Aric decided to be at the city for two to three more months before leaving. The journey from the Echorysia to the capital of Vallin was a bit time consuming so there was no rush anyways. He still had time and would use these months to convert as much gold as possible. Because once he was in an empire, the use of his gold would stop and he would have to rely on his 'talents' to get by.
But if his powers allowed him to hop into different planets too, then maybe his use of gold would remain the same. Only time would tell about that part. At the moment he would just let his manga grow slowly before he would decide on cashing out.
The tickets were already booked at a luxurious and highly secured cruise. Luxurious because he wanted to have a pleasant journey and secured because at the moment they were in no man's land and so there were space pirates too that lurk around, mostly outside of the empire but even inside of an empire there were chances of being ambushed by space pirates and have their belonging stolen.
Aric didn't want a typical story where he would have to confront the pirates and act heroic. He just needed to get to his destination safely without any hitch. Thus he chose the safest route even though it burnt a hole in his pocket.
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It was early 2008, so there were many things that were not available in the Internet at the moment. But he could slowly make an empire for himself in this world at the moment.
"Mira, is the software I wanted you to make ready?" Aric asked after he was back at home.
"It was finished days ago, it was only you who was stalling." Mira replied.
"I wasn't sure about the future but now I am." Aric got embarrassed for being the forgetful guy that he was.
"I will launch the software to the internet but would limit the number of downloads and also push the software in such a way that major companies would take a look at your software." Mira said. This got the approval of Aric and it didn't take long for Mira to work her magic and upload the software into various websites of the internet.
She made it free to download but gave a validity of a year. Which was more than enough because Aric was 100% sure that in a few months major companies would take a look at his software and then he could slowly build his empire from there.
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Aric also needed to open a bank account and Mira had told him that Citibank had actually launched a scheme to make an account that could transact internationally for minors. He only needed the consent of his father and a branch of the bank was located at the town.
He decided to show up at the branch the next day after school and he already had all the documents to boot for. The next day when he showed up to school, from the corner of his eye he noticed that Ishaan, who had always been sitting beside for the past year or so had moved his place. This made Aric sigh in relief.
Having this chirp-master sitting beside him was a headache for a long time. Now he would get his peace. Another boy sat as his replacement as the number of seats were limited to begin with and thankfully the new one was of the silent kind. The new boy looked quite happy to be sitting with the topper of the class but he didn't outright display it but Aric could tell the subtle hint of joy in his eyes.
These students were too fixated in grades at this age. After a few years these grades wouldn't really matter. Aric could only sigh at it. The class went on as usual and soon the recess arrived. Ishaan wasn't the only friend of his to whom he talked to. Though he wouldn't outright label them as friends, at best acquaintances, but that was enough for him to talk with them for a bit and act normal.
He could see that his parents were worried about his introvert behavior so he needed to act normal and not raise more red flags at home. Once the recess had ended and Aric came back to his seat, Mira spoke.
"Your book had been touched and has moved a bit."
"What? What does this Ishaan want again?" Aric was furious as he thought that guy had pulled another 'prank' on him. But Mira said.
"You have been close to the class and from my sensors I can tell you that Ishaan didn't enter the class during this time so you can be assured that it wasn't Ishaan."
"Then who was it?" Aric was getting annoyed by this point. He wanted to finish school as fast as possible and be a nobody but some people were hell bent on annoying him. He picked up his book only to see a small folded piece of paper sliding down the slanted bench and fall down.
This made Aric squint his eyes. He proceeded to open the piece of paper after picking it up and he was stunned by what he saw. The piece of paper had many words written on it but he didn't expect those words even in his lifetime.
"Wooo.. Aric has an admirer .... Woooo.. Someone has a crush on Aric."
"SHUT UP!" Aric screamed in is mind. It was good that Mira could interpret his thoughts without needing to talk, or else the whole class would have received an earful of the expletives that Aric had in his mind of Mira.
"Hahaha.. The great Mr. Aric More, has moments where he is flustered. That face of yours is enough to be framed on the wall." Mira continued. At this point Aric just ignored her and just read the 'confession of love' that Aric had received.