As Fate wandered through Hetforn's shopping district, he came to a realization.
'I need a job.'
While he still had a large sum of money from his detention imp-slaying, that would run out eventually. Yes, everything in Hetforn that Fate needed to live, such as food and water, was much cheaper here than in Brergan, but what about the other essentials?
He knew well how fast he tore through his clothes. The shirt he got from the late sergeant already had a hole in it from his fight with Venden, and his pants were already fraying. They were mending the damage as he thought, but he needed backup clothes in case these ever got too damaged to wear.
There was also entertainment, purchasing Spells and enchanting tips, tutors, transport, and many more things he needed to consider as well. Some extra cash definitely wouldn't hurt.
He walked down the long streets with this in mind, looking for a "help wanted" sign or something similar. He entered many stores with such a sign, and either turned down their job offers or was rejected.
Each one was only an entry-level job, mostly janitorial duties or cashier work, and paid two hundred Lights a month or less; more than he made at Old Man Travis' store, but not enough to sustain him in the big city. Food was free while he lived at the Academy, but Hetforn was an absolutely massive city.
It was a thousand square miles in size, way too large for Fate to walk everywhere. He'd need to use the teleportation pads scattered throughout the city to get anywhere in decent time.
This part of the shopping district was different, as where he currently stood was less than three miles away from the Academy, but this would be something he'd have to shell out for later.
The average in-city teleport pad use was anywhere from twenty to fifty Lights a use, depending on the distance. And that was only for one trip. For Fate to go from one end of the city to the other, he'd need fifty Lights to get there and another fifty to get back.
And this didn't even go into how much it would cost for out-of-town teleports.
After an hour of searching, he found what he was looking for: a small shop nestled between two others, with a bright sign that said "Gratham's Shoes and More."
Fate thought he'd give this place a shot. He had experience working with shoes, after all. But when he entered the store to the tune of a ringing bell attached to the door, he blinked in surprise.
"Old Man Travis?"
At the back of the store, behind several shelves holding high-quality shoes, stood Fate's old boss, and the only one to ever give a shit about him after his mom passed: Old Man Travis.
He had somehow grown a short beard since Fate had last seen him, but everything else from his metallic silver hair to his eyes, which resembled actual lumps of gold, was the same. Even the oddly muscular physique he had was the same, lithe like a marathon runner.
The old man glanced up from a shoe he was working on, a Dragon Chicken-scale slip-on that glimmered in the shop's ambient light, and showed a light smile as he set down his hammer. Walking around the island the shoe stood on, he went to Fate and gave him a hearty, if painful, slap on the shoulder.
"Well, I'll be. It's about time you showed up," he said with a grin. "I've been waiting since Monday."
"What are you doing here, old man?" Fate asked with a mixture of happiness and curiosity.
"Once you left, Brergan became too boring to live in," Old Man Travis said with a sad shake of his head. "Your father stormed into my shop after you left and went on a tangent, saying I fudged your results or that I cursed you or something. He doesn't know how Facets work, apparently."
"I'm sorry. He's always been like that."
"You should've told him you were leaving, boy. It got so bad the entire town could hear him yelling. The Guard had to come in and drag him away before he attacked me. If he did, I would've been in my rights to put him down."
"If I had told him I was leaving, he would've stopped me," Fate told him bitterly. "He doesn't want to take care of me, but he also doesn't want me to take care of myself."
"Well, last I heard, he's sitting in a cell for the next week. Once the Guard took him away, the rest of the town started spouting the same things and refusing to use my shop. Since there was no point in staying, I packed my things and moved to the city."
"Typical Brergans," Fate replied with a sigh. "They can't stand it when someone manages to escape from that shithole. They want everyone to stay with them and suffer beside them."
"Exactly. To tell the truth, the only reason I stayed in that insufferable village for so long is because of you. Seeing how your own dad didn't want to take care of you, I figured you'd need a good role model."
"And I'll always be grateful for that," Fate said sincerely. "By the way, I don't suppose you're hiring?"
"I'm sure I can find something for you to do," Old Man Travis told him with a knowing look. "That Facet of yours give you a useful Skill, or do you need to shine shoes again?"
"Now that you mention it, I found out something interesting in my enchanting class."
"Which is?"
"Apparently, I can use other people's Imprints. And I can enchant as a Journeyman. Well, I was an Apprentice when I used the Break Imprint, but I doubt the ability went away."
"Really?" The old man stroked his beard, the sound of metal sliding against metal sounding faintly as he did so. "I've never heard of such a thing, but then again, I hadn't heard of your Facet until this Sunday. Alright then, if that's the case, I can make you my official apprentice."
"But I'm a Journeyman," Fate said smartly.
"Not that kind of apprentice," Travis chuckled. "It means I'll show you how to do what I do. And when I pass or retire, you can take over my business."
"So I'll learn how to make shoes?" Fate couldn't lie, it sounded somewhat appealing.