ă€ŠTwo Worlds at a Time - Quests Through Multiverseă€‹


 1. You are not here for a sad story

    So this is the end!

    It came faster than I thought it would be. At the age of 29! Who the hell dies on 29? Sorry I am not trying to be a hater but I didn''t think I would be one of those sad people that would die quite early. But here we are.

    In the bed of a cancer institute suffering from gall bladder cancer. The doctors didn''t give much time and said I would live for 1 year at max. My mother had it and died on year ago and now I have it. Supposedly it ran in the family, or something of that sort.

    Though my grandparents never gave that indication but one of my uncle did. Well anyways, fast forward those few months and after constant suffering and torture I knew the day which would be the last.

    I felt bad from my father. Now he would be all alone.

    "Aric, it will be fine and take care of your father." My mother had said before her fires of life went out. I had never seen my father cry but that night when we came back home after performing the rites, I heard him sob for the first time.

    In a heart wrenching way. Of course, I was a mess from before. My reports arrived after we performed the rites and as expected it didn''t look good for me. We saw our options and honestly there was almost no chance of me recovering.

    My parents weren''t very rich and my father had poured almost all of our savings in making my mother have a more comfortable life. Many might think I am emotionless at times, but I always thought logically and had been readied myself for the death of my mother. My own upcoming death was what surprised me a lot and I made my father promise not to spend money on my well being.

    My father at the beginning wasn''t ready to listen to me but I somehow managed to make him promise me that he wouldn''t spend money on me. Over the last 2 years, dad sold away the land on which he did farming. The land wasn''t big or some kind of huge ranch owner.

    Being brought up in one of the small towns of Maharashtra, India, we weren''t some kind of wealthy rich farmers like some of the ones in USA or other progressive countries. But my father was clever about it. With the limited land he had, he did specialization and did dragon fruit farming and even mushroom farming.

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    Over the years our income was quite steady and could be easily considered as a middle class family in the country of India. I being the rebel that I was, decided to pursue engineering like many others at that time.

    Studying from one the reputed universities of the state and Mumbai, got landed on a decent back end developer job in the city itself. But, oh well, that didn''t last long when a call from the hospital came just before COVID hit the ''market''.

    COVID helped me to move back with my parents and cut my costs while working from home. God was like if COVID misses its mark, there is cancer to take you out. Now we are in 2023 end I wondered if I could reach and see 2024.

    Guess what. I couldn''t.

    I died on 22 December, 2023. It was painful to be honest but in a way it was a relief for me too. Maybe my father would get some financial peace at the end since we had been in debt. I just hope he would get the power and strength to live a healthy.

    But you are not here to listen to this boring and sad death of mine. You are here to see some action, drama, fantasy and yes sci-fi too. So let me enjoy the journey that is going to hit me anytime now.

    <hr>

    "Aric, wake up.. It''s 6 am.. You have to bath and go to school. Wake up." There was a sudden loud noise that struck his ears. It felt like someone was hammering his head.

    "Aric.. Wake up.. Or else you will be late." There was again that same noise from a woman he felt familiar. Aric''e eyes was closed and it was a huge struggle for him to open his eyes. He couldn''t understand what was going as the headache wasn''t even allowing him to move a bit, but then in a moment''s notice, the severe and skull crushing headache vanished with the blink of an eye.

    It was as if the headache had never been there.

    "Aric, I am not going to say the same thing again."

    Aric, who was in sleep, all this time woke up with a start.

    "Good. Now go and wash yourself." The woman said. Aric now had his eyes wide open. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. His own mother, quite the young version of hers was looking at him with annoyance.

    Aric wanted to go and hug his mother but stopped because everything was rush back to him at an insane amount of speed. The surroundings, his old room with the old bed, his old and big mirror which was later replaced since it decided one day to fall and break off, the old color in the ceiling.

    Everything seemed nostalgic.

    "This must be a dream." Aric thought.

    "What are you doing? Go and wash yourself. Your bus will be here and you will miss it." Aric''s mother, Avni, spoke out loud again ready to give some ass-whooping if his son didn''t get up and make a run.

    Aric, now more confused, somehow knew that he would have to move. The autopilot function took over his body and dragged his body to the shower and washroom. Soon he started brushing and saw his face on the mirror and it was there he saw himself for the first time and everything came rushing towards him.

    He was back in time. He was reincarnated.

 2. Oh look who is here

    While brushing his teeth, everything came rushing to him. Aric''s memories overlapped, and he soon realized what year it was: 2007. He was in Class 8. (Indian school systems are a bit different. Class 8, for most, is around the age of 13-14. Class 10 is the last year where a student has to study all general subjects. After Class 10 comes Class 11 and 12, also known as +2, where a student has to choose a stream: Science, Arts, or Economics. After Class 12 comes university, which is almost the same as other universities globally.)

    He had been reincarnated to his younger self. It would be at least 6 to 7 years again before everything would go awry, but until then, he would have time.

    "Calm down. Not only do you have time, but you also need to understand the reason why you were reincarnated. There must be an explanation. There has to be something," Aric thought. Without those chaotic thoughts, he went to shower and prepare for the day.

    As he came out of the shower, breakfast was ready for him to eat before heading out. Aric had tears in his eyes as he saw the homemade food and witnessed his mother being so bubbly and energetic again.

    He couldn''t help but go and hug her.

    "What''s wrong with you?" Avni asked, surprised by her son''s embrace. She sensed a mix of sadness and happiness from him. For some reason, Avni felt her son was very different that day. Normally, if she scolded him like other days, he would be annoyed and throw a tantrum, but today he was exceptionally silent and hadn''t spoken until now.

    "Nothing... I''m just happy to see the food again that you cooked so early in the morning. Thank you," Aric said with a wide grin.

    "Is there something wrong with you today?" Avni asked, touching his forehead to check for a fever or some other ailment.

    "No, Mom, I''m fine. Everything is fine. Just thank you," Aric replied as he sat at the table to eat. The reason for his reincarnation could wait; for now, he needed to enjoy his time. It was these moments that he had missed over the years, so he wanted to cherish them.

    His mom had prepared a wonderful breakfast, so he was quite happy. As he ate, he saw his father enter the home. His father had gone early in the morning to check and water the farm produce. This season, his father was growing mushrooms, so he was keeping a close eye on everything.

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    Seeing his father young again almost brought tears to his eyes. He wanted to leave his food and hug his father, but he stopped himself. He had been acting weird since morning, he needed to get a hold of himself.

    His father just nodded seeing his son eating while he went for the shower himself. Early morning showers were really a trend at his home. After eating and cleaning himself, he got ready for the school and wore his uniform. Within a minute he was ready and went to the bus stop to wait for the school bus.

    The town was small so the roads weren''t broad enough and there wasn''t a public transport like the big cities. It would be years before there would be a small autos (also known as tuktuks for those who know them) that would be used as some kind of local shared public transport.

    The roads didn''t seem to be in very good condition. Slowly, Aric realized that it would be some time before he could get himself a smartphone.

    "Damn, I''m already missing my phone. God. This reincarnation is going to be torture," Aric thought as he continued to wait and look around. His thoughts were in disarray as he began to make a concrete plan of what he needed to do. Although he complained and grumbled a bit about the smartphone, he knew he would soon get a hold of one.

    Honk!

    A bus arrived, throwing dust behind it. Aric recognized the face of the same old driver he had seen in his past years. After boarding the bus, he remembered his usual seat, which was beside his then-friend, Ishan.

    He referred to Ishan as a "then-friend" because they had chosen different streams after Class 10. They tried to keep in contact, but after two years of studying in different classes in the same school and then attending different universities, their lives took different paths.

    What saddened Aric was that Ishan went on to date and marry the girl whom Aric had once liked and even dated briefly when he was in Class 11. They were in the same school, and the girl belonged to his class. He had confided in Ishan about her, and Ishan had encouraged him to pursue her.

    Unfortunately, it didn''t work out, as she was emotionally involved with someone else. Aric was pretty upset about it and had spoken to Ishan regarding it. Ironically, Ishan later betrayed him.

    It was then that Aric realized Ishan wasn''t a true friend and forced himself to move on. This all happened in the last few months of Class 12, and although Ishan tried to keep in contact when Aric moved to Mumbai, Aric wasn''t as responsive. Thankfully, Ishan didn''t persist and let Aric be. Now he was back in his life.

    "Hey, did you bring a good lunch today? I brought potato chips. Mom gave me enough money to buy some," Ishan said innocently, genuinely happy about his chips.

    "Oh. My mom just sent some beans to chew on," Aric replied curtly. Ishan was disappointed, as Aric was known in the class for bringing the best lunches, and Ishan had been looking forward to sharing his chips and eating a good portion of Aric''s lunch.

    Ishan didn''t dwell on it much and started talking about the Pok¨¦mon episode he had watched the previous day. Aric nodded, listening to Ishan''s chatter. Although he listened, he also tried hard to discern if something was wrong with the world.

 3. You always hate ginger

    Thankfully, everything was fine, and soon they reached the school. Seeing the old ground and building again after such a long time brought him nostalgia. But it also brought up bad memories. One might think that Aric had some kind of bad childhood, but it was nothing like that.

    In fact, it was the opposite. He was the villain in the story. He wasn''t some kind of bully, but he was definitely an asshole. He would taunt people with his then-so-called friends. Later in his life, when he looked back, he felt ashamed of what he did and too embarrassed to even bring this up or say sorry to the ones he taunted and made fun of.

    Now that he was back, and a future introvert, he would be the same as before and get away from people. He was a mature mind in a child''s body (well, not technically a child, but Aric sure did think so), so he better be mature about it.

    As Aric reached the class, Ishan went on about the food and Pok¨¦mon. All Aric could think was, "Dude, just shut up!"

    After Aric sat at his table, Ishan sat nearby him, and he continued with his blabbermouth, which had now elevated to other topics, and Aric almost got a headache. He had forgotten how incredibly blabbermouth and annoying he himself was.

    Thankfully, the bell rang after some time, and the teacher came to teach them. It had been so long that he had almost forgotten the names of the teachers. The class started, and since it was a maths class, Aric didn''t even bother to listen to what the teacher was talking about. This was too easy for him.

    Now that he had some peace, he looked around to see if there were any changes from what he remembered, but there was none that came to his attention from his old memories. After eye-balling people around a bit, he gave up and decided to just enjoy his time and chalk out his future plan.

    The COVID hit, the stock market, the world. With his future knowledge, he could easily invest a small amount of money in companies that would boom and bloom in the future. The only thing he would have to do was to convince his parents to invest since he couldn''t earn money by himself. His age in India wouldn''t allow him to work legally since there was a law prohibiting children under the age of 18 from working, as it was seen as child labor.

    The classes went on, and he even went to break with his other ''friends''. Aric was mostly silent and just listened to the ''friends'' around while thinking of the future constantly.

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    "Alright, boys and girls. Your summer vacation of 1 month starts now, and take down your homework."

    The word "homework" sent a sad murmur through the whole class, but it brought a smile to Aric''s face. He didn''t care about the homework; even if he didn''t complete it, nothing would happen to him. In this one month of free time, he would easily chalk out his future plan and act accordingly.

    Each teacher of each subject continued giving them homework, but it still never bothered Aric. Only the subject of social science gave him a bit of an uncomfortable feeling, but he was fine at the end, and was glad that school finally ended.

    Soon, he was back at his own home and was glad to be with his mother and father again. It was a hot summer afternoon at the end of June, so his father was at home instead of being in the farm. After coming back and cleaning himself, he actually started hanging around his mom in the kitchen to help her or talk to her.

    His mother felt her son was acting very weirdly today, but deep down, she was glad that her son was spending time with her instead of watching cartoons on TV.

    "You are making palak paneer?"

    "Yes."

    "Thank you. But please don''t use too much ginger. I hate it."

    "You always hate ginger. Without ginger, the food will taste very bad."

    Aric and his mother had a long talk about the food, and though it looked like banter, it was not. It was just a way for Aric to make his ''mostly silent'' mother talk to him because he wanted to hear her speak and work as normal. Seeing his mother, Aric knew that he would have to save her before cancer attacks them both.

    And for that, they needed to change the whole diet, environment, and many other things. When he and his mother were sick, he had heard how some European countries would be better suited for his mother since the doctor said the current environment wasn''t helping. The doctor even said that in Switzerland, after paying a huge amount of money, one might get a cure for cancer because the research there would prioritize a single patient and find the exact cure after long trial and error, but not long enough to let the patient die.

    Basically, it was some advanced medical treatment that would allow her and Aric to move beyond cancer and live a normal life. But living in Switzerland and even paying for the treatment would not be possible, but he needed to find a way to cure himself and his mother in the fastest way possible, and that was his main goal at the moment.

    The rest of the afternoon and evening were nothing less than joy for Aric. He had once dreamed of a life like this in his previous life, but now he finally got it again. All he needed to do now was get enough money to live his life and also save his whole family from crumbling.

    After having a sumptuous dinner, he was in his old bed again. Normally, at his age, his sleep should have come quite early, but his anxiety was far off the roof for him to sleep at the time, and he was just thinking of random things when he noticed that there was something wrong with him.

 4. Lack of common sense

    A human being has consciousness, or at least that''s what human beings tend to believe, and of course, it could be debated upon whether a human being has that or not. The human body most of the time acts as an autopilot, and the brain takes care of the whole body, ensuring that a person doesn''t do anything that would jeopardize the body.

    Now here is the thing that Aric, or maybe all other humans, could do. He could ask his brain to concentrate on different parts of the body. This might sound weird, but let me break it down. For example, there is an itch in your hand. The itch isn''t so annoying enough for you to scratch, but it is still there. If you are occupied with some other work, you wouldn''t even notice, but once you ask your own brain to concentrate there, it would tell you about the itch and thus prompt you to scratch.

    Now here came the kicker for Aric. He randomly just used his brain to check his whole body, and then suddenly, along with the whole body, he saw that he could somehow see two small bulbs of light.

    INSIDE HIS BODY.

    This freaked him out. Aric, who had been lying down, sat up with a jerk. He checked his whole body again and again, and at the end, he was still able to see the two bulbs of lights. These two white orbs of light floated away from each other. They didn''t move or rotate around each other. It was just floating small orbs, and Aric could tell that it was inside his consciousness because he was able to move the perspective around easily and also because his brain was telling him that it was inside his body for some reason.

    He took a deep breath.

    These two orbs of light felt so fascinating that he wanted to move the perspective closer and ''touch'' them. These orbs of light seemed like they were calling to him; it was an indescribable feeling, but he could tell that these orbs were something special.

    He approached one orb, and after mustering the courage, touched it. What happened next blew his mind.

    One moment he was in his dimly lit room; the next, he was standing on an open road bordered by towering trees and expansive grasslands. The transition was jarring, leaving him momentarily stunned as he struggled to comprehend his new surroundings.

    The first thing that struck him was the absence of artificial light. The dim glow of his room had been replaced by the sun high overhead. He looked up to see the sunlight to make sure what he was seeing was right, but then he got another scare as his eyes laid upon not one, but two suns.

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    "The fuck!"

    "What the fuck is this place?"

    "Did that orb teleport me to a different plane altogether? Wait, there is oxygen here, which means there will probably be humans here. Fuck.. I really am on a different planet. How do I get back?"

    Aric had those thoughts as he went back to his consciousness and was able to see the same two orbs. One''s color had changed to yellow, and the other was still white. He hurriedly touched the yellow orb, and just like magic, he was back in his home.

    He was glad to see his old place again. The small room gave him comfort like no other.

    "Calm down."

    He checked himself again, and he got to see the two orbs. The yellow one had again turned to white. This indicated that he could touch it again and curiosity got the better of him. He touched the previous white orb again, and as a result he was teleported again. Unlike last time, this time was ready for it. He was back at the same place.

    "There are roads here which means there are humans here. For sure."

    The road beneath his feet felt solid and ancient, worn smooth by the passage of countless travelers over the years. It stretched out before him, disappearing into the depths of the forest. The air hummed with the chorus of ]different creatures, their calls echoing through the night with an otherworldly melody.

    After making sure that it was reality, he was back again at his home. After a minute of calming himself down, he looked again at the consciousness and looked at the other orb.

    "If this orb takes me a different planet, does the other orb take me to a different place or is this new kind of ability?" Aric thought and touched it as he made himself ready for another teleport.

    He was expecting another kind of place like the previous one, but what he saw next blew his mind more than the previous one. Aric''s senses reeled as he blinked and found himself standing on a roadside, again, but unlike any he had ever seen.

    He was greeted by a scene of bustling activity and futuristic marvels. Towering skyscrapers loomed in the distance, their sleek surfaces gleaming under the light of multiple moons, while levitating cars zipped past with a soft hum. Aric''s eyes went wide with wonder as he saw that.

    Strange beings bustled about the streets, their forms ranging from the vaguely humanoid to the utterly alien, each adorned with intricately patterned garments and exotic accessories. Above him, the sky was a canvas of wonder, adorned with the graceful arcs of flying vehicles and the distant glimmer of massive spaceships descending from the heavens. It was a sight that transcended anything Aric had ever imagined.

    Despite the initial shock of his sudden arrival on this alien world, Aric couldn''t help but feel a sense of exhilaration coursing through him. But before he could think more about the possibilities, he felt his consciousness fading and world around felt like it was swirling around.

    "Did I overuse my new found powers?"

    This was the last thought of Aric before he could do anything. He even tried to touch the yellow orb before he felt his body giving away but it was too late.

 5. Dont scam me

    As Aric gradually regained consciousness, the sterile scent of antiseptic assaulted his senses, and the soft hum of machinery filled the air around him. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open to find himself lying on a sleek, futuristic hospital bed, surrounded by advanced medical equipment and illuminated by the gentle glow of ambient lighting.

    Beside him, a humanoid alien nurse bustled about, her graceful movements guided by practiced efficiency. She turned towards him as she noticed his awakening, her eyes large and luminous, filled with a mix of concern and curiosity. Aric thought of the alien as a woman because the humanoid features was of a woman.

    And apart from the doctor, there were multiple flying round and other shaped drones floating around. Though he was in a private room, he could see these androids/drones/robots flying around. They looked shiny and spotless.

    He almost jumped up.

    "&*%$#%&**%%^." The alien said.

    "For how much time did I lose consciousness?" Aric asked.

    "%$%^$&^&*." The alien said.

    "I am sorry I can''t understand you." Aric said. The alien felt a bit annoyed and left. Aric didn''t know why he lost consciousness and almost wanted to make a run after he saw that his orb was still there inside his consciousness but he also knew that if he did so, he might never he able to come here again as he might be checked upon.

    The alien nurse came back with a tray on her hand. She took a very small flat metal. She took the metal on the tip of her finger and then placed the metal under Aric''s ear. Aric wanted to avoid but thinking it was an hospital he let her touch him. The cold metal felt a bit hot after a second or so.

    "Now can you understand?" The alien said and this time Aric could easily understand.

    "What.. What was that?"

    "Did you just come out of a cave or something? Your body has no genetic enhancement for a human that you are, no immunity against the various diseases out there, no registration in any species registration. Even the DNA that you have doesn''t match up with anyone in the database that we have. What the hell are you?" The doctor asked, quite animated and annoyed by her patient''s apparent lack of understanding.

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    Aric was speechless as he heard that. This person did a background check or something? Of course, he didn''t have any background. And Earth wasn''t even discovered yet by whoever the King or the leader was of the planet or multiple planets.

    "I am sorry, doctor. I will take care of myself," Aric said, feeling a bit scared that they might ask him to pay because he didn''t have a cent of the currency these people used.

    "No, you don''t understand. The virus and bacteria that we found in your body have never been seen before. I ran them through the database, and these small microscopic creatures shouldn''t exist anywhere, so I really want to know where you came from."

    Aric didn''t know what he should tell her, but he could see that this alien doctor was really looking forward to the answer.

    "Actually, you know what, don''t answer that. I had been searching for a topic to publish my research paper on. Now that I have the virus and bacteria samples, I can culture them, grow them, and stamp my name on them. The doctors around the universe will soon know of me. Kid, sign my inter-species NDA document, and I will never speak of you ever again," the doctor said, her eyes shining with excitement.

    "What?" Aric was dumbfounded and didn''t know what to say. What was this crazy doctor talking about?

    "Cough.. Cough.. I think Doctor Fitz should give this young kid some space," came a voice from the open door. Aric turned his head to see a young humanoid male and one a bit older humanoid male standing there. Doctor Fitz turned around and looked at them.

    "Don''t try to trick me. I am pretty sure you found him on the roadside somewhere. It''s a miracle that you found him and brought him here. I just want to be famous. Kid, sign the documents, and you are free to go. The universal translator will be the price for your signature."

    "Don''t you think it''s very cheap? The universal translator doesn''t even cost 10 credits in almost all currencies. Give the young human something. He doesn''t have a registration in his own species, which means he is either royalty or some kid who had been trafficked from an unknown human planet which had never seen the light," the older humanoid alien said.

    "Trafficking? Hmph! We are in the cross borders of Sora and Vallin. They wouldn''t dare to step foot in this place if they don''t want the local gangs to kill them. In addition, no trafficker is stupid enough to not let a human go through the process," Doc. Fitz said. Aric wanted to say something, but he knew it was not his place.

    "But that doesn''t allow you to act as you like and be cheap. Give the kid proper compensation and discharge him. He doesn''t have a genetic enhancement, and from the looks of it, he is in desperate need of it," the old man said.

    "Fine. But he doesn''t have any registration. How will I compensate him?" Doc. Fitz fidgeted about the whole money part, but for some reason, Aric could tell that the doctor was a bit afraid of the old man, and she always looked at the young adult from time to time. It was as if she was trying to gauge his emotions. The young alien didn''t show any emotions on his face and just looked at her.

 6. Am I rich now?

    "I will pay his registration fees right now, and you can send it to his account," the old man said. Doc. Fitz snorted under her breath; she didn''t seem too happy about it. She clicked on her ''watch'' that projected a holographic screen. Aric could discern that she was accessing the Internet or whatever it was called in this place.

    She clicked some buttons on the holographic screen, and after a process of 1 minute, she turned the screen to face Aric.

    "Sit still. You don''t want your registration picture to come out bad, right?" Doc. Fitz said.

    "Wait, I didn''t consent to anything yet," Aric couldn''t help but protest.

    "Kid, you need this registration. Without it, you can''t travel to any civilization borders. I don''t know where you came out from, but you need this here. If you are from royalty, then it''s a different matter. Wait, are you from royalty?"

    "Royalty? No." Aric didn''t know what royalty meant here, but he for sure wasn''t going to pretend to be some leader of humans. That would be suicidal.

    "Then do it. Don''t worry, I don''t really care where you came from, and neither Doctor Fitz here would be able to come after you once you register. It is for your own safety," the old man said. Aric looked at him and could somehow feel that this man was telling the truth. He might not be quite an expert in finding out if a person was truthful or not after a few minutes of meeting, but he could tell that this man didn''t mean any harm.

    "Hey, you think I will kidnap him or something?" Doc. Fitz seemed to be quite offended and protested.

    "For fame and fortune? Definitely." The old man spoke outright in front of her face, making Doc. Fitz embarrassed, but she didn''t try to refute. Aric then resolutely turned and faced her watch in order for the picture to be taken.

    "What is your name?"

    "Aric More."

    And with just the name alone, the registration seemed to be done. Aric was expecting the date of birth or the names of his parents, but nothing was needed, it seemed. Within a minute, Doc. Fitz in the holographic showed him his registration.

    [

    Account No. : 4213190626000701

    Name : Aric More

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    Species : Human (male)

    Age - 10.01 time units

    Parents/Guardian : Not specified

    Balance : 0.00

    ]

    "Here, you are done with the registration," Doc. Fitz said, while grumbling a bit under her breath.

    "Now, bring the NDA, and we will sign it too. You don''t need to pay us, just pay this kid," the old man said, eyeing the young adult on the side. He nodded his head. The annoyed doctor seemed to liven up after hearing it and immediately opened another page on the holographic watch.

    She typed a few words and even recorded herself saying that she was asking for an NDA closure and also the fact that the co-signers are not allowed to speak about her research in any place of the universe, or else the corresponding civilization would have the rights to arrest them and put them in jail.

    Surprisingly, Aric didn''t need to sign anywhere, and she only took a thumbprint and retina scan of him, while these two aliens had to take a picture of their right palm. Maybe that was their identification marker.

    Doc. Fitz was done with the NDA and then immediately clicked some more buttons. This went on for a minute before she showed his profile again to him.

    [

    Account No. : 4213190626000701

    Name : Aric More

    Species : Human (male)

    Age - 10.01 time units

    Parents/Guardian : Not specified

    Balance : 15,000 (Sora)

    ]

    "There, I sent him 15k Sora credits. And I am not even charging for the universal translation. Now get out. I have other patients to attend to," Doc. Fitz said. Aric didn''t want to antagonize her anymore. He had already seen his clothes lying on the side chair. He went to the attached washroom to change himself into his normal attire and walked out.

    The other two aliens seemed to be waiting for him outside. By now, he was sure that when he had fallen unconscious, these two had saved him, so he needed to be thankful to them.

    "Thank you for saving my life."

    "Don''t mention it. We were just passing by and saw you lying on the ground. My name is Komin Vallin, and this is my mentor and bodyguard, Diorin Kinut. It''s nice to officially meet you," Komin said.

    "Hello. I am Aric More. Nice to meet you too. For how much time was I out?" Aric couldn''t help but ask because he needed to get back home, and if he was late by more than 6 hours, he would be in deep trouble. But he was also surprised that this young man had a mentor and bodyguard, which meant that these people belonged to a high level in society. Aric needed to be careful.

    "Oh, we saw you falling, so you were in treatment for an hour or so. It shouldn''t have taken much time, but your body didn''t have enhancers to battle the diseases out there, and that was the reason it took time."

    "Thank you again for saving my life," Aric said. He had been an idiot; he had really forgotten the part that when someone steps into very foreign soil, one would need various protections. He had just walked out naked to two foreign civilizations altogether.

    "Don''t mention it. Now your body is ready to face all the diseases that are out there and can move around freely. While you were unconscious, the doctor also said that you had some bad cells which could turn into cancer. A disease that shouldn''t exist, and even I had only known of them in some ancient books. I am really intrigued," Komin said.

    "Wait? She said that she cured cancer?" Aric''s eyes went wide open as he asked that. The main concern which he had been having all this time had been taken care of unknowingly?

 7. What are these terms?

    Komin seemed to be surprised that Aric would even ask that question and looked at him weirdly. His expression spoke volumes and made Aric realize that he was in a place where medical industry has evolved in a way never imagined before. There were different aliens out here but the medical industry could still heal him and make him fit to stand in almost no time.

    Aric looked embarrassed but Komin didn''t seem to press on the problem of cancer anymore as he could that the topic cancer seemed to bring out some emotions out of this young kid. They talked as they walked towards the exit.

    Aric wanted to ask what this place was and much more questions but he refrained from doing so not because he would be embarrassed but because doing so might reveal some secrets of himself. He didn''t want to associate with anyone until he got a general understanding of the situation around.

    After they came out of the exit, Aric got to see the city for the first time. The last time he could only do so from afar as he was in the far suburbs of the city but he was sure that this time he was almost at the heart of the city.

    Stepping out of the hospital, Aric was greeted by the breathtaking sight of city sprawling before him. The cityscape stretched as far as the eye could see, a mesmerizing blend of towering skyscrapers and glittering spires reaching towards the sky. Buildings of all shapes and sizes soared into the heavens, their sleek surfaces gleaming under the multiple hues of artificial light.

    The streets below bustled with activity, thronged with beings of countless shapes and colors. Hovering vehicles zipped through the air above, their sleek forms leaving trails of shimmering light in their wake. Was that anti-gravity?

    Aric was surprised to even notice parks and greenery dotted the landscape, their lush foliage filled with green and all the colors one could imagine. He was really amazed with what he was seeing and it also made him excited.

    "Aric, I hope you don''t mind me calling you Aric." Diorin, the butler/bodyguard said.

    "No... No.. I am younger than you and you even saved my life. You can call me by any name." Aric said. Diorin smiled at him.

    "We will be leaving as we have some work to do. I see that you don''t have a communicator in your hand. You can go to any electronics shop and buy one communicator, and even the best ones will not cost you more than 1k Sora credits." Diorin said.

    "Yes.. I understand.. Thank you again for saving me." Aric said. Meanwhile Komin came forward with a small card and gave it to him. The card was made of hard paper or something of that material at least.

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    On it was written.

    Komin Vallin

    Morg-Vallin Insurance Agency

    301 Nebula Avenue,

    Heights Neighborhood,

    Starhaven

    Communicator number : 7878554865TY9

    "Uhh.. Thank you." Aric said. It was his business card and was surprised that at this day and age people still used business cards but he was glad that he got one because in no way he would be able to remember that long of a number.

    Actually business cards was just used for decoration for people who lived a very luxurious life. The more money and power you have, the more one would indulge in things that would give one some kind of status among their peers. It''s like the scene from American Psycho. That whole flex of cards didn''t mean anything in the real world, but for rich people that gave them some kind of satisfaction.

    Aric didn''t know about this fact, nor he cared that Komin came from a rich family. He took the card and kept it inside the pocket. Soon a hovering car came gliding by and stopped near them. From the lightly tinted windows, Aric could easily see that there was nobody driving the car and was automatic.

    By now he was numb to the whole change of scenery and was just taking in every moment. Komin and Diorin bid him goodbyes and hopped into the car. With a rush, the car soon floated up and flew away.

    "I need to return home and see how much time I have spent here. It shouldn''t be more than an hour or so." Aric thought and proceeded to walk on the streets and find a secured place to teleport. Until now he hadn''t seen anyone who could some kind of abilities so Aric didn''t dare to use his ability in the open space.

    But first Aric understood that he needed that smart watch which here they called communicator, probably because it could be used for communication like mobiles. The prospect of acquiring a communicator that would allow him to navigate this alien world, and also find out what was actually going on around.

    He quickened his pace as he made his way towards the nearest electronic shop, or at least that''s what the letters seemed to say on the large holographic hoarding. Upon entering the sleek and futuristic store, Marcus was greeted by an array of dazzling displays showcasing the latest in interstellar electronics which he had no idea about.

    A friendly sales alien approached him, its large eyes twinkling with curiosity as it gestured towards the impressive array of devices. "Greetings, traveler! Welcome to Icon Electronics. How may I assist you today?"

    "I''m looking for a communicator," Aric replied, trying to mask his awe at the futuristic surroundings. "Something versatile, with advanced features."

    "Ah, you''re in luck! We have a wide selection of communicators from the finest brands across the galaxy. Allow me to show you some of our top models."

    "This is Galactic Link Pro. It features 1.2M quantum processor. It has no delay in response and the delay is negligible even for a species which has gone through 4th enhancements. Even in far off planet, this one can open a page without lag or delays."

    "And what about storage?" Aric showed that he understood but he was already blown away by quantum processor. That was already enough to break his world. The other words seemed total gibberish to him at this point.

 8. I am a gaming character

    "The permanent storage of Galactic Link Pro is 80 astrobytes, temporary being 20 astrobytes can even run in sync with the VS. It is based on AI 8 powered by AI 89 and thus will help you in sensing your body conditions and will only cater to you and all your needs. The communicator also has a battery life of 20 time units. Though it is said that it can be charged, by that time I am sure you will get yourself a new communicator," the sales aliens laughed at the end and said. The notion of AI sent Aric into a bit of a spiral.

    This made him think of his problem. He needed to be cautious of his next steps.

    "Can I get any communicator that is not AI interlaced?" Aric asked. The sales man was confused for a bit, but then seemed to understand.

    "Ah, you are fearing for your privacy. You can rest assured that your privacy is of paramount importance and Blue or any electronics company would not try to invade your privacy. Not after what happened to the Toriah civilization."

    "No, I would still like a communicator without any connection with an AI," Aric insisted this time. Though the sales man was confused, he replied.

    "That is easy. You just need to deny the request of integrating AI from the central core, and thus the AI will never attach to your communicator." Aric had an epiphany. The salesman''s words meant that the AI came from a central command somewhere, and thus they could definitely not be trusted.

    "How much does this one cost?" Aric asked. He wasn''t ready to scour through more models, and he was in a bit of a time crunch.

    "It''s 1.2k Sora and 1.1k Vallin credits, with 10 time units of warranty," the salesman said.

    "That''s too much. How about I give you 2k Sora credits for two?" Aric said.

    "Two? For 2k? Hmm... Okay," the salesman said. Aric was expecting a load of bargaining or even the fact that the price was fixed. But nothing like that. Did he get scammed? But he couldn''t read the letters on the back. This had been a problem here as he wasn''t able to read the letters here.

    It was a different language, and he could only understand the words but not the letters. But since he already gave a price, he couldn''t back out. Soon the salesman came back with two small cases.

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    "I will be taking the credits from you with a sign. Please approve the transfer within 72 hours," the salesman said, as he could see that this man didn''t carry cash nor a communicator. After signing off, Aric took the credits and walked out.

    After looking around, he found a bench to sit along the broad footpath. After keeping the one case nearby, he opened the other. Soon he got to hold the communicator himself. He had seen IWatch before, and even owned a smartwatch, but looking at the current communicator, he could proudly say that it looked cooler than those ones.

    The belt seemed to be made of some kind of material that could be stretched. After putting it on, he thought that the belt would be uncomfortable, but nothing like that happened. Without any delay, he clicked the small button on the side, and it immediately turned on.

    As expected, it was holographic, and he was able to choose the options provided to him as he clicked. Thankfully, there was an option for English. After multiple clicks and even allowing the AI assistance to take over, he finally got the hang of it.

    With the new communicator, a very small hearing aid and a lens were also provided. He could understand the hearing aid since one needed to talk, and it was kind of a bother to talk over the hand, but a lens?

    With the help of the communicator''s instructions, he put on the two lenses provided. And when he put the lenses on, he understood why they were required. The whole world around him immediately changed. The letters, which he was previously unable to read, he could now read with ease and perfection.

    It worked like Google Lens translation but without any change in orientation. It was superfast, and every time he moved his eyes to a different far-off place, he could read it. And not only that, the lens also showed information about the roads, the buildings, even the far-off spaceships.

    It was as if he was watching the world from the eyes of a gaming world character. This was ridiculous.

    "AI, can you hear me?"

    "Yes, Master. I am happy to be of service," an AI female voice could be heard from the hearing aid.

    "Master? Don''t call me that. You can call me by my name. I will assign you the name Apis."

    "Thank you for naming me Apis. If you want to change my emotional meter, you can tell me to do so," Apis said.

    "No need. You can maintain the same emotional meter. Now, take me to a cheap hotel where I can crash for a day but also get appropriate privacy of mine. While on the way, tell me everything about this place, the history, and also the universe. Treat me like someone who came out of a cave for the first time and is able to see the world for the first time."

    "Sure, Aric. If you walk about 50 steps to your left..." Apis started speaking in his ear about the world while he also followed her directional instructions. The more Aric listened, the more surprised he was.

    The location that he was at the moment was supposed to be the lowest point of interstellar civilizations. Well, at least in one sense. He was on a planet named Echorysia, a planet which was on the borders of Sora and Vallin civilizations. A place which was not under the control of the two civilizations of the galaxy Chronos Nebula.

 9. Potels? What is that?

    Aric soon reached a pod hotel. Apparently, in interstellar civilizations, there were three kinds of hotels: ones like AirBnb, normal grand hotels, and the other was the pod hotels, popularly known as "potels."

    These potels were not like the ones in Japan where one could only get enough space to lie down and slide through the whole space. The potels were made for every species, and thus there was enough room to move, as instead of a small space, there was just enough space for every species to move.

    Imagine a minimalist room, and that would be a potel. These potels only had cleaning services and no managers, as they didn''t need one, and guests would follow the rules in these places.

    Apis, after confirmation, paid for 6 hours. After getting confirmation, Aric ended up inside one, and the room was exactly what he had seen in the holographic video where they showed the minimalist room. He had only been at the hospital before, but the room was completely different.

    It had all the things Aric had imagined and more. The ceiling was like a live television, and one could use their communicator to change to sceneries or channels they would like. One would think that in the future, everything would change to 3D, but Apis told him that people still loved 2D rather than indulging in 3D. 3D was used more for convenience rather than for enjoyment for most purposes.

    There was a cool air in the room, and though the temperature outside was quite pleasing, Aric could tell the air inside had a difference that made him relax.

    There was also a VR chamber beside the king-sized bed, which was also adjustable. Though the room was pretty small, Aric fell in love with it. This room was better than the one on lease in Mumbai which used to poke a hole in his pockets. And this room only cost him 20 Sora credits. So he felt it was quite cheap.

    After looking around and asking Apis to check if there was any surveillance, he sat on the bed and heaved a sigh. He hadn''t had time to understand what was happening all this time. Now that he had taken everything in, he needed to execute his plan.

    He bought two communicators for two reasons. One was because he needed the help of Apis in one, and the other one should be devoid of AI support so that he could use the communicator in his world.

    He opened the other communicator and switched it on without the AI.

    "Apis, how big is the human civilization here?" Aric asked, certain that humans were present, as he had seen posters and even glimpsed a human from afar.

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    "Humans are one of the incredible species of the universe. They occupy roughly 20% of the total population of the universe. They have 2 seats on the 10-member council and are a Tier 3 civilization, the highest tier in the universe. Humans have propagated in such large numbers because they are one of the few species that can crossbreed with others, leading to a significant increase in their population. However, humans are not united as a whole and have planets that range from Tier 3 to lower than Tier 1, under their own control."

    "It''s worth noting that this fragmentation isn''t due to a lack of desire for Tier 3 status among humanity, but rather politics and resource constraints. Their high population is also a result of their short breeding time compared to other species. Additionally, with advancements in technology, human lifespans range from 500 to 8000 time units depending on one''s power and wealth. Humans are not to be underestimated, and with their long history of advancement and technology, they have emerged as a formidable species in the universe," Apis explained, giving Aric a comprehensive overview of humanity.

    Aric was surprised as he listened to the lecture about humans while setting up the other communicator. He removed the Apis communicator and left it on the stand, then put on the other communicator.

    "Apis, switch yourself off. I''ll be back. Don''t call or disturb me," Aric instructed.

    "As you wish," Apis responded before shutting down. After checking everything, Aric took a deep breath and tried to use his ability again. In an instant, he found himself back in his room. He immediately checked the wall clock and was relieved to see that only 3 hours had passed.

    Feeling a sense of relief, Aric gazed out at the cold, moonless night, processing everything he had experienced. He knew his life would change forever, unlike last time when he lacked ambition. Now, with a clear purpose, he was determined to succeed.

    With it still being 3 am outside, he knew he had some time before his parents would wake up.

    -----

    Echorysia

    "Young Sir, why were you so interested in that man? And why did you help him?" Diorin asked as they traveled in the car.

    "We need to help those in need, and it only cost me 10 credits anyway," Komin replied.

    "But I sense you have other motives," Diorin pressed.

    "It''s just a small investment. Maybe he''ll call, maybe he won''t," Komin replied casually.

    "Young Sir, this is exactly why your father doubts your ability to compete with the other heir of the company," Diorin pointed out.

    "Diorin, I''ve told you before. I''m not interested in running an insurance company. Even if I fail, I''ll have enough to eat and drink, and she can take over the small company. She can''t touch me anyway," Komin stated confidently. Diorin just sighed seeing the non-existent ambition in this young man''s eyes.

    Komin was one of the prince of the Vallin and was in fact eligible to sit on the throne of Vallin if he was courageous and ambitious enough. The civilization was monarchy based and though he wasn''t the son of the current King of Vallin, he was of the same blood as of the King. But sadly this man was not meant to be the King and even the head of a company that was being led by the Monarchy.

 10. Nana, how are you?

    Aric was back in his room at the hotel. While at his home in his world, he had switched on his secret communicator and searched for any signal that could be from the Milky Way galaxy. But there was none, and this gave him quite a relief. It was a leap of faith that Aric had to take.

    Now that he knew Earth was disconnected from the universe for some reason, he could move towards the plan that he had been formulating. After returning to the hotel, he opened up the non-AI communicator. He started scrolling and with some manual search started to gather information.

    He looked for the Milky Way Galaxy.

    Answer: None.

    He searched for Earth.

    Answer: None.

    He searched for famous actors and actresses over the hundreds of years. For some reason, Aric had the thought that he had traveled to the future and the previous world that he had seen was in the past. It was a fleeting thought, but he wanted to make sure nonetheless.

    Answer: None.

    This stumped Aric a bit, but on second thought, it was good. He didn''t have to worry about the butterfly effect and affecting the trajectory of Earth. Then he looked up at the library and searched for public information. The more he looked, the more surprised he was. The knowledge of how to build nuclear fusion and nuclear fission reactors was available to the public.

    This came as a shock because the knowledge was enough to destroy civilizations, but then he understood why the knowledge was public and people still didn''t bother to bomb others. The first problem was the availability of materials for making one. Water can be used as a source for making a nuclear reactor, but water wasn''t the only source. One would need tritium, which was only available after irradiating lithium.

    Lithium, even in this interstellar age, was a valuable material, and each civilization kept a close eye on some of the minerals like lithium, gold, and others because they were important. Another reason was the security in civilizations and planets had better security and safeguards. Of course, Aric wasn''t stupid to think everything was peaceful around the universe, and for sure, there were planets that were knee-deep in problems and even radiation.

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    He even found some articles that there were planets that had been ruined by nuclear fusion bombs. Then there were nuclear fission bombs, and those were more difficult to build and get materials for. The plus side of nuclear fusion bombs was that there wasn''t nuclear fallout, and a planet would still thrive if not many bombs were used.

    But the main point here was, there was enough knowledge in this digital library to build nuclear fusion reactors at his home with proper funding. But of course, he wasn''t stupid enough to go for that. In fact, until he was powerful enough, he wouldn''t take any drastic measures in his own world.

    It required meticulous thinking and planning. He downloaded tons of knowledge ranging from agriculture to technology onto his communicator. After sorting through it all, he returned to his place. He wanted to go out and explore more, but it was already 4 am on the clock, and he was too sleepy to continue. It had been an eventful night, and his brain needed rest.

    <hr>

    When Aric opened his eyes again, it was 10 am. Thankfully, it was summer break, and his mother didn''t wake him early, or else it would have been a drowsy day for him. After waking up, he checked his wrist, only to find the communicator again. Whatever happened last night was real.

    After freshening up, he went to have breakfast. Seeing his mother working, his heart ached a bit.

    "Mom, you should rest when you can."

    "Yeah? Who will take care of your father, you, and this home if I stop? You? You can''t even cook," his mother said.

    "I can cook," Aric replied, knowing he could. It might not be as good as his mother''s, but he could manage.

    "And destroy things in the kitchen in the process? No need. Just have your breakfast," his mother dismissed his suggestion, not noticing that her son was sad when he had asked her to stop working and take rest. Aric wanted to protest, but he couldn''t find the words.

    In order to save her, he would need the same medical technology he had been exposed to, and also lengthen their lifespan as he had read about online. After breakfast, he said, "Mom, I''m going to Nana''s place for a few days."

    "Nana''s place? Why? Don''t you have homework to finish?" his mom asked.

    "I''ll finish it there. It''s too hot here," Aric said. His mom thought for a moment before allowing him. It was summer break, and her parents would be happy to see their grandchild for a few days while she and her husband could have some time to themselves.

    "You can go, but don''t disturb them too much. Help them with their chores," his mother instructed. Aric nodded and proceeded to pack his belongings.

    After making sure he had everything, he left for his Nana''s place. His grandparents lived away from town, so he needed to take a state transport bus to get there. Aric had to wait for an hour for the bus to start and another hour to reach his destination. While traveling, Aric was filled with nostalgia since he hadn''t taken a bus to his grandparents'' place in years.

    His grandparents from his previous life had passed away after three years, and he sometimes missed them. Now that he had another chance, he would also try to help them if he could. After a long and tedious sweaty journey, he arrived at his grandparents'' place after so many years.

 11. Evil Capitalism

    India is a country with a diverse range of terrains, from dusty plains to snow-capped mountains. From the small Thar Desert to the highest battlefield in the world, it encompasses everything, but for most Indians, it is often dusty.

    After a dust-filled journey, Aric arrived at his grandparents'' home. These were his maternal grandparents, and he loved being with them. They were kind, loving, and caring, unlike his other grandparents. Upon reaching the village, he even saw the shopkeeper who had his shop near his grandparents'' home and used to visit quite often.

    Soon, he was in the big house of his grandparents. The house wasn''t large, but the surrounding land was vast. His grandfather had worked at the CBI once, and thus he and his wife lived off of pension and this home that he had built since it was his birthplace.

    "Nana... I am back," Aric shouted as he removed his shoes and placed his small luggage at the side, then ran inside only to bump into his nana. He immediately gave him a hug. When his grandpa died, he wasn''t able to attend the funeral due to academic reasons, and he regretted that. Now that he saw him again, he was elated with joy.

    "Hahaha... It''s good to see you, boy. Your mother called to say you''d be arriving," Grandpa said.

    "We are on summer break, so of course, I''ll be here to eat Vadapav every day made by my grandma," Aric said, intending it as a joke. However, his words seemed to incite some anger in his nana.

    "You came only for her and not for me?" The wrinkles on his forehead deepened as he said that.

    "No... I also appreciate the freedom you provide," Aric said, trying to ease the tension.

    "Hahahah... I feel sorry for you, my boy. Your father is way too strict. At our age, we let our daughter roam the entire village," Grandpa said, reminiscing.

    "The times have changed, nana. The world can be cruel at times," Aric replied. It had been a family banter until this point, but Aric''s words made his nana serious as he looked deeply into Aric''s eyes.

    "You have grown up, my boy," Nana said, his tone softened.

    "No, nana, I am the same as I was," Aric denied. He was given the opportunity to be a teenager again, so of course, he didn''t want to grow up fast. He wanted to cherish his time. He and nana talked more until his grandma emerged from the kitchen. She was also happy to meet her grandson again and proceeded to talk with Aric.

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    It was afternoon, so soon they had lunch, during which Aric enthusiastically spoke of how he would like to roam the village around with the bicycle they had here and how he was looking forward to having fun. The grandparents were happy that their grandson seemed to be happy to be there too and even promised to cover for him in case his parents asked about him.

    The village they were in was really safe, so they didn''t worry much about Aric''s safety.

    "Nana, I''ll be going out and be back by dark," Aric shouted as he pulled out the bicycle they had at the place. It was an old one but worked just fine since he and his nana used to maintain it quite well and oil everything.

    "Don''t go too far," Grandma shouted. Unlike nana, she was more protective, but Aric just waved at her and strolled away at a fast speed.

    "Our grandson has grown up."

    "And our time will soon be up."

    "Why do you have such negative thoughts always? We both know that you will outlive me."

    "That is never going to happen."

    For some reason, both of them were quite casual speaking of their own deaths, as if they had made peace with it. Meanwhile, Aric was riding his bicycle fast and about to reach a small patch of forest land just outside the village. The small forest was protected, and there were no wild animals, at least not in recent years.

    Aric wasn''t there for the wild animals anyway. While leaving, he had snuck away some things: a knife and a lighter. After hiding the bicycle, he went into the forest and made sure nobody was following him. After looking around for a bit, he vanished from his spot.

    He was back in Echorysia to check out of his hotel, as he didn''t want to pay a fine. After coming out of the hotel, he asked Apis to find him a secluded place where there would be no one and he could be away from the technology around. Apis gave some locations around the city, and without much hesitation, he booked a taxi.

    He was still in awe that his communicator could even know what he wanted just by being in touch. The taxi was like an Uber service but faster and automated. The car floated down and landed on the roadside of the hotel. The car was incredibly high-tech with loads of space. Unlike traditional cars, the four seats were facing each other since there was no driver, and it was fully automated.

    As the car drove, he just looked out the window and marveled at the travel. He had only flown in airplanes, and this was the first time he was experiencing such a smooth "flight". The tall structures and the number of floating vehicles still felt like a dream, but it didn''t last long as soon Aric found himself in a deserted location outside the city.

    Even though the cars were floating, they couldn''t get out of their already drawn road. It was because the cars worked on the principle of superconductivity, which allowed the cars to float unlike anti-gravity.

    Most of the taxis in this place worked on super conductivity, while they did have a small engine of anti-gravity but that was mostly for small distance and if someone wanted to use the anti-gravity engine and veer off road, they needed to pay extra.

    Yes. Capitalism was still here.

 12. What is this?

    After paying a bit more than required due to the use of the anti-gravity engine, Aric hopped off and walked away as the taxi car automatically returned to the conductive road. He was glad to see small mountains right outside the city, and some even had caves.

    Normally, caves were a luxury in his place at least, and he hadn''t seen any caves, but here, according to Apis, caves had formed naturally, and people never ventured there as they weren''t beautiful at all.

    As Aric was led to a cave, one could easily see why. These caves were not pleasing to look at, were dirty, and it would take a good amount of money to make them beautiful and livable. Who would choose this place when one had all the luxuries of the cities? In addition, this planet was away from any oversight, so the capital influx was less here. This was a boon for Aric as he could conduct his temporary operations from here.

    "Apis, so my body is now resistant to all kinds of viruses and bacteria from any foreign world?" Aric asked again.

    "Yes, according to reports, you have been injected with Viocilin, which is the general version of resistive enhancement. It allows the body to produce every kind of combination of proteins required to combat any aerosol, liquid, and solid contamination that might happen in your journey through the stars."

    "Alright," Aric replied as he checked the cave. Even though Apis had said that there were no dangerous animals, he made sure that this forest wasn''t visited by animals at night. The small area only had sparse vegetation and dead leaves from the trees around. After confirming the safety, he placed Apis down and went back to the place where he left his other communicator.

    "Time for some truth, baby."

    Aric took a deep breath and jumped to the world he had first visited. Within seconds, the scenery changed, and he was back at the place he had first visited. The same gravel land, the same lush forests. Aric took a few breaths to take everything in. From the subtle smell alone, Aric was sure that this place wasn''t touched by technology. By now, he knew the smell of his own world and the interstellar world.

    Aric didn''t know why, but he was sure that the enhancers had given him a bit of heightened senses. It wasn''t much, maybe a 5 to 10 percent increase, but it was enough for him to judge some normal things around faster.

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    And he also realized one thing about his abilities: he could teleport to the places where he had seen and placed his feet before. In other words, he could travel back to his own home from another world without needing transport. He just needed to visualize. Yes, he had experimented while he was in the bathroom the other day, and he was delighted.

    No more transport costs and only one-time payment. Who wouldn''t love it?

    "I should walk around and find out," Aric said as he chose one direction on the gravel road and started walking slowly, while being on alert. He was vigilant and also seeing if there were any signs of foreign infection or a feeling of dizziness. If he fell sick, he would instantly teleport to the hospital. He hadn''t wasted the money, so he was sure that he would be served with medical assistance.

    Doctor Fitz wanted to test him more. He could easily leverage that. Thankfully, none of that was required, and he didn''t find any problems along the way. He walked for an hour or so, and while doing so, he was using the new lens on his eyes to the max.

    And he did notice a few odd things around as he moved along. Though his communicator didn''t have an AI that could connect, it did have a vast store of knowledge. Every communicator was built to identify species which were common and known to men, and even the animals and birds from around the universe.

    But here, as he looked around, the lens showed:

    [

    Unknown form of bamboo

    Unknown form of margosa

    Unknown form of teak

    ....

    ]

    And that went on for plants too. This trend puzzled Aric at the beginning because these trees looked like the ones he had seen in his world and also in Echorysia. This trend persisted even for the animals, but it was with animals that he got the hint that things here were different.

    He actually came across a deer passing by the road, and just from the looks of it, he could easily tell that something was amiss. The deer as a whole was fine; it had a brown coat over its body, but it was the antlers that threw Aric off.

    The antlers had different kinds of colors on them. He could easily see red, blue, and yellow, arranged in a ring-like fashion. The eyes of the deer were also different. Aric was mesmerized beyond doubt and was dumbstruck seeing the deer. He had never seen such a beautiful creature before.

    As the deer crossed the road, it looked deeply at Aric for a minute and then walked away slowly, while Aric simply appreciated the beauty, his jaws open with awe and wonder.

    "There is something wrong with this place," Aric was sure by now, but he didn''t know what. Apart from the deer, he came across a few birds which his communicator failed to recognize. There were some problems when he encountered a goat too, as it showed as an unknown species of goat.

    He continued walking along the road, and after another half an hour, he finally saw some form of civilization. He spotted some huts and houses in the distance, but along with that, he also heard some screams and shouts. From the shouts, one could easily tell that they were from a human and also a cry of pain and despair.

 13. Welcome to Hogwarts, Harry Potter

    Aric didn''t immediately run to the place where the scream came from but rather to the the tall and thick trees on the sides and made his way slowly towards while keeping his movement as silent as possible. This was where the lens and his communicator actually came into play. It gave an optimum ways to step forward while making the least amount of sound.

    It even showed where there could be twigs and the fallen leaves making sounds. It was not always accurate as there was no actual AI connected but it was doing its best with the processor that it had.

    Soon he reached the edge of the small forest and finally got to see. Aric had seen many things in life but he had never seen or been in a situation like this. He could easily make out that it was a village. And not the kind of village he had known or was that he would come across in his world.

    But rather a village where houses were constructed from timber harvested from possibly the same forest he was hiding in, their roofs thatched with golden straw or covered in moss. From far, he could also see a weathered stone fountain, its waters flowing from the mouth of a mythical creature carved in exquisite detail. Even though it was a village, the fountain was working.

    He wasn''t that taken aback by the village but the thing that was happening at the moment there. There were screams and shouts, children and women running around shouting. There were men dragging people out of their homes and throwing on the gravel stone path itself.

    Many houses were on fire and some were already destroyed. These men looked like bandits with masks on their faces. From the dress the people of the village wore, Aric was sure that it was some kind of old times. Tunics, dresses, and trousers were common, dyed in earthy tones like moss green, deep brown, or sky blue.

    And the bandits wore a little more fancier. They wore more rugged and thicker cloth, with embroidery on the edges. And among these bandits, there were two men which gave the biggest surprise of Aric''s life.

    Much more surprise than the one in Echorysia One man was holding his hand horizontally and his hand and on the palm of his hand generated a small ball of fire, smaller than a tennis ball and the ball shot out and struck a home. The house caught a bit of fire and the man repeated the things a couple more times before the whole house caught fire.

    And another man did a similar thing. He put his palm on the ground and small shards of gravel shot out from underneath and hit the ones who were running and screaming around. These small shards were very random and most of them missed the mark.

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    He had never seen such cruelty nor this magical thing ever in his life. He was shaking a bit as he was struck with a mix of emotions but he stood his ground and watched. He felt bad for the men and women in the village as they were beaten and dragged horribly. Many of these people had lost consciousness.

    "What is this place?" Aric murmured. As he watched he could hear them speak loudly.

    "Make sure not to leave evidence that it''s us. Make it as random as possible. Loot them. And take the young ones, we can get more money by selling them as slaves. Hahahaha.."

    "Doing the slave business with those bastards is more profitable."

    "Of course it is. The barbarian attack on the borders really was a boon. Captain was right."

    "Of course he is. He is a mage who even went to school."

    Aric was surprised that these people spoke English and more surprised that one of them even called a mage. It became increasingly clear that this world was way too different than he thought before.

    He also wanted to help these men and women but he knew that he wouldn''t be able to. He was just a 13 year old kid looking at everything at the eyes of an adult. And the adult thinking of his brain was telling him to back off and get back home.

    "I should leave." Aric thought and he was ready to just vanish from this place and come back later but before he could do so, he felt a cold feeling and on his neck. Aric instantly stiffened when he felt that.

    "Look what we have here.. Oye lads.. We have found ourselves quite the guy.. Move and I will slit your throat bitch."

    Aric''s eyes went wide and had almost out of fear teleported away but stopped. He needed to think this through. Soon many men came running as Aric was pushed from the shades.

    "Rick, your stealth magic has gotten us a golden goose again."

    "Exactly now, kiss my feet and chant my name in glory."

    "Fuck off.. Just because you are good at stealth magic doesn''t make you the King."

    Everyone bickered and Aric who didn''t have any the steel blade on his neck was increasingly getting agitated. He wanted to teleport, but once he did he wasn''t sure it would safe for him. Since there was a mage here, he could guess that there were many magical things and creatures around.

    The deer with beautiful antlers made sense now. But here was the question. Was teleportation unique or very rare? Because both of the options were dangerous. He had read enough fantasy books in his previous time, to understand that teleportation was a power everyone would love to have or something to be jealous of.

    If the ability was rare then he was fucked. If it was unique than he was also fucked.

    "Calm down. You can''t teleport now. From the looks of it, they want me captured. I can slip away once nobody is looking." Aric thought.

    The bandits caught him by the collar and dragged him to the fountain. He was just another man to be abused and played with.

 14. He is doubly f**ked

    Everything was a blur for Aric. From the moment a blade was placed on his neck to the point where his hands were tied with a strong rope around his wrists. He felt like he was watching himself from a third person perspective and everything around felt like a bad game to him. But he knew everything that was happening was real and hew as in a dip shit. The rope was rugged and it gave a very uncomfortable feeling to Aric as he was being pushed and shoved around until he was brought up close to the mages.

    The mages had a better attire than everyone present and even had a hood. Thankfully, not the long hoods which he had seeing in movies and series, but a hood like the Assassin''s creed. It was both cool and creepy as Aric could make out the eyes of the mages.

    One had green eyes while the other had brown. Their eyes shone bright for some reason and Aric felt intimidated.

    "Where did this pipsqueak come from?"

    "We don''t know boss, but we found him in the woods. And from the looks of it. He isn''t local." Said the man who had caught him. The fire mage came forward and touched his cloth. He seemed to be shocked a bit after touching his shirt. His palm lit with fire and pointed at Aric.

    This was enough for Aric to almost make a run. He didn''t care if the other person would be teleported away with since he was still holding Aric by collar. The mage didn''t throw the fireball at Aric and just held it close to his face.

    Aric could feel the heat and knew that it was real. He didn''t know why he was being the foolish brave and didn''t teleport yet but he still stood there while fear was very evident on his face.

    "Where are you from? Where did your cloth come from? Blurt out any lie and I will burn your face which can''t be healed even by a normal healer." The fire mage said, his voice rough and very intimidating.

    "I am from India and this is the ethnic cloth of my village.. I.. I am lost and I have been searching for my way home for the last 1 day.. Please don''t kill me." Aric replied. Surprised that he could lie directly even at the cost of his own life and also for the fact that he could even bake a half lie at these circumstances.

    The fire mage forwarded the fire burning on the center of his palm towards his face, and Aric almost had to close on eye due to the immense heat he was feeling. But with the other eye he also maintained eye contact, fear evident on his face, and so was the agony and tears.

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    "Are you telling the truth? Because in the next 50 kms around there are no villages with that name?" The fire mage asked. His words felt like thunder on the ears of Aric, but also the fact that everything around felt immensely quiet

    "Yes.. Yes.. Please believe me.." Aric pleaded as he looked at the fire mage for belief.

    "Your village must be really hidden. I have never come across that accent." This time it wasn''t the fire mage but the earth/sand mage who spoke.

    "Yes. You are right. I have never heard of that accent before." The fire mage said. Aric could only spell ''shit'' in his mind but decided to stay mum and oblivious to what he was meaning.

    "Boss, I think he is someone from a remote village in the mountains which doesn''t have any connection to the outside. You know.. Like the reclusive villages.." The man who had caught him spoke his mind and the two mages just quietly listened to him.

    "You are saying this so that you want to go and raid that village while also taking away this fine cloth, and maybe know the process of the making." The earth mage said. This made the man who seemed to be good food stiffen a bit, so much so that even Aric felt a tug on his shoulder.

    "B...Boss.. I didn''t mean that.. I never want anything more.. I just thought..." The man was fumbling his words as he wanted to portray himself as the good guy.

    "Eric, stop antagonizing Rick. We need to get out of here before someone gets here. We don''t want any soldier or anyone from the nearest cities to get a wind of us and foil our whole loot. You take this boy and ask him to lead to his village." The fire mage said.

    "You are no fun brother." Eric said, his tone seemed to be annoyed but also having fun at the expense of other''s fear. Aric could see the classic villain and bully signs right here. Eric, the earth mage, took the ''reins'' off Rick, the stealth man, and pushed him away.

    "Now you will tell me where your village or I will drill stones into your head slowly, so slow that you will be able to hear the cracks forming in your skull." Eric said. This made Aric shudder but also realized that he was walking in a very thin rope and any wrong move could actually kill him.

    Aric pointed at the direction he had come from and Eric pushed him from behind, albeit quite roughly but Aric didn''t mind that. He couldn''t turn his head but he could tell that the bandits were now leaving the village since it was already pillaged and from the dozens of women, children and young adults gathered before by the bandits, he could tell that they would sold as slaves now.

    He had enough history lessons to know that human civilization had a dark past and being in a magical world didn''t change that. Aric went through the same route he had come through before and after some walk pointed a random direction into the forest itself.

 15. I want to poop

    "Boy, is this the way you came from? There is nothing here," Eric shouted, and soon some rocks hovered up and came close to his face. Aric trembled on his knees, and though he couldn''t see the mage''s reaction, he could feel the smirk and superiority emanating from him.

    If it were a modern society, Aric would have loved to give him a piece of his mind, but he couldn''t. He just stood there in fear, slowly growing courage because he could tell that Eric was greedy and he needed to know where his clothes came from.

    "I swear... I may have been lost, but I have a general sense of direction to my home. It''s not far... I am just... I am just..." Aric pleaded.

    "I am just what?" Eric shouted, wanting to know.

    "I... I want to poop," Aric replied.

    "What?" Eric asked in confusion, as if the word ''poop'' didn''t register well with him.

    "Uh... Yes... You know... I want to shit," Aric said. There was a small pause before he heard the loudest shout from this man, enough to scare away some birds that were quite happily chirping on the high trees nearby. Aric looked embarrassed, but he slowly turned around and looked at Eric.

    "Then shit in your pants and stay away from me," Eric shouted back, showing no care.

    "I can do that, but will you like it if you smell shit all the way up to the village?" Aric said. This made Eric pause again, as he seemed to be calculating.

    "Go to the side and shit," Eric replied, and the floating rocks fell down. Aric turned around and looked at the masked face again. Aric showed him his tied wrists, and before he could say anything, he received a resounding slap. The slap was so powerful that Aric felt one of his teeth being a bit loose.

    "You think I am foolish enough to let your hands free? Go and shit. And stay two feet away from me, you filth," Eric roared. Aric almost lashed out in words but stopped himself.

    "May I go behind the tree to relieve myself?" Aric said. Eric just nodded and looked around. He seemed to be a little wary of the forest and repeatedly looked around. This forest has a notoriety for being dangerous and filled with dangerous animals and even plants.

    Eric, before entering the forest, wanted to refuse, but the greed was too much. He and his brother had been running around, looting, pillaging, doing shady business just so they could fund their further magical studies. His brother was very close to being an Acolyte, and once he became one, he and his brother could live their lives like kings.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    But to become an Acolyte, they needed a proper mantra to progress, and one couldn''t get one if one wasn''t rich enough or wasn''t talented enough to be accepted to a school. If he and his brother could start a cloth-making process, they could get rich and afford to buy one.

    He couldn''t let this opportunity slip away from his hands. And though he felt like this young kid was bullshitting, he let him have the time. He was basically toying with his food, letting him see the hope before snatching and crushing it.

    He had a feeling that this kid was lying about the shit, but he didn''t care. He had put a tracker spell on him; once activated, he could easily track him within 200 meters. That was enough. Aric kept his cool as he came to the other side of a huge tree in order to ''hide'' himself while shitting.

    As soon as he was hidden, it didn''t take a moment to vanish from his place and was back at Echorysia. The moment he was back at the cave, he actually broke down in tears. The tears came naturally, and he didn''t know why. Maybe it was the anxiety, the fear, the humiliation, and the exhilaration.

    Aric felt every kind of emotion together as he was back at a safe place. He could still feel the burning mark on his cheek and the loose tooth. He had his knife and lighter taken away already, and he was out of utilities. Along with all those emotions, he also felt another kind of emotion.

    Anger.

    Extreme anger and rage. A rage for vengeance. Not for himself but for those ones from the village. He didn''t know them, but he wanted to save them and send these evil and vile men to the jaws of death. There was no justice there, and Aric never believed in justice because it came very slowly. He had seen his previous life and cases where people just suffered, and the only thing that held supreme was power.

    Power is what mattered.

    "Apis, is there a delivery service to my location?" Aric asked. He had researched before about online services, and things could be delivered via drones in this place and in most of the universe where there was an interstellar civilization.

    "Yes, but you will have to pay an extra 10 credits. Aric, I would also ask you to go to a doctor because you have an injury on your left cheek and also a loose tooth," Apis replied, which was lying on the ground.

    "You can read my vitals without being in touch with me?" Aric asked.

    "Yes, only when I am awake. I can also see that your hands are tied with coarse ropes. I would recommend you ask for help from someone..."

    "No. No asking for help. Help me untie the ropes," Aric jumped in and stopped Apis from spewing out long nonsense.

    "Then I would suggest you buy a Pledge blade. There are plasma-edged knives, which are chargeable, and one charge could last a day of continuous usage. After losing its charge, you can still use it like a metal blade, but it can''t cut things smoothly as you can with a pledge blade."

    "Good. Buy one and deliver it here," Aric didn''t care for the price at the moment. If he got himself a metal blade, it would take ages to free himself, and he didn''t want to struggle doing that.

 16. Way too many facilities

    "Apis, are there any kinds of hot weapons available to buy?" Being brought up in India, guns were something that he couldn''t imagine. When he asked Apis that question, he was expecting a negative answer too, but then Apis dropped the bombshell.

    "In many civilizations, guns are forbidden, but there are places which are not under the rule of any civilizations. Coincidentally, this planet is one of those places. And places like this are where people are allowed to own or sell any kinds of guns. Starting from small handheld guns to planet destroyers, if you have the money. It is also to be mentioned that rare metals like gold and others can also be bought or sold on such planets which are not under the control of any civilization...." Apis wanted to say more.

    "You mean I can buy guns here?" Aric stopped Apis, interjecting.

    "Yes, you can get one delivered right now," Apis replied.

    "Show me the guns," Aric said. The small watch''s hologram lit up and started showing different kinds of guns. It started from standard metal guns, which he had seen in his previous life, to plasma pistols and ion blasters, to rail guns, and even temporal blasters.

    Aric''s eyes widened as he saw the different options he had. The guns came with depictions of what each one of them could do, and he was happy to say that even the cheapest gun here could triumph over all the guns in his own world.

    Aric said that because the metal guns actually cost more than the plasma guns, as they were expensive to make and mostly used as decoration for some civilizations. He saw the price, and a basic plasma pistol was 1500 sora credits.

    He didn''t waste a second to buy one, and it was to be delivered in under 5 minutes. While he waited, he also ordered a health and a dental pack. The official name of the health pack was regenerative nanobots processing function, or RNPF for short, but people termed them as health packs as they would help in healing a wound, be it a cut or bruise. The nanobots would sew up a cut if required or heal the tissue before dying themselves or replacing the tissues.

    The nanobots were like stem cells but more advanced. He also ordered a dental pack which would heal his loose tooth. Having a loose tooth was more painful at the moment. His adrenaline had helped him deal with the pain, but now it was slowly kicking in.

    Aric waited for about 4 minutes before all of his purchases reached his cave through a big drone.

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    "Aric More."

    "Yes."

    "Here are your purchases. If you are happy with the shopping, please give a 5-star rating to Inaru Online."

    "Thank you."

    The purchases came in boxes, so he opened the health pack first. It was a small perishable packet filled with nanobots liquid which one needed to drink. He didn''t waste any time and gulped down the liquid. After he finished, he quickly consumed the dental pack too.

    The nanobots started working wonders after he ingested them. He could already feel itching on his cheek and also his toes and hands. With the pledge blade, he easily cut down the ropes, though it left some bruises on his wrists, which were being taken care of. The knife was really sharp, and he was able to cut the ropes with just a small touch.

    The knife was flesh-resistant, so it was only made to cut materials and never any kind of flesh. Kitchen knives were to be bought separately if he needed them. What an inspiring way to force people to buy different things for different reasons. He could also feel his tooth being slowly put into place and also small sensations on his other teeth.

    Basically, it was healing everything for him. Aric didn''t complain and just moved to the box he had been waiting to open: the plasma pistol.

    Composed of lightweight yet resilient materials, it boasted ergonomic design features, a contoured grip for optimal handling, adorned with tactile controls and a digital display panel for intuitive operation. At the forefront, the barrel was encased in intricate circuitry and illuminated plasma conduits.

    "Apis, can I try the pistol here?" Aric asked.

    "One can try using the pistol outside the city since you are not under any jurisdiction, but mind you, if you accidentally kill anyone, you will be taken into custody once you reach the city," Apis replied. Aric didn''t bother to hear more as he was too excited to try. He came out, and after making sure nobody was around, he shot at a tree with a huge trunk.

    A white light emitted from the pistol, and his eyes could hardly keep up, but the next moment there was a hole in the trunk followed by another hole in the tree behind. Aric was beyond ecstatic when he saw the damage. This was more than he had hoped for. Two tree trunks? Conventional pistols could never do that.

    This was beyond what he had imagined and hoped for when he came to this planet. He was actually thinking of going back to his Nana''s place after this, but now he had the weapon for revenge. But before he did so, he asked himself,

    "Do I have what it takes to kill a man?"

    And the answer came instantly in his mind as he remembered Eric throwing rocks at the men and killing one of them. Even if the man wasn''t killed, he surely hurt the man irreparably. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself down and answered his own question,

    "He deserves death."

    Without another thought, he was back at the same place he had gone to ''relieve himself''. It had only been around 5 minutes, so not much time had passed. When he returned, he heard a shout almost instantly.

    "Boy, you better be done quick with your work, or I am coming and kicking your butt so hard that you will forget how to relieve yourself in the future."

 17. It doesnt seem that bad

    Eric didn''t bother with decency and showed his head in order to see if Aric was being truthful or if he had made a run for it. Eric was a bit demented, and a part of him wanted Aric to make a run so that he could torture him and show his superiority.

    Aric, who had just returned, hid his pistol behind and looked straight into Eric''s eyes. Eric looked suspiciously at Aric but didn''t find any reason to reprimand him. This infuriated Eric more as he couldn''t find any reason to thrash Aric and shouted.

    "You fucking slave, how dare you look into my eyes with no sense of fear..." Eric shouted and raised his hand high to slap Aric. But before his hand could even touch Aric''s cheek, he heard a small sound and felt a huge force being driven into his chest.

    With the force, he fell back to the ground. He didn''t understand what was going on and looked up only to see a small silver-colored equipment in his hand with a barrel pointed at him.

    "You piece of..." Eric wanted to curse more but he couldn''t complete his words as his eyes and words felt heavy, followed by a searing pain that put him to sleep almost instantly. Even in his last moments, Eric didn''t understand what was going on.

    Meanwhile, Aric was breathing a bit heavily as he looked at Eric. He could see a massive hole in his chest, with the insides burnt out altogether, and that was the reason there was no blood splattered. Aric could also smell the burnt skin and flesh, which he had never smelled before, but now he knew the smell because it was revolting and almost made Aric vomit.

    Maybe because he was also reeling from the fact that it was the first time he had killed someone. The thought didn''t antagonize him as he had expected and read about them. He only felt like justice had been served and this guy deserved it. After a moment of pause, he looked down at the body and started frisking the dead guy.

    On the waist, he found a pouch. Without hesitation, he took up the pouch and opened it, and what he saw inside gave him a huge sense of joy. He found 5 gold coins, 13 silver, and 40 copper coins. He could tell that these coins were silver and gold because of his lens. The only thing he couldn''t tell was the purity of the items.

    That would be taken care of easily. He looked through the dead body once more before vanishing from his place.

    Echorysia

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    "Apis, wake up."

    "At your service, Aric."

    "Call a taxi, we are going back to the city."

    "As you wish."

    Aric got up and took large steps towards the main road. Soon a taxi came flying by and landed near Aric. He got inside, and within 15 minutes, he was back in the city again. During the journey, he evaluated his mistakes. He had been too bold in confronting them and let himself be captured.

    He even got slapped due to it and thought he would be some kind of savior once he saw magic. This was the reason why he was captured because he thought he was being smart by hiding. This world was still unknown to him, just like the previous world, and thus he got captured. He needed to be more cautious and run the other way if he saw trouble.

    Only when he had enough firepower should one try being a hero or savior. Before that, it was just plain stupid. As he was thinking that, the taxi stopped near a multiplex building. Aric had asked Apis where one could exchange goods like gold and silver. Apis had led him to this place as apparently the shops here were authentic and were backed by both Sora and Vallin civilizations. There were even other civilizations here, who had their shops.

    After entering the huge supermarket which had multiple stores, he looked around. This place was beyond what he had ever hoped to see in his life. He already knew that he was in an interstellar civilization, but this was beyond belief. To his right, vibrant holographic projections danced around a stall selling artifacts about which he had no idea.

    Turning left, he made his way past rows of shelves stacked with food containers of all shapes and sizes. He spotted a group of aliens gathered around a display of genetically engineered fruits; he could only tell that these were fruits because the lens gave him brief specifics.

    Continuing down the aisle, Aric approached a section dedicated to technological marvels. Robots of various shapes and sizes stood on display, their sleek designs catching the light and reflecting it in dazzling patterns. One particularly advanced model caught his eyeˇŞa humanoid figure with glowing eyes and articulated limbs. It moved with a fluidity that seemed almost human.

    Further down the aisle, he found himself in the midst of a crowd surrounding a booth offering enhancements for the body and mind. Biomechanical limbs, neural implants, and genetic modifications were all on display. Of course, he didn''t find any for humans, and they were mostly for the Vallin and Sora.

    As he went forward, Apis finally pointed to the store for which he traveled. The store didn''t look as glamorous as the rest. It was clean for sure, but it didn''t have mind-blowing holographics or some niche robots. Instead, there were multiple saleswomen who also belonged to different alien species.

    "Welcome. How can I help you?" One woman saw that Aric was looking around with curiosity so she asked politely.

    "Uh... I heard one can sell things here," Aric asked.

    "Oh, a new adventurer. Please follow me." The woman said. "My name is Valhere, and you can call me that."

    Soon Aric was led behind, which looked like some kind of museum filled with some antique products. Valhere stood behind a counter while Aric on the opposite side.

 18. Clothing for a lifetime

    Aric didn''t waste any more time and brought out the gold and silver coins. Valhere wasn''t expecting anything from this human who didn''t seem like someone who had come from an affluent family, but then again adventurers were known for their eccentric values and morals.

    When the gold coins were placed on the table, she was beyond ecstatic.

    "Sir, these are gold coins. Right?" Valhere asked, and Aric nodded. "And you wish to sell them?"

    "Yes. How much would I get?" Aric asked.

    "Please wait a moment as I detect the purity and the weight," Valhere said as she brought out what seemed to be a scanner. The scanning didn''t take much time, and within seconds she was able to know the properties of the coins.

    "These coins seem to be of 86.9% purity with a weight of 31.10 grams each. One gold coin can be sold for 4556 Sora credits or 4159 Vallin credits. Do you wish to sell them?" Valhere asked. Aric asked Apis if the price was correct, to which Apis replied that the store couldn''t ever lie about things like this since it would hurt their reputation.

    "I would like to sell the gold coins and the silver ones too."

    "Oh, that would be my pleasure." Valhere was very happy with the exchange. She checked out all of the coins, and in the end, Aric was awarded with 21,000 Sora credits, which he received after being rounded up.

    [

    Account No. : 4213190626000701

    Name : Aric More

    Species : Human (male)

    Parents/Guardian : Not specified

    Balance : 31,025 credits (Sora)

    ]

    Seeing the amount in his balance, he felt like he was above the clouds. He had never expected a single kill would give him that many credits. He took the decision of selling the gold in Echorysia instead of Earth because here he could sell without any questions, but if he did the same in his place, he would be jailed.

    Maybe it wouldn''t come if he sold these small four gold coins, but if he ever sold in bulk, he would be targeted, and the police would come asking questions. He didn''t want that.

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    "Thank you for doing business with us. If you ever find such items in the future, please consider our establishment. We will give you discounts too if you come with a bulk sale," Valhere said in the sweetest voice possible, almost giving Aric a bit of a creepy feeling.

    "I will look out for that," Aric said and then proceeded to leave the store. Coming out of the store, Aric pulled up his communicator. He needed to search for some items that he needed for his future exploration. He was in the future, so he was sure that he would be able to find things that might not even be imaginable in his mind.

    And he was right for doing that because he found things that were way too unbelievable. After a major search online, he found some items that caught his attention, and he had to splurge quite a bit of money.

    He came to a nearby caf¨¦ to sit and enjoy the city while waiting for his delivery. He ordered a cappuccino; yes, it was available in the caf¨¦ too along with other items for different alien species. Apparently, coffee was liked by many species of the world. Sitting in a roadside caf¨¦ and taking in the smells and sights of this glorious city was an experience in itself.

    He went from a near-death experience to casually sitting in a caf¨¦ within a matter of an hour. His world had really changed, and hopefully for the better. He was also thinking of his future steps. As he was sipping on that wonderful bit of coffee, he finally received the items he had ordered.

    **Nano Suit with Adaptive Camouflage:** The nano suit had advanced adaptive camouflage capabilities that allowed the wearer to blend seamlessly into different environments, whether it''s urban, forested, or desert terrain. This camouflage was able to adjust rapidly to changes in surroundings, helping someone remain undetected by hostile inhabitants. In addition to camouflage, the nano suit had the ability to transform into different outfits or disguises to help the adventurer blend in with the local population if necessary. The suit also didn''t need maintenance as it would take the required energy from the body itself and also clean itself regularly. One could wear this 24 hours without any problem.

    **Advanced Reconnaissance Drones:** Deployable reconnaissance drones equipped with sensors and cameras could provide invaluable intelligence gathering without putting someone at risk. These drones could also go up to 5 kms in any direction while being silent and have refractive panels on them that would make them almost invisible. And these drones were very small in nature like the size of a tarantula spider.

    Buying these two items made Aric lose 10,000 Sora credits in an instant, but it was all worth it. The suit cost him 7,500 credits, but it was worth it. This suit could hide his thermal signature and his smell even if he wasn''t covered fully by the suit. Actually, if Aric had more money, he would have asked for an Iron Man type suit.

    Oh yes, the online stores for adventurers sold suits ranging from Iron Man to Pacific Rim type mechs. But one needed to be registered in the adventurer union, and only with a clean slate could one get that. Of course, one needed to have money too. In order to buy an Iron Man suit, one needed to pay at least 100,000 Sora credits, and that was the cheapest.

    Let''s not talk about the huge mech suits. And even the stealth drones were one of the cheapest varieties that Aric could buy as he didn''t want to spend all his money in one go. If everything fell into the right places, he would be able to get more coins out of his next raid.

    The nano suit came in the form of bracelets. The more he wore them, the bracelets seemed to have melted onto the skin itself.

 19. Nokia is alive

    His lens lit up like a Christmas tree and started displaying different designs of clothes one could wear. All one needed to do was think and choose a design for the nanobots to generate. It was similar to Tony Stark''s Iron Man suit in the Avengers. One might think that with such nanotechnology, they wouldn''t need to buy any more clothes and could survive with just one.

    No.

    In order to obtain a particular design, one would have to pay royalties to the designer. In a way, it was more direct and better, and one could access a set of designs depending on the amount of money spent on their nanocloth initially.

    Aric did a quick search, and since it was mind-controlled, his clothing design changed into one of the most common ones he had seen among humans, which was just a T-shirt and loose pants. After transforming himself, he soon left for the cave.

    Within half an hour, he was back at the cave. Seeing the old, dilapidated cave, he thought of changing his base once he was sure of the world, but at the moment, this would have to suffice. Instead of returning to the magical world, he found himself back at his grandparents'' place.

    The last time he tried teleporting from his bathroom to Echorysia to his bedroom, he just visualized his bedroom a bit and was able to teleport instantly. He wanted to see if he could do the same with other places too. And surprise, surprise...

    He could go to any place he had ever crossed paths within this lifetime. So every new place he had visited in the last few days since his reincarnation, he could move through via two teleports. It was basically like exploring gaming maps and having fast travel to each location he had ever visited before.

    This meant that he could return to the same village where everything went awry and he was thrown into the jaws of death. But he needed to have a better strategy than the previous one he had. After returning to his grandparents'' place, he was welcomed with food again, which he loved.

    "Grandma! I can''t eat any more cookies. It''s too much," Aric protested as he was given home-baked cookies.

    "Who is telling you to eat? You are just tasting. There''s no harm in tasting," Grandma said, which frustrated Aric a bit but also made him thankful for their love. As he was eating, his grandpa came with a box in his hand.

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    The small cardboard box had "NOKIA" written on it in big letters. Aric''s eyes widened when he saw that.

    "You damaged your previous black and white mobile?" Aric asked.

    "I may be old, but I''m not that old. Do you think I''m that clumsy?" Grandpa seemed to get angry and berated Aric for assuming things.

    "Then why the new mobile? You do know that the bill for a single call comes at a high cost," Aric said.

    "This is for you. Your birthday is coming up next month, and I wanted to surprise you," Grandpa said. In his previous life, Aric had received a mobile on his birthday the following month. This time, the whole story had changed, and he received it earlier. The previous him would have been very happy with this gift.

    But the current him wasn''t moved at all because he had something better on his wrist, something he hadn''t even started unlocking its full power and potential. The knowledge he had saved on his communicator would be enough to change the world on a fundamental level.

    Yet, Aric was beyond grateful for the gift because a mobile might not mean much to him, but the thought behind it moved him. He thanked his grandparents profusely and engaged in general conversation.

    His grandparents were surprised that Aric was so mature. It had only been a month or so, but Aric seemed to have changed a lot. Of course, he had changed. Not only his mental age but also due to the murder he had committed an hour or so ago.

    After chatting and joking with his grandparents while listening to their old stories, they had their dinner, and being the old people they were, they went to sleep at 9 pm.

    The mobile Aric had received didn''t have a SIM card yet, so he couldn''t contact anyone or share his number. Not that it mattered. It was time for hunting.

    Around 10 pm, when he heard the soft snores of his grandpa, he closed the doors quietly so that nobody could barge in. He took his drones, which he had hidden after returning, and the gun.

    The pistol had come with 500 rounds of plasma rounds, which was enough for Aric to deal with 12 or 13 men. He just needed to be careful and use his abilities optimally. Taking a deep breath and camouflaging himself, he returned near the same tree where he had hidden before.

    From there, he could already see that the village was in total darkness. There was no light anywhere except for the light from the sky. The moon was high above, and the clear stars seemed to be shining enough to make out what had happened.

    Bodies were piled one above another in the main square of the small village, lifeless and their clothes fluttering in the calm wind. Aric felt goosebumps all over his body when he saw that. When the bandits assaulted the village, he thought they might leave them alive since they were wearing masks, but they killed multiple men and women of the village and didn''t even provide a burial.

    This was beyond disgusting, and all the minute guilt he felt for killing Eric vanished. Their whole group deserved death. He pulled out the drones and gave an instruction through his communicator to follow the tracks of the people who have caused this cruelty on the village.

 20. I am vengeance

    Aric had seen and even used drones in his previous life, so he knew how to use them if given the chance. But the drones of the future were something else. Since these were reconnaissance drones, each one had a central system with an inbuilt rudimentary AI that could understand human commands and direct the drones accordingly.

    So, when Aric commanded the drones to follow the trails and relay back the position, the AI system embedded in them enabled them to perform spy work as well. Aric had spent a bit more credits to add this feature to the drones. With the help of his communicator, he instructed them to follow the trails and report back.

    He had heard that the bandits would sell the children, women, and some men as slaves, so they couldn''t move fast with a group of people, and Aric could only hope that their destination wasn''t nearby.

    As the drones flew up, Aric used his communicator and lens to get an all-around view of the forest and the trail they were following. The communicator provided a 3D view of the surroundings directly in his lens and showed hundreds of marks left behind by the bandits.

    He didn''t expect the drones to be so capable, but then again, this society was probably not so developed, and their anti-spy skills were lacking. This played in Aric''s favor. Along with using the spy drones to check for any followers, he himself wore a black suit and covered his face. He was ready to vanish at the first sign of trouble.

    He traveled with the drones for a full two hours. During this time, he realized that the trail, which wound through patches of forest, was more alive and dangerous than he had anticipated.

    While following the drones, they showed him a pack of wolves. Even in the darkness of the night, the drones were able to livestream the wolves from afar. When he saw the colors on the wolves, he felt a chill run down his spineˇŞnot from the darkness, but from fear.

    The wolves had a white coat with trails of azure running through their fur. They looked majestic, but the sight of blood around their mouths was unsettling. Each wolf was larger than any Aric had ever read about, like the Alaskan or the Eurasian. These wolves were at least twice the size of those on Earth, and Aric was convinced they were magical, despite the lack of clear indications.

    Aric had to take a detour to avoid them, thankfully without alerting them. After two hours of walking cautiously, stepping on dried leaves and unpaved roads, he finally reached the bandits'' location.

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    They had set up a small shelter with rudimentary tents and a campfire in the center. The kidnapped people were huddled together on one side in a circular formation, while the bandits lounged around the campfire, enjoying meals and laughter.

    Of course, Aric observed all this through his lens, keeping a safe distance to avoid detection. The campfire cast a bright glow, and Aric decided to return to his room on Earth. He planned to attack after a few hours, not at that moment.

    Two more hours passed.

    Aric returned. As soon as he arrived, he checked his surroundings. The drones were on standby mode, and using his communicator, he checked the positions of each of the bandits. There were eight bandits around the campfire. One, who was a fire mage, was inside a tent, asleep. The other three were stationed a little away from the campfire.

    Aric slowly drew his pistol and approached the nearest bandit. His camouflage and lens allowed him to move as silently as possible. The lookout seemed drowsy, almost on the verge of sleep.

    Taking a deep breath, Aric aimed his pistol at the side of the man''s temple. He wanted to make as little noise as possible, so shooting him from the side would be optimal. The plasma bullet would hit the tree behind, masking the sound.

    *Pop*

    A small sound emitted from the pistol, and the body hit the ground seconds later. The man seemed to have died in his sleep. The noises of insects and the occasional tweets of nocturnal birds helped dampen the sound. Aric repeated the procedure with the other two bandits, eliminating any potential interference.

    "That was easier than I thought. Why was I expecting resistance on the first kill? I need to stop watching movies. These people aren''t trained at all," Aric thought after dispatching the other two.

    Now, his real work began. Slowly, he approached the campfire after circling it twice, memorizing every detail of the surroundings. He knew that killing eight men without alerting everyone was impossible. He would need to teleport multiple times, and he couldn''t use the same location repeatedly. Thus, he committed the entire layout to memory after just two circles.

    With the layout memorized, Aric prepared for his revenge. He took a deep breath and pointed his pistol at the men. He also made sure that his shot would pass through maximum of the bandits and also not hurt the kidnapped guys. He for sure could say that his first shot would instantly kill 3 men and maybe hurt a 4th guy.

    "Yippi kay ye. Motherfucker." Aric hushed under his masked and took the shot.

    The plasma bullet passed through like a bullet through three sleeping men on the ground and also passed through the leg on another. This time there was a lot of noise as the moment the bullet hit the 4th person, he let out a loud cry.

    "Ahhh.."

    "What? What happened?"

    "Lamela.. Ricard.. Hyroin.. Where are you?"

    "Come out you fucking rot. I will kill ya."

    "There you are.. You ugly piece of twat."

    Aric didn''t actually hide himself and came out slowly, appearing into the light away from darkness. The bandits saw a small boy wearing a full back suit over his body and even his face being covered with a mask with pointed ears above the forehead.

    The eyes were red in color and none could see the irises. No amount of skin was visible and only the outer black suit remained.

 21. My precious

    The mage stepped forward, while the rest circled behind him, holding their swords, knives, and even a bow with an arrow lodged into it. Each one of them was pointed at him, and they looked immensely angry. One of them had gone to look at the dead bodies.

    "Boss... They... They died by fire," the man who was checking the bodies gulped. The others glanced at the corpses from the corners of their eyes, and the mage even turned his head to look at them. His eyebrows furrowed, and he entered into contemplation.

    He then looked at the young man in the strange full black attire and said, "Sire, I would like to know why a high mage like you attacked us. We have done nothing to warrant such behavior. My name is Charles, and I am a mere mage who hasn''t even reached the Acolyte level."

    Aric was surprised by the fire mage''s behavior. He had expected rage about the deaths, but here the mage was trying to negotiate, and from the tone of it, he seemed to be begging a bit. Aric was taken aback by this, but then he realized that he was being feared because he had killed six men and even three with fire itself.

    The fire had even blasted holes in their bodies, something even the fire mage couldn''t do, which invoked this kind of reaction.

    Aric wanted to speak boldly, but he feared being recognized by his voice, so he remained silent. He glanced at the men for a second and then vanished on the spot. This made the men, and even the kidnapped people who had been regarding him as some kind of messiah, look as if they had seen a ghost.

    "He is a high-level dual mage. RUN!" the fire mage shouted, but before anyone could run, the archer who had the arrow and the bow ready felt a light sensation on his chest followed by intense pain from heat.

    He felt his body falling and was dead before he could register the last sensation. The bandits went into a frenzy, including the fire mage himself. Each of them ran in different directions while Aric emerged from the other side with a pistol in his hand.

    "C''mon, guys. I thought you were powerful," Aric said, imitating an American accent, which came out very poorly. He had to do this to ensure nobody recognized him, and the mask would muffle his voice considerably. Actually, even if he had spoken in his own accent, there would have been nobody to hear him because they were frightened beyond belief.

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    Aric wasn''t done with them, though. He had vengeance in mind and vanished again. He used the lens and the drones to locate each and every one of them and appeared near where one had run. It became a game of cat and mouse.

    The men ran around like headless flies, choosing random directions while Aric appeared and killed them with a shot. Of course, not all of his shots were accurate, and he needed to shoot twice or even thrice at one point to kill one swordsman who tried to maneuver as he realized that this man''s aim was off by quite a bit.

    If he were an educated man, he would know that a high mage would never miss a shot, as their offensive magic acted like homing missiles and did not travel in straight lines. Sadly, he didn''t possess that knowledge. Education is key, my friends.

    Aric plucked them off one by one until only the fire mage remained. He saved the main course for last. After dispatching another man, he vanished, pinpointing the fire mage''s position and reappeared right beside where Charles was fleeing. The area was surrounded by forest, so none of the fools were able to go far.

    If any of them had taken the road, they might have escaped, as he hadn''t scouted the entire area for long distances, making it nearly impossible. However, they chose the forest route, which slowed them down.

    As soon as Aric appeared near Charles, he wasn''t met with pleas for mercy, but rather a small ball of fire hurtling towards him at high speed. Aric only saw a flash of light, which was enough to make him teleport back to his room.

    "That bitch!" Aric cursed under his breath on his bed and then vanished again, reappearing on the other side. He promptly aimed a shot at Charles''s legs, causing him to cry out in agony as he felt them vanish the next moment.

    His cries echoed through the forest, casting a sense of doom and silence into the distance. Aric was sure that his cries and all the commotion before would attract danger in the forest, but it was already too late.

    "Why? We don''t have any hatred, and we''ve never met before," Charles cried out, questioning.

    "You sent me to the jaws of death with your brother. You don''t think I''ll be like a helpless Magikarp, right?" Aric retorted.

    "Brother? Magikarp?" Charles didn''t understand what the man was saying, but then it hit him. His brother Eric had gone with the boy they had encountered in the previous raid. They were supposed to meet later after Eric returned with more information.

    "No, that''s impossible. Someone who is below maturity age can''t ever learn magic," Charles said, his voice trembling, the pain too much for him to handle.

    *Pop*

    "It''s magic bitch." Aric replied and shot at the head of the Charles blowing his head off with non-negotiable sound of the pistol. After he killed, Aric immediately started to frisk the body of this man and found a pouch hanging by his waist. He wasn''t done yet. He appeared near the dead bodies of each one his murders and started to frisk them and take their coins away.

    The mage''s pouch looked more durable so he put all the coins he had gathered and put it there and teleported away to Earth.

 22. I need to stop inviting death

    He didn''t bother to count the coins he had received in this small, murderous heist. He felt a bit numb for killing so many people. And if he did that in his world or even on the interstellar planet, he was sure he would receive the fate of capital punishment.

    But Aric knew that he needed to go back and save the lives of the residents from the village. He appeared again, and this time near the small camp that the bandits had set up. As he stepped into the light, the women and children backed off in fear while the small group of men came forward.

    It was as if to shield the children and women from the danger. Aric wanted to speak but stopped himself. His accent was foreign here and if he spoke and in future met again, he would be exposed. He couldn''t make the same mistakes as he did in the interstellar world.

    Any wrong move and he would be in danger and probably banned from this world. This was a magical world and he would put past some weird magic that might be able to trace him. He needed information of this world but he couldn''t ask.

    He was in a fix of how to ask them questions when the lens lit up in bright red.

    "

    Warning....

    Warning...

    Animals detected in the vicinity. Please pay attention.

    Warning..

    Warning..

    "

    "Shit," Aric cursed under his breath. He turned his back on them and looked at the dark and devouring forest. The men who had small sticks in their hands taken from the fire were confused, but then they heard a sound.

    *Howl*

    This was enough to make these courageous men shiver. One of the children almost cried out loud but a terrified woman put her hand over the child''s mouth to prevent any noise. Aric felt anger and frustration when he saw the wolves approaching on the drones.

    He had avoided them because he was sure they were magical and now they were here because he made a lot of noise. He needed to learn more about stealth tactics so that he wouldn''t be in the same situation again. But then again, there was no other choice and if Aric let them move for one more day, it would have been over.

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    The crackling flames of the campfire danced against the shadows, casting an eerie shadow on the sides of the wolves as they slowly approached into the light. Aric scanned the darkness beyond the flickering light, senses heightened, every rustle of leaves, every growl sent shivers down his spine.

    He wouldn''t have been afraid if they were normal wolves but he had a feeling that he would be killed if he made any bad move and his instincts told him to run away from here and never come back.

    "Mother, you always told me to run when we see the wolves. Why are we not running?"

    "Mother..."

    "Everything is fine my child. These men out there will protect us. We don''t need to run. Just close your eyes."

    The small child whispered those words, but Aric could hear them clearly. The wolves had surrounded them from almost all sides, and there was nowhere to go. The captives had witnessed Aric''s swift and deadly precision as he dispatched their captors, though it was only in cries and flashes, but now, surrounded by the ominous whispers of the forest, they feared they had traded one peril for another.

    One wolf growled heavily as it slowly crept towards Aric. Its intelligent eyes hovered around Aric as if it could feel that the most dangerous being here was Aric himself. The wolf put its nose high in the air and smelled him. And for some reason, the wolf seemed to smile.

    Aric had never seen an animal smile as it was almost impossible for a wild creature to express human emotions, but he could swear that the wolf smirked in mockery. Then the wolf growled at the others, and each other took their steps forward.

    Their intentions were clear as it seemed like they were here to pounce on them and tear them apart. Aric got agitated as he couldn''t waste any more time in this whole situation. He pointed the pistol at the alpha wolf and shot, while praying that the wolf wouldn''t dodge.

    After taking the shot, he didn''t stop. He shot multiple of them at the same time and hoped that the bullets would hit them. The alpha wolf actually jumped at Aric when he took the shot, and the bullet hit him midair and then another shot grazed its feet.

    And after that, Aric randomly shot at multiple of the wolves in the back, hoping it would scare them away. The alpha wolf had its jaws separated as the bullet went right through its neck and burnt everything in its path.

    The other shots hit the other wolves at multiple places, killing three almost instantly while the other two just growled and shrieked in pain. If one looked closely, one would see Aric''s hand shaking a bit. He almost teleported himself as the wolf jumped at him from a distance of at least 5 meters, and from the looks of it, the wolf almost chomped on his head.

    Thankfully, the wolf didn''t expect a move like that from Aric, and it had a very confused look on half of its face before it landed and skidded to his feet. The other wolves shrieked, howled, and some of them growled as they looked at Aric with fear reflecting in their eyes under the flickering light of the fire.

    One particular wolf growled at all of them, and then miraculously, the wolves stepped back while maintaining eye contact with Aric. It was slow, but after a minute or so, they vanished. Aric wasn''t sure of anything but kept an eye on the situation around. In about two minutes, the wolves left the place altogether as he checked through the drones.

 23. Everyone needs that kind of bath

    "I should stop being the hero, dammit. What did Harvey Dent say, you either die a hero or live long enough to be the villain. Damn you, Jonathan Nolan," Aric mused as he looked at the dead wolves lying around. The men behind him, who held their sticks high as if they could protect themselves, lowered them.

    "Thank you... Thank you, great mage, for saving and protecting us. We will be eternally in your debt. If you want us as slaves, we are ready to do your bidding," one man slowly came forward and said while Aric still had his back turned to them. Aric, who had been lost in his thoughts for the past few moments, was brought back to reality.

    "Why am I spacing out? I''m not even in space to be spacing out so much," Aric thought as he turned around to look at the group of people. When he turned around, everyone was on their knees, looking at Aric as if he were a god.

    They were thankful, but among the gleam of their eyes in the dark night, one could also see that they were a bit afraid of him. Most of them had their heads low, but the children and some of the women stole glances at him, especially at his ''ears'' over his head. Aric knew for a fact that he couldn''t utter a word and just looked at them through his red eyes.

    This made the situation awkward for Aric and a bit frightening for the rest. They couldn''t understand why the mage here was silent, and thus, in the end, they slowly looked up, and he just hinted with his hand for them to get up. The men and women were confused, but they did get up in the end.

    "City... Direction..." Aric spoke in the most hoarse tone he could conjure and spoke as loudly as possible. They didn''t expect the first words to come out of the mage''s mouth to be these two words. One of them took the courage and pointed in the direction where the road was leading.

    "If Sir travels for a day on foot, he would reach the city of Distant Wind in a day. I hope this helps, Sir," one of the men, who seemed to be a bit intelligent, said. Aric nodded to signify that he understood and then slowly walked away. One of the men wanted to call him, but the one who spoke up before stopped him.

    "Sir-mage is probably tired. We should go back home and bury the dead," one man came forward and said. They looked around and felt like the last half-hour had passed like a dream. They had been leading simple lives until these men showed up, looted them, massacred them, and took them as slaves.

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    They had given up on life, but then this man in a dark suit, which looked like fine leather, came and destroyed the people who had done them wrong, saving them from immediate danger and oppression for the rest of their lives. Though they voluntarily asked if they could be the slaves of mage, in their hearts they knew well that a mage like him would never be interested.

    And they were right. The mage didn''t even bother to look at them and walked away after finding the information he needed. But regardless, they were grateful.

    "Simon, Arthur.. Take the male whirlwind wolf''s body and deliver it to the city. You will be able to earn 250 gold coins from the body itself and use that money to buy necessary tools for the village. We have lost many people in this struggle. And also tell the guards of what happened to the village."

    "The rest, take the other dead bodies of the wolves and use their hides as pelts. We will need them."

    Everyone got to work and even though they were tired, they did their work as fast as possible. It was always dangerous around the forest, especially at night and even more so after the death of these magical beasts. Their death might attract other creatures at night and they didn''t want that.

    Especially after being saved twice. That would be quite disrespectful to the young mage who had just saved them. They got to work instantly.

    <hr>

    Aric was back at Echorysia with his ''loot''. He felt like a gaming character as he had just looted them after killing them in a forest. He called a taxi and just left for the city. As he was in the taxi, he finally checked what he had looted.

    15 gold coins

    89 silver coins

    256 copper coins

    And a parchment of paper which had ''Stealth magic'' written on the headline with a some visual and vivid drawings on it. Even though it was deep at night, the city didn''t seem to slow down at all. The people around almost had the same intensity as he had seen in the morning. After researching on this he understood that humans were actually the one of the top species of the universe who needed sleep under 24 hours.

    Most of the species of the universe actually slept once in 72 or more hours. Aric didn''t directly go to the shop for getting rid of the gold coins. Instead he proceeded to go to the paid bathroom service that was provided in the mall.

    He wanted to try it when he came across them last time since he found them to be clean. And Aric was glad that he tried it. The bathroom was clean to the tee and had all the amenities that he would never be able to find at his home or his previous life.

    Each booth boasted of sleek, futuristic design, featuring temperature-controlled water, customizable aromatherapy options, and rejuvenating hydrotherapy jets. Aric had never had such a good bath ever in his life and felt like all the murders he had just committed was washed away in one bath.

 24. He must be Sherlock Holmes

    Nebula Nook Traders

    Aric returned to the same place as last time and thankfully noticed Valhere, the previous saleswoman. Valhere, upon noticing Aric, stepped out and made her way to the same spot where he had gone before, while Aric followed her.

    "Here for the same deal?" Valhere teased him. She could also sense a subtle change in the customer. Not only did he smell good, probably from a recent bath, but also his clothing was not natural and was made of nano-based fibers. The last time she met him, she genuinely thought he was some hick who had woken up from a farm on a remote planet. But now, Aric looked more modern, and a sense of mystery veiled him.

    More so than the last time.

    "Yes. I want to exchange credits for these 10 gold coins," Aric said.

    "It will be my pleasure. Please wait while we check the coins," Valhere replied with a smile and started to scan the coins. Of course, these coins turned out to be authentic.

    "As a dedicated customer, the shop is going to offer you 46,000 Sora credits. We hope that you can continue with the same kind of transactions in the future," Valhere said, her eyes shining brightly. She was now glad that she had taken charge of hosting him when he first entered.

    Her bonus would be quite high in this time unit. Aric didn''t reply; he simply checked his communicator and just thanked for the appraisal. Seeing everything was in place, he left, not bothering to deal with the silver and copper coins. He might need them on his next journey.

    Aric wasn''t in the mood to talk further as he was sleepy after the magnificent shower and wanted to go to bed now. After coming out, he went straight to the cave and proceeded to return to his world.

    He slept soundly. Suffice to say that the murders he had committed didn''t leave any kind of PTSD. Not now. Not ever.

    <hr>

    The next day, Aric woke up a bit later than usual as nobody came to wake him up, and he was allowed to sleep as long as he wanted. It had been a long time since he had slept like this, and as he woke up, he promised himself that in this life, he wouldn''t compromise on his sleep. Ever.

    After having breakfast and speaking with his grandparents, who told him to be careful but didn''t try to stop him, he headed back to the forest and then proceeded to enter the magical world once again. He found himself back at the same place where he had dealt with the bandits using his drones. The drones had been hidden the entire night, and he wanted to see what would happen to the area once he left.

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    He discovered that the dead bodies of the wolves could be sold at a good price, but then again he couldn''t drag the corpses around like some beast. The only way to bring them to a place where he could sell them was by using teleport points, which was also risky as he wasn''t sure what kind of diseases these creatures carried.

    Despite this loss, there was nothing he could do about it. The captured men and women had left in the direction they came from, and Aric decided to walk towards the city that one of the villagers had pointed out to him. It was a day''s journey on foot, so he needed to reach his destination quickly.

    "Never did so much walking in my life," Aric thought as he traversed the uneven road filled with multiple potholes. It felt like walking on the roads of ancient India.

    Unable to reach his destination in one walk, he returned home for lunch but resumed his journey afterward. Finally, as the sun set low in the evening, he reached a vantage point overlooking a medieval city. He observed carts and travelers coming in and out of the city, most of them paying a toll before entering. Aric decided to wait until the next day to enter the city.

    Early the next morning, Aric was back on the road, encountering minimal traffic as carts and pedestrians made their way toward the city. Approaching closer, he could see the imposing walls encircling the city, standing tall and proud like ancient guardians.

    Made of sturdy stone and fortified with towers and battlements, the walls spoke of a city accustomed to defending itself against both natural elements and human adversaries. Peering through the crenellations atop the walls, Aric caught glimpses of life within the cityˇŞsmoke billowing from chimneys and the faint sounds of bustling activity.

    There wasn''t a queue like the previous evening, so he walked straight toward the huge gate with a wooden gate hanging overhead.

    "Pay up," one of the guards demanded, wearing shabby but clean leather armor. Each guard carried a sword on their waist and a shield on their back. Aric fumbled for a moment and produced a copper coin from his small pocket.

    The guard inspected the coin and allowed him to enter, to which Aric thanked him.

    "The kid looks new," one of the guards nearby remarked.

    "There is something wrong with the kid." the guard who had asked Aric to pay said.

    "Why?" The other guard was confused and asked.

    "He is wearing clothes of a villager but he doesn''t look like a villager at all. He looks strong for his age and his cheeks were quite rosy which means he is eating his fill. His eyes didn''t look hollow and he was more like someone who was eager to see the city rather than someone who is afraid of this place, which is the case for most of the children from villages."

    "Robert, I told you to stop looking at people with your brain. We are just here to get the city tax and then go home." the other guard said.

    "So you too think that there is something wrong with the kid?" Robert replied.

    "No, I don''t."

 25. One sheath, two swords

    If Aric had heard those words, he would have been surprised. The guard was quite attentive for his job, and maybe in modern times, he would have been a good detective. The first thing to strike him was the atmosphere of bustling activity that enveloped the narrow cobblestone streets.

    The air was filled with sporadic sounds of hagglers at their open-air shops, a few horses clip-clopping, and the chatter of townsfolk. The city seemed like a maze of tightly packed buildings, their timber frames and thatched roofs leaning precariously over the streets below.

    Few houses had colorful banners hung from the windows and balconies with sigils that Aric had never seen before. Above them, laundry flapped in the breeze.

    Aric could see a couple of bakeries, a blacksmith shop, an extravagant cloth shop, an armor shop, and various others which seemed to be in sync with the times. Aric didn''t expect the city to be so big, but it was a breath of fresh air for him. There was an odor around which Aric had never experienced before.

    Though the odor wasn''t very pleasant, as there was a small portion of horse poop mixed in it, he could also smell the air being fresher than the ones he experienced in his previous life. After a bit of appreciation, he started walking around the city pointlessly. He wanted to understand from people what this place was all about. As Aric walked through the bustling streets of the medieval city, snippets of conversation floated to his ears.

    "I swear, the price of grain keeps rising every week. Soon, we''ll be eating nothing but scraps," spoke a man who seemed to be more ragged than the others around in general.

    "It''s because of the barbarians. The soldiers of the empire are dealing with them. Hopefully, in a week or so, the borders will return to peace."

    "The church has issued a memorial for the dead soldiers tomorrow. I think we should go."

    <hr>

    Aric missed having a GPS here, but he would have to do what he had gotten. Thus, he decided to approach a bakery. The shopkeeper was a man who seemed to be in his 50s. Clusters of white hair in his beard and the receding hairline were enough to say that the man had seen struggles in his life.

    "You seem new, son? What do you need?" The man asked with a smile.

    "I just arrived in the city, uncle. Can you give me some bread?" Aric asked cautiously after thinking about his words. He didn''t want to raise his suspicions.

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    "Sure, son. Here. Free for your first purchase." The man took out bread and handed it over without a second thought. Of course, Aric was having none of it and asked.

    "How much is it, uncle?" Aric asked.

    "Your ragged clothes don''t scream gold on your body, son. Take the bread. You will need it." Though Aric felt grateful and also a bit surprised at such generous behavior, he didn''t want to owe someone any favor. He had seen in his past life how ''favors'' came back to haunt him later.

    Aric took out a copper coin and placed it near him.

    "Son, I told you that I don''t need..."

    "Uncle, I might be in this city for quite some time, so I am new to this place. I do have some money saved, so you don''t need to worry. I might not be as poor as I look." Aric said while giving a happy smile. The uncle looked at Aric closely and then laughed out loud.

    "Hahahaha.. Right! For this copper coin, you will get two loaves. Here you go," the man said.

    "Thank you, Uncle. Can you also tell me if there is any library here?" Aric asked.

    "Library? You know how to read? Seems like you are not really poor. You fooled me, son," the man said.

    "Uncle, I never said I was poor. You assumed that," Aric replied.

    "Hahaha.. Yes.. yes.. My bad. I like you kid, you have a good head on your shoulders, but don''t go around telling this to people. The library is...." The man gave him a general direction, and after repeating, Aric left the shop and took long strides towards the library. While going to the library, he also found a silent alley to change his attire to that of a more average child of the city and not some hillbilly from the villages.

    Aric soon reached the library. Nestled modestly among the other buildings in the medieval city, its two-story structure blended seamlessly into the bustling streetscape. Constructed of sturdy stone bricks, the building''s exterior bore the weathered marks of age, softened by creeping ivy that wound its way up the walls. Small, rectangular windows dotted the facade, their wooden shutters occasionally creaking in the gentle breeze.

    A simple wooden sign hung above the entrance, bearing the inscription "Distant Wind Library" in faded lettering. Aric was glad that he found the place and walked in, only to be stopped by the librarian.

    "Library plaque," the librarian spoke in the lowest volume possible.

    "I don''t have one," Aric could only reply.

    "New kid in town? Whatever. One copper coin for a monthly plaque and 5 for a year-long plaque." The librarian showed a small board where it was written. Aric nodded and took out 5 copper coins. She turned around and brought out a silver-colored plaque and handed it over.

    "Don''t lose the plaque or else you will have to buy another one. The library closes at 8 pm and opens at 11 am. Don''t come crying to me the next day if you get stuck here and I close the library," the librarian said.

    "Yes.. yes.."

    Aric thanked her and walked away. She was quite upfront and rude, totally different from the shopkeeper of the bakery, signifying a place could have two kinds of people. But at the moment, Aric didn''t care. He needed answers.

    And thus he started working towards his journey of flipping pages in the fastest way possible.

 26. This is an important chapter

    Aric stayed at the library the whole day, only going home for lunch, and left the library in the evening as he couldn''t stay until 8 pm anyway. After coming out, he went to a vacant alleyway and teleported.

    He was able to get a general picture of the world after spending so much time in the library. The magical world was basically a place which had landmasses and continents just like Earth. Like Earth, there were confirmed two continents attached to each other. The continent he was currently in was named Azurea, and the other was named Faerunia.

    Their continent was again divided into 5 different portions: the North, the South, the East, the West, and the Central. Each portion had multiple empires. Though it wasn''t implied, the general belief and fact were that the Central continent was better than the others.

    Very little was written about the continent of Faerunia, but it had a large number of islands and the human population was 55% on the continent while the rest was ruled by magical beasts, elves, dwarves, and other species which the book didn''t provide any information about. Aric was surprised that there were elves here too.

    "Why am I surprised? Maybe the interstellar library will have elves too. I need to look for them."

    Now came the magic part. This was where it blew Aric''s mind. Magic was very fundamental in the society of both Azurea and Faerunia. In fact, while on his way here, he could see that magic had its roots. As he passed through the stable where the horses were kept, he saw a man close his eyes for a second before waving his hand, which led to the horses getting rid of the dirt on their bodies.

    It was a slow process, but he was still amazed by what he saw. Until the age of 15, one could only go and learn the runic circles with which one could perform magic. For example, the one Aric saw at the stable was some form of cleaning magic. In order to do that, one needed to know the runic circle, and the magic would do the job.

    In order to learn the runic circle, one could go and read books. Of course, not all runic circles would be available to the public, and some kept this knowledge hidden. One could also invent their own runic circle and sell them after proving that the runic circle was a working one.

    So why was the age 15 a big watershed? It was because only at the age of 15 and onwards one could go far and beyond. Until the age of maturity, one couldn''t progress in his or her magical capacity. It was fixed from birth.

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    Only after the age of 15, one could go beyond, as at that age, one would be able to learn the different techniques in order to increase their capacity to hold magical particles in their body, or in this case, the magic particles that one would consume to further one''s progress and it was called mana. Of course the capacity of mana wouldn''t determine their level, it differed from person to person.

    Each level started level had a name for itself. The first level/realm being the Acolyte, followed by Neophyte, Adept and so on and so forth. The techniques were being taught at different school, with each school having their own techniques and methods of advancing in their realm. The schools would come each year to test children who would want to further their career with magic because magic stood supreme in this world.

    It was not wrong to say that "Magic is might".

    Another reason why the schools would come to recruit was because after the age 15, one would be able to learn elemental magic. There were different kinds of elements magic. Fire, water, earth, air, light, lightning, ice and even darkness. After the age of 15 one would be able to test the affinity of person and also the degree of talent one had.

    Basically, the age of 15 was an watershed by a major degree. Not only one person would be able to move forward in his/her magic career but also determine the talent and the affinity with elements. Aric was two years short of 15, so there was still time but the more he read about the schools and the different forms of magic, the more he was determined to join one school after 2 years.

    Aric had used the lens to take clear pictures of the pages he had flipped and later read as much as he could at night. It took him two days to read the array of necessary books from the library.

    It might seem unbelievable but the books in the library weren''t too many. There were very few pages in each book and thus it didn''t take him much time to finish. Aric was mesmerized as he read the books and got a more clear picture of the world around him.

    At the moment he was in the North Continent of Azurea, under the Oakwood Empire. The Empire wasn''t some powerful empire and it had borders with Riverlands Empire and Sunlit Shores Empire. Though magic was a part of parcel of the lives of people around and they used it, actually very few of men could enter a school and learn proper magic.

    From what Aric understood, out of 10 only 2 or 3 would ever be able to enter a school and learn. Progressing in realms was also another tough part for a mage and thus even after entering a school some couldn''t even become an Acolyte, forget about the other high realms.

    The schools held huge power in the empire but they would mostly refrain from entering the politics. This was what the books had written but Aric was pretty sure that schools would have their hands in the court of an Empire.

    If it was not for power, then it was definitely for the resources.

 27. I need a place to live

    Mages weren''t only a single profession. One could become a runesmith, healer, a highly paid construction worker, pharmacist, and various other jobs that came up with it. Runesmiths and healers were high-level mage professions since they could only be practiced after one becomes an acolyte, while a construction mage could be learned before one could become an acolyte.

    It was a whole level of information that Aric had accumulated after reading and researching for the last 2 days. It wasn''t easy to gather it either because this information was open to the public, and one didn''t need to write, so the information was all over the place. He could only take bits and pieces and understand in the end.

    And he was glad that he took the time to understand. The table in the library and silence provided him enough time and patience to do his work. Now that he had the general idea of the situation around, he needed to work and get his footing.

    Starting from this small city itself.

    After coming out of the library, he went to the administration office. He needed registration for staying in this city. Basically, if one was a traveler, one wouldn''t need one, but if one wished to stay in the city, then that person would have to go to the administration office and register himself.

    It was the medieval times; one wouldn''t need proof of his nationality, especially not from someone who wasn''t even a mage yet. Thus, it didn''t take much to register himself as a citizen of the Oakwood Empire, which cost him a single silver coin.

    Here,

    100 copper coins = 1 silver coin

    150 silver coins = 1 gold coin

    The 1 silver coin did sting him a bit, but then again, he wouldn''t need to register himself elsewhere from now and could stay at a rented place in any city of the empire. After he was done with this, he spent the rest of the day searching for a place where he could build his base on, I mean, where he could stay in the city and not just teleport in order not to draw suspicion.

    There was no agency where he could look for a renting place, and thus he steeled his heart and went back to the same bakery he had asked for directions before.

    "Uncle... Hello."

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    "Ah... You again... You want to buy something more? Or was the bread not good enough?" The man seemed to remember Aric pretty well.

    "Uncle, the bread was fine. I am new to the city and thus wanted to ask if there was a place where I could rent? Do you know someone who might have a vacant space for me?" Aric said.

    "Huh? With you alone? Where are your father and mother?" The man was surprised that such a young child was responsible for such a big arrangement.

    "They are a bit away for a journey and had left me with some money to fend for myself," Aric said. He didn''t want to disclose too much. He could have easily said that he belonged to the village where the bandits attacked, but he refrained. It was better to be anonymous for the sake of his future. The man got the cue that the boy here didn''t want to be pried, and looking at the attire the boy wore now, he looked well off for himself.

    "I do know someone who might be able to rent to you. Why don''t you come with me in the afternoon? My name is Albert. What is your name?" The man asked.

    "Aric."

    "Does 2 pm settle well with you?" Albert said. Aric nodded. There were still a few hours before the clock turned 2 pm, so he could wait. Meanwhile, he could roam around and help his communicator make an in-depth map of the place.

    He walked around and saw the vibrant colors and homes. The city wasn''t wealthy in any way, but it had a sense of ''togetherness'' that most of the people in his world had lost. Or at least from what he had seen during his stay in Mumbai.

    Seeing the happy, joyful faces of the people around gave him some kind of peace. But he also felt detached. Probably because he wasn''t from this place and thus couldn''t relate to them at their core. Which was better for him in the long run since he might have to leave this place someday and go elsewhere.

    At sharp 2 pm, Aric arrived at the bakery. Albert seemed to have not noticed the clock and was surprised to see Aric. He turned to see the huge wall clock on the side and said.

    "By the love of Aurelius, look at the time! I am sorry, Aric, work has been messy, as you can see I am handling baking the bread and the shop. Just wait a few minutes. The new bread will be baked in a few minutes, and then we can go."

    "It''s fine. I will wait," Aric replied.

    "You use funny words, son," Albert said and got to work. Aric didn''t know what to say to him about that. He was brought up in India, and thus his command over English wasn''t like the natives, and thus his choice of words fell short to those people. Hopefully, he will be able to alleviate that problem in this life.

    After a few minutes, Albert was ready and closed the bakery. Albert didn''t ask about his past but rather what he wanted to do by staying here.

    "I will start a business."

    "You mean like a shop?" Albert asked.

    "Something like that. I have a product and I will need to see if any shop will be willing to sell them," Aric said.

    "What kind of product?" Albert asked, curious like any other person.

    "You will see," Aric replied with a smirk.

    "Kid, you think you are old enough to play some mind games with me?" Albert asked in fake anger.

    "No, uncle, it''s just that I can''t explain the product, and it''s better you see it. I will receive the first batch soon."

 28. This is where we start

    Albert took him to the place where his friend Tony lived. He reiterated that Aric wanted a place to stay. Tony looked deeply into Aric''s eyes as he couldn''t understand why a child like him, who wasn''t even of mature age, was living away from his parents.

    "What kind of irresponsible parents were they?" These were the same thoughts Albert had, and that was why he was going out of his way to help Aric.

    "I do have a place, but it''s a single home and the rent will be high," Tony said, not wanting to deceive. Tony worked as a blacksmith and lived above the shop. The shop belonged to him, as did the home above it. Unlike most blacksmiths, he was in the profession because he loved it since he was a child.

    Since he loved being at the shop and the home built above it, his own home could be rented out. Albert was a great friend of Tony''s, so he brought Aric here.

    "How much is the rent?" Aric asked, having no idea about the cost of living here.

    "Two silver coins a month. And the home is quite big," Tony said as he led them to his other home. He was expecting an apartment of some sort, as he didn''t know Tony''s background, but when he saw a two-story home with three bedrooms and a workshop, he realized that Tony wasn''t as simple as he sounded.

    Tony could see the confusion, so he gave a little background to Aric.

    "I am ready to move in," Aric said, not giving much thought to the two silver coins, as he had plenty to spare. The fact was that two silver coins were the cheapest Tony could afford to give to someone. In the market, it was at least three silver coins, but Albert had told him about Aric, so he trusted his friend.

    He didn''t need the money anyway. He was happy with the blacksmith shop, and he had more than enough to live alone and even had savings for his old age. With the two silver coins, he wanted to help Aric, and also giving that big home would be a security, since the home was quite close to the guard quarters.

    This was Tony''s way of taking care of Aric, who hadn''t reached maturity. Aric was beyond happy to get this big house. Kindness sometimes did give good returns. This was one of the rarer sights.

    "Are you happy with the things around? What would you like to do?" Albert asked after Aric checked out the home.

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    "I told you, Uncle. I will do business," Aric replied.

    "Are your parents really going to help you?" Albert was still very skeptical and thus wanted to know the truth. Aric could see the distrust and knew that he would have to prove himself to make them believe.

    "Uncles, are you free at night? Like after 9 pm?" Aric asked.

    "We are... Why?" Tony replied.

    "Great. Why don''t you come here for dinner? I will show you what I want to do," Aric said. This made the two of them interested.

    "You can cook good food? I tell you, if you serve us bad food, I will throw it out," Albert joked.

    "And I will bet that you would want to know about my recipe after eating my food," Aric smirked and said.

    "Never in a million years," Albert cried out.

    "We shall see," Aric said.

    Albert and Tony hung around for a few more minutes before leaving again for their job, while Aric went back to his grandparents'' home.

    "What have you been doing these days going out?" Grandpa was curious, as he had hardly seen his grandson around the past few days.

    "Uh, Grandpa, I am trying to work on a serious project," Aric said.

    "Project? What project?" Grandma asked.

    "One that would make me rich," Aric said with all the confidence in his voice.

    "Hahahah... really? Then I guess we will have to wait and see what our cute grandson would do to make himself rich," Grandpa said, as he just chalked it up to the ambitions one would have when they were young and didn''t inquire further. It was probably some kind of cutesy project that their grandson wanted to keep hidden for now. After having his lunch, Aric left, but this time not for Distant Wind city, but for Echorysia.

    He was back in the city and, after asking Apis, he found himself near a storage yardˇŞa sprawling expanse of metallic containers arranged in neat rows. Each container, colossal in size and constructed from resilient alloys, resembled the mammoth shipping crates of bygone eras, yet they bore the unmistakable marks of advanced technology.

    Guided by luminescent markers embedded in the ground, Aric made his way through the labyrinthine corridors formed by the towering stacks of containers. Aric had already made a payment and acquired a huge container.

    These storage units were immense, and one could easily have items delivered here. Inside the storage units, the space was almost identical to those found in Western countriesˇŞjust an empty space. A progressive addition to the storage units was the temperature control, allowing some special products to be preserved here in safe custody. The whole operation was managed by robots, including the cleaning services.

    These storage units provided safety and privacy, and that was what Aric required at the momentˇŞprivacy.

    After entering his designated storage unit, he waited. While waiting, he started to look at his communicator and began searching for things that would give him an edge here. As he waited, the first batch of shipment arrived.

    There were three cartons of shipment, and men came to deliver them just outside the storage unit.

    "Phew, this would be a good start," Aric said as he dragged the cartons inside before closing the storage unit. There was still time until nightfall, and he could wait.

 29. Nectar of the Gods

    Distant Wind city, after 9 pm.

    Tony and Albert showed up on time, not just for the food, but also to see if Aric was doing fine alone in the house. They had closed their shops and almost came directly to his place after freshening up.

    They came and sat in the family room. Tony was accustomed to the place, so he was very comfortable. They had already signed the contract in the presence of an administrative official, so Aric could live here for at least 6 months. There were no early deposits required, and one needed to pay the first month in advance, with rent due at the end of the second month.

    Albert looked around, scrutinizing if Aric needed any help, but everything seemed to be in order.

    "Aric, are you comfortable here?" Tony asked.

    "Yes. Thank you, Uncle, for the help. I know that I am paying you less and both of you feel some obligations towards me. But I can assure you that I am fine and happy," Aric said.

    "As long as you are fine," Albert said.

    "So, I told you that I will bring something special..." Aric said.

    "No, you put a bet with me," Albert corrected him, his jovial nature evident, eager to engage even with a child like a small child himself. Aric found him a bit cute and said, "And I intend to win."

    Aric then went to the kitchen and brought out a large plate. On that plate lay a circular food item with rectangular slices evenly cut on it. There was not much explanation required to identify it.

    Yes, it was pizza. During his time in the city, he had asked around about what kind of things this place lacked or what the world lacked. He was beyond surprised to learn that there was no pizzaˇŞor at least, the people here hadn''t seen one. This was almost impossible in Aric''s eyes because pizza was one of the oldest foods that people on Earth had come to make. In disbelief, he even asked around if there was any food with a similar structure or bread with cheese, but there was none.

    He knew at that moment that he could start right here, right from the stomach itself. Thus he had brought out pizza, which he had ordered in Echorysia. Along with the pizza, he had also brought Coke.

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    Both Tony and Albert had never seen such kind of food before and didn''t even know how to eat them. Aric had to show them as he brought out a slice and started chewing on it while the cheese stretched. The food was from the interstellar civilization where one could almost make any kind of food if one had the required machines. Humans were already very famous in the universe, and even though there weren''t many humans in Echorysia, it didn''t mean that human food wasn''t respected enough.

    Human culinary foods were quite popular among all species, and thus pizza was easily found and bought.

    And Aric was glad that he did, because both of them were literally gorging after the first bite. The Coke just added flavor. Though most people didn''t like it, Coke with pizza was the comfort food of his previous life.

    He was glad that both of his new ''friends'' were able to enjoy the same kind of bliss that he used to enjoy once. After about 10 minutes of chewing and gulping down four medium-sized pizzas, they rested their backs on their chairs.

    "What in God''s name was that?" Albert asked as he burped. It was the first time they had ever had Coke, and they burped quite a lot after drinking their first Coke.

    "The food is what I call pizza, and the drink is what I call Coke," Aric said.

    "Coke... Pizza... Nice names," Tony murmured, still in a food coma and not wanting to talk. He just wanted to enjoy the bliss while continuing his dream of pizza. But Albert was hyperactive now. He could see that the food had bread and meat, but also other items, and he was eager to know what kind of ingredients were used to make it. However, he didn''t know if he should ask Aric. He was pretty sure that this food was exclusive to him and his family, and in no way would such a recipe be given to others.

    This was a treasure. For a very brief moment, he had the thought of snatching the recipe for himself or making Aric cough it up, but he instantly berated himself for having such thoughts. His late wife and son would be ashamed of him if they ever came to know. He would be judged by Threnos and not allowed to meet his late wife if he ever thought of committing such a crime.

    But such good food should be shared, and he didn''t know how to convince Aric. It was not his place to begin with. Aric could vaguely feel what Albert might be thinking, so he spoke up first in order to break the awkwardness.

    "How much do you think one bottle of Coke would sell for?" Aric asked.

    "One bottle? You want to sell it?" Albert''s eyes shone when he said that. Even if he didn''t get the recipe for the food, the Coke could do the job. He couldn''t let this opportunity go away. Aric went back and brought out a cold glass bottle of Coke.

    Albert took the transparent glass bottle and weighed it with his hand. It was full of Coke, and Albert was almost tempted to drink it, but that was not important at the moment.

    "So, for what price do you think we can sell it?" Aric asked.

    "10 copper coins," Tony replied. He was a customer, and thus he knew what the general people would be willing to pay for this ''nectar of the gods''.

 30. I am not here to fight

    Thus it started a round of talks and Aric was adamant of dropping the price, he wanted to make money for sure but also wanted everyone to get a taste of it. Each bottle cost him 5 Sora credits anyways and he had plenty to spare.

    At the end following points were decided.

    1. Each bottle would sell for 8 copper coins.

    2. Aric would recieve 5 copper coins and Albert would recieve 3 copper coins.

    3. They would need to buy a magical storage to keep the bottles cold which would cost them 80 copper coins.

    Albert himself decided to buy one as he would be profiting for almost doing nothing. He would also have to buy the ice, which he would reimburse himself always. Aric didn''t bother with it as he would recieve the money upfront from Albert and only then he would recieve the bottles. Aric was happy with the arrangement and couldn''t wait for his days of luxury to start.

    After some more talks about the the things they would need to do, both of them and Aric out of celebration gifted them each a bottle of coke. Both were beyond happy to have another one and thanked him profusely.

    The sale would start in a few days as even though this was a medieval age, the food products such as drinks needed to be licensed. Drinks like wine would also go through scrutiny by the city administration and only then approved. And the same went for a drink such as Coke.

    He promised to finish the process in a week and the coke would be in the market in the following week. Aric was not in a hurry as he could do his own work and research in this week. He had been running around a lot and needed to calm down a bit. Aric was also appreciative of the fact that Albert didn''t ask about the pizza.

    Aric had seen enough two faced people in his previous life to trust anyone blindly, even if they were kind of him. He would always measure his steps and the road to luxury was always slow.

    <hr>

    The next day

    Aric didn''t go to the Distant Wind city and went to Echorysia for some research. He wasn''t in any kind of hurry and thus needed to take his own time to settle things around. While he did trade things around he also made sure that he didn''t bring any germs to either of the places. Thus he had also put a all around sanitizer at the storage space too which would clean the space whenever Aric asked for it.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    After reaching Echorysia, he didn''t go out of the storage unit, but rather sat and started researching on the humans who lived in the universe. What surprised him was that the humans also had the same languages as the humans of Earth.

    There was something called the Federation of Humans. And the humans were spread across the universe in different galaxies. They had countless galaxies under them. And many of them were divided by language or culture. The official statement was that the humans were united, but as he researched more, he got the point that even in the universe the humans had differences among each other and thus there was conflict.

    But not at the scale of Earth. There were mud slinging and accusations but that was the limit, as the Human Federation would never allow full blown conflict among each other. Now coming back to the languages and customs, they were very similar to Earth.

    This was very strange to Aric as he couldn''t find any planet named Earth, not even in history as he had a thought that he might have landed in the future. But there was no inkling of it. Researching the whole day had made him more understanding of the humans of this universe and it had already given a rise to many of his ideas but that would have to wait a bit.

    The place where he was in Earth wasn''t that well connected and even good Internet was a luxury. It would be at least 4 years more before this place would have a 3g connection. At the moment there was an internet cafe at his home town and that was way too slow to do any good work.

    For now he could only focus on the magical side and look for a way to grow in Echorysia and that universe. In the following week, he stayed with his grandparents while waited for the licensing was in order. But he didn''t exactly spent the week doing nothing.

    He went around and found a place that had things he had been searching for.

    A runic circle shop.

    A place where one can buy different kinds of runic circles. The exterior, adorned with ancient symbols etched into the stone fa?ade, exuded a bit of wonder. Aric stepped inside and he was blasted with the scent of aged parchment and exotic herbs. The interior was dimly lit by flickering candles ensconced in wrought iron holders.

    The shelves themselves were lined with meticulously crafted runes on different parchments, each imbued with its own unique magic. He had seen one before, the one he had frisked from. The one which had stealth magic written on it.

    There was a man sitting on the other side of the counter. He was using a magnifying glass and looking at a parchment with concentration. Aric felt awkward as the man didn''t seem to notice his arrival and thus had to cough a bit to call his attention.

    Thankfully the man didn''t need another cough. Instead of being happy that a customer had arrived, he looked annoyed.

    "What do you want kid? If you don''t buy anything from here today, I will ban you forever from coming to this place ever in your life." The man said. This caught Aric off guard as he didn''t expect such a hostile reception and rude first words.

 31. The power system is strange

    "Have we met before?" Aric couldn''t help but say as he didn''t understand the hostility of this man.

    "No, and I don''t care who your father or mother is, or what family you belong to. If you don''t buy today, you will be banned forever," the man said. Aric didn''t like the attitude at all and was also confused by his violent reaction.

    Sadly, there wasn''t another runic circle and herbal shop in the whole city, and this was the only one; thus, he couldn''t just leave while huffing and puffing.

    "Fine, show me runic circles for beginners," Aric replied with a tinge of anger in his voice. Since this guy didn''t show him any respect, he wouldn''t either. The man stood up from his seat annoyingly and opened a drawer.

    He brought out a few parchments of paper and placed them on the table while looking at Aric with eagle eyes, as if Aric might just break into a run. Aric didn''t bother with the gaze and just looked at the several pieces of paper.

    Cleaning dust Runic circle - 1 gold coin

    Spark starter Runic circle - 100 silver coins

    Washing clothes Runic circle - 1 gold coin and 50 silver coins

    Sharpen Runic Circle - 2 gold coins .......

    Aric went through multiple ones and was mesmerized by what he saw. There were different kinds of runic circles that could be used, and these were just the basic ones.

    "Uncle, are these all basic? Can I use them as a starter?" Aric asked.

    "If you are a poor lad only, then you use these ones as the starting runic circle to learn," the man scoffed.

    "Oh! Then what kind of runic circle do the rich people use?" Aric asked.

    "Ask your parents or someone from big families," the man said, to which Aric replied.

    "I don''t have parents with me at the moment," Aric replied with a bit of nostalgia. This was when the man''s eyebrows frowned a bit. He looked deeply into Aric''s eyes and replied.

    "Some families have their own special runic circles, which they have bought, made, or stolen over the years. Some have connections to the schools, and thus, that too helps. You can also buy them in auctions or bigger shops in bigger cities if you have the coins to spare. There is no special effect for being the first runic circle. It depends on your concentration, dedication, will, and focus. Some can''t even draw one simple cleaning dust runic circle, while others can draw the first one with a strength runic circle. It differs from people to people," the man said. This was the first time the man was eager to speak and didn''t have an annoying tone.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    Aric looked at the parchments and started looking through them, and in the end decided to buy the cleaning dust runic circle. There were no offensive runic circles as starters, and thus, he decided to go for a generic one.

    He put a gold coin on the counter, which surprised the man.

    "I thought you were one of those annoying rich kids who only come here to see and not buy," the man said as he took the gold coin and handed over the parchment.

    "Rich kids come and don''t buy? That doesn''t sound like them," Aric said.

    "They only come here in order to look at the circles and try to memorize them, hmph... As if one could memorize these circles with a few looks and then replicate them later. Fat chance," the man said. This was when Aric got the idea that the man was angry with him because he thought Aric was one of those guys.

    Aric didn''t say any more words and just left. Though he could understand the anger of the man, his lack of respect for his own customers was not something he would overlook. He just stereotyped him with others.

    <hr>

    He was back at his grandparents'' home for his next steps.

    Today was the last day of his vacation in this place, as his grandparents would leave for their quarterly medical checkup to Mumbai, and he would need to go back to his parents'' place. It was fine with Aric as he had settled down and he wouldn''t need to go out of his place for a long period of time.

    After dinner, he went to his room after hanging out with his grandparents for an hour or so since they would be leaving. After bolting the door of his guest room, he sat on his bed and tried to calm himself.

    This was his moment of truth. According to Albert, every single person of their world had consciousness, which one could access whenever one wanted. It was like a giant sphere where one could look into. The size of the sphere differed from person to person.

    Apparently, it was rumored that the size of consciousness was important in the magical career, but he didn''t know why. Now, in one''s consciousness, one would need to draw using their own thoughts. Once one completed the whole drawing in their consciousness, the drawing would permanently settle down until one actively sought to destroy them in the future in order to make space for future runic circles.

    One person''s consciousness''s ability to hold runic circles was limited and couldn''t go beyond. This had nothing to do with the size of their consciousness. There were still many gray areas where Aric had questions about it, but that was all Albert and Tony knew.

    After calming himself, he found himself inside his own ''consciousness''. There he could see the two spheres being brightly lit up. He had been here multiple times now and was almost sure that it was his own consciousness.

    He looked at the runic circle drawing on the parchment and went back to his consciousness and tried drawing for the first time. A simple circular line suddenly came to life and started to extend on the open space inside the consciousness. He felt surreal as he saw a circle being drawn on the open space which was lit up in bright orange.

 32. Belief isnt reality

    As Aric continued drawing on his consciousness, there were no sudden or random movements from the two balls of light. He thought that making any kind of movement here might interfere with the balls of light. He was hungry for power, but he had his priorities straight.

    Those balls of light were his access to two different worlds, and in no way was he ready to negotiate any kind of deal on this. Thankfully, there were no red flags on the balls and he continued with his drawing.

    After the circle came the straight lines and curves inside. Drawing the circle was kind of easy and even the straight lines inside, but the curves required his total attention. Aric didn''t find any problem in the beginning, but once the curve drawing came into play...

    Aric didn''t like the power system in the world at all and hoped in the beginning that it would be like any other fantasy novel. But reality was different, and maybe the schools had different ways to implement these models.

    While drawing the curves, his concentration suddenly broke off and all the progress he had made starting from the circle vanished like dust. This took Aric by storm. He was sure that he had remembered the drawing well and even drew it multiple times on paper. He actually thought that drawing these on paper might produce some kind of reaction.

    But there was none, which made him a bit disappointed.

    So after multiple drawings and making sure he remembered every nook and corner to the tee, he started the drawings in his consciousness. He thought the whole process would be a walk in the park, and honestly speaking, he looked down on these ''aboriginals'' from the magical world.

    Subconsciously, he put the interstellar world in a higher place since the people in power there could even annihilate galaxies, and the magical world, though powerful, never heard of any such stories. The education level was quite low, and people were struggling to make a better life for themselves. Thus, when he heard that people struggled to draw these runic circles and diagrams, he thought it was because of low knowledge.

    But he got smacked in the face with reality.

    Of course, Aric wasn''t ready to give up with just one failure. He went to work again and started the same way. And this time too, he suffered. The curves didn''t come right, and he lost his concentration.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "I don''t believe I won''t get it right by tonight," Aric declared as he continued in his struggle to draw a simple yet intricate drawing. But being stubborn wasn''t a solution as he couldn''t do it even when the clock struck 12 am.

    And by this time, he was tired. He didn''t notice it before, but constant tries had made his body weak, and he felt a splitting headache attacking him. He tried to continue beyond 1 am, but the headache assaulted him like crazy.

    In the end, Aric had to sleep because ''his belief'' couldn''t keep up with reality. When Aric woke up the next day, the sun was overhead and his grandparents had already packed by then. Aric felt like he had a bad hangover from the previous night.

    In fact, it took him a minute to grasp what was going on and he had to drink a lot of water. He was probably running low on glucose and needed to eat snacks.

    "Aric, are you alright? I tried waking you up earlier but you seemed to be dead," Grandfather said.

    "Why are you taking the word ''dead'' on your mouth? Don''t you know it''s bad?" The grandmother was agitated and gave her husband an earful.

    "I am fine, Grandpa. Just was a bit tired," Aric lied straight to their faces. It was one of those times where both parties knew he was lying, but the other party didn''t want to bother him since it was evident he didn''t want to be bothered at the moment. Thankfully, the grandparents were understanding and left him alone.

    Aric, even though he felt like he was in a hungover mode, packed his stuff and left after saying goodbye and promising to come more often, at least once before the vacations were over. After leaving, he didn''t bother to go on a whole journey and just decided to use his abilities and reach his home.

    He knew it would take some time for him to reach his home, so it was better he took a detour in Echorysia. After arriving in Echorysia, he asked Apis if his health was fine, to which he got a positive affirmation.

    Though the communicator was not a foolproof indication of his health, it was able to tell if his body needed immediate attention. He also wanted some fresh air, and thus decided to go to a nearby cafe and just destress himself.

    He ordered a coffee filled with enough calories. Though he wasn''t sure if he had lost calories or if it was just his brain refusing to help, a dose of coffee wouldn''t harm him in any way. After sitting alone and seeing the world pass by at a speed never known to him previously, he felt peace and safety for some reason.

    He knew that this place wasn''t as safe as other empires, but for some reason, everything seemed to be in order. Maybe because he was in the rich part of the city, and if he went to the shady part, maybe he would see something he wouldn''t like.

    But why would he? He was safe and happy here, and he couldn''t work as some kind of saint, even if he could help the poor and needy. He wouldn''t be able to help anyways. Having abilities didn''t mean he would work himself to the bone for the needy. He would only do what he could.

    He spent an hour or so at the open cafe and then decided to go home. He appeared again at a place where he knew nobody would be present and walked to his home.

 33. They dont like to be challenged

    It was lunchtime when he reached home, and upon arrival, his mother asked him to have lunch, as any typical family would. Aric wanted to decline, but he knew it wasn''t possible since he lived in this family. Going hungry was not an option.

    Even though he had just drunk a healthy drink on the other side. So reluctantly, he sat down for lunch with his father.

    "What did you do with the grandparents?" His father asked as both of them sat at the dining table, under the overhead fan. It was August, and the summer was at its peak. Air conditioning wasn''t something they could afford as of yet. Even if they could, their parents refused to buy one since they loved living frugally, and luxury was not what they were brought up with.

    "You know, I just had fun with them and moved around the village."

    "Did you go to the riverbank?" His mother barked from the kitchen, busy arranging the food for the family to be brought to the dining table.

    "No, you told me not to."

    "Good. You shouldn''t. That river is filled with rapids, and you will drown," his mother said as she brought the food and served it at the table. She then went on to tell of how she heard someone from the far town drown in the same river. Aric didn''t want to add to this pointless conversation and was just busy eating.

    As he was eating, his mother noticed a very odd thing.

    "Aric, how come you can eat green chili raw? As far as I remember, you are always in fear of eating them raw," Avni asked. Aric, who had just torn a piece of green chili with his front teeth, stiffened. His habit of eating a green chili came from living on the university campus.

    The food wasn''t good at all, so all of them used to find ways to make the food taste better. Eating a green chili was helpful, and even though he was very fearful in the beginning due to the hotness, he overcame it and made it a habit. This was something he had learned while in university and not at home.

    Now that he was back, his mother found it odd that Aric could do that.

    "I... I tasted it for the first time at grandpa''s home. And I like it," Aric had to lie here.

    "Something you feared all your life, and one small vacation was all it took to take away the fear. I think I will have to talk to your grandma because I want to see you study more and get better results," Avni said, while his father just ate and listened to their interaction.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "I am already in the top 5, and the results of today wouldn''t matter anyways in the future," Aric said.

    "Who told you that your results won''t matter in the future?" Avni seemed to get agitated and defensive. Aric loved his parents with all his heart, but that didn''t mean that his parents were always right. While he was in university, he understood a lot, and after getting into the job, he also saw a different world.

    Maybe in previous times, in the old generations, one would get a great job with better marks/grades on their certificates. But not in his time. Of course, with the best grades and being the first in the class, you would get a good job and a stable life, but they needed to be the best of the best. And Aric wasn''t one.

    His worldviews had changed a lot, and this time he would do things right.

    "Nobody. I just feel that the marks of school won''t matter in the future. Maybe the university entrance examination could evaluate me better," Aric replied.

    "And in order to get a passing grade on those examinations, your foundation needs to be better, which in other words means your current marks matter," his father chimed in. Aric didn''t want to argue against it and continued with his food. He also did this in order to divert from the chilli topic, he needed t be more careful of his habits that he had gained over the years. His parents too didn''t push the topic more and asked about his time with his grandparents.

    Aric was glad, and thus after lunch, he went to his bed. He still felt a bit tired and went to sleep soon. When he woke up again, the sun had already set, and the lights of his room were shining brightly overhead. While lying on his bed, he was thinking of ways to let his parents have a ''hospital-free'' life.

    He had already seen on the internet in Echorysia, one could buy some health packs from the medical websites around that would take care of someone who has the chances of contamination and relieve the human body of all potential diseases and strengthen the immune system by at least 5 times.

    But the cost of it was 100,000 Sora credits. And it would take a month to deliver since it would be for humans. He didn''t have the money at the moment, but once he did, he would order two for his family at the earliest.

    There were still 2 years'' time for the first diagnosis, so he was sure he would be able to get his mother the help she needed. After freshening up and feeling rejuvenated, he needed to show that he was a good student and thus portrayed himself as one as he did his ''homework.''

    This went on till 9 pm, and after dinner was done, he was free to do what he had been waiting for. After calming his mind, he started to draw in his consciousness again, and this time he was doing it with more determination and drive.

    The circle? Drawn.

    The lines? Drawn.

    The curves? In progress.

    While drawing the curves, he became extra attentive and gave his full concentration. The first curve came out beautifully and according to the parchment drawing. After the first success, he didn''t let it get to his head and continued.

    There were 54 distinct curves, and he had to draw every single one with the same level of concentration.

 34. You have changed, my son

    Aric was doing well, but as he reached the 21st curve inside the second circle, he made a small mistake, and everything instantly went to waste. This left Aric incredibly frustrated; he just wanted to shout into the void.

    But he didn''t give up just yet. He went to work again, this time more determined than before. He wasn''t ready to give up. He started the process again, and it took him another hour to reach the 21st curve.

    He pushed through and reached the 22nd without making any mistakes. This brought him great joy but also made him more determined to struggle through and reach the endpoint. He poured all his sweat and tears into the cause.

    Finally, after almost two nights of struggle, he was able to complete the first runic circle. But the moment he finished drawing it, he felt exhausted, and before he could say a word, his upper body fell forward onto the pillow, and he couldn''t stop it from happening.

    Soon, he closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

    <hr>

    11:48 AM

    Aric opened his eyes with a huge amount of effort. At first, he didn''t even know where he was, who he was, or what he was. But slowly everything came back to him. He had a splitting headache, but the joy of his success overwhelmed it.

    He turned to his consciousness to check the new runic circle, which he was excited about, and the one he had built, but then he saw that his consciousness didn''t have the runic circle. There was nothing! Zilch! Nada!

    This sent Aric almost into a frenzy, and the maddening headache didn''t help the situation at all.

    "Calm down... Calm down..." Aric repeated to himself, a habit he had learned over the years of his struggle, a mechanism to cope with any deteriorating situation. He checked his consciousness again, this time with more calmness than before.

    He still didn''t find any sign of the runic circle that he had drawn. He was 100% sure that he had drawn it and finished it by the end. After making sure that there was nothing in his consciousness, he checked the two glowing bulbs that had always been there, shining with the same intensity as before.

    Aric was perplexed by what had happened, but he needed to make sure of one last thing. He looked around his room and pointed his palm in a random direction. He visualized himself performing the dust-cleaning spell. At first, there was no reaction, but then it happened. A small wave of air emanated from the edge of his palm, and after a couple of seconds, the magical air seemed to come to life and push forward.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    His room had a table on which there were a few books. Over the table, there was a small shelf where he kept his school books. His mother had always asked him to clean it regularly, but as usual, being the lazy person that he was, he never dusted them off.

    The wave of air struck the shelf almost instantly, but instead of the books being blown away or the pages being flipped, the dust spread out. The process was fast, as all the dust, including on the shelf, was blown away, and Aric could clearly see the dust being blown towards the window, an opening to the outside world, ensuring that the dust didn''t just settle around.

    Aric, seeing everything in action, was dumbfounded. He checked his consciousness again, and still there was no sign of any runic circle. At the moment, he was too tired to even try again. The use of magic made him feel like he had lost some strength too.

    He couldn''t continue like this and thus needed food and rest. And that''s what he did. He got up and went to have his breakfast, which his mother was not happy about since he had ''overslept''. After having a good meal and freshening up, he felt his strength returning and his headache cascading a bit.

    He wasn''t entirely sure why he was getting headaches while drawing the runic circle, but then again, he didn''t have any mentor, and nobody had given him a course on this. But he was also proud of himself for drawing the first runic circle. It meant that he had finally stepped his foot into the magical realm, and he had a talent for magic.

    For the rest of the day, he didn''t bother to try his magic again and was rather focused on his recovery.

    "Aric, since the vacations started, you haven''t asked to watch TV? Are you alright?" Avni asked as she noticed some strange behavior from her son. Eating chili raw and her son not asking to watch TV were unusual signs.

    Though there was a proper TV at home with all the channels, the parents had decided to restrict their son''s screen time, believing that excessive TV watching would hamper his growth. And normally, Aric would ask for more screen time, especially during vacation.

    "Uh... There''s nothing interesting on TV, and I''m not that interested," Aric fumbled his words as he gave a lame excuse. How could he tell his parents that his love for TV had vanished long ago once his laptop came with high-speed internet?

    "Are you sure you''re okay? Your eyes seem hollow. I''ll make some good food for you," Avni said.

    "Mom, I''m okay. You don''t need to worry about me so much. You should take more rest," Aric reminded her. He didn''t want his mother to notice more of his unusual habits, so he hurried back to his room. These small things didn''t matter much in the long run, as nobody would suspect anything, but he did feel a bit guilty for telling blatant lies to his mother.

    Aric returned to his room after the small talk and decided to just lie down in bed and scroll through his communicator.

 35. Lets make it a bit modern

    Three days later.

    Distant Windy City.

    Aric stood on the other side of the counter, helping Albert set up the store better. He arranged a number of glass bottles filled with drinks, consisting of two colors: one colorless and the other dark caramel brown. Outside the shop hung a black signboard with the following written on it:

    "New Deal.

    Buy two loaves of bread, get a sugary drink worth 8 copper coins."

    Most of the customers who came for bread and other items didn''t even notice it, but when they received a free sugary cold drink, they were taken aback.

    "Albert? Are you selling alcohol?"

    "Albert? Can kids drink it?"

    "Is it addictive?"

    Albert was bombarded with questions as the customers received their drinks. In order to appease them and also brand it in his own way, he showed them the certificate issued by the city administration.

    He had obtained the certificate after much struggle and a bit of bribery too. This was the city administration we were talking about. There was no supervision or significant government interference due to the distance from the capital. But bribery was also a way to ensure that the administration wouldn''t pay them much heed and would let him run the shop. In fact, the better the bribe, the better the protection, and Albert had actually paid 2 gold coins to ensure that the guards would keep an eye on them.

    Albert had invested a lot in this venture. He knew that the payoff would be successful.

    "The drinks are suitable for all ages and are not addictive. No alcohol is added, and they are actually sweet. You are all adults. Why don''t you try it?"

    The customers had never seen a colored drink that wasn''t based on alcohol, so they were a bit skeptical. But when the cold drink hit their taste buds for the first time, their faces turned to absolute joy. One had to remember that these drinks Aric had brought didn''t belong to the same quality as those from his own Earth but were from an Interstellar civilization.

    There, millions of years had passed, and some food products were very famous among many species. Pizza, cold drinks, bread, rice, and many such human foods were common among most humanoid species. Thus, the cold drinks had evolved over the years. Even Aric himself loved the taste of the cold drinks and thought that the current market of his world needed this kind of drink.

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    But for now, it was a distant dream.

    Aric suggested an idea, which Albert loved. Albert asked the customers to write their reviews of the new drinks on the board outside. The customers were perplexed by this, but Albert encouraged them to write any reviews, good or bad, on the blackboard outside, and to do so with their own casual handwriting, not some fancy ones.

    "Seriously, son, how do you come up with such ideas?" Albert asked as he saw glowing reviews being left on the board, which even prompted passersby to see what was written. Aric just smiled at the question and continued his work of stacking the bottles and keeping the place clean.

    Aric was happy with the start and knew that the drinks would slowly gain traction. But for that it would take some time. After helping him stack the bottles into the magical refrigerator, he left for his home. He needed to go to Echorysia for another work of his, which he had contemplated about.

    <hr>

    Echorysia.

    He was back in his storage unit. He saw the cartons of cold drinks being placed around and smiled. After doing many experiments, he had a gained a general understanding of his powers. He could bring thing alone as long as he touched them with his hand. That included live things too. He had tried it with a frog he had caught a few days ago, and the frog seemed to be fine after he took it to Echorysia.

    Though it did die after 2 hours, Apis had evaluated that the frog probably died to germs around. This result came up after Apis did the basic scan and evaluated that this ''ancient frog'' didn''t evolve over time. Apis being the intelligent AI that it was as bit perplexed of why an ancient frog species was around this place and Aric casually said that he found it nearby.

    This experiment proved that he could bring living beings around too, he just didn''t know if it was possible for human beings or not. And he also couldn''t bring in things which he wasn''t touching. He could even bring a chair or a bicycle along with him, maybe if he tried it with a car, it might be possible but he didn''t have the chance to try it yet.

    He didn''t come to Echorysia empty handed this time. He had brought one USB memory stick/pen drive with himself. The pen drive did cost him a bit and had to ask his father for the money. After getting himself a memory stick he went straight to a local internet cafe and inserted it to the computer and downloaded what he wanted to take in.

    Now that he was back with the memory stick, at Echorysia. Before arriving at the storage unit he had already ordered a special ordered a VR cabin which cost him 10,000 Sora credits. This had put a huge dent in his saving but he needed that for his next venture.

    The VR cabin had a sleek silver exterior adorned with mesmerizing patterns that seemed to ripple. As the seamless doorway parted with a gentle whoosh, revealing its inner sanctum, Aric stepped into a vast chamber suffused with a soft, ethereal glow. Within, holographic displays adorned the walls, projecting scenes of distant galaxies and fantastical realms, while a circular platform at the chamber''s center.

    "The basic cabin itself is so sleek. I wonder what the higher paid versions differ in."

 36. Your arguments dont hold on courts

    Aric was too excited to stop himself and entered the cabin. His heart pounded with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. He had heard and read tales of the wonders that awaited within these virtual realms in his research for the past few days, but nothing could prepare him for the reality that was about to unfold before his eyes.

    He was more excited than the time he had committed a massacre. The cabin door hissed shut behind him, enclosing him in darkness. Slowly, the darkness began to recede, replaced by a soft glow emanating from the walls.

    Suddenly, the walls dissolved into a vast expanse of stars, stretching out in all directions as far as the eye could see. Nebulas shimmered in the distance, casting an ethereal glow across the cosmic landscape. Aric felt a surge of awe wash over him as he realized he was standing at the threshold of an entire universe contained within this small cabin.

    "What a great way to introduce and reel people in, in the first experience," Aric thought to himself, giving the introduction a 10/10 grade.

    "Welcome, Aric More, on your first time in the VR cabin of Sat VR technologies. Would you like your personal AI to connect you here?"

    Suddenly, Aric heard an AI voice speaking to him as he saw the stars whizzing by at incredible speed.

    "Yes, connect with the AI of my communicator," Aric gave permission.

    "Thank you. Your personal AI, Apis, will now take over and help you in your journey. May your stay in the VR cabin be joyful and filled with adventures. We have hyper-realistic games, offices, playgrounds, and all sorts of recreational activities. You will get a bunch of them free if you subscribe for 500 Sora credits per month (based on time units). If you have any complaints, you can contact our help desk, and you will have someone to address your concerns and problems with the VR experience, both hardware and software. Please note that this is the basic-level cabin, and thus there is no supply of nutrition in your body, so it is advised that you take in supplements and food at the required times." The AI voice spoke for the last time in its voice.

    Aric finally had an idea of why it was the basic-level VR cabin and what might be the differences in costlier cabins. It was good for Aric as he wouldn''t like to be in a virtual cabin all day. He had his real world to take care of at the moment.

    "Apis, are you here?" Aric asked.

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    "At your service always, Aric," Apis spoke up. This time Apis appeared in front of him as a half-transparent face. He knew that he could customize it, but there was no need at the moment. He had other things to do. Aric brought out the small storage drive that he had brought with him.

    "Can you read the data inside the storage drive?" Aric said as he showed Apis the drive.

    "You can insert the drive in the universal port of the cabin." Apis said as a small rectangular hole appeared. The hole was on the wall of the VR cabin itself as many people tend to bring a physical drive sometimes to insert data of any kind into the cabin.

    Since the VR cabin was universal and the universe had so many species, thus there were different kinds of ports. In order to tackle that problem, the input ports were always based on nanotechnology so it could adapt to any kind of port being fed to. Aric put the drive inside the hole and it closed in on itself. A second later, all the files that he had downloaded were now in front of his eyes floating.

    There were multiple files and Aric just waved his hand to click on one of them. A music player opened and it started playing. What followed next was a loud music for a few seconds and then a lyrics came right after.

    I cannot take this anymore

    Saying everything I''ve said before

    All these words, they make no sense

    I found bliss in ignorance

    Less I hear, the less you say

    You''ll find that out anyway

    Chorus :

    Just like before...

    Yes, this was a Linkin Park song. One of the greatest Singles of their band and Aric had illegally downloaded the songs from the internet cafe before. Aric after doing some research had to go to know that majority of the humans actually knew English apart from speaking the universal tongue, which Aric now was actively trying to learn.

    Since the humans still knew English, he could sell them English literature, or in this case songs.

    "Apis I want to upload these songs and monetize them."

    "Aric, are you the artist who sang these songs?" Apis asked.

    "No." Aric denied as he didn''t need to lie about this.

    "Then the monetization would be cut by half." Apis said.

    "What? Why?" Aric was take aback.

    "If a song doesn''t have an artist, than the publication companies would consider the song as an AI made song and the one who had published the song would be termed as the chief lyricist. And he or she is entitled to 50% of the money gained by the song." Apis laid out the deal after showing him the rules that was not only for humans but also for all of the species of the universe.

    "But these songs are human voiced songs." Aric argued.

    "Your argument won''t hold on to a civilizational court if you can''t show up with the artist who actually sang the song. You are only eligible to 50% if you can''t show up with the artist/s." Apis said.

    "Sigh. Apis is there any discrimination between human sang songs and AI based songs by the publication companies?" Aric asked.

    "The publication companies will always say that they don''t discriminate. There has been a tug of war since centuries as the online companies love the AI songs since they get to pocket the 50% of the money with themselves while they would always have to pay real artists."

 37. 0.00001%? That is ridiculous

    "But some companies love the real artists as the famous ones tend to generate a lot of credits, thanks to live shows and concerts. The publication companies get a big chunk of credits from these," Apis said.

    "So there are publication companies which are more centered around AI songs and those who are more centered towards real artists," Aric got the gist of it and asked.

    "Yes," Apis replied.

    "Show me a list of companies who are more centered towards AI songs."

    "Here is the list:

    Melodious Muse Publishing - sold 10^20 copies and counting

    Harmonic Haven Records - sold 10^18 copies and counting

    Lyric Lane Productions - sold 10^17 copies and counting

    Serenade Studios - sold 10^17 copies and counting

    Crescendo Creations - sold 10^15 copies and counting

    ...."

    Aric, seeing the number of copies, felt a bit numb, but then again, it was the universe, and there were more than trillions of humans and other species residing.

    "Do you have any idea of the revenue one earns in AI-produced songs?" Aric asked.

    "You will not earn any revenue if the total complete hits don''t cross the 100 million mark, and only after that are your songs allowed to monetize," Apis said. This made Aric''s jaw drop wide open. 100 million hits? Are they serious?

    In his Earth, YouTube would soon take its leap and become a dragon, and there, 1 million views on an 11-minute video was a huge deal, at least for his country. And here the first monetization was possible only where there were more than 100 million hits?

    Jesus Christ on a motorbike!

    But he also had to take into account the number of people living in this universe who had access to high-speed Internet.

    "Apis, can you make a deal with Melodious Muse Publishing after copyrighting the songs?" Aric asked.

    "Of course. I would be needing 5000 sora credits to copyright and also make a deal with the company. Would you allow me to do so?" Apis asked. Aric didn''t expect copyrighting to be so costly, and at the moment, after buying things around, he was only left with 6000 credits. So 5000 was almost leaving him broke.

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    After some deliberation, he gritted his teeth and prayed to the gods above that the songs would be a banger. It was, at least, a banger for years in his world, and people of his times loved it. Though Aric''s taste had changed in music, he would, at times, listen to these songs with nostalgia, remembering the good times, especially when he was in his deathbed.

    It only took a few seconds to finish the copyright, which was universally accepted, and that was the reason for the price. And next was the deal with Melodious Muse Publishing. The deal was made by the AI of the company, and thus the whole process was very fast.

    Aric got to see the wonders of fast processing too. Such a deal was done in a very simple and fast way.

    "So what are the chances that my songs will be great?" Aric asked Apis.

    "Realistically speaking? 0.0001%," Apis replied.

    "I expected it to be less, but damn," Aric grumbled as he had a general idea of what it would take for a song to transcend and be something that would allow him to make money out of it. The only reason he had hopes for the song was that humanity had already tried its hands on the songs and it came out victorious.

    There was nothing more to do except for this, and thus he returned back to his home. He only needed to go and check the business in Distant Wind city and also check out Echorysia from time to time, and keep an eye on the songs.

    Aric actually thought of introducing many things to the magical world, but he would let his sugary drink ferment and make a name for itself. Then he could take that name and climb the ladder. He already had a general idea of what he needed to do.

    One month later.

    Today was the birthday of Aric. If it was the previous Aric, he would have loved to invite his friends over to his home and have a small feast, where his mother would bake a cake or make some fancy food for the rest. But when his mother asked for the alleged party this time, all he said was,

    "Naa.. I am fine. You can make my favorite food, and I will be happy," Aric said. After he got the mobile from his grandparents, he did get himself a connection, for which, of course, his parents were paying.

    But he didn''t bother to share his number with friends. He did with his grandparents and his parents, that was it. There was no reason for doing so, and he also didn''t have the numbers of his classmates, and some of them didn''t even have a mobile.

    Aric was too busy doing his homework, visiting and helping with the stocks at Albert''s bakery, and looking at the songs at Echorysia.Fiwas also the day when Aric would be paid, and he was actually looking forward to the payday more than his birthday. Though he was happy about the food that his mother would be making.

    He was back at Distant Wind city and reached the bakery in the afternoon, during the lunch break.

    "Aric... You are here... Come in," Albert said as he wiped away the sweat from his forehead with the help of a small towel which he always carried on his shoulder. He was sweaty, but he also had a wide grin on his face.

    "I should be the one with a grinning face, not you," Aric said. This made Albert red-faced and reiterated.

    "What do you know about money? With the coke that I have sold, I will be able to slowly renovate my bakery and even hire one worker more in my shop."

    "Then the money must have been quite a large amount," Aric replied.

 38. You are a big deal

    "Hahahah... We have sold 4000 bottles after the free raid ended and gained around 21 gold coins and some silver coins, so your share will be around 13 gold coins. But I will go the extra mile and give you 14 gold coins. I hope that is acceptable for you," Albert said.

    "Uncle, I will be happy with 13 gold coins," Aric said as he tried to be as humble as possible.

    "No, thanks to your drink, I also have a profit of 5 gold coins extra," Albert said. Aric didn''t show any emotions in his eyes or face when he heard that.

    "You have no idea how precious a gold coin is, do you? A gold coin is enough for the rent of 3 months for me. And thanks to you, I now have a total profit of 14 gold coins myself. Someone who only makes a profit of 5 to 6 gold coins, a part of which also goes to the bakery, for the rent and the worker''s salary. And the fun part is I don''t even need to pay anyone from the new profits that I made," Albert said.

    "You need to pay a bit more to your worker and make sure he is happy. Don''t be too greedy. Keep your friends and enemies rich, and find out which is which," Aric said.

    "What? Where does that saying come from? And a child like you actually calls me greedy. You have got some balls, small man," Albert was sure that Aric had reiterated some kind of saying, but he had never heard such words before.

    "One narcissistic guy," Aric mumbled under his breath, but those words didn''t reach the ear of Albert. But it looked like Albert liked the saying, and at the moment, he was too happy to even care what kind of rubbish words Aric was saying.

    He gave the 14 gold coins to Aric, which he had converted the previous day.

    "Two caravans came for taking the new batch of our cokes. They have ordered 6000 bottles. Can you make them?" Albert said. After the first sale went through, Albert, who had connections to caravans, knew they were interested.

    Travel from one city to another was never a safe case, and thus only middle and big-sized businesses would take the route of doing business. It was a dangerous but very profitable business if they did it right. And Albert, just like many other shops in the city, had some connections with two or three caravans.

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    He had sold them a few bottles last time, and this time they came back asking for 6000 units, a huge amount that neither Aric nor Albert expected. This was a huge number, but it also made Aric very happy. It meant that his first product was a hit.

    "Yes, I will be able to make 6000 cokes," Aric replied. Albert didn''t expect that answer and thought he would deny since making 6000 bottles wasn''t a joke. What surprised Albert more was the fact that he had never seen Aric out of his house to bring in any kind of supplies, almost making him feel that Aric was able to make it out of thin air.

    But then again, it was a magical world, and he might be tied to some powerful mages, and that was the reason he was out alone. Albert also was very cautious of not crossing any boundaries with this mysterious child who appeared out of nowhere and brought out a novel thing.

    He could already see the item becoming nationally famous in a short span of time, and he was happy to ride the coattails of Aric, even though he was much older than the cheeky brat.

    "Are you confident about it? We might have to make more than 4000," Albert said.

    "No. We will only sell 4000 among the locals. Not more," Aric said. This made Albert calm down a bit as he was thinking Aric might have some kind of unlimited supply. It wasn''t that Aric couldn''t sell more than 4000 in the bakery, but he wouldn''t do so because being too greedy in the start itself wouldn''t be good.

    This was the old times and murders out of jealousy couldn''t be ruled out. Heck, even in his times and the interstellar civilizations, there were cases based on jealousy and envy. Why bother welcoming that sin at home when one could slowly build up?

    Here, being greedy was fine from what he understood, but he needed to have that kind of firepower to safeguard his greed, which he didn''t have at the moment. He didn''t say these words to Albert, of course, and it was his own decision.

    And another reason being, he didn''t want to be held in one shop and desired to influence around more. And thus he had decided to make another move in his chess game. After getting the gold coins, he was back at his home and after a few seconds, he came out with a straw bag in his hand. The bag was quite big and seemed to be carrying something.

    He held the straw bag under his shoulders as he briskly walked through the narrow paths of the city. Over the past month, he had been in the city and walked around whenever he had time. And thus he was now accustomed to the place.

    He soon reached the place where he was supposed to reach.

    The runic circle shop.

    That grumpy dude.

    *Ting* *Ting*

    The bell rang a little as he entered through the door of the shop. There was the same man whom he had last seen when he bought the cleaning dust runic circle. The man looked up and gave a warm smile seeing Aric come in.

    "Welcome, welcome. I am sorry for my rude behavior last time and hope that you forgive me. I didn''t know that you are a big deal."

    "Huh? What do you mean?" Aric was confused and asked.

 39. What is paper?

    "Your drinks. They have become the talk of the city now," the man said. This threw Aric off as he had no idea that he even had a public presence. He always thought that he kept a low profile and people didn''t know about him. It was better that way, at least for the time being. The man seemed to notice the change in Aric''s expression, so he said, "You are quite intelligent for your age. Your face suggests that you didn''t like that people are talking about you. Hahahaha... Someone of your age would love to see their name written in golden letters."

    This made Aric more irritated, and he replied, "I am not like others. Don''t lump me together with the rest of the people around."

    "You talk funny, my boy. You don''t need to be scared. Not many people know about your drinks, and everyone thinks it''s that dear old Albert who is selling those drinks, but those who have connections... Hmm... Like me... know who is the original inventor. I have to tell you, I loved your drinks. Tell you what. Sell me 1000 cokes and I will give you a runic circle worth of 2 gold coins," the man said.

    "Uncle Albert isn''t that old," Aric said, now calming down a little.

    "I spoke of gold coins and that was what you want to talk about?" the man said. Aric only shrugged his shoulders, and his attitude was enough for the man to understand that Aric didn''t want to talk about the drinks at all.

    "I didn''t introduce myself. My name is Gopher, and you can just call me by name. Don''t add ''Uncle'' to it when you speak out loud or call me," Gopher said. Aric could see that the man was very sensitive about age. He even called Albert old even though the man had just crossed 40. But then again, the average age of the people around would probably be less than the ones in his world.

    "What do you need?" Gopher asked this time as Aric seemed to have put on a thinking cap. Aric came back to his senses and then asked Gopher, "Do you sell paper here?"

    "Paper? What is that?" Gopher had never heard that term before, and Aric suddenly realized that the people here didn''t know of the word paper. They were just accustomed to parchments or hard slates, and that was what they were called. There were also fountain pens to write on the parchments and chalk to write on the slates.

    Aric didn''t waste more time and brought out a bundle of paper, which was tied from all sides with straw ropes that were locally made. He had gone to Echorysia and brought these A4-sized papers and bundled them using locally made thin ropes.

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    Gopher was intrigued by seeing the super white flimsy thing that Aric just brought out. He took out one sheet of paper and examined it. "What is this?" Gopher was confused as he could see the flimsy thing could be blown away by a small bit of wind. The parchments were a bit thicker and more yellow in color, so he couldn''t associate it with them.

    "Try writing on it using a fountain pen," Aric suggested.

    "Fountain pen?" Gopher was still confused, but curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to follow Aric''s instructions. He took out a pen and started writing on it.

    "I am the original..."

    Gopher''s jaw dropped as he did so. He came to the realization of what this actually was. A parchment that they had been using all along, but this was more beautiful, well-crafted, and probably the best kind of parchment he had seen in his entire life.

    No, apart from magical parchments, this was probably the best kind of parchment he had ever seen in his entire life.

    "I am the original owner of Windy Runic circle shop and no shop is better than mine..."

    The more Gopher wrote, the more he fell in love with the smoothness and how the rest of his hand felt on the thin, flimsy sheet. It didn''t take a genius to understand what Aric wanted to do with it.

    "How many of these are here?"

    "How many do you want?"

    "How many are there in this bundle?"

    "About 200, but I can bring more," Aric replied.

    This put a very wide grin on Gopher''s face.

    "Let''s go now, and I will buy them all," Gopher said as he got up from his small chair.

    "Not so soon. What about the price?" Aric asked. This stumped Gopher a bit, and then he sat down again to think deeply. He checked the pages again, and after a minute of thinking, he replied, "10 copper coins per page."

    This almost sent Aric over the moon, but he tried his best to mask his feelings and rather asked, "If 10 is the price you are buying, then what is the price you would sell them for?" Aric asked, as he was also curious. He didn''t have any idea of how much the parchments were sold for.

    "20 copper coins and more," Gopher blindly replied.

    "Nobody is going to buy them here at 20 copper coins," Aric reminded him. This city might have rich people, but not rich enough for many people to buy paper for 20 copper coins.

    "Who said I will be selling them here?" Gopher gave a cheeky smile which showed his clear white teeth to Aric.

    "You know my address?" Aric asked as he got the general idea of what Gopher wanted.

    "Yes, now let''s go," Gopher was getting impatient with the questions and just wanted to go and see how many of these parchments Aric had.

    "No. Come to my place at night after 10 pm. The door will be open," Aric replied. Gopher looked at Aric for some time and then burst out laughing.

 40. I have been stupid

    The laugh was quite loud, and it took him some time to calm down. Aric remained calm the entire time and just waited for Gopher to explain himself.

    "You have quite the courage to invite a stranger to your place at night, 10 pm, especially someone who has a bad reputation," Gopher said.

    "I have asked Uncle Albert about you. You are grumpy to everyone, and that isn''t some kind of metric to judge if you are bad or not. So I can invite you at night. That is not a big deal," Aric said.

    In response, Gopher raised his palm with a silent command. In the stillness of the shop, Gopher''s palm began to emit a soft glow, casting eerie shadows against the timeworn walls. Suddenly, a gentle breeze stirred, causing the ancient artifacts to tremble ever so slightly.

    Aric''s breath caught in his throat as he beheld the spectacle unfolding before him. The wind, guided by Gopher''s silent will, swept through the shop with a gentle whisper, causing the delicate trinkets to sway in its wake. It was a sight both enchanting and surreal. Though the wind did not strike Aric, it enveloped him in a cocoon of wonder and awe.

    "Now are you scared?" Gopher asked.

    "What... What was that?" Aric asked. He was really in awe of what just happened.

    "I am an Acolyte of wind magic," Gopher said. He didn''t expect this at all. An Acolyte? Here? In this city. He had heard that the city mayor was an Acolyte as that was one of the requirements to sit in that seat. And the other Acolyte, which he had heard from, was the mercenary guild of the city. Apparently, one could hire the Acolyte from the guild if one paid more than 5 gold coins.

    That in itself was a huge amount, and very few people could afford it. These were the only two Acolytes that Aric had known to exist in this city. And now there was a third one? Why hadn''t he heard of Gopher being an Acolyte before?

    "Why does nobody in the city know that you are an Acolyte?" Aric couldn''t help but ask.

    "Hahahah... You really are not afraid of mages, are you?" Gopher asked.

    "Why do you say that? I am just amazed to see an Acolyte for the first time," Aric said, and he actually meant it, but it didn''t mean he would have to be scared of him or fawn over the man.

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    "Most of the time, when a regular person sees an Acolyte, they fawn over or at least show some respect. But your eyes are filled with curiosity. I like it," Gopher said. "At least better than those rich kids who just want to fawn over an Acolyte in order for him to mentor them." Those last words were almost whispered, but Aric was able to hear them clearly.

    "You have been honest with me, so it''s my duty to be honest with you. Are you still confident of inviting me? I can rob you of your stocks or even force you to give up your secrets, and even the city administration wouldn''t touch me and just let me go away with a small prison time or some kind of fine that I will have to pay. Nobody would miss a child like you," Gopher said. And this time, his words became more ugly and menacing, almost spine-chilling for Aric.

    He said all of those words while looking deep into the eyes of Aric, trying to peer deep into the soul of Aric and gauge what his thinking was.

    "Someone doesn''t declare if one wants to rob the other or not. They will just do it and leave no traces. And you can''t kill me," Aric said with a smile. A smile as sunny as the warm sun, which seemed to cut through the depressing atmosphere the Acolyte tried to bring forth.

    "Hahahah..." Gopher laughed again for some time and then said, "I like your confidence. I will be at your place at 10 pm, and you are right, I already know the address."

    Aric nodded and was ready to leave but then stopped and looked at some of the items that were on display. The items looked to be silver in color but somehow looked weightless. He could easily tell that these were not silver, and each of the items was finely built and had vivid designs on them, seeming to make the items more gorgeous.

    Gopher saw his eyes roaming on the particular section and said, "These are aluminum items. They are quite costly. If you want them in exchange, I am willing to part with them."

    "How much does this pot cost?" Aric asked curiously since they were kept in such a way that they looked costly.

    "For this pot? 1 gold coin. These are 70 silver coins... That is 1 gold and 20 silver..." Gopher went on to quote the price, and Aric felt like his world was moving fast. These flimsy aluminum items cost that much. He had forgotten that in the old ages, aluminum was quite the costly metal to make since it wasn''t in abundance. It was only after the 1850s that one could extract aluminum from other ores, and the prices of them went down significantly after that.

    Aric stopped his blabbering and said, "I don''t want to buy them. Pay me by coins, and I will be happy." Gopher seemed to be a bit sad and disappointed when he said that because these items were costly, and this city didn''t have enough people who could afford to buy them. He was actually thinking of selling them to caravans and ''breaking even'' with these items.

    Keeping them here wasn''t doing him any favors. Though it did add to the ''aesthetics'' of the shop, and the presence of aluminum in the shop meant the shop was quite rich. Aric left promptly after looking around for a bit and found nothing of interest.

 41. Getting rich in a jiffy

    When Aric came out, he let out a visible sigh. He had been quite casual with his response and even talked about the aluminum items. This was all done to show that he didn''t even feel threatened by Gopher''s words or the fact that Gopher being an Acolyte in his city barren city was just to show that he was not fazed at all and would continue being mysterious.

    But it also didn''t mean that he was very scared when it came to them, and Aric had already made an exit plan if everything crumbled here. One of these days, he walked quite a distance away from the city towards the direction of another city which was closer to the capital than the Distant Wind.

    The small business which he had opened wouldn''t suffer much if he changed jobs, but he wouldn''t be able to move always if he wanted to settle and establish his own power. He hoped that the people around wouldn''t antagonize him too much. It was also another reason why he didn''t go to a big city yet because in big cities there would be competition and greed.

    He might be able to earn money, but he also felt it would be dangerous there. It was better to start in a small city first and then move to a big one. Aric was back in his world after coming back to his home. He just needed to wait until 10 pm to earn more money.

    During dinner, his father suddenly asked, "Have you thought about what you would like to do when you grow up?"

    "Umm... Do I need to think about this now?" Aric asked while gulping down the chewed rice with curry.

    "No, but you will have to think soon. A ship without a rudder will never reach its destination," his father said.

    "Uhh... I will be able to tell after I complete class 9," Aric thought about it for a minute and said.

    "Class 9? Okay... Don''t forget what you said just now," his father said. Aric could only nod. His dad was always strict with his career, and his concern was always the well-being and future of the family.

    <hr>

    21:45

    He was back in the city, sitting on his sofa and looking at the warm glow the small fireplace was giving out. The weather had turned a bit cold. The summers were short at this place, and the winters were harsh and longer. The fireplace not only gave him warmth but also light that made the entire room filled with light.

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    Aric waited for 20 more minutes when he heard a knock on the door. Aric opened the door, only to see Gopher walk in without waiting for the invitation. Though it was a bit rude, he could tell that that was how Gopher was. He was wearing an overhead coat and also a hat that made him almost unrecognizable.

    "I made sure that nobody knows I came in," Gopher said. Aric didn''t understand what he meant by those words, but soon it hit him. Gopher was doing this because he felt Aric was trying to hide his business and thus trying to give him safety.

    "And then you said that you would try to kill me," Aric said.

    "Hahahah... I had to see if the person I was going to do business with has the courage and the guts, and you seem to have both," Gopher said. "Where are your parents from? Your accent isn''t local at all or even from the neighboring countries. I have never heard of your accent in the entire North, so I am curious."

    "You have traveled the entire North?" Aric was surprised and asked. He was also very curious.

    "I did visit some empires after I left school, hoping to gain inspiration to reach Neophyte. Alas, very few can reach that kind of power. But you haven''t answered my question yet," Gopher reminded him of the first question he had asked.

    "Does it really matter where I am from?"

    "Yes, at least I would like to know. Are you from those reclusive clans way up the north?" Gopher asked.

    "Why do you think so?" Aric asked, curious as he remembered those wretched men had said the same thing, and he was able to lure them out on that vague conclusion.

    "Your accent and your ideas. They are unique and can only be made with those clans who are more accustomed to magic. You can tell me, are you some kind of illegitimate child of some clan lord who is supporting you from behind?" Gopher asked, feeling that Aric could easily be one.

    Maybe the clan lord had sent some guards to keep him safe but also start a business here. Hell, Aric could even be a legitimate son of the clan lord too since he wasn''t trying to hide his face. But he was also confused about why he wanted to know about the runic circles before like an idiot. That didn''t make sense to him since children such as him were supposed to know about this kind of knowledge.

    Gopher stopped thinking about such complex matters and decided to concentrate on the more pressing ones.

    "Maybe I am. Maybe I am not. Who knows. Here are your items," Aric said, changing the topic and showing him papers stacked over each other. There were 20,000 of them and were bundled with the help of ropes. And Gopher''s face brightened seeing the stack of papers. He didn''t care about the origins of Aric at the moment and just started checking the papers.

    Each stack contained 1000 papers, and there were 20 of them. Gopher''s eyes glittered as he saw them counted. Without any hesitation, he brought out 14 gold coins and forwarded them to Aric.

    It was a few silver coins more than he expected but he didn''t try to be humble here.

    "I will be taking one stack at a time. Give a week to clear all of them." Gopher said. Aric was nodded and was surprised that he even paid him forward. This man was peculiar to say the least.

 42. He probably doesnt have any talent

    But Aric didn''t complain. He was more than happy to entertain so much money. He would deliver the items anyway. Aric didn''t want to be a bad guest, and according to his home traditions, he went to the kitchen and bought some locally made biscuits and also some tea. He wasn''t a fan of tea, and in this region, there was nothing like tea.

    He asked Gopher to sit as he was genuinely interested in the magic wand and wanted to know more about the curriculum and the school.

    "There is less than 2 years for me to join the school. What do I need to do?" Aric asked. Gopher, who had just been served tea, didn''t like the smell of the tea at all and kept it aside after taking the first sip, probably because the people here were accustomed to sweeter things than spicy or tasteless.

    "Save the money," Gopher said with the most serious face Aric had ever seen on him.

    "Money? Why?" Aric asked, feeling confused.

    "You don''t think education is free, right?" Gopher asked. This was not the answer Aric was expecting. He did think of school, but due to the fact that his parents had always covered it, he had thought he didn''t need any kind of money for education, for some stupid reason in his head. Seeing Aric''s silence, Gopher continued, "Unless you are a son of the internal staff or the faculty, you will need money to get into the school. If you are talented enough, you will get scholarships from the banks or the school itself. If you are less talented, like I am, then it will be pretty hard for you, as being a mage isn''t cheap. Not only will you need to pay the school fees, but also for your own self. If you take up a side profession like runesmith or alchemy, then you will burn through money more than you spend on fees."

    Aric didn''t know any of this and had just assumed that his entry to school would be smooth sailing.

    "Can you tell me more about the talent and how much money I should accumulate for getting into a school?" Aric asked.

    "If your talent is like mine, you will need 100 gold coins per year. And if you are talented, then you will get scholarships, and some even get into the school free of cost. But without money, it will still be useless, as you will need money to sustain yourself inside, as you will need resources. So money is a must," Gopher said.

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    Aric didn''t expect it to be this complicated. He had more questions now.

    "How does the school evaluate talent?" Aric asked. This question made Gopher''s eyes look a bit weird, as the question seemed quite stupid. He replied, "The schools each year come for recruitment. They show up in cities. The bigger the cities, the bigger the school. They will set up their camps and they have their own instruments to detect a person''s talent and their affinity. I had a low magic talent for wind, and thus, I was accepted at the Flameleaf Academy. It is a low-grade school, and because I passed the threshold, I was able to enter the school. Tell you what, if you get to Flameleaf, they will give you a discount if you use my name," Gopher said, looking at Aric with a bit of expectation. That school majored in fire and wind magic and was a good school for someone who had low talent.

    "Can you explain more about the talent?" Aric asked.

    "You sure nag a lot for something so far from you," Gopher said, a bit irritated by now.

    "I''m sorry. I don''t have any knowledge of it. Just treat me as a newbie trying to understand the world," Aric said with a twinkle in his eyes.

    "Don''t say those words in front of others. The more you show your ignorance, the more they will squeeze you out," Gopher said, thinking Aric was a bit naive. Little did he know that Aric thought the same about the people of this world.

    "You have paid me enough to at least hope not to scam me," Aric said. This sincerity seemed to affect Gopher a bit, and he said, "The talents are categorized as supreme, high, medium, and low. Except for low talents, all the tiers are categorized into three more levels: upper, middle, and lower. If your talent is in the middle-medium or upper-medium, most of the lower-tiered schools will flock to you. But talent also comes with an affinity problem. Talent means you will break through levels faster, but that is not the only criteria a school looks at. Two more things that schools notice are spirituality and affinity.

    "Spirituality doesn''t have a category. Many schools don''t even care about it, as it is mostly for runesmiths, beast tamers, or such other professions that care about spirituality. As far as I know, different schools have different ways to measure the spirituality of a person, and though most people downplay it, I have heard that it is very important when someone reaches higher levels. And then comes affinity. This is again categorized like the talents. Affinity will decide how fast you can conjure a magic spell and use them. The higher the affinity, the faster you will be able to do so. If you have high talent and almost zero affinity, you will break through levels fast, but people around will probably kill you faster than you can utter a scream," Gopher said.

    Aric heard his clear words and was able to make a picture of the whole school ''problem'' a bit better. Talent, spirituality, and affinity. Aric didn''t want much. As long as he could get inside a school, he would be happy.

    It was not Aric being humble, but from what he read in the books, children born in places with a higher density of mana are known to have higher talent and affinity.

 43. One headache down, two and more to go

    He was born on Earth and raised twice, so there was no way he would have high talent. Obviously, there were chances of a few born talented individuals, but it was very rare. Aric was lucky when he got the ability to travel between worlds. One thing that the previous lifetime had taught him was that good luck would always be followed by bad luck. And thus, he didn''t hope for too much in life.

    Aric talked a bit more about the schools and got a general understanding. Each year for the recruitment, the schools would come in summer to test children and lure them to school. Better the school, better the criteria.

    Gopher didn''t wait any longer and left, making himself as ordinary as possible in the cold and chilly night. Meanwhile, Aric was back at his home and proceeded to sleep as he had been roaming around a lot and was tired. Tomorrow his school life would start again, and he was a bit annoyed by it.

    <hr>

    One more month had gone by since his meeting with Gopher. Gopher had not only asked for more papers over the month but also asked for the new pen that Aric had come up with. The fountain pens were different as they came from the higher civilization. One just needed to use water as the agent, and there was a small ball inside which acted as the dye. With one small ball of dye, one could write up to 10,000 kilometers.

    This was insane because before one could finish that much distance in writing, the pen would be out of order due to wear and tear anyway. The pens were sold for a higher amount, and for 20 pens, Aric actually got 1 gold coin. This was an enormous amount of money for Aric, and he was too happy to say the least.

    He had gone back to school too. But he was being avoided. Aric was always social with his friends before, and he had that grand belief that he would be friends with them for the rest of his life. But reality was different, and since his mentality had changed a lot after growing up, he couldn''t relate to his class friends at all.

    "Bro, why have you become so boring?" Ishan asked, a few days after he came back to school. He never got any response from Aric when he tried to hang out with him during the summer vacation. That had pissed Ishan off, and now Aric was almost ignoring him.

    Aric couldn''t tell, but his demeanor had changed a lot. He had an air of mystery around him that made many of his friends curious, and even girls started to look at him with different kinds of eyes. Ishan could see that and even poked Aric about it, but he didn''t seem to care.

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    He was just like a piece of wood, showing no signs of caring, and Ishan was frustrated with him for this behavior.

    "Because my life is boring," Aric replied, not looking into his eyes and watching the distant trees sway in the wind on the hot but windy summer day. Ishan was speechless and didn''t know what had happened to his best friend.

    After the class ended, Aric rushed back to his home. Today was the day when he would receive his delivery, a much-awaited package that he had ordered more than a week ago. After arriving home from school, he freshened up and had his lunch before heading out, saying he would be back in a minute or so.

    He left this world and reached Echorysia, to the same storage unit he had rented before. The package had already arrived, and he eagerly opened it. Inside were two small packs that he took out after opening the disposable carton.

    These two packs were the health packs that he had been dying to get his hands on. Each one cost him 100,000 Sora credits, but it was all worth it. After exchanging his gold coins, he had accumulated around 300,000 Sora credits, and he had spent two-thirds of it already. But it didn''t matter to him because he had received what he had craved for since he was cured of his diseases.

    He returned home immediately. His parents were home, and Aric wasted no time. The health packs could be ingested by mixing them with drinks too, so that''s what he did. Since it was summer, he loved making himself a lime juice. He made three drinks and proceeded to mix the tasteless health pack with the lime juice.

    "Here, lime juice," Aric said as he presented his parents with two glasses. Both of his parents were happy to see their son being a good human being and gladly drank the juice. Aric was expecting some kind of dramatic response, but there was none, which kind of disappointed him. However, he also knew that this was how it worked.

    The health pack was made for humans who went for exploration and came into contact with diseases unknown to them on different planets. It was a blanket medicine for those exposed to foreign germs. Such cases were rare, but it didn''t mean they didn''t happen, so there were these health packs to ensure nothing bad would happen to them in the long run.

    Aric had finally gotten his hands on these, and with these health packs, he was free from his first problem. The cure for his parents had been found and tackled.

    "The limes aren''t sour at all," Aric''s father said.

    "Maybe we should get the costlier ones," Aric said, not really caring if the lime was sour or not. Since they drank it, he was free from the first headache. He needed to get back to Echorysia tonight as there had been improvements.

    His songs had finally gotten some recognition!

 44. New knowledge

    It had been over a month since Aric released the songs on the Internet. As expected, without any promotion, there were initially no views or listeners. However, considering the vast human population, if a song was good, it wouldn''t remain undiscovered for long.

    For a while, there were only around 10 or 15 listens, but even these few garnered him subscribers. About a week ago, the numbers began to change rapidly. Aric was puzzled at first, but then he discovered that somebody had used their songs as background music for a VR video.

    When Apis applied for copyright, he was very clever about it. Since it was his first song, he allowed others to use his songs for public use without charge. He needed exposure with his initial songs and didn''t want to be hesitant about it.

    That didn''t mean the music label and publishing company wouldn''t charge them, but it would be 50% less. Those who used his songs would understand that he was acting in good faith and doing the best he could as an artist. (The music copyright laws are not something I understand; I can only speculate about the laws that an interstellar company might have.)

    The video somehow went viral, featuring the song in a VR fight. In this universe, there were both 2D and 3D videos. While great directors of movies across galaxies preferred 2D videos for their storytelling, they would only make those once they were accomplished in 3D VR movies.

    So 3D movies and videos still dominated about 90% of the market, as they were easier for any random person to make. One of these new and upcoming directors filmed a 3D movie filled with action and fantasy, using an LP song in the final climax fight.

    The song gained more popularity than the entire movie. This was the breakthrough Aric had been hoping for, and he couldn''t help but thank the director for using his song.

    "There are already 500 million listens. Congratulations, you have hit it big with your first album," Apis said as he showed him the total listens. Aric couldn''t help but smile from ear to ear.

    "Apis, how much will I get for 500 million listens?" Aric asked.

    "50,000 Sora credits, more or less. I can''t track the target audience, but songs that cater to adults tend to receive more money," Apis explained.

    "50,000 is good enough," Aric said, content with whatever money he was receiving. Buoyed by his success, Aric didn''t stop there. Now he finally had the incentive to upload more songs. He uploaded tracks from artists like Blue, Justin Timberlake, Akon, Eminem, and others. He had them stored on his memory stick, thanks to the slow 2G internet, and after hours of waiting, he was able to download them.

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    Instead of going to a caf¨¦ to download them, he opted for the more convenient option of using his colored mobile phone with minimal internet access to get the pirated songs and then transfer them to his memory stick. Once again, he uploaded them to the internet on Echorysia under the same username.

    Unlike last time, he made the songs ''payable'' for those who used them. It may have been a bit of a selfish move, but he needed to earn a living in this place. He knew it would be months before he could see a significant rise in his songs, and he didn''t mind the wait. He had plenty of time to spare.

    Back at home, Aric wore a wide smile. He had finally made a name for himself in the interstellar world, and hopefully, his career would only continue to rise from this point on.

    <hr>

    Three more months had passed.

    Many things had happened since then, but two significant events stood out. First, his songs had actually hit the billion mark and were now rising sharply towards the trillion mark. Aric couldn''t believe his eyes as his songs skyrocketed in popularity last month. A few days ago, he finally cashed in his total income up to that day: a whopping 1,025,000 Sora credits. This money was already taxed, so he didn''t have to pay anyone. It was enough for him to start a few things he had always wanted to do, and he had already ordered the necessary items, which were on their way to his storage unit.

    The second important thing he did was to acquire another runic circle. After two months of distributing coke, papers, and pens, he had accumulated enough to buy another runic circle. However, he wasn''t very optimistic about it. There were reasons for his skepticism, as he had discussed with Gopher.

    "The runic circles take up a massive amount of space for those under 15 years of age. Drawing more runic circles doesn''t mean a thing if you can''t control a single one. Before one becomes an Acolyte, they can draw three or four runic circles at maximum. That''s already too much, and the best students always draw two or three and try to master them," Gopher had said.

    "Does it take so much time to master?" Aric had asked, recalling how he was able to use the cleaning dust runic circle with ease and fervor. At times, he could clean the whole room with a single spell.

    "No. Any runic circle can be mastered in a few months even though they are quite tough to control. Another reason why someone who hasn''t become an Acolyte doesn''t go for more is because 2 or 3 spells wouldn''t matter to them as it is not enough to defend himself. One small fire ball runic circle or such circles are the most these people are ready to waste their time upon. But once, one becomes an Acolyte, it''s a different story then." Gopher had explained.

    "Why so?" Aric had asked.

    "Once one becomes an Acolyte, one can master upto 9 runic circles." Gopher had replied with a glee.

 45. Why dont you smile

    Aric learned a lot over time, and the new runic circle he had learned was sharp. This runic circle, when applied, could sharpen a blunt object. For example, a stick could be sharpened. It depended on the mana one used and how many times one could use magic to sharpen one object.

    Unlike last time, Aric didn''t find it that difficult to draw his second runic circle. He finished on a weekend night itself, and just like last time, the drawing had vanished. Another important thing that surprised him was the fact that he didn''t feel his consciousness was full. He felt he would be able to draw another one before he turned 15.

    He had a theory about the disappearance act of the drawing. According to Aric, the drawings would transfer to the two shining bulbs that allowed him to teleport. He was pretty sure of the theory since the runic circles didn''t have another location to hide or run away. Those were the only two places, and since they were keys to another world, the bulbs could have a huge space where he could store multiple runic circles.

    More than someone of his age would be able to keep. Aric didn''t add more as there were no good ones to add, and if his theory was wrong and his consciousness became full after one useless runic circle, that would be hitting the hammer on his own foot.

    Until he found a suitable one, there was no reason to draw another one. The other reason why he didn''t draw another one was that the amount of mana was limited. At the moment, in a single day, he could only use the sharpen runic circle on a lean stick three times. That was the maximum he could. He tried it on a metal stick, and he was only able to do it once.

    This made him understand that the amount of mana he had was limited. Before the age of 15, one couldn''t grow their quantity of mana. According to Gopher, before the age of 15, one could only grow their amount of mana by a very small quantity, and that was regular practice of magic. So that was what he did.

    He used to sharpen the fence every day to practice magic. At first, the use of his sharpen runic circle was blunt and felt he didn''t have much control. In these two months, he could sharpen a blunt wooden stick in just two tries. Aric was practicing as much as he could.

    <hr>

    "So, your class teacher called," Avni said after she disconnected the call as Aric was busy eating an apple.

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    "And?" Aric asked.

    "You scored perfectly in all subjects. You got 99%. He said that he had never seen such answer scripts in his whole career in the school," Avni said, her face twinkling with joy as she said that. At the moment, she was way too proud of her son. Aric had just finished the final exams of class 8 and would enter class 9 in the next year.

    "Oh! That''s good." Aric didn''t have any feeling at all as he had scored that by cheating. He had taken his communicator with himself and let the communicator scan all the books. Using the spectacles that he had gotten before, it was just too easy for him to copy and jot down the answers.

    It was actually unfair for Aric that he had just received 99%. He deserved 100%. It was probably due to literature subjects where the teachers weren''t allowed to give full grades on those.

    "You don''t seem happy about it?" Avni was a bit disheartened to see her son not happy about the results at all. In the past 4 months, he had noticed that her son had lost the carefree and smiling face.

    He loved them all the same, but that love was more of concern and safety, rather than the love that one saw on such young children. He had become more serious, and he hardly talked more than required. It was as if he had become some kind of machine.

    This stumped both the mother and even the father. Aric''s father actually came forward one day and asked if he was alright or was there something he needed since he had stopped asking for chocolates or chips. Aric just replied that he was fine and he didn''t need anything.

    But Avni, being the mother that she was, knew for a fact that something had happened. She even contacted Ishan''s mother and asked about the behavior of Aric. All she heard was Aric had isolated himself and hardly talked with anyone.

    This made her more concerned about Aric as she felt that her son was in some kind of depression, and the reaction to results made her sure that something was wrong with her child. But she didn''t know what. She could only pray and hope that Aric was happy.

    In order to make her son cheer up, she decided to cook his favorite food and hoped that her son would show up with more smiles and happiness.

    "It''s just results. If I get into a prestigious college, then I will be happy," Aric said. He could see her concern, so in order to appease her, he had to speak about colleges and universities. Avni was glad that her son had such kind of ambition and hoped her son would be a good doctor or a great engineer someday.

    Later when his father came, he beamed with joy hearing the results and promised that he would buy something for Aric. Aric refused at the beginning as he didn''t need one, but after insisting on it multiple times, he said that he wanted a new bicycle as that would help him roam around a bit. His father didn''t hesitate to say yes.

    Aric was just glad that his parents were happy. And was actually looking forward to the deliveries that he would be receiving tonight in Echorysia.

 46. In simple terms, Crysis

    Nighttime.

    Aric was back in his storage unit, patiently waiting for the deliveries while checking how his songs were being accepted by the English-speaking audience. He was also reading the comments.

    "These songs are way too cool, man. I have kept each of them on my repeat playlist."

    "Holy shit... These songs are so cool... I can''t stop myself from humming them in the bathroom. Takes my depression away."

    "There is no depression at this age. You just love the shower."

    "These songs are legendary."

    Aric had smiles on his face reading the comments section. While he was reading the comments, Apis called.

    "Aric, the deliveries are here."

    Aric got up and went out to bring the two boxes in. After seeing the label, he opened the first box. It had a metal box inside, and Aric didn''t waste much time to open it. The inside was filled with a soft black material around, and in the center, there was a jelly-like substance which was moving a bit on its own.

    Aric took a deep breath and inserted his hand into the jelly. Almost instantly, like a living creature, the jelly started to climb on the skin of Aric. The jelly was translucent, and thus one could only see the refraction of the lights from overhead. The jelly-like substance, after climbing on his arm, seemed to get absorbed inside the skin of Aric.

    Aric only felt a small itch as the jelly disappeared into his skin. But the process had just started. After the initial itch in his arm, it spread throughout his whole body. Aric felt like his body was being invaded and crawled upon by a thousand ants, but it only persisted for about 10 seconds before subsiding.

    "Aric, how do you feel?" Apis asked, knowing what the jelly was. Aric didn''t reply and just threw a punch into the air.

    "The punch has been calculated at the force of 7000 N (A/n: Yes, I know that their world would not have Newton as the measure of force since it was named after Newton, but I will have to invent a whole new system to explain this. It''s better I stick to the Earth standards of measurements. And, an average force of an amateur boxer is 2500 N)"

    Aric was delighted when he heard that. The jelly-like substance was a nano armor. This was an interstellar age, and thus humans and all other species were required to explore to satisfy their hunger for exploration and also resources. Though the universe was connected, it didn''t mean each of the galaxies were conquered and had empires. It was said that only a very small part of the universe was explored and there were trillions and trillions of planets and suns, waiting to be explored and resources to be extracted.

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    In order to overcome the power deficit of humans in space and for fighting other species, the nano armor was the first of its kind that humans had built. This nano armor could safeguard any human from 20,000 N of constant force, bullets larger than .50 cal, and from any sharp objects. The nano armor would also safeguard a human from radiation pollution and one could even breathe underwater.

    One could glide if thrown from a high altitude, opening a retractable parachute, and swim at least 5 times faster than a normal human. Not only that, all five senses of a human being would be enhanced by 1.2 times. It could have been higher, but an average human''s brain wouldn''t be able to handle the senses being enhanced more than that.

    Only a genetically advanced human could handle more heightened senses. And he wasn''t one of those. Not yet at least. Aric could feel the heightened senses, but it was very minimal. The nano armor would be charged by the bioelectricity a body produces over time and thus wouldn''t need a charger for the work.

    Of course, it didn''t mean that the armor would be able to protect him 24/7. The armor would give him invincibility to bullets for 5 minutes, while for punches and kicks, the armor would provide him protection for 20 minutes.

    The armor could also provide him strength for half an hour. These statistics were taken at full charge, and if all of these actions were taken simultaneously, there would be a change in the statistics. One could fully charge the whole armor in half an hour if there was no battery left in it.

    Aric didn''t feel any different once he had the armor on, but he felt more secure now. At least on Earth, there wouldn''t be anyone who could threaten him, at least not in close combat or assassinating him.

    "Apis, thank you," Aric said before shutting it down. The other box wouldn''t be opened here. He took the cardboard in his hands and vanished from Echorysia. He was back again at his place on Earth. A huge part of him wanted to open the cardboard box, but doing that would alert his parents and he didn''t want that late at night.

    There was enough time for that.

    The next day.

    He had hidden the box from his parents, and thus they didn''t notice it. Once his father left for the farm, he proceeded to open the box, which was heavier than the previous one. Unlike the metal box of the previous one, this metal box was square in shape and also had a connection port to an outside power supply.

    And the power supply also wasn''t the electricity provided in homes. It was a separate box that came with the squared box. He connected the two boxes and waited for the small screen on the square box to light up.

    The small screen asked for his account number, and he entered his own. The screen gave a green signal and then after few seconds his communicator lit up.

    "Hello Aric More, I am LK 89. I am an independent learning AI, please provide me instructions for learning."

 47. Who is this guy?

    "Change your name to Mira." Aric did the fist customary job and inauguration for the new AI that he had just bought. He didn''t go for existing high powered AI, primarily because of two reasons.

    First one was that he would need a huge server in order for the AI to work in his world. And the second and probably the primary deal breaker was the fact that having a developed AI might be very detrimental because there would be a high chance the AI might decide to take over once it saw there was no oversight.

    Over time in Echorysia, he understood that the AIs here were very much self aware and it was only the huge oversight over them that made them follow the rules. Of course, it was just his theory and he didn''t have any metrics or proofs. The only proof he needed was the numbers of movies he had watched about AI from his previous life.

    Starting from Terminator.

    So in order to cope with that problem he had researched and got to know that one the correct amount of credits one could be an independent AI which would follow the sacred norms of AIs and also be subservient to the master. The new AIs would be like a child, and imprint on the master as it grew up.

    These child AIs would learn from the internet. The only reason these child AIs were not very popular because these AIs were not trained in all public forums and it would take ages for an AI to learn. They would have to buy new servers and nurture the AI well.

    Very few people had time for that and only the most private people would go for that route. Aric bought the AI along with all the related tools. The specifics of the AI was too high for Aric to even fathom.

    It had 1 stellar byte (astrobytes, stellar bytes, galactic bytes...) of available space, 256-core quantum processors, integrated photonic chips for ultra-fast data transmission using light particles, 100 zettabytes (ZB) of secondary holographic storage, faster-than-light data transmission via subspace channels, superfluid helium-3 for efficient thermal regulation, and also a Multiverse Analytics Engine.

    The processing and handling power of the AI engine was insane and he would finally be able to fully utilize his communicator which was only capable of simple interactions until now.

    "Name changed to Mira. How should I proceed from here?" Mira spoke in the most neutral tone of the machine.

    "Can you connect to the internet?" Aric asked. The 2g services were online and it was still an year away for the 3g to launch in India. He wondered if the AI could connect to this kind of communication system since it was different than the ones in the other universe.

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    "Yes... Connecting... Searching... Connection system found.. BSNL 2G GPRS service.. Not allowed.. Connecting via Aric More''s authorization.. Connected."

    "Acquiring information... Learning...."

    Aric didn''t ask more questions from Mira because at the moment ''she'' was just learning and was just a child learning things. The current 2g services were very slow and Mira would take ages to learn from the internet. Thankfully, faster services would soon be available.

    So he wasn''t much held up on that part.

    <hr>

    The sun was setting, casting a warm, golden hue over the forest as the adventurers moved cautiously through the dense underbrush. The trees stood tall, their leaves rustling softly in the breeze, creating a symphony of whispers. In the lead was Roderic, a seasoned warrior with a keen eye and a scar running down his left cheek. Behind him, moving with the grace of a shadow, was Lyria, an archer with eyes as sharp as her arrows. To her left, Elowen, a mage, who was close to becoming an Acolyte,. Trailing behind them was a young boy, Alden, only eleven years old, who had insisted on accompanying them. He was the group''s helper, responsible for food and lodging.

    They came to the forest searching for wild boar''s meat. Magical boar''s meat could be sold at a high price at the Guild''s office, which would then be sold to restaurants. Even a non-magical boar''s meat could be sold but it could be done only at restaurants. Any kind of magical items should go through the Guild quarters of a city or town.

    That was the normal law in the empire. But of course, transactions between individuals could always happen and the empire wouldn''t get to know about it. That wasn''t something the empire could keep their eyes on, though they declared any kind of personal transaction exceeding the price of 100 gold coins should be reported. The only place that this law wasn''t applied were the schools.

    In many cases when a adventure group leave for missions put up in the Guild bulletin board, they would hire helpers who would help them with their lodging, cooking and other menial tasks. They would be paid by the group according to the contract that was made in the guild itself.

    "Stay close, Alden," Roderic said, glancing back at the boy. "We don''t know what''s out here." He wasn''t very happy with the whole situation as he thought that Alden was asking for too much during the contract phase and thus was not very welcoming to the ''bell boy''.

    Alden nodded, his eyes wide with a mixture of excitement and fear. He clutched a small dagger, more for comfort than protection. He could see the hostile eyes of the three people here from the moment he had accompanied them from the Guild quarter. He could only grit his teeth and swallow the uneasiness he had with them.

    Suddenly, the forest fell eerily silent. The whispers of the leaves stopped, and even the birds ceased their songs. Lyria halted, raising a hand.

    "Something''s not right," she whispered, her eyes scanning the surroundings.

    Before anyone could react, a chilling, cackling laugh echoed through the trees. The sound grew louder, and from the shadows emerged a pack of magical hyenas, their eyes glowing with an unnatural light.

    "Ambush!" Roderic shouted, drawing his sword. The sword wasn''t just an ordinary sword but a sword infused with runes by an unofficial runesmith.

 48. Sometimes its good to be a hero

    The hyenas lunged. Roderic swung his blade, fending off one of the beasts, while Lyria loosed arrows with deadly precision. Elowen raised her hands, summoning a shield of water to protect them, but the hyenas were relentless, driven by a fierce determination to protect something unseen.

    Amidst the chaos, Alden felt a sharp shove from behind. He stumbled forward, directly into the path of a lunging hyena. The beast''s claws raked across his side, and he screamed in pain. Elowen turned, her eyes blazing with visible fury, and cast a spell that seemed to that sent the hyena flying back, but the damage was done.

    "Lyria, cover me!" Elowen shouted, rushing to Alden''s side. She placed her hands over his wounds, chanting a healing spell, but the boy''s injuries were severe.

    "Who pushed him?" Roderic demanded, his voice thick with anger as he fought off another hyena.

    "No time for that now!" Lyria called, firing arrows in rapid succession to keep the hyenas at bay. "We need to retreat!"

    Roderic glanced at Alden, then at the relentless hyenas, and nodded. "Fall back! Now!"

    The group fought their way back through the forest, Elowen and Lyria providing cover while Roderic carried the injured Alden. The hyenas pursued them to the edge of the forest before finally retreating, their cackles echoing ominously in the adventurers'' ears.

    Once they were safe, Roderic gently laid Alden on the ground. Elowen was using her water magic to clean the wound and also heal Alden. Water and light mages were the healers of this world and thus most of water mages knew rudimentary healing.

    "Hold on, Alden," she whispered. "You''re going to be okay."

    Alden''s eyes fluttered open, his face pale but determined. "Someone pushed me," he said weakly, his voice barely audible.

    Roderic''s expression darkened. "We''ll find out who," he promised, his eyes scanning the group. "But first, we need to get back to the guild."

    "Yes." Both Lyria and Elowen agreed and took big steps towards the city of Distant Wind. By the time they reached the city, it was evening and small lamps were being lit in various homes of the city and also occasional street lights which was also made the place lively.

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    They took Alden to the hospital and left him there after leaving him the coins they were required to pay him. With that the three of them left.

    "Roderic, you are quite bold for pushing the boy. If he was dead, our reputation would have plummeted and the Guild would have deducted points from our stars." Lyria said as they came out of the hospital in a hushed voice.

    "Hmph. This boy dared to ask for one extra silver coin from us just because the previous bellboy was sick. Serves him right." Roderic didn''t feel an ounce of pity. All three of them had been keeping up a facade on their faces for Alden not to notice.

    "Don''t do it again. Any more blood loss and he would have died," Elowen said. Nobody would recognize that the kind and gentle water mage and healer could have such a cold look in her eyes. Alden was being treated at the hospital at the moment by the non-mage healers (rudimentary doctors).

    It was 10 pm when Alden was discharged from the hospital. He was pale and could hardly walk. He had lost a lot of blood and there was no technology for blood transfusion here, so he had to regain the blood he lost. The wounds had been stitched a bit and he was asked to remain in the hospital for 2 days, but that would cost 30 copper coins each day.

    He chose to go home and just rest. As he walked slowly towards his home, he felt a sharp pain in the wound. But he was determined not to go back to the hospital and dragged himself through the lonely lane. It had started snowing heavily as winter was reaching its peak in these months. His teeth clattered in the cold, but his resolve and perseverance carried him through the snowy night.

    He took a turn into an alley, but before he could take more steps, he felt the world spinning in front of him. His eyes couldn''t focus anywhere, and before he knew it, his face hit the ground. Alden was lucky that the ground was now filled with soft snow, or he would have had a broken nose or teeth for sure.

    Alden hit the ground with a thud, and it wasn''t loud enough for anyone to hear in the snow-covered winter, but one person did. That person was Aric himself. Alden had hit the ground right in front of the home of Robin, and Alden was lucky enough to be at home in Distant Wind at that time.

    Aric came out while wearing a coat over himself. It had been a few days since the results were out and he had received his AI partner. In his previous life, snow was a luxury for him as he had only seen it once in his life.

    Distant Wind was high up North, and thus snow was commonplace. After dinner, he would always come to the city to enjoy the snow and just look outside, enjoying some hot drinks he brought from Echorysia. It was on one such night when he saw Alden crashing on the lane.

    He looked around for a bit and couldn''t find anyone. After some hesitation, he proceeded to come out. He had already sent the drones into the surroundings to see if this was some kind of assassination attempt, but he couldn''t find anyone suspicious.

    Aric, after coming close, could see that Alden was bleeding and the snow was now tinted with red. He didn''t want to play the hero, but the attire of Alden was enough to understand that this kid came from a poor family, and he couldn''t just leave him to die under the snowy night.

    And thus he went ahead, pulled him up, and took him home.

 49. Its a thief

    Aric, after taking him home, laid him on an uneven couch. He pulled up his ragged jacket, only to see the wound bleeding and the face of the man pale enough to make Aric think that this guy wouldn''t even last a few minutes.

    He went to the wardrobe and opened the secure box. There were 3 or 4 health packs, along with some gold coins. These were his emergency stack, in case one day he would need it. He took one health pack out and administered it to the boy.

    The fire burnt on the side as Aric could see that his wounds had started healing. But the pale face of his didn''t leave as he had lost too much blood. The health pack could heal any external or internal wound, but it couldn''t regenerate the blood. It could only accelerate blood formation faster.

    Now the boy''s fate was in the hands of Gods if they existed here. Aric took a thick blanket and put it on him. He didn''t need to stay here and left for his home.

    <hr>

    1000 hours

    The sun was shining brightly through the glass windows, its strength slowly rising but not enough to make the snow outside melt, but enough to make Alden, who was lying on the couch, very uncomfortable. The fire had already subsided in the fireplace and he was wrapped up in a warm blanket that made his sleep very comfortable.

    Only the sun forced him to open his eyes. At first, he was all groggy and couldn''t understand where he was and what was going on. Then everything came rushing back to him. The betrayal at the forest, the wound, the hospital.

    He could only remember losing his consciousness in the harsh snow and the next thing he knew, he was here. He instantly checked his wound and was blown away by the fact that there was not an inch of scratch or kind of scar on his wounds. There were multiple wounds on his body but now there was none.

    He had heard this was possible only by Acolyte and higher healers. Once he saw that there were no wounds, he jumped up from his couch.

    "Hello... Is anyone there? I ask for forgiveness that I barged into your house. Thank you for healing me," Alden spoke out loud. He awaited a response but there was none.

    "I am grateful for healing, esteemed Acolyte," Alden spoke out again. He was puzzled by why there was no response but he sat patiently for more than 15 minutes, calling out every minute. Finally, he decided to look around. He tiptoed around the house and realized that there was no one.

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    This stumped him as he didn''t know what he should do. He could only think of waiting for the esteemed Acolyte. He wanted to go back to his home but he at least needed to meet his savior before he could leave.

    And thus he decided to help the Acolyte the best way he could, and that was by cleaning the entire house. The house was clean but, as a boy who had worked odd jobs including cleaning houses of rich individuals, he could see the dust and cobwebs in some places. And just like an efficient house help, he cleaned the entire place and made things crystal clear.

    But one thing did stump him was the fact that there was no food in the kitchen and this Acolyte didn''t even have a magical refrigerator either to keep his/her food. He didn''t have any coins with him but while cleaning he found some 100 copper coins lying around.

    100 copper coins was a huge amount for him. That was almost his entire food supply for the month for two people and he just found 100 copper coins lying around. So he did the most sensible thing. He took 10 coins with him and went out in the chilly winter to buy some ingredients and some meat to cook.

    He was also the cook of his own home and had learned from his late mother. He wasn''t an accomplished chef but he liked to think that he was a good cook. Vegetables were more costly in the winter and thus he could only go for meat and some salt.

    After coming back, he started his cooking preparation and by afternoon he had finished his cooking. He eagerly waited for the esteemed Acolyte to show up.

    "Maybe he has gone for a mission. I will wait until he returns," Alden thought. He couldn''t help but devour his own food after he waited till late afternoon. He was hungry and yesterday''s wounds had left a sense of hunger in his body.

    He hadn''t touched the food before because it was not his money and the Acolyte had healed him, it would be very ungrateful to use the money of others but he just couldn''t stop himself.

    "I will compensate the full amount after he comes back," Alden promised himself as he ate through the food like a wolf hungry after catching the prey and had been starving for a few days now. After finishing the food, he also made the fire in the fireplace.

    He could only wait.

    2200 hours.

    Alden had already had his dinner from the meal he had made in the afternoon and made some more for the Acolyte to come for dinner but he hadn''t shown even after 9 pm. It had started to snow heavily and thus he was sure that the Acolyte wouldn''t show up for the night.

    He was lying on the couch thinking of what he should do tomorrow and almost dozing off when he heard a small noise coming from the kitchen. This made his drowsiness vanish and adrenaline pumped through his veins. At first, he thought the Acolyte was back, but the small noise came from the kitchen.

    This made him super alert.

    He had always carried a knife with himself for his own safety. He pulled out the knife from his waist and sneaked slowly towards the kitchen.

 50. This is too easy

    Alden''s heart pounded as he crept towards the kitchen, the knife gripped tightly in his small hand. Every step felt like an eternity, the cold floorboards creaking under his weight. The dim light from the dying fire barely illuminated the hallway, casting long, eerie shadows that danced on the walls.

    As he reached the kitchen door, he saw a shadowy figure rummaging through the cupboards. The figure''s back was turned, and Alden could hear the faint rustling of items being moved. Fear and adrenaline coursed through him, and he tightened his grip on the knife, ready to strike. He had to protect himself and the home of his unknown savior.

    In a swift, silent motion, Alden lunged forward, aiming for the figure''s back. But just as the knife was about to make contact, the figure whirled around, revealing a young boy, clad in strange, glistening armor that seemed to shimmer in the dim light. The boy, slightly older and taller, grabbed Alden''s wrist with a vice-like grip.

    "Stop!" the boy shouted, his eyes wide with surprise.

    Alden struggled, but the boy''s grip was too strong. He swung his other hand wildly, but the boy easily deflected the blows, twisting Alden''s arm behind his back and pushing him against the wall. The knife clattered to the floor.

    "Why are you attacking me?" the boy demanded, tightening his hold on Alden. "This is my home!"

    Alden squirmed, his face pressed against the cold wall. "I thought you were a thief!"

    The boy''s grip tightened even more, his voice a low growl. "I''m not a thief! I live here!"

    Alden''s mind raced. He hadn''t expected this turn of events. "I... I was brought here. Someone saved me."

    The boy eased his grip slightly, just enough for Alden to turn his head. "I saved you," the boy said, his voice softer now. "I found you wounded in the snow and brought you here. My name is Aric."

    Alden''s eyes widened with realization and embarrassment. "You... you saved me?"

    Aric nodded, his grip loosening completely. He stepped back, giving Alden some space. "Yes. I found you and brought you here to heal."

    Alden''s face flushed with shame. He dropped to his knees, bowing his head. "I''m so sorry. I didn''t know. I thought someone had broken in. Please, forgive me."

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    Aric looked down at Alden, his expression softening. "It''s alright. You were scared and confused. Just try to think before you act next time."

    Alden nodded vigorously, tears welling up in his eyes. "Thank you for saving me. I didn''t mean to cause trouble." Alden was skeptical at the beginning when Aric said that he was the savior since he looked so young but then he remembered that he heard that many Acolytes liked to look young.

    "You have got a good heart, but don''t take steps before you know exactly what is happening in your surroundings. It will cause you less trouble," Aric said. He also saw the washed plates and the bowls of food being cooked. Alden had calmed down a lot, but he didn''t forget the strong grip he was subjected to and the strange armor covering Aric''s body that had vanished again.

    He was in awe of what he had seen and felt, but he knew it was only possible because Aric was a mage, maybe higher than an Acolyte, since he had such strength that made him feel helpless. That lustrous armor was something he had never seen before.

    "I am thankful for saving me. What do I need to do to pay you? I don''t know much, but I can clean and cook food for you. If you want coins, I will work hard to pay you," Alden said as he bowed his head.

    "There is no need for that. I helped you not because I wanted coins from you, and from what I can see, you have already cleaned the whole place. That is enough of a payment," Aric said as he didn''t bother and was busy tending to the fire.

    "How can that be? I even took the copper coins you left behind to cook for you, and I even ate from that. Cleaning the whole house only pays 3 copper coins for 2 days of work. What you did is much costlier than that. You saved me," Alden said. Aric wasn''t bothered by the copper coins at all.

    A few copper coins didn''t matter to him, as the only thing he ever wanted were gold coins. Though copper coins could be converted to gold coins, he wasn''t much bothered that some change was left elsewhere. He was a rich man now.

    "You don''t need to be so uptight about the fact that I healed you. It was just a small matter to me," Aric said as he sat on the couch opposite Alden, who was standing still.

    "No, esteemed Sir. You have healed me, and the least I can do is pay you back," Alden said again. Aric''s eyebrows moved when he heard the term ''esteemed Sir'' but he didn''t ask him to stop addressing him as such. He could see that this young boy had a sense of integrity since he wasn''t ready to accept something for free. Such a young lad and already swimming in principles?

    This boy would toil hard all his life. He had seen how good people were treated, and it was mostly ugly. One needed to be a bit twisted to survive.

    "Who harmed you?" Aric asked, now looking serious.

    "Uh... I..." Alden did a double take when Aric asked that question.

    "You don''t have to tell me if you don''t want to," Aric said.

    "No. It''s just... I was betrayed by the adventure team I was following," Alden said.

    "Adventure team?" Aric was confused and thus asked.

    "Yes, I was appointed as the bell boy of a new adventure team. I lost my mother two years ago due to the Green Plague, leaving me and my younger sister behind. She has been suffering from fever for the last two days, and thus I thought of earning some coins by following as the bell boy. But these three seemed not to like that I asked for some more. They betrayed me when some Eclipsian Hyenas showed up and pushed me towards them."

 51. Speak to the manager

    Aric got the gist of what had happened. Alden was seething as he was saying that, but Aric was calm. He didn''t seem to care of what happened to Alden and was more interested in Alden''s family.

    "Tell me about your sister?" Aric asked. Alden''s face scrunched up when he heard Aric''s question. He was very protective about his sister and he wouldn''t let any harm come to her. He was grateful to Aric but that didn''t mean he would trust him with every piece of information and his sister was high on his protective list.

    "She is 10 years." Alden only spoke of that.

    "Were you able to buy the medicine?" Aric asked, to which Alden responded yes.

    "Did you give her the medicine?" Aric asked again, this time the response was no.

    "Then you should go and give her the medicine." Aric said.

    "I.. I.. I will go home tomorrow and let her have the medicine." Alden said.

    "By the way, who were the team members that you went with?" Aric asked at the end. Aric mentioned the team name and the members. Aric nodded at it and went to his room, bolting the door.

    Alden was confused of what just happened. Aric had asked a bunch of questions and just left. He didn''t even tell him to repay the favor or anything of that sort. Aric was back at his home and and lying on his bed as his brain had started working of what his next step would be.

    <hr>

    "Mom, I will be going out today to play."

    "Play? So early morning. Where are you going to play?"

    "I thought of joining a cricket coaching center."

    "Cricket? Don''t they need to be paid?"

    "I have the money saved from the birthday and what my grandparents gave me over the months. They have a month long schedule and an exam at the end."

    "Did you tell your father?"

    "No. You can tell him. This is a month long event so I will not be hampering my studies. After my results I think I need a break."

    "Fine. But it shouldn''t spill on your school session."

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    "I promise. I just want to see if I have any talent in cricket."

    With that conversation between Aric and his mother, he left the home. His father was already at the farm so he didn''t get to see him. Of course, this was a lie. There was a cricket coaching event but he wouldn''t be joining it. He was back at his home in Distant Wind city early morning.

    When he came out of the room, he saw Alden missing and was glad that he left. He needed his own privacy. The first thing he did was resupply the stocks and that needed to be provided to the two shops. Few days ago, Albert had come forward with a new business deal saying that one bar had approached him if they could buy from Albert in some wholesale rate.

    Aric wanted to refuse as he felt that he was expanding too fast. But Albert promised him that the bar was a good friend of his and this would be the only bar he would make the deal with and never with others. Aric had a feeling that it might create a friction with the other bars and taverns of the city, but it shouldn''t be that much of a problem.

    He would leave in a year or so to settle in a new city. A bigger city.

    So he allowed for a bit more sale in the city to the bakery and the bar. After arranging the things around, he left his home to go to the Adventure Guild. On each city there would one tavern-cum-Adventure Guild where one would put up missions and there would be warriors and mages who would complete missions that were put up in the bulletin board.

    As he took turns and reached the place he saw the weathered wooden door of the tavern. Above it hung a swinging sign depicting a sword crossed with a tankardˇŞan unmistakable symbol of the Adventure Guild. The faint sounds of laughter, clinking glasses, and muffled conversations seeped through the thick wood.

    The tavern greeted him with a burst of warmth and noise. The air was thick with the scent of roasting meat, spilled ale, and the tang of burning wood from the large hearth crackling in the corner. The walls were adorned with trophies from past adventures: a huge bison''s skull, a framed map marked with perilous locations, and a glittering array of weapons and shields.

    In the corner, behind a sturdy oak counter, stood the managerˇŞa burly man with a thick beard and a scar running down one cheek. Despite his intimidating appearance, there was a glint of warmth and kindness in his eyes as Aric approached.

    "Good day, sir," Aric began. "I''m here to register as a bell boy for the guild."

    The manager looked him up and down, assessing. "Aye, lad. You''ve got the look of someone eager to prove himself. What''s your name?"

    "Aric, sir. I live on rent here in the city. Uncle Albert of the Brewood bakery is my guardian."

    The manager nodded and pulled out a large, leather-bound ledger from beneath the counter. He flipped it open to a blank page and dipped a quill into an inkwell. "Aric. Age?"

    "Thirteen, sir."

    "Thirteen," the manager repeated, jotting it down. "You understand what a bell boy does? It''s hard workˇŞcarrying gear, helping with preparations, running errands. It''s not glamorous, but it''s where many start."

    "Yes, sir. I understand. I''m ready to work hard."

    The manager''s stern expression softened a bit. "Good lad. We all start somewhere. Welcome to the guild." He reached out a hand, and Aric shook it firmly, feeling the calloused strength in the manager''s grip.

    "Coincidently, there is a one team who has asked for a bell boy tomorrow morning. Are you up for it?" The manager said.

 52. It came full circle

    "What is the mission about?" Aric asked.

    "They are going to hunt some wild Eclipsian Hyenas that had shown up in the forest. There is no particular mission about this in the bulletin board and they will be doing the Adventure Guild a favor. So you will not recieve the coins upfront and it will depend upon your work and their attitude. In normal circumstances, I wouldn''t tell any bell boy to take this task because they were risky and the payment won''t be good enough. But you are new and if you take this job, your name will be written on the books as flexible. This helps in acquiring subsequent teams as they look for someone who is ready to help them and not always hungry for money since these teams don''t like bell boys who are a burden."

    "But my first mission will be dangerous since they are taking the mission suo moto." Aric said.

    "Yes, that maybe true but they will work their best to safeguard you. The bell boys don''t have enough power but in this age, every bell boy will see if the team before had any problems with the bell boys before. Even if they leave the city and go elsewhere that is still in the books. And thus if they treat a bell boy bad or a bell boy die, they will be marked in red and no other bell boy would ever join them. They might not have the power but they have the power to refuse work. The team in the previous mission brought back an injured bell boy and he was sent to the hospital, and thus if another bell boy comes back injured they will be marked in red." The manager patiently explained the Aric.

    Hearing the last few sentences actually made him double take because this story aligned with the other story he knew. He thought for a few minutes and then decided to take up on this mission. the manager had a big smile on his face when Aric decided to take on the mission and thus registered him for the next day.

    "You need to show up tomorrow at 9 am and this mission might take a couple of days as that was length of mission they had asked for." The manager said, to which Aric accepted. He would need to do some preparation for the mission tomorrow.

    There was a reason why Aric had decided to be the bell boy. He would soon have to leave for school and before that he needed to have some real world experience. In order to achieve that, being the bell boy would be the best course of action since he couldn''t register himself as a warrior or a mage.

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    Warriors were nothing but men who knew some fancy moves from swordsmanship, archery and hand to hand combat. And like mages they too had schools but it was mostly for those who had talents unacceptable to be a mage. The warrior path allowed them to stand up for themselves in the wild and not be under the mercy of nature.

    That was the reason why the runesmiths was a profitable profession was because of these warriors. Of course the mages also needed their enchanted instruments but he presence of warriors made runesmiths of who had lost hope of being an Acolyte still have the dream of having a good life with their below Acolyte tier enchantments.

    Aric went back to his home as there more work left. The manager had also sent his staff for confirmation from Albert if what he said was true. Aric went home of Earth after this and only returned to Distant Wind at night and what surprised him was that Alden was here again, with food on the table for him.

    "Why are you back?" Aric was genuinely confused seeing Alden with the food being prepared.

    "Uh.. Sir.. I thought you will need dinner after coming back late at night." Alden''s soul almost left his body when he heard Aric speak out of nowhere. Why did this man always used magic to return home. Couldn''t he just enter his own home like a civilized human being?

    "I have already had my dinner and you don''t need to cook for me. How is your sister?" Aric asked. Alden actually also felt guilty as he thought Aric had some bad thoughts about his sister, he had seen men like that who only thought through their genitals and his world view was very skewed.

    While returning home in the morning, he actually took turns and always looked over his shoulder as he felt that Aric would follow him. He knew that this was probably futile against an Acolyte, it didn''t hurt him to take measures.

    Later when he saw that he had thought too much, he felt bad and thus returned to Aric''s place to pay him and cooking was the only way he could pay him back since this brick wall of a man wouldn''t want anything from him.

    "She is recovering thanks to you. I have fed her the potion." Alden said and for the first time Aric could see a happy face on him.

    "You did the work of bell boy and earned it." Aric shook his head and said.

    "You saved my life and thus I will always be indebted to you." Alden said.

    "Don''t always take a life savior to be some kind of God. They might just save you in order to use you later." Aric dished out a lesson for this young boy who seemed to be fixated on him. Alden didn''t know how he should answer the words of Aric and could only nod.

    "What is your aim in life?" Aric was an introvert in his previous life so it was quite awkward for him to engage in meaningful and healthy conversations, so he asked the most basic question he could.

    "I want to have enough to provide for myself and my sister." Alden didn''t hesitate at all when he said that.

 53. Oh you are naive

    Aric was expecting some kind of grand answers, but then he remembered that the children born in poverty didn''t have any kind of grand ambitions. Those who had them would first get out of poverty, and only then could they have the mental strength to go forward and give themselves a wonderful life.

    "Do you know how to read and write?" Aric asked.

    "Uh.. My father taught me how to read and write and also numbers." Alden was embarrassed but also proud of it. Children his age were never taught much, and most of them didn''t even know how to read and write; only the rich ones were taught privately.

    "Bring your sister when I tell you to. I will tutor you and your sister," Aric said. In his previous life, he always wanted to teach some young kids. He never got the opportunity to do so, but here he might be able to fulfill some of his fantasies. In his previous life, he never had any grand plans.

    He wanted to live a stable life. This time, he had thrown those thoughts out the window, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t slow down. This was his time to slow down and even help these children. It was probably because a small part of Aric felt bad for killing so many people. They might have deserved death, but that didn''t mean it was 100% alright to be the one who swung the sword or, in this case, pulled the trigger.

    Giving back to society was his penance.

    Alden was flabbergasted when Aric said that. An Acolyte actually wanted to teach him? But why? He had never received anything in life for free, so he felt like Aric must have other motivations. Aric could see his thoughts and thus said,

    "It''s not free. Every day, you will have to take care of the home and cleanliness. And sometimes I might ask you for food, which of course I will pay for. You can move in with your sister if you want or not, and you will only receive 1 silver coin per month. I will be here for a maximum of two years if everything goes right and maybe less if I get opportunities out of the city, which frankly has a very high chance of happening," Aric said.

    Alden''s mind was overloading at this point. This person was going to teach him, provide food, and give him security, and in return, he would even be paid for this. What the hell kind of deal was this? Aric, meanwhile, didn''t think it was such a big deal. He had seen maids working at his home, and they were paid.

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    And thus, in his mind, Alden was getting a good deal. Alden wanted to refuse but realized that refusing an Acolyte would be an insult. He readily agreed to this new arrangement. Aric didn''t bother Alden anymore and went to his home after bolting the door, while Alden decided to just sleep on the couch.

    While lying on the couch, he decided to show his appreciation to Aric by moving in with his sister. She would have a good shelter and not shiver in the cold outside. This was a big home, and his sister could even help him.

    Alden dozed off to sleep on the couch with a small smile on his face.

    <hr>

    Aric returned the next morning and showed up at the tavern right on time. Aric didn''t have to wait long when the manager introduced him to the individuals he needed to be the bell boy for. As Aric expected, they were the same names Alden had spoken of before.

    "The manager said that you are a new bell boy. Do you understand the rules?" Roderic asked, looking at Aric with skeptical eyes. He had never seen such a healthy boy working as a bell boy before. One could easily see that Aric seemed a bit well-off for a bell boy.

    He had heard many times that children like Aric would be sent to be bell boys from rich families. They did so in order to put their children into shape and understand the harsh world. Though it was a very rare occurrence, it did happen. Roderic wasn''t happy about this, since it meant he needed to be very careful with this child.

    He couldn''t just treat him like the other kid a few days ago, though he never showed it on his face. Lyria and Elowen both seemed happy.

    "Yes sir, I have read the rules. My name is Aric, and I have experience in jungle survival. I have even saved myself from a magical boar before. You don''t have to worry. I will follow your instructions," Aric replied with glee in his voice, showing the best poker face he could gather.

    "Strange accent you got there. I am Roderic, the warrior and the leader of the group. This is Lyria, our markswoman, and she is the water mage Elowen. Our mission this time is to kill the Eclipsian Hyenas," Roderic said while introducing everyone. Aric seemed excited about being the bell boy, and the more he acted like that, the more he could see that the three individuals started treating him like an overexcited kid.

    Play the sheep.

    Aric gave them a goofy smile and thus, without further wasting time, they left for the forest. The path toward the forest wasn''t filled with any adventure. Aric had seen this kind of forest before and thus wasn''t awed by the variety of colors. But he did get to see Lyria at her prime. She was able to kill two wild magical hares with two arrows alone.

    "Our food," Lyria said while handing him the dead bodies of Aric. Aric promptly put them inside the rucksack-like bag that he was carrying. Aric He followed them for like 2 hours before they finally arrived at the place where they had confronted the hyenas. Lyria climbed up a nearby tall tree to survey the terrain while the other took a hidden position where their back was against a giant tree.

 54. This seems easy

    Aric watched as Lyria ascended the tree with nimble precision. Roderic''s eyes scanned the area, ever vigilant, while Elowen just looked behind, making sure there was no ambush. Minutes felt like hours as they waited for Lyria''s signal. The forest around them was eerily quiet, the usual chirping of birds and rustling of leaves absent.

    Lyria descended swiftly, her face serious.

    "The trails lead towards the East," Lyria said.

    "Alright, here''s the plan. Aric, you stay close but out of immediate danger. Your job is to carry supplies and assist if needed, but don''t engage unless absolutely necessary. Lyria, you take the high ground and provide cover. Elowen, be ready to support with your magic," Roderic said.

    Aric felt a bit of excitement, not because he feared for his life, but because he would come across the magical animals once again. He kept his face calm, playing the role of the obedient bell boy. The group moved silently through the forest, each step calculated to avoid making noise.

    They walked for a long time before they saw the bloody carcass of a deer. The deer didn''t look magical and was just an average deer, or maybe for Aric, he wasn''t knowledgeable enough. Roderic investigated the carcass for a bit and then continued on their path. Now the trails were fresher, and it would be easier to follow them. Lyria was the one to lead the group, and her sharp eyes were better than anyone''s.

    Soon they could hear some rustles. It didn''t take a huge amount of thinking to realize their prey was near.

    "Alright, here''s the plan. Aric, you stay close but out of immediate danger. We don''t want anything to happen to you. Use the knife if they come close. Others, you know what to do."

    With a deep breath, Roderic stepped forward, drawing his sword. The clearing came into view, and Aric could see the hyenasˇŞlarger and more fearsome than he had imagined. Their eyes glowed with a malevolent light, and their fur bristled in the wind.

    Roderic raised his sword high, and with a battle cry, charged into the clearing. The hyenas snarled and turned to face the new threat, but Lyria was quicker. Her arrows flew with deadly precision, striking two hyenas before they could react. Elowen muttered under her breath, and a stream of water shot from her hands, striking another hyena and sending it sprawling.

    The hyenas were not to be trifled with either. Just like humans, these magical animals knew how to attack using magic. Each of them could move faster than humans, were more intelligent than normal hyenas, and could use wind magic, which was basically sending wind blades through the mouth.

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    But the name Eclipsian wasn''t for show. It meant that they were quite powerful at night, and it was just an hour past afternoon. So these hyenas weren''t at their 100%. The confrontation was quite brutal as the three worked in perfect sync with each other. Once they knew that their prey were these hyenas, they asked for enhancements on their weapons made to kill these hyenas.

    These hyenas were incredibly weak to fire, and since they didn''t have a fire mage, they put temporary runes on the arrows and the sword of Roderic. These runes would last for a day before getting wiped away due to the low quality of ink being used on the runes. Thus, each hit by Roderic and Lyria was so efficient unlike last time.

    One of the hyenas noticed Aric and lunged at him from the side only to be sent hurtling away by a huge water bullet by Elowen.

    "Thank... Thank you..." Aric said, to which Elowen just smiled like a very kind lady.

    This went on for 5 minutes more before the three of them took all the hyenas down. The open grassland was now filled with streaks of blood and gave off a bad smell, to which Aric could only cover his nose to get away from. This made the three of them laugh.

    "You need to get used to this smell, Aric, if you want to survive the forest," Lyria said with a cold voice. Aric nodded and didn''t use his hand anymore as he didn''t need to, because his nano armor had already worked its magic and made sure that Aric wasn''t bothered by the smell. It couldn''t exactly filter the air, but it definitely made Aric''s experience pleasant.

    For Aric, it felt like he was smelling wildflowers in the forest. With the help of a communicator, one could even customize the smell.

    "We need to move fast," Elowen reminded. They immediately started to clean the battlefield. The eyes of Eclipsian Hyenas fetched a good amount of money, and thus they couldn''t let go of it. The meat was poisonous, and thus the rest of the body wasn''t very helpful for any kind of products. Roderic was swift with his work and filled his bag with as many eyeballs as possible, and then the whole group moved to a more secure place away from the battlefield. The smell of the dead hyenas would definitely bring many scavengers, and thus they needed to be out of this place.

    Aric was reminded of his work and he started to arrange the things around for cooking. He had brought the utensils and dry sticks, which weren''t hard to find.

    Lyria helped him skin the hare and also showed him the way. Though Aric tried, he wasn''t able to do so easily with the other one. This made the other two laugh and also made them think that this child was probably from a rich family as the children of the poor knew such nifty trades.

    Aric was someone raised with at least a silver spoon in his mouth, and thus they were being very civil to him and even threw bits of compliments here and there. Aric noticed this while he was cooking for them, and he acted as if he was very happy to receive the small flattery.

    And honestly speaking, when Aric was done with the meat and served them, they were genuinely impressed. Aric had brought some spices and a small bottle of oil from Echorysia, and this was enough to make the meat very savory.

 55. The game is on

    "You learned cooking or something. You will have to teach me after we get back," Elowen said.

    "Uh... My parents showed me how to cook proper meat. So I can only teach what my parents taught me."

    "Your parents must be very wealthy to even teach you cooking at such an early age," Roderic poked and asked.

    "Uh... They are not that rich. I just love cooking and asked my mother to teach me," Aric said.

    "That is the best thing one could learn at such an early age. Good food will always make warriors and mages powerful alike."

    "And archers too," Lyria reminded him.

    "Yes... Them too... Hahaha..." Roderic was laughing and having a jolly time, and so did the others.

    After the hearty lunch, Aric started to gather the things around carefully and put them in the bag. He had also helped Roderic before with the eyeballs, and he gave him some good advice surrounding their physiology.

    Or any physiology of a magical animal in general. He also spoke of the mana cores these animals might have. Some have them and some not, it all depended on luck. Only the ones who had crossed the Acolyte stage would have mana cores for sure.

    "Roderic, let''s start finding our supposed treasure," Lyria said after everything was done and dusted. Aric was confused, and this was where Roderic explained the reason for undertaking this mission. They had been adventuring for quite some time, and thus by now they were experienced. They speculated that since these hyenas were out of their ''comfort'' zone, it must mean that these animals had found something worth protecting.

    Remember when I said that these animals were intelligent? Yes, that.

    They started looking for any treasure that could be nearby, most probably some kind of plant. Aric was fascinated by this theory and he too joined them in the search. Since they had a lot of ground to cover, each of them separated.

    Roderic wanted Aric to be with Elowen, but Aric refused, saying that he wanted to contribute. Roderic in the end reluctantly agreed even though he was a bit iffy about it.

    "Here is your whistle. If you find yourself in a dangerous situation, blow on it. Most of the time the whistle scares many magical animals away, but the hungry and carnivorous ones won''t, so don''t think you can be brave and fight them. This whistle is also for any treasure if you find it," Roderic warned Aric heavily, and Aric seemed to put everything in his ears and mind and nodded.

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    After separating, Aric walked off in one of the directions searching for the treasure. They weren''t that far from the slaughtered hyenas, and thus the treasure shouldn''t be far. Once Aric was far away from them, he checked his communicator.

    A holographic 3D image showed up. The 3D real-time image was of the terrain he was standing on. His body was shown in purple, while he could also see three red images of humans moving. One image was a bit cold, but it was a human for sure.

    This was the thermal vision that was taken in real-time, thanks to four deadly drones high up in the air. Yup, Aric wasn''t here like a man without any weapon. The previous night he had bought four drones that could shoot from high up in the air and could automatically follow the controller without any sort of prompts.

    These drones were made to safeguard the controller and were quite common for adventurers in the universe. These drones were deadly with 200 plasma rounds that could shoot up to a kilometer. These drones were silent, and one could never see them either because these drones were made with reflective and refractive panels.

    These drones had been following him and monitoring around Aric since the time he had got out of his home, and that was the reason why he was never stressed about the fact that he was in a dangerous situation.

    Though he did feel it might be dangerous if he came across an Acolyte-level magical animal, but according to Gopher, there were very few of them and they lived much deeper into the forest. So Aric was safe, and if he was really in danger, he could always move away.

    He climbed up a tree and sat on a thick branch, thanks to his nano armor giving him grip like no other, and just started to look at everything around. The camera could pick all kinds of lights, including ultraviolet and infrared, so the drones were great for reconnaissance and scouting.

    Leaving two drones, he ordered the three drones to search for anything unusual. He wasn''t very hopeful of finding anything and thus just enjoyed the fresh air and started reading one of the books he had downloaded from the internet.

    But as he was reading, he suddenly got a notification.

    "... Found a cave on the small mountain 850 meters away in the southeast direction. The ultraviolet camera picked up activity... Proceed with caution..."

    "What the..." Aric was surprised that there had been a response and thus he ordered the drone to do a more close survey and soon the camera picked up thermal imaging. From what he could see from the thermal image, there was an animal inside.

    It was a hyena from what he could figure out, but from the size of it in his hologram, Aric was willing to bet that this hyena wasn''t just an ordinary one. The hyena''s ears suddenly became erect and it opened its mouth.

    Without any sort of warning, it attacked the drone with a wind blade. The drone''s defensive mechanism came into action and it swirled away, dodging the attack.

    "Fuck. That drone cost me 150,000 Sora credits," Aric thought and ordered the drone to fly high again. Surprisingly, the hyena didn''t come out, not even growled at what just happened. Aric didn''t waste time as he ran towards the cave while asking the other drone to converge on his location.

    The game was far from over.

 56. You work while I watch

    Roderic was busy handling a wild boar with his sword when he heard the whistle.

    "That bastard. I told him not to go far." Roderic was very annoyed because he knew for sure where the whistle came from. The whistles of each of them had a small distance tracking feature. The whistle had an indicator to point out the location of the other whistle that had been blown. It was for each of them.

    Like Roderic, the other two were made aware and they also heard the noise. They hurriedly left their search and went to save Aric, and it didn''t take more than two minutes to arrive. When they did, they found Aric at the top of a thick branch looking at the cave that was many meters away through the thick bushes and foliage.

    "Aric..." Lyria shouted, but before she could speak another word, Aric put a finger to his mouth. This made the other two, who had almost arrived on time, straighten up. His one indication was enough to understand that the huge cave he was keeping a watchful eye on had some kind of secrets.

    Aric descended softly, knowing the group would demand some answers.

    "Sorry... I had to call you. I came here and saw a huge Eclipsian Hyena enter that cave. I didn''t see any other hyenas nearby, so I presume this is where the hyena is hiding or the previous ones were protecting..." Aric explained what he had seen as vividly as he could from the images he had received before.

    This made the whole group of three alert.

    "Lyria, get closer and then tell me the situation. Aric, you have done well, but now you need to step back," Elowen said. This time, it was easy to see that she took over the command. She also directed what needed to be done before they confronted what they thought was an Acolyte.

    In normal situations, it would have been suicide, but they came with the mindset that they might have to face an Acolyte-grade Eclipsian Hyena. The Acolyte grades were pretty rare in this part of the city as the mana concentration was very poor.

    Thus, before taking up the same mission again, they had taken every kind of precaution and all the required ammunition to take down an Acolyte-grade animal.

    In fact, when they decided to take this mission, they had very little hope of encountering an Acolyte-grade Eclipsian Hyena because they were animals that roamed in groups. Having such an animal alone was like praying for rain in a desert. When they took down the hyenas before, they thought they had overestimated and over-calculated their experience.

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    But miraculously, it turned out the way they wanted it to. They even found the hyena inside a cave. They couldn''t ask for a better ambush position than this. Hearing the command, Aric didn''t hesitate at all and decided to step back a few steps.

    "I will wait for you. Best of regards," Aric said. Elowen just smiled at him, but it was momentary as she started preparing to set up the ambush as discreetly as possible.

    Aric stepped back and went into hiding by climbing a tree and also keeping an eye on the whole situation from above using the drones. He didn''t need to put his own life in any kind of danger. Sun was still an hour away from sunset and thus the light was abundant.

    Aric could see from the communicator that the three of them put some round objects on the place around the cave. Each of the objects they put on the ground were tired to each and every single one of them. From what he could guess, it was some kind of magical bomb or could even be a mechanical bomb. He had never heard of guns in this place and thus he wasn''t sure and was more inclined to be a magical bomb.

    These round objects weren''t the only things they placed. They distributed a tony of other things around the place which included pointy metals like the shurikens but they were bigger in size and they struck to the ground. Lyria also threw a large pack of some unknown object quite near the cave.

    After preparing everything, they stepped back and also put a cloth mask above their nose. Seeing that Aric also prompted his armor to put a mask on his nose. He had a feeling that these people had used some kind of aerosol poison in order to ambush, and Ari wasn''t wrong.

    From what he saw Lyria was the first to launch arrows at the cave after dipping the arrows in some kind of purple liquid. The first shot didn''t bore any kind of reaction, but the second one did. Aric, even from his far off location could hear a cackle from distance and the drones picked them up too.

    The cackle echoed through the forest, a sound that sent a shiver down Aric''s spine. The dense foliage around the cave rustled violently as the creature made its way towards the entrance, a shadowy figure emerging from the darkness.

    Elowen signaled to Lyria and Roderic, each of them taking their positions, ready for the confrontation. The plan was simple: draw the hyena out, weaken it with the poison-tipped arrows, and then use the traps and bombs to finish it off.

    The hyena finally stepped into the open, its massive form illuminated by the fading sunlight. Its fur was a deep, unnatural black, with patches of shimmering silver that marked its Acolyte-grade status. Its eyes glowed a malevolent red, and it snarled, baring its razor-sharp teeth.

    Lyria released another arrow, this one finding its mark in the hyena''s shoulder. The creature howled in pain, but the poison began to work almost immediately, slowing its movements.

    "Now!" Elowen commanded.

    Roderic activated the bombs with a flick of his wrist. As expected, they were simple devices, filled with volatile magical substances, and they exploded in a brilliant flash of light and sound. The ground shook, and the air was filled with the acrid smell.

 57. I am a brave warrior

    The Eclipsian Hyena roared in agony, but it wasn''t done yet. It lunged forward with surprising speed, its claws tearing through the air towards Elowen. She barely managed to dodge, rolling to the side and then sent water bullets hurtling towards the animal. Lyria and Roderic closed in, their weapons ready.

    Lyria also had a weapon, but it wasn''t a huge sword like Roderic''s; it was more of a slim one like a katana, though not quite that length. The hyena, now visibly weakened but still dangerously strong, snapped its jaws at Lyria. She rolled again, this time conjuring a water wall in front of her, which seemed to be reflective and actually managed to stop the attack for a second.

    Even though the hyena was injured, it didn''t take much for an animal like it to tear through the water wall. It showed the huge difference between an Acolyte and a non-graded mage.

    But that was enough time for Roderic and Lyria to make their move. Roderic slashed at its hind legs. The hyena staggered, blood pouring from its wounds.

    Lyria moved in for the kill. Her knife sword was blue with poison, and she proceeded to stab the beast in the side abdomen. This made the beast snarl in pain and look at Lyria with the vilest and meanest eyes she had ever seen. The next thing she knew, she was struck in her belly with a swipe of its fangs.

    Blood splattered everywhere, and she was hurled back.

    "LYRIA!! ... You vile beast!" Roderic shouted and swung his sword with full force, only to be parried by the hyena. It then butted its head into Roderic, sending him flying. It all happened in a second, and then the hyena turned to Elowen.

    But the beast was not ready when it felt the water bullets hit its eyes. The water bullets were laced with the same poison that Lyria had used. The beast snarled in anger and started moving randomly to throw off the poison that had struck its eyes. At times, it even came close to Elowen, nearly stomping her under its paws, but Elowen dodged and just waited for the poison and the magical bombs to take effect.

    And they did.

    After four minutes of struggle, the intensity of the hyena''s movements dropped, and it took another minute for its body to stop completely and fall to the ground. The hyena''s breath didn''t last long, and only after Elowen felt certain the beast was dead did she go to help Lyria and Roderic.

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    Lyria had lost a lot of blood, and her wounds were bad, so Elowen started genuinely helping her, unlike the superficial help she had provided to Alden in the previous mission. The blood didn''t stop but it slow down and she immediately put a huge bandage on the whole abdomen.

    She also moved towards Roderic, who had also lost consciousness, and started treating him for the internal injuries she was sure he had received. Elowen called upon Aric for help, as she needed their bodies to be positioned correctly and attended to with other necessary tasks. The whistle played its part again, and Aric came once it was blown.

    He gave a very fake look of horror and asked what had happened, only to be told to follow her instructions and that explanations could wait. Aric didn''t need one, as he had seen the whole battle live with the help of drones. He didn''t feel a tinge of pity nor any guilt for not helping them.

    He had seen how the beast had fought and felt that even with his nano armor, he would have been hurled aside. Though he might not have been injured, he definitely wouldn''t have been able to injure the beast with his fists alone. Maybe the guns he had carried would be of some use, but he needed to be fast, and from the beast''s moves, he felt he might not have been able to.

    Seeing the first Acolyte beast made Aric realize that having big guns didn''t place him high on the food chain. Speed also mattered. He wondered how a human Acolyte fared in reality and thought maybe Gopher could shed some light on it.

    "Aric, bandage Lyria tightly. They can''t move now, and it will be horrible for them if they do. Build me a stretcher, and tomorrow morning we''ll be leaving for the city," Elowen said as she continued healing Lyria and Roderic in intervals.

    "I will go out and bring some food for the night," Aric said.

    "Will you be safe?" Elowen hesitated, as the forest wasn''t very safe, but they needed food for the night and couldn''t eat the meat of the hyena they had just slaughtered.

    "Don''t worry. I may be new to this, but I know how to react to dangerous situations," Aric said, reminding Elowen of how he had been able to locate the hyena.

    "Go and come back fast. If there''s any danger, blow the whistle," Elowen said, as whatever Aric said was correct. Aric gave a smile and vanished into the forest. Of course, he wasn''t foolish enough to search for meat. He went back to Echorysia and ordered meat from the storage unit.

    Since it was an interstellar civilization, all kinds of meat were available, including just-skinned meat. He ordered a large chicken, and it only took twenty minutes to arrive. After paying for the meat, he went back to the forest and slowly walked towards the cave.

    When he showed his face, he saw Elowen holding Roderic''s sword pointed in his direction. She only lowered the sword when she recognized Aric.

    "It''s me, Aric," Aric said, holding his hands high.

    "I never take chances," was Elowen''s reply. Aric didn''t complain, as he could tell she was in a very bad mood and didn''t want to talk. He promptly started preparing the meat while Elowen watched over the two unconscious teammates. From the corner of her eye, she saw Aric bringing out the skinned body of a bird.

 58. We shared love and blood

    Aric had also not forgotten to go back home in his own world. When he had gone in search of ''treasures and exotic materials,'' he had returned home to eat, thus making sure that his parents didn''t shout at him later for not showing up. At night, too, he had shown up for dinner. His parents weren''t big fans of what they perceived as isolation from Aric, but they could only chalk it up to exhaustion from practice.

    Aric also spoke of the body pain he was experiencing as he was exercising for the first time, which was a valid explanation, as the first-time body exercise did bring immense body pain for a few days. After Aric was back at the cave, he started cooking the meat, and the delicious smell of the roasted chicken wafted and filled the entire cave.

    Elowen, who had been cold all this time, couldn''t help but side-eye the roasted chicken, and a part of her was happy that she would be able to eat this roasted ''bird'' and not have to share. The smell wouldn''t attract anyone, as the cave, the home of the dead Acolyte hyena, was enough to keep any animal off their trail.

    Soon the chicken was ready to eat, and Elowen didn''t waste a second chomping down on the chicken breasts. Aric took small bites as he wasn''t hungry at all. He looked at the unconscious duo on the ground and couldn''t help but feel pity for them.

    "That beast was very powerful... I should have tried to help you," Aric spoke in order to show his remorse.

    "No. We are lucky to be even alive after what had happened," Elowen said.

    "Huh? But it seemed powerful." Aric was confused.

    "Hyenas aren''t known for living alone. When we arrived, the hyena had already spotted us but didn''t attack, which meant that the Eclipsian Hyena was either sick, wounded, or pregnant. There was another possibility that it was protecting something. If it was protecting some kind of exotic plant or fruit, it would have never let us set up an ambush. But it did, which meant that the beast wasn''t protecting any precious material. If it was protecting, it would never run after us, and thus we knew that this Hyena wasn''t at its full power. The actions of the Hyena made us believe that it was gravely injured or pregnant, which it was, but we just overestimated our ability," Elowen said.

    "You mean to say that the Eclipsian Hyena wasn''t even at its full power?" Aric got the gist of what Elowen was saying. Elowen just nodded her head in approval.

    "Fuck," Aric could only grasp under his breath. He had just seen a Hyena make food out of these powerful individuals, and that was not even the full power of the beast. This world was dangerous. More than he thought. If an Acolyte was that powerful, how would the higher levels be?

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    Aric was contemplating what he had seen and decided that after returning, he would closely analyze every single aspect of what had gone down today. He was fiddling with his chicken and taking small bites when he heard an alarm.

    "Intruder alert...

    Intruder alert...

    Three men and one woman approaching the cave. Two carrying cold weapons... Appear hostile. Please proceed with caution...

    Intruder alert"

    Aric became instantly vigilant when he heard that. The notification came into his ears as he had put his communicator in silent mode. But he didn''t alert Elowen at all. He waited, and soon he heard some noise from the bushes and trees.

    Elowen went on alert immediately while Aric pulled out a knife as they looked into the darkness of the night, illuminated by nothing but the stars in the sky.

    "Well... well... look who we have here... the bitch Elowen and her little band of misfits," a man spoke. Aric could finally see the man; he had a cut across his face that seemed like a claw mark and was scarred very badly. Surprisingly, his nose and eyes were intact, but the sight of him would make anyone think twice before confronting him.

    He stood more than 6 feet tall, was quite burly, and had glistening muscles. He was followed by two other men, each of lesser height than the scarred man, and also a woman who looked like an archer.

    "George... get the fuck away from here," Elowen spoke in the coldest voice possible.

    "Now... now... that''s not how you greet your old teammates, is it? After all, we shared love and even blood," George said as he pointed his finger at the claw mark. A few years ago, Elowen was in George''s team, and she was highly valued because she was a mage, though a budding new mage, still a mage nonetheless.

    To ensure that she was always safeguarded, she was able to get into George''s pants. And George genuinely thought that they were in love, until one day his team was besieged by a powerful Mystara leopard in the forest. Though the beast wasn''t an Acolyte, it wasn''t far from it.

    It was able to take down five of his team and was ready to take down Elowen and George. The beast was on its last straw, and thus it would have been easier if George and Elowen banded together and killed the ferocious monstrosity. But then she betrayed him, left him to die, and ran off.

    George was both emotionally and physically hurt. He got a scar on his face, and a chunk of meat was taken away from his thigh, which still feels sore sometimes. He was able to take down the beast and also heal himself. After that, he lodged a complaint at the Adventure Guild, which was not a shining example of a good legal system.

    It was his words vs. her words, and thus it ended with no resolution. He wanted to kill her, but Elowen had been able to escape his eyes all these years. But today, the smell of chicken brought him to this location.

    And he was glad that his new teammate had a special olfactory runic circle that enhanced the sense of smell by two times.

 59. I am innocent

    Elowen had an ugly look on her face as she wasn''t in the best of her shape to confront George. Since that day she had escaped she had always been finding ways to kill him too but somehow both of them never crossed paths and today she found herself in the same path for the first time and it didn''t look god for her.

    Elowen knew that there was no way she could easily get out of it and thus said.

    "George, I am sorry for what happened to you. But here you are alive and well. You even took the caraccas of the beast that day and was able to get quite a bit of coins. Can you just leave us alone?" Elowen said.

    "Hahahaha.. After all these years you finally admit that you left me to die and now have the audacity to say to leave you alone. I have prayed and waited for God to give me a chance to deliver retribution. I almost lost faith in God Aurelius, but I guess he delivered. He even made your team incapacitated. What more can I ask for?"

    "What do you want then?" Elowen said while gritting her teeth. If it was any other person she would have thrown herself into the hands of the opponents and slept her way out of it. But she knew how much George hated her. She would have to fight it out.

    "To drink your blood bitch." George roared as he jumped forward onto Elowen. Elowen had already been expecting the attack and made a defensive water screen in front of her. Aric was numb to all of this and went back in the cave to hid himself from this fight which he wasn''t a part of.

    He showed a coward and frightened expression. The other three individuals who came with George also surrounded Elowen. Elowen had a desperate look on her face as she confronted them.

    "You can''t kill me. This bell boy is the son of a rich businessman. If you kill me, he will speak about you to the Guild and you lose the license." Elowen screamed as he was about to be stabbed by the girl from the side.

    This made all of them stop and Aric''s eyes narrowed. Eveyrone looked at him as if he was some kind of item in a museum. He didn''t expect such bold words and assumption from Elowen at all.

    "No.. She is lying. I am just an ordinary bell boy.. This is my first day." Aric cried out in a frightened manner. But this small hesitation from George and others was all she needed as she took a dagger out of her ankle and thrust it straight at George''s heart.

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    George being the warrior he was he tried to dodge to the side but it was too late. The dagger went right through the side, into his abdomen. But the dagger didn''t George to act against this vile woman. He swung his heavy sword and it went towards her neck. Before she knew it, she felt the world was rotating in a slow speed before stopping.

    Everything happened so fast that the rest couldn''t even react. They ran to George and started helping him lay on the ground. The woman opened her bag and took a bottle of vial and some bandages.

    "I am so sorry Captain. It was a fault on my part."

    "Captain we are so sorry."

    George didn''t seem to mind at all and just allowed them to take care of him. Aric witnessed all of this with a fearful expression and just stood as far as possible from them.

    "This bitch really fooled me again." Though George was stabbed, it was not by much and it would be healed easily. "But we caught ourselves a dead Eclipsian Hyena. Hahahaha.. We will be rich." He said as he saw the dead body of the Hyena lying on the side.

    "Yes, Captain and then we will have a better life."

    "But Captain, we can''t bring the body of the animal to Distant Wind and will have to go other city to sell it." The woman said as she reminded that this mission was taken from the Distant Wind and if they went back with the dead body of this, they might be cross examined for the crime of killing a fellow adventurer.

    Killing was a crime in the empire, but it didn''t mean that it didn''t happen. This was a dog eat dog world so killing was more common here. The only way one could get away with killing was to make sure to remove evidences. And that was an easy part, until of course actual mages were involved.

    As the woman and the man tended to him, another man approached the two bodies lying down unconscious.

    "Tory, what are you doing?" The woman asked as she saw her team mate approaching the bodies.

    "Getting rid of them." Tory said and looked at George for approval to which George nodded. Aric was expecting this to happen but seeing how these people still followed through made him feel a bit emotional.

    Tory didn''t waste time to cut the necks of the two. Two of them flopped for a bit and Lyria even opened her eyes wide, but the loss of blood was too much to sustain her life. She passed away in a minute, making the whole cave filled with the smell of blood.

    "Now, what should we do about this youngling?" Tory said as he pointed his dagger at Aric, blood dripping from the blade one drop at a time.

    "I .. I am just a bell boy.. I am innocent. This is my first adventure. Please.. I will never speak of this.." Aric went on his knees and begged. He was frightened out of his wits.

    "Captain, he says that we should leave since he is innocent. Hahahah.. Didn''t you hear what your Captain said before? You belong to a rich family. If we let you go, you will use your family to get security and later snitch on us. We can''t let you do that. I am sorry but you will have to die." Tory said.

 60. I was not afraid at all

    "But... But... I told you that I am just an ordinary bell boy," Aric pleaded again. His face was filled with shock and fear. One could easily understand the fear of the young boy who had just come out for his first adventure.

    "What if you are? What if you are not?" Tory said as she slowly approached Aric, who was panicking with every step. In desperation, Aric went down to his knees and said,

    "Please... Spare me... I have a young brother and a sister to tend to at home. I just came out to feed my family. Please spare me. I beg you." Aric said with a voice croaking under his tears that had welled up in his eyes.

    "Tory... Just finish him off... His pleading is now becoming pathetic... A man should stand up to his fate," George, who was being tended to by the woman and the other man, said. He didn''t even have an ounce of mercy in his voice. He spoke as if Aric was some ant that needed to be swatted away.

    Tory, getting the support, quickened her pace and then pulled her hand backward to stab at Aric. But before she could thrust it at Aric, she fell face-first to the ground. And Tory wasn''t the only one. The other two, who were attending to George, did the same. If one noticed their heads, they would see a small circular burnt spot that allowed one to look through.

    George was the only one who was fine and looked dumbfounded. Aric, meanwhile, who was on his knees, got up and brushed off the nonexistent dirt on his knees. It was a self-cleaning nano suit, what did you expect?

    George didn''t understand what had happened and pulled his sheathed sword, looking around. He didn''t touch the bodies of his friends that lay dead because he knew they were dead. Their deaths didn''t seem to shake him at all, but the fact that he had not been assassinated yet with whatever that was did.

    "Who is it? Come out, you bastard... Killing someone from behind. What kind of coward are you?" George spilled out as he stood up instantly and looked at the open space outside the cave.

    "Well... Well... Killing people at this hour wasn''t on my bingo card today," Aric said from behind. These words made George more alert as he turned his eyes to look at Aric, expecting him to hold Tory''s dagger and thrust at him, but Aric looked immensely calm and collected, while being unarmed. This threw George off.

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    At first, watching the fear in Aric''s eyes, he didn''t consider him a threat at all. Then Aric spoke up, and his quick mind thought the youngling would want to seek revenge on him, but this wasn''t it either.

    There was just a cold look in his eyes. He had seen that look multiple times before because it was the same look he had seen in the mirror after Elowen had betrayed him years ago. He was a man of proper morality before, but the betrayal changed him fundamentally, and he had coped with it by becoming another version of Elowen herself.

    It didn''t take rocket science for George to understand that whoever had just killed his comrades with such sophistry was someone who worked with or was under Aric. Hell, he had seen multiple mages in his life and even a few Acolytes themselves, but he had never seen an attack where he didn''t even see an attack take place. It was faster than an arrow, and he couldn''t even find an arrow.

    The next moment, he threw the sword down and went on his knees himself. There was a look of fear in his eyes as he looked at Aric and said,

    "I am sorry... I am sorry that I didn''t recognize you and allowed my dead comrade to try to kill you. We just wanted to live our lives and tie up the loose ends here so that we are not prosecuted in any Adventure Guilds. If we are convicted in the future for killing a fellow adventurer, we will lose stars. Please understand my situation and give a leeway." George was begging when he said that, but his words didn''t reach Aric''s ears at all.

    "I thought you were all muscles and pride, but I was mistaken. You do have a little brain that is rough around the edges," Aric said, surprised that it didn''t take much time for George to understand his situation. The reason why the other three were dead was that the drones had already locked on their targets from the moment they had entered the cave. Only a command was needed, and it was easy to take them down since they were not even moving. George was again confused by Aric''s choice of words.

    Aric was particular about his words when he was in the magical world. He would never use modern words with them when he was around, but now that he was alone, he could choose the words that he was comfortable with.

    And this threw George off track because he didn''t understand him at all.

    "I am sorry... Please forgive me... Please.. Please tell your esteemed guard to spare us." George could only repeat his words. He thought Aric was rich and had actually Neophyte guards with him.

    "A man should stand up to his fate," Aric said as he slowly pulled out the gun from the side of his waist. George had never seen such equipment as Aric pointed the barrel at him. He was confused, and before he knew it, Aric pulled the trigger.

    Just like the others, he too died without comprehending what had killed him. The drones, which were invisibly hovering by, showed themselves for the first time. Aric felt like he was looking at his protective pets and even gave one of the drones a small pet.

    He had never been afraid of them when they had arrived, but he didn''t want any kind of confrontation. Because now he would have to cover up what he had done here. This was the hard part.

 61. What a saint

    Aric went into deep thought about what he needed to do to make himself look innocent. He couldn''t take the dead bodies of the new team to the other worlds because it would bring diseases and bacteria, which he had no idea about. After his initial scare, he had been careful about what he should bring along.

    He had tried it with insects, and that too only from the magical world to Echorysia, and then promptly killed the insect and later small animals like frogs. Taking dead bodies was a no-go for him. So he did what he could do best.

    His enhanced strength allowed him to easily put two bodies on his shoulders and take them a distance away from the cave. After coming a bit far, he started shoveling the ground with one of the instruments he had brought.

    Soon he had dug a 3-foot-deep hole and then proceeded to throw the bodies into the hole. He repeated the task for the other two bodies and then filled the plot again with the soil. The drones helped him illuminate the whole place. Of course, the light could attract attention, so he sent the other drones to work for him and make sure he would be alerted if a beast was coming for the light.

    The snow around would help him cover the tracks since it had started snowing again. Three feet deeply buried bodies weren''t that difficult to find and uncover, but the snow helped.

    After dealing with the dead bodies of George and his group, he went back to the cave and decided to fish out the mana core of the Eclipsian Hyena. He decided to return to the city tomorrow while making a drama out of it.

    <hr>

    "Yawn... I want to go to sleep... It''s so cold. Why do I have this shift?" one guard grumbled as he sat at the side of the gate of Distant Wind City. This wasn''t the same gate that Aric had passed through.

    "You have this shift because you puked after getting drunk on the leather shoes of the Captain," another guard said.

    "Shut up... Don''t remind me of that. I will never drink again," the first guard promised.

    "You just drank the day before yesterday, and your wife had to bring you back from the pub," the second guard said.

    "I drank because it was so cold and... Eh, who is that?" The first guard wanted to argue but then saw a young boy coming towards the gate, dragging a stretcher on the gravel roads covered with a bit of snow, revealing the black road beneath.

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    They were on alert, seeing the young man so early in the morning. Soon the boy arrived at the gate. He looked haggard and distraught, his face filled with dried tears threatening to turn into small streaks of ice. On his back, he carried a stretcher with one end on his shoulders and the other end dragging on the ground. On the stretcher was a man as pale as ice itself. One could see that the man''s eyelashes and hardly visible beard had frozen. His lips had turned blue, and one could easily tell that this person was either dead or close to it.

    "Can... Can anyone help this man... Can anyone... Please?" The boy said before he passed out on the street. This made the guards alert and struck a chord of empathy in their hearts. Both of the guards ran for the boy. One of them actually recognized the man on the stretcher, and it didn''t take long for the guards to bring both of them to the healer''s place.

    The adventurer was pronounced dead by the healer almost immediately after he was brought in, and the healer praised the bravery and determination of the boy for bringing the man in such a dire situation. Though he had failed to save him, the boy succeeded in returning with sheer will.

    The boy was now recuperating in the healer''s hall, suffering from a bit of cold. The healer said that the boy was lucky to get away with just a cold and not frozen toes and fingers. However, his deeds spread like wildfire in the city, and even in the early morning, some people came around and left well wishes.

    "Don''t gather around. Let him breathe. Leave him alone. When he awakes, I will inform you," the healer shouted, and only then did many curious individuals leave, downhearted. Only the manager of the Adventure Guild was allowed to be present, and the boy''s guardian was called.

    Albert came running in when he heard what had happened, ready to rain hell on the manager. But thankfully, by the time Albert arrived, the boy had woken up. Yes, it was Aric who had brought the body on a stretcher. He specifically kept the body heated until he arrived at the road, which was why the healer said that Aric was brave and determined.

    "Aric, you are awake. Thank God... What the hell were you thinking? What the hell happened out there?" Albert was alarmed and angry after seeing Aric in the healer''s bed. Aric was embarrassed as Albert asked the question. He could see the genuine care of Albert, which made him a bit ashamed of faking his condition.

    "Uncle Albert, I am well. You don''t have to worry," Aric said.

    "Nonsense. Tell me what happened," Albert demanded, and the manager, who was sitting nearby, was also curious to know how he was able to come back while there were no news of the others. Aric looked at the manager and then nodded.

    He then decided to say how there was mutual destruction between the Eclipsian Hyena and their team. The healer, who was nearby, also confirmed the scars of sharp nails on the body of Roderic.

 62. Hospitality wasnt on the cards

    "Manager, the only thing I could retrieve was this. I hope with this mana core, you can help the families of the deceased," Aric said as he fished out the mana core. From Elowen, Aric knew that this mana core was precious and would have fetched them 100 gold coins at least.

    100 gold coins was a huge sum of money for ordinary people. Another reason he produced the mana core was that if he had kept it, some greedy men might have targeted him. Though he wasn''t afraid of them, that didn''t mean he would invite trouble.

    The manager and Albert were flabbergasted when they saw the mana core. The manager''s eyes held appreciation as he looked at it, and he even asked them to use the mana core to pay the families.

    "You have surprised me. I will put your name in the top recommendation as the next bell boy," the manager said.

    "Killian, you will do no such thing. Aric is already traumatized, and there is no need for him to run headfirst into trouble," Albert intervened.

    "Albert, you can''t shelter this kid forever. He will have to open his wings and leave the nest one day. Besides, the boy needs the money," Killian said. That was the name of the manager of the Adventurer''s Guild.

    "What money?" Albert was confused, as he was sure that Aric was richer than Albert himself, so he didn''t understand why Aric would need money.

    "Ah, Uncle, what he means is that I need to go out too. Thank you, manager, for the recommendation. I won''t join for the next few days, and only when I am perfectly fit will I consider it," Aric said. Killian was happy to know this, but Albert was confused about what Killian meant by the money part. He was curious, but he didn''t ask Aric.

    He cared for Aric, and also because Aric was a cash cow in his eyes at the moment. He wouldn''t let anything happen to him. He should have understood before when Killian came for the inquiry of Aric. He would have stopped Aric from undertaking such a mission because there was no need for that.

    But the arrow had already left the bow, and he couldn''t stop Aric anyway.

    "Aric, are you sure that you want to use the mana core for the families of the deceased? From what I know, only Roderic had a dying mother, and none of them had a family registered under their names," Killian asked.

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    "I am positive," Aric said.

    "I am proud of you," Killian said. He himself was happy about the mana core because he would also receive a commission from the core. The healer then asked them to go out as she needed to check on Aric. She had eyes of appreciation when she looked at Aric. It was rare that a young man like him would have such strong morals.

    "You can go home, but you can''t move around. You need to get healthy first," the healer said after she performed what looked like magic. The healer was surprised that Aric had such a strong body and recovered within a matter of hours. Children of his age would take at least a day after going through such a traumatic experience.

    Aric nodded in approval while Albert promised to take him home and make sure that Aric was well-fed and looked after. Aric was soon discharged, but as soon as he walked out of the small ''hospital,'' he was met with people surrounding him and cheering for him. As usual, he was confused.

    "Did you really come through all of that snow early this morning?"

    "How did you battle the snow leopards?"

    "Did Roderic survive? What happened to him?"

    Aric didn''t know what was going on until Albert said that now Aric had become a local legend among the guards. Distant Wind had never seen anyone with such determination and will. And thus, his legend had spread a bit. Suffice to say, Aric was embarrassed because what he had done couldn''t be termed as heroic.

    It was just an act. Killian and Albert came forward to placate the small group of people and tell them that Aric was tired and needed rest, to which the people understood. Some even offered to take Aric in a horse carriage for free. Albert jumped at that offer before Aric could say no.

    Albert literally lifted Aric off the ground and took him inside the carriage that had just arrived. Killian refused to follow as he would have to deal with the mana core urgently. It left Albert and Aric alone in the carriage.

    "William, thanks for the ride," Albert hollered from inside the carriage to the man who was driving.

    "I was going home anyway, and once I was a bell boy too, so seeing someone performing such heroics made me very happy. Aric, if you have any problems or face any dire situations, you can always come to me," William said through the small window in the carriage. The carriage was quite spacious and airy. Though it was nothing like modern cars in terms of luxury, it was quite well put together and tidy.

    Aric had never seen such hospitality from a city, nor did he expect it. He was doing things to make sure that nothing came back to him and also to gain sympathy. Hospitality was not something he was expecting. He also could see that Albert genuinely cared for him.

    A part of it was driven by coins, for sure, but as a human being, he had shown enough empathy to Aric. Maybe it was time to popularize pizza. It wasn''t such a huge recipe anyway. William was interested to know what had happened, and Aric happily reiterated the story to him.

    William gave them a ride to get the juicy details from the source, and Aric could at least do that.

 63. Poking nose

    By the time they reached home, Aric was able to tell the story of what had happened. Albert had already listened once, but not in great detail. Aric knew that his words would twist and turn through the mouths of others, but that was enough as long as there were no stains on his name.

    He even spoke of the location so that people would go and see if what he said was true or not. After all, there should be frozen bodies thereˇŞunless the animals and magical beasts hadn''t gobbled up everything by now.

    William encouraged and praised Aric before leaving. Albert took Aric home by hand, as if Aric was some kind of doll and he would crumble at any given moment.

    "Uncle, you don''t have to be so careful. The healer said that I am fit to go home."

    "Shut up. I don''t even understand why you would want to be a bell boy. If you wanted experience, you could have hired any team and gone for an adventure. But you went as the bell boy. How stupid can you be?" Albert was reprimanding Aric when the door of his home opened, and out came a young boy. Albert hadn''t seen him before.

    "You never told me you have a brother," Albert asked, thinking the boy, who was Alden, was Aric''s brother. Alden, who had just arrived, was massively puzzled by the words of this man who had come holding onto Aric. He had seen Albert before because there were very few good bakeries in the city, and Albert''s bakery was now selling drinks that were apparently very good.

    "He is my long-lost brother whom I found," Aric said. He didn''t want to say that he had just picked Alden up one night and given him a place.

    "Oh. Hello. I have seen you around," Albert said, sure that he had seen Alden''s face before.

    "Yes, I was living on Down Street before big brother Aric here took me away and let me and my sister stay with him," Alden said. This made Aric laugh as he didn''t expect Alden to be so quick-witted, going along with Aric''s lie so fast.

    "Down Street? Hmm.. You have had a rough childhood. Good that you found your brother. I thought I would have to take care of you today, but since your brother and sister are here, you will be fine. Down Street boys are known to be the roughest and toughest," Albert said. He was baffled by the familial connections these two had but didn''t question it.

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    Aric was safely handed over to Alden, who took him and carried him inside by the shoulder. Albert also gave instructions on how to take care of Aric, which Alden listened to with interest and concentration. He wasn''t sure what had happened, but he knew that Aric was acting. And he was acting along with Aric.

    After Albert left, Aric got off Alden''s shoulder and stretched himself. His sickly look was replaced by the same energetic boy that he had been. The pale look on his face was replaced by the same rosy cheeks full of vigor. He was able to pull off that look because the nano suit armor had a sick mode.

    This was added as a prank in the suit for people to pull pranks on others. The nano armor would make it seem like the wearer was sick, thus making others alert. It seemed like Aric was able to pull the prank and convince a whole city of his sickness. Alden didn''t seem to be that surprised when he saw Aric being perfectly fine.

    "Thank you," Aric said. Alden put a smile on his face and replied.

    "I made some roasted meat and bread. Do you want to eat?" Alden asked, not bothering to acknowledge what had happened. Though he was curious, he didn''t ask.

    "No. Did you eat?" Aric asked as he sat on the couch.

    "Yes," Alden replied.

    "Where is your sister?" Aric asked.

    "She is upstairs. She is sleeping as she hasn''t slept in such a cozy bed in her lifetime. I will wake her up," Alden said, embarrassed to admit that. He hurriedly walked towards the stairs, but he was stopped by Aric.

    "No need," Aric said. He wasn''t that interested in seeing his sister, and he could also tell that Alden was very protective of her, which was understandable as they came from a rough place. It was morning already, so it was time for him to return, or his parents would barge into his room.

    Before he entered his room, Aric said, "I will be in my room. Don''t disturb me. Your enemies are dead, by the way. If you want to know more, you can ask around. Just don''t say anything about me."

    Alden stiffened when he heard that his enemies were killed, but then he remembered the reason he was here. After Aric closed the door, Alden burst into tears. He had not cried since his mother''s death. And after two years, his spirits finally gave way.

    He bawled his eyes out silently on his couch. He didn''t even know exactly why he was crying, but he felt like his emotions were all over the place.

    "Brother, are you crying?" A small and cute hand was placed on his shoulder. Alden looked up to see his sister, and he couldn''t help but hug her tightly. The little girl was confused but happy to get the hug. She had just woken from the best sleep of her life and came down to eat, only to find her brother crying.

    She didn''t know why, but her eyes welled with tears. They cried for a solid ten minutes before Alden said to his sister, "Avian, soon you will meet our savior and the reason why we are in this home. Promise me that you will never betray him."

    "Huh?"

    "Yes. Promise me." Alden insisted.

    "But."

    "Promise me." Alden was staunched in his words.

    "I promise you brother. But what am I promising about?" Avian said.

 64. Can you not ask questions?

    Aric was back for his breakfast on time, knowing that if he had been even a bit late, he would have faced dire consequences. He always bolted the door, and thankfully his parents respected his privacy. They never barged into his room, otherwise, they would have freaked out upon not finding their son inside.

    After Aric came out for breakfast, he asked his father, "Dad, can you lend me 2000 rupees?"

    His dad, who was busy chewing the poha early in the morning, stopped and looked at his son. "Lend? You mean give you 2000 rupees?"

    "No. I mean lend. I will return the money as soon as possible," Aric hesitated a bit as he said this. This made his father laugh and ask, "Hahaha. Why do you need it? To buy a cricket bat and pads?"

    "Something like that. But I want to give you back the money," Aric said. In his mind, he had all grown up, so asking for money from his father felt disrespectful to himself. This was the only way his mind could rationalize taking money from his father.

    "Hahaha... Even if you don''t return it, I will not love you any less. All I want is for you to get good grades and be happy," his father said. Avni didn''t comment at all when she heard the conversation. After breakfast, Aric''s father happily handed him 2000 rupees, and Aric was grateful for it.

    "I am going out," Aric said after breakfast, not wasting a second to get out of the house.

    "Come back early," Avni hollered from the back. Aric just took his bicycle and sped off. Today, he wasn''t going back to Echorysia or Distant City. Today, he would finally take the step needed to establish himself in this world.

    "Mira, are the documents ready?" Aric asked through the communicator.

    "Yes, all the information is stored on that hard drive," Mira replied. Much time had passed since Mira had started its learning process. In most cases, any AI would find it very easy to manipulate stocks and make money or hack some corporations and be done with it.

    But Mira was nothing like that. Any newborn AI was given specific codes that one couldn''t easily break. One of the basic laws set for any new AI was that it should never break the laws of the land. In this case, Earth was the land, and Mira wasn''t allowed to break the laws and help Aric reach the top.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    Of course, there was a way to circumvent this: one could learn to make an AI from the interstellar world. But there, the rules for learning to make high-end AI weren''t easily achievable, and one would have to pay a price to learn that knowledge. One could learn the basics of it, but with the basics, one couldn''t hack any system in the universe as every system there was highly advanced.

    Mira was a high-end AI, and thus the laws of using it were set, and one would have to destroy it to get past these laws. Aric was fine with the law. After all, if he took control over the internet so easily, it would destroy all of his fun. He would love the power struggle that would come soon.

    He reached a caf¨¦ and printed the documents that Mira had made for him. These documents contained information that would be his first step toward taking control. After printing out 25 pages of information he had no idea about, he went to the international courier service.

    His envelope was ready beforehand, and he inserted the 25-page stack inside. The manager checked the weight of the envelope, and it came out as 0.605 kg.

    "Switzerland? You have a relative in that country? I heard this country is very beautiful," the manager asked when he saw the address on the envelope. Most of the Indians who lived in smaller cities and towns had a sense of community, and with it came a more intrusive sense of curiosity and lack of privacy. In any major city, no one would ask such questions.

    But this was India. Not that it hurt Aric in any way, but the current Aric was annoyed by the question.

    "I heard that too. I do have an acquaintance there and maybe someday I will go there. This is my ticket," Aric replied as calmly as possible.

    "Hahaha... Then I hope this ticket of yours gets you an actual flight there," the manager said as he accepted the 1800 rupees for the courier service and the guarantee for it to reach the desired location in 10 days. Aric smiled and cycled back on the dusty and dry winter roads.

    After experiencing snow, the dry road came as a boon for Aric as he had struggled through the thick snow the previous night.

    "Mira, do you think they will accept the documents and check them?" Aric asked as he happily cycled through the streets.

    "According to the reviews posted on their open website, the likelihood of this occurring is 76.23%," Mira replied through the earbuds connected in his ears 24/7.

    "How is your learning going on? Can you legally manipulate the stocks?" Aric asked, wanting to get rich fast and then go for power.

    "I am learning at the highest speed possible, but the internet here is slower than a snail. I am capable of legally maneuvering; however, following your current roadmap, attempting to do so now may lead to complications during your pursuit of power," Mira replied.

    "So you mean to say in the future some people might use this against me?" Aric replied.

    "There is a 56% likelihood of this occurring."

    "Sigh. Whatever. I just hope those folks there read them and make necessary checks. It would help me set the stage," Aric mumbled. He went back home to his room. Yesterday''s drama wasn''t devoid of profits. He did get his hands on a runic circle, and he was kind of excited about it since this runic circle was quite precious.

    At least for him.

 65. I can see the fires of jealousy

    It was a special runic circle, and the description of it gave Aric a sense of accomplishment that previous gold coins hadn''t provided. Aric opened the scroll he had taken from the dead men and studied the runic circle closely.

    The runic circle was known as the ''speed'' circle. It could be used by anyone below the ''adult'' age. This runic circle had a very interesting ability attached to it: it could make one''s movements of hands and feet faster, unlike the ''sharpen'' runic, which could only be used externally.

    This runic circle allowed him to have speed in his arms and legs, giving him an edge. Aric was over the moon when he discovered the runic circle and couldn''t wait to add it to his arsenal.

    Just like the previous two times, he was able to absorb the runic circle with ease. He had heard a lot about young children being unable to take three or more runic circles into their consciousness, but Aric didn''t feel any discomfort after adding another one to his inventory.

    After learning the runic circle, which took him roughly an hour or so, he went out of his home to try it out and understand its limitations. After running around and throwing stones, he was able to gauge the new runic circle''s effects.

    He could now throw stones at least three times faster than before. Of course, the speed of ''stone throwing'' would depend on the size, shape, and weight, but after various experiments, he was able to ascertain that. It was Mira who calculated his speed accurately.

    While running, he was twice as fast, but it only lasted for about five seconds. Twice as fast was the highest he could go, and lowering the speed would just make it last longer, being indirectly proportional. Mira came in clutch again to calculate the new changes.

    "You should compete in the Olympics after some training. Your name will go down in history as the greatest runner ever," Mira joked. Mira had finally started to bloom and develop a personality, which was not unexpected. The jokes had finally started to come out.

    "If I want to be famous, it definitely shouldn''t be from an Olympic career," Aric replied. He didn''t even think of taking advantage of his newfound ability.

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    <hr>

    Many days had passed since the incident with Elowen and her team. An adventure team went to the place where Aric had fought before and reported finding remains of an exotic plant, which might have catapulted the Eclipsian Hyena to the Acolyte level. They were able to retrieve the bodies of the dead people and the hyena.

    Of course, the team profited from the dead beast''s body, but Aric didn''t care about some gold coins. He was just glad that nobody came to question him. Though he had killed the other team cleanly and used the heavy snow for cover, one couldn''t be too sure. Thankfully, nobody came even after a month of waiting, and Aric lived his life happily in the three worlds. Now it was time for him to go back to school.

    Aric hated that part, feeling trapped in that place for hours, but there was nothing he could do. He could only grudgingly show up early in the morning at school like the good student he was.

    This time, when he went to school and started classes, he noticed a change around him. The change was very subtle, but he could notice it. The girls in the class now looked at him with more longing eyes than he would admit.

    The girls and even some of the boys came to him and asked about their study-related doubts. Aric wasn''t narcissistic enough to believe he was some kind of handsome dude. It was probably due to his extraordinary results. His grades were so off the charts that even the teachers praised him in front of the class.

    He felt a bit embarrassed. It had been a long time since he had been praised publicly. The last time he remembered was his professor berating him in front of everyone over his project. But in hindsight, that professor berated everyone, even for using the wrong fonts in presentations.

    It was after this that he noticed the changes around him. That wasn''t the only change he saw. His supposed best friend had actually started to avoid him. This came as a boon since Aric no longer had to listen to his friend''s blabbering all day.

    But after the first few days, Ishaan, his ex-best friend, came up and whispered into his ear.

    "Man, my big brother wants to talk to you after class."

    Aric was confused by his words. It had been some time since he had talked with Ishaan, and even longer since he had spoken to Ishaan''s elder brother, who was two years older than him. He didn''t have a great relationship with his brother, so he didn''t know what his brother wanted to talk about.

    "Why does he want to talk to me?"

    "I don''t know. You''re a celebrity now, and maybe he wants some lessons from you," Ishaan said. This made Aric''s eyes narrow a bit, not because of his words, but his tone. For some reason, he felt a hint of jealousy when Ishaan spoke.

    He had experienced a lot in his previous time and could almost always detect jealousy when he saw it. But what was Ishaan jealous about? His results? His results didn''t mean much in the real world, especially school grades.

    So what was he envious about? And what did Ishaan''s brother want from him?

 66. I will leave you alone

    Aric didn''t want to wait after the class but out of curiosity he gave in. He followed Ishaan after everyone left to the class of big brother. Beside him, Ishaan walked with an air of nervous energy, glancing occasionally at Aric, whose face remained stoic and unreadable. Aric found his behavior to be odd and this upped his curiosity more.

    "Come on, Aric," Ishaan said, attempting a casual tone . "My brother just wants to talk. It''s not a big deal."

    As they reached the end of the hall, they turned a corner and entered an empty classroom. Ishaan''s brother, Dev, stood by the window with his arms crossed, flanked by his two friends, Vikram and Raj. They were older, taller, and carried themselves with the overconfidence of those who had never been challenged. Seeing Dev again after so many years felt a bit surreal. In his previous life he went on to become a political leader and from last he heard before his death, he was stood up for a local party of the state. Indian politics had always been wild and it was known to be festered with corruption, killings and every bad things known to men.

    "So, this is the genius who''s been making my little brother look bad," Dev said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Thirteen years old and already a pain in the ass."

    Those words were enough to make Aric understand what was Ishaan jealous about all this time. Indian families could be overwhelming, so it was probably because Ishaan''s parents made a mockery of him at school since Aric had aced in class. This must have gotten to Ishaan pretty badly and thus this whole drama had started. Aric said nothing, his eyes darting around the room, assessing exits and distances. He had a feeling of what was about to come.

    "You know, Aric," Dev continued, stepping forward. "You''ve been hurting Ishaan''s feelings with your grades. Making him look bad in front of everyone. That''s not cool."

    Ishaan stood by the door, his face a mix of guilt and apprehension. He avoided Aric''s eyes.

    "And now," Dev said, his voice hardening, "you''re going to pay for it. Just like that other kid who thought he was better than us."

    Raj and Vikram stepped closer, their expressions menacing. The room seemed to shrink as Aric''s senses heightened. Dev reached out, intending to grab Aric by the collar, but Aric moved. Faster than any of them could see, he sidestepped and grabbed Dev''s wrist, twisting it behind his back in one fluid motion. Dev cried out in surprise and pain.

    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    "What theˇŞ" Raj started, but he didn''t finish. Aric spun, using Dev as a shield, and kicked Raj''s legs out from under him. Vikram lunged, but Aric met him with a precise punch to the stomach, doubling him over.

    Ishaan''s eyes widened in horror as he watched his brother and friends being taken down effortlessly. He turned to run, but Aric was quicker. In a blur, he crossed the room and slammed Ishaan against the wall, his forearm pressing against Ishaan''s throat.

    "You think you can threaten me and get away with it?"

    Ishaan struggled, his hands clawing at Aric''s arm, but it was like trying to move a steel beam. Tears of fear and frustration welled up in his eyes.

    "We used to be friends, Ishaan," Aric continued, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness. Though Ishaan had betrayed in the future he held hope that his friend wouldn''t go down the same path. But it seemed his path derailed faster and nastier.

    "I am sorry.. Please don''t hurt me.. I will never annoy you again...Cough.."

    He released Ishaan, who slid to the floor, gasping for breath. Aric turned to Dev, who was still cradling his twisted wrist and glaring daggers at him.

    "This is your only warning," Aric said, his eyes boring into Dev''s. "Leave me alone, or next time, it''ll be worse."

    He walked out of the classroom, his heart pounding, but his mind clear. The hallways were empty as he made his way to the exit. The confrontation had been inevitable, but now, a line had been drawn. Mira was with him all this time and she directed Aric of how much force to use and what were the vulnerabilities.

    If he had used the full power of the nano power coupled with his magic power, those boys would have been splat before their bodies could hit the ground. The controlled strength allowed him to do minimum damage but maximum pain. Aric in his previous life experienced bullying in later stages. And that was in university.

    He was beaten a couple of times but he didn''t hold any anger towards them because he was a bit of asshole and had massive ego at that time. That bullying gave a check of reality for Aric. But it didn''t mean he was okay with this culture, especially on something that wasn''t even his fault to begin with.

    Aric didn''t bother any more and went home. He didn''t even think about it and he was sure that he wouldn''t be in trouble because these people had too much ego to admit that he KOed their band alone. It would be a huge shame for Dev and his friends.

    Aric didn''t feel a sense of accomplishment by doing this. This wasn''t even a challenge. Earth was never a challenge for him at this point. The challenge was the other two worlds and he was determined to win in both of these places.

    "You look a bit flustered?" Avni said as he saw Aric coming through the door.

    "Do I? I walked to home today, maybe the cold made me all red." Aric said. Though Aric hated a admit it but the confrontation did help him release all the bad blood he had against Ishaan from his previous life. His anger had all came back for a very small moment of time and thus he had lashed out the way he did.

 67. You need citizenship

    Avni knew that Aric must have done something to make his cheeks red, but she didn''t ask. Aric, after coming back from school, went straight to his room and bolted it. Then, he went to Echorysia. It had been many months since he had uploaded songs, which had given him enough credits to make a living on his own.

    He had thought about it a lot and had decided to up his game. After extensive research and help from Apis, he realized that there were other literary works in this universe that could help him gain a giant foothold.

    And that was comics. There were great comic strips and companies with multiple fan followings across all species, not just humanity alone. Of course, there were novels too, but his choice of novels couldn''t be large.

    It was because most of the great novels were based on societies of the past and present, and whatever representation of the future was in books like the Dune series or the Warhammer series was inaccurate and didn''t hold ground in the interstellar world.

    Even when it came to comics like Marvel and DC, they wouldn''t be well received because the interstellar world didn''t put humans at the forefront. And Earth wasn''t even advanced to begin with in the comics. So there was little chance of their success. After much contemplation, he had decided to field two comic strips.

    Or rather, manga series.

    Getting the downloaded manga was quite easy from the internet, though it took some time with the slow speed. But after some days of waiting and with the help of Mira, he was able to download the manga and also ask Mira to color the manga pages according to the color panels drawn by the mangaka (manga authors) [A/N: Manga is the Japanese name for drawn comics, usually in black and white].

    The first manga he chose to serialize was Fullmetal Alchemist. He wanted to go for Death Note, but it was based on the Earth world, and though it was a thrilling story, it might not be very acceptable to the society of the interstellar world. But Fullmetal Alchemist had promise. It had the potential to be famous because it was a world that had just started its journey in science and had an extra gimmick called alchemy.

    The story was touching, and hopefully, it would touch the heartstrings of people around the universe. After coming back to Echorysia, he asked for Apis''s help to publish it.

    "Apis, how many credits are required to publish this whole manga series?" Aric asked while waiting in the storage unit.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    "Since you are a newcomer, you will need a publishing company, a deposit of 10,000 Sora credits, and at least 50 pages of content."

    "Find me a publishing company of comics and transfer the amount and half of the content from here," Aric said.

    "Gladly," Apis replied.

    "They will need your picture for authentication and would like to know if you wish to feature your face as the author of the comic series."

    "Hmm... Yes, they can put my face. I will not hide myself anymore. They can also use my actual name here too," Aric replied. When releasing songs, he had been careful and saw what response one received when his songs became a hit.

    Melodious Muse Publishing, after seeing that all his songs would get at least a billion hits, asked for an exclusive contract with him for the next 10 Earth years. Monthly, he would receive 1 million Sora credits and also royalty payment of 35% on each of his songs. This was huge for Aric, and he had just recently signed the contract.

    A few months ago, an amount of 10,000 Sora credits would have been huge for him, but now it was like a small drop in the ocean.

    [

    Account No.: 4213190626000701

    Name: Aric More

    Species: Human (male)

    Parents/Guardian: Not specified

    Balance: 6,000,000 Sora credits

    ]

    "It is advisable to leave this planet and take citizenship in an empire. It is for your safety and security," Apis chimed in.

    "Yeah, yeah, I know. The credits I receive now might be banned since I have no citizenship," Aric sighed. Another reason he had decided to be anonymous for the AI songs was because the money for AI songs was already taxed.

    But once a real person was involved, it becomes a different ball game. One would need to be taxed properly. There were very few services in the universe like this, and this was also why empire citizenship was important.

    Even if he had decided to be anonymous for the manga uploads, he would still not receive the money because these drawings could never be AI-based as no publishing company would accept a fully AI-written story. Their computers could easily proofread and detect what was man-made and what was original.

    Thus, for his comics (manga), he would have to leave Echorysia soon.

    "Apis, release the chapters once a week after it starts publishing. We will be moving to a new place soon," Aric said.

    "Finally, someone gave you some sense, it seems." Apis didn''t forget to mock her master. She had been begging him to move to an empire so that Aric would be safe, but Aric would refuse because he was comfortable here.

    "Book a ticket to the capital of Vallin," Aric said.

    "You want to be a citizen of Vallin? Wise choice. They are more stable than the Sora, but if you want to convert your credits to Vallin, they will depreciate a bit," Apis said as she calculated.

    "I haven''t decided on that part yet. But I do have someone to thank in Vallin," Aric said as he remembered how he was saved that day by someone in Vallin and also had his number to boot. Maybe after that, he would leave for a human empire.

 68. You have a confession

    Aric decided to be at the city for two to three more months before leaving. The journey from the Echorysia to the capital of Vallin was a bit time consuming so there was no rush anyways. He still had time and would use these months to convert as much gold as possible. Because once he was in an empire, the use of his gold would stop and he would have to rely on his ''talents'' to get by.

    But if his powers allowed him to hop into different planets too, then maybe his use of gold would remain the same. Only time would tell about that part. At the moment he would just let his manga grow slowly before he would decide on cashing out.

    The tickets were already booked at a luxurious and highly secured cruise. Luxurious because he wanted to have a pleasant journey and secured because at the moment they were in no man''s land and so there were space pirates too that lurk around, mostly outside of the empire but even inside of an empire there were chances of being ambushed by space pirates and have their belonging stolen.

    Aric didn''t want a typical story where he would have to confront the pirates and act heroic. He just needed to get to his destination safely without any hitch. Thus he chose the safest route even though it burnt a hole in his pocket.

    <hr>

    It was early 2008, so there were many things that were not available in the Internet at the moment. But he could slowly make an empire for himself in this world at the moment.

    "Mira, is the software I wanted you to make ready?" Aric asked after he was back at home.

    "It was finished days ago, it was only you who was stalling." Mira replied.

    "I wasn''t sure about the future but now I am." Aric got embarrassed for being the forgetful guy that he was.

    "I will launch the software to the internet but would limit the number of downloads and also push the software in such a way that major companies would take a look at your software." Mira said. This got the approval of Aric and it didn''t take long for Mira to work her magic and upload the software into various websites of the internet.

    She made it free to download but gave a validity of a year. Which was more than enough because Aric was 100% sure that in a few months major companies would take a look at his software and then he could slowly build his empire from there.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Aric also needed to open a bank account and Mira had told him that Citibank had actually launched a scheme to make an account that could transact internationally for minors. He only needed the consent of his father and a branch of the bank was located at the town.

    He decided to show up at the branch the next day after school and he already had all the documents to boot for. The next day when he showed up to school, from the corner of his eye he noticed that Ishaan, who had always been sitting beside for the past year or so had moved his place. This made Aric sigh in relief.

    Having this chirp-master sitting beside him was a headache for a long time. Now he would get his peace. Another boy sat as his replacement as the number of seats were limited to begin with and thankfully the new one was of the silent kind. The new boy looked quite happy to be sitting with the topper of the class but he didn''t outright display it but Aric could tell the subtle hint of joy in his eyes.

    These students were too fixated in grades at this age. After a few years these grades wouldn''t really matter. Aric could only sigh at it. The class went on as usual and soon the recess arrived. Ishaan wasn''t the only friend of his to whom he talked to. Though he wouldn''t outright label them as friends, at best acquaintances, but that was enough for him to talk with them for a bit and act normal.

    He could see that his parents were worried about his introvert behavior so he needed to act normal and not raise more red flags at home. Once the recess had ended and Aric came back to his seat, Mira spoke.

    "Your book had been touched and has moved a bit."

    "What? What does this Ishaan want again?" Aric was furious as he thought that guy had pulled another ''prank'' on him. But Mira said.

    "You have been close to the class and from my sensors I can tell you that Ishaan didn''t enter the class during this time so you can be assured that it wasn''t Ishaan."

    "Then who was it?" Aric was getting annoyed by this point. He wanted to finish school as fast as possible and be a nobody but some people were hell bent on annoying him. He picked up his book only to see a small folded piece of paper sliding down the slanted bench and fall down.

    This made Aric squint his eyes. He proceeded to open the piece of paper after picking it up and he was stunned by what he saw. The piece of paper had many words written on it but he didn''t expect those words even in his lifetime.

    "Wooo.. Aric has an admirer .... Woooo.. Someone has a crush on Aric."

    "SHUT UP!" Aric screamed in is mind. It was good that Mira could interpret his thoughts without needing to talk, or else the whole class would have received an earful of the expletives that Aric had in his mind of Mira.

    "Hahaha.. The great Mr. Aric More, has moments where he is flustered. That face of yours is enough to be framed on the wall." Mira continued. At this point Aric just ignored her and just read the ''confession of love'' that Aric had received.

 69. Call from overseas

    Aric wanted to throw the paper into the dustbin, but he stopped himself at the last moment.

    "Mira, can you recognize the handwriting?" Aric asked.

    "No. I haven''t seen enough of your classmates'' handwriting to recognize the pattern," Mira replied, and this time she was serious. After much thought, Aric decided to put the paper inside his bag while keeping an eye on the girls around him.

    In fact, Aric hadn''t noticed, or rather didn''t have a proper "measuring tool," to compare himself with his previous life. If he had, he would have realized there were significant changes. His face had become more handsome, and he was at least three inches taller than he had been at the same age in his previous life.

    His body was more toned, and he gave off an aura of maturity, which came from the newfound confidence he had gained after discovering his abilities. This was also compounded by the fact that he was the top student in the class. Teenage girls often gravitated toward boys who excelled in their studies, so it wasn''t surprising that Aric had received such a letter.

    The letter spoke of her undying admiration for Aric and mentioned that she had been noticing him for the past year. At the end, she asked him to meet her under the banyan tree after school. If this were the old Aric, he would have been very impressed and over the moon.

    After all, what teenage boy wouldn''t like being admired by someone of the opposite gender? But the current Aric wasn''t impressed at all. Having a romantic connection here would only tie him down. In fact, Aric was almost certain that he would never have a romantic connection in this life. He held a huge secret that he would never be able to share with anyone.

    Even his own parents didn''t know what he was up to.

    "You should bring a flower," Mira suggested.

    "I''m not bringing anything, nor am I going to meet her," Aric said.

    "You''re going to leave her hanging?" Mira asked, using the most heartbreaking tone possible for an AI.

    "Yes, and it''s better for her and her future," Aric replied.

    "Aren''t you curious to see who it was? From what I can see, there are quite a few beauties in your class," Mira asked. Aric wanted to say that he had seen too many beauties in his previous life to care.

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "No," Aric replied. The class had already started, and though Mira wanted to tease Aric a bit more, he just ignored her and continued staring blankly at the mathematics teacher, who was busy explaining trigonometry.

    The class soon ended, and Aric left the school as fast as possible. He went straight to the bank without any delays. The bank manager was a bit annoyed because he himself didn''t know that their bank had such a scheme, and this random teenager knew more about the bank''s schemes and policies than he did.

    But it was a private bank, and customers were gods. He could only nod in approval and open a bank account for Aric, which was also linked to his phone number.

    "It will take a week for your account to be functional. Welcome to Citibank."

    "Thank you. Please make sure international transactions are approved," Aric reminded him again before leaving his office. The bank manager nodded in full understanding.

    <hr>

    2 months later

    The last four months had been a bit dull for Aric. The only interesting part of his life was the two siblings he had "adopted" at his place in Distant Wind city. The little girl was definitely a bundle of joy. She was a silent girl who had opened up to Aric over time. Alden was cautious about Aric and his sister, but he soon realized that Aric wasn''t some creep.

    Aric was genuinely happy to play with his sister, Tina. The girl who had sent him the "love letter" had sent him another one on the 14th, but like last time, Aric didn''t bother to follow the instructions written on the paper. This girl seemed to be very shy and wasn''t ready to show her face to him in public, for which Aric was thankful.

    He didn''t want more drama after his confrontation with Ishaan. Aric was expecting a confrontation from Ishaan''s parents, but there was none. In fact, nobody seemed to know that Aric had beaten up two seniors. It was probably because both of them were too ashamed to admit that someone younger had handed their asses back to them.

    Aric didn''t seem to care about it either. His business in Distant Wind had blossomed a lot. His coke business was now slowly spreading outside the city, and now the two bars and bakeries all over the city were selling it. Of course, the main supply came from Albert''s bakery, and he had been swimming in money for the last few months.

    Aric had assigned Gopher to the sale of paper and pens, and it had bloomed much faster than the coke. Everybody loved the thin and crisp sheets of paper and the usefulness of pens. It was the most hassle-free and cheap thing for daily use. And he didn''t bring all the gold back to Echorysia, as he didn''t need that much gold now anyway, since he had a steady source of income.

    He had been arranging things and had kept a massive storage of coke and paper at his home in Distant Wind, as he would be leaving Echorysia in the next few days. But before he could have his first-ever space travel, he received a call on his phone.

    Normally, Mira would help Aric ignore calls from irrelevant people, but the international number on the caller ID forced Mira to let the call ring on Aric''s phone.

    "Hello!"

    "Hello, good morning, Mr. Kashyap. This is Eric Schmidt of Google..."

 70. Stop the shenanigans

    Hearing the name Aric creased his eyebrows. Mira had been updating him on the internet news around the world, and he had a good idea of who this person was. He was the CEO of Google. It was early 2008, and Google had just narrowly avoided filing for bankruptcy.

    Yes, Mira had told him about this and how Google''s ad revenue had been declining for the past couple of years due to its refusal to use cookie-based web tracking. It was only in 2007 that it bought DoubleClick for $3.1 billion and upped its game.

    Aric had been expecting calls from major companies worldwide ever since he launched his product on the internet. Thanks to Mira, he had been able to target people who were in dire need of this product. Mira couldn''t perform any illegal activities like hacking, but that didn''t mean there weren''t grey areas to exploit. By utilizing these, Mira was able to push the product to its desired target, and today, finally, there was a result.

    "... I hope I''m calling the right number." Aric could hear the distinct American accent. Honestly speaking, Aric had been expecting someone to contact him eventually, but a call from the current CEO? For some reason, he wasn''t flustered at all.

    "Yes, Aric speaking."

    "Ahˇ­ I''m glad I got the correct number. We''ve come across your product, and I''d like to discuss acquiring your work. Would it be okay if we could talk face to face and be more open about the product?"

    "That will depend on your sincerity. And yes, I''m open to a formal meeting," Aric replied.

    "Uh-huhˇ­ Okay. I''ll take the next immediate flight to Mumbai. My email is ^&&&($#$#(@gmail.com. Let''s communicate more after I arrive. How about it?" Eric asked.

    "No complaints there," Aric replied.

    "See ya."

    "See ya."

    "..."

    "That was quite formal. You almost sounded like you own Google, not him," Mira said after the call was disconnected.

    "We both know he doesn''t own Google," Aric replied.

    "Yes, but he could own multiples of you within seconds," Mira said.

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    "One shot from a plasma pistol, and he''d be dead, and nobody would ever pin it on me," Aric smirked.

    "If you bring cannons to an archery war, I can''t do anything," Mira said.

    "Look who''s talking," Aric rebutted. It seemed like Aric was always at odds with Mira, but what Mira was doing was helping Aric open up more emotionally. Being an AI, she had gone through a lot of psychology books, and from the looks of it, the life Aric was leading on Earth wasn''t healthy at all. Thus, she had been teasing and taunting him. Of course, she would stop if Aric asked her to, as he was the boss, but Aric never seemed to be bothered by it and would stoop to the same level as the AI.

    <hr>

    While Aric was busy arguing with Mira, something else was happening on the other side of the planet. The call had arrived in the evening for Aric, so it was quite early in California, US. The call actually came from a conference room where Eric was present along with some of the major shareholders of the company.

    At this point, some of them didn''t have very happy and gratified faces.

    "How does someone who hasn''t even graduated from university make such a groundbreaking product? And how come he has the audacity to speak like that to us? Wasn''t he taught manners?" one of the shareholders said.

    "I thought Indians were known to have manners and follow the rules. What''s up with this naughty teenager?" another shareholder said.

    "Probably teenage hormones. Are you sure he recognized you, Eric?" another shareholder asked.

    "I''m 100% positive he recognized me. In fact, from what the analysts told me, I''m sure he''s as confident as he was on the call. From what I hear, the technology is way ahead and would reduce our costs significantly by at least millions a year, if not billions. And that''s me being conservative about it," Eric said.

    "Hahaha. Do your analysts psychoanalyze from one product? You know, Eric, that''s just pseudoscience," one of the silent shareholders said.

    "Gentlemen, I know most of you look down on the kid who just popped up out of nowhere. But let me assure you, the product is groundbreaking. I''ve personally asked the best software engineers and even some ethical hackers to reverse-engineer the product, and they couldn''t even pass the first stage. According to them, software can''t process data that fastˇŞat least not with the current hardware we have. Their rough estimate is that we might reach the desired level in the next 20 years, but not before. And we''re not the only ones alerted by the product. Adobe also has its eyes on it, and from the grapevines I hear, even Apple is interested in it. We already know that Apple is funded by the military, just like us, so this product is pretty astonishing to catch their eyes. We need to play our cards," Eric said, unbothered by the formal air in the conversation regarding someone Aric''s age.

    For what it was worth, it made him more certain that Aric wasn''t someone to be fooled. Truth be told, he didn''t like these shareholders at all. But major decisions would always need the approval of these men who acted like they knew all but in fact knew jack about Google.

    All they cared about was the money and the power Google gave them. He was unhappy with them, but there was nothing he could do about it. Grit his teeth and carry on with what he considered the right path for the world-renowned search engine.

 71. I am not a liar

    After getting the approval of the shareholders and having a lengthy meeting with them, he asked his secretary to clear a private flight to Mumbai at the earliest possible and also ready a team of lawyers from Mumbai from the best business law firm. He himself would be accompanied by a team of lawyers.

    The secretary didn''t question him and followed his instructions to the T.

    <hr>

    "Dad, we might have to go to Mumbai tomorrow," Aric said while having his dinner. This made both his father and mother stunned as they were not expecting such words from Aric at all. To add to their astonishment, Aric continued.

    "I would like Uncle Kurien to follow us."

    "Wait... wait... Calm down... What are you talking about?" Aric''s father couldn''t help but stop his son from spewing more nonsense.

    "How to explain this... Hmm... YouˇŻve noticed that IˇŻve been in my room working hard and not getting distracted for the past few months, right?" Aric asked while gulping his portion.

    "Yes, and IˇŻve been telling you not to do this. You need to get out and play a bit," Avni said.

    "Mom, IˇŻm doing this for our future, and we finally have some results," Aric replied.

    "What do you mean?" Aric''s father asked.

    Aric then went on a grand lie about how he had been working on building software and how recently he had been contacted by Google. He explained how they wanted to make a deal with him about the software he had created. At first, both of his parents refused to believe him, but when Aric showed the international number that had called half an hour ago and also mentioned the subsequent meeting, his father became a bit more serious.

    He had never seen his son lie in such a grand manner before; in fact, he had hardly ever seen his son lie. But even then, it was hard to believe that his son had managed to attract the attention of Google. He might not be tech-savvy, but he was definitely knowledgeable about what was happening around the world.

    Avni was a different case altogether. She cross-checked and cross-examined Aric''s claims as she felt her son was making bold statements out of nowhere. She had never seen her son being busy with computers, and though he would go to a caf¨¦ once in a while, it wasnˇŻt frequent enough for her to believe. But she couldn''t find anything false in her son''s claims.

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    "CˇŻmon, Mom, IˇŻm not that bad. I even aced my grades last year," Aric said in a pleading tone to make her believe. There was complete silence for some time. One could hear the chirping of the crickets. It was finally broken by his father when he said,

    "You will need your Uncle Kurien for legal purposes?" Aric''s father asked.

    "Yes. We just need to bring him as a testimony to the deal weˇŻre going to make," Aric said. Aric''s father thought for a bit before he said,

    "Can you look after the farm for two or three days?" Aric''s father asked. Avni could only nod. Though she was skeptical of Aric''s words, she didn''t refuse his request. Plus, she would get some time of solace and peace for the next two days. This was already a win.

    "WeˇŻll go to Mumbai to make a deal? How much do you expect them to pay for your software?" Aric''s father asked.

    "I don''t know. WeˇŻll see." Aric didn''t outright state a price, because if he did, he was sure his parents would call him a liar. It was better for his father to see with his own eyes and then believe.

    "They will arrive tomorrow evening, so we have time," Aric said.

    "Arrive? ArenˇŻt they in Mumbai?" Aric''s father was confused.

    "Dad, theyˇŻre coming from the USA to make the deal," Aric said. This made Aric''s father realize that the deal might not be as minor as Aric had explained.

    "Avni, weˇŻll take a bus tomorrow to the city in the afternoon. Please prepare lunch for the way," Aric''s father said.

    ---

    "That was a long lie," Mira said after Aric returned to his room.

    "I did what was necessary. This deal will change their lives," Aric said. Mira didn''t dispute the claim. From her estimates, their middle-class family was going to become an ultra-rich family soon. Aric needed to get to Echorysia as he was waiting for another delivery, but he didn''t leave for that place as he felt his father might visit him to talk personally before they left tomorrow. And Aric wasn''t wrong.

    His father did knock on his door half an hour after dinner, and they had a good father-son talk about the deal, with Aric assuring him that this wasn''t some scam and that they were genuine.

    Aric''s father accepted and believed his son and then promptly left.

    Echorysia.

    By this time, Aric was a millionaire by the standards of the galaxy. It might mean a huge amount by Earth standards, but one mustn''t forget that this was the universe we were talking about. Millionaires could only be considered upper middle class in society, and the only reason Aric had saved up a lot of credits was because he didnˇŻt have any expenses on the planet.

    He neither had a house to pay bills nor rent. Even food was not bought here. Whatever he purchased, he would regain in the form of gold. In addition to that, he had music and songs that had been slowly rising in the charts.

    So a few days ago, he had bought himself special equipment that was going to change his life forever. No, scratch thatˇŞequipment that would change his brain forever.

 72. New instrument to play with

    Education was a huge industry in the universe, and it was not the way of conventional education that was currently known using books, pens, and PCs. It was a much higher level form of education for the masses.

    You see, like humans, other species also found the problem of vast knowledge to be precarious. One had a limited amount of time to live, and if a person went on to just study and study from basic algebra to mind-boggling theorems, it would take ages for someone to finish. And most of these people would hate to study for hundreds of years, taking into account that the average life of humans had been lengthened a lot.

    So in order to cope with the learning capacity of each of the species, they came up with a novel idea. The idea was to input knowledge directly into the brain. Yes, the current technology would allow anyone, be it the dumbest guy in the history of mankind, to become the most knowledgeable guy in the history of mankind with just some instruments.

    Now, this did have a safety issue, and that was one could use it to put illogical things into the brain and make a person dumber and even use this technology to ''hack'' into a brain. So, in order to cope with this safety issue, there was a separate administration of the galactic federation that looked over the education department and didn''t need to answer to the council nor the empires.

    First, the instrument would be made in such a way that it was un-hackable. Use of any technology ranging from wave communication, quantum communications, dark matter channels, subspace communication channels, and even the basic forms of communication like wires would still not lead to the instrument''s safety measures being compromised.

    And the knowledge that would be inserted into the brain was a very controlled industry, and it was under the eyes of law enforcement at all times. Of course, that didn''t mean that there were empires who didn''t try to use this technology to make a narrative for the masses and control them, but all failed under the joint assault of the galactic federation of education.

    Thus, this technology was now used in schools where they would come and be injected with knowledge every day. The one knowledge they would have to learn in school and through the old ways was about social culture. The subjects like history, science, mathematics, legal knowledge, and other such subjects would be directly injected.

    The instrument one could buy easily, but there was a big price tag on it. One million Sora credits approx. When Aric came to know of this technology, he knew that he would have to get his hands on this. There was no way he didn''t want to be the most learned person in history, and this was his way of becoming a renowned scientist of the world, triumphing over everyone that came before him.

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    And thus, he saved for months, and now finally the instrument was about to arrive. After meeting with his father, he was back at Echorysia, at the same storage unit he had been using for months. If God willing, he would be using this same place for many years to come.

    Aric waited for the instrument to arrive. And today it was finally time. And the name of the instrument was Codex. As soon as the Codex arrived, he couldn''t wait to unbox the instrument. It was a sleek, elongated cylinder, approximately three feet in height, and constructed from a material that defied classification, at least for Aric. The substance was cool to the touch, feeling like a blend of silk and metal, with an almost organic quality that made it seem alive.

    Intricate patterns and symbols, etched in different major languages known to the universe, adorned the exterior of the Codex. These markings glowed faintly, pulsing in rhythm with the device''s internal mechanisms. The top of the cylinder tapered into a crystalline crown, a cluster of multifaceted gems that caught and refracted light in dazzling arrays. Each gem represented a different facet of knowledgeˇŞhistory, science, art, and countless others.

    At the base of the Codex, a circular platform of similar material provided stability. Around this base, tendrils of luminescent energy occasionally flickered. Also, on the base of Codex, there was a small slot that looked like the opening of a floppy disk drive.

    This was where the other magic was. There were disks available that one could buy and insert inside the space. These were the disks that contained knowledge far beyond what his own Earth had ever witnessed.

    "I have been waiting for you. Codex."

    "This is not a live person. I am," Apis commented from the side.

    "You will need a walking bipedal form to call yourself that," Aric said. Apis didn''t reply to that because he had not only bought the Codex, but he also bought the disks required to insert knowledge.

    He had bought two Codex disks too along with the Codex machine. These two disks were:

    / Basic and preliminary ethical hacking based on star-level civilization.

    / Basic computer knowledge based on galaxy-level civilization.

    These two floppy disks were the ones he bought along with the Codex machine. This was his ticket to combat the world that he was in at the moment. Aric didn''t waste time as he connected to the electric supply line, inserted the disk inside, and put the crown on the top of his head. The crown slowly shrank in order to fit the upper head of Aric. Aric heard a sound almost immediately after the crown settled in.

    "Human detected

    Aric More.

    Brain activity normal.

    Brain thinking capacity normal.

    High level of electrical synapses detected.

    Aric More is eligible to partake in the knowledge infusion ceremony.

    Codex disk detected.

    Basic computer knowledge based on galaxy-level civilization.

    Do you wish to intake this Codex disk?"

    "YES," Aric replied enthusiastically.

    "Please note that your brain activity will slow down, making you fall unconscious for half an hour. It is advisable that you keep a bottle of fresh and clean water close to yourself so that you can drink it after waking up from the temporary limbo, as a person often feels thirsty after a round of knowledge infusion. Safe travels to the land of knowledge. Click on the button to start the process."

 73. Nobody believes me

    Aric clicked the button without hesitation. The crown on his head tightened slightly, and a soothing hum filled the air as the Codex began its work. A warm sensation spread from the top of his head down through his entire body, relaxing him. He felt his eyelids grow heavy, and then, all at once, his consciousness faded.

    <hr>

    In the depths of his mind, Aric experienced a torrent of information, images, and sounds. It was as if he were being shown an entire library in mere seconds. Concepts and ideas he had never dreamed of understanding were now being embedded directly into his brain.

    He had used the basic computer knowledge as the first disk. He was a little scared about this disk because the basic knowledge here might still be too advanced for Earth. He was afraid that using the galaxy-level knowledge from the get-go would be a waste of money. But the knowledge that he had in his mind at the moment ranged from calculators to basic quantum computers. Since it was basic computer knowledge, it ranged from hardware to software.

    This was enough for Aric to rule over Earth for centuries and build an empire.

    "It is advised that you partake in the next infusion of knowledge after 36 hours. Your brain at the moment is on high alert, and another infusion of knowledge might trigger the defense mechanism of the brain, prompting it to shut down."

    "Apis, run a diagnostic on my cognitive functions," Aric requested, his voice slightly hoarse.

    "Running diagnostic," Apis replied. After a moment, it continued, "Brain activity is normal. Cognitive functions have improved by approximately 35%. You have successfully integrated the knowledge from the Codex disk."

    Though it was a very rough diagnostic, it was enough for Aric to understand how much knowledge he had been imparted.

    "Amazing... I can see the code structure of advanced AI algorithms in my mind. I understand the principles behind quantum computing and subspace communications!" Aric mumbled. All the knowledge he had in his mind felt like it was scenery drawn on a canvas. He knew each and every stroke required to draw on the canvas and also understood all of the intricacies required to draw one.

    <hr>

    The next morning, Aric woke up to his father knocking on the door.

    "What are you sleeping so long for? Didn''t you say that we have to go to Mumbai?" Aric woke up groggily and felt like he needed more sleep.

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    "Mira, why didnˇŻt you wake me up?"

    "Your brain seemed to be functioning at twice the speed it should be, and even though it had slowed with the passage of time, your body canˇŻt keep up with the sudden change. You should eat more to compensate for the changes in the brain."

    "Sigh! Dad, IˇŻm coming... Wait." Aric could only shout at that moment. He didnˇŻt expect that this was also one of the hidden dangers of using the Codex. They should have labeled it.

    Actually, it wasnˇŻt the CodexˇŻs fault. In the interstellar world, the quality of food was always high, and thus when a person used the Codex, the AI would deliberately serve more food to their masters, or their parents would do the same in order to make the body healthier. It was part of basic knowledge.

    It was because Aric didnˇŻt have an idea about the small intricacies of using Codex. He forced himself to get up and leave to freshen up. By the time he was done, food was already on the table, and his father was already finishing.

    "Aric, are you sure that people from Google will come and talk to you? I talked with my elder sister. Her son said that it might be a scam as Google doesnˇŻt deal with people like us... you know," Avni hesitated a bit and said. If it were any other time, Aric would have been very angry, especially if it was his previous self, as these people were among those who came after their money and land once their situation became dire in his previous life.

    But today he wasnˇŻt angry. What was the use of anger when he could bury these leechers with his actions?

    "DonˇŻt worry, thatˇŻs why IˇŻm bringing Uncle Kurien with us. Dad, did you talk with him?"

    "Yes, I called him last night. He had a few cases to deal with in the High Court, and he agreed to accompany us. Guess what, we donˇŻt have to pay him at all, just the travel fees," AricˇŻs father said.

    "ThatˇŻs fine," Aric replied. The deal would go through MiraˇŻs eyes anyway, and he would make sure Uncle Kurien was heavily compensated. Aric didnˇŻt ask more and proceeded to finish the food on his plate. His mother had also made some food for the journey. They would be reaching Mumbai in the evening, and from the email, he came to know that the meeting would be held at the Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, Mumbai.

    It was one of the iconic places in the city and also the place where the attacks would be carried out later this year. He had forgotten that this place witnessed the 26/11 attacks at the end of the year.

    Aric could only sigh and try not to dwell on it further. People were dying across the globe due to various reasons, and he couldnˇŻt save everyone, even if he had all the abilities in the world. He could only take one step at a time.

    Aric and his father soon reached the bus station where they saw Uncle Kurien waiting for them.

    "Yaaa... Aric... YouˇŻre growing so fast. Your father told me about the deal. If it goes well, I hope you wonˇŻt forget me," Uncle Kurien said. This made Aric a bit embarrassed. He could tell that Uncle Kurien didnˇŻt think much of the deal he was about to make, but he would accompany him nonetheless.

    He wasnˇŻt discouraged at all by UncleˇŻs words.

 74. You have grown up

    "Uncle... You will also get money as compensation for this work," Aric promised.

    "Hahahaha... You don''t have to worry. Your father is already paying for the bus fare. I am happy with that," Uncle Kurien said. Aric had respect for him, and truth be told, in this day and age, an honest person like him always brought warm feelings to Aric.

    Though his behavior in his previous life didn''t mean that the current person was the same, at least he could start in good faith. The journey wasn''t that hard for Aric.

    His body was getting powerful even if he didn''t need to do any work, and he was already taller than his previous height in the other life. He hadn''t realized it, but Apis and Mira did mention that his body was getting healthier day by day.

    <hr>

    Aric stepped off the crowded bus at the bustling terminal, the cacophony of Mumbai''s late 2000s cityscape hitting him like a wave. The air was thick with humidity and the scent of street foodˇŞspices, frying oil, and the sharp tang of citrus from vendors selling freshly cut fruits. The terminal itself was a chaotic swirl of people, buses, and auto-rickshaws, each vying for space and attention in the confined area.

    "I had forgotten how Mumbai looked. But then again, not many things changed later. Only the volume of vehicles changed," Aric mumbled as he looked around. His father, not a big fan of crowded places, called for a taxi ride, while Uncle Kurien mentioned he had his friend''s place to crash.

    He moved through the throng, his suitcase bumping over the uneven pavement. The streets outside were a sensory overload: honking horns, the constant buzz of conversation, and the occasional blare of Bollywood music from a passing car. Skyscrapers and modern office buildings jostled for space with dilapidated colonial-era structures, creating a stark contrast that highlighted the city''s rapid development amidst its historical roots.

    The taxi driver deftly maneuvered through the labyrinth of traffic. As they inched forward, Aric caught glimpses of the sea on one side and the endless sprawl of the city on the other. Finally, they arrived at the hotel.

    The hotel wasn''t highly modern by any means, but it was clean and tidy. After checking in, Aric went for a bath. Today he wouldn''t be able to go back to Echorysia or Distant Wid city.

    He had already handled the matters there, so it would be fine even if he didn''t show up at these two places for a period of time.

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    "Where do we need to go tomorrow? Did they give an address?" Aric''s father asked.

    "Yes, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel."

    This made Aric''s father look at Aric to ask if he was joking, to which Aric forwarded him the printed email that had the invitation. Seeing the name, Aric''s father realized that maybe the deal wasn''t as casual as Aric was making it out to be.

    <hr>

    The next day

    Aric and his father met with Uncle Kurien early in the morning at around 8:30 AM near the Gateway of India, which was very close to the hotel. Like his father, Uncle Kurien was surprised. The hotel was a very iconic hotel in all of India, and only the ultra-rich were supposed to enter through their revolving doors.

    Though there were no restrictions for people entering this hotel, for people like them, they were self-conscious.

    "Are you sure this is the place?" Uncle Kurien outright asked Aric. Though Uncle Kurien never said it out loud, he was expecting this was some kind of scam. Big cities like Mumbai were known to scam people, and in fact, even in the whole world, India did have a reputation for scamming people.

    Even the citizens of India themselves suffered for this, and Uncle Kurien had seen too many cases such as this in his life, sitting in the court collecting dust with no resolution. This was also the reason why Uncle Kurien was here: to make sure that Aric and his family didn''t drown themselves in some kind of scam.

    But the name of the hotel almost made him sure that it might be a legitimate one.

    "Uncle, this was the email they sent," Aric showed him the same email, and after reading through the fine print, they decided to just enter the hotel.

    The meeting was scheduled at 9:00 AM, so there wasn''t much time left. The guard at the door ushered them in without any hint of stopping them. Once Aric walked in, his demeanor changed. With his parents, he was always the shy and silent kid, but once he was in the real world, he would have to show his shark teeth.

    His father saw the change in demeanor but didn''t comment on it. Aric went straight to the reception and asked.

    "Hello, I am Aric More. Here for an appointment with Mr. Eric Schmidt of Google," Aric asked. The receptionist, a pretty girl who seemed to be busy with some other matters on her desk, lifted her head to look at Aric.

    "You said an appointment with Mr. Schmidt? Let me check... yes... Can you please repeat your name?" the receptionist asked.

    "Aric More," Aric replied.

    "Can I have some ID?" the girl asked.

    "Yes. Here is my bank account book." Aric gave her a small handheld book. When the girl asked for ID, Aric''s father panicked a bit as he didn''t bring any form of ID. But once Aric forwarded the bank account book, he felt dumbfounded.

    He didn''t expect his son to be more responsible than himself. He felt a bit ashamed and proud. Ashamed because he felt he had been an irresponsible man here and proud because he saw his son growing up fast.

    The receptionist led them through the corridors. Aric had come to this place once in his previous life, so he had an idea of this place in his head. Not much had changed over the years.

 75. This is above my paygrade

    Soon they were led to a hall that was huge and resembled a luxurious conference room. On the other side of the long rectangular granite table sat four people. One looked Indian, while the others were white foreigners.

    "Sir, Mr. Aric More is here..." the girl who led them announced as soon as they walked in. The group of people, who seemed to be checking some documents, lifted their heads and saw Aric. All of them stood up, and the man leading them was easily recognizable.

    Eric Schmidt, the current CEO of Google. In fact, there was another face Aric recognized. Eric stepped out from behind the chair and walked straight to Aric.

    "You must be Aric... You have the same pronunciation as my name... Hahaha," Eric said. This made Aric smile too. Aric didnˇŻt know much about this man who had led Google for a long time and was one of the reasons Google was so huge. Even now, it had started expanding at a rapid speed.

    "It''s nice to meet you, Mr. Schmidt," Aric said, shaking his hand.

    "I gotta say... I knew you were young, but you look younger than I imagined," Eric remarked.

    "IˇŻm glad I was able to surprise you," Aric replied.

    "You must be AricˇŻs father, Eklavya. IˇŻm sorry if I mispronounced that..." Eric shook hands with AricˇŻs father, who was still trying to process what was going on. He subconsciously shook EricˇŻs hand. Eric could tell his father was confused and looked at Aric.

    It didnˇŻt take long for him to understand that Eklavya had no idea what was going on, so he introduced himself. Knowing the designation of the man he was speaking to, AricˇŻs father''s heartbeat rose rapidly. He thought they would be meeting some heads of Google, but not the CEO.

    "Hello..." AricˇŻs father replied, a little embarrassed.

    He hadnˇŻt expected the CEO of Google, and even Uncle Kurien was flabbergasted, secretly pinching himself to check if what was happening was real. Both of them felt like they were in autopilot mode.

    "Please, take a seat," Eric said as he finally returned to his seat after Aric and Eric introduced everyone.

    "LetˇŻs get down to business since weˇŻre done with the formalities. Shall we?"

    "Of course," Aric replied.

    "The image compression software youˇŻve introduced is at least 10 to 15 years ahead from our perspective, and our analysts estimate that in the next 50 years, there wonˇŻt be a better software, even as hardware advances," Eric said, his words filled with admiration for Aric''s software.

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    He had his analysts and ethical hackers look into the software, and they were both thrilled and scared by what they saw. There were no vulnerabilities whatsoever. They tried their best to understand the source code but couldnˇŻt crack even a small portion of the inner workings.

    Normally, a software program could never be completely unbreakable, and reverse-engineering the source code would usually provide at least some insights, giving them an edge in negotiations. But this was a complete black box.

    This left Eric highly impressed, especially when he learned that the person behind the software wasnˇŻt even 18 years old. At first, he refused to believe it, but when his team double-checked and confirmed that Aric was indeed the developer, EricˇŻs doubts faded once he met Aric in person. The confidence Aric exuded was enough to convince him that this was the real deal.

    "Thank you for taking the time to meet with me today, Aric. Google is always on the lookout for cutting-edge technology, and IˇŻve heard some impressive things about your new image compression software. Could you tell me more about it?" Eric asked. This question was mostly for the benefit of the associates he brought. Although he had a background in computer science, what he had seen was high-level even for him.

    "HyperComp leverages the current hardware available to achieve results as quickly as possible. Unlike traditional methods that rely on discrete cosine transforms (DCT) or wavelet transforms, HyperComp uses a combination of deep learning techniques and context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding."

    Eric glanced at his colleagues, and they nodded in agreement. The first question had been to confirm that Aric was indeed the person behind the software and not just a poster boy. Knowing he was the right person, they were prepared to proceed further.

    "That sounds intriguing. Can you elaborate on how it works and what makes it so advanced?"

    "Certainly. Traditional methods compress images by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable pieces, then reducing redundancy within those pieces. HyperComp, however, uses a neural network-based encoder-decoder architecture that learns to represent image data in a highly efficient manner.

    The process begins with the encoder, which analyzes the image and creates a compact, latent representation of the data. This representation is passed through a context-adaptive module that optimizes the compression based on the imageˇŻs content. Finally, the data is encoded using CABAC, which further reduces the size by efficiently handling probabilities and context modeling."

    "ThatˇŻs fascinating. How does HyperComp handle the trade-off between compression and image quality? Typically, higher compression ratios lead to a loss of detail and artifacts."

    "Excellent question. HyperComp employs an adaptive neural network that constantly evaluates the visual importance of different image regions. This network, which we call the Adaptive Perceptual Network (APN), ensures that important details are preserved while less critical information is compressed more aggressively.

    Moreover, HyperComp uses perceptual loss functions during training, which are designed to maintain high visual quality even at lower bitrates. This allows us to achieve a balance between compression ratio and image quality that is superior to traditional methods."

    The answers Aric gave were too high-level even for some of EricˇŻs colleagues at this point. They could only vaguely understand and nod their heads.

 76. You dare to refuse the deal

    That was all Eric needed to hear to understand that this person was the real deal. He didn''t need to inquire further and got straight to the point.

    "I will be upfront with you, and as I communicated through email, Google would like to acquire the services of HyperComp," Eric said.

    "No problem. At the right price and under the correct conditions, we are ready to sell it off or make a partnership," Aric replied. This brought bright smiles to the faces of everyone representing Google. Eric didn''t waste a moment and forwarded a well-made file to Aric.

    Aric took the file and gave it a quick glance. Uncle Kurien and his father were also intrigued. With the help of Mira, Aric realized what this was. It was a contract along with various formalities associated with it. Aric then handed it to Uncle Kurien to read. After a quick read, he passed it to his father.

    His father noticed Uncle Kurien''s hands were shaking, but he didn''t say anything. He didn''t understand at that time, but when he saw the numbers in the contract, his eyes went wide. So much so that he almost released a groan.

    The contract stated that Google would pay 2 billion dollars to buy the software. Of course, it wasn''t all in cash; 30% was in cash, and the rest was in various investments in Google and other ways, but even 30% was enough to make his father take deep breaths.

    Uncle Kurien, just like his father, was speechless, but he had better control of his emotions. As a lawyer, he needed to be more professional, but he was definitely shaken.

    "I think Google isn''t being very sincere and upright with its intentions," Aric said. This stopped the smiles on Google''s side, except for Eric. He didn''t seem fazed by the words at all.

    "I am very sorry if you think so, and I agree that the contract here isn''t up to standard. This contract was made at the HQ and went through the board members. You know how they can be. They will try to squeeze every bit of sweat out of anyone. I am not blaming them since, in the end, it was they who invested money and took risks with Google. But they are shortsighted at times. I will take the blame for this poor contract and by tomorrow, Google will provide better contract details to fulfill your wishes and properly respect your work," Eric replied. Aric''s eyes squinted when he heard that from Eric.

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    Did this guy just badmouth his own board members to an outsider? He just did. He is more shrewd than Aric thought.

    "Give us a day, and we will build an appropriate contract that will be acceptable for both India and the USA," Eric said. Aric nodded. They had a bit more talk about the mechanics of how the software works, and then both groups separated, with Eric promising a better deal.

    Soon, the trio was out of the hotel.

    "Aric..." His father could finally breathe a bit, and before he could complete his words, Aric raised his hand and said,

    "Not here. We can talk after we reach the hotel. Uncle Kurien, if you aren''t held up with much work, you should join too." Aric said. Uncle Kurien hesitated a bit, not because he had work, but because it was a big deal, and he wasn''t sure he was up for this kind of major deal. After hesitating a bit, he nodded and joined them. After hailing a taxi, they reached the hotel and took long strides to their room.

    "Now tell me what is going on?" Aric''s father asked.

    "Do you want the short story or the long story?" Aric asked.

    "You brat, you think using fancy words will make you a big man. Just lay it out for me. Uncle Kurien and I aren''t so useless that we can''t understand the words you say," Aric''s father said, while Uncle Kurien was also confused and interested to know what was going on.

    "A few months ago, I started to learn coding. It was the basics, but I found some books in the school library and self-taught myself. After going to the cafe multiple times, I realized that whenever I used the Internet, it took longer to load any image. It is mostly because of the image size and data transfer over the Internet. I, with the help of coding and some help from the Internet, was able to make software that reduces the size of images. It is called image compression. The software reduces the size but doesn''t affect the quality, and later, when it is displayed, it also decompresses it, allowing it to work everywhere while ensuring that the speed of image transfer is almost halved," Aric said.

    This made the duo think about what Aric said, and Uncle Kurien asked,

    "So you mean to say your software can make images transfer over the Internet faster?"

    "More or less," Aric said.

    "And they are willing to pay you 2 billion dollars for this? I don''t even know how much that is in Indian rupees," Aric''s father said, shaking a bit, and Uncle Kurien placed his hand on his shoulder. No one was sure if he was making sure that Aric''s father was fine or if he himself was trying to hold himself up when it came to such an amount of money.

    They might not know how huge 2 billion dollars is, but they knew it had many zeros involved.

    "You are wrong. They were willing to pay 2 billion dollars. Now they will pay more," Aric said. This made both of them look daggers at Aric, as if to say how dare you throw away such a deal. Though they were present at the meeting and heard what was said, they weren''t that fluent in understanding such an accent of English.

    "You are thinking too much. They want this software more than you realize."

 77. He is richer than me

    "This software will allow them to generate images at faster speeds and provide image search in Google with the same speed as they have now for normal search," Aric said.

    "And this makes them want to buy your software for more than 2 billion dollars?" Uncle Kurien asked.

    "Yes, because it will make Google the forefront of image compression. Google isn''t known for this kind of software, and thus this will allow them to enter the image compression industry, making companies like Adobe owe Google a favor," Aric said. They didn''t know how big Adobe was, but they could guess it was another big company.

    "You seem very confident about this software," Aric''s father asked. He hadn''t seen his son this confident before. Or at least he hadn''t noticed it.

    "I know the worth of the software. And I know it will sell for around 3 to 4 billion dollars," Aric replied with more confidence and finality. Uncle Kurien and Aric''s father looked at this young man in awe. He was speaking about such a huge amount of money like it was nothing. This was outrageous. There was a small silence in the room, only filled with the soft humming of the fan that was revolving slowly overhead.

    Spring had slowly been creeping in, and the overhead fan was like a lukewarm breeze.

    "You do realize how big that amount is, don''t you?" Aric''s father asked.

    "Yes. And it will be in your name," Aric said. This made Aric''s father blush a bit in embarrassment. Aric had never seen his father blush, even when Mom kissed him in front of everyone once. (Indian families aren''t known for intimacy in public or in front of anyone in general.)

    But this statement made him proud and embarrassed.

    "I am not taking the money. It will always be in your name. You can go for higher studies and study in Europe or the USA, or wherever there are good universities," Aric''s father said.

    "Dad, are you a bit crazy? The money I will receive will be enough for my lifetime even if I quit studies tomorrow. I don''t care about money. We will soon move to Europe after I finish my Class 10th," Aric said.

    "We?" Aric''s father had a question in his voice.

    "Yes, WE! There is almost nobody here whom we can trust and be safe with. I am sorry, but except for the grandparents, the other uncles and aunts are just leeches and will conspire against us once they know we have loads of money. Dad, you must not speak of the money we have to anyone. Speaking to Mother about it is fine, but not a soul outside. And Uncle Kurien, your native home is in Kerala, right?"

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    "Uh.. Yes.. My father came here for the carpentry shop and I was raised here," Uncle Kurien said.

    "Then with the money you will receive in the negotiations, you should move to your state or any other state for that matter. I am sure you would love to give your daughter a better life, and you can''t give it in the town we live. You can move to Mumbai too, but I advise you not to, as this place can swallow all the money if you are not careful enough. And also, never speak of the deal. I will make sure that the deal is never made public, and when it is, it will be under a pseudonym. Since I am a minor, I will ask for the privacy laws of minors. I know there are none, but I am sure we can find some loopholes and make Google use another name to cover mine," Aric said. Both of them were now dumbfounded. They wanted to say that he was too young to speak and decide for the elders, but then again, this person was now the richest among them or at least about to be.

    "We can''t leave the home behind. What will happen to the land we bought? No. We have friends and relatives here," Aric''s father protested.

    "We will discuss this again after I finish Class 10. How about that?" Aric said. He didn''t want to argue against his father, and it was better to show them through actions. Aric''s father wanted to say more but stopped. This was a headache for the future, and at the moment, they needed to finish the deal, which would take some days from the looks of it.

    The three then sat, and Aric spoke about the software. Uncle Kurien actually advised being removed from the negotiations, as it would be better to have proper lawyers for Aric, but he refused. He didn''t need legal counsel when he had Mira with him.

    Mira had already gone through all the laws of the country and international laws, so Uncle Kurien was there only to ensure that a lawyer was present, not because Aric needed help in this regard.

    <hr>

    "Welcome back. I hope you had a good sleep. Are you staying nearby?" Eric asked once Aric was back. This time, his father and Uncle Kurien were dressed better than the previous day. They were very casual yesterday, but they couldn''t repeat that today.

    "No. It''s a bit far," Aric replied.

    "Then why don''t you move to this hotel? I am sure the traveling distance will be minimized due to this, as the negotiations might go on for some days. Google will pay for all the expenses," Eric said.

    "We will think about it," Aric smiled and replied. Soon, they sat opposite each other, and unlike the previous day, there were more people present, including some natives. Probably the lawyers representing Google from the Indian side.

    Probably from a big law firm.

    "This is the new deal we chalked up yesterday," Eric said as he forwarded it to Uncle Kurien, who was now officially representing Aric. When he saw the amount today, he was surprised that Aric''s words had come true, and it was 4 billion dollars with the same conditions from yesterday.

    After taking a look, he gave it to Aric to see, as he was the actual boss today.

 78. Come to California

    After giving it a simple look, he forwarded it to Uncle Kurien. He was reading it while Aric spoke up.

    "So, you want me to teach you all the machinations inside the software, including the vulnerabilities, and also for Google to receive all updates for the next ten years. Additionally, if I create any more image processing software in the future, Google will be notified first. Do I understand the stipulations correctly?" Aric asked, leaving the lawyers and everyone present dumbfounded.

    They had noticed how Aric had casually looked over the whole agreement and was only waiting for the negotiation from his lawyer, who, to be honest, didn''t look like he was up for the job. But the moment Aric spoke, their jaws dropped.

    "Uh... Yes, as you can see, our technical team couldn''t bypass the vulnerabilities, and honestly speaking, we would like to know more about the software''s security as we haven''t seen any software so unbreakable," said the future CEO of Google, who had also come with Eric.

    "Hmm. There is no problem in handing over the source code of the software, but the language I used is self-created, and your IT guys will have to learn a whole new language to understand how it works. Are you up for the challenge?" Aric smirked and asked.

    "You... You... You invented a new language for this software?" Everyone was even more dumbfounded. They thought creating such sophisticated software was already the ceiling, and this guy just went beyond that. Aric just shrugged.

    "Our team will accept the challenge and learn the new language to understand the software''s workings," the future CEO replied confidently.

    "Then I can share the source code with instructions too. But I will not agree to the stipulation that I must offer Google all image processing software I invent in the future," Aric replied.

    This might seem like a simple deal, but it wasn''t. If he agreed, he would have to legally offer them many of his future inventions. Image compression comes with many additions, from image processing to AI. Signing this deal would mean he would be tied to Google for the rest of his life.

    "Uh... How will Google believe you won''t come up with better software in the future and use it to gain an advantage and subvert the company?" one of the lawyers representing Google said.

    "Oh, please! Google isn''t even in the image processing business; all processes come from a third party, and this software will significantly reduce your expenses. So let''s not talk about your company sliding down just because of one image processing software," Aric retorted. It was a negotiation, not a charity.

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    "But it will be a loss for us, and we can''t accept it," the lawyer didn''t back down. This time Uncle Kurien came forward. He might not be knowledgeable in IT, but he knew how to negotiate.

    He started negotiating not only on the everlasting ''relationship'' with Google but also on other points in the deal. Aric didn''t bother negotiating on other points because he didn''t care. At this point, he cared about the money from this world and getting himself out of his current situation.

    Other things didn''t bother him at the moment.

    The talks went on for at least two hours before the lawyers on the opposite side decided to take a lunch break. Eric didn''t waste the moment and invited Aric and his entourage for lunch together.

    Eric was interested in Aric and wanted to know more about him and, if possible, his future plans.

    "What are your plans, Aric? You don''t mind me calling you Aric, right?" Eric asked.

    "I am almost a third of your age, and you calling me Mister is already too much respect. You can call me by my first name," Aric replied. Everyone here was calling him Mr. Aric More, and in a place like India, it was a bit awkward for him.

    "Hahaha... I like your directness. So, as I was saying, what are your future plans?" Eric asked.

    "Ummm. Complete my studies and maybe move to Europe and research things I like," Aric said.

    "That''s not a bad idea at all. How about coming to California and, you know, opening your business and researching there? Google will fund your future endeavors," Eric said. The moment Eric learned that Aric had invented his own language, he wasn''t ready to let him go. He was a vast treasure trove waiting to be explored.

    "Uhh... I haven''t decided on America yet. It''s a good place, though," Aric replied. Though America was a good place, Aric felt being neutral would be better for him.

    "We would love to have you in California. Don''t worry, the current deal won''t impact future funding for your research. Those are two different topics," Eric assured him, sensing Aric might feel Google was trying to cheat him.

    The lunch went smoothly, and his father and Uncle Kurien looked satiated. For Aric, it was normal because he had tasted better things in Echorysia''s delivery food than in this star-studded hotel.

    The negotiation went on for more than an hour, with Uncle Kurien asking for a better deal and the lawyers on the other side refusing. He knew it would go on for a few days, so he wasn''t in a hurry. In the end, Eric was very adamant about them moving to this hotel so they wouldn''t have to go through the trouble of traveling back and forth.

    It went on for 2 more days, before Google finally gave in. The new deal was, Aric wouldn''t be allowed to make a image processing software on the same language, and if he does, Google would be informed before. Aric was allowed to make on on other languages. Actually, Google had underestimated Aric too much. They didn''t have any idea that Aric himself was carrying more than 100 different types of languages in his mind and each of them were better than any of the languages humanity could come up with in the next 100 years at least.

 79. I am not a spy

    (Disclaimer: I have zero ideas of how such deals are made, so don''t take this as God''s words.)

    But that will be for the future. Aric would receive part of the money in Google stocks, which he would have full power over and could sell to cash in. Of course, it wouldn''t allow him to have any power positions among Google''s decision-makers and executives.

    The other part would be liquid cash, with an account opened in an international bank, providing a credit line of 2 billion dollars accessible to him for his lifetime.

    Of course, a part of the money would go to Uncle Kurien too. When he saw the amount he would receive, he had tears in his eyes, and his hands were shaking when the deal was finally made.

    He couldn''t believe that a small trip with his friend, which he thought to be a scam, turned out to be real and made him so rich that even his next two generations would be able to live like kings.

    "Thank you, Aric, for this amazing software and also the new language. Between me and you, I think we got the better end of the deal. According to the analysts, the new language you created is at least a generation ahead of what we use now. This would enhance our security, speed, and reliability. And those are just the basic things we figured out in one day. Thank you again." Eric was beaming with joy after the deal finished. He really thought he had gained so much on this trip that would help Google take a leap forward. Now he was determined to get him on board at Google.

    "That is the least I can do since I want to sell the software. I know I could have made more money out of it since I made the language, but I can''t be too greedy, at least not when you are helping me cover up the whole deal from the media."

    "Yeah, I don''t get it. Don''t you want to be famous? If the word gets out, I am sure the government would love to sponsor you and make you their poster child." Eric was surprised that Aric didn''t want any media publicity from this deal, as teenagers his age were prone to fame more than adults. The deal was made in such a way that his name would be used as an alias, and the tax would be paid so that the government wouldn''t ask for details since all his ducks would be in a row. This was what Aric specifically requested, making him and his family as anonymous as possible. Of course, it was not a guarantee that his name wouldn''t come out in the media, but Aric wanted to be out of the spotlight for at least five years before Google could announce to the public what had happened.

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    This was the same way Jeff Bezos hid from investors about the whole cloud computing AWS until it started generating loads of money.

    "No. Being famous means a target on my back. I don''t want it," Aric replied. There were, of course, other reasons for his love of anonymity, but he didn''t say it out loud. Eric also didn''t push for more and was just happy with the deal. He asked for a celebration, to which Aric had to say yes.

    Alcohol was offered, which Aric and his father declined. Uncle Kurien couldn''t stop himself when he saw the costly wines and alcohol being served. While celebrating, Aric passed a small piece of paper to Eric, who wasn''t heavily drunk yet.

    Eric was surprised why Aric would do this, and he thought maybe Aric was being financially abused, but once he saw what was written, he was confused but agreed with a nod.

    The next day, Eric showed up at their room, which surprised his father and uncle. It was then Eric asked if they could borrow Aric for a few days and take him to Delhi. They at first denied, but Aric chimed in and said that he needed some help and equipment from Delhi, which was only available in Delhi.

    Of course, this was a load of BS. But he did need to get away from everyone here and be alone for a few days. After some convincing, his father allowed him to travel to Delhi with Eric on the promise that he would be back in four days.

    That was enough, and by now his father had a feeling that his son had grown up. The way he had handled the whole deal and the fact that he had just made their whole lives change within a few days was a testament that Aric had come a long way.

    That same day, Aric left with Eric and his entourage. In a private jet. To Delhi.

    And his father and Uncle Kurien left for their hometown.

    "I am curious. Why did you want to get away from your parents?" Eric was curious as they climbed the ladder to the private jet, as Eric insisted they give Aric a ride to Delhi, free of cost of course.

    "I have some work in Delhi that requires my undivided attention. You don''t need to worry. It''s nothing illegal, and I don''t have any higher power that I need to answer to. I just have some personal work as I need to move something a bit."

    "Hahaha... I never said that you have any contacts with any such group," Eric gave a bit of a nervous laugh as he said that.

    "You did a background check on me, which you should, but this is something private," Aric said.

    "As long as you are safe and sound," Eric smiled and replied. Soon they landed in Delhi. Another reason why Aric was allowed to go to Delhi was because he would receive the bank cards and complete all the processes to access the credit line.

 80. Plan for world domination

    Delhi was colder than he imagined. It was draped in a cool, comfortable climate, with a light chill in the air that hinted at the tail end of winter. Aric had visited this place many times, and every time he visited, the only thought that used to come to his mind was pollution and not what the country was supposed to represent.

    Crowded streets, people moving like ants in a hive, old buildings, dirty surroundings, and, of course, people he personally never liked for some reason. Maybe it was racism in his heart, or maybe it was the vibe, but at the end of the day, he never liked the city.

    But today, it was not his headache nor his work-related to work. Eric didn''t get down from the jet, nor did his entourage. A car was waiting for him on the landing strip to take him to a new hotel where all the expenses were paid for the next 10 days. Though Aric didn''t ask for it, his entourage made sure that he would be given these amenities.

    As he was traveling to the hotel, he looked outside and couldn''t help but feel a sense of pride and joy. Though he had received better amenities at Echorysia, he felt like a foreigner there, more so because he hardly saw any humans around. But here, he was among the same species as himself.

    As he was thinking, he reached a 5-star hotel, and once he walked through and introduced himself, a white foreigner approached him from the side.

    "Hello, are you Aric More?" the man asked. Aric nodded, and then the man asked to see some ID, which Aric produced. He could already see the badge of AmEx. He knew why he was here.

    "Sorry for being a bit rude since it''s a bit unconventional. We have never dealt with a client so young and that too from India. My name is Timothy Burns. I am from Wells Fargo. Can we talk somewhere in private?" Timothy asked. Aric nodded, and they were taken to Aric''s suite.

    It was there Timothy handed him the documents and his account details in the bank. Since they didn''t have much info on Aric, they needed to personally verify since Aric was a minor to begin with, and it was a huge amount of money. Timothy gave Aric a full rundown of how he could operate his card and how he could also transfer money.

    Aric was happy with all the facilities being provided. Being spoiled using mobile to pay in his previous life and also in Echorysia, it was a huge downgrade, but then it was better than carrying coins to pay in the other world.

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    It took an hour to sign and understand how he would be able to access the things now that he was entitled to.

    "Now that the formalities are over, here is my number. You can call me if you face any problems, be it financial or other things. We provide all the services at the right price, both national and international. I have noticed that you don''t have a passport, so I would recommend you to get one, and if you trust us, you can ask for our services for getting you a passport and also for your family," Timothy said at the end.

    "Thank you. I will consider it." Aric didn''t accept any service from them at the moment. Timothy, with his bright and cheerful smile, left the suite, and Aric was finally left alone.

    "Mira, check if there are any cameras or recordings," Aric asked. There were a couple of seconds of silence before Mira replied that no recordings had been found. Aric felt relieved. In the next moment, he vanished from his place.

    He returned to the room after a few seconds, but this time he was holding a semi-transparent panel with solid rounded edges on the corners.

    "Is that the new technology that you have been speaking about that you have access to? Wait, let me check.... This is so fast and better. Aric, don''t take this away from me. Please," Mira showed up as a hologram projection on the watch and acted all cute.

    Aric had given her a pretty woman''s body, so it was not hard to act cute.

    "Fine. But you won''t get access to it always," Aric said. He could always hide the transparent pad in the magical world.

    "That is fine," Mira accepted the deal without any complaints. Aric switched the pad on, and the screen lit up like Christmas. He had been wanting to work on a computing machine for ages and now finally got one.

    But now he was different. He had so much knowledge in his head that he could use it like a wand, and the magic would be done instantly. All that he needed was a good network connection, which sadly he didn''t have access to.

    But he could do with the one he had. The 3G had been recently tried in India, or at least he had read the papers. It didn''t take much time to find a connection and hack into it. Well, hacking wasn''t the exact word here. He just found a 3G network caught by the transparent pad, which showed up in available networks, and used his fingers to type some commands, and voila, he found the vulnerabilities.

    Exploiting them was easier. Now using the same technology, he soon made a small software that would erase any information pertaining to him on the Internet, now and in the future. Mira was the one doing it, but he still did it to see if the knowledge in his mind was real or not.

    It was real. And then he fiddled around with the network, and it wasn''t hard to access some of the core servers of Google by exploiting the vulnerabilities. Seeing the power that he now had in his fingertips made him giddy.

    The interstellar world was really a mine, a mine with endless possibilities.

 81. So much luxury

    "I will be out for a few days. Please keep the room clean and tidy until I am back." Aric spoke to the reception before leaving. He had come a long away from home because he needed to get away from people and that included his parents too.

    Now he was here and he had already left Mira with his luggage. Since it was a high end hotel, his luggage wouldn''t be touched and even it was a high end hotel. He was a high end client at the moment so he was sure that nothing would happen to his belongings. And even if anyone took away his belonging they wouldn''t be able to access to Mira.

    Aric walked into a huge mall and went straight for the toilet. But after entering the toilet, he didn''t come out at all. And nobody noticed that the boy never came out of the toilet. At least not on that day.

    <hr>

    Aric was back in Echorysia and he had finally come out of the storage unit after a long stay there. Thankfully there were no aliens or humans operating it, or else they would have felt that they had seen a ghost. Who lived in a storage unit for such a long time?

    After coming to the streets, he booked a taxi for the spaceport. The spaceport was a bit far so it would take some time to reach there. As Aric approached the towering structure of the interstellar spaceport, his eyes widened in awe. The main terminal, an enormous dome made of transparent hyperglass, allowed a panoramic view of the blue sky above. Sunlight refracted through the dome, casting shimmering patterns on the polished floor below.

    As Aric walked through the automated sliding doors, he was greeted by the gentle and the soft murmur of travelers. Inside, the spaceport was a hive of activity. Holographic signs floated above, guiding passengers to various sections of the terminal.

    "Welcome to the Echo Interstellar Spaceport." "Your gateway to the stars and beyond." Aric''s smartwatch vibrated gently, displaying a notification: "Flight IXS-233 to Vallin city departing in 90 minutes from Gate 17. Please proceed to security check."

    He followed the arrows to the security checkpoint, marveling at the efficiency and technology in place. Instead of traditional metal detectors, there were sleek archways that scanned for prohibited items using quantum resonance imaging.

    "So even in the future, I still have to follow the same checks. Tax and security check, I guess are the constants of lives." Aric thought.

    Once through security, Aric found himself in the departure lounge. It was an expansive area filled with comfortable seating, lush indoor gardens, and views of the docking bays. Massive windows stretched from floor to ceiling, revealing the silhouettes of various spacecraft docked outside. The vessels ranged from sleek personal shuttles to colossal starliners, each designed for journeys of unimaginable distance.

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    His smartwatch buzzed again. "Final boarding call for Flight IXS-233 to Vallin City at Gate 17. All passengers please proceed to the gate." Arriving at the gate, he handed his digital ticket to the gate agent, a humanoid robot with a reassuring smile. "Welcome aboard, Mr. More. Enjoy your journey," it said as it scanned his ticket and directed him through the boarding tunnel.

    "I wonder who copied whom here. Why does it mirror the ways of flights in Earth?"

    As Aric stepped onto the luxurious spaceship, he was greeted by plush interiors, ambient lighting, and a sense of tranquility. The ship''s design was opulent yet functional, with every detail meticulously crafted for comfort and efficiency.

    A uniformed attendant, dressed in a sleek, silver-and-black ensemble, approached Aric with a warm smile. "Welcome aboard the Interstellar Cruiser, Mr. More. My name is Elara, and I''ll be assisting you during your journey. Please follow me to your suite." The attendant was a humanoid alien and her whole body was more beautiful than Aric had ever seen. Though he was quite young and it was weird to find an alien attractive but for some reason he did so.

    "You are having those emotions because this particular species involuntarily release a set of attractive hormones in the air which makes most of the humanoid species of the almost all the civilizations pin for them."

    "So she is a magnet for males?" Aric asked Apis.

    "And females too. Their whole species mean nothing but trouble. There had been wars before just so somebody could have power over these species. They are both lucky and unlucky in that regard." Apis replied. Aric could already guess what might have happened over this.

    "But it was very long ago and their species are no more the prized species everyone wants." Apis continued.

    "Why is that?" Aric wanted to know.

    "Because of enhancement of biotechnology, one could both have these abilities and also have the ability to negate the attraction." Apis said. Aric would love to know more but at the moment he would have to wait.

    Elara led Aric through the atrium, and as they walked, he marveled at the ship''s amenities. The main concourse was lined with upscale boutiques, gourmet restaurants serving delicacies from various planets, and lounges with panoramic windows. Passengers moved about leisurely, some sipping exotic cocktails, others engrossed in conversation or simply enjoying the luxurious surroundings.

    They passed through a series of sliding doors that opened silently into a private corridor reserved for first-class passengers. The walls here were adorned with contemporary art pieces, each one a unique creation from different corners of the galaxy. The corridor was quiet, exuding a sense of exclusivity and tranquility.

    Elara stopped in front of a set of double doors, which slid open to reveal Aric''s suite. "Here we are, Mr. More. I hope you find everything to your satisfaction."

    Aric stepped inside and couldn''t help but gasp in admiration. The suite was spacious and tastefully decorated, blending modern design with touches of luxury. The main living area featured a large, comfortable sofa and a low table made of a rare, iridescent wood. A holographic entertainment system was seamlessly integrated into the wall, offering a vast selection of movies, music, and interactive programs.

 82. Not all technology are for commoners

    To one side, a small kitchenette, equipped with the latest in culinary technology, allowed for personal meal preparation if desired. This technology would fit any species and was top of the line. Aric had seen this once in a restaurant he had visited in Echorysia, though that instrument wasn''t as advanced as this model.

    But then again, Aric was just curious at that time, and money was still an issue for him.

    Elara continued the tour, leading Aric to the bedroom. The bed was double king-sized, draped in sumptuous fabrics and adorned with pillows of various sizes and textures. Soft, ambient lighting could be adjusted to create the perfect atmosphere for relaxation. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a mesmerizing view of the stars, with adjustable shades for privacy.

    "The bathroom is through here," Elara said, gesturing to a door on the far side of the bedroom. Inside, Aric found a lavishly appointed space with a deep soaking tub, a rainfall shower, and more.

    After the small tour, Aric was more than satisfied. Though he felt a small attraction to Elara, he didn''t let his thoughts get the better of him. He was an old man of almost 30 to begin with. He might not have enough experience, but he knew when to stop. Additionally, she was an alien. It was morally wrong for him.

    After a wait of about 10 minutes, with a gentle hum, the spaceship''s engines roared to life. Aric felt a surge of excitement and anticipation as the ship lifted off, leaving the spaceport and Echorysia behind. The view outside shifted from the familiar blue sky to the infinite expanse of space, the stars shining brightly against the dark canvas. The spaceship didn''t seem to give Aric enough time to soak in the dark space and rushed off into the void-filled universe.

    He wasn''t sure how they were traveling because, after a few minutes of scenery, there was nothing to see outside except darkness. They were traveling faster than light, but he wasn''t sure how or what the technology behind it was. He had read that different spaceships used various technologies related to space travel. Some used wormhole technology while others used different kinds that Aric had a hard time understanding.

    The wormhole technology was called the rich people''s technology because the spaceships capable of opening wormholes needed to be well-equipped, and the people who bought them needed to have deep pockets and connections. All other technologies could travel from galaxy to galaxy for sure, but it would take a long time, which was not true for wormholes. With this, the spaceship could reach very long distances and cross multiple galaxies faster.

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    But it came at a price; this technology was dangerous because one could sneak alongside the spaceship, creating a security issue, and many empires had limited its use. Thus, it was said that every spaceship that used wormhole technology needed to have deep pockets and be well-connected to even start the business in a civilization.

    This spaceship definitely didn''t have wormhole technology, or it was said that the scenery was one of the most beautiful from the windows. Aric wasn''t disappointed, though, as he felt one day he might get the chance to travel in those spaceships with wormhole technology.

    The journey would take two Earth days, and thus he needed to be on the spaceship for some time, which was also why he couldn''t be at home. He couldn''t teleport back, because if he did, the coordinates of the spaceship would change, and he wouldn''t ever be able to get back to the ship.

    For the next two days, Aric did what he was meant to do: gaining knowledge from the Codex. Now onto the next disk.

    Basic computer knowledge based on galaxy-level civilization.

    Aric had asked for everything, starting from software building to hardware. The disk also contained instructions on how to build a computer from scratch to beyond quantum computers. Of course, it was not in-depth knowledge. He wouldn''t know how to make an operating system that would run such computers.

    He would know the basics, and Aric couldn''t wait to see what he would learn from the disk. He had brought the Codex with him and kept it inside his room, switching it on after connecting. Aric was back inside the cabin and, just like last time, was bombarded with knowledge far beyond what he had expected.

    He felt weak in his legs after he came out, and Apis did what was asked of her. She called in a doctor immediately. The doctor arrived promptly, which was a robot to begin with. Every spaceship was required to have doctors, and since there would be different kinds of species, it was better to have doctors who could work day and night.

    "The patient is perfectly fine and just needs rest. I would advise not to use the Codex for the next two months. The patient''s brain is much better than most regular humans, but it doesn''t mean it can handle constant stress."

    "I will convey the message to the master," Apis replied, showing herself in holographic form on the watch.

    "May you and your master have a good day," the robotic doctor said and left, slowly levitating away. Of course, Aric didn''t hear any of the conversation and was just deep in sleep. He felt like he was in a dream, a dream that felt real and filled with knowledge of computer making, building hardware and software.

    "Apis, how long was I out?" Aric said as he got up and drank a bunch of water to satisfy his thirst.

    "One day. You are advised not to use the Codex for some time," Apis said, showing him what had happened and what the robotic doctor had said.

    "There is no need to add more knowledge for the time being. I am already pregnant with too much knowledge," Aric replied.

 83. Superman isnt real

    "Then can we have a knowledge baby so that we can share the burden of taking care of you?" Apis replied.

    "Oh please. You don''t even have to work like the others and get to sleep more than 50% of the time," Aric said. This was true since Aric was more of a frequent guest in Distant Wind City rather than coming to Echorysia, so Apis was asleep most of the time.

    Aric didn''t bother to argue further and just decided to spend the next whole day rolling around and savoring what he had learned. The knowledge he had attained seemed like a galaxy''s worth of information that had now crammed into his brain.

    For the rest of the day, he tried out some things, and there was also a supermall on the ship. The ship was massive, and he almost got lost in the sauce. The ship changed his view of the whole universe once again. He did expect it since he had read about it, but seeing it in reality was a different experience altogether.

    There were multiple restaurants, two supermalls, and entertainment rooms for all species, including humans. Aric had a fun time there, as he went bowling for the first time. Though he was all alone, he still enjoyed himself. Besides, he had Apis to accompany him and keep him company.

    After he was done and had a hearty meal, he returned to his place. The ship would land in a few hours, and he was excited, to say the least.

    "Flight IXS-233 is about to land within 30 minutes. Passengers are requested to ready their luggage and proceed to their designated hangars. I hope everyone had a wonderful journey. The Intra X family hopes to journey with you once again in the future."

    Soon, the ship approached the massive ring-shaped structure: the capital of Vallin City. The city was artificially made and was a topopolis. A topopolis was a tubular megastructure wrapped in a torus shape. This particular capital was a million kilometers long. If one needed to have a mental picture, imagine the megastructure in space shown in Interstellar after humanity figured out gravity control. It was the same thing here, but it was rounded with no ends.

    The capital had openings in places to allow sunlight to shine in. When Aric first heard of this structure, he almost refused to believe it until he saw a video of it. He soon stepped out of the hangar and was eager to see it with his own eyes. Once he left the hangar and followed the instructions to the spaceport''s exit, which was a marvel in itself, he was gobsmacked.

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    Though the ring had been visible for a few minutes since the spaceship had slowed down once they were in the ''no fast fly zone'' of the city, from there he could see parts of the city as the sun''s rays reflected on the outer side of the structure. But once he was inside, words couldn''t begin to describe what he saw and felt simultaneously.

    Everyone spoke of how Earth is round, and it was a known fact, but here he could say for sure that the city was curved and round. The buildings, streets, and everything seemed to bend away, but somehow the gravity was perfectly fine. The control of gravity was what gave them the power to make and sustain such structures.

    But of course, that didn''t mean all empires had the money and power to build such structures. Vallin was an old empire that had existed for a long time. In fact, at one point in time, they even had a member of their royal family sitting on the council. That was the reason that, even though Vallin was a small empire, it was still quite an old one and also rich.

    In Earth terms, this country was the Liechtenstein of the universe. Though it wasn''t as wealthy as its Earth counterpart, it still held quite some power in the universe. This megastructure was a testament to how old and powerful this empire was and still is.

    The cityscape was a harmonious blend of organic and mechanical design, where towering spires and domes reached skyward, their sleek surfaces reflecting the light of the sun that was allowed to pass through from the big square holes. The structure revolved around the sun, and it looked amazing.

    "It is said that when they built it, the engineers told them to install artificial suns around like the other topopolises, but the king refused as he believed nature should be given respect. Thus, they lost space as they had to ensure holes were built in the structure," Apis said as Aric looked at the sun.

    "Apis, due to different suns, the species of the universe don''t have any kind of superpowers?" Aric asked.

    "Where did you get those ideas from?" Apis asked.

    "Nowhere," Aric replied. He couldn''t say that he had read and watched enough Superman to know that.

    "Your imaginations are wild, but then again, you wrote the classic Lord of the Rings. I think you''ll soon get a movie contract for it," Apis said. His words made Aric blush. He was just copying from someone. Writing something like Lord of the Rings was not even possible, even if he reincarnated many times.

    "To answer your question... No... But there are special processes where one can get superpowers or at least alleviate their status," Apis said. This surprised Aric as he didn''t expect this was possible. He had casually asked and didn''t expect to get an answer.

    "Humans and some species are special. Their genes can be edited and changed more easily than others. While there are advantages and disadvantages to it, one of the advantages is that humans can get superpowers. But it''s not world-changing; it''s just small changes."

 84. Too much money

    "How much of a small change are we talking about here?" Aric asked.

    "The basic change is the control of hormones. All of them who go through the process are called Ablers. The first change is their lifespan. Their lives extend by at least ten times, and with that comes hormonal control. These Ablers are not only attractive but also great at manipulation, and thus, in most human empires, they are not allowed to marry or have children with non-ablers. This is done to ensure they don''t manipulate the non-ablers using hormones. There are other superpowers like generating static electricity, small control of some elements, and other minor abilities. They don''t have higher levels of superpowers like shaking countries and continents," Apis replied.

    "Don''t have or can''t have?" Aric asked.

    "As far as the records go, they don''t have," Apis replied, understanding what Aric meant by the question. Aric didn''t respond, but he already considered that this universe might not be as simple as it seemed.

    As he landed in this huge city, he needed to find himself a place. At this point, he had loads of money, so getting a place for himself wasn''t hard here, and he had already thought about getting his own place. He could do whatever he wanted when he was in Echorysia, but here he would probably be questioned if he just rented a storage unit and never came out.

    Buying a piece of land was quite costly, so he had asked Apis to contact someone and provide him a tentative time of when he could go and seek land to settle.

    "I have contacted Imperial Vallin Real Estate Agency. I have paid 500 Vallin credits to ensure that you are prioritized and also provided them a rough estimate of what you want to spend to acquire land and a proper home," Apis replied.

    "You know me well, Apis." Aric was glad that Apis was there with him. He soon found himself a good hotel where privacy was held in high regard. The moment he stepped in, he checked if there were any monitoring devices, and after making sure there were none, he went to the bathroom and vanished. He was back at the toilet of the mall in Delhi.

    Now he needed to see if he could go back to Echorysia''s storage unit, which he hadn''t given up yet. And to no one''s surprise, he was back at the same storage unit. The storage unit was empty as he had half a mind thinking he wouldn''t be able to get back here.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Seemed like he had overthought his way.

    And it didn''t even take a minute to be back in the bathroom of the hotel in Vallin city. Now he could travel through planets using his power. This revelation was enough to make him all giddy and feel powerful. But he knew he wouldn''t be able to speak about this to anyone.

    After calming himself down, he ordered some food and put up a "do not disturb" sign on the door. He would need to get back home since it had been some time. He was again back at the mall and came out of the toilet. Nobody stopped him as expected, as nobody would remember a young teenager who had entered the mall and didn''t come out for two days. After coming out, he took a taxi and found his way to his 5-star hotel room.

    "Mira, how is everything?" Aric asked the moment he got in contact with Mira after entering the room.

    "Your parents called you, and according to your orders, I have mimicked your voice and your way of talking to assure them that you are fine," Mira replied. Aric knew that his parents would call him once a day or maybe twice a day to make sure he was okay. And thus, he had ordered Mira to mimic his voice and way of talking to not make them suspicious.

    "Thank you. Book a flight to Mumbai. We will be leaving tomorrow," Aric said.

    "On it."

    <hr>

    "Mom, I am back." Aric knocked on the door after the taxi dropped him off. The door promptly opened after a few seconds, and Aric met with a slightly concerned mother who hugged her son.

    "What happened?" Aric asked, unsure if Mira had said something concerning.

    "Nothing... Nothing... Your father, after returning, refused to speak of what happened there and how the deal went. It''s fine if the deal failed. I am glad that you are back, son. You have no idea how much I fought with your father," Avni said. Aric looked at his father, who was a bit further back.

    "You haven''t told her?" Aric asked. It was no wonder Mira said that both of his parents didn''t mention the deal. It was because his mother was still not up to speed. His father just shrugged his shoulders.

    "It''s too big of a thing to be spoken casually," his father replied.

    "Tell me what?" Avni was confused now.

    "Mom, let me freshen up, and then I will tell you. There are two gifts for you in my bag. Open them." Aric said. Avni was curious about what her son wanted to say, so she would rather wait for her son to spill rather than go and open the apparent gifts.

    After Aric freshened up, he finally spilled what the deal was. At first, Avni didn''t believe him after he mentioned the amount of money they were sitting on, but when Aric''s father spoke up, she had her mouth wide open.

    "Mom, you will have to promise me that you will not speak of anything to any of your relatives and not even the grandparents about what had gone down in the deal. Uncle Kurien is shutting his mouth too about it, and he would move soon, so if anybody outside the family knows, I would know it was you," Aric said, and this time he was very serious.

 85. Did you insult LOTR?

    "What? Why would you not want to tell others? My son has achieved..." Avni protested, and this was when Aric''s father spoke up.

    "If you want to live a happy and safe life, then you will not say a word outside of this room."

    "But?!"

    "If you tell anyone, it will spread soon, and it won''t be surprising if some gangster comes up and demands money from us. Word will travel fast, and it will jeopardize our safety and security," Aric''s father replied.

    "But they are our blood and even our parents, and what about the tax? If we pay tax, they will know about it," Avni replied.

    "Mom, we have taken care of the tax. Since I am a minor, my name will not be published, and only an alias has been used. Tax will be paid, and my name will not be there," Aric said. Avni looked at his father, who also nodded his head. Though Avni understood where it was coming from, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

    "But your name will come after you turn of age," Avni said.

    "We will leave this country soon. Why will we bother if they come to know or not?" Aric replied. Avni was appalled by this, and Aric gave her a glimpse of what he wanted to do and where he wanted to settle. He even showed her some pictures, as now Aric had the first-gen iPhone that he had bought and also gifted his parents.

    In the end, his mother was finally convinced about the moving part, and Aric also told her to make her heart and mind strong since they would be leaving the home, place, and country they had been born in. It was still a long time to go, but they needed to slowly start the process.

    Starting from the passport.

    <hr>

    A few more days had passed since the deal was made, and Aric now was being treated as the golden child of the family. Though he was the only child and was treated quite fairly, it was different now. Avni had hired a full-time maid and asked her to take care of the home, while his father got two workers to work on their field and take care of it.

    The home also needed some renovations, and Aric''s father had decided to renovate some places so that when selling the home, it would fetch a great price. Aric, of course, didn''t care, as a small amount of money wouldn''t even be 0.001% of the net worth when it would be sold in the future. His father also had ordered a car for himself. They had a huge yard to begin with, so a car wasn''t that much of a deal.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Of course, with the mindset that Aric''s parents had, Avni protested, as she felt that it was a waste of money since they would be leaving the country soon, but Aric''s father was adamant about having the car as it would allow them to have good family bonding time.

    Avni finally won a small battle in this regard, as she didn''t allow the father and son duo to buy a costly car, just a small, middle-class family car.

    "You want to hide your money, but the way you both are spending money, people will get suspicious." That was the justification Avni gave.

    The money which they had was looked after by Mira so that they could invest in some good places and not lose the money. Being the golden child of the family allowed Aric to have more freedom now.

    Aric bought himself a computer too, which was, in the end, for show, as he already had one in his hand, but he didn''t want to raise any red flags. The influx of money had allowed his parents to live the life they had dreamt about.

    <hr>

    "I am in Vallin capital city. Where are you? I want to thank you for saving my life last time."

    "It''s fine. It is not a big deal."

    "Still, allow me to treat you to a meal."

    Aric was back in Vallin city after he had finished working on things in his place and also delivering things to the Distant Wind city. Now that he had access to Echorysia, he effectively had two bases. Well, the other one was on the verge of being acquired.

    "Uh... Why are you named Pandapolo in the chat? Are you a fan of Lord of the Rings too?" The one Aric was texting was Komin Vallin, the same person who had once saved him when he had landed in Echorysia. Now that he was back, he wanted to at least say thank you properly.

    "Uh... I am the author of Lord of the Rings," Aric replied.

    "Get out. It is impossible. The author of Lord of the Rings is supposed to be legendary and has never shown his/her face. Many fans all over the universe want to meet him and are even ready to pay huge amounts just to get a glimpse of him."

    "I don''t know about that, but here is the proof that I am Pandapolo," Aric replied while attaching a screenshot of his admin page where in the works page, there were the different books of Lord of the Rings listed.

    After sending it, there was no reply for the next 1 minute, and then a virtual call came. A virtual call was not something like a video call. The call would show almost the whole body and also generate a 3D holographic picture. It was from Komin, and Aric readily accepted the call.

    When the holographic image opened, it was Komin bending his knee with his head held down. Aric was taken aback. He didn''t know what was going on.

    "Umm... What are you doing?"

    "I am bowing to you for making one of the greatest literatures of the universe," Komin said.

    "You are thinking too much. Such stories where there is a chosen King who is on the good side and a bad man on the bad side," Aric said.

    "Did you oversimplify a legend?" Komin lifted his face and looked at Aric with anger, as if Aric had just insulted his girlfriend or something.

 86. Help from beyond the grave

    "Did you oversimplify a legend?" Komin lifted his face and looked at Aric with anger, as if Aric had just insulted his girlfriend or something.

    "Whoa, whoa. I didn''t mean it like that," Aric said, raising his hands defensively. "I just meant that at the end of the day, it''s a story. It''s supposed to be enjoyed, not... you know, worshipped."

    "But it''s not just a story, Aric. It''s already becoming something bigger. People are talking about it, debating it, getting lost in it. You''ve created a world that feels real to so many of us."

    "I guess I didn''t realize it would resonate so much, especially this quickly. I just wanted to share something that I thought was cool," Aric replied, and all he could think was, "Damn Tolkien. You are a legend."

    "Well, you did more than that. You''ve given people a place to escape to, a world that they want to believe in. That''s not something to take lightly."

    "I appreciate that, really. But I''m just a writer. I''m still figuring this whole thing out."

    "I get it. But to a lot of people, you''re more than just a writer now. You''re the creator of a universe that means something to them. And that''s... well, that''s kind of a big deal."

    "I suppose it is. But let''s not make it too big of a deal, okay? I''d rather just enjoy a meal with a friend without all the fanfare. If all you want is to be a friend."

    "I can do that. The author of LOTR and a friend of mine? You bet I will be more than a friend. But I can''t promise I won''t bring up the book again," Komin replied.

    "Then let''s get some coffee. I won''t shy away from the fact that I''m new here and need someone to help me around. And I also know your background. So, sorry for that," Aric said.

    "What are you afraid of? I''m royalty, but you''ve seen my ratings. I won''t get the throne, and neither do I care. That throne seems cool and all, but it''s just a massive headache. I''d rather be a degenerate and spend my life reading books." Komin didn''t bother to hide his thoughts.

    "Let''s discuss further."

    After an hour or so, both of them showed up at a coffee shop. He wasn''t alone, of courseˇŞhis butler came too but didn''t join them. He sat at a different table, alone. Aric invited him, but he refused.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    But Aric did thank him for helping him that time. It might not have been a huge thing for Aric, but for him, he had saved his life. Nobody had done that before, and even the doctors had failed in his previous life. So he valued life more than others, though he had also killed people before.

    "Can I get your autograph?" These were the first words Komin asked as he took out a hardcover book with vibrant colors, art that looked like it was drawn in pastels, and characters from LOTR, which he had loved and known. Aric felt a bit shy to autograph it, but he eventually did. He needed to own "his works" and show them to the world.

    "Thank you for being such an avid fan," Aric replied.

    "No, thank you for writing such an amazing book," Komin replied.

    "I do have some other works coming through. I hope you will like them. But it''s in drawn form rather than written form," Aric said.

    "What? More? Show me." Komin was amazed and asked excitedly. Aric spoke of the manga that was being published, and Komin vowed to read it. They spoke in more depth about LOTR and some of the doubts he had.

    Thankfully, while he was in bed in his previous life, he had gone through Reddit posts about LOTR and theories, and he actively took them and answered some of his doubts. The rest, he said, he should imagine for himself, as the story was vast. Komin was mesmerized, to say the least.

    "So why are you here? I mean, I''m glad you''re here, but are you here for citizenship? If yes, I can help you," Komin replied.

    "It took me some time to stand on my feet, but now that I have some money, I need to get citizenship," Aric said.

    "Hahahaha. You know, we thought your life would be stuck on that planet, but you surprised me a lot. You''ve gone far and beyond. And Vallin would be lucky to have a human like you," Komin said.

    "Uh... Do humans have a bad reputation here?" Aric asked as he noticed that Komin mentioned humans.

    "Humans have a huge advantage in the universe. Their seats in the council allow them to have more power, and also because they have huge territories under them. Many other civilizations tend not to like them, and though Vallin is old, it is not older than humans. So many civilizations don''t like humans. Some even outright hate them. Thankfully, Vallin isn''t one of those hate-filled places, and the species of the galaxy tend to be more kind than violent. And humans are too far from here. You will not be ostracized here for sure, but you might not get a warm welcome like the other species tend to get." Komin laid it out thick.

    "That is well enough for me. I will get the citizenship and maybe go to a human territory in the future."

    "That will be one tough journey, and you must have deep pockets to make that travel. And dude, you are the author of LOTR. You will be respected by communities that don''t see boundaries of species and civilizations. So don''t worry that much. At the end of the day, I have Vallin in my name, and I will make sure you''re comfortable here. You made LOTR; you''re allowed to commit a murder too and get away with it. Hahaha..." Komin said. Aric could only shake his head, seeing this LOTR fanatic.

    Tolkien had helped him beyond his grave.

 87.Okay, now this is luxury

    Aric couldn''t understand how could someone who was new to LOTR could go so deep into the story of LOTR. But then again he wasn''t complaining. Komin was related to the royal family and connections were important in this world, or in any world for that matter.

    Komin spoke of LOTR in more length and Aric just went along with it.

    "Let''s go and make you an official citizenship of Vallin." Komin said.

    "Uh. I don''t have a background." Aric reminded Komin. Komin was surprised by this as he felt by this time he might have found his family but it seemed nothing had changed from the looks of things.

    "Then I will be the guarantor." Komin replied without an ounce of hesitation.

    "No. I will pay the price to be a citizen." Aric said. "And you can be as insurer."

    There are two ways to be a citizen of Vallin. One was using someone from Vallin to recommend someone as the guarantor. If the new citizen commits any crime, the guarantor will have to pay a penalty, the graver the crime is, the more penalty one has to pay. And the other way was paying a sum of money to the monarch while getting a recommendation also called as an insurer and he wouldn''t be tied to the new citizen at all even if he or she committed a crime.

    "Uh.. Okay.." Komin wanted to protest but he could see that Aric didn''t want to argue against it.

    "Besides I ain''t here to talk about the citizenship. I will buy a home here for myself and I just want you to tag along." Aric said.

    "You called me for this. I am bit offended now." Komin laughed as he said that.

    "I wanted to thank you. And the home buy part was a part of convenience." Aric said.

    "Fine. We can discuss more of LOTR then." Komin said as if nothing mattered to the world other than LOTR for him. This reminded him of one friend he had in university. That guy was obsessed with Naruto and talked about nothing but Naruto. Though he did grow out of it, but he was obsessed. Now Komin felt the same to him.

    <hr>

    Aric and Komin cruised through the curving streets of Vallin City in an anti-grav car, its sleek frame gliding effortlessly above the ground. The car moved with a silent grace, its translucent panels offering an unobstructed view of the sprawling metropolis around them. The city, an architectural marvel of towering structures and suspended gardens, arced upwards into the artificial sky, which in itself was just as the same as the ground since the gravity was working on all sides here. It was a little mind boggling for Aric but he was silently getting used to it.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    The car''s AI guided them smoothly towards their destination, a holographic map displaying the route ahead. As they approached the real estate district, Aric glanced at Komin, a slight smile on his face.

    "You know, Komin, you didn''t have to drive us in something soˇ­ extravagant," Aric remarked, half-joking.

    "It''s just a car," Komin couldn''t understand what Aric meant and Aric could only sigh. He was rich but he was never born rich, so he would never know what being born in rich household looked like.

    "Well, you certainly know how to make an entrance." Aric shook his head, amused.

    The car descended gently as they reached their destination, an upscale neighborhood in one of the hearts of the city. As they stepped out, they were greeted by a tall woman with sleek silver hair and a tablet in hand. Her name tag read "Elara," and her expression was one of practiced professionalism. Aric had seen too many of these alien species to tell who was considered beautiful and who wasn''t.

    "Welcome, Aric, And you must be Komin," Elara said, offering a polite nod. Her eyes flickered briefly over Komin, as if trying to place him, but she quickly focused on her task. "I understand you''re looking for a home in Vallin City. I have several properties that might interest you."

    "Yes, something unique, with character. We''re not looking for just any place." Though Aric would buy the place but Komin, being the guy that he was, took an authoritative stance.

    "Of course. Let me show you some of the finest residences the city has to offer."

    They followed her into the building, taking a private anti-grav elevator to the 80th floor. The doors opened to reveal a sprawling penthouse, its interior adorned with the finest materials and technology. Floor-to-ceiling windows offered a breathtaking view of the central park below and the city''s upward arc.

    "This penthouse is 500 square meters," Elara began, her voice smooth. "Four bedrooms, a state-of-the-art AI kitchen, and a private sky garden. It''s one of the most luxurious units available."

    Aric wandered towards the windows, taking in the view. "It''s certainly impressive," he remarked.

    Komin, however, remained distant, his expression unreadable as he walked through the rooms. "Luxury is easy to find," he said finally, his tone measured. "I''m more interested in something that feels like a home."

    Elara adjusted quickly, her fingers moving deftly over her tablet. "I understand. I have another property that might suit your tastes better."

    They returned to the anti-grav car, and Komin guided it towards the river district. This part of Vallin City was quieter, with the artificial river winding its way through lush green spaces and elegant low-rise homes. The next property was a modern townhouse, its design blending seamlessly with the natural surroundings.

    "This is more private," Elara explained as they entered. "Four bedrooms, a solar roof, and direct access to the riverwalk. It''s designed for those who appreciate both luxury and tranquility."

    Komin''s expression softened as he took in the surroundings. He walked through the house, noting the attention to detail in the architecture. "This has character," he said, a hint of approval in his voice. "I can see myself living here."

    Aric smiled, sensing Komin''s growing attachment to the place. "I think this could be it," he agreed.

    Elara''s smile widened slightly, satisfied with their response. "I''ll prepare the necessary documents. You''ve made an excellent choice."

 88. I never said that

    The next part was smooth sailing. While on the way to buying the plot for himself, he had already registered himself as one of the citizens of Vallin, with Komin as the insurer, and thus the required documents and verification didn''t take much time. The lease was done for the next 1,000 years, and he could renew it at the same price after 1,000 years.

    Aric thanked Komin for the help. The permission to move in would take a day or so, which was fine with Aric as he would need to get back to his home, too. He had everything sorted in both worlds now.

    Time for the next step.

    <hr>

    1 and a half years later.

    Distant Wind City.

    Aric had grown quite taller for his age. He was 15 this year, and now he finally had the chance to get admitted into a magic school. The admissions for different magic schools were different. There were different criteria for different magic schools. Since there were different magical elements, there were magical schools based on elements alone. The known magical elements were air, water, fire, earth, lightning, light, and darkness. These were the most well-known elements.

    But over the past year, he had conversed with Gopher a lot. They had spoken at length about the different elements. Most of the people around would only have an affinity for one element in their lifetime, and the levels of affinity would determine what kind of school would allow them to join. In one of these lengthy talks about the world around them, Gopher had spoken of a story about a huge war that had happened between humans and the "other monsters."

    And affinity wouldn''t be the only criterion. There were other branches of schools, too. There were beast-taming schools, magical artifact-creating schools, herbology schools, and medical schools.

    Aric thought the schools recruiting would accept students free of cost, but there was nothing like that in this world. The novels he had read were a huge scam. The magic schools here operated the same way universities do on Earth.

    For admission, parents needed to pay money to let their children study. Some with great affinity got scholarships, while others had to pay a massive amount of money, depending on the schools. Recruiters visited various cities around the country and even neighboring countries to recruit students who fit their profile.

    For recruitment, the schools normally banded together and arrived at different cities to start their process, staying in each city for roughly a week. It was time for Distant Wind City. Aric was all ready to go for the recruitment when he heard Gopher''s knock on the door.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    "Aric, are you ready? Come out even if you''re not. They don''t care what attire you wear. It''s your talent they will see."

    It was Alden who opened the door and let Gopher walk in. Aric pretended he was getting ready, though he was just customizing his suit to fit his needs.

    "You look fine, lad," Gopher said, though his voice held a teasing edge. "But remember, they won''t be impressed by your clothes. It''s what you have inside that matters." Today was the day Aric had been preparing forˇŞthe day that could determine his future. He might have a great life on Earth and in the interstellar universe, and if he tried, he would be great in this world too by being rich and influential.

    But he would rather have his own power. After all, everybody had a fascination with magic, and he did too. Gopher had already called a carriage, and both of them sat opposite each other. Alden''s sister had been praying the whole day so that Aric would get selected.

    Though Alden couldn''t understand how Aric was able to do "magic" before, he was happy to support him. Alden was sure Aric would be accepted at a great school since he secretly idolized Aric.

    "I''ll be home soon, and maybe we''ll have to move to a different place in a few days," Aric had said before leaving Alden and his sister. This made both siblings very happy.

    Soon, they reached the city square, which looked like a fair was going on. Large tents were being built all over the square, and each tent had a flag on top that fluttered in the wind. The snow had finally vanished from the rooftops and the leaves, but the cold wind could still be felt on their faces. Everyone was wearing warm clothes, but none of them looked tired or annoyed about showing up in this tough weather.

    Parents had shown up with their children. Aric could see rich men arriving with their children and also poor villagers from neighboring areas. This was truly a huge gathering, something Aric hadn''t seen even in other festivals held in the city.

    "I forgot this is your first time here. I told you to accompany me last year," Gopher said when he saw the amazement on Aric''s face.

    "Children... designed to supplant them... make them end." Aric''s mind was revolving around those quotes as he saw the people here, and he murmured the quote. It was weird because he himself was a child here and was being hypocritical.

    "What did you say?" Gopher asked. His extrasensory sense of hearing picked up the murmur.

    "Nothing. You know, it can be annoying sometimes having you around." This wasn''t the first time Aric was subjected to Gopher''s super senses.

    "And that is why magic divides people. I hope you get accepted into my school with a scholarship," Gopher replied.

    "But I heard your school doesn''t have a good reputation," Aric teased. This was true, as Gopher himself had once told him when he was drunk at Aric''s place, drinking alcohol he had brought from Vallin CityˇŞsomething Komin had gifted him while he visited his new home in the capital.

    "Who said that? I will kill them with my own hands." Gopher reacted.

    "You said that." Aric replied.

    "I have never spoken those kind of rubbish words."

 89. This was a disappointment

    Aric didn''t want to argue and just followed Gopher to one tent. This tent had a green triangle flag blowing in the wind. But here was the thing: there was no wind nearby, and still, all the flags over the tents seemed to be blown by some kind of wind mechanism.

    Aric knew what it was. It was wind magic. Gopher had gifted him quite a few books about magic, and now Aric had a very general idea of how magic worked. After he had learned some runic circles and engraved them, he stopped learning more. Though his consciousness could handle more, he didn''t see any need to add more.

    He wanted to wait and see if he could join a school and then understand his abilities a bit better. Aric soon found himself inside the tent. He had watched Harry Potter movies in his previous life, and thus, a part of him was expecting something like the Harry Potter movies, with enlarged space on the inside of the tent.

    But he was sorely disappointed. He entered only to see two men: one middle-aged and one a young adult sitting on two chairs behind a quite raised wooden desk, which had intricate patterns on it.

    On the desk, it was written:

    Windfall School of Magic.

    "Gopher?! Is that you? You''re still alive?" The middle-aged man looked at Gopher with surprise once they entered the tent. The tent was not exactly in the middle of the square, and it wasn''t flashy enough to attract the attention of the young teenagers to check here.

    "Max... They sent you this time? Tch. The school has just gone a few more levels down," Gopher replied with a huff.

    "At least I got the job of caretaker teacher that you always wanted," Max replied.

    "What? You cheated. I would have gotten the job," Gopher seemed quite angry as he replied.

    "Can you both please be civil? We are representing the school here, not some old-age bicker," the young man spoke as both of them seemed to be at each other''s throats. The wind had started to pick up pace around the tent, so the anger was very evident. But the young man''s words put brakes on the emotions.

    "We will have a match after this is over. Let''s see if you deserve that position or not," Gopher said with a smirk and confidence.

    "Where do you even get that confidence from? You were no match for me 20 years ago, and it''s still the same."This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    "We''ll see about that," Gopher replied and pulled Aric to the front. Finally, Max took his eyes off Gopher and looked at Aric. Just from his body and face, Max could tell that this man was well-nourished and fed. He didn''t see any parents around, but since Gopher had brought him here, it was a good enough sign.

    "Is this your new pet to play with?" Max asked. Though Max had insulted Aric in the process, Aric could tell that there was no malice in it. It was just a spat of jealousy between the two.

    "Watch your words, you coward. He is my... student." Gopher almost said that Aric was his business partner but held back, knowing Max wouldn''t believe him anyway. Max didn''t push further and indicated for Aric to touch the crystal.

    Max might have a beef with Gopher, but that didn''t mean he couldn''t think straight. Max showed Aric a foggy crystal ball placed on the table. These crystal balls were determiners of elements for someone.

    If a fire mage touched the ball, it would glow red. Anyone destined to be a mage would have an element within them. In fact, all the people born in this world had their elements from birth. It was talent that decided whether a person would be a mage or not.

    So, for the crystal ball to turn red meant the person was destined to be a fire mage; blue represented water, brown represented earth, and green represented air. Yellow represented lightning, black as dark, and glowing white as bright. The last three were pretty uncommon. If that wasn''t uncommon enough, then a person having multiple elements was even rarer.

    Aric didn''t know if he had access to any of the mentioned elements, as he felt his magic abilities might not cater to traditional elements. His might be tied to time and space, and he wasn''t sure if these schools had any way to measure or recognize that. At least, the books he had read didn''t mention anything about space and time.

    As Aric touched the ball, it reacted almost instantly. The foggy color started to change, and soon it turned green. The light was so bright that the whole tent seemed to be filled with green light. This made the jaws of the three others present in the room drop.

    "This..."

    "Fucckkk."

    "Oh my dear Aurelius..."

    "What is your name? No... your name doesn''t matter. We will accept you right now with full scholarship, and you''ll get a free personal consultant and teacher with all the amenities provided. Food and lodging will also be free. You just need to signˇŞ" Max went full blabbermouth out of nowhere, which Aric wasn''t expecting at all.

    Actually, he was both surprised and disappointed with what was happening. A part of him wanted this assessment to show an unconventional color, but it only showed green, which was a symbol of wind and air magic.

    "Uhh..."

    "Now, now... Associate Professor Max, are you duping another student into joining your shitty school? Kid, what''s your name? Come to our school. We''ll provide double the facilities, and also our Waterways School of Magic is better versed in water and wind magic than Windfall. So, what do you think?"

    "Associate Professor Joel, let me remind you that this is the tent of Windfall, and according to the agreement, none of the other school associates are allowed to step into the tents of others. It''s also illegal to spy on others," Max growled loudly.

 90. So many options

    "The agreement is that we are not allowed to fight in the tent of others, not the one you are proclaiming. And he hasn''t signed any papers from what I can see, so he''s free to choose," Joel replied, unflinching.

    "Get the fuck out of here, or you''ll feel my wrath!" Max shouted, pointing his palm at Joel. Without warning, a concentrated gust of wind shot toward Joel. However, Joel seemed to have anticipated the attack. He summoned a transparent barrier in front of him, which absorbed the gust, dispersing it into harmless wisps of air that swirled around the tent before disappearing.

    "Is that it?" Joel asked, his voice calm. "Resorting to brute force already? Young child, from the looks of it, you are quite intelligent. I advise you not to join these brutes and sully your name. Come to us, and we''ll provide far better facilities and knowledge." Joel''s gaze shifted to Aric, who stood dumbfounded.

    Aric had seen Gopher perform magic before, but never in combat. This was the first time he''d witnessed an actual confrontation. When Max summoned the wind, Aric quickly realized that this seemingly simple trick could easily be fatal if it hit him. But Professor Joel had countered it effortlessly. The more Aric saw of magic, the more determined he became to make the best out of his own potential.

    "Now, nowˇ­ quite the spectacle, isn''t it?" another voice chimed in as Joel and Max appeared ready for another round. Gopher had already positioned himself protectively in front of Aric. He felt lucky to have met Aric, who had brought not only a large sum of money but now, with his apparent high-level talent, would be able to secure entry into any prestigious school.

    Yes, the crystal ball had just declared that Aric possessed extraordinary talent in wind magic. A talent of this caliber in such a remote area was unheard of. Most schools here were used to dealing with students of low to mid-level talent, with mid-level being rare. High-level talent, however, was like encountering a dragonˇŞsomething almost mythical that a school could only hope to encounter with great fortune.

    Joel and Max turned to see who had spoken. Multiple individuals entered the tent, each dressed in mage attire, clearly representatives from various schools. Aric never expected such a scene on his examination day.

    Joel''s gaze sharpened, visibly annoyed by the interruption, but he said nothing. Max, still seething, clenched his fists. The fragile control of the situation was slipping away.

    "Quite the gathering," one of the newcomers remarked. He was tall, with long silver hair cascading down his back, and his mage robes bore the crest of the prestigious Aetherion Academy. "And all for one boy?"If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    The others from the schools nodded, their expressions unreadable but clearly intrigued. Aric swallowed hard. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he would draw this level of attention during what was supposed to be a routine examination.

    "What''s your name, boy?" one of the men asked, his gaze locked on Aric.

    "His name is Aric, and I am his mentor," Gopher interjected, stepping forward. Inside, he was overjoyed but maintained a calm exterior. The man who had asked the question didn''t seem pleased by Gopher''s interference but said nothing.

    "You''ve caused quite a stir, young man. A high talent in wind magic? That''s exceedingly rare. Schools from across the empire, and even neighboring empires, would fight to have someone of your caliber. I see some already are," he said with a glance toward Max.

    Max glared at the newcomer but held his tongue. His earlier bravado had faded in the presence of so many powerful mages. Joel, however, remained unfazed.

    "Azryn," Joel greeted the silver-haired mage coolly. "I should have known Aetherion would be sniffing around here. This is not your concern."

    "Oh, but it is," Azryn replied smoothly. "The boy''s future concerns us all, does it not? We all see his potential, and we all know the laws. No one can lay claim to a student until he has made his own choice."

    Aric''s mind raced. He''d always known he had some talent, but thisˇŞthis was beyond anything he could have imagined. The power, the resources, the knowledge he could gain... it was all within his grasp.

    "Don''t let them intimidate you, lad," Gopher whispered. "You''re free to choose. Take your time. You don''t have to join the Windfall School. You deserve better."

    Aric wasn''t intimidated, though he had been expecting a spectacle if his time or space talent was discovered. He still held onto the belief that those abilities hadn''t been revealed yet. But hearing Gopher''s words reassured him that his mentor had his back.

    Aric smiled at Gopher before addressing the crowd. "Thank you for the enthusiasm and invitations. I haven''t decided which school to join yet. Would you mind if I look around first and then make a decision?"

    The faces of the newcomers fell slightly, clearly disappointed that their attempts to intimidate the young mage had failed. It became obvious that Aric had a good head on his shoulders, which only made them more eager to recruit him.

    Talent was just one part of being a mage, but character mattered moreˇŞat least to some schools. With bright expressions, the newcomers left, leaving Joel and Max fuming. Max glared daggers at Gopher, his anger barely contained.

    Joel too left after this leaving Max and Gopher alone with the silent young man and Aric.

    "It''s your fault." Max said.

    "How is it my fault. I don''t have the high level talent. Neither I knew about this." Gopher defended himself.

    "Don''t play hide and seek with me. Children of high level talent show massive intellect and some form of magic early. You didn''t notify me or the school about this. The school will charge you for betrayal and hiding information." Max said.

    "I have already paid the school last year, so I don''t owe the school anything. If anyone needs to worry about is you. Let me see how you will explain to he Principal of how you let a high level talent miss you even after being assessed here. I was expecting to see Loriel here. Sad that sent someone very incompetent." Gopher didn''t seem to hold back his words now since Max had wanted to throw him under the bus.

 91. So many schools, I cant decide

    "What? You paid off the school? How.. How is that possible?" Max couldn''t believe that Gopher was able to pay off the school. Their talents were low to begin with so any school would charge them a huge amount of money to get themselves enrolled.

    Now many students never would have the resources or the money to pay the school. Thus the schools would take a portion of their pay in the future until the debt is paid off. It was like a student loan provided by the school itself. The only difference here being the school itself will appoint you your work place depending upon your abilities.

    Max and Gopher were eyeing for the associate professor in school not because they would be paid handsomely, but because being the associate professor he would be able to pay off the debt faster while also learning more about magic.

    Gopher was sent to work as a shopkeeper to one of the remote places and though their pay was almost the same, the benefits of being an associate professor was much higher. This was the reason why Gopher and Max lodged heads against each other. They didn''t have any kind of bad blood before but the designation made it so.

    Gopher side-eyed Aric when Max asked about how he was able to pay off but didn''t say a word. Max would come to know if he investigated but nonetheless he didn''t have any ties to the school anymore and wasn''t obligated to help the school. He had done his part.

    "That is none of your business of how I paid off. Maybe Aric here would choose our school or maybe he wouldn''t, and even if I was tied to the school right now, I am not obligated to send an acquaintance to the same school as mine. There is no such law. Good luck with your recruitments." Gopher walked out saying that followed by Aric, who thanked Max for the hospitality.

    Max wanted to say more but the young man nearby stopped him.

    "Teacher, we will only lower ourselves if we go on pestering him. A high level talent doesn''t mean that he will be a great mage in the future. Anything can happen in his journey."

    Max eyes jumped when his young colleague said that. He understood what he meant. The talented mages were often targeted the most on their journey to greater heights. After Aric and Gopher came out, he could feel the eyes of the crowd on him, as many of the people were now looking at him.

    In this square, news spread fast, and by now it seemed everyone was aware that Aric had tested with a high talent in wind magicˇŞan unheard-of rarity in these parts. Aric knew that he would have recieve the stares and whispers for the rest of the time but he wasn''t bothered. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    He moved from one tent to another, each one representing a different magical academy, each one vying for his attention. Gopher stayed at his side, offering quiet reassurance. The first tent belonged to Aetherion Academy, the same school Azryn had represented. As they entered, Aric was greeted by rows of intricate banners, each one shimmering with enchantments.

    It was much better than the Windfall School for sure.

    "Aetherion is not just a school, Aric. It is a legacy," Azryn began. "Here, you will learn not only how to wield wind magic but how to understand its very essence. Our libraries are unmatched, filled with scrolls that date back before the founding of the empire itself."

    Aric''s eyes wandered to the artifacts and enchanted tools displayed in the tent. But something about the grandeur felt overwhelming, almostˇ­ impersonal. In addition he wasn''t only looking for magic related to wind itself.

    "With your talent, Aric, you could become one of the greatest mages this world has ever seen. At Aetherion, you would have no limits." Aric thanked him, feeling both flattered and cautious. Gopher had already seen the deal that the Academy offered and even he was tempted by this.

    "Was that not good enough? Or are you thinking of going back to Windfall? You don''t have any obligation to join the Windfall. You can choose whatever you want." Gopher felt like his relationship with Aric might be a burden. Though he said others that he was the mentor of Aric, it was done to give safety to Aric.

    "No.. No.. I don''t care about that. I just want to look at my options here and then decide. Maybe I will choose the Aetherion Academy by the end." Aric replied.

    The next tent bore the symbol of Zephyros Institute, a smaller but well-regarded school known for its hands-on approach to teaching magic. The mages here wore simpler robes, and the atmosphere felt less formal. A woman with short-cropped hair, her hands calloused from work, greeted him.

    "We believe in practical magic," she said, extending her hand. "I''m Lyria, associate professor of Zephyros. We don''t waste time with stuffy theoriesˇŞwe''ll throw you right into the field. You''ll learn to shape the wind, not just study it. Here the runic circles to be taught will be more practical and we have three streams in our school. Earth, water and wind magic, and thus you will have better experience."

    "There''s no better teacher than experience," Lyria continued. "You''ll learn fast, and you''ll learn well. But it won''t be easy. You''ll be pushed hardˇŞharder than any academy." And just like the previous one, he also said goodbye at the end and promised to come back if he wasn''t able to decide by the end. He felt that Zephyros Institute might be his destination if he didn''t find anyone better.

    The third tent was simpler than the others, marked with the emblem of , a lesser-known school but one with a strong reputation for nurturing talent. There the one who was accepting was named Haron.

    "We''re not as grand as Aetherion, nor as adventurous as Zephyros," Haron said, his voice gravelly but kind. "But we''re a place for growth. At Vernalis, you won''t be another cog in the machine. You''ll be guided, personally. We''ll help you find your own path, not force you down one."

 92. I am a PokčŚ…mon master

    This was one of the few schools which had elements from all of the basics, including fire. Of course, there were schools based on dark, light/bright and others, but Aric didn''t bother to go, as his talent didn''t show any signs of those elements.

    Aric followed him through the throng of people after checking around more schools. Most of them Aric found to be ordinary, and those extraordinary ones, like the school specializing in lightning, wouldn''t accept him anyway. But on Gopher''s urging, he had visited them, and, as usual, he was only proven to have high wind-level talent.

    The lightning-based school was very remorseful for not being able to accept him, but they did send their well-wishes to Aric. The school had found two talents in lightning magic: one medium and one low, and they were quite happy with that.

    While looking at the tents and ''window-shopping,'' Aric and Gopher came across a tent that was quite different from the others. The symbol on the flag was unfamiliarˇŞa crude emblem of a beast with horns curling around a crescent moon. This was the Ravenguard School.

    Inside the tent, it was dark, and the scent of earth and sweat filled the air. Rough-hewn weapons and animal hides hung on the walls. A tall figure emerged from the shadowsˇŞa woman with fierce, predatory eyes and a wolf pelt draped over her shoulders.

    "Welcome to Ravenguard," she said, her voice low and guttural. "I''m Sylva, the beast master here. I have heard rumors of someone with a high level of wind element. I will tell you this right now: your level of talent means shit to us. It might help you in other schools, but not here."

    "Sylva... You''re the same crude woman I knew from long ago, I see."

    "Why? You thought I''d change over the years to fit your personality?" Sylva didn''t beat around the bush and asked directly.

    "No... It''s just, it''s been so many years, and I thought maybe you''d calm down a bit." Gopher seemed embarrassed as he said that. Aric could easily sense that Gopher had a soft spot for this woman in his heart, which was kind of new. Aric had always thought that Gopher would like some feminine woman, but from the looks of it, he''d done a 180.

    He could tell there was some history between them but wasn''t sure what. No wonder he had given him a special lecture on the beast school. Ravenguard was the only beast school in all three empires. It was a special school because, unlike other schools that relied on elements, the beast schools relied on their beasts for combat or other work of a mage.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Conventionally, they weren''t very good with magic through their bodies alone, but with the help of beasts, they could have the same impact as that of a mage. Their way of testing a student was also different, as their crystal ball didn''t examine the element but rather the consciousness.

    Nobody could tell what was the actual difference between the consciousness of a beast master and that of a regular mage, or at least it was not known to regular people like them. Their special crystal ball would test the compatibility to see if someone could be a beast master or not. And from the looks of it, this woman named Sylva didn''t have high hopes for Aric or anyone, for that matter.

    It was also one of the reasons why there were very few beast masters around.

    "Touch the ball," Sylva demanded as she motioned toward Aric. Aric gulped as he felt intimidated by her, but nonetheless, went forward and touched the crystal ball. In the first second, there was no reaction, which disappointed everyone present, but then, suddenly out of nowhere, it started to shine brightly. The color was a normal white, as these crystal balls don''t examine elements, but the white color was bright enough to illuminate the whole tent.

    This made Sylva, who wasn''t expectant at all, almost jump in joy. Aric could hear her whisper under her breath.

    "The brighter the light, the stronger the consciousness."

    "The brighter the light, the stronger the consciousness."

    Gopher hadn''t expected that Aric would have a strong talent for being a beast master, and on top of that, he had high talent for wind. This was more than enough to show that Aric was one of the luckiest stars to be born in this world. Gopher was now more curious about his origin. Though he had never asked, he had secretly tried to find Aric''s origin, even asked his adoptive brother and sister for a clue, but nothing was known.

    His circumstances, too, seemed bizarre. There was a shroud of mystery around Aric that Gopher wasn''t able to unravel, and now with these two out-of-this-world talents emerging, it made it certain that Aric was definitely some kind of mage royalty. Even those secluded clans up in the North didn''t have the resources to produce one child as talented as Aric.

    Now he was more determined to hold on to Aric''s thigh.

    "You... You have a strong consciousness, which will allow you to be a beast master easily. I know that many schools are vying for you since your talent in wind is high, but our school willˇŞ"

    "I will join your school," Aric replied.

    "What?"

    "Yes, I will join your school," Aric reiterated.

    "But you''ve not even heard what I have to offer," Sylva said.

    "It''s fine. I''m not short of money, and even if you don''t provide scholarships, I will pay in full. If you don''t believe me, you can ask Gopher here," Aric said. This made Gopher smirk a bit, and he added, "He''s one of the richest in the city, and if you don''t believe me, you can ask around. I''m sure you''ll do your background check before you admit him. As a Guardian, you can write my name."

    This made Sylva double-take on her words.

 93. Children arent robots

    "Who the hell is this child?" Sylva thought but didn''t voice her opinion.

    "We will see his authenticity, and only then will he be accepted to ensure you''re not some form of spy. But you will be given full accommodations and meals, which also includes meals for your beasts until you graduate. And your first beast will be provided by us, free of cost, from the beast egg repository. You don''t have to pay for any of it, and the school will provide for you. Here is the contract." Sylva didn''t bother to go around her words anymore and handed a ready-made contract to Aric.

    Like modern deals, the contract was written in almost the same manner. The only difference was that the contract was a magical piece of parchment. Though there were no legal laws governing the contract, it was said that magical contracts like this were not supposed to be broken, and if one did, it would invite bad omens on the person or entity that broke it, so these contracts were mostly valid.

    Aric took the contract and put it inside his bag. There was still time for them to conduct a thorough background check on him. It could be a problem since he didn''t have any family to show for it. And there was nothing he could do to change that. He could only hope they wouldn''t think of him as a spy.

    "Aric, can you go home? I need to talk with Sylva alone," Gopher said as Aric was ready to leave. Aric gave a knowing nod while Sylva was confused by Gopher, but she didn''t voice any protest.

    After Aric left, he headed for his home. Though many eyes were on him, he didn''t seem to be bothered and soon vanished among the crowd after putting up a hood that changed color with the help of his nano suit.

    He didn''t go home. Instead, he went to his own world.

    <hr>

    Aric''s room.

    The room looked quite different now that much time had passed. His bed was now a king-sized bed with a proper mattress. Not that he didn''t have a mattress before, but the current one was better. Though it couldn''t be compared to his home in Vallin city, it was up there.

    The interior design had changed in the last year, and anyone walking inside would feel they had stepped into the future with the way the lights and decorations were, thanks to some accessories from Vallin city and Echorysia.

    Aric sat on the chair and proceeded to check the contract. It was basically what Sylva had spoken about. There were no hidden clauses that would make him a slave or be fed to the dogs, but there was one clause about betrayal. He was never allowed to betray in any form. However, the betrayal clause was more concise, with proper explanations. He wasn''t allowed to kill or backstab anyone from the school unless it was in self-defense. During his time at school, he would be loyal to the school, and the school''s interests would always come first. Aric wasn''t happy with this particular clause, but it would be the same in other school contracts too, so he couldn''t get around it.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Aric also asked Mira to check it and tell him if there were any problems with the contract, to which Mira had the same conclusion as Aric. With that in mind, he signed with a thumbprint, making the contract valid.

    As he looked at the contract, he thought about how fast his life was changing. The past year had been quite boring for him but also peaceful. He now had a huge fan following in the interstellar world. As expected, his manga works were acknowledged as one of the great independent comics being written by a single person, and people all over the universe were paying high amounts to read his story.

    In fact, the *Fullmetal Alchemist* story had already been made into a series, which had skyrocketed his fame to new heights. After *Fullmetal*, he started working on other manga projects that Aric thought would resonate with the people of the universe.

    So, all in all, he had huge fame in the interstellar world, accompanied by money. Power was the only thing he lacked in the interstellar world, and it was something he wasn''t even searching for. If it came his way, he would grab it. If not, he was fine. The only place he would actively seek power was in the magical world and his own world.

    "Aric, your aunt is here, please come down." Avni''s voice broke Aric from his thoughts. Mira had notified him that his relatives were here, but he didn''t bother, especially since it was someone he didn''t have any good will toward.

    "Coming," Aric replied. Though he didn''t like being around them, he couldn''t escape the thing called "social responsibility," or at least that''s what his mother called it after Aric almost refused to attend any social gathering.

    Aric changed his attire and came to the family room to see his aunt and her young daughter sitting on the sofa, drinking tea. Her daughter was busy watching cartoons on TV while his mother and aunt were talking.

    "Hey, Aric, how are you? Are school studies that hard? I have to say, seeing your performance and hard work, I wonder if my daughter will even be able to achieve half of what you have in school."

    "Uh... hello, Aunty. School marks don''t really matter in the real world if a person doesn''t have survival skills and street smarts. Don''t pressurize her this early," Aric replied. He hated the culture where parents dumped their past trauma, aspirations, and expectations on their child just because they couldn''t achieve them themselves. Their children were human beings, not robots to mold as they grew up.

    "Hahaha .. She is just a child. I hope she isn''t glued to cartoons and barbies always." Aunt complained not caring for the words of Aric.

    "She won''t be." Aric said. One could easily tell that Aric was being cold to her and Avni rolled her eyes at Aric.

 94. Food is the way

    Since the time Aric had become rich, Avni felt like he had lost all respect for his elders, except for his own parents. Avni could tell that he harbored some kind of hatred for many of their relatives and was neutral toward others.

    This was inexplicable, and Avni even asked him if he had faced any kind of aggression or anything of that sort, but Aric just denied it and continued with his cold attitude toward many of his relatives. His aunt wanted to speak up more when the doorbell rang.

    Aric was glad that his father had arrived and went straight to greet him and talk with him. He had gone to Mumbai to finalize the passport for everyone. As soon as Aric opened the door, what welcomed his eyes was not the sight of his father but rather two white men standing in front, wearing proper suits and pants.

    "Mira, who are they?" Aric was confused, as he wasn''t sure he had any kind of appointment with anyone from a foreign country. At least, they looked like Europeans.

    "I am sorry, but is this the house of Mr. Aric More?" The man, who had a head full of white hair and looked quite old and mature, asked in an accent that was definitely European.

    "This is Dr. Archim Walter, Head of the Department of Agricultural Sciences, ETH, Zurich. Yup, your seed has borne fruit, literally," Mira replied while the man asked him if he was Aric. Mira''s words really put a smile on Aric''s face. He had been waiting for a call from one of these universities, the ones he had sent his letters to.

    Now one was finally here.

    "Yes, I am Aric More, and you are?" Aric asked. He already knew the answer, but he needed to act casual. Soon both of them were introduced, and the other man was an assistant of Dr. Walter. Aric didn''t want to be rude and invited them in. Avni was in the back when she heard a different voice and immediately called Aric''s aunt to a different room so that Aric could talk with the new visitors.

    Avni didn''t know who they were, but since her son had accomplished so many things, it was only natural for her to pave the way for him. Aric''s aunt was confused, and Avni straight up lied to her. Though Aric''s aunt was bewildered by what was going on, she still followed Avni to another room, leaving Aric alone.

    "It must have been tough coming from such a long way," Aric said as he offered them a glass of water. Both of them hesitated to take the glass. These professors had been warned about trying water from an unconfirmed source. Aric could already sense their thoughts and said,This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    "The water is boiled and double-purified, so it is safe to drink, even for Westerners who are not acclimatized to the weather and biomes of Indian food and water." This made the two of them ashamed and embarrassed.

    "I... I am sorry if we are being a bit rude..." Dr. Walter faltered in his words.

    "You need not be sorry. It''s just the difference in gut biomes that makes healthy water become poisonous or something of that sort for others. And, of course, there is the fear of contamination," Aric replied.

    "For a person of your age, you are terribly... I mean... rather greatly informed," Dr. Walter said as he drank the water. It was hot, and he was thirsty from the journey.

    "Thank you for the praise. I do my research, or at least try to know more. Since you both are from ETH, I presume you read my paper and even tried the seeds that I sent," Aric asked.

    "Yes, and we are here from ETH to invite you to join our university and add yourself as one of the students of Agricultural Sciences..." Dr. Walter looked excited as he finally got to talk about the topic he had traveled so far for. Aric had sent a paper explaining how to grow crops and fruits in the most extreme conditions.

    For example, genetically modifying apple seeds so they would be able to grow in warmer tropical climates instead of the mountains they were known for, and the same went for mangoes, which included any variant of mango that could be grown in harsh winter. When the paper and seeds arrived at the Department, many thought it was some kind of prank, but Mathew, who was an intern at the time, took the paper and tried the seeds that Aric had sent.

    What shocked him was that the seeds were not tended to at all by Mathew or anyone from the Department, but they grew on their own and produced a quality of fruits and vegetables that nobody in their wildest dreams thought possible.

    Dr. Walter refused to believe Mathew at first and asked him to follow the notes exactly, then come to him. The new genetically modified seeds were planted again, and although those crops weren''t as healthy or tough as the seeds Aric had sent, they still performed 10 times better than normal fruits and vegetables.

    In total, Aric had sent notes on eight different kinds of crops, and each of them performed at least 10 times better than the current agricultural products the world was able to produce. And the methods were all so cheap that they were sure to change the agricultural industry for good.

    Dr. Walter wasn''t short-sighted, so he soon asked for help from the Department of Mathematics. Why mathematics, you ask? It was simple. Every head of department was asked by the government to notify them of any major discoveries or inventions that could change the economy.

    And Walter wanted to know if these seeds could actually change the economy of the country. After lots of calculation factoring the cost of production of these seeds, transportation and others related arguments, both of the Departments came to the conclusion that the genetically enhanced seeds would impact a country''s wealth by a significant amount.

 95. Be the evil capitalist

    "Are you really as young as you say and proclaim?" Dr. Walter couldn''t help but ask Aric. He had read the papers Aric had sent, and the way he articulated ideas about gut biomes for a young teenager was mind-blowing. This might be common knowledge for a university student, but not for someone of his age.

    "Dr. Walter, I''m sure you''ve done your research. There''s nothing to lie about here, and I don''t think I look older than the age on my ID," Aric replied, making sure to deliver it as a kind of joke.

    "Ha... ha... ha..." Dr. Walter laughed awkwardly. "I''m sorry, your knowledge of agriculture blew our minds, and we''d like you to join our university. The government will even grant you citizenship in Switzerland if you want it in the future," Dr. Walter said. "No offense to India, but we really think you''ll be able to grow better in Switzerland, and our country will provide all the resources you need for further research. You''ve done a wonderful job here, but I feel your research can really change the world, and we''d like to help you more." Dr. Walter''s words felt rehearsed, like they had been practiced beforehand.

    It was robotic, but Aric could also tell that Dr. Walter was speaking under instruction, probably from upper management or at least his boss. Aric didn''t immediately agree.

    "Can I talk to my parents and get back to you on that? Give me a couple of days to make a decision."

    "Yes, of course. Your parents'' opinions are very important in this life-changing matter. We''ll return at the same time the day after tomorrow. We''ll be staying at the Swaagat Hotel," Dr. Walter replied.

    Aric nodded, but the conversation didn''t end there. As a scientist himself, Dr. Walter wanted to know how Aric had been able to progress so quickly in such an amazing field, while large companies, universities, and countries around the world had failed to do so. Aric had an answer ready from the start.

    The answer was Mira.

    She was the one with the knowledge, as Aric had fed her the library beforehand, and it was easy for her to provide the information while Aric simply repeated her words. Suffice it to say, the duo was impressed. Mathew was new to the field, but even he could tell that if he wrote a paper on any of the topics Aric discussed, he would quickly earn a PhD.

    Dr. Walter''s eyes sparkled as he spoke about the different ways to modify seeds to improve yield. Of course, his words weren''t proven yet, but Aric had sent them seeds that they couldn''t replicate. Now that Aric was discussing ways to improve yields, it seemed to have opened new doors for Dr. Walter, and he couldn''t wait to try the ideas in his lab back at ETH.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    However, he knew that taking Aric with him to Zurich was more important than conducting his own experiments. After a brief discussion, both men left. After they left, Aric''s aunt and mother came down to the living room.

    Suffice it to say, his aunt had questions and had already forgotten the cold treatment Aric had given her earlier. When she learned that the two visitors were university professors from Switzerland asking him to join a university in Zurich, her jaw dropped.

    Aric saw no point in lying to her anymore, as they would be moving soon, and it was time to rip some of the band-aids off. His mother looked at Aric deeply when he spoke of his acceptance to a university but didn''t stop him from explaining.

    His aunt seemed happy that he had been accepted abroad, but Aric could sense some bitterness as she complained about how her daughter would never be like him. Thankfully, Aric didn''t mention that his parents would also be moving, or it would have caused a real outburst. His aunt had questions about the university, and Aric answered them honestly, explaining how he got accepted into ETH.

    Of course, he downplayed his work, saying he had simply written a paper and sent it. She was impressed and remarked how she could tell other relatives to do the same and maybe receive the same treatment.

    Soon, she left, and a few minutes later, Aric''s father knocked on the door. He already had the passports, having received them in the mail. Aric''s father was ecstatic when he learned that the ''call'' from Europe had finally arrived. A year ago, when Aric had expressed his desire to move to Europe for his studies, his father had already started preparing for the move. Now that everything was falling into place, it felt like a dream.

    "They asked you to become a citizen of Europe?" Eklavya asked.

    "Not Europe. Switzerland. Europe isn''t a country, Dad," Aric replied, placing his palm on his forehead.

    "Yeah, yeah. Sorry," Aric''s father said, unbothered by his mistake.

    "And Switzerland isn''t even part of the European Union, so EU laws don''t apply there. We''ll be safe," Aric said.

    "Safe? Why? Is being a billionaire a crime there?" Avni couldn''t understand why her son was talking about safety, given that in India, they couldn''t openly discuss the wealth they sat on, which was already too much for her to handle.

    "No, no, that''s just a figure of speech," Aric replied, biting his tongue. Safety was a relative matter, considering the amount of chaos he planned to stir in the future. It was also one of the reasons why he was eager to get to Switzerland and have the government support him.

    The country was known for its neutrality, and he wanted to be a part of it for as long as possible. That would give him the time and power he needed.

    "You should accept their arrangements and move as soon as possible." Eklavya said.

    "I will, but before that I need to milk out more from them." Aric said with a evil grin in his face.

 96. I am still your father

    The next day

    Dr. Walter and Mathew showed up again in the afternoon, and this time, Aric''s parents were ready to host them. The day before, they hadn''t been prepared for their arrival, but today, they were.

    Though Aric didn''t care whether his parents hosted them or not, probably because over the past year, he had seen and met more amazing things and people than anyone on Earth could ever imagine.

    "Welcome to our home," Aric said, inviting them in. His father and mother, over the past year, had finally learned English; though it wasn''t fluent, it was enough for them to communicate and understand. Everyone was introduced and took their seats on the smooth, soft sofa.

    "We would like your son to join us in the Department of Agricultural Sciences at ETH, Zurich. I''m guessing Aric must have spoken about us to you," Dr. Walter said.

    "Yes, my son has spoken about it. I would like to know what facilities my son will be provided with," Eklavya asked. This made Dr. Walter smile and beam with joy; his words indicated that their son would join their university. Dr. Walter enthusiastically spoke of all the facilities, accommodations, the grant for his further research, and even help in building a company for Aric so that his research could actually bring in money and not just keep him a research scientist all his life. It was a long speech, but Dr. Walter was ready to offer a lot of luxury to Aric.

    "What about his citizenship?" Eklavya asked.

    "As I''ve mentioned before, Aric would be granted citizenship, allowing him more freedom in the country," Dr. Walter said.

    "What about our citizenship?" Eklavya asked. This caught Dr. Walter off guard. When ETH sent him, they only discussed Aric''s citizenship, not his parents''.

    "Uh... about that... We''ll have to discuss it with the government and the university..." Dr. Walter felt a bit shy as he said that, not knowing if he could fulfill these two people''s wishes. If it were up to him, he''d gladly grant them citizenship, as Aric''s work was much more important than Switzerland''s border issues.

    "I understand your concerns. How about I invest 100 million US dollars into Switzerland''s economy and another 100 million into ETH? Would that be enough for securing citizenship?" Eklavya said. This surprised everyone, including Aric himself. It wasn''t what they had discussed at all. But he said nothing. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    The foreigners were the most astonished; they couldn''t believe their ears. Two hundred million US dollars? Did this man know what 200 million US dollars looked like?

    "I''m sorry... but what?" Mathew couldn''t help but ask, almost out of breath. He wanted to laugh, but he knew doing so would be quite insulting. Eklavya smiled at the shocked expressions on their faces.

    "No offense, but do you know how much 200 million US dollars is?" Mathew still asked.

    "I know you have your doubts, looking at our home and the place we''re in. How about you read this and then decide?" Eklavya handed over a file of documents, and Dr. Walter took it, dazed. He didn''t believe there was anything in the documents that could convince him this man could invest such a sum.

    But after 15 minutes of reading through the entire file, he was proven wrong. Before, he thought Aric was a once-in-a-century genius blessed by the gods to usher in a green revolution.

    Now, he looked at Aric as if seeing a monster. He felt ashamed, thinking of how he had offered facilities, accommodations, and even funding. This guy was never after the money!

    "I... I''m sorry. I spoke out of line." Alongside Dr. Walter, Mathew was also reading the documents and was just like Dr. Walter: flabbergasted.

    "It''s okay... You didn''t know. Any other person would have thought and acted the same, given our home and location," Aric replied.

    "I''m not well-versed in our country''s foreign and border regulations, but I''m sure that with your investment, Switzerland would be more than happy to accept your money in exchange for citizenship. After all, you have such a large amount of investments in the Swiss bank," Dr. Walter said. This made both Eklavya and Avni smile. This was what they had been aiming for, and now they could fulfill their dream along with Aric.

    They talked a bit more, and Avni even invited them for lunch, so the two foreigners enjoyed a sumptuous feast of Indian cuisine. Both of them loved it. During the meal, Dr. Walter was curious about how Aric had amassed such wealth from Google and yet remained under the radar.

    He was also puzzled by why Aric had such diverse interests and, more importantly, how his brain could handle so much knowledge.

    "I can''t compete with you in terms of knowledge. You should take an interest in the medical field. It could change people''s lives forever and maybe even cure cancer... Hahaha..." Dr. Walter joked.

    "At the moment, I have no interest in the medical field. Maybe someday I''ll try," Aric joked. It would have been easy for him to enter the medical field, but he hadn''t done so.

    At least, not yet.

    After a fulfilling feast at Aric''s home, the two foreigners promptly left.

    "We''ll contact you as soon as we get the green light. See you in a few months for the new semester at ETH," Dr. Walter said with a wide grin. Mathew also thanked Aric for changing his life. It was a coincidence, but this coincidence had changed his life forever.

    After they left Aric had to ask his father of why he had decided to give so much money to them.

    "I have been seeing you for quite some time now. I can see that you want to change the world. And changes are not something that can be brought while head first. It''s good to make friends first." Eklavya said.

    "I.. don''t want to change the world." Aric said.

    "You are my son. You don''t think I know what you really want to do?" Eklavya glared at Aric which made Aric cower.

 96. No more scholarships

    Distant Wind City. 3 days later.

    "Do you think they will accept me?" Aric asked as he and Gopher were heading to the city square to see if he had been selected or not. Today was the last day, and it would be announced who would be accepted to the schools and who wouldn''t.

    The background check was quite important for the schools, as some spies might enter and then gain recommendations to official positions in the empire.

    "If you think they wouldn''t, why would you not speak of your background and let it be verified by them?" Gopher couldn''t understand why Aric was being so secretive about his past now.

    "I told you, I am an orphan from a nearby village," Aric protested.

    "And you want people to believe that an orphan from a village was able to get rich so fast with his own ideas and has such an amazing talent?" Gopher rolled his eyes as he asked that.

    "Why is it that hard to believe? My village was attacked by bandits, and I had to run away. This city gave me shelter. I had my own ideas, and I implemented them," Aric said.

    "You using fancy words like ''implemented'' is enough to show that you are a learned person. Sigh! Whatever your past is, I hope Ravenguard won''t hold it against you. They are an unconventional school, and they might just overlook your past," Gopher said. This made Aric do a double take, as he didn''t expect that his use of modern words would throw him into a pit. He really underestimated this world when it came to intelligence.

    Soon, they reached the Ravenguard tent where Sylva was sitting, and on the side, there were two more teenagers. They didn''t look very well-nourished and seemed like they came from villages. One looked a bit proud, while the other was shy and scared. He could easily tell that these two were accepted by the school.

    Sylva''s eyes shone when she saw Gopher and Aric walk inside.

    "I thought you got accepted to another school," Sylva said.

    "Aric did say that he wanted your school from the beginning." Gopher seemed a bit offended that Sylva asked that.

    "We have investigated Aric here, and the school is ready to accept him. But there will be conditions. If Aric comes clean about his background, the initial contract will apply, but if he doesn''t, he will receive all the privileges but will have to pay for them. That is what the Principal of the School has asked for," Sylva said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "Hahaha... Your school is quite greedy, going after his money. You know well how rich he is." Gopher laughed angrily, as he could see what Ravenguard was trying to do. Since they couldn''t learn his background, they wanted him to pay, so if anything happened in the future, they could proclaim that the school had nothing to do with his actions and could just kick him out while pocketing the money.

    "Don''t badmouth our school. We will follow the original contract if he comes clean, and the reason our school is ready to accept him is because we are not affiliated with the empire and also because of the central continent''s Midnight Sun Empire," Sylva replied to Gopher with the same intensity.

    This made Gopher fall silent as he looked at Aric. This meant there could be no more negotiations.

    "How much do I need to pay for the school?" Aric asked.

    "If you want all the facilities outlined in the contract, you will have to pay 1,000 gold coins per year. If not..." Sylva said, but before she could finish her words and pitch the different ''plans'' of the school, Aric interrupted.

    "Here are the 1,000 gold coins." Sylva''s mouth hung open when she saw the gold coins. Not because she hadn''t seen such a huge amount of wealth, but because she was surprised that Aric carried so much wealth with him, and she also didn''t see from where he had pulled the coins.

    Nonetheless, she accepted the coins and also handed him the new contract.

    "Show up tomorrow at 9 a.m. We will be leaving for the school," Sylva said.

    "I have a question," Aric said.

    "What? The school won''t provide you with any extra privileges, even if you pay more. The school is giving you enough," Sylva said, as she thought Aric would ask for more privileges, understanding by now that money was the least of his problems.

    "No, no... As you have seen, I run a business here. Will I be allowed to continue it in the new place as well?" Aric asked.

    "You better not say no to that," Gopher said, this time with intimidation.

    "As long as he doesn''t miss classes and scores good marks in exams, he is allowed to do whatever he wants in his free time," Sylva assured the duo. Aric was relieved when he heard that because it would have been a dealbreaker for him. He then proceeded to sign the contract using his own blood as his thumbprint. It didn''t take much to prick his left hand''s finger and make one.

    Once it was done, Sylva accepted the money and also provided another document stating that the payment for the first year was completed and that he would need to pay the next year''s fee on the exact same day.

    The proud teenager seemed to look down on Aric more after he paid the money and signed, while the other one didn''t have much of a reaction. Aric didn''t care, but that didn''t mean he wouldn''t pay attention to others. He could already see what was going on in the minds of these two boys, and he didn''t mind their attitude at all.

    Soon, both of them were outside, but Gopher didn''t look happy at all. He seemed pissed.

    "What is it? I don''t think the attitude of the teenagers should ruin your mood. They didn''t even say anything." Aric joked. Everyone could see that attitude of those two boys and thus said.