Chapter 49

"So my disciple, now that the Grey Imperial Academy will officially be willing to allow you to pursue a trade, which one do you think you would like to pursue? I have plenty of ways to help you regardless of which path you choose but only you would know what would fit you the best. What I can tell you, is that since you are a mage with a high affinity for the fire element and your control over your flames have gotten to a fairly high level concerning your rank, there are some trades that would be easier for you to find early success in."

"Just know that even if it does not work out with one trade or you feel like there may be a better path for you, it is still going to end up fruitful. In the universe, many cultivators would explore and try to grasp every type of path that they could at least find an elementary level of understanding in. This way, if one was required to know just the basics of inscriptions or barriers in order to successfully obtain a hidden treasure or technique scroll, their lack of knowledge would not be part of their downfall."

Hearing the artifact actually made Timothy feel calmer as he went through his options. He would have loved to enter a trade as a blacksmith since he liked the idea of creating his own artifacts among other useful items, but he also knew that unless one were to become a master level blacksmith, that a force would not go out of their way to recruit someone outright like him just based on having a background in that particular trade.

However, a much more fruitful option would be to pursue the path of an alchemist. Medical pills and other medical based items such as medical baths and such were a necessity to every force in order to continue to groom the next generation. Even if one were to become an elementary level alchemist, majority of forces would still be willing to find a place for them within just so that they did not have to pay market price for each pill that they wanted since the ingredients for many medical pills that were still useful to many forces within the empire were rather affordable to grow and would be profitable even if an alchemist only had a twenty percent success rate per pill depending on their mastery level.

Every other potential path was something that Timothy did not need to spend his time worrying about because if he wanted to build a force, he would, no matter what, have to recruit others to join the ranks. Plus, depending on his own strength and influence, there was a good chance that he could find an experienced but retired elder level figure who would be willing to join his force as a Grand Elder ranked figure as long as he could afford them. Therefore, at least for the time being, he did not have to worry about taking those types of classes which meant he needed to do something that was both profitable and something that would help his own personal foundation as a cultivator.

Debating for a few minutes with the artifact, Timothy chose that he would pursue the path of an alchemist and quickly put all of his things together in his storage ring which he kept all of his belongings in, and quickly began to head out to report his advancement and afterwards to report to the medicine hall on campus to properly sign up for some classes and time slots so he could learn the basics of becoming an alchemist.

Timothy settled quickly on the path of alchemy, because if one was considered a grand master alchemist, a single pill created would be enough to outright trade for an entire castle. Sure such a pill would require at least a handful of priceless ingredients but knowing how well he could simply use such a status in the future made him feel like giggling on the inside and like skipping all of the way to the medical hall. After reporting his advancement into rank three as a mage, Timothy began to head towards the direction of the medical hall. What was great, was that his bonus for advancing was two hundred and fifty gold coins which meant he did not have to give up three months' worth of his allowance from the academy to pay everyone back.

As he was passing by several buildings, Timothy at the corner of his eye, saw a very nerdy looking youth being bullied by a small group of students. The Grey Imperial Academy had zero tolerance for students harming one another, but even the teachers did nothing to those who were bullying their fellow classmates. Part of pursuing the path of cultivation was one standing up to others and if a student was unable to do this, chances were, they were just simply not cut out to pursue such a path. Still, Timothy hated seeing others being bullied and so he quickly halted his steps and turned to head over to help the nerdy looking teenager.

"Hey Timothy, are you here to teach this guy a lesson with us? He told us that he had spent all of his allowance on a special book and was unwilling to let us take a look at it. Can you believe it, spending a month's salary as a rank two student on a single book?" one of the bullies after seeing Timothy approaching said with a snarky look on his face. However, the other three bullies around him quickly backed away. Not a lot of students knew it, but the three bullies understood very quickly that Timothy had a soft spot for those in need and they were not in a position to cause any trouble for him since he was great friends with Nora and had backers like Andrew whose Rising Tides Merchant Group had a hand in many forces in Willow City's business dealings by now.

As all three bullies left the fourth one to his impending doom, the fourth realized that he must have messed up somehow and quickly followed behind them, leaving Timothy to help the nerdy looking teenager. "You do not have to thank me, but if you want to in the future, you are going to have to work hard to become stronger since there is no room for just those who want to be a follower to me." Timothy told him as he helped the other student up before thinking about something.

"It would not be right if I just left you here in case those bullies try to come back and threaten you. Let me escort you to the destination you originally had so that I at least can verify your safety." The nerdy teenager with a shy look only nodded his head towards Timothy before walking towards a different direction. After two minutes had passed, Timothy still had no idea where the nerdy student's destination was and he had started to become more curious.

"Actually I was about to be kicked out of the academy last year since I have been a rank two mage for over three years now with no sign of increasing my strength no matter how hard I worked at it and even taking three small sized mana stones as a gift from the academy to try to help me breakthrough. At that time, I came across the teacher responsible for overseeing the workshop and it turns out that I actually have what it takes to walk the path of a blacksmith. And so with the teacher's help, I have been able to remain on campus and not go through the embarrassment of being kicked out since I do not come from a very well off family like others."

"I think the coolest thing about being a blacksmith path student here in the Grey Imperial Academy, is that every piece of material is free to use and if I am able to complete a creation, it would be sold directly to the military which would pay for the overall cost concerning the materials used to make said creation. Sure, in a way unless I increase my level as a blacksmith I could be considered at best an indentured servant of the Grey Imperial Academy, but in one or two years from now if it even takes that long, I will be able to earn a small living and will be able to afford to transition into working directly for the military as a contractor."

Timothy since even in his previous world had a soft spot for blacksmiths because if it were not for the soldiers under him receiving new armor and weapons from every blacksmith who worked tirelessly with very little sleep, there would have been no way for them to have made the progress that they had made even after spending decades during his time fighting back against the demons. Since he respected the blacksmiths so much, Timothy even as a war hero would regularly eat a meal while watching some of them work since he brought a small traveling unit of blacksmiths with him in order to guarantee a certain level of armor and weapons were maintained during his long campaign as a general.

Upon entering into the workshop which was at least more than double the size of the building where he lived in, Timothy saw an endless amount of workstations with countless items and materials stacked all across the walls and rooms. There were at least six different rooms from what he could see, and they were all the size of half of the building he was living in even though on the outside the workshop looked to be much smaller. In other words, Timothy was left almost speechless as he followed the student to meet with his instructor.