The first thing I did was seek knowledge, but I failed at basic things. Failure had a bitter taste, just like defeat.
How had I never bothered to know more about the man and woman who took me in as their son? After talking to Jasly I found out. Thalya had indeed once commanded an army and Silas had once been a court mage, another useful piece of information that now made perfect sense, Silas was a noble, he held the title of baron, in this case it was another classification given to important members of the government. Legally he had all the benefits of a noble, except being a landowner, but in theory he was the owner of the village. I had already thought about how he seemed to have financial means, that was true, I just didn't know he had more money than I had imagined.
The man was hired to show us the city and take us to the Indolent Zorya inn, the place was pleasant and seemed a little expensive, we would stay here until we entered the Academy, or failed, whichever came first.
Not that I planned to fail, but I had to consider all options.
If Sorene heard that from me, she would certainly reduce me to dust. She hated when I talked about losing, "someone in your position cannot think of something as dirty as defeat," she would say before hitting me. I, in a way, liked it, she didn't do it out of malice, she only did it because she cared about me. I wonder if I was really a good husband.
Back to reality, I was looking at the room, Silas must have done it on purpose, he had booked only one room, there were two beds, but I didn't know if it was appropriate for two young people of opposite sexes and in puberty to sleep in the same room.
Not that I planned to do anything, but still, it was inappropriate.
I needed a way to earn money, in the village I helped some people in my spare time, but I never charged, I only accepted some gifts like food or simply a meal. I didn't feel the need for monetary gain, I already had everything I needed, food and people who cared for me, but that changed. Now I had to survive in an unknown place. Even though the Academy could provide me with food and materials, I might still need money.
Bedelia recommended that I join the adventurers guild, it was a good idea, but I wanted a faster way to get money. I remembered Cal, he had always been good with alchemy and could synthesize metals, for this reason no one used metals as money, since alchemists could synthesize even gold. Although not in large amounts, this would be enough to destabilize the economy.
I had never learned how to synthesize metals, I could only synthesize salt, in fact, many cooks learned this to make their work easier. I wasn't sure how much salt was worth there, I had seen it used a few times in cooking, in fact there was always a little, but always in small amounts, or maybe I just consumed a lot of salt in my past life and had gotten used to it that way.
I took a piece of cloth from my item bag and cut it into a circle, then I cut some more cloth into thinner strips and braided them, I managed to make a small piece of string, it was enough to tie the cloth and make it look like a slightly larger coin pouch.
Jasly was watching me, she was by my side. That bothered me, I didn't want to share a bed with her. No, actually I did, I felt something for her, but I didn't want that to be strange, I didn't even know what she felt for me, I just felt that this was her way of being with her brother. Six years together was more than enough to know that we were only adoptive siblings.
"What are you doing?" She spoke close to my right ear, which made the hairs on my arm stand up, she noticed and laughed.
"I want to create salt to see if I can sell it."
"Is it possible to create salt?"
"Yes, but I don't know if I can do it."
I wasn't training anymore and I wasn't sure if I could create salt, even though it was something basic, I spent a lot of energy in the process.
I focused and used all my power to try to create salt, I managed a small amount, no more than a spoonful. Jasly watched, she put one of her fingers in and stirred the white powder, then put it in her mouth.
"How is this possible? I've never heard of creating salt with magic."
I tried to explain the foundation, but I couldn't make her understand, it was hard for her to feel spiritual energy and at the same time she confused it with mana. After a few minutes, she gave up and accepted the basic explanation I gave.
I went back to focusing and little by little managed to create quite a bit of salt, but there was a problem, I didn't know who to sell it to, I didn't even know if it was worth anything. But any copper coin would do.
The inn was large and had a kitchen, going to the receptionist with cat ears, I asked to speak with the person in charge of the kitchen. After a few minutes, a fat man came to me.
"Do you have any complaints about the food?"
"No, that's not it, I just wanted to know where you buy salt," he tried to say something, but I interrupted, "I have a little to sell."
I put the pouch full of salt on a coffee table, he kept staring and I dismissed the purchase. But I was wrong, he was actually interested in buying. The silence had deceived me.
"How much do you want for the salt?"
"I don't know the value, so I'm open to hearing your price." Maybe that was a mistake, he could have set the price too low.
"I'll pay 2 silver coins."
I was mistaken, that seemed more than fair, especially for the amount of salt. 2 silver coins would be the equivalent of a daily stay with food in this inn, so I considered that I had made a great deal.
"It's sold."
He smiled, then said, "can you get more?"
"Yes, I can get some tomorrow."
"Great, I'll be waiting for your visit, bring as much as you can."
I went from Demon Lord to the son of a fallen noble, now I was a salt vendor. I feel like I'm going down some scale.
I called Jasly to take a walk with me through the Capital, there were still a few days left before the exam and I decided to get to know the city. We walked through some shops, I took the chance to buy some coin pouches from a street vendor. I could have bought some jar, but I needed to keep the cost low to increase the chance of having some money.
Jasly was wearing an outfit she usually wore when training. She was looking at the shops and houses. After a while, she held my hand and pulled me to a building, it was big and had two huge doors, it was the adventurers guild.
We went to the reception and were attended by an elf wearing a blue beret."We want to take the exam to become adventurers, we already have the minimum age."The elf stared for a moment and then bent down and took two forms, then handed them over and asked us to fill them out.
When we handed them back, she asked us to wait, after a few minutes, she gave us two cards.
"These cards have your numbers. You must come tomorrow morning and go straight to the arena in the back, the exam will start before 9 o'clock."
"Exam?"
"To become an adventurer it is necessary to pass a skill test, you will be evaluated according to your class, depending on how you do you may pass or be rejected. If you are rejected, you may take the exam again, but you must pay a fee and may only take it after three months. If you pass, you will be placed in a rank, which goes from E to A, ranks S and SS are special ranks that are only granted after several missions and skill tests."
Bedelia seemed even more amazing.
To be honest, I didn't want to take this exam, but Jasly was excited, so I couldn't say no. Maybe I had fallen into a sweet trap, something like that, I don't remember the name, but Sorene always told me to be careful, yet I couldn't say no to this girl.
The day of the exam came, I was wearing my usual clothes, Jasly was wearing her training outfit. To be honest, I didn't have training clothes, I never liked them, I always trained in normal clothes.
When we passed by a group, they laughed at me. Jasly started arguing, but I apologized and we left. She didn't like it, but I wanted to avoid trouble before the exam.
The group's leader had achieved B-rank, so I was right not to want trouble with them.
Jasly was called, she had signed up as a mage. The boys were laughing at her, I tried not to pay attention to that, I just focused on her and how perfect she was, puberty was a curse.
"What class did you sign up for?" the examiner asked."As a mage."
A woman with large breasts appeared, maybe that description was a little indelicate. But her breasts were very big, they were well protected, but still you could see the volume under her clothes. She wore a mage robe, it was all blue, she also carried a staff and wore glasses.
When she walked, her breasts bounced, it was something beautiful to watch.
The examiner was an A-rank adventurer, she carried a medal pinned to her clothes.
When the first examiner started the test, a large fireball came in my direction, no, not at me, but at the group of boys. They had minor injuries, she hadn't attacked to kill, only to lightly wound and scare them.
"I apologize for the mistake," Jasly apologized, lowering her head.
"Mistakes happen, but being distracted in a fight can cost you your life," the examiner said as she attacked, but Jasly dodged all the attacks.
Jasly wasn't attacking, she was only dodging, it even seemed like she didn't think it was worth attacking, but I don't know if that was it or if it was just part of her strategy.
The examiner started to get angry."This way I won't be able to evaluate you... fourth-level magic, blade tornado..."
Before she finished the incantation, Jasly said, "seventh-level magic, gale." The attack was strong enough to throw the examiner out of the arena. This was also the first time I saw her use a spell with an incantation.