38.

"So...

You want to do this job your entire life?"

The man still asked him in case he heard it wrong the first time. But the reply Eldric gave him next cleared this small doubt too.

"Of course..." Eldric gave him a shrug. "Like I said... It is peaceful here and I don't have to worry about anything."

"Then what will you do if this shop closes down?" Now the old man really wanted to know how this brain of his worked. Till now, he had never seen someone so young who was so comfortable in doing just one thing his entire life. It was as if he had decided even before his birth that he was going to work as a shopkeeper.

"Err... Then I will find another shop." Eldric looked at him like he was looking at an idiot.

"What if no shop wants to hire you? What if you don't find a job as a shopkeeper? What are you going to do then?"

The old man kept on asking the question. He wanted to know whether the boy in front of him had decided to do any other thing besides being a shopkeeper his entire life or not.

"If I am unable to find a job as a shopkeeper, then I will open up my own shop."

"You do realize that one can not open a shop easily. You need numerous permissions and pay a hefty sum of money every month. How are you going to do it?"

Seeing Eldric reply in such a carefree tone, the old man reminded him about the rules and regulations of the city. Just like he said, it was nearly impossible for anyone to open a shop in the city. You need to have connections, money, and many other things before you can do it.

Hearing the old man's question, Eldric just narrowed his eyes. Truthfully, he never thought about what to do in case one day he was kicked out of his job. He never thought about it because he didn't need to.

For other normal people, it might be difficult to earn a living. But it wasn't anything difficult for him.

He had long since known that the monster items are usually sold outside too. After all, not everyone can afford tokens. So, they use the money from the real world to buy those items.

In this way, they get their items and the person selling them gets real-world money. In any case, this is a win-win situation for both parties.

If he truly runs out of money, then he could just sell the materials. There was no need to bash his head on the wall for such a simple thing.

But he couldn't tell this to the old man. After all, in an outsider's eyes, he had just passed his trial and had limited talent.

He was about to answer the old man before he paused, looked at him and suddenly a realization struck him.

"Wait a minute... Why are you so interested in my personal life and my future plans?"

Narrowing his eyes, he carefully looked at the old man. He didn't realize it before, but the old man seemed particularly interested in what he did or what his plans were.

"Sigh..." With a sigh, the old man shook his head. After a brief pause, he looked outside the shop into the distance and spoke calmly.

"To tell you the truth... I like you because of your perseverance and your wish to take care of Aria. And thus I can not bear to see you staying in this small place, wasting your entire life.

You are a youngster, you should have dreams. You should go out in the world, make friends, make enemies, and live your life to the fullest."

"Uh, huh..." Eldric nodded before adding further "And what do you suggest I do?"

As soon as Eldric asked this question, the old man finally let out a smile. He tapped on the table and spoke...

"I can recommend you to a university.

The admissions are still ongoing. I can let you join one of the top universities. What do you think?"

The old man asked with some anticipation.

"Why would I want to join any university in the first place? I am already earning and living a carefree life. Why would I give it up?"

"Because you will finally see a bigger world. A world that you don't even know exists." The old man finally began to draw cakes for him.

"Think about all those talented geniuses there... All those evildoers... Are you telling me you don't want to study with them? Are you telling me that you don't want to cross fists with them, or make friends with them?

Doesn't your blood boil thinking about all this?

There are geniuses... Talented people beyond your imagination there. Don't you want to be one of them?"

"Ha.... Haha.... Hahahahahah."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Eldric burst out in laughter.

"Hahahahahahaha..." He looked at the old man while pointing a finger at him and continued to laugh as if he had heard the biggest joke of his life.

"I do not think there's anything funny about what I just said." Gritting his teeth, the old man spoke in a hoarse voice. Were it anyone else, he would have patted him dead just for disrespecting him.

"Haha... No.. haha...

Nothing funny."

It was now that Eldric's laughter stopped as he shook his head.

"Old man..." This was the first time Eldric addressed him like this.

"....." Sure enough, the moment he addressed him like this, the old man narrowed his eyes as his face lost all its expression.

He didn't say a word but looked at Eldric with the same expressionless face.

"Tell me... What is talent?

You just said there are geniuses beyond my imagination... Tell me... What do you mean by Genius?

Define it to me."

There was an unusual calm on his face as he asked this question.

Stunned by this sudden turn of events and the question, the old man narrowed his eyes before giving him a reply.

"Talented people... Geniuses. They all are the same. They are the ones who have awakened the Mythical Profession or higher. They are the ones who make rapid progress, achieve feats that others can not."

Since the boy in front of him wanted to have a debate with him, then the old man was more than happy to accompany him. It was a perfect time to teach this little bastard some humility and let him know that there are mountains beyond mountains.

"Sigh..." Listening to the old man's answer, Eldric just let out a sigh.

Shaking his head, he smiled and spoke gently.

"There is no such thing as talent, old man. The so-called term 'genius' is just there to create a division."

"Heh." Hearing this childish answer the old man sneered. "Really? Since you don't want to call them geniuses, what do you want to call them?"

Eldric looked outside his shop and spoke softly.

"Lucky people."

"Huh!?" The old man let out a mocking laugh. "How about you explain to me."

Asking Eldric the same question that he asked a moment ago, the old man wanted to hear his explanation.

"They are just lucky."

"I will give you an example...

Since the day I started school, there were two boys in my class who were the polar opposite of each other.

The first one was a frail boy, who came from a poor family. Couldn't really afford anything and was dependent entirely on welfare.

And yet, he was the hardest-working boy in our class. He would complete everything assigned to him, help others, and stay up late doing school chores that others refused to do. He also scored the highest in our school and respected everyone regardless of who they were.

And then there was the second boy who came from a wealthy family. He liked to go out and party. Loved to bully those weaker than him, always scored the lowest in the class, and never worked hard or respected anyone. If one can not find him in school, then they could find him in brothels.

Now...

On the day of awakening, the first guy... Who always works hard and helps others regardless of the situation, awakens the profession of a warrior.

And the second guy awakened the legendary profession.

On that day, the hardworking guy became trash and the second guy became a peerless genius.

Tell me, old man... Is the first guy really trash?

Is the second guy really worthy of the title Genius?"

Speaking till here, Eldric closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Do you understand now?

In this world, there is no such thing as geniuses. There are only those who are lucky.

If you get lucky and awaken a legendary profession, then you automatically become a genius.

And if you are unlucky then you are automatically labeled as trash."

With these words, Eldric finally went silent.

The old man wanted to refute him, wanted to tell him that things weren't like this. But the moment those words came to his mouth, he couldn't utter them.

After a long silence, Eldric looked outside and gave his answer.

"This is why I refuse to join these so-called top universities where your entire value lies on how lucky you got during awakening."

"I have no interest in joining any university, so it would be best if we don't have this conversation anymore in the future."

The old man couldn't come up with a reply, so he just sat there in silence. He knew what the boy just said was true and couldn't help but marvel at his way of thinking.

If he were to go to anyone else with this offer, then he was sure that they would agree without any hesitation. But the boy...

The boy in front of him was apathetic to it.

"Didn't expect such words from someone so young."

Standing up, the old man stood in front of Eldric with a serious face and spoke.

"There have been some misunderstandings between us. So, let me begin anew."

Putting one hand behind his back and one hand on his chest, he bent slightly.

"My name is Magnus Stonehelm, a doctor."

Looking at his sudden action, Eldric was stunned for a moment before breaking out with a smile.

Standing up, he followed suit and gave his introduction.

"And I am Eldric Stormborne, a shopkeeper."

While the both of them were smiling at each other, Eldric saw a figure silently appearing beside him, floating in the air.

With some hesitation, the girl looked at him. After a long pause, she reached out for the butterfly ribbon in her hair, pulled it out, and let her hair fall freely.

Holding the butterfly ribbon in her hands towards Eldric, for the first time she spoke with a voice filled with innumerable emotions.

"And I am.....

.

.

.

Luna."