Chapter 4: Adoption

Eric was increasingly fond of this girl who resembled Teacher Aileen in both appearance and name. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "You can call me 'Eric'!"

"Eric..." Tan Ailing, somewhat surprised by her savior's age, subconsciously repeated the keyword from Eric's words.

Although it was just a soft utterance of two syllables, it was like thunder in Eric's ears.

Four hundred years had passed since anyone had called me that since Teacher Aileen passed away! How nostalgic...

"Are you Chinese?"

Lost in memories, Eric didn't hear Tan Ailing's question. He just nodded instinctively.

Perhaps it was because of the debt of gratitude, Tan Ailing, who was usually aloof, took the initiative to start a conversation: "Your name sounds quite Westernized. Are you from a minority group or mixed race?"

Eric hesitated and said, "I think I'm from a minority group." I guess this isn't considered a lie. After all, there's only one Celestia person on Earth, so we're as rare as they come!

"Poof!" Tan Ailing laughed. She found it strange that her usual guardedness didn't work at all in front of this cute boy dressed unusually.

However, Tan Ailing liked this relaxed and burden-free way of interacting, so she didn't delve further, just smiled faintly and asked, "What do you mean by 'I think'? Even if you're not sure, haven't your parents told you?"

"I'm an abandoned baby. I've never seen my biological parents!" Eric said calmly.

"Eric, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay. I don't mind!" Although curious about Eric's calm expression, Tan Ailing didn't intend to continue probing on this sensitive topic. Instead, she asked with a regretful expression, "Then who is your guardian? Is it an orphanage?"

Eric shook his head and said, "I was raised by my teacher!"

This immediately reminded Tan Ailing of the superb skills her little benefactor had displayed against the enemy without a sound. She naturally assumed that Eric's teacher, who raised him, was a recluse with extraordinary skills. As a bit of a martial arts enthusiast herself, she immediately asked, "Where is your teacher now? Can I meet him?"

"My teacher has passed away..." Some things cannot be diluted by time. For four hundred years, whenever Eric thought of or mentioned Teacher Aileen's death, he couldn't help but feel sad.

Seeing Eric's gloomy expression, Tan Ailing suddenly felt a pang of heartache. She felt very regretful for hurting this cute little benefactor. But since things had come to this point, all she could do was say, "I'm sorry!"

"It's okay. After all, it's been four..." Eric didn't dare to say the word "hundred years," afraid of scaring Tan Ailing.

Tan Ailing naturally didn't know what words Eric had omitted, so she thought that the teacher of her little benefactor had passed away four years ago. Feeling sorry for the little benefactor, she asked, "After your teacher's death, how did you live?"

Still not fully recovered from his sadness, Eric said with a somewhat heavy tone, "What else could I do? Just get by on my own!"

"What? Did you live alone? You're still so young! Didn't the local government take care of you?" Tan Ailing asked angrily.

This somewhat stern tone finally caught Eric's attention, and he realized he had made a mistake. He could only use a big lie to cover up the small lie: "The government did take care of me. They helped me find a job so I could support myself."

Eric wasn't lying. After Aileen committed suicide, the senior figures of the Mage Association, feeling guilty, arranged for him, Aileen's only disciple, to work in the Mage Association. However, he couldn't tell Tan Ailing the truth and had to change a few keywords.

"What? The local government let you work as a child laborer?" Tan Ailing was furious. "The central government has repeatedly ordered that child labor is not allowed, but some self-righteous local tyrants dare to commit such crimes. Eric, tell sister, which government arranged your work? Sister will help you get justice!"

Although feeling a bit uncomfortable with Tan Ailing calling herself "sister," Eric was touched by her concern in her words. However, her anger also surprised Eric. He quickly waved his hand and said, "No need, no need, I haven't worked there for a long time!"

At this moment, a scene appeared in Tan Ailing's mind: On a quiet street late at night, a pale-faced young Eric looked around nervously. After making sure there was no one around, he quickly took out a can of spray paint from his pocket and, with lightning speed, sprayed several large characters on the wall—Fake IDs ××××××××. At this time, a patrol car drove by. Startled, little Eric ran away. In his haste, he stumbled and fell. Not only did he drop the spray paint, he also scraped his body. When he returned home, the tool-less little Eric not only had his dinner withheld by the heartless boss but also suffered a beating. The hunger in his belly and the pain in his body finally drove little Eric to flee the den...

Tan Ailing was heartbroken at her thoughts and murmured, "What happened to you later?"

"Later, I began to wander everywhere, while also diligently practicing the skills Teacher taught me. I almost picked up all the necessities of life..." After stealing six forbidden elemental magic spells from the Mage Association, Eric, to avoid being arrested, dared not show himself and could only hide alone in one of the world's four dangerous places, the "Monster Beast Forest," studying the Magic Crystals needed for magic and some essential living items, most of which were scavenged from the bodies of adventurers.

Tan Ailing naturally didn't know about Eric's past. In her mind, there was another scene: under the scorching sun, in a garbage dump full of mosquitoes and flies, little Eric, covered in dirt, searched. After a long time, little Eric finally found a half-dirty bun. He happily ran to the river and ate it by the river water...

Although Tan Ailing was not an iceberg-like beauty, both she and her friends and family believed that her rationality outweighed her emotions. When people around her cried over certain plots or news, she often didn't feel anything special. But this time, she was moved to tears by the imaginary ordeal of little Eric she had created.

Tan Ailing didn't understand why this was happening, and she didn't want to understand. Yielding to the call of her turbulent mind, she hugged Eric and murmured, "Little Eric, my dear brother, you've suffered..."

At this moment, Eric, a man of over four hundred years old, couldn't control his emotions either. In a trance, he returned to his childhood. Every time he exceeded the study plan set by Aileen, Aileen would hug him like this and say tenderly, "Little Eric, my good disciple, don't overwork yourself..." And every time, Eric would complain like a spoiled child about the difficult-to-remember magic spells and tedious meditation, because that would earn him even more love from Aileen.

Now being hugged by Tan Ailing like this, the feelings and habits he had only been able to relive in dreams for four hundred years returned involuntarily, and Eric couldn't help but say, "Yes, it was tough back then! There was almost constant danger..."

Back then, Eric was just a high-level mage, so naturally, life was difficult in the "Monster Beast Forest," one of the world's four dangerous places, where he could be killed by high-level magical beasts at any time. However, Tan Ailing didn't know this. She thought the danger little Eric was referring to was being bullied by other beggars or being bitten by dogs.

Tan Ailing was too sad to speak, so she could only stroke Eric's dark and soft long hair over and over again.

Enjoying this long-lost warmth, Eric continued, "Later, when my abilities improved, I wasn't afraid of danger anymore. If I lacked anything, I would just take it by force. But later, I was still caught by someone..."

As a police officer, Tan Ailing unexpectedly ignored the criminal behavior and was extremely nervous about the criminal in front of her. "What? Did those who caught you beat you?"

Eric shook his head and said with a bleak expression, "Although they didn't beat me, they drove me out and never allowed me to return!"

"Nonsense!" Tan Ailing felt injustice for her little Eric. "They don't have the right to do that! Little Eric, don't worry. If you want to go back, your sister will accompany you. I want to see who dares to stop us!"

Eric shook his head and didn't speak because he knew he could never return to Celestia no matter what! Although exploring a new world was his biggest dream, whenever he thought of leaving Celestia, where he had lived for hundreds of years and which held so many memories, he couldn't help but feel a little sad.

Looking at the half-grown boy in front of her who had lived alone since he was sixteen, Tan Ailing inexplicably felt an impulse to take care of him and blurted out, "Little Eric, come live with sister in the future. Sister will adopt you!"