Small town

The walk took around 3 days in total before they finally saw the outside world, at the edge of the forest were lots of people. All of them wearing either metal or leather armors and holding different weapons, some with bows were dressed lightly and others holding maces or hammers were dressed with imposing armors.

Thomas leaving the forest didn't attract much attention, only a few looking curiously at this young man dressed normally leaving this forest holding a fiery puppy. This forest was after all a hunting ground of mercenaries, even some people there would dare to go in alone, this kid must be crazy.

Meanwhile Thomas was also looking curiously at the gathering of people, they were split in lots of groups and there must have been at least 300 people, boys and girls, men and women and even some elders.

"Little Thomas what is happening here ?"

Now that the curious people saw him speaking alone, they were sure this kid was crazy.

"It was the same when I got in, lots of people comes here to hunt and become stronger or else they can sell fur, bones, leather... for good prices."

"Wouldn't have it been a good idea to take the wolf's fur then ?"

"We were too deep in the forest, if we stayed longed we might have encountered a grade 4 or 5 magical beast."

"You are right, I wouldn't want to try my strength against that. A third grade was already this strong... by the way little Thomas were is the nearest city ?"

"Don't think about that yet, we need money to make you join a magical academy."

"Do you really think it will be useful ?"

"Of course it will be ! What I can teach you is limited, you will need knowledgeable teachers to guide you. With my limited knowledge I could have already killed you 3 times during your early learning phase."

"And you still tried ?! What's wrong with you ?!"

"What do you mean ?! I gave you this chance in another life ! Even if you died you wouldn't have the right to be angry at me, I would have just been taking back what I gave you."

"Don't you know that you can't take back what you once gave ? Well I survived so I don't care, next time I want you to warm me if there is a danger in what you are teaching me."

"If you want, anyway I don't think I'll be teaching you much more. I never awakened my rings so all I know is common knowledge."

People that were watching Thomas were now sure that he was crazy, this guy suddenly started yelling at the air...

"So how do I join an academy ?"

"We need to gather money, the test's entrance fee's are 10 gold."

"What's the fastest way to make money ?"

"Very easy you are going to join the mercenaries, follow me."

The boy floated in front of him and Thomas followed after him, they walked through a long road were they would often meet either a group of mercenaries or a carriage passing by.

Finally after an hour long walk they arrived at a town's gate. Thomas didn't feel tired because his body was way stronger now because of the training but he felt really bored during this walk, he would sometimes talk with little Thomas but they didn't have anything to speak about except the future. Of course little Thomas didn't know League of Legends or Harry Potter for exemple, they couldn't have a discussion on Thomas's old hobbies.

The town looked really small, it was surrounded by brick walls and the gate was around 7 meters tall, in front of it were sitting 2 guards dressed in armors with swords on their waists.

Thomas walked in front of them and got in without them even looking at him, he was expecting it to be like a frontier police on earth but these guys didn't even care about him.

"Little Thomas, which way ?"

"First let's find an inn to eat and sleep in tonight, we won't find a team this fast so we are staying here for awhile."

"Are the beasts we are hunting stronger than the silver great wolf ?"

"Of course not ! Do you think all the mercenaries here are magicians ? Most of them are normal humans using normal weapons, a silver great wolf could kill thousands of them in no time."

"Then why would I need a team since I can hunt a silver great wolf ?"

"Joining a team is beneficial to you, first you won't have to carry the loots, second you will have a bigger share since you are a magician and finally joining a team makes you part of the mercenary guild, by being part of it you can sell them the loot directly and they give better prices than independent stores."

"I see, have you ever been in this town ?"

"Yeah I spent a bit of time here, I'll show you the best inn."

"Wait how are we paying for the inn ? I don't have any money on me..."

"Remember whose body you are in ? The inn's owner owe me, long story short I saved him from some thugs."

"Saves us some trouble, well done boy."

"I told you not to call me boy."

Little Thomas said looking at him with an annoyed expression.

"It's confusing to keep calling you Thomas or little Thomas, and annoying on top of that. I'll call you Tom from now on."

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After going through a few roads in this packed small town they made it into the inn, it had a very warm vibe with candles lit on every wall, a few small tables with people eating in groups or alone. It wasn't very big but Thomas likes the vibe in here, behind the counter were a boy and a girl both looked around the age of Tom.

When the boy saw him coming in he jumped over the counter and ran near him.

"Big brother Thomas you came back !"

Of course Thomas wasn't expecting this but Thomas said.

"Answer him, he's speaking to you."

'What's this bullshit ?! He's speaking to you man !'

"Hey I'm back."

He said simply with a smile, he didn't say much to avoid being discovered, he didn't even know his interlocutor's name.

At the same time the girl came closer and said while blushing, she seemed happy to see him.

"Big brother Thomas, welcome back."

He only smiled at her this time, he was waiting for Tom to give him details on their relationship, what were their names, how did they know each other and if he there was something else to know about them.

"Are you hungry ? Come with me I'll give you to eat."

Said the boy, he looked at him with awe in his eyes. Tom must have done a great deed for this boy to respect him this much.

"Thanks I'm starving."

He needed a conversation with Tom to make the situation clear before he was asked something he didn't know but that would have to wait as the girl sat in front of him with her head in her palms while waiting for food.

"Her name is Lili, her brother's name is Polo and her mother is Rose. The three of them are nice guys, I don't know much about them but I scared away 3 thugs that came here to steal not long before I went to the forest and that's the reason they treat you so well. That's all you need to know to have a conversation with them."

'Finally, you could have told me that earlier.'

"How have you been Lili ?"

He said to her while smiling, the silence was becoming too long and he was probably the only one feeling awkward since she had been smiling ever since they sat down.

"Kind of good, what about you ?"

She looked saddened while saying the first part of the sentence and it didn't go unnoticed by Thomas.

"Did something happened after I left ?"

When he asked that both Polo and Rose came from behind him while holding plates of hot food.

"Nothing happened, don't worry and eat as much as you want."

It was Rose that spoke, she was a middle aged woman, just a bit overweight and she wore a very warm smile on her face.

'Obviously something happened... well I'll ask again later I'll die of hunger soon if I don't dive in.'

Thinking that he was already eating, there were 3 dishes in front of him : a soup, a meat dish and some steamed potatoes. Since he was himself a cook he knew he could do better but this food had a unique taste, it reminded him of his mother's food when he was a kid, he also remembered his parents, they were probably saddened as no parent wanted to bury their children.