《The Misfits School of Magic》 Prologue Have you ever been absolutely sure I that you were about to die? Well, that¡¯s where you¡¯re finding me right now. Here I stood staring down a massive cyclops. I¡¯ll also mention this particular cyclops was furious at me. He gripped his club just as hard as I gripped my wand. It was clear he was hell bent on smashing me into a thick paste right where I stood. It was only a few moments earlier that I¡¯d done the most idiotic thing. The most idiotic thing i¡¯d done today, I mean. I¡¯d been doing a series of idiotic things recently. It started with accepting an invitation to play a game from a sketchy old man and it had now culminated with me allowing myself into an arena with a cyclops I¡¯d insulted armed only with a wand and not a single offensive spell in my repertoire. ¡°Uhhh Nice cyclops¡­ Please no smashy. I¡¯m sorry for what I said about your smell.¡± I said meekly, my hands up defensively. The creature started a low growl from somewhere deep in its throat. It began to pace around the edge of the arena. ¡°I¡¯m going to suck the marrow from your bones, young Magi.¡± The Cyclops said bearing it¡¯s decaying yellow teeth at me. I was honestly surprised it spoke back with such a clear sentence. I turned to face the man standing behind me. The Teacher that invited me. He rested himself up against the bars of the gate, lounging and looking unfazed. ¡°What the hell is marrow? Do I need that?¡± I whispered to him. He smirked back at me and shrugged. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll find out.¡± He said back. ¡°What would I do? I haven¡¯t learned a single spell!¡± I pleaded. ¡°Just wing it. I¡¯ve been doing it for years.¡± He said. I stared back at him in disbelief. ¡°You told me you were a teacher here.¡± I said. ¡°I never said I teach magic. Just that I was a teacher at a school for magic.¡± He shrugged sheepishly. My anger was beginning to boil. ¡°So what do you teach?!¡± I said. The whole time I was making sure I kept one eye on the cyclops if he made a move. He was still pacing and it looked like he might even be amused by my bickering. ¡°Literature.¡± ¡°BOOKS?¡± I yelled. ¡°What am I meant to do? Read him a poem?¡± I saw the swing of the club out of the corner of my eye and ducked. I felt the wind rush past me as it narrowly missed decapitating me. I rolled away and took up fighting stance. My wand was raised pointing at the cyclops. I was secretly hoping they hadn¡¯t heard I didn¡¯t know how to use it. It looked back at me and smiled. ¡°Well, It looks like you do have some fight in you! Good.¡± It stood in a ready stance, club raised like a he was a baseballer up to bat. ¡°Cast your pathetic spells. I¡¯m ready.¡± I looked at my wand in my hand and then quickly at the teacher. He gave me a thumbs up sign and I narrowed my eyes at him in mild disgust. I decided something in that moment. I was going to absolutely throttle that man if I made it out of here.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Okay. I can do this. I¡¯ve seen the others before me use their wands. It can¡¯t be that hard. ¡°Just wing it¡­¡± I said. Screw it, I¡¯ve got no better ideas. I thought about the spell I wanted. Visualized myself casting it. I felt something warm welling within me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on that warmth and felt it move along my chest and down my arm. It moved to my palm and fingers that touched my wand. Then, with a swift flick of my wrist, I released it. A bolt of blue fire erupted from the tip and shot quickly at the cyclops. It also caused the wand to superheat and I dropped it as it scorched the skin on my hand. The act of me dropping the wand caused it to shoot off course. Instead of hitting the cyclops square in the chest it went wide and hit the wall beside his head. I shook off my burnt hand. I could feel it throbbing with pain. I quickly scrambled and reached down to test the heat of the wand. I was a bit confused why a wooden wand had burnt my hand like a hot metal pan handle, but I needed this if I wanted to have any chance to survive. I had to grab it and quickly tumble forward in a roll as the Cyclops swung again. I felt that rush of wind pass dangerously close again. The force behind that must have been incredible to push that much wind around. His club collided with the wall and got stuck about a foot deep. The cyclops grunted as he pulled on it and it didn¡¯t come out immediately. He tugged again even harder and it finally came free. A plan began to form a little. If I could get this just right, I might have a small sliver of a chance. I turned and ran for the opposite side of the arena. I slid in the sand and turned around with my back pressed to the wall. ¡°Hey Big fella! Come do your worst! Can¡¯t be nastier than your breath!¡± I yelled at him. The Cyclops turned and I couldn¡¯t see a smirk on anymore. His face was a shade of deep purple and scrunched up with fury. He snorted and kicked sand behind him like a raging bull. Then he lived up to the likeness and ran at me with his club trailing behind him. It used the momentum to swing it¡¯s club hard and with a split second left before it connected I dropped down. I felt the heavy thud of the club embedding itself deeply into the wall. This was exactly what I had hoped for. The cyclops tugged with both arms trying to free the weapon, but it wouldn¡¯t budge. I didn¡¯t wait for him to pull a second time. I was already moving as fast as I could. I quickly jumped up and landed on his bulky arm. It was about the size and thickness of old oak tree. I ran along it and felt that warmth again moving down my wand arm. I reached the cyclops shoulder intending to jump onto it¡¯s head. I pivoted as one of it¡¯s meaty hands swung to try and swat me. Instead of landing on the back of it¡¯s head I was now on the front. I didn¡¯t waste a moment. I punched my wand directly into the bulbous yellow eye of the cyclops with a squelch and released another bolt of fire from it. The creature¡¯s head exploded and I was flung backward landing in the sand below. All the wind was knocked out of me and I saw black spots floating in my vision. I was also keenly aware that I was covered in cyclops gore. I slowly sat up. I could hear the murmuring of the crowd of students now. I¡¯d been mostly ignoring their presence during the battle with the creature. I turned to face the gate which was now opened and the teacher was making their way in cautiously. He took a moment and paused to kick the body. It didn¡¯t react and he seemed satisfied with that outcome enough to fully move inside. He kneeled down to eye level with and placed a gloved hand on my shoulder. He smiled and this would be the moment where he might say something something witty or profound to cap off the moment. Instead, I punched him in his perfectly square jaw. He sprawled into a heap and I could hear the audible gasp from the students. I thought I heard one of them laugh, a small high pitched giggle. I stood and rested my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. This was definitely not what I had signed up for. I, August Adams, was in for a hell of a first year of magic school. Chapter 1 - One Week Earlier Let me start by saying, I absolutely hated my situation in the normal world before I accepted that invitation to a magic school from a shady man saying he was a wizard. Also to be completely fair, he¡¯d just saved my life. I was 19 years old, working a job I hated, living on my best friend¡¯s couch in a city I could barely afford. My parents, rest their souls, were great to me. They supported me most of my life and but when they passed away they left me nothing. In fact, worse than that. They left me with their debts. At 17 I had to leave school and focus on making enough money to avoid unpleasant visits from loan sharks. I¡¯d taken up the tried and true method, scamming the shit out of people with more money than sense. To save as money as possible my best friend, Cooper and I had piled into a single bedroom apartment uptown. She and I were a great team. Our best racket was 3 card monty. We¡¯d take turns being the dealer and the other would come in and show the game could be won to sucker in potential marks. Most people think there¡¯s a bit of luck at play and they¡¯d win by chance. The reality is if you¡¯re playing against a really talented dealer, you actually don¡¯t stand a chance. Cooper and I never lost unless on purpose. Sorry, let me get back to the day I met my first wizard. I was riding the final train home after a late shift at work. I had my headphones on looking like I was listening to a podcast. I was doing that on purpose. I was actually waiting for something to happen. The only other person in the train car was a homeless looking man. I was looking down at my phone attempting to not make eye contact with him. Now, do you ever have that moment where you look up at someone and for some reason they¡¯re staring at you too. It¡¯s awkward right? This homeless man hadn¡¯t taken his eyes off me and we¡¯d shared that awkward moment at least 3 times now. He looked like he was definitely on something and I was way too tired to deal with it. That didn¡¯t stop them. The homeless man stood and moved to sit next to me. He stared directly at me. I could see the grim beneath his fingernails, smell the alcohol on his breath and what looked like crumbs in beard. He tapped my knee with his gnarled finger. I tried to shift away and ignore him, but he persisted. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t have any money man. I¡¯m just trying to get home for the night.¡± I said sheepishly and trying to force a smile. ¡°No money.¡± The Vagrant said. ¡°Just a little game.¡± He reached behind him and swung a small table out infront of him. It hung around his neck like one of those people who sold food at a football game. He placed three white playing cards down. This was the moment I¡¯d been waiting for. I tried to hide my smile. He flipped each one up revealing that two were pure white cards and one had a solid black side. ¡°All you need to do is follow the shadow.¡± He tapped the black card. ¡°Find him and reveal him three times in a row and you win.¡± ¡°Those are the rules? Just flip over the card with the black side three times and I win?¡± He smiled, ¡°Of course. I¡¯m a man bound to my word.¡± Then he flipped them over and shuffled them. I followed the card with my eyes. He stopped after about 30 seconds of shuffling. ¡°Where is the shadow?¡± He asked. I leaned forward getting really close to his face to look him in the eye. ¡°Is this a trick so you can distract me and steal my wallet? Because I really don¡¯t have the patience for this right now. I¡¯d rather you just mug me without the theatrics.¡± I said sighing. ¡°JUST PICK!¡± The Vagrant yelled louder than I expected. I jolted in my seat. ¡°Okay, okay. Chill.¡± I said. I reluctantly tapped the card on the right. ¡°This one?¡± He flipped it showing the black card. ¡°Well done.¡± He smiled with a gap tooth smile. ¡°Now, a little faster.¡± He flipped it over and shuffled again. It was definitely harder for me to follow, but I tapped the left card and found the black card again.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Very good.¡± He flipped the cards again. ¡°But, now¡¯s the real test.¡± He removed the the left card. ¡°A real test of luck.¡± He began to shuffle the two cards unbelievably fast. Faster than any card shark I¡¯d seen in the city. Honestly, if I was following the cars by eye I would have had no idea where the black card was. But luckily I didn¡¯t need to. This had gone exactly like I¡¯d wanted. ¡°Where¡¯s the shadow?¡± He asked. I reached down and tapped the card in the middle. He caught my hand after I did. I looked at him. Did he know? ¡°Are you sure?¡± He said. ¡°You can only choose one.¡± I peeled my hand from his grip. I tapped the right card. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± He looked down. There laying on the table was the black card. Slowly he looked up at me. His eyes were unbelievably wide and a smile began to creep along his face. I saw his yellowed teeth peaking out beneath his matted gray beard. ¡°Was that just luck?¡± He asked. I tried to lean down and touch the other card, but he flipped it over before I could touch it. This revealed another black card. I sucked in a breath. Had he noticed the switch? He looked at me and his face with contorted with anger. I was about to speak and try and apologize. And then he laughed. He laughed loudly and for a good minute or so straight. He laughed so hard he was out of breath we he began to speak again. ¡°Well played. Very well played indeed!¡± He clapped me on the shoulder. ¡°You understood the first lesson. Luck is what you make it.¡± I was confused, he wasn¡¯t mad that I had cheated? ¡°And the second lesson too, always clarify the rules.¡± He chuckled again. ¡°Show me, show me how you did it.¡± He made eye contact with me and his eyes were sparkingling with joy. I could see the tell tale sign of wrinkles at the edges of his eyes from years of smiling. This cemented this for me. This guy is absolutely crazy. ¡°Go on, you won by sticking to the rules. You¡¯ll still get your prize!¡± He prodded me playfully and placed the two black card back down. He was practically giddy. ¡°It¡¯s not that impressive. I just switched it and palmed it when I distracted you in the first round asking if you were mugging me.¡± I did a small flourish with my right hand and produced the white card I¡¯d had palmed from the first round. It was then that I noticed it wasn¡¯t the white card, it was the black one. ¡°What the?¡± I looked at it slack jawed. The Vagrant smiled and flipped the cards back over and they were both white again. I looked at him and he continued to smile. ¡°When did you¡­?¡± He giggled. ¡°A Magician never reveals his secret.¡± He made a gesture of him zipping his mouth closed. He was even better than I¡¯d been told. I laughed as well. ¡°So, my prize?¡± I asked. ¡°Ah yes of course.¡± He said and rummaged through his coat pockets. He pulled a hand out and showed me his palm. It contained a small dog biscuit in the shape of a bone. I picked it up cautiously. ¡°A biscuit? For¡­ me?¡± I asked. He chuckled again. ¡°No, no. For the dog.¡± He said matter of factly. He stood and patted me on the shoulder. This was not what I was promised. ¡°Really? This is it?¡± I said to myself as I sighed again. Maybe this wasn¡¯t the right guy? I forced a smile. ¡°Thanks¡­ But I don¡¯t have a dog.¡± I said. He didn¡¯t stop or look back at me. I realized I still had his black card. ¡°You forgot this!¡± I called after him. ¡°That¡¯s for you to keep.¡± He called back. ¡°A Keepsake of our meeting. Don¡¯t lose it. I¡¯m betting on you, August.¡± I stared down at it and spun the card over. It had changed again. The front was still black, but the back of it was a design that seemed to move and undulate. Wait. ¡°How did you know my name?!¡± I called. Vagrant didn¡¯t stop. He just walked out the door at the other end of the card chuckling and muttering to himself. I watched him as the door behind him closed and I was left alone in the car. I sat there holding the biscuit completely dumbfounded. I had no idea what had just happened. I sighed and pocketed the biscuit. I¡¯d throw it out later when I reached my stop. I examined the card again, but the back of it wasn¡¯t moving anymore. Was this some kind of optical illusion? I shook my head and pocketed that card too. I must have been exhausted. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text message to Cooper. ¡®Hey Coop, Just met ¡®The Vagrant¡¯. I beat him, but he gave me a dog biscuit. I thought you said the other guys that won got a huge wad of cash. What gives?¡¯ I hit send. I saw the three little dots pop up like she was typing a reply. She sent a single reply. An Emoji of a dog¡­ I was going to kill her when I got back to the apartment. I¡¯d needed that money to keep me above water and it was her information that I pointed towards to this being an easy score. I leaned back, queued up a bunch of music to relax and closed my eyes. It was a long ride home. Chapter 2 - The Second and Third Wizards A large jolt of the train that shook me awake. I guessed I¡¯d dozed off and quickly looked down to check the time on my phone. It had only been about 20 minutes, half the time of my journey back home. I noticed some more notifications from Cooper sending me some more replies. I tried to lean back and close my eyes and listen to the music. I was enjoying it for a good few minutes before suddenly it started to sound like digital noise. It was dropping in and out. I breathed out of my nose in frustration. The last thing I needed was my phone or my headphones breaking now. I couldn¡¯t afford a new one of either of those. I opened my eyes again and removed my earbuds just as the far door to the other car opened and a far too large figure pulled their way in. I dropped the wireless buds to the floor as I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing. It was an over six foot tall man in a trenchcoat and a bowler hat, but instead of a human head it had the face of a wolf with dark black fur. It sniffed the air and slammed the door behind it. It¡¯s shoulders were skimming the roof and it hunched it¡¯s neck forward. At the time I didn¡¯t know it, but this was the second wizard I¡¯d seen today. Yes, that homeless man was a real wizard. No, I won¡¯t explain that to you yet. We¡¯ll get there. Trust me. ¡°What the-¡± I began to say. Suddenly the wolf¡¯s head snapped to look directly at me, it¡¯s eyes burned like bright red coals. It began to snarl. It moved unnaturally fast as it dropped to all fours and was standing in front of me in a matter of seconds. I could feel it¡¯s hot breath on my face as it sniffed me all over. It smelled a bit sulfurous, like rotten eggs. It moved up to look at me in the eye. ¡°I smell it on you. Do not hide, Magi.¡± It said. Was this wolf man speaking clear english? My head was doing laps. Had I actually fallen asleep? No, this was all feeling a little too real. Had it called me a Magi? What the hell that? It sniffed me again and snarled. ¡°I smell something else. Putrid, but slightly sweet. He¡¯s been here too.¡± This time the wolf man was calling to someone behind him. I was petrified, but in my peripheral vision I spotted another figure. It was a handsome well dressed man in a dark green three piece suit. He strode into the train car with an ornate cane in one hand. He smiled as he saw the scene and walked casually over to me. Again, another wizard. A hat trick in one train ride. ¡°Can you calm down, professor?¡± He said. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing so well with your moderation.¡± His voice was thick with an upper class english accent.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°It¡¯s here. I know it. He¡¯s got it.¡± The Wolf man was frantically sniffing me. I remembered the words of the homeless man and shot a quick glance to where he slept. He was gone. I carefully reached down and pulled the biscuit out of my pocket and held it up in front of him. ¡°Is this what you¡¯re wanting?¡± I said. The Wolf man backed up and sat down like actual dog. I could know see a bushy tail protruding from his coat which was wagging furiously. His tongue began to lounge out and salvia dribbled out. The handsome man put his head in his hands clearly embarrassed. ¡°Gods¡­¡± He whispered. I moved the biscuit from side to side and watched the wolf man¡¯s eyes, which were more like smoldering embers now, followed and focused on my hand. ¡°Go get it!¡± I yelled as I threw the biscuit down the length of the car. The wolf man bounded down to the end excitedly and snatched it out of the air. I hear a crunching sound as it gobbled it down. Then it lay on it¡¯s back and began to rub it¡¯s back against the floor. Both the Handsome man and I watched the large over 6 foot fearsome creature as it writhed on the ground. Then when it became a little uncomfortable for the only sound in the room to be the sound of the wolf man sort of giggling there I turned to face the man. ¡°Can you tell me what just happened?¡± I asked him. He turned to me with a somewhat disgusted grin on his face. ¡°You just ruined my partner¡¯s perfect year of sobriety.¡± He said. I looked back to the wolf man and the reaction began to make sense. ¡°That was drugs?¡± I asked. ¡°For a hellhound, yes. For us it would have just given you the worst dreams of your life. Nasty things soul biscuits.¡± He said shaking his head. I felt sick. Had I just fed that thing a soul? ¡°Soul Biscuit? Soul like the music? Or¡­?¡± I asked dreading a response. ¡°Soul like human. A hellhound¡¯s favorite and for them, highly addictive. Like I said, Nasty.¡± He looked at me and seemed to assess me fully for the first time. ¡°They are incredibly rare too. Where did you get one?¡± I noticed he¡¯d placed both hands on his cane tightly. ¡°Uh¡­ Would you believe I won it in a magic trick with a homeless man?¡± I said sheepishly. He sighed and shook his head. ¡°Not again¡­ Did he give you a Black playing card or a White one?¡± He looked at me deadly seriously. ¡°Black.¡± I said as I produced the card showing it to the man. I was ready to jump out of the way if he swung with that cane of his. Instead he relaxed and smiled. ¡°Oh thank the gods.¡± He said. ¡°He¡¯s chosen another one, Dos!¡± He called to the Hellhound, Dos. Dos had stopped thrashing on the floor now and just lay on it¡¯s back staring at the ceiling. ¡°Is it going to be okay?¡± I asked. I really didn¡¯t want to be held responsible for whatever it was falling off the wagon. ¡°HE is going to be fine.¡± The handsome man corrected me. ¡°He¡¯s just going to need a few minutes. Which is fine.¡± He sat down and rested his hands on the top of his cane, which I could see looked like it was made of two snakes and a set of wings. I had feeling I¡¯d seen that somewhere before. He patted the seat next to him. ¡°It¡¯ll give us ample time to talk.¡± He said. ¡°My name is Professor Cyrus. How would you like to learn some real magic?¡± Chapter 3 - Due Date I¡¯ll skip the play by play of the conversation I had with Cyrus while Dos the Hellhound came down from his trip. I¡¯ll just give you the footnotes. The same footnotes I relayed to my roommate Cooper later that night when I got home.
  1. He was a professor that taught at a University for Magic.
  2. The man I had bested in 3 card monty was a mysterious figure in the magical community that appeared each year to test potential students.
  3. That black card was proof I¡¯d passed the first test to get in. The white card meant a fail.
  4. If I wanted to join all I had to do was meet them back on that train in exactly a week¡¯s time.
  5. Hellhounds like eating human souls like a addict.
  6. Oh, and the final thing, Magic is real.
Cooper sat on the bed, her eyes were wide. I stood there out of breath as I had just blabbered out the whole experience in the matter of less than 5 to 10 minutes. ¡°And what? Then they just left?!¡± She said. ¡°Yeah. Well. The Hellhound guy, Dos. He tried to bite me, but the professor guy told him off. I think he was still a little high.¡± ¡°From the Soul biscuit¡­¡± She reiterated. ¡°Yes. The dog biscuit containing a human soul.¡± I said. She continued to stare at me. ¡°Are you sure you didn¡¯t drop acid?¡± She finally said. ¡°Yes! You think I have spare money for drugs?¡± I yelled. ¡°This was the guy we¡¯d heard about giving out fortunes to anyone that beat him. I swear on my parents graves, I¡¯m not making this up, Coops.¡± I slammed the black playing card on the bed. She picked it up and flipped it over. She ran her fingers across the card. She looked back at me, her facial expression deadly serious. She knew that was the most extreme level of commitment. I never swore on on my parents unless I wasn¡¯t screwing around. ¡°Okay. I believe you saw what you saw.¡± She said handing me back the card. ¡°Buuuut?¡± I asked. ¡°But real magic, Auggy?¡± she said and I stood up frustrated. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be an explanation for it.¡± She continued. ¡°No one else who beat this guy we¡¯ve heard of got anything but a bunch of cash. Listen, maybe there was a gas leak? You said you were napping on the train, maybe you hadn¡¯t fully woken up? Like you were still partly dreaming. Maybe, that guy was just super hairy and that was like a special brownie you gave him?¡± She started to roll over and put her covers up around her. It was clear she was wrapping up the conversation. ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out in the morning, Augs. Just sleep on it for now.¡± I huffed and stomped into the kitchen, which was still the same small room, but the floor was tiled. I knew what I saw. Despite the absolutely lunacy of it being true, I knew it had to be. Something deep down inside told me it was. I spent the next week or so in a bit of a malise. I would go to work running 3 card monte with Cooper and working on various other scams in the background. Truthfully, my heart wasn¡¯t really in it. I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about that offer. I¡¯d done some research online, but I didn¡¯t find anything concrete that seemed to lend credibility to the offer. I found the original post in the chatroom I¡¯d heard about ¡®The Vagrant¡¯, a card shark that rides the late night train and gives you a lot of money if you win the game. The same night I¡¯d come home and posted my experience with winning was the same night I got banned from that same chatroom. I was so frustrated. That money was going to help me dig myself out from my family¡¯s debt. Finally the day of the invitation came. Cooper and I had spent the day together running monte. I was getting less and less focused as the time ticked away until the appointed time and she was beginning to notice. ¡°Shall we call it. It¡¯s nearly time for you to go to your invitation isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked me. We were packing up our stall and the plan was to move to our final location of the day. I was surprised. Cooper was just as broke as I was. She almost never gave up the chance to get some extra cash. ¡°What? No, We¡¯ve still got one more spot to hit today.¡± I said. ¡°Come on. You¡¯ve been somewhere else all day. You were so busy staring at the time earlier you nearly missed my last signal earlier.¡± She huffed. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a wad of cash in a clip and silver wristwatch that I¡¯d lifted from a business man in the crowd earlier. ¡°I still saw it didn¡¯t I?¡± I said. She still didn¡¯t look impressed. ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll focus. I promise.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She said reluctantly. We continued packing up our gear. ¡°Well, Well, Well. Fancy seeing you too here.¡± A gruff voice called out to us across the park. Both Cooper and I turned to see a group of three men walking towards us. I immediately felt the blood in my veins turn to ice.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Finnal, we were just leaving.¡± Cooper said hurrying to clear up. ¡°Come on guys, put your gear down and stay a while. I think I fancy a game or two, Yeah?¡± The man in middle, Finnal, called out. His two goons nodded. He was a good foot shorter than both of them. He moved over and took a seat on the bucket we used as a stool. ¡°We¡¯ll get your money, Finnal. I just need a couple days.¡± I said as I moved in front of Cooper. Finnal chuckled and licked his lips. ¡°See the thing is, situation¡¯s changed. You know, market conditions, cost of living and all that.¡± He said grinning at me baring his teeth. One of his front teeth was solid gold. ¡°Interest rate has gone up, buddy boy. And payments come due early.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not fair, I¡¯ve nearly paid you back in full. I¡¯ve never missed a payment.¡± I said pleading with him. ¡°This ain¡¯t a charity kid.¡± He said and nodded. Suddenly the goon on his right grabbed Cooper¡¯s back pack and began turning it upside down. I moved to intercept, but an arm clotheslined me sending me sprawling on to my back. I heard Cooper scream and dazed I tried to get up and saw the scene in front of me. One of the Goons had Cooper pinned to the ground and she trashed and tried to break free. The other gathered our earnings for the day from our bags and was handing it to Finnal who was sitting there just flipping through it and counting it. That same Goon quickly moved over to me and began patting me down and found the wad of cash, the watch and also the black card I¡¯d gotten from the Vagrant. I tried to get up, but the Goon put a foot on my chest. I could hear Cooper screaming. I turned my head to see if I could see here, but I couldn¡¯t. She needed my help. This was my fault they were here. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I saw through my watery eyes the goon handing my things to Finnal who had stood up now. He looked at them and then he took the Black Card. He paused for a bit to study it and then tried to throw it away. ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± I yelled and he stopped and looked down at me. I must have looked pathetic, tears in my eye and my face twisted with fury. He laughed and squatted down holding the card up in front of me dangling it in my face. ¡°What? Is this important to you? This card?¡± He said mockingly. He took the card and still laughing he tried to rip the card in half. He kept laughing, but the card didn¡¯t budge. His smile and laugh faltered a little and he tried a little harder to rip it. It didn¡¯t even flex or bend. He tried even harder and his face started to turn red. He huffed out frustrated when it stayed in tact. He turned to face the goon who had me pinned down. ¡°Rip this for me will you?¡± He said slightly out of breath. The Goon cocked an eyebrow and tentatively took the card. He too tried to rip the card and was met with the same resistance. ¡°Come on you big oaf. Tear that shit up.¡± Finnal egged him on. The Goon tried even harder and he couldn¡¯t make it budge. Fortunately for me this meant his focus lapsed and he wasn¡¯t putting all his weight on my chest anymore. I took that exact moment to react. I put all my strength into my arms and pushed the goon off me making him lose balance and he fell onto his back. I didn¡¯t wait for him to recover before I delivered a swift kick to his jaw knocking him unconscious. The Goon who had Cooper pinned down looked at me and his knocked out partner and Cooper took that moment to react as well. She delivered a swift kick to his balls and followed that up with a brutal headbutt to the front of his face shattering the goon¡¯s nose. Blood sprayed out across Cooper¡¯s face who managed to squirm out from under the hulking man as he writhed in pain. She too delivered a swift kick to the Goon¡¯s head and he collapsed into a heap on his front. She continued to kick him as he lay there and I left her to it instead turning to face Finnal. He was only just realizing what was happening fully, it had all happened in less than a few seconds that now the odds were not in his favor anymore. He reacted in a way that I didn¡¯t expect. He didn¡¯t run. I¡¯d expected him to lose his nerve without his backup but his face had twisted in one of amusement. ¡°Oh you¡¯re dead. You¡¯ve actually got some real stones to screw with me, kid.¡± He pulled out a switch blade and flicked it open. He then took a stance that made me chuckle. He clearly had seen one too many action films and was imitating a knife fighting stance he thought looked right. I tried to hide it my smile, but I Cooper didn¡¯t have that same level of decorum. Cooper laughed. ¡°Do you know who you¡¯ve messed with?¡± She said. ¡°Even I can tell you don¡¯t know how to use that thing. I¡¯m so over being stepped on by people like you.¡± She spat some blood on to the floor, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was her own or from the Goon with the broken nose. ¡°Just fuck him up, August.¡± Finnal took the first movement, but he¡¯d over extended his arm and his footing was terrible. I dodged my head to the side feeling the wind of the blade as it passed my ear. Then in a swift motion I grabbed Finnal¡¯s arm and bent it downward quickly. He screamed out in pain and dropped the switchblade. It hit the cobblestones below and I used my foot to kick it far away from us. Then without breaking momentum I swept his back leg out from under him and followed him down to the ground below. I felt his arm dislocate from his shoulder socket and I was sitting on his chest and pinning him down. He howled in pain. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to do this for years now.¡± I said and I absolutely laid into the man hammering him with my fists until Cooper had to pull me off him and his face was a bloody mess. ¡°That¡¯s enough! You¡¯re going to kill him.¡± She said and I hadn¡¯t noticed she was crying and shaking. The adrenaline had clearly begun to fade for us and the gravity of the situation began to dawn on me. I took Cooper in my arms and she started to weep. It was dark out in the park and the only sounds were her crying and the gurgling sound of Finnal as he coughed out blood from his lungs. I heard him whisper. ¡°When I tell the guys about this, you¡¯re dead and your bitch too.¡± I heard him say through a mouth of smashed teeth. Something in the back of my mind just snapped. I let go of Cooper who tried to grab on to me as I moved away. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s him or us, Cooper.¡± I said. She looked at me and she was terrified. I picked up the knife I¡¯d kicked away and gripped it tightly in my blood covered hand. I turned to head back to him, but I froze. There squatting over him was someone I didn¡¯t recognize. He wore a sharp tailored 3 piece black suit and I almost couldn¡¯t see him if the street lamp wasn¡¯t outlining him against the darkness. His features seem severe and sharp. I could see his nose was sharp and he adjusted a pair of glasses they slid down it as he looked downwards. He was looking down at Finnal who wasn¡¯t making anymore noises. I looked wide eyed at him and felt a sense of panic that Finnal had stopped breathing. Considering what I had just resolved to do, that feeling surprised me. The Vagrant looked over at me and smiled. He stood and straightened himself. He stood at around 7 foot. He spoke clearly to me. He said his voice measured and without inflection. ¡°Seems like you¡¯re in quite a pickle aren¡¯t you?¡± He looked directly at me. ¡°Shall we have a little talk?¡± Chapter 4 - A Deal ¡°What to do, what to do.¡± He began to pace around the scene as if he was pondering it. ¡°What are you planning to do with that I wonder?¡± He gestured towards the knife in my hand. I looked down and really thought about it. Was I really going to do this? ¡°I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± I said pathetically. It was the only response I could think of. ¡°We always have a choice, August.¡± He said. How did this man know my name? He moved to stand behind Cooper. I now realized she was frozen in place. Her face stricken with a mix of fear and anguish. I looked around and even in the darkness I could tell that time here was standing still. Finnal hadn¡¯t stopped breathing, but was frozen in place too. ¡°Do you think she would want this?¡± He moved faster than I could track and was now standing behind me looming over my shoulder and speaking into my ear. ¡°Would your parents?¡± I spun on him, but he wasn¡¯t standing there anymore. ¡°Tsk tsk. Are you just going to disappoint everyone again?¡± He spoke and I turned around again. He was standing in front of me. He stood with two arms up. I hadn¡¯t noticed it until now, but he actually had four arms. Two extra ones were tucked behind his back as he stood there. He was holding a white card in one hand and as he deftly flipped it I could see a symbol of the knife on it. The other hand held the black card i¡¯d been given by The Vagrant. ¡°How did you-?¡± I said realizing I wasn¡¯t holding the knife any longer. ¡°You always have a choice.¡± He sat at on the bucket at our table, his long spindly legs looked ridiculous. He put the two cards face down on the table. He shuffled them and looked up at me. ¡°Chose to pick up the path of Brutality.¡± He tapped the card on the right. ¡°Or choose to trust me and you could live up to your potential.¡± He smiled and tapped the left card. ¡°If you choose the white card, your debt will be wiped clean. I can promise you that. You¡¯ll walk free from here. But the price you pay will be his blood.¡± He pointed his gnarled finger at Finnal laying there and then he pointed at Cooper, ¡°But you¡¯ll lose her.¡± I looked at Cooper still frozen in anguish. I felt my stomach drop. ¡°She¡¯ll be changed by this act. She¡¯ll understand why you did it, but your relationship will be forever altered. She may forgive you, but she¡¯ll never forget. It will haunt her until her final breath.¡± I swallowed hard. To finally be free of that debt was everything I wanted, but to lose Cooper to get there? ¡°And the Black card?¡± I asked. ¡°What happens with that?¡± ¡°This one is an opportunity.¡± He tapped the card emphasising it. ¡°An offer¡­ But you¡¯ll need to trust me. I promise we¡¯ll clear your debt here and make sure she¡¯s taken care of too. But just know you¡¯ll probably never see her again.¡± I felt a spike of fear at that. ¡°She¡¯s going to forget all about you as will the rest of the world. You¡¯ll become someone new and you¡¯ll be working exclusively for us.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. ¡°Us?¡± I asked. He smiled again. ¡°The Collective.¡± He said matter of factly. ¡°That¡­ Didn¡¯t explain anything.¡± I said. ¡°Get used to it. We¡¯re not exactly the most forthcoming group.¡± He said. ¡°And what would I be doing for The Collective?¡± I asked. ¡°Whatever we ask.¡± He said. ¡°And in turn. We make all of this disappear. That Includes your life here.¡± I sat there considering the offer for a second. ¡°And for how long?¡± I asked. He cocked his head clearly surprised by the question. ¡°Just trying to clarify the rules.¡± For the first time in our interaction he smiled slightly. ¡°I can see why he chose you.¡± He said almost under his breath. ¡°Once we achieve our goal, you¡¯ll be released from your service.¡± I attempted to open my mouth and ask another question, but he cut me off. ¡°No, I won¡¯t tell you what that is. I don¡¯t go about revealing our group¡¯s interests to someone I cannot yet trust.¡± ¡°And yet you¡¯re asking me to trust you?¡± I retorted. ¡°Yes. I could have let you have your way with this cretin, but instead I gave you a moment of pause and an offer of a better path.¡± He said, his smile had faded. ¡°Now. Choose a card, August.¡± I breathed in and out trying to calm my nerves. It definitely was a gamble. I reached down for the card on the left and he smiled again. ¡°A good choice.¡± The four armed man said. He handed me the Black card. ¡°You¡¯ll be needing this.¡± Another of his arms came out from behind his back and he looked at the wrist watch on it. ¡°We better hurry. You¡¯ve got a train to catch.¡± He reached into the inside pocket of his coat and produced a thin silver pointed rod. It looked like it had a handle and a carved design on it. He did a few swishs of it over his head and the two goons, Finnal and Cooper seemed to melt in the floor like they were made of black liquid and then they were gone as if they were never there. ¡°What did you do?¡± I said in shock. ¡°Cleaned up your mess.¡± He said continuing to swish the small rod around. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They¡¯ll wake up in their beds as if today never happened. They won¡¯t even remember you ever existed.¡± ¡°Is that a Wand?¡± I asked him about the rod in his hand. ¡°Yes.¡± He said, his tone making it clear he did not want to elaborate further. He leaned down and picked something small that glimmered and threw it to me. I caught it and realized it was Finnal¡¯s gold tooth. I considered it a moment. ¡°Keep it. As a reminder.¡± He said. I looked at him and I thought I could see a expression of pity briefly. It quickly disappeared and he stepped towards me. I pocketed the tooth. ¡°Now, I need you to think of everything you¡¯d need for a trip away.¡± I looked at him, confused. ¡°Just do it. You¡¯re already late.¡± I pictured my clothes and things I would need and he did another swish and suddenly a small suitcase appeared at my feet. ¡°Ah you travel light.¡± The four armed man remarked. ¡°Grab it and take my hand.¡± ¡°Which one?¡± I said and immediately regretted the snide remark. He shot me a look of pure fury and grabbed my shoulder. Then I felt the whole world lurch as shadows formed around us and suddenly we were standing at a subway platform. He released me my shoulder and looked at his watch again. I could hear the rumble of a train approaching and could see it¡¯s headlights down the tunnel to our immediate right. ¡°Good. We made it.¡± He placed my suitcase down. ¡°This is where I leave you.¡± ¡°What?¡± I said. I was feeling a little sick. ¡°Get on the train. Show the ticketer the card and ride it all the way to the end of the line. If there¡¯s anyone else on the train, try not to make too much small talk.¡± He stood above me, but moved in very close to my face and leaned down. Now that he was close I noticed his eyes were pitch black without any discernible pupils. ¡°And don¡¯t even try to talk about any of this.¡± He touched his finger to my lips and I briefly felt it burn me. I flinched back and rubbed at the skin but couldn¡¯t feel anything there. ¡°What did you¡­¡± I began to say as I turned back, but the four armed man was already gone. I stood alone at the station with just my suitcase. ¡°What the fuck just happened¡­¡± I said. Just as I did the train pulled up to the station and the doors slid open. I did the only sensible thing at that moment and I stepped inside. Chapter 5 - First Class I stepped onto the train just as the doors began to close. The car was thankfully empty and I collapsed into the seat closest to the door. I had a lot to process in that moment. I had to be honest with myself. Right up until the moment that time froze and the four arm man showed up I thought I might have been genuinely going insane. That morning when I woke up I¡¯d resigned myself to believing my subconscious had made that interaction with the two professors up. As some kind of way to escape the stress and anxiety of my daily life. Now, sitting here on my way to god knows where, I kind of wished that had been true. Had I really just taken a deal with a group calling themselves something as un-seriously as ¡°The Collective¡±. I laughed a little and let my head roll back as I breathed out. I let all the tension I was feeling wash away. I ran my hand through my hair staring at the ceiling. Well, I¡¯d really put myself in it now. I¡¯d made some bad decisions before, but maybe this might have been the biggest. ¡°Ticket please, sir.¡± A voice said. I made me jump in my seat and sit upright. Standing before me was something I never expected. Their body was human shaped and it had it¡¯s hand outstretched to take my ticket, but where I expected a human face I saw an orange tabby cat¡¯s face. He wore a conductor¡¯s hat and uniform. He spoke again. ¡°Do you have a ticket, sir?¡± ¡°Oh. Yes, sorry.¡± I pulled the Black playing card out of my pocket and showed it to him. His fur puffed out at the sight of it. ¡°Oh dear me. I¡¯m so sorry, Magi. You shouldn¡¯t be here in the common cars. Please, follow me to first class.¡± He said beginning to shuffle away to the end of the train car. I reached down to grab my suitcase. ¡°No, no. Someone will take care of that. Please.¡± He gestured to the door. He took out a key and instead of using it on the door between cars he put it in the wall next to it and it sank into a keyhole I hadn¡¯t noticed there before. As he turned it the outline of a brown door materialized and he pulled it open and it slid into place of the actual train car door. A symbol of a golden ¡®A¡¯ sat on the new wooden door. ¡°After you, Magi.¡± The tabby cat said. I approached the door and slid it open like normal, but instead of seeing the same kind of train car I stood in it revealed a what I could only describe as a really flashy speakeasy style bar. Polished wood and gold accents covered the walls here and expensive looking bottles of alcohol sat behind an ornately designed bar which housed and actual bartender behind it. He was in the middle of pouring a clear liquid from a mixing tin into a martini glass for an older man who lounged on a bar stool. I immediately recognized him as the man I¡¯d met on this train exactly a week ago. Professor Cyrus sat up straight as I walked in and waved me over. ¡°Good show, August! I knew you¡¯d make it on time. Fancy a drink before you make your way to your cabin?¡± ¡°Cabin?¡± I said, my eyes wide with surprise. ¡°I get my own cabin?¡± ¡°Of course. It¡¯s a long ride to campus. You¡¯ll need to get some sleep. Trust me.¡± Cyrus said. I sensed something more there to his words, but I was too tired to press him any further. ¡°So.¡± He handed me a menu. ¡°Drink?¡± I glanced at the list and didn¡¯t see any prices. I heard my father¡¯s voice echo in my head. If you have to ask, you probably can¡¯t afford. ¡°How much does it cost?¡± I asked through a slight grimace. ¡°It¡¯s free, of course.¡± He smiled. ¡°Anything your heart desires.¡± I looked across the list again. I noticed a common theme to it¡¯s setup and layout. Each of the lists of drinks was categorised as a poker hand. Full house was the boozy classics like negroni¡¯s and martini¡¯s, 2 of a kind had a lot set of shots, like lemon drops and a QF, which I noted didn¡¯t feel very ¡®first class¡¯ to me. Then it seemed like they may have run out of ideas and the non-alcoholics were under a category called ¡°Go fish.¡± I chuckled at that. A single thing jumped out at me near the final page under a section labelled as Joker with only one option called ¡°Dealer¡¯s Choice¡±. I thanked the tabby cat and sat down at the bar joining Cyrus who was now sipping a effervescent violet liquid from his martini glass. The bartender moved up to me quickly and placed a napkin in front of me. ¡°What can I get cha?¡± He said in an exaggerated version of a new york accent that I hoped for his sake wasn¡¯t real. He was also a cat creature, this time a mottled gray colour to his fur.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Dealer¡¯s Choice?¡± I said. The Bartender raised his brow and tilted his head slightly. ¡°Ya sure?¡± He asked. ¡°Why not?¡± I shrugged. ¡°A gambler, eh? I like the cut of your jib kid.¡± He said turning back to pull a bottle from behind the bar. It was covered in a thin layer of dust and didn¡¯t have a label. Then he presented a copper goblet to me placing it on the napkin and uncorked the bottle. As he poured the liquid it began to fizz. I tentatively sniffed it before taking a sip. It smelled like nothing. Like honestly, no smell at all. In fact it was more like it removed smell from the air just with its mere presence. I cautiously took a sip. Okay, I just have to cut in here to explain. I do not tolerate alcohol well. I remember the first time I took a sip of my dad¡¯s beer when I was a toddler. He wasn¡¯t paying attention and when he got up to go to the bathroom I grabbed the can and took a mighty swig. It came right back up as soon as it went down. From that point on any time I¡¯d drink even a drop of beer or alcohol I¡¯d have that same reaction. So it was really out of character for me to even attempt this sip. As soon as I did I realized this wasn¡¯t alcoholic at all. I immediately started to cry. Like full streaming of tears coming out of my eyes. Cyrus turned to me and looked shocked. He turned to the bartender who was bursting out laughing. ¡°What did you give the boy? Misery?¡± He yelled, furious. ¡°Naw. I gave him a bit of catharsis. I didn¡¯t know he needed a good cry now did I?¡± He said through his laugher. ¡°What the hell is catharsis?¡± I said in between sobs. ¡°It¡¯s a kind of relief. Usually a release of repressed emotions.¡± Cyrus pulled out his a rod similar to the one I¡¯d seen the four armed man wielding earlier. He went to use it, but the Bartending cat stepped up and stopped him. ¡°Hey, just give the kid time to let it all out. It¡¯s good for him.¡± The Bartender said. ¡°Tom. You can be one mean son of a bitch sometimes.¡± Cyrus said. ¡°Hey, I just pour em¡¯ like I seem em¡¯¡± His accent seemed to have changed to a southern accent now. Tom looked at me, his large yellow feline eyes studying me. ¡°Ya alright, kid?¡± ¡°Why did your accent change?¡± I asked, wiping the tears from my face. I did actually feel a lot better. Tom laughed and looked at Cyrus. ¡°I¡¯ll leave that one to you, Professor.¡± He said as he walked away from the two of us and receded into the back of the bar. Cyrus shook his head and cleared his throat. ¡°Listen, August. Things are going to be really weird for a while for you. Your body and your brain need to adjust to their new environment and that can take a minute. The accent on Tom there changing, that¡¯s a side effect of your mind trying to comprehend his speech. The train car does a good job of getting you most of the way there, but your brain still has to process it.¡± ¡°So, that bartender, he wasn¡¯t speaking english.¡± I asked confused. ¡°Ha. No, far from it. To be completely honest, neither am I, but your brain can figure me out because I look human enough. Tom and the ticket conductor are humanoid, but it¡¯s still a Cat talking to you, so it doesn¡¯t get it quite right. Don¡¯t worry, it takes a few days, but your brain can eventually roll with the punches as they come.¡± Cyrus said with a smile. ¡°Right¡­ Wait, you¡¯re not speaking english?¡± I asked. ¡°My boy, I¡¯m not even human.¡± He chuckled. ¡°So what are you?¡± I queried. ¡°That¡¯s a long story and one for another time.¡± He said. ¡°Trust me when I say you really should be getting some sleep. That will begin to clarify some things.¡± He stood up and walked down towards the end of the bar where there was another door. He opened it and a hall of more doors stretched out behind him. He turned back to face me. ¡°So all you need to do to access your cabin is place your black card on one of the doors that doesn¡¯t have a letter emblem on it. You¡¯ll hear a click, your initials will show up and then you can open the door to your personal cabin. Come on, give it a try.¡± He said as he beckoned me to follow him into the hall. We passed about 7 different lettered doors before we spotted one that seemed to be free. Cyrus stood next to it and urged me forward. I did exactly as he asked and I placed the card on the door. After a second the Letters for my name burnt into the door and I heard a click. I opened the door to find my suitcase sitting on the cot inside. There were no windows in the room and the cot took up half of the space of the room. It was already made up and set of pajamas sat folded up on the bed. Next to my suitcase sat a box that was wrapped in a silver bow. I looked at Cyrus who just smiled. ¡°An apology present from Professor Dos. Go on, open it. He won¡¯t mind.¡± He said nudging me. I moved into the cabin space and noticed the ceiling above was a swirling nebula of stars. I stared at it for a moment and Cyrus popped his head in to look. ¡°Oh, reminds me of those glow in the dark stars you¡¯d stick to the roof as a kid.¡± ¡°Yeah, but way better.¡± I said absentmindedly. I¡¯d always wanted them for my room as kid, but my parents were afraid they¡¯d mark the roof. We were always renting and never owned so that kind of stuff really mattered back then. ¡°You did that by the way.¡± Cyrus said nodding to the ceiling. ¡°The room reacts to your subconscious and adjusts. You¡¯ll have one just like it on campus. It¡¯ll be a little bit bigger though, I hope.¡± He smiled warmly at me. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ll leave you to it. I¡¯m just down the hall if you need anything. See you in the morning.¡± He moved out of the room and shut the door behind him leaving me alone. I moved the suitcase and the gift box off the cot and on to the floor so I could lay down. I stared at the stars above me and slowly but surely I allowed myself a moment to drift off into sleep. Chapter 6 - The Guide I didn¡¯t sleep. Instead I was blasted immediately with a bright blue light and I found myself floating in a endless sea of blue. I looked around trying to get my bearings of where I was, but it confused me even further when I did. I also noticed instead of seeing my own body I was looking more at an faint blue outline of myself and in the center of my chest inside my ribcage sat a small white flame that flickered and burned. I tried to touch it with my weird outlined hand, but my chest was still solid. ¡°Pft¡­ Humans. Always so curious.¡± I heard a voice remark. It seemed to emanate from all around me, but I could hear it clearly in my head as if it was my own voice. ¡°Who said that?¡± I asked into the void. ¡°I did, little Magi.¡± The voice said back. ¡°Just call me The Guide.¡± ¡°Okay, Guide. And where are we?¡± ¡°We¡¯re in your soul ocean. Not bad for a human actually.¡± The Guide said. ¡°My what ocean?¡± I asked. ¡°Soul Ocean. It¡¯s what dictates your magical potential. Yours is quite vast for your species, but not uncommonly so. The colour however, that is rare.¡± ¡°Blue? Most oceans are blue aren¡¯t they?¡± ¡°Yes, if made with water. This is made of your mana, young magi. It can be various colours. Blue isn¡¯t rare. Most magi who come to me haven¡¯t developed a shade yet. They mostly show up in a white or black room devoid of any shade. It¡¯s rare that you¡¯ve already developed one without any awareness. Curious. Hold on a second.¡± The Guide said. I felt the air around me begin to thrum. It felt like waves of bass from a speaker hitting me over and over. Then I saw a figure begin to form ahead of me. Another outline of a completely bald human. It mirrored my proportions and while I couldn¡¯t see any specific eyes I could see the figure had a mouth. It also lacked certain ¡®equipment¡¯ much like a mannequin does. ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± The Guide said, it¡¯s voice now coming from the figure in front of me. ¡°I find you humans prefer the one on one interaction over the omniscient godlike voice. So, shall we get started.¡± The Guide swiped it¡¯s hand up in the air in front of me and a semi opaque window appeared. It looked similar to an old school character window from a video game. In the corner was a picture of me from the shoulders up, followed by my name, age, height and weight. I began to read it, but a lot of the other sections were covered in a small lock symbol and blurred out so I couldn¡¯t see past to the information listed there. ¡°This is your information page. Think of it like your ID here in the magical world. I¡¯ve adapted it to something your people might understand better. Now, if you could pull out your card please?¡± The Guide said holding out their palm expectantly. ¡°Just think about pulling the card out of a pocket in your mind into your hand. Go on.¡± I thought about the card and sure enough suddenly it popped into my hand with an audible ping. ¡°Whoa. How?¡± I exclaimed nearly dropping the card out of surprise. ¡°It¡¯s magic. I¡¯ve taken control of your ocean for a moment to simulate the systems you¡¯ll be using out there in the quote unquote real world.¡± The Guide said using his outline fingers to make air quotes. ¡°I¡¯m here to run you through the basics, so pay attention. Just to let you know, right now we¡¯re not actually using the real objects, just manifestations of them using mana, but they are still connected to the real thing. So, let me just simplify it for you and say if something happens here in the ocean, it can also have an effect on magical objects. You included. That¡¯s really important to remember.¡± ¡°Okay¡­¡± I responded still a little awestruck. ¡°So, what you just accessed was what¡¯s called the inventory system. It¡¯s a sub-system of the whole system that runs things called ¡°The Quartermaster system?¡±. Don¡¯t piss them off or you¡¯ll regret it.¡± ¡°The System is alive?¡± I asked looking around the room. ¡°Yes. Magic is funny like that. It takes its own path most of the time. The Quartermaster was our way of applying rules and regulations to it, but over time it started to develop in unexpected ways.¡± ¡°Hold on, are you real? Are you part of the system?¡± I asked cautiously. ¡°I¡¯m not part of the system, but I am real. Or I was real at some point. That¡¯s not really important right now. Let¡¯s move on.¡± The Guide¡¯s face didn¡¯t have much in the way of an expression, but it was clear by it¡¯s tone this wasn¡¯t a subject it wanted to get into. It moved forward and swiped the ID window down and it disappeared into the black card I held. I felt a slight vibration on the card as it did. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll teach you how to navigate the system. Most of it involves using intention to focus on what you want. It¡¯s intuitive that way. Try bringing up the stat window yourself. Just swipe up while thinking of the window you¡¯d like to open and swipe down to close it.¡± The Guide said. I did as it said and the window appeared originating from the card in my hand. It hovered in place above the card and even moved in parallel with it in space as moved the card side to side. ¡°So, is the card where the system is? like installed on there? Like a computer¡¯s operating system?¡± I asked The Guide. ¡°Yes. You¡¯re half right. For an initiate magi like you, the card does the bulk of the work. It keeps track of things and filters it into this friendly user interface. It does all the calculations, keeps track of your stats and inventory without the need to do it yourself. Once you graduate, you should be able to design your own system that suits your needs. If you elect to do it, in your final year a large bulk of your class load is dedicated to designing a system. If it¡¯s good enough you can even license it out to a company. Most graduates either keep the using the Quartermaster system? with some minor tweaks here and there or they purchase a license to use another that suits whatever job they choose. Don¡¯t worry about that, it¡¯s years away for you. Here, let me show you your main tabs.¡± The Guide said. I nodded. It was beginning to make sense. The next 20 minutes The Guide went through explaining the basics of opening and closing different window tabs. After that crash course I was able to open and view my inventory, stats, and map windows. ¡°More features will unlock as you progress, but you¡¯ll have classes that teach you how to use those as they pop up. So, any questions about those before we move on?¡± The Guide asked. ¡°Just one. Does the inventory have any limitations?¡± I asked. The Guide smiled with it¡¯s transparent mouth. ¡°In terms of what can be put into the inventory? Yes and no. You can¡¯t put any liquids in there, but if they¡¯re in a sealed container it¡¯s possible. Food will still decay so don¡¯t leave an apple in your inventory and expect it to taste great a month later. You can earn or craft upgrades for that sort of thing, but they require discovery and I can¡¯t tell you the recipe. You¡¯re also limited by your carry capacity. You can overload yourself, but you¡¯ll become encumbered and move at much slower speed and won¡¯t be able to use a waypoint spell. That leads us nicely onto our next topic, Stats, Spells and Job Classes. Buckle up, there¡¯s a lot to cover.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯m ready.¡± I said. ¡°First of all, pull back up your main stat window. Focus on the locked section right below your basic personal information. We¡¯ll unlock that first.¡± The Guide said. I did as I was ordered and as I focused the lock giggled like I was trying to force it open. A second window popped up covering the first. - Feature locked. Prerequisite: Complete Basic User Interface lesson #1 ¡°It says it¡¯s locked until I complete another lesson.¡± I asked. ¡°One moment.¡± The Guide seemed to be using their hand to navigate some windows that I couldn¡¯t see. Suddenly the notification window disappeared and the lock clicked open unblurring the rest of the section which merged with the rest of the window. I quickly started reading the information. NAME: August Adams AGE: 19 HEIGHT: 173cm WEIGHT: 70kg These pieces of information remained the same, but it added the following info underneath. LVL: 01 JOB: Initiate Magi CURRENT STATS - HP - 125 MP - 10 Strength - 5 Intellect - 3 Awareness - 3 Endurance - 3 Dexterity - 7 (+2)Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Huh, why is my Dexterity sat so much higher? And what does that plus two come from?¡± I asked. I knew I was quick, but I didn¡¯t think it merited being my highest stat. ¡°Usually humans average at about 3 to 5 on each stat with a spike in one or two. The stats are based on a broad range of things. Dexterity for example covers your your actual dexterity in general. I can see a couple skills you have that you don¡¯t have access to that contribute to that. The number there is your total current stat. So that¡¯s the base plus any bonuses from skills or items. The current plus two in the brackets seems to be coming from a skill called, ¡®Sleight of Hand¡¯. It¡¯s already at level 2. That¡¯s impressive.¡± ¡°Skills?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll get there.¡± The Guide said waving me off the subject for now. ¡°Focus on the new information for now. I¡¯ll explain each stat. First your HP and MP. They stand for ¡®Heath Points¡¯ and ¡®Magic Points¡¯ respectively. Your Endurance will increase your HP along with another stat you can¡¯t currently see called SP, or Stamina Points. Most skills you¡¯ll pick up initially will consume your MP, however certain jobs you can pick up later will use skills that consume SP verses MP. These are usually more martial based job classes. So if you want to specialize into one of those you would focus on increasing your Endurance. Your MP is increased with your intellect stat. The stat also increases your reading and comprehension speed. Next is Strength, that one is pretty straight forward. The bigger the number the harder you hit. Like I mentioned before it also has an effect on your equipment and carry load. Dexterity is all about how well your body moves. The higher this stat is the faster you¡¯ll react and move. It also affects your body¡¯s flexibility.¡± ¡°My Flexibility?¡± I said suddenly intrigued. ¡°Yes, but don¡¯t expect you to suddenly become double jointed just because your DEX is high. It just means your joints would be less prone to injury. And you could probably do the splits without pulling a muscle.¡± ¡°Good to know. And what about awareness?¡± I asked. ¡°Awareness is largely what you might call a ¡®dump stat¡¯.¡± The Guide said. ¡°A dump stat?¡± ¡°Yes. Basically it¡¯s almost useless functionally for humans. Your senses are not able to take full advantage of it. The most you¡¯ll notice is that you can hear higher frequencies, differentiate different hues of a colour, levels of salt, acidity or sweetness in food and your sense of smell will be finer tuned. Trust me. That last one is not a blessing, but a curse.¡± ¡°So¡­ why is it even there? Why not a stat more useful?¡± ¡°The system wasn¡¯t created with humans in mind and it doesn¡¯t display all the stats that make you who you are. These are just the stats you can put your upgrades into when you level up. You¡¯ll get 3 points each level that you can allocate, except every 5th level when you¡¯ll receive 5 bonus stat points in a random stat or stats that¡¯s allocated for you. That¡¯s usually dictated by your job class at the time of that level up. When you take that job it will tell you so don¡¯t worry about it.¡± ¡°So, what does my current job do with my stats at level 5? Initiate Magi?¡± I probed. ¡°That¡¯s a starter Job. Most of your classmates will also start as that same class. For your first 5 levels you can¡¯t allocate your points. That¡¯s to avoid you making some silly mistakes and putting it all in Strength or Intellect. For those first 5 levels the Quartermaster will analyze you and usually at the fifth level your bonus stats will give you a hint to what the system thinks are the best stats for you. Your professors will cover jobs and how they work in one of your very first classes, so try not to worry about those just yet.¡± ¡°You said that most of my classmates will start as the same class? So some of them will be a different class?¡± ¡°Ah. You¡¯re observant aren¡¯t you? Yes. Some of your classmates will have an asterisk next to their Job title. That means they already have a Job that¡¯s be assigned based on pre-existing conditions, like being a different species, being under the effect of a curse or a family bloodline. There¡¯s a lot of factors that would cause that. Anytime there¡¯s an asterisk next to a word in the system pay attention. That means there¡¯s something additional you can discover. You may not always get the full picture when reading an item or skill description, but it¡¯ll give you a hint or rough idea of where to look for that secret. In recent years the Quartermaster has been¡­ creative with its descriptions on things. It used to just display everything about an item, but now these asterisks are popping up more and more. Here let me give you an example.¡± The Guide said as they waved their hand making the windows disappear. Suddenly two identical looking swords hovered in mid air about a meter away from me. ¡°Go ahead and focus on the sword on your right and think about wanting to examine it further.¡± The Guide said. I did as asked and a new window popped up hovering in space in front of the sword. - ITEM - Soldier¡¯s Standard Short Sword: +5 to Strength +2 to Endurance -1 to Intellect ~This sword once belonged to a soldier. ¡°Great. Now the other sword. But this time once the info window pops up, I want you to focus on the asterisk¡± The Guide said. I examined the other sword. It read exactly the same except for the asterisk. As I focused on it the view of the item changed slightly and further info displayed. - ITEM - Soldier¡¯s Standard Short Sword*: +5 to Strength +2 to Endurance -1 to Intellect ~This sword once belonged to an exemplary soldier who maintained it with absolute dedication. ¡°Do you see the difference?¡± The Guide said. ¡°Yeah, the description is slightly different.¡± I said. I moved closer to look at the weapons. ¡°Use that difference. It¡¯s a clue.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Can I touch them?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course, but be careful.¡± The Guide cautioned. ¡°Yeah, what happens in here can affect my real body right?¡± ¡°Exactly. You¡¯re a quick learner.¡± The Guide said and I thought I saw him moving his hands in a weird motion out of the corner of my eye as I examined the two swords. Was he typing? I picked up both swords holding one up in each of my outlined hands. While they had seemed identical at a glance now that I had them in my hand I noticed the one with the asterisk felt much better to hold. It¡¯s weight was slightly better and it¡¯s edge was far more honed. In fact the standard sword felt like it was in dire need of maintenance in comparison. I felt the item vibrate slightly and heard a audible ping sound in my head. A new window popped into my vision. - BONUS UNLOCKED - Soldier¡¯s Standard Short Sword: +5 to Strength +2 to Endurance -1 to Intellect ~This sword once belonged to an exemplary soldier who maintained it with absolute dedication. It¡¯s edge is honed to perfection and it feels more natural in the hand. +25% damage with all slashing based skills with this weapon. ¡°Wow! Even the item description changed.¡± I asked. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t the system just change the item name instead of putting that asterisk?¡± ¡°Your guess is as good as mine. But now that you¡¯ve revealed that bonus it¡¯ll stay active each and every time you look at the item. We call that ¡®Investigating¡¯. This one is a pretty simple investigation. Everything with 1 asterisk is usually pretty simple to unlock the bonus or reveal the hidden information. But eventually you might find items with 2 or 3 asterisks. Each one points to a different reveal and each asterisk will disappear once it¡¯s corresponding bonus is revealed. Anything with the scope of the Quartermaster¡¯s power to control can be assigned an asterisk and at the later levels you really want to prioritize options or items with an asterisk, even if their base stats or rewards aren¡¯t as good. The bonus is usually better overall.¡± ¡°So does that bonus display for everyone using the system?¡± I asked. ¡°No. If you give the item to anyone outside of your party, it will reset the item to it¡¯s base version. That person will need to investigate it from scratch.¡± ¡°My party?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a group you¡¯ll form later in the year, but we¡¯re getting off track.¡± The Guide said waving it¡¯s transparent hand dismissing all the windows. ¡°Finally, I¡¯ll teach you how to manage your equipment. Grab that sword again, the one with the revealed bonus.¡± The Guide said. I reached out and grabbed the sword. ¡°Now open up your main stat window.¡± I did and noticed nothing had changed. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t my strength, Endurance and Intellect have changed?¡± I asked. ¡°Ah ha. Again so observant. While you may be holding the sword, it¡¯s not equipped to you. There¡¯s a distinct difference. You can pick up any item and use it, like wands, swords, potions, bombs¡­¡± Bombs? I took note of that particular mention. ¡°¡­Armor, the list goes on. If it has a practical use, like a potion you can use it without the need to equip it first. Those are what we would call ¡®active¡¯ benefits. The plus values on the sword you see are what we¡¯d call ¡®passive¡¯ benefits and they only apply if an item is equipped.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ So what do I need to do to equip it?¡± I asked staring at the sword in my hand. ¡°For armor it¡¯s not that hard, just put it into your inventory and then from there you think about equipping it on the particular body part. It needs to be in that order for it to work correctly. Items like potions are the same, inventory first and then equip them in your quick slots, which you start with only having 5 basic slots. You can get items or skills that give extra slots for those later down the line.¡± The Guide said as it moved over to me. ¡°Weapons are a slightly different story. For most of them, you¡¯ll can only equip them in a safe zone. It¡¯ll be pretty clear when you¡¯re in one of those because when you try to equip the weapon outside of one, you¡¯ll receive a warning. It¡¯ll flash up over your whole vision. It¡¯s actually really annoying. There are a certain class of weapons you can equip outside of a safe zone, but only if you¡¯ve got the slot free. These have the identifier of off-hand in brackets under the name. As soon as you pick one up if your main hand slot is free or you have a skill or job that unlocks the off-hand slot, you¡¯ll equip it. So be careful to examine all weapons before you pick them up or put them straight into your inventory. Once you¡¯ve equipped a weapon you can unequip it at anytime and it¡¯ll land in your inventory. If you throw a weapon you have equipped it will still count as equipped unless you unequip it, but your passives won¡¯t work until you hold it again or it returns to your inventory. Make sense?¡± ¡°Mostly. So are we not currently in a safe zone?¡± I asked warily. ¡°Technically no, but it¡¯s an easy switch. I¡¯ll turn it on and you can try equipping.¡± The Guide made another hand movement and although nothing visually changed suddenly I heard the sound of a sword being sheathed. ¡°I think that worked. Does that sound change depending on what I equip?¡± I asked while quickly opening my stats window. The values had actually changed this time and I could definitely feel like I was a little bit stronger with that added strength and endurance. ¡°No. It¡¯s always the sword sound actually.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Weird.¡± I said. ¡°Maybe, when you¡¯re out in the physical world, don¡¯t say things like that out loud. The Quartermaster doesn¡¯t take criticism well.¡± The Guide said as it waved it¡¯s hand again. The sword disappeared and my stats returned to normal. ¡°Oh. Good to know. Soooo¡­ It can¡¯t hear us right now?¡± I looked around the blue void. ¡°No. Like I said, I¡¯m simulating the system here, it¡¯s not actually running yet. When you wake up I recommend acquiring your license as soon as you can. You want to get used to using the system by instinct. It won¡¯t come naturally for the first few days, but with repetition eventually you won¡¯t know how to live without it.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Can any of the functions work without the System?¡± I asked. The Guide tilted their head to one side and I could tell it was surprised by the question. I continued. I really wanted to know the answer. ¡°It¡¯s just you mentioned eventually we can create our own, right? And if I¡¯m thinking about this from everything you said, the system is there to help us use our innate magic, but in a specific framework and with restrictions and rules. Does that sound right?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯s basically correct.¡± The Guide said. ¡°So, we don¡¯t need the system then?¡± I finally said. The Guide smiled widely. ¡°I can see you¡¯re going to be trouble.¡± The Guide laughed. ¡°Yes. If you completely understood magic and it¡¯s use at a fundamental level, you wouldn¡¯t need it. But the system is there for students to learn and grow in a measured and manageable way. But let me be clear.¡± The Guide moved in close. ¡°Do not make the Quartermaster mad. Whatever you do. You don¡¯t want to test that. No matter how curious you might be, the consequences will be worse than the benefits. There¡¯s a reason you can¡¯t explore systems until your final year, August. Trust me on this one.¡± I wanted to ask more questions, but it felt like that was all I was going to get on the matter. ¡°Alright.¡± I said finally letting the subject drop. ¡°Good Boy.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Our time is nearly up here, so let¡¯s go through one final thing. Bring out your card again.¡± Chapter 7 - Ranked I mentally thought about pulling the card out and it appeared in my right hand. ¡°So I mentioned the colour of your soul ocean right?¡± The Guide asked. I nodded showing I understood. ¡°Okay, so this card, while also being what houses The Quartermaster System? it¡¯s also your ranking in the school.¡± The guide reached forward and swiped up on the card and several different copies of the card spun out of it. Each one was a different colour. They all lined up in a row from the black one I held to another at the end that shone in a solid gold. ¡°Your card will rank up as you complete classes and quests. It will rank up separate from your Job or Level. Each colour of card consists of 7 ranks, From the lowest rank of F to the final rank of S. Once you reach S rank on your current colour you¡¯ll be assigned an advancement exam by the Quartermaster. Different ranks offer different benefits and features. You¡¯ll discover them over time as you progress. Currently you¡¯ve not been assigned any rank. Your first task once you wake up, will be the entrance exam. How well you perform in that will determine your starter ranking. I¡¯m limited in what I can say about it, but I can give advice based on your personal situation. Don¡¯t hold back. You need to be aiming for any lettered Iron rank, that will give you access to your skill section. The professors will get the most influence to what rank you¡¯ll get, but after that it¡¯s up to the Quartermaster system¡¯s discretion. The higher you get your rank straight away the less exams you¡¯ll need from the Quartermaster, so aim high. Understand?¡± The Guide said in a serious tone. ¡°Got it.¡± I said. Honestly I wasn¡¯t planning on holding back much anyway. If The Guide was telling me to let loose, I was going to aim for the moon. ¡°Okay, there¡¯s one final thing I get to introduce to you now.¡± The Guide did another flourish with their hand and a small book appeared. ¡°So, this is me.¡± The Guide said as it reached out to hand me the book. ¡°What?¡± I was utterly confused. ¡°It¡¯s why I¡¯m called The Guide.¡± It laughed. ¡°When you wake up you¡¯ll find this book sitting somewhere nearby. That¡¯s how I was able to access your soul ocean and give you your first lesson. So make sure you keep me in your inventory.¡± I mentally examined the book before I picked it up. - ITEM - The Initiate Magi¡¯s Guidebook Vol #1*: (Off-Hand) ~This sentient guidebook provides all young magi with the basic starter knowledge needed to start their journey towards mastering the magical arts of arcana and wizardry. This tome of guidance, when equipped, gives the user extra tips and information about the magical world. Their main goal is to assist you in any way that it can.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. +1 to all stats +10% Spell Casting speed + Access to the Library of the Magi ¡°If you ever have any questions about anything you see during your studies you can equip me as a weapon and you can easily ask. You¡¯ll hear my voice as clear as day in your head. No one else will be able to hear my reply as an added bonus. I¡¯m also a special off-hand that you can equip in one of your quick slots and still receive the full benefits. I¡¯d recommend doing that as soon as you get system access.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Understood.¡± I nodded. ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s all I have to teach you at this point. You¡¯ll need to collect more volumes to learn more. Any questions?¡± The Guide said. ¡°I have one.¡± I said. ¡°Okay. Shoot.¡± The Guide said. ¡°Do you have a real name? You¡¯re clearly more than just some book to hand out to every student.¡± I said. The Guide smiled. ¡°What makes you believe that?¡± The Guide asked. ¡°Why would they go to the effort of setting all this up so we could talk? It would be a lot easier to read about this ourselves or have our professors run us through it.¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re right about that. But your reasoning is flawed a little.¡± The Guide said. ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°The biggest thing you¡¯ll learn about magic is it never takes the easy path. In your books and myths, magic might seem like the easy answer. It¡¯s powerful beyond measure, but it¡¯s also incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. The system, for all its flaws, creates situations that are designed to push you to be better and test your limits. Nothing here is easy. Everything has to be earned. Remember that in your darkest moments. And don¡¯t forget, you always have a choice, August.¡± The Guide said and it sent chills down my spine. Suddenly, I had another question. ¡°Have you ever heard of the Collective?¡± I asked. The Guide didn¡¯t respond right away and the silence was incredibly tense. I thought for a moment that it had stopped functioning as it hadn¡¯t moved in nearly a minute. Just as I was about to speak it moved close to me. ¡°Can¡¯t say I have. And I think it¡¯s better if you say the same.¡± The Guide finally said. The Guide then swiftly tapped the middle of my forehead and my eyes opened and I was staring at a view of the stars again suddenly awake. I rolled over and next to me on the pillow was the exact copy of the book I¡¯d just been holding. I could have sworn I heard a shushing sound coming from it, but when I went to flip it open I couldn¡¯t hear it anymore. I sat up and there was a knock at the door. I heard the muffled voice of Professor Cyrus from behind the door. ¡°Rise and shine everyone! I hope you had a restful sleep! Gather your things. We¡¯ll be arriving at the station in 20 minutes.¡± He yelled from in the hallway. ¡°Meet me in the Bar car when you¡¯re ready. There¡¯s breakfast prepared if you¡¯re hungry. See you in few.¡± I heard a door slide close as it sounded like Cyrus had left. I stood up and realized I was wearing the Pajamas on my bed somehow. I really hoped that was something magical. I noticed a new pile was sitting at the foot of my bed next to the wrapped up gift. It looked to be my new school uniform. It included a dark green blazer, waistcoat, black slacks, a white dress shirt and a green tie. I held them up and they looked to be perfectly sized for me. I could get used to all these little conveniences. I turned to the gift that was sitting on my bed. Cyrus had said it was an apology from the hellhound professor, Dos. I untied the bow and opened the box. Inside was small vial of a dark crimson red liquid and something I hadn¡¯t expected. A long metal rod with a handle, a wand. I smiled as I picked it up and gripped it in my dominant hand. ¡°Now we¡¯re talking.¡± Chapter 8 - First Impressions I joined the rest of the group on the train in the bar car after stowing away my things and putting my new uniform on. It felt quite light and airy even though the fabric seemed quite thick. It also seemed to have a fair amount of stretch to it beyond what I thought should be possible. I also noticed it had and extra pocket on the upper arm that housed a small window cut out that I didn¡¯t know the purpose for yet. It almost looked like it was sized for the black card. I would have to ask Cyrus about that later. As I poked my head into the car I immediately caught the scent of hot coffee. Thank god, I desperately needed that caffeine hit. I also noticed a couple more people here than when I came in last night. Tom, the bartender was there still standing behind the bar and Cyrus was also sitting in the same spot. He sipped from a small cup with a tag hanging out which I assumed my be some kind of tea, until he pulled the tag up to dunk in the cup and I saw it had a small red frog attached to it. I guess it could still be tea¡­ All tea really contained was hot water and something to brew and infuse flavor in it. I tired my best to ignore it as I looked at the others in the room. A taller figure sat next to him, Dos, the hellhound. Almost comically he held a even smaller cup and was dunking the same yellow frog. Next to them sat the first student I saw. He seemed to a boy around my same age and wore the same uniform as me. They were dunking their own frog into a cup, but they seemed far less eager than the two Professors. Behind them, sitting at a low table sat 2 more students. Both were female and each had a plate of what looked like a standard full english breakfast and a cup of black liquid that I hoped was just normal coffee. They each wore feminine version of the uniform that had a slightly different cut of blazer and a skirt and no waistcoat. The one that was facing me looked up and smiled. She was quite pretty. The other one turned their head to regard me and just cocked an eyebrow and looked back down at their plate. Further back sitting alone at their own table was another student, again female. She had a large thick glasses on and was buried deeply into a book which I noticed was a copy of ¡®The Guide¡¯. She looked up from the book, made eye contact with me as I walked inside and quickly shyed away returning to the book. I looked around doing the mental math. Last night there were several cabin¡¯s occupied and if we didn¡¯t count Tom the bartender that meant we were likely waiting on one more person to join us. I wondered if they would be a student or professor. I zeroed in on the source of the coffee smell and found a small beverage cart in the corner near the bookworm girl. I moved over there and picked up the pot and began to pour. ¡°That¡¯s not coffee.¡± A soft feminine voice said. I turned to see the girl¡¯s emerald green eyes peeking up from behind the book. Her brown fringe hung just above the frames of her glasses making it look like she was looking at me through a slot in the door. ¡°It smells a lot like it.¡± I said holding the cup of the black liquid to my nose. ¡°It¡¯ll taste like it too, but it¡¯s produced from a special breed of lizard.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s lizard water?¡± I said recoiling from the cup. ¡°It¡¯s their saliva to be specific.¡± She started to ramble out an explanation. ¡°It¡¯s called a Hopp¡¯s Lizard. Usually their saliva is acidic enough to melt flesh, but they like to chew on a specific bean that¡¯s pretty similar to a coffee bean, but much much more potent. Deadly amounts of caffeine for a human. But the lizards don¡¯t swallow the bean, they can¡¯t digest it so they spit it out along with all their saliva. They absorb most of the lethal levels of caffeine and the resulting saliva is safe for human consumption.¡± She said. I stood there holding the cup. ¡°And one day someone just thought, ¡®Hey maybe I¡¯ll just drink some of that lizard¡¯s spit?¡± I asked. She giggled. It was actually quite a pleasant sound. ¡°Yeah. When you say it like that. Alexander Hopp, discovered the lizard, that¡¯s why it¡¯s called a Hopp¡¯s Lizard. Story goes he observed a group of birds sipping the spit and behaving differently. It¡¯s really no weirder than someone trying Cows milk for the first time if you think about it.¡± She said smiling at me. She¡¯d lowered her book slightly and was able to see her face clearly now. I looked back at the cup of liquid and shrugged. I took a sip. It was a lot thicker than coffee which would take some getting used to, but it tasted better than any other coffee I¡¯d had in my life. ¡°Wow. That¡¯s fantastic.¡± I said taking another sip. ¡°Beats starbucks for sure.¡± She giggled again. ¡°I¡¯m August by the way. Great to me you.¡± I stuck out a hand for her to shake. She lowered her book and took my hand squeezing it softly. ¡°Octavia.¡± She said smiling. I gestured to the seat across from hers. ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± I asked politely. She perked up and nodded. ¡°No, Please, go right ahead.¡± She cleared some of her plates from the table to make room for me to set down my cup. I took a further sip. ¡°What¡¯s it called? The lizard spit.¡± I asked. ¡°Hopp¡¯s Venom. You usually just ask for a cup of Hopp¡¯s.¡± she said. ¡°Cool.¡± I said. ¡°So¡­ Does no one drink coffee?¡± ¡°No they do. This is just more premium.¡± She said. She hadn¡¯t stopped looking at me since I¡¯d sat down. It was clear she was studying me intensely. ¡°You¡¯ve really never heard of it?¡± She asked. ¡°No. Why would I? I didn¡¯t even know magic existed a week ago.¡± I said. Her smile broadened. ¡°I knew it! You¡¯re a wild card!¡± She said a little too loudly. The other people in the bar car seemed to notice her exclamation. ¡°The wild card?¡± I said. ¡°It means you were picked by the school from the normal world. Basically, you¡¯re kind of like a scholarship student.¡± Another voice called out from behind me. The female student that had given me the cocked eyebrow look earlier had shouted that out to me. She had stood now and her and the other female student she was sat with were now making their way over to our table. ¡°There¡¯s one every few years, but I heard they never make it beyond the first year.¡± She smiled, but it was a cruel looking smile. I swallowed hard. The other female peeked out from behind her and smiled genuinely. ¡°Is it true that you¡¯ve never used a wand before?¡± She asked pleasantly. ¡°Yeah. Like I was saying. Magic wasn¡¯t even real until a week ago.¡± I responded. ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so dead.¡± The cruel looking girl said chuckling. ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I was just saying, there¡¯s no way you make it beyond the entrance exam. You don¡¯t even know how to wear your emblem correctly.¡± She said and showed off the upper arm of her blazer which held a gray colored version the playing card I had. Hers had a stylized symbol of a B on it. I knew that card went there. ¡°Don¡¯t be mean, Julia.¡± Octavia said jumping to my defense. ¡°He¡¯s still learning.¡± ¡°Shut up. Nobody asked you asked. Piss off back to the library where you belong.¡± The Cruel looking girl, Julia, said. ¡°Jules, chill. There¡¯s no need to fight. Come on.¡± The other girl said trying to pull Julia away and back to their table. She huffed and obliged after shooting an angry look at Octavia who I noticed despite being soft spoken towards me hadn¡¯t backed down like I¡¯d assumed she might and was scowling back at Julia. ¡°Well.. Isn¡¯t she a delight.¡± I said attempting to defuse the tension. Octavia sighed and took a sip of her drink. ¡°She used to be a lot less¡­ abrasive. Recently she¡¯s just been so¡­¡± ¡°Bitchy?¡± I said. ¡°Yeah.¡± Octavia laughed. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my black card and moved a little closer to her. ¡°Could you help me put this in my sleeve?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t want her to give me anymore reasons to mock me.¡± ¡°Oh, uh sure.¡± Octavia said. She had returned to her more soft spoken self now. She tucked the card into the sleeve holder and as she did I revealed a large minus symbol on it that I hadn¡¯t seen previously. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll get a your rank today after the exam. We¡¯ve only got them because we¡¯re Legacies.¡± She said and flashed me her arm which was a similar colour to Julia¡¯s and had the same B letter. ¡°We get a bit of a head start, but Luca and Krista are starting from black just like you.¡± She nodded to the boy at the bar who was now sipping the tea he¡¯d made. ¡°That¡¯s luca.¡± Then she nodded at the girl with Julia. ¡°That¡¯s Krista.¡± I took mental note of both of their names. I took another sip. Damn, this stuff was strong. I was already feeling quite a buzz. ¡°What¡¯s a Legacy?¡± I probed. ¡°Okay, so all students before coming to school spend their time in the normal world like you, but, unlike you, the existence of magic or the magical world isn¡¯t kept a secret from them. They¡¯re taught mostly theory and history and some minor practical uses of magic. It costs a lot of resources to train a single Magi, so the university needs to be certain it¡¯s worth the investment. Most people work their entire schooling career and don¡¯t make it in. Unless you¡¯re like me or Julia. We both come from a family that founded the school. We¡¯re basically promised admittance since birth. We get introduced to QuarterMaster early and jumped up the ranks as an added benefit.¡± She said quietly. ¡°That hardly seems fair.¡± I said. ¡°I agree with you, but I couldn¡¯t exactly say no to having an extra leg up.¡± Octavia said now avoiding making eye contact. ¡°Oh I can¡¯t blame you. I¡¯d have done the same.¡± I smiled. Octavia seemed to ease at that admission. ¡°So why are you reading the guide? Shouldn¡¯t you have that equipped by now?¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve never actually used QuarterMaster until a week ago. I still like to read the physical thing. I¡¯ll have to break the habit eventually. But books are just so tactile. I feel more at ease with them.¡± She said with a somewhat far off look. I wasn¡¯t quite sure, but it seemed like there was a story to that look. I tired to focus on the main topic of QuarterMaster for the time being. ¡°Oh, so what about your dream last night. Was that your first time with it too?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, It¡¯s so exciting being in that void every night.¡± She said. ¡°Soul Oceans are so fascinating, don¡¯t you think?¡± ¡°That¡¯ll happens every night now?¡± I asked. I wasn¡¯t really sure why, but I really did like chatting with The Guide, But to be in that room instead of my own dreams each night would be an adjustment. I didn¡¯t feel exhausted physically, but I did feel like I¡¯d mentally expended a lot of energy. ¡°Yes, unless you opt to skip it, which you can now. You¡¯ll skip the white void and wake up straight away and any benefits will be displayed in an info window when you wake up.¡± She explained. ¡°Oh mine wasn¡¯t white. It was a kind of blue shade.¡± I remarked. She was suddenly alert. ¡°Your Ocean had a shade already?¡± Her eyes were going wide and it looked like she was starting to tremble. She started to fumble through her bag at her side and then she pulled out a small laminated piece of paper with over 100 different coloured squares. ¡°Tell me which shade of blue it was? Was it more of a sky blue or a cobalt? Or maybe closer to a turquoise? How bright was it?¡± She started to rattle off questions. Before I could answer her the door at the end of the car opened and another student entered the room. This was another male student and possibly the most handsome 19 year old I¡¯d ever seen. Something about him seemed familiar to me and when he moved over and stood next to Professor Cyrus I recognized the resemblance. ¡°Is that the Professor¡¯s Son?¡± I asked in a hushed tone. Octavia was still holding her soul shade cart and she looked up. ¡°Yes. That¡¯s Xavier. He¡¯s not a true legacy, but he¡¯s still got the same benefits we do.¡± She said. Damnit. He even had a cool name. I noticed the card on his arm was the same gray colour, but his was an S. ¡°Wait, why is the letter on his arm card higher.¡± I asked. ¡°Arm card?¡± She said confused. I tapped the black card on my sleeve. ¡°Oh we call them Emblems. And I don¡¯t know actually. It¡¯s up to QuarterMaster to assign the ranks. He¡¯s still in the Iron bracket, but he¡¯ll definitely move up to bronze after the exam today.¡± I stared at the symbol on his arm for a moment. ¡°And if I wanted to get into bronze?¡± I asked Octavia. She sat up straight and looked at me through squinted eyes. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious.¡± She said amused. I returned her response with a completely blank unblinking stare. ¡°Oh, you are serious.¡± She sighed and opened up The Guide, which she¡¯d put down as soon as Xavier had entered the room. She flipped through a couple pages and slid the book over to me. ¡°This is the second volume of The Guide. You¡¯ll get a copy when you¡¯re ranked at least Iron C. This details a rough guide to ranks. It doesn¡¯t say how much experience you need to earn to reach each rank, but it does give a guide on what level you should be before attempting each rank entrance exam. When the professor turns your system on you¡¯ll realize how foolish that statement was.¡± She explained. ¡°Experience? Like you get points for completing certain objectives?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes. The harder the exam, the better the reward. They¡¯ll be ranked with letters, but their ranking is a little different. They go all the way to triple S rank and even then each quest has a difficulty rating from 1 to 5 stars and they come in all different types. The most common are bounty Exams where you have a target and all you have to do is kill or subdue it.¡± ¡°So what does The Guide say is recommended for a bronze rank Magi?¡± I asked wanting to know my odds. ¡°At least level 5.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m level 4 for reference. And Xavier is probably at least a few points away from to hitting level 5.¡± It was clear to me in the way she talked about him that there was some history between them and possibly a hint of¡­ was that reverence in her tone of voice? ¡°So what¡¯s his deal? Is he some kind of asshole like Julia or is he more of a sweetheart like you?¡± I asked probing for information. ¡°You think I¡¯m a sweetheart?¡± She stuttered and blushed slightly. ¡°Sure. You¡¯ve been nothing but friendly since I walked in here. You even warned me about the lizard spit.¡± I smiled. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I mean anyone would have done that I¡¯m sure.¡± She continued to blush and went back to hiding her face behind The Guide. ¡°Julia wouldn¡¯t have. She¡¯d probably have put her own spit in.¡± I said a little louder than I should have. I noticed Julia about to get up likely to stomp over here, but Krista pulled her back down as Xavier sat down and slid his arm around Julia and planted a kiss on her cheek. ¡°Ah, well that answers that question. Asshole for sure.¡± I said. ¡°No¡­ He¡¯s better than her. He¡¯s just a little misguided¡­¡± She said again with a distant look that was just asking to be explored. I tried to reign in my need for answers for the moment. As much as I wanted to explore their interpersonal relationships, I needed answers about these exams even more. ¡°So, what did The Guide tell you about the exam?¡± I asked. ¡°Huh? Oh just the basics really.¡± She said. ¡°The Guide¡¯s advice to me was ¡®don¡¯t hold back¡¯. It said I should shoot for at least the upper Iron ranks. I¡¯m going to shoot for Bronze.¡± I said. ¡°What? Don¡¯t be silly. The Guide can¡¯t give advice. It¡¯s not programed to allow for that.¡± She said. ¡°No. Mine really di-¡± I was interrupted before I could finish my explanation by Professor Cyrus standing and clapping his hands supernaturally loud. It seemed like it was finally starting. Chapter 9 - Opening Ceremonies ¡°Good Morning Students!¡± Professor Cyrus said. He waited for a moment in the silence, then repeated himself frustrated. ¡°I SAID, Good Morning Students.¡± This time the rest of the students, except for me chimed back, ¡°Good Morning Professor Cyrus.¡± they all said in monotoned unison. Julia scoffed at it and Krista giggled. I saw Xavier roll his eyes and I wasn¡¯t sure if that was directed to his present company or his own father. ¡°Ah ha very good. It¡¯s lovely to see you all so bright eyed and bushy tailed.¡± He said practically beaming. Professor Dos shot him a dirty look at the Bushy tailed comment. ¡°Ah sorry, Dos. I meant I hope you¡¯re all feeling refreshed and ready for the festivities today. For those of you who had your first night¡¯s sleep here, you¡¯d have been introduced to your new best friends here, The Guide and the QuarterMaster system. No doubt your heads will be swimming with questions and information, but that will all have to wait. Firstly we have to welcome a special student here in our midsts, August, if you wouldn¡¯t mind joining me up here.¡± He said gesturing to a spot next to where he stood up at the bar. I cautiously got up and wandered over there conscious of all the eyes in the room being on me. I made brief eye contact with Xavier who just stared intensely with the same blue gray eyes his father had. He was clearly sizing me up. ¡°This is August Adams. Now August is not like the rest of us. He¡¯s just only discovered all this magic is real. So I¡¯d like us all to take extra care of him and if he asks any questions about anything, while it may be second nature to you, He¡¯s experiencing it for the first time. And who knows, He¡¯s seeing everything in a fresh light, what you make take for granted every day may be revealed again for what it truly is, Magical.¡± I looked around the room. Octavia was hanging on his every word and nodding like she agreed. The three at the table were largely unimpressed and ignoring him. The other student at the bar, Luca, looked a little green around the gills and I noticed the string from his cup was dangling free with no frog on the end. ¡°Thank you, August, you can sit back down now.¡± The Professor said tapping me on the back. ¡°Now. Professor Dos will go around and calibrate your Emblems for full activation of the QuarterMaster system. That includes even you three Legacies. The system has undergone an emergency, uh, Patch over night. This usually happens before each school year commences. It removes any unforeseen exploits or interactions. When I first came here the way the system was providing potions was patched because it kept forgetting to give you the cork stopper. It wouldn¡¯t count them as contained vessel without one so you could only store them in your quickslots and not your inventory. The demand for bottle stoppers was never higher. Nevertheless, those kinds of things have been resolved now, but you still all need a reinstall. Take out your Emblems and present them to Dos if you don¡¯t mind.¡± I did as ordered and removed the card from my sleeve. Dos went around the room tapping each card and then with his wand he looked to be tweaking something invisible in the air in front of him. He started with Xavier and when the student slid the card into his sleeve I noticed his eyes flash briefly. He immediately began swiping in the air in front of him, clearly accessing his User Interface. Eventually after completing everyone else¡¯s Dos came over to me. The tall Hellhound looked at me and snorted. ¡°Did you get my apology present?¡± He said quietly. ¡°Yes, And I accept professor.¡± I said smirking. He sighed and tapped on the card I was holding out for him. ¡°Anything I need to know before I slot that thing in?¡± I asked as he tinkered away. ¡°Don¡¯t screw with the User Settings. You can very easily change the whole thing into a different language without meaning to. If you do, you¡¯ll start speaking that language too, but the system won¡¯t let you read or understand the language. While it makes for an amazing prank, I don¡¯t recommend it. Unless you can find someone who speaks the language, it¡¯s a bitch to figure out how to navigate and change it back.¡± Dos said with an air of someone speaking from experience. ¡°Duly noted.¡± I said. The Hellhound did a final swish of their wand and tapped the card a final time. It vibrated slightly in my hand and felt a little warm to the touch. ¡°All done. Good luck.¡± He said as he moved off and went to stand next to Professor Cyrus. I looked at the card. Other than the new warmth it didn¡¯t seem like anything at changed. That was until I slid the card into my arm sleeve. A rush of windows sprung up all at once covering one another and bombarding me with too much info. I recoiled slightly as I nearly fell out of my chair. I instinctually did the motion The Guide did last night to close all the windows and they went away. The first thing I noticed was everyone in the room now had text hovering above their head that showed their names underlined. I could only see their first names, except for Xavier who had his name listed as ¡®X. Cyrus.¡¯ If i focused on that name text a small symbol of an ¡®i¡¯ in a circle appeared at the end of it. I mentally tried to examine it and a window popped up displaying a rundown of his stats. NAME: Xavier Cyrus AGE: 19 SPECIES: Human* HEIGHT: 180 cm WEIGHT: 79kg LVL: 04 JOB: Initiate Magi* CURRENT STATS - HP - 255 MP - 100This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Strength - 8 (+5) Intellect - 15 (+6) Awareness - 4 (+2) Endurance - 5 (+2) Dexterity - 5 (+2) I looked at the stats on the Professor¡¯s son. I noticed a couple things that caught my attention immediately. Two of the entries held asterisks. I thought I remembered something about The Guide mentioning the one related to their Job Class and as soon as I thought of it that section updated. JOB: Initiate Magi - (Legacy benefits applied) Wow. So revealing is sometimes as simple as thinking about the info if you¡¯ve already been told it? That would be handy in the future. Next I zeroed in on the entry for ¡®species¡¯. Why did Human have an asterisk? I tried to focus on the word, but nothing changed. I popped up my own stat window to check against his. It looked exactly the same as previously except for my weight. NAME: August Adams AGE: 19 SPECIES: Human HEIGHT: 173cm WEIGHT: 71kg LVL: 01 JOB: Initiate Magi CURRENT STATS - HP - 125 MP - 10 Strength - 5 Intellect - 3 Awareness - 3 Endurance - 3 Dexterity - 7 (+2) Hold up, How had I gained 1kg overnight? Was it because I was wearing a shoulder bag that had a copy of the first volume of The Guide? It had to weigh at least 1kg alone. I place the bag down and sure enough the weight stat went back to 70kg. Another discovery. I remembered what The Guide had said and immediately took the book equipping it in a quickslot. I felt something change as it applied a +1 to all my stats. I watched as my mp and hp also rose slightly. I also went ahead and tried to equip my wand, but it didn¡¯t allow me to and a huge red warning window covered my whole vision along with an annoying siren noise. - WARNING! - THIS IS NOT A SAFE ZONE. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO EQUIP A WEAPON HERE WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION. ¡°Jesus.¡± I said as I hastily swiped the notification away. My ears still rang slightly as I yelled out, ¡°Hey Professor, Is this not a safe zone?¡± ¡°Ah, already trying to equip a weapon, August? Allow me.¡± Cyrus said as he flipped an invisible switch in the air in front of him. ¡°That should do it. Go ahead.¡± Immediately, I was able to equip the wand I¡¯d received from Professor Dos. - ITEM - Hopp¡¯s Starter Wand* Weapon Class - Wand ~A basic Magi¡¯s wand. Perfect for any new Magi to learn the ropes. +10% MP regeneration speed +3 Intellect -1 Strength Wow, another asterisk. Was I just incredibly lucky? I tried to examine the wand further, but I didn¡¯t notice anything about it that seemed to stick out. I examined my stats again. HP - 135 MP - 35 Strength - 5 Intellect - 7 (+4) Awareness - 4 (+1) Endurance - 4 (+1) Dexterity - 8 (+3) If I was doing the math right it looked like each 1 point I put into intellect added 5 extra MP and each 1 point into endurance added 10 health. Unfortunately the +1 to all stats from The Guide was being cancelled out by the -1 on my wand. I turned my attention back to that asterisk on the wand. I was thinking about how maybe I should go ask Professor Dos about it when a new window popped up into my vision. - NEW FRIEND REQUEST - Magi ¡®Octavia Q.¡¯ would like to connect. Accept request? Two buttons appeared hovering below the window, a green ¡®Yes¡¯ and red ¡®No¡¯. I shot a glance at Octavia who smiled meekly at me. I smiled back and pressed the Yes option. Suddenly I heard a ping sound and I could see a jumping speech bubble hovering just at the very edge of my peripheral vision. I mentally thought about opening it. It was a chat window and it had a single message from Octavia in it. I heard her voice clearly in my head as I read it as if she was speaking it right there and then. Octavia Q. - We can communicate here privately at anytime. The only thing that can read these chats are the QuarterMaster and anyone added in the chat room. You can even copy items into the chat and share their info here. :) I looked at her as she was only a few feet away from me. ¡°Sorry, I have no idea how to reply to the message Octavia.¡± I said, slightly embarrassed. ¡°Oh sorry. You might not have the feature unlocked yet as your rank isn¡¯t assigned. Usually there¡¯s a chat field and a keyboard will pop up. I use a modified interface for it myself. I can show you how to set it up after the exam.¡± She said smiling. ¡°Thanks, O. Do you mind if I call you O? Octavia is a little bit of a mouth full.¡± I said. She squeaked a little. ¡°You¡¯re giving me a nickname?¡± She said hiding and blushing again. ¡°If that¡¯s okay with you? You can call me, Auggy if you like.¡± I said. Octavia nodded furiously. I heard a ping pop again somewhere in my interface and I noticed her name in the chat had adjusted to just the letter ¡®O¡¯. ¡°I¡¯ve never had a nice nickname before.¡± She said smiling at me. ¡°You¡¯re very kind, August.¡± I tilted my head slightly and she noticed my confusion. ¡°Sorry, I think August works better for me. At least for now, but please call me O.¡± She said softly. She really was beginning to grow on me quite quickly. I was a sucker for the earnest types. ¡°Alright alright! I trust you¡¯ve had a through play around in your menus. Let¡¯s get down to business shall we?¡± Professor Cyrus announced. He then made a swish with his wand and several panels on the walls receded revealing glass windows behind. The light of the early morning sun broke in and I squirted as my eyes adjusted from the previously dim light of the bar car to the more radiant version we sat in now. Once they did I saw exactly what I was expecting to see. Almost all of us stood up and moved to one side of the train car attempting to get a good view. The only way to describe it was pure magic. We were cleary crossing some kind of bridge that was high above either a river or lake, but off in the distance sat a building built of impossible architecture. It was a castle, but several spires shot up from behind it¡¯s walls. A few of which seemed to float on their own. The university looked like it was a perfect mixing of medieval and modern. I saw typical castle turrets with windows of black modern steel design. Both Gothic elements to the style perfectly integrated with bizarre ambitious sharp modern angles. It was as if the past and the present were colliding in a single building, but also in perfect harmony. The only one not awed by it was Xavier who still sat at the table with his arms crossed with a sullen expression. I wondered how many times you¡¯d have to have seen this to not be awed by it. I also noticed Professor Cyrus looking at his son. His jaw was clenched. Was that a hint of anger I saw? He noticed me looking and quickly returned to his normal jovial expression. ¡°Spectacular isn¡¯t it, Students?¡± He said joining us up at the window. ¡°That will be your new home for the next year. I hope you¡¯re all just as excited as I am!¡± He clapped his hands loudly again. ¡°Now, who¡¯s ready for their first exam?¡±