two hours, Noah witnessed Evan's feats of raw dexterity escalate, and the final act was Evan controlling two life-sized puppets to fight. Each hand controlled each puppet. And the fight those puppets had made them look nothing like puppets. One would think there were human souls trapped within them, with the fluid way they fought. The crowd even felt the emotions of the puppets, the desperation of the losing side, the joy of the winning side.
With an explosive strike, the loser puppet was shattered to wood chips. All traces of ridicule vanished from Noah's face. What Evan had just performed was utterly monstrous. There was no way that was in the realm of humanity.
‘Absolute Dexterity.’
That was a skill? Crazy. Insane. Ludicrous. Later, Noah caught Evan walking out arm in arm with Elara, and he dispelled his disguise right in front of them as he rushed to catch them. Surprisingly, they did not jump back in shock or anything.
“Evan, can we talk?”
“...what are you wearing?”
-
Elara left the two to chat, flying back to the estate ahead of them. It seemed she wanted to get some shut-eye, which made sense, considering that she must have stayed up all night to assist Evan with preparations. Noah and Evan strolled back while chatting. Mostly talking about insignificant matters like they used to, such as how Evan’s performance could have been uploaded on Tiktok on earth to go viral, or how Noah was a nerd for using Tiktok.
Eventually, Noah got to what he had wanted to ask.
“So, Evan. You over your monsterphobia now?”
“More or less. I don't fear them like I used to.”
A gruff voice responded to Evan.
“Really?”
Evan calmly looked up at Noah, who towered over Evan as an Ogre thrice the usual size of one. It was evident Evan was not completely over the phobia, by the few beads of sweat that formed on his forehead. It had only been a week of 'rehabilitation', after all. However, Evan replied firmly.
“Yes.”
And that was good enough for Noah, who dispelled the transformation.
“So then, let's have a bout, shall we?”
Evan smirked.
“I was going to ask you that myself. Maybe not a full blown spar though.”
“Alright, let's do this, then. One strike. I'll come at you with the maximum power the SS-rank Noah could have generated.”
“It slightly bothers me that you won't give me your full strength right now, but I suppose I'll be flattened if you did.”
Noah thought back to the missile-like strike he had released at Hero Zenith, and laughed. That would vaporize the current Evan.
“Yeah, hundred percent, haha! And my power will only increase as I split my spirit up until 9 splits, and then I'll find whatever power that I know lies beyond that. So get stronger, Evan.”
His reply did not affect Evan’s smile.
“That's the plan.”
Noah turned into a gryphon, then flew Evan over to the training grounds Ariel usually monopolized but currently wasn't present at, and dropped him before dispelling the mimic.
They then both got into position, as they stood a mere dozen meters apart.
“Ready.”
Evan signaled to Noah.
‘Mimicry - Ogre!’
Chief Ranked mana reinforcement was activated. Power surged through Noah, and Evan steeled himself, feeling the mana rolling off Noah as he was reinforced by it.
The world seemed to go quiet for a moment to Evan. He did not blink.
And then, it came. With a single lunge, the distance was closed. It looked like Noah had teleported to Evan, and Evan, who had prepared himself to immediately throw up an acceleration magic circle to blow Noah in the direction opposite to him, found his hands moving contrary to his plans.
It wasn't something that was supposed to happen. A year's worth of muscle memory in life and death combat was wiped by a week in the circus.
Time slowed to a crawl.
Evan found that he instinctively crafted strings of mana, and had instantly interweaved them into honeycombs the size of mere centimeters several times and hardened them to form a wall.
It wasn't as if no instinct was used here, defensive magic used honeycomb structures to build defensive barriers, and Evan was used to them. But to use his fingers to puppeteer strings to form the honeycomb wall?
However, unintentional or not, with all the mana Evan poured into the strings made of pure mana, it was not weak, and the intricate honeycombing added to that strength.
Time sped back up, and a loud impact echoed across the training field. Evan found himself to have been blown backwards.
A mere meter.
That was all Evan flew back by. A mere meter. He had slid backwards, his arms still crossed In front of him in defense. The blistering impact had been severely dulled. Evan, surprised at the events that unfolded, looked up, only to see the same surprised expression on Noah’s face.
“Evan…ever think of being a combat puppeteer?”