Chapter 5 - Fun with Purple

When Greus went downstairs, he then enjoyed a delicious meal and proceeded to take a bath afterwards.

Greus spent quite some time inside the bath due to his thoughts and imaginations of being a hero going full drive. If it wasn't for hearing Miss Maria say "Little G must be doing some healthy boy stuffs." outside the bathroom door, then he would really be inside for a really long time.

Afterwards, as Greus promised, he stayed in the orphanage and help Miss Maria and other caretakers in doing various chores. He also played with his fellow orphans, then told them about how he killed the deer in one slash. Of course the kids looked at him with awe and respect, seeing this, Greus smiled out of satisfaction. Greus then asked if they want to get strong like him, and inspired by Greus' story, the children immediately agreed. They did simple exercises and simple actions such as punching, slashing, and kicking. This continued until it is nearly time for dinner and the children went inside the wooden building with tired expressions.

"It's really unfortunate that there's nobody is near my age..."

Greus muttered to himself with a sad expression. That's because those orphans with the same age as him got adopted by aristocrats or passing merchants. He is the only teenager left.

Of course there are some people who wants to adopt Greus, but Greus would strongly refuse the request. Miss Maria can't do anything without his consent.

Dinner time arrived and the people of the orphanage enjoyed a sumptuous stew that Miss Maria prepared. Of course, this is because of Greus' hunt early this morning.

Afterwards, Greus took a bath again. This time he was quick, because he didn't want to hear Miss Maria saying embarrassing things again.

"What a day!"

Greus exclaimed as he sits on his bed.

Today, some really surprising things happened. Greus didn't know if this is the workings of the so-called fate, but he is really excited that such an opportunity presents itself in his life.

If his normal life continues, Greus would have live a silent and peaceful life. However, deep in his heart, He knows that he will not be contented with such a life. He likes adventures, dangers, a life with excitement.

So now that a door opens up a path for him to diverge from a mundane, Greus plans to not waste it. He would not slack off and do his best.

"I'm not sleepy yet..."

Bored, Greus thinks of something to do.

Moments passed, and Greus finally thought of something to pass the time. He then opens his palm in front of him and tried to manifest a mana ball again.

Of course, a purple mana ball appeared and Greus begins to play with it again by increasing and decreasing its size repeatedly.

After a while, Greus wants to try something new. He wants to see if he could change the shape of this mana manifestation in his hand. He thought that if its size can change depending on his will, then what if he wills to change it shape this time? It is really an interesting idea.

Greus licked his dried lips and begins thinking for it to become a square, then quite easily, the purple ball slowly begins to change into a purple square.

"That was easy!"

Seeing how easy it was, Greus became more confident then begins forming miniature version of things using the mana manifestation.

He made a tree, a dog, a bed, a bottle, a doll, a simple house, and whatever thing that comes to his mind.

At some point, he thought of something he found very funny and proceeded to try and make it. Then, seeing a purple 'man's excalibur' on his palm, he laughed hard for a long time.

Quite some time passed, and Greus still wants to see on how far can he go.

First, he tried to manifest purple mana on both his hands, and it was successful. He then tried to see if he can also do the same thing on other parts of his body. Not a long time has passed, Greus' body is now covered with purple mana. Of course, he didn't miss out the opportunity to see what he looks like in front of the mirror. He then tried different poses while using the purple mana while constantly praising the cool man in front of him.

After a while, his eyes finally grew heavy and he slept with great satisfaction.

...

The next day, after doing his daily morning routines and eating breakfast, Greus went outside the orphanage. Of course, this is after he asked Miss Maria for permission. After confirming that Greus' body is now at its peak condition, Miss Maria lets out a sigh and nods at Greus' request.

Greus plans to go to the nearest magic shop. His goal is to learn spells. This is required for his goal to get stronger.

After some time, Greus stops in front of a wooden house.

"Mystica Magica, yep! This is it."

Greus is both nervous and excited. This is the first time that he will enter a magic shop. After slightly grooming himself, he strode towards the door and entered.

Inside, Greus saw neatly arranged scrolls placed in a divider in front of him. Also, looking to the right, talismans of various shapes and sizes can be spotted inside a glass display, and looking to the left, potions with different colors in different containers can be seen.

Seeing all of this for the first time, Greus is awed. He can't help but to think that now that he is a hero, he should be preparing himself for new things that his past mundane self can't dared to not experience.

As Greus is wandering around to see the different displays in close range, he didn't notice that an old man sitting behind the counter is watching him.

Watching the youth walking around his shop with genuine awe, the old man smiled. The old man doesn't care if it's the youth's first time or what, as the one who made majority of the products, seeing someone looking at your craft with such a gaze is really satisfying.

Some time passed and Greus decided to finally start doing what he needs to do.

Greus then looked around and saw a white haired old man, sitting behind the counter, staring at him.

"Damn! I want to touch that long white beard..."

Of course Greus didn't say his thought out loud.

Feeling the youth's gaze on him, the old man smiled and breaks the silence.

"What are you looking for son?"

Hearing the old man calling him 'son' Greus shuddered for a bit, but he quickly recovered his composure. Though, that slight change didn't manage to escape the old man's eyes, but the old man didn't mind it too much and just waits silently for the youth's answer.

"I would like to buy low tier magic scrolls."

"Hohh~~ May I know your magic talent grade son?"

Magic Talent Grade. It is a grade from 0 to 10 given to young children when they come and get their talent in magic tested. The higher the grade, the faster one can excel in magic. It is common knowledge that to be a successful magician, a magic talent grade of 5 above is required, and certainly, those who have a magic talent grade of 8-10 are legendary people whose existence are awed and feared, and of course, some of these legendary people are heroes.

In Greus' case, his talent grade is a pitiful zero because he cannot even manifest a simple mana ball. This means that he won't even have a chance to use magic in his whole life, or what some people call a 'magic cripple'. However, that is all in the past now.

Right now, Greus doesn't know what should he say. He doesn't know how to grade himself, but he is sure of one thing, his grade shouldn't be below 7.

Greus thought that this should be a good chance to test his current magic talent grade. So, while squinting his eyes and adjusting his stance to look cool, Greus speaks.

"Want to test it?"