'An otherworldly demon, that is what this world calls people like me who had originally been from another world but got transmigrated here. For some reason the Heavenly Order absolutely hates otherworldly demons and the second they discover one the Heavenly Order immediately executes the otherworldly demon. Since the Heavenly order is the strongest organisation in this world once you go against them you have essentially gone against the world as they have incredible influence all over the world that is why it is important I keep my identity as an otherworldly demon hidden for as long as possible though if I want to begin the path of magic and cultivation my identity as an otherworldly demon will eventually be discovered since the Heavenly Order and some other powerful people and organisations have mystical methods which can discover if someone's soul is not from this world. Every time I hear of an otherworldly demon getting killed I feel slightly indignant as I'm sure just like me those other otherworldly demons didn't chose to get transmigrated, they probably had been forced into this world just like me and now they're getting killed for something they cant even control, but its best to keep my frustrations to myself, at least until I get powerful enough where even the Heavenly Order cant threaten me.
Leonard, breaking away from his daze replied half heartedly to Nick.
"Yeah, I guess they did huh."
"You bet it, you know that if you don't kill an otherworldly demon while they're still young when they grow up they will wreak havoc across the world, killing thousands if not millions of people in the process, I heard that from my mum who heard it from her friend who overheard it from one of the priests of the Heavenly Order so you can trust that its pretty truthful."
Leonard kept nodding to Nicks ranting, if Leonard had to name some things he disliked about Nick it was that when Nick was talking about a subject he was particularly passionate in he wouldn't stop talking about it and it just so happened that this time time the subject that Nick was passionate about was otherworldly demons.
"Right I think we've spent to long talking about otherworldly demons, lets quickly read through the newspapers before you get scolded again by your parents for being late."
"Yeah your right, I don't want to be late again haha."
Leonard and Nick began to look through the newspaper but other then the headline on the front page there was nothing else particularly interesting talking about things such as if Hannibal Heavenbornes child who is just about to become a mage, talking about if they will carry the same amount of talent as Hannibal and other things such as countries worsening relationships to each other and overall just boring things, so after finishing the newspaper which talked about big events that happened around the world the two boys opened the local newspaper that talked about things mainly happening in the city of Dunstan which was the city that Leonard was currently residing in.
The local newspaper wasn't so interesting either until Leonard found an advert posted by the viscount who owns the city, apparently for some reason the viscount is recruiting people aged 10-13 which is around the prime age to start being a mage or cultivator, and the job is to be a trainee guard.
Leonard felt a wave of excitement rush through him as after he saw the advert. 'This is going to speed up my plans by a lot, my original plan was to become a well renowned scholar and using the money and influence I would get from being a scholar I would attempt to find some methods of training magic or cultivation because it seems like in the country I live in unless your a noble or have connections to a noble finding techniques to cultivate is impossibly hard but now with this opportunity I don't have to go through years studying. No matter what, I cannot let this opportunity pass by!'
Nick looked at Leonards excited expression and shook his head slightly. "You shouldn't get your hopes up, being even a trainee guard is a very lucrative job and probably every kid in the city will attend the interviews, even the children from knight families and merchant families will come to try become trainee guards so unless your better then all the kids in the city I suggest you don't even try."
The way the viscount is checking to pick the best candidates to fill the role of the guard trainee will be all the kids who applied will be tested and only the kids who performed the best will be hired by the viscount and Leonard was pretty confident in himself that whatever the test was about he would easily come on top against some kids, even if they had all the training in the world. Even though the minimum age requirement was 10 years old and Leonard was currently 9 that wasn't a problem as the test was happening on August and Leonard would turn 10 on June and it was currently May right now so not only does Leonard have around 3 months to train he would also be 10 by the time the examination arrived.
Leonard suddenly shivered as a sudden thought arrived in his mind, 'this is too convenient, what's the chances that an opportunity to train magic arrives nearly the exact time I turn the minimum age to start training, my luck cant be that good can it? Either this is all a big coincidence or something eerie is happening unbeknownst to me. Though even if this is something predetermined that someone or something did I cant let such a big opportunity pass me by as this might be a once in a lifetime chance.'
Leonard forcing himself out of thoughts replied to Nicks discouragement dismissively and quite half heartedly.
"Yeah I'll keep that in mind Nick."
Leonard saw Nick as a rather pitiable figure. He could sense that Nick had also harboured dreams of becoming a trainee guard, but those dreams were crushed by his lack of self-confidence. More importantly, Nick lacked the drive to pursue his ambitions. Rather than stepping out of his comfort zone, Nick chose to stay in his safe, predictable life. To justify his inaction, he would convince himself with thoughts like, "Thousands of kids will take the exam; what are the chances it will be me?" or "Why bother? It's not worth the effort."
Nick didn't just give up on his own dreams—he also tried to discourage Leonard from chasing his. Leonard, however, disagreed with Nick's outlook. He firmly believed that even when the odds are stacked against you, it's worth pursuing your dreams. After all, if you never try, you'll never achieve anything. Even if you fail after giving your all, at least you can say you faced your ambitions head-on, without regrets.
However Leonard didn't bother telling any of that to Nick as quite frankly he didn't really care too much about Nick or at least Leonard didn't care enough about Nick to try change his perspective and view of life.
The rest of the newspaper had nothing else that interesting in it and so Leonard and Nick quickly finished it and split to go to their own destinations, Nick to go to his parents and Leonard to the library.