Meanwhile, in one of the streets of the lower city, a door to a small house opened and Ambrose walked in, pulling down the hood over his head.
"You filthy thief!" The voice of an angry man called out from across the room.
This was Ambrose’s stepfather, Tion, holding a thick wooden cane in his right hand.
His mother immediately ran into the room from the backyard when she heard her husband’s loud voice.
She rushed toward him, in an attempt to calm him down.
Ambrose had a smile on his face, showing no remorse for what he had done. "Don’t you think you’re too old to be trying to get into the academy?" he taunted.
His stepfather yelled, "You miserable bastard!" and aggressively pushed his mother aside, causing her to fall over.
Ambrose saw this, and his face took on a demonic scowl, with his eyes now glowing green.
Tion walked toward him with the intent to strike him with the cane, but then it suddenly happened.
"Not Today," Ambrose said, in a somber tone
Blood began flowing from Tion’s mouth as he clasped his chest, struggling and choking on his own blood.
In Ambrose’s bloodied right hand was Tion’s heart, still beating.
He had used his magic; Theft Magic, which allowed him to steal anything he wanted. With it, he took forceful possession of Tion’s heart.
The theft magic process was clean however and had no traces, not even tion’s chest was torn open.
Ambrose now had an expressionless face as he watched his stepfather fall to his knees and slump forward.
"No! What have you done!" his mother screamed as she ran toward the fallen man, despite having sustained a bruise on her forehead from being pushed aside.
Ambrose let the heart fall from his hands, then crouched close to his mother, who was crying over her now-dead husband.
"This man treated you like nothing more than filth, even when you provided him with a roof over his head, and you cry over him?" He said.
The he spat on the dead body, stood up, walked toward the door, and said, "You disgust me," before leaving the house.
The sound of his mother crying over his dead stepfather followed behind him.
...
Alaric and Aiden had arrived at Garant’s shop. Garant was a blacksmith to most people, and his shop looked the part—a glowing stone forge on the left where metal was heated, and wooden workbenches covered with hammers and tools.
However, for the lower city and probably all of Xathia, he also traded in monster parts and rare items.
Garant, a man as bulky as Alaric, that you could mistake them for brothers, was hammering a steel bar placed against his anvil.
His attention was drawn to Alaric and the new stranger who had just walked in.
"Alaric, my friend, you look well," Garant said while continuing his work.
"Garant, do yer ever go home to yer wife?" Alaric joked in his distinct accent.
Garant laughed as he placed the sword he had just completed into a wooden barrel of water to cool it off.
There was a hissing sound from the process.
He raised the blade to examine the quality of his work, then turned toward Alaric and said, "Ingrid came by earlier. I assume with that bag behind you, you’re here for the same thing."
However, the conversation between the men had blurred into the background for Aiden as certain items in the shop suddenly began glowing with a golden light in his vision.
Each time an item glowed, a screen would appear before him:
[This is a valuable item]
This was Aiden’s inventory skill: Collector. And it automatically showed him items worth collecting.
On one side was what looked like a mini shelf hanging on the wall, with bottles containing strange substances and various other objects. Most of the items there also glowed, triggering the notification screen.
Garant looked up from the glowing crystals and monster parts that Alaric had placed on his table and noticed Aiden staring at his shelf.
He gestured toward Aiden and asked, "So is that the newest member of your team?"
The question drew Aiden’s attention back from his examination.
Alaric turned briefly to look at Aiden, then replied, "I wish, mate, I really wish. But this one’s more interested in the magic school. In fact, lad only went and got in today."
"Oh? My son got in too. When he returned earlier, he kept rambling about mages with powerful magic," Garant said.
"This one here might even be one of them," Alaric boasted, gesturing back at Aiden with his thumb.
Aiden simply shook his head in response.
"By the way, Aiden, this here’s Garant, and dare I say, the kingdom’s best blacksmith," Alaric began proper introductions.
Garant smiled slightly, and Alaric continued, "And Garant, this is Aiden. We come up from Dragonhold with him."
The blacksmith took another brief look at Aiden and nodded at him in acknowledgment.
Aiden said nothing but nodded back. That way, they had both acknowledged each other.
"Five hundred silver pieces," Garant said to Alaric.
"Oh, come on mate, these gotta be worth two gold coins atleast," Alaric haggled.
"You brought me glowing crystals, that’s the most common thing in any dungeon," Garant countered.
They went back and forth with the haggling until Alaric agreed: "Alright Alright, I’ll settle for seven hundred."
Aiden’s attention had returned to the glowing items, and he couldn’t help but ask, "What do you do with these things?" as he pointed toward the shelf.
Garant’s expression became intrigued. "Well, some of these things you see here are special materials, and some others are dark objects made from them."
"Yer know, you shouldn’t be leaving them things out on show like that." Alaric said while looking at the shelf.
"I haven’t made anything compared to the evil that magic school creates," Garant said with a scoff.
Alaric shook his head, and Garant added, "Moreover, I’m even helping the kingdom. You dungeon fighters and sometimes even soldiers come here to get some of these objects. That’s why no one bothers me, Alaric."
Alaric rolled his eyes. "You divvy..."
Garant laughed slightly at the insult.
Realization clicked in Aiden’s head and he said, "So Alaric’s axe, Ingrid’s hammer..."
"Yes, all my work. Think they could fight those monsters holding a regular blacksmith’s sword?" Garant replied.
"Ahh, Yer yap too much, Garant. Just get me money, will yer" Alaric said.
Garant smiled and shook his head, then went to a corner and brought out a pouch of silver coins, placing it on the table.
Alaric grabbed the pouch, trusting that the money would be complete as agreed.
Garant immediately turned toward Aiden and said, "If you’re under Alaric’s care, then I have to tell you this. Be careful, boy. Some real evil goes on in that school."
"You just said your son got in," Aiden said with a puzzled expression.
"An obstinate choice. He says he wants to learn his magic and come take over from me, but I warn him just as I warn you," Garant replied.
Aiden simply nodded, and then the blacksmith added, "Aiden, was it? My son’s name is Oliver, and his only just turned 14. You watch out for him too, eh?"
Even though he let him go against his better judgement, Garant was a father who cared much deeply for his boy’s welfare.
Alaric interjected, "Garant, me mate, we’ve gotta get off now," as he moved his hand across Aiden’s shoulder to guide him toward the exit.
Aiden nodded once more toward Garant and proceeded to leave with Alaric.
As soon as he reached the exit, a notification popped up before him:
[Daily Mission: Make a New Friend → Complete]
[+2 Available Stats Points]
[You have gained +200xp]
A smile appeared on Aiden’s face as he thought to himself, "I guess that counts too."