CH17: Future Path
***
"Never in my life did I think I would see a Mythical Gift." Rowland smiled. He was genuinely happy for Leo. But at the same time, extremely worried. "We need a way to hide your eyes under all circumstances.
"I can activate and deactivate it at will." Leo said.
"That's good for most times, but what if you are in a situation where you need to use your eyes? Will you choose to expose them then?
"No," Leo shook his head. "What do you suggest, Uncle?"
Rowland took a moment to think about it before he got an idea.
"I know of an Enchanter we can contract to make a pair of glasses for us that can block the light from your eyes from reflecting past it.
"Even if it can't completely stop it, just changing the colour should be enough." Leo said.
Rowland agreed with a nod, "We should at least be able to prevent people from figuring out the Class of Gift you have."
"Notwithstanding, I believe you still should avoid revealing you have a gift to anyone at all if you can help it." He added.
Leo nodded in understanding.
Any attention at the moment would likely not be in his best interest.
"On the matter of an Enchanter, what do you think about becoming an Artisan?" Rowland asked. "Even with your Gift, it is unlikely you can work as a Hunter. But with your Primal Flame, you will be able to live as an artisan, especially if you choose any of Alchemy, Forgesmithing or Runesmithing."
"Without mana, it will be difficult to progress higher than a Tier II Journeyman, right?" Leo asked.
"I am not an artisan so I can't say for sure, but let me put it this way. In the early days, without an extremely high control over mana, one wouldn't even be able to step foot through the Artisan door. However, nowadays, there are workarounds which allow people passionate about a profession but lack the minimum mana control requirements to at least live out their passion, albeit stuck as a low-level one.
"Do you understand what I am saying?"
"I think I do." Leo said. "It was previously impossible for someone like me to become an artisan, but someone found a way that would allow me to do so. Therefore, there might be hope for me to also find a way to progress beyond the current limit of a Tier II Journeyman."
"I am guessing the Primal Flame will be the key to that." He added.
Rowland nodded, "Indeed. I have never heard of anyone with poor mana control subduing a Primal Flame, much less someone who can't control Mana, period. However, whenever an artisan succeeds in finding and subduing a Primal Flame, more often than not the artisan becomes one of a kind in his generation.
"If you didn't have the flame, I wouldn't have suggested this path to you."
Leo nodded.
To be honest, he had long since had thoughts about becoming an artisan, particularly becoming a Forgesmith and an Alchemist.
One of the reasons he was able to train without worry these past five years was the abundant supply of healing potions.
Any injury he got during training was promptly healed.
While the Ultimate Martial Body Tempering Manual's methods would have eventually healed the injury just the same, it would have taken more time.
More valuable time that he would have lost as he wouldn't have been able to train... train effectively anyway.
Now that he had turned fifteen and gone through his awakening ceremony, he was considered an adult in the eyes of the world.
It wouldn't be right of him to continue leeching off his uncle. He would at least have to provide a reason for Rowland to continue spending resources on him.
He was known as a waste who couldn't use mana. That, in itself, limited the number of acceptable reasons Rowland could use to continue providing for him.
Being the War King's nephew didn't cut it. It didn't cut it all the same in the eyes of the world even if he were Rowland's son.
By becoming an Alchemist, he would in theory be able to produce his own potions. If he were to become a Forgesmith instead, it should be reasonable for him to exchange his forged products for alchemic potions.
There was also the little detail that his parent were well-known Artisans on top of their identity as A-Ranked Hunters. A part of Leo wanted to follow in their footsteps.
With all these in mind, Leo was more than willing to entertain the idea of becoming an Artisan.
Rowland's demeanour suddenly became solemn.
"Leo, now that you have passed your Awakening Ceremony, you are now considered an adult. You will have to choose your path.
"You can choose to stay under my wing. You will never lack anything you need in life as long as I live. Your second option is to become independent. I may help you from time to time, but they will only be for major matters, particularly to your life itself. As long as it doesn't threaten your life, I won't interfere.
"You are a smart boy and, as much as I don't like the way you got it, you are not naive about the ways of the world. You should be able to tell the difference between the two options even without me saying much.
"So, what is your choice?"
Leo was a little surprised his uncle asked him about this so quickly, just after he completed his awakening ceremony. But thinking about it again, it was something that had to happen anyway so it was better to get it out of the way.
In this world, once someone completed their awakening ceremony, they were considered adults and were expected to pursue a path of their choosing. More often than not, for average people, it involves them leaving the care of their parents and guardians to pursue their own path.
For children from more wealthy backgrounds though, they have another option of remaining within the family and working for the family's glory. Anything and everything they achieve will be attributed to the family.
Being the nephew of Rowland Kroft, the War King, the Guild Master of the DoomMane Guild, one of the top ten guilds in the world, Leo also had the second option.
The truth was, Leo had long made his decision.
"I choose to be independent." Leo smiled.
At first glance, remaining under Rowland's wing seems the best choice. However, it severely limited Leo in many ways.
Just the fact that anything and everything he achieves will be attributed to the War King was unacceptable.
The memories of the Martial Sovereign and the Grand Space Pirate King have influenced the boy such that he wanted to chase his own glory, no matter how insignificant it turned out to be.
He didn't believe he couldn't make a name for himself somehow in this world with his two inherited methods and the Arcane Sanctuary on his side.
Speaking of the Arcane Sanctuary, it was another major reason why Leo didn't want to remain under the War King's wing.
The War King Palace was under tight surveillance. Every day, the boy risked someone finding out about the artefact. It was because of this paranoia that the boy had yet to unlock the Sanctuary Space even though a Mid-grade Mana Stone was nothing in the War King Palace.
He feared staying at the Palace and under Rowland's wing would result in the underutilisation of his biggest cheat code, the Arcane Sanctuary.
(To be continued...)