Aric was back home and was met by an enthusiastic, very young girl: Avian, the younger sister of Alden. Now they looked a bit more mature. Both of them had integrated into Aric's life in Distant Wind City, and they would also move with him to the new place. Of course, Alden at first refused to move and assured Aric that he and his sister could stay here and find a place for themselves.
But Aric knew that Alden would find it hard, and honestly speaking, he had gotten closer to him and his cute sister over the past year. Aric never had a sister before and was an only child in his previous life too, so having Avian around brought joy to his ambition-filled life.
Aric had mentioned how he would need someone to continue with his business and there was no one he could trust, and only after Avian refused to let go of Aric's leg did Alden agree to move to a new place.
Alden just didn't want to be a burden to Aric.
"Aric, have you been accepted?" Tony, the landlord and blacksmith, asked when Aric and Gopher came to his place.
"By the grace of Aurelius, yes," Aric replied with a bright smile as he showed the Ravenguard contract. Tony enthusiastically took the paper and gave it a quick read, a bright smile spreading across his face. Over time, Aric and Tony had also grown close as Aric spoke of many blacksmithing techniques that Tony didn't know before. At first, Tony thought that Aric was speaking too much, but once he tried one of his methods, it blew his mind.
In fact, now Tony had a special brand in the whole city. The new kind of knives and swords, named Damascus style, was a huge hit on the market as these knives were better, sharper, lighter, and even the steel was beautiful to look at.
It was an instant hit, and from then on Tony had respect for Aric, the mysterious boy who had won the hearts of the city. After he returned from the snow-filled forest with the dead body of a mage, he had become a legend in the city. He was well known and welcomed everywhere. After his help with the blacksmith and even gifting an air blower to Tony on his birthday, Tony respected him more.
The same went for Albert. Albert was the most affected by Aric's actions. His one big shop room had now become a two-floored shop with 10 new employees. One was for the bakery, and the other was a café. A new addition that Albert and the whole city had never seen before.
Of course, this was also a brainchild of Aric's, as he had suggested how to open and sell more of his food. Albert had gone from selling bread to selling all kinds of sweets, pastries, cakes, pizza, and some other items that the city had never seen before.
Albert was now actively trying to open another bakery on the other side of the city and then, if possible, in other cities. It was a long shot, but once Aric had planted the idea in his head, he was very eager to try. It wasn't like such restaurant chains didn't exist in this world, but all were maintained and led by mages. He was just an ordinary man trying to enter an industry that was very niche and profitable if approached the right way.
Aric had helped the city a lot, and that was the only reason Ravenguard had decided to accept him. They had investigated as deeply as possible and understood that Aric was never after power and even actively distanced himself from city administration, only pocketing money. A spy would never pass up the chance to get cozy with city administration, but he actively avoided it and even paid extra taxes just so the city wouldn't come after him.
Ravenguard had taken a gamble on him and hoped his talent would be the only "headache" for the school. Tony was reluctant to see Aric part ways with him, but he was also glad that Aric got accepted into a beast control and taming school. Even though they were known to be savages, they were also feared across the land. After talking with Tony a bit about the home he was leaving, he and Gopher proceeded to go home.
As he stepped inside the door, a young girl came running in and held on to Aric's leg.
"Avian, did you study while I wasn't home?" Aric petted the head full of hair of the young girl clinging to him.
"No, no... You don't get to ask me questions about my studies today. Did you get accepted to the school or not?" Avian didn't answer his question at all. Aric was usually responsible for the studies of Alden and Avian. Alden was much more focused and did his homework diligently, but Avian was quite mischievous. She wasn't a bright student per se, which was expected, but Aric was adamant about teaching them as much knowledge as possible.
"He has been accepted into Ravenguard School, but he'll have to pay a bunch of gold coins just because his brother here refuses to speak of his background." It was Gopher who replied.
"You got accepted? Congratulations, brother."
"The school would be stupid not to accept you," Alden murmured, still remembering the day when Aric had held his neck in a chokehold with strength that was inhuman. It might not mean much in the mage world, but Alden knew that Aric was born talented and even killed his enemies.
"Did you listen to what I said? Aric will have to pay loads of money to the school. He was supposed to get a full scholarship." Gopher was irritated that he didn't get the response he wanted from these kids. Didn't they know how important money was?
But both of the children ignored Gopher and started congratulating Aric, and Avian even said that she would bake for him today.
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