While Aric was eating breakfast, he decided to go on a walk through the city and buy some stuff for himself.
"So many shops. I should buy some ingredients for food and maybe some souvenirs to have for when I leave the city," thought Aric, kinda excited.
As he was walking, a weapon shop caught his eye.
"I lost most of my fighting gear in the battle against the Demon Lord. This sword is all I have left," he said while looking at his sword. "I should go and buy a new one and maybe other thing, too."
He went inside the shop and started looking at the weapons.
"Hello! What are you looking for, hero? I can help you." A boy with dark red hair and hazel eyes appeared before him.
"Ah, hello there. Are you the shop owner?"
"No, I'm Kail. My dad is the owner of this shop. I'm just helping him for a bit," he said, smiling.
"Thought so. This kid looks younger than me, maybe 18 or 19 years old? No way he could make swords with this good craftsmanship."
"Ah, okay then. I'm looking for some small knives I could throw easily, and a better sword. My sword has gotten a bit rusty."
"What about armour, sir hero?"
"I don't really use armour. It slows my movement."
"Okay then, what kind of sword would you like?"
"A light but strong sword that can move easily in battle. And about knives, hmm… anything will do as long as they are small and easy to throw."
"Coming right up, sir!" said Kail, excited.
"Wow, I can't believe a hero is in our shop! And he seems like a nice guy, unlike the rumours say." Thought Kail.
"Here is everything you requested, hero!"
"Thank you. Ah right, I have some materials from the demons I killed. Do you think your father could make me a good sword from them?"
"Let me go get him for a moment, sir."
After a bit, Kail returned with his father.
"Welcome, hero! We're honored to have you in our shop. I hear you want a sword made with the materials you have."
"Yes, but I don't know if they are good enough for a sword, so I thought I'd ask you first."
Aric showed him a tooth from a high-ranked monster-demon and some rare stones he found in the Demon Forest that he had been keeping since before fighting the Demon Lord.
"I can make a dagger for you with this tooth and this stone… it's quite rare. I can make a very powerful sword with this for you."
"Really? That's great. How much do they cost? I'll pay for the items I bought today and the dagger and sword you're going to make now."
"That's generous of you, hero. Thank you. It'll cost 7 silver coins."
"Here you go. Thanks and bye."
After that, Aric bought some meat and veggies to cook for later today, and some souvenirs too.
"This city sells good food and it's not even that expensive. I might stay here longer than I had planned."
Aric returned home to put the bags full of things he had bought and then went to take a walk through the city. He had nothing better to do at home.
While walking, he saw some men running from an adventurers guild, and some adventurers were chasing them.
"Huh? Why are they running? And what are those bags they are holding? Wait, did they steal from an adventurers guild!?"
"Stop, you thieves!" screamed one of the adventurers.
Aric needed nothing else to hear. He quickly realized what was happening. He pulled his sword out and ran towards the thieves.
"It's none of my business, but I need to keep a good reputation as a hero," he thought.
Aric appeared before them with his sword pointing at them. The adventurers caught up fast and were behind the thieves.
"Damn, we're cornered!" said one of them angrily.
"Wait… I don't think the man in front of us is an adventurer. Look at his eye colour!" said another one.
"You know who I am, so better surrender," said Aric.
The thieves surrendered immediately.
"Thank you for your help, hero. If you're free, why don't you come to our guild so we can thank you properly?"
"I don't have anything else to do, so I'll come. Anyway, what kind of idiot would steal from an adventurers guild?"
"They must have known that most of our high-ranking adventurers wouldn't be in the guild today, and our guild has a lot of rare demon materials that can be sold for a good price."
"Where are they? I mean the other guild members," asked Aric curiously.
"Some of them have taken quests and gone to fight demons, and our top-ranking ones formed a party and went to help a nearby village that got attacked by demons."
The city guards came and took the thieves away, while Aric sat at one of the tables in the guild with the guild adventurers.
"Hero, let us offer you some food as thanks. Our guild has a great chef!"
"Thank you, but you don't need to call me hero. Call me Aric."
"Fine, Aric. You can call me Rune and this is Elias," said Rune, pointing at the other adventurer. "Let us feast on this delicious food then."
After a while, they finished the food and talked about some of their adventures.
"This is kinda fun. It's been a long while since I talked like this with someone," thought Aric.
Suddenly, someone entered through the guild door and went straight to the guild receptionist. It was Kail.
"I'm D rank now, so can I take a quest to go and fight demons at the Demon Forest?" said Kail, excited.
"So you finally got D rank, but I'm sorry, you need to have a party of five with at least two C ranks to go to the Demon Forest," said the receptionist. "But good job, Kail. No one has ever made it from E rank to D rank in a week. Just train harder or find a party."
"What? Did she just say he became a D rank in a week? Isn't that the son of the owner of the weapon shop I visited earlier today?"
"D rank in a week? That kid must have some great talent," said Rune, surprised.
"Yes indeed," said Aric as he stood up from the table and went towards Kail. "Hello there, Kail. We meet again."
"Hero! Yes, we meet again," Kail smiled.
"What if I were to go in the Demon Forest with my friend Kail here?" Aric looked toward the receptionist. "Can he go if I go with him?"
"Kail… if you really have talent, I wanna see it for myself. And what better way to do that than in a battle?" Aric thought.
"Yes, if you go with him, sir hero, there won't be any problem. Just choose the quest you're gonna take first."
"Really, hero? You'll come?" Kail was surprised and excited at the same time.
"Call me Aric. I wanted to go to the forest anyway, and since your dad is making me a sword, consider this as thanks."
Aric turned towards Rune and Elias. "I'll be leaving now guys, sorry."
"It's fine, have fun on your quest."
After that, Aric and Kail took a quest to kill some low ranking demons in the forest.
"This is your first quest as an adventurer. Are you excited, Kail?" asked Aric.
"Yeah… excited and nervous," replied Kail.
And so, they headed toward the Demon Forest. When they first arrived, it was quiet. No demons were in sight.
"It's too quiet," said Kail, clearly nervous.
"When you first enter the forest, you usually don't see demons right away. You need to go a bit deeper," explained Aric. "By the way, what type of magic do you have, Kail? I assume you're a swordsman since you have a sword with you."
"I have water and light magic, and yes, I'm a swordsman."
"Light magic?" Aric was surprised. "That's rare."
"Yeah, but I haven't fully learned how to control it yet. Still, I can use my water magic combined with my sword."
"That's good. Demons are weak to water magic."
"Have you ever fought against a demon before?" Aric asked. "If not, get ready. A couple of low-ranking ones are coming."
Kail quickly drew his sword and infused it with water magic, preparing for battle.
"You can use Water Slash. It's a very efficient skill. I've seen others use it," suggested Aric. "Do you know how?"
"Yes. I was planning to use that skill anyway."
"I'll take care of the stronger ones and leave the weaker ones to you so you can gain some experience. Sound good Kail?"
"That's fine with me!"
And like that, they fought the group of demons. Kail handled himself well, using his water magic and eventually his light magic to take down several demons. Aric, as usual, wielded his fire magic to quickly dispose of the stronger demons.
"He's doing quite well. Better than I expected," thought Aric. "If he keeps improving like this… he might even become a hero one day."
After a couple of hours, they decided it was time to head back to the city.
"You sure you just started being an adventurer a week ago? You're pretty good," Aric said.
"My dad always told me I was talented when I used magic at home," replied Kail, barely able to catch his breath. "But how can you say that when I can barely stand and you look like you just finished a light training session?"
"You'll get used to it soon enough. Let's take a break. We've got a long way back to the city," suggested Aric.
"Finally! I'm so tired I can't move an inch!" Said Kail dropping to the ground.
"Anyway, you can keep all these materials we gathered from the demons. I don't really need them. You can sell them at the guild."
"Really? Thanks, bro. You know, you're much nicer than the rumors say. People make you sound like a demon, but you helped me get into the forest even though I never asked you to."
"Though I'm not a demon, I'm not as nice as you think either," said Aric. "I just do what benefits me. Now get up. Break's over. We need to get back before nightfall."
"Fine, fine… I'm coming."
After a while, they finally arrived at the city and went straight to the guild.
"Finally, we're here! The way back felt way longer than the way into the forest," complained Kail.
"Ah! You're back, hero! Kail!" said the guild receptionist.
"Yes, and look at all the materials we brought!" said Kail excitedly. "How much can I sell them for?"
"Well, they're from low-ranking demons, but you brought a lot. I'll give you 30 bronze coins."
"That's pretty good for your first quest, Kail," said the receptionist.
"That's only because Aric was with me. He killed most of the demons."
"I wanna go home. I'm tired. I've been out all day..." mumbled Aric.
"Aric, wanna eat together? It's on me since I earned my first money today!"
"Weren't you just too tired to move an inch? Where's all this energy coming from?"
"I'm not tired anymore, so let's go!" said Kail, grabbing Aric and dragging him along.
"Damn it, I've found myself a nuisance," muttered Aric. "But… it was a fun day."
And like that, Aric made a friend.