[scene : Colt waving at Ken and Bella with a smile and a care-free , full of kindness look in his eyes]
*Turns around, the look in his eyes shifts to a serious glare*
I am now eight years old, and school is over. For the past three years, I kept my scores between 70 and 80. I mean, if I get 75 each time, it'd be suspicious, so I widened the range.
*Without a single look back, Colt moves forward.*
I don't think I'll see Ken and Bella again. Well, it was fun, while it lasted, acting like a normal kid again.
[scene: Colt walking around the town heading towards his home]
Usually, commoners at this stage begin to teach their kids their craft or find a suitable path.
For those who wanted to become magical knights, they train their bodies for the next seven years, since in this world you are viewed as an adult at fifteen as usual. And for those with high enough capacity, which are rare among commoners, they try to train their magic with as many incantations as they can find.
[Flash back to Colt casting elemental spells in his room, floating up and down, turning invisible and visible at high speeds, changing the size of a waterball]
Not to sound cocky, but since I've been grinding like a madman for years, and since I'm the only mage armed with science and blessings, I dare say that I'm an elite of this world, but not the top yet... So I've got a few years on my hands. After deciding what I wanted to do, it was time to decide how to do it. And I needed information for that.
[scene : It's night, Colt walking towards Mark who was sitting in the living room, Clarissa was in a corner cooking on the hearth]
Colt [faking curiosity]: "Dad, what do merchants do? We learned about them in school… Ms. Clara said that if you're good at math, you could become a merchant."
Mark [a bit surprised]: "Well, son, merchants travel all around the kingdom to buy and sell items."
Colt [faking curiosity]: "But, what about the monsters?"
Mark: "Being a merchant is not easy, but they usually hire adventurers."
Adventurers too ! Ohohoh, this world just keeps getting better. Now to test a theory of mine.
Colt [Curious]: "Can't a merchant do business without hiring adventurers?"
Mark [surprised ]: "Then who'll protect him? Anyway, why are you so interested? Didn't you say you wanted to become a mage?"
Damn, I thought he forgot about that.
Colt [Calmly and innocently ]: "Well, yeah, but won't it be good for me to learn new skills now to use later?"
Mark [surprised]: "That's a mature way of thinking for your age."
*Colt laughs nervously*
Colt: "Anyway, Dad, can an adventurer become a merchant or the other way around?"
Mark [hesitant and confused ]: "Well, there isn't a rule that says they can't, but nobody's done it before."
Obviously, merchants are no good at fighting, and all adventurers do is kill monsters. To make such a dramatic career change in this world would nearly be impossible.
But the reason I asked this is… I'd like to travel alone as a merchant, so I can experiment on any monster I lay my eyes on. I have a few other spells I'd like to try anyway.
Mark [enthusiastically]: "To respect your way of thinking, I'm going to talk to Alexander for you, luckily, he's in town these days."
Colt: "Who's that?"
Mark: "A merchant friend of mine from school, like you and Ken."
Daamn, Mark's got connections and I didn't even know it.
*The next day*
[scene : Colt waiting with Clarissa in the living room, Mark walks in with a Tall man, brown hair and eyes]
Mark: "Alexander, this is my son, Colt… Colt, this is Alexander."
[Alexander looks at Colt with the eyes of a savvy merchant.]
This guy, trying to size me up huh, okay, let's throw some bones.
Colt [slight bow, calm and confident ]: "How do you do, sir Alexander? My name is Colt, it's my pleasure to meet you."
How's that?
[Mark standing there rendered speechless, same with Clarissa in the background. Alexander smiles.]
Alexander: "Not bad, kid, you're very well spoken and polite. *Turns to Mark.*"
Alexander: "He's going to be of use, dealing with nobles with a few adjustments, nicely done, Mark."
Mark [flustered ]: "Oh, well, you know."
[Colt laughing hard internally.]
Now to deal the finishing blow.
Colt: "Yes, I owe it all to my dear parents for raising me so well."
[Clarissa barely manages to hold back her tears in the background and Mark gets more flustered.]
Ah, this is hilarious. It may have been a risk, but it was worth it.
After that, Alexander gave me a few math problems to solve on the fly… Needless to say, I nailed 'em. Then it was decided that I will start apprenticing under Alexander for the next three years.