Aric had underestimated the value that essence held, it was after all the fuel to all great powers within the seven orthodox empires and six demonic Clans, it clearly couldn't be taken lightly.
It was extremely hard to find a rough expert in the wild in the present era, and the reason for that was how hard mystical materials containing essence are to obtain, the market will always be strictly controlled by the dominant powers of the world, so to make sure that only they and their people grow stronger while the rest fall out of grace.
It was a cruel world where you either take a side or lose the fight, no king would want to see an underdog rise from the shadows to bite him from the back and leave him with immeasurable losses out of nowhere.
Yet at the end of the day, fate lays in the hand of no Emperor or King, even Gods of the mortal world, standing so high above all, dare not underestimate the turns and shifts of fate.
And as miserable as that might sound, while fate is cruel to many, it's generous to others, people like Aric for example, those who held little faith but we're still brought from rock bottom and given hope when none was there to be found.
Aric was exhilarated with the progress he made in such a short time, out of breath even, but he wasn't turning dumb after gaining as little strength as this.
After surveying his surroundings and checking that no one else was around, he went back to his dorm and brought out the rusty wood axe he had within.
He made sure to cover all the marks of his punch off the surface of the tree with chop marks, making it look like the tree was cut for firewood.
He might get criticized for chopping the tree and ruining the landscape of the dorm, but it's for hell sure better than having an assassin break into his room in the depths of night and ending his life because he proves to be too much of a threat.
Aric then proceeded to return to his room and stuff the other pill back into the porcelain bottle.
The reason for him not consuming the second pill right away lies in two simple facts.
One that he had consumed too much chaos essence, and he didn't grasp the concept of its use so he held off of using it to digest the medicine right away, he would rather do so after further research, so maybe he can bring out later more of the pills potential than he would if he took it right away.
As for the second, although fast growth of strength might sound great, it is actually a taboo in the realm of mysticism, without having good control and grasp of your power through each stage of the way, one would lose significant prowess and would lag in his training and ruin his foundation further in line.
How can someone learn riding a horse if one doesn't know how to walk first.
Thus Aric decided to hold off on taking the second pill to further notice.
After stuffing the bottle back into his robe, Aric looked at his left arm and saw the red mark left from when he punched the tree and tore it in two, and without even realizing it, he was once again smiling like a fool.
He clenched his arm and flinched at the pain coming from the joints of his hand.
"... What was I thinking, am not a fist fighter ! '' Aric then looked at the small box sitting to the side of his bed and the red staff lying within it, and thought to himself, "well, it's about time to get a new staff. "
Aric reached into his robe and searched within his pockets, and all that remained was four copper penses, outside the school, that would be such a pitiful Amount of money it wouldn't even buy a drink in a backhand pub.
" Firstly though, I'll need money " Aric sighed, put the couple of penses back into his pocket and left the dorm in search of a job.
....
Leaflow city was a modern masterpiece of architecture and arcane mechanisms, and as colourful and wondrous that might sound, that doesn't change the fact it borders the titan that is the darkwoods.
All business within the city was beast related, it was built mostly to provide the hunters coming from all around the world all the resources and tools they needed.
It was a handy system created by the different kingdoms and empires bordering forbidden lands, two birds with one stone sort of thing, on one hand, they can rappel beast's and monster growth from breaching into their lands, without the sacrifice of trained manpower and equipment, and on the other hand, they get a stable income of resources and money that tumbles down from the taxes unlisted on guilds and merchants within the city.
Not to mention how it gives the empire control over a vast arsenal of warriors who need to seek the formation of a guild or a party.
contracted to the empire, they resign in to get access to spiritual and arcane tools and materials such as pills and weapons.
Aric although not part of any guild or parties, he was a member of the ancestral paladins' schools, giving him privileges not provided to the general public.
If he ever slays a beast, he could exchange its body parts in the school for merit directly, such merit can be exchanged for literally anything you could ever imagine, and he would even be provided with a better price compared to the marketplace.
It was a system mainly created to encourage the students of the academy to adventure and gain experience, as for Aric, well all he was in it for was the money.
He took with him the rusty wood axe and bought a simple cloth of linen that he wrapped around his upper body and face to cover his identity.
His white academy robe was still showing from behind the cloth but he intentionally left it so, the identity of a student of the academy is a great deterrent for outside trouble since those attending the Academy are of a high class within the city and are protected by the system that lies within its walls.
The robe did bring a lot of attention when walking around the city, but no one dared mess with him or approach him with undesirable intentions.
Shops and restaurants coveted him and all looked at him with bright eyes, attending the academy meant a prestigious position in society and that in itself usually meant possession of a good quantity of wealth.
Aric ignored them all and made a beeline towards the city gates.
He was planning to hunt for some beast's in the surrounding forest, just in the perimeter of the walls, where only the lowest and weakest of beasts are left to roam, and is relatively safe for Aric to hunt.
He wanted to test his newfound strength and gain a bit of change to spend on new staff.
He already had a great deal of experience hunting on his own, he grew up reasonably independent and learned to hunt for his own sake from a young age.
He was taught by the guards of his uncle's mansion, who at first were strongly against such an idea, but after a barrage of begging from the headstrong Aric, they gave up, and taught him the basics of tracking and traps mastery.
Aric was more of a confronting hunter, he used the staff in his hunts, which was an insane concept of its own, and his game would always have a handful of broken bones and muscles, but he was always happy by his endeavours.
After walking for a while through the city, Aric finally made it to the southern gates, he walked towards them and among all the passengers and merchants waiting in line to be checked for any stolen goods or contraband, he was left to pass without a check, a single look at the academy token closed the city guards mouth shut, and he let Aric pass while bowing his head.
Seeing this, Aric was amused by the power this small piece of jade provided in the walls of the city, it was a first for him to be treated so respectfully and with caution, and he was enjoying it, maybe a bit too much.
Aric shook his head, looked around at the lush forests surrounding him, with the wood axe held tightly in his arm he smiled mischievously and uttered.
" Time to slaughter some beasts .." he then walked through the thick vegetation and disappeared within its shadows.