The next day went well. Half a dozen of the students showed up after school, and two of them had the skills and attitude to do the job, the other four were less interested once they saw that it wasn't a sinecure, but real work. Perhaps they assumed it was easy because I was a relatively unimpressive specimen of squirrel-muscled manhood. Unfortunately, I didn't know either of them well enough to vouch for them to run the store alone, but either one of them would make a decent enough assistant, at the very least. Both had a decent head for basic math, which meant they could do more than just stocking and deliveries and errands, once Heinrig had a better grasp on their trustworthiness. He opted to hire both part time, alternating evenings until they finished out the current session at Secondary. It was a bit unlucky for me, since I knew I would get stuck with the training parts for both of them, but maybe it was a way to keep me on a bit longer for private psionic tutoring.

The store basically ran on memorization and arithmetic, so the focus and drive that let them work hard on magic would be a strong point to build on. Connecting the general store operations with that concept might be a bit harder, but I had some faith that they would both work out in the capability side. I hoped at least one would pass the trust evaluation, but that was something that you can't really interview for. Time would tell, and the truth would ultimately come out. I'm sure Heinrig had some plans to figure that part out quickly enough.

For now, they'd both need practice to get to the point where they could keep the whole total for most of the larger orders straight without writing all the parts down. That might be a good thing, Heinrig was getting enough custom these days that receipt-style systems might be worth considering for those orders anyway. It'd been mostly just trust and handshakes so far, but as new larger customers came online, moving to a Bill of Sale arrangement for those orders made some serious sense. I got lost in those thoughts as I stocked up the shelves and we closed up the shop for the day. After we swept up, I worked with Heinrig on the meditation and focus for an hour or so, then headed home to a much needed and still slightly warm dinner. Thanks, Mom!

After dinner it was time for me to practice combined skills. I was still constantly using the Leatherskin mode, now I wanted to keep that mode running while doing the telekinesis exercises. Keeping one mental image running in the background while actively using another one is draining. It's like rubbing your stomach and tapping your head while balancing on a big exercise ball. All of the parts are fairly simple, perhaps not the balancing on a ball part, but no one task is beyond even my mediocre physical capabilities. Combined, however, I fail about one-third of the time. Which is better than I did before. After a couple hours of practice, my brain is blurry and my body is drained, which makes going to bed the next logical thing to do.

Fiveday was half training new employees for Heinrig, and half training Heinrig. We didn't have many customers come in to shop personally, instead we mostly dealt with standing orders and delivery customers, which I could now happily pawn off on the newbies as a "training" exercise. During the deliveries, I managed the store, and occasionally looked in on Heinrig as he shamelessly used the office to practice his telekinesis. He was up to about half a pound now, which was really fast progress from my perspective, as he'd surpassed my mother, and was closing in on my father. It probably helped that he could just practice whenever he wanted, and my parents likely didn't practice at work, but he might have just had a higher affinity for the techniques or something like that as well. When the work day finally ended, I hurried home and found a letter waiting for me there. From Lunette. I totally deny any and all reports that I squee'd. Fabrications, entirely false reports.

Grint,

I found your idea intriguing, but after some considerable research in the Omniology's Library, I discovered that it is a documented, if untaught and nearly unknown, technique, so I cannot use it for my project. I am still seeking a new technique to add to the subject, so should you have other ideas, I'd be fascinated to explore any of those.

I am glad to hear of your new position, and that you have found a way to continue your learning and research, even away from the Omniology. Such dedication to knowledge is a fine example to see.

Our research on the captured electro snaps is winding down, and we should be presenting the findings early next season. If you are able, I'd be delighted to have you attend the release lecture as my guest.

Finally, I thank you for your consideration of my budget, and, indeed, for your kindness in sharing what might have been a new, unique research opportunity.

Sincerely,

Lunette

Ok, never before has "sincerely" seemed so sweet a word. Rampaging hormones and racing heartbeat take over for a few moments until I regain my composure. First name basis. Personal invitation to join her as her guest at the research lecture. No matter how it started, this day was ending well. Now to practice my skills. I'll compose a response after I'm done with my work. I have to remember that I can't share the big ideas, heck I can't even share the small ideas yet. I'd love to tell her I'm coming back and have a great project for her to work on. That would be radically premature and risky, since that awaits confirmation by Wilhena, and there's no way that two days have been enough time to get everything finalized, it's barely enough to have started the processes rolling. I'll have to sleep on my reply, so I don't do something foolish while riding the endorphin rush. In the meantime, I buckle down and work on my dual focus skills again. I'm going to get where holding a body enhancement and adding on a secondary skill is normal. I put all my nerves and excitement into the work, draining my energy fully and working until I can't even keep my mind focused enough to keep the Leatherskin mode running, let alone try to add on the telekinesis. I finally collapse into bed, thoroughly exhausted and ready to sleep, perchance to dream. And what dreams may come!