Ch 18- Lodging

Glacé followed the drunken man's instructions and soon spotted a wooden sign marked with a bed hanging from a dilapidated two-story building. 'Is there nowhere nearby that isn't sketchy looking?' Glacé stared at the molding building with a strong gaze filled with disdain.

Although Kelly considers himself a robust, strong, and tough man at heart. In some ways, he's quite squeamish; while he may stay in his home and play games all day long. If a person ever picked a random day to visit, they would find an excessively neat and straightened house. Kelly has robots that go through and clean his house every day and he himself is also very disciplined not setting or leaving things around randomly.

Kelly showers at least once a day but many days he'll shower or bathe twice. Aside from people calling him out because of his feminine face his biggest pet peeve is uncleanliness. To put it lightly Kelly is very OCD when it comes to cleanliness and his own personal health. Since Kelly started getting into VR, he accepted that many games are violent and don't necessarily have hygiene practices designed in the games. So when he plays VR he tends to ignore the psychological discomfort and not worry about cleanliness too much, since games aren't reality. But Lichen feels too real, when he walked into that tavern Glacé felt like throwing up, he didn't want to stay a second longer than needed. staring at the place he wanted to sleep tonight…. 'It's better to be in the forest than here' he thought with a grim expression.

'How can they make such unhygienic places? Sure it probably won't harm the player. But just the thought of staying in such an environment gives me goosebumps'. Right now if the main brain had a meter that could show Glacés overall impression of the game thus far… it would be dipping into the negatives. Glacé changed direction as if his ass was on fire and determined that he would not and could not stay in such a place even for one day. 'It's better to walk this whole city and if I can't manage to find even one clean bed; then we go to the woods'.

Since the kingdom of Lesha is a port city it has an enormous and bustling open bazaar. Many caravans and merchants stop and set up their wares from all over the continent, hoping to make a fortune. Glacé had managed to wander his way to the bazaar and his mouth slightly opened in astonishment 'so many people and things'. Glacé walked around the various stalls in novelty and soon spotted one that sold magic artifacts and relics. He stared at the items on the stall and could feel the magic emanating from the items; he could tell this stall was the real deal.

"Excuse me, you wouldn't happen to have any items that can make living beings invisible, do you?". The old man sitting behind the stall heard a clear crisp voice above him and slowly raised his face to see a young man standing before him.

'Hmm what's this?' The old man could instantly tell something was off about the person before him. 'Ah it's his cloak, hmm high-quality magic. But not high enough to fool me'. The old man looked squarely at Glacés face and stared closely as the illusion faded away.

Glacé asked nervously"Sir?" He couldn't help feeling very uncomfortable with the old man's gaze. The man continued to stare blankly at Glacé not speaking a word, suddenly the man shot up like a bullet and grabbed Glacé's hands; his eyes sparkling.

"Do you already have a master?". Glacé froze at the man's actions then his face gradually turned to shock as he watched the old man wave his hand and his face started to shift before Glacés The now younger but mature man let go of Glacés hands, took and step back and gave a light bow.

"Greetings traveler, my name is Scarlet. I am a 1st class Mage from the Roseheart Magic Tower. I can see you have high mana and potential talent for magic! If you don't have a master yet would you like to be my disciple? I can teach you many things and give you the best learning sources. I've set up this stall here for a month now, hoping to come across someone with the potential to be my disciple. Unfortunately, In this whole time, you are the first person that meets the bar. So do you have any interest in learning magic?".

Glacé looked at the man hesitantly not sure how to answer, he decided to answer his curiosity first and make a decision later.

"How can you tell I have mana and great potential?". 'The man only looked at me for 10 seconds and I'm disguised, so what does he make his decision on?'.

"Ah it's rather simple mana is the force that a mage uses when using magic, and is the basis for judging one's potential in using magic. Mana is a force that flows naturally through those who have the ability to use magic and it can be seen externally leaking from a person who isn't deliberately controlling it". Scarlet pointed as he continued talking "so those who have higher potential can be easily spotted as more mana would flow out of them. Also in your case, your eyes give you away".

Glacé gave the man a puzzled look, and the man in turn gave him a slight smile. "Obviously at my level, I can see through the illusion spell on you, the color within your eyes is surging and changing. This is a rather rare trait and without exception, any person who has such eyes has unimaginable potential for mana and magic".

Glacé made an "ah I see" expression and asked calmly. "What does it mean to become a disciple? Am I restricted at all? Because I have no desire to settle in one place, for the time being and I have many things I wish to do and many places to go".

'If it wasn't for the fact that I could really use professional guidance about magic and learn more contemporary spells. I would've turned away already'. Glacé thought of his brutish Unicorn teacher who immediately had him memorize a spell book and taught nothing on foundation and felt like sighing. 'Not player friendly at all'.

Glacé and Scarlet talked back and forth for about half an hour before Glacé decided to follow him back to his residence. Scarlet led him to a beautiful Villa on the edge of the rich community in the kingdom. "This personal library is filled with everything from magic history, to magic theory, magical races, crafting magical items and potions, and even some of the most complex spell books that exist today. If you agree to become my apprentice everything here will be available to you. If you look at the empty second floor of the library you'll see inscriptions on the ceiling and walls. These are special barriers that allow mages to safely practice magical spells inside. It will become your training room".

Scarlet spoke excitedly as he tried to tempt Glacé with benefits and well he truly was tempted. 'All professional resources are provided, including lodging, and food. It's really a beneficial deal if I can get my conditions met…'

Looking at Scarlet Glacé carefully asked, "will there be restrictions on my personal time and freedom?". Scarlet wanted to shout out "Of Course!" But he had a feeling that if he tried to place a restriction on him then the greatest talent of the century might go find a teacher who was willing to accommodate his lifestyle.

Scarlet grit his teeth and stared into those beautiful iridescent eyes. 'As long as I can be the master of such a rare talent, it's worth it'.

"I won't deliberately restrict your freedom, but I ask you to come back for at least five days every month for teaching purposes. Does that sound manageable?".

'Hmm seems doable for now' Glacé was about to agree as he suddenly recalled something. He pulled Bai and Tera out of his cloak. "These two have to stay with me, and I was hoping you could assist me in procuring invisibility relics for them. If you can agree with this then I will accept you as my master".

Scarlet stared at the two foxes stunned "Demons! You actually have demons on you! How did I not notice them sooner?! They are evil beings you must kill them! Or send them away to the wild".

Glacés expression turned solemn "I won't harm a hair on them, I have raised these two personally and consider them my family. They are very docile children who won't harm others unless attacked first. I won't accept anyone who wishes to harm them". Glacé held the fox kits close to his chest and stared at Scarlet fiercely; ready to fight if necessary.

Scarlet who received such a face was almost driven crazy 'ungrateful child! Does he not know how terrible demons are?'. Scarlet fell into a fierce internal dilemma, 'should I give in or give up on making this young man his disciple?' After a few moments of staggering silence, Scarlet finally spoke through firmly gritted teeth and coldly spat out "I agree".

*Ding* New title in effect " Scarlet demons disciple"

Glacé revealed a somewhat distorted smile upon hearing the system notification; but still sat down the two kits and gave a light bow "My name is Glacé, I look forward to learning from you master". The two fox kits by his side mimicked his movement and bowed their little heads. Scarlet took in this scene and felt his lips twitch, he covered his face in exhaustion.

Then scarlet opened his palm and a small paper bird appeared "follow this bird, it will guide you to your room. Go ahead and get settled, I'll summon you for dinner later". Glacé nodded solemnly and followed after the paper bird, as he pushed open the door to his new room his eyes widened in shock. "This one room is as big as my whole house combined!".

Glacé childishly ran and flopped his body onto the king-size bed and held a pillow in his arms as he rolled across the bed happily. "Look, guys! We just won free lodging, food, and knowledge! Hahaha, this is great! Bai you should take advantage of the library and learn well while we're here". Bai nodded and hopped towards Glacé and snuggled against the crook of his neck.

"Mole!". Mole silently came out of his hair and stared at him with clingy beady eyes; filled with excitement. "Today we'll all rest, starting tomorrow I want you to go around town looking for information on slave trading. Try to focus on the bazaar, the docks, and the bars for information. Think you can manage it by yourself?".

Glacé softly told his plans to Mole who in response patted his small chest and replied in a shrill voice "of course! I'll make sure no one spots me, you can count on me!". Mole was so excited he fluttered about and gave a soft kiss to Glacés cheek who just smiled and gently tapped his head with a finger. "Alright, well now's a good time for an afternoon nap don't ya think? We've been all over the place and frankly this bed is so soft and comfy that I feel like passing out. Goodnight everyone".

Glacé heard a series of small "Goodnight"s and felt the warmth of the foxes surrounding his body and saw Mole on the corner of the pillow and hazily fell into a sweet and comfortable sleep.