Magnus traveled down the dusky road. The hour was getting late as he traveled back home. He carried with him the game board wrapped around in a piece of cloth and his daily wage, which was a grand total of one gold lion.

This new gig was getting sweeter and sweeter by the day, not only was he getting top of the line training. He is also getting paid an extortion amount, which he would have never made in a single day even if he worked his ass off until it was bone-weary.

Magnus owed these professional thieves an endless amount of gratitude. They did something nobody else in this goddamn city would ever have done for him, raise him up from poverty, and give him an honest to god chance. The only thing that was holding him back was the secrets gnawing at his heart. The mystery behind his hire would not let up!

Even so, the gold lion wage went a long way, buttering him up, he can sit cushy with this gig while he slowly uncovers this mystery and gets the answers he needs.

Magnus walked up to the orphanage doors, and right at the front entrance stood Mother Selin with her arms crossed together at her chest. “The Matron told me you found work, huh?”

Magnus could not tell if the Mother was angry, sad, or happy-- who knew, maybe it was all of them only just tangled up, and the Mother, herself, did not know which one to exhibit. Magnus made sure to tread carefully and gave a simple answer, “Yes, I finally found work as a bookkeeper.”

Though Magnus hated lying to the Mother, it wasn’t like he could outright tell her he found a job as a professional thief. This story was more believable, and she could wrap her mind against it.

“Good,” was the only thing that the Mother said.

Magnus walked around her and went over to the donation box, and he dumped his whole wage inside it.

The Mother must have seen the amount that Magnus put into the donation box because there was a sharp intake of breath and followed up with a question. “Where did you get that money, Magnus?”

Magnus could detect a hint of suspicion in her tone. Mother Selin was the one most unpleased with Magnus’s string of robbery. While there was an air of sadness around Mother Nevra and a feeling of resignation around the Matron, Mother Selin did feel those emotions too, but what trumped it all was mortification.

“Oh, you mean those silver bolts?” Magnus asked innocently wanted the Mother to squirm a bit. There is nothing that can stop his vindictive nature. What made Magnus cross was the willful ignorance that the Mother still held on to, he just couldn’t believe she would adhere to virtuous principles after all she saw and experienced.

Though a small part of him was envious that she could remain so pure after everything, look at him and how he changed so fast in under a few months.

“Yes,” Mother Selin said, Magnus could see the guilt and shame clearly written on her face, oww how low he has fallen.

Feeling guilty and ashamed, Magnus swiftly answered the Mother’s question, “That was my wages.”

Shock overread the Mother’s face, and she asked, “You mean you get paid ten silver bolts, daily?” Then not stopping just there, she added, “Who do you work for?”

Playing up the lie, Magnus awkwardly scratched at the back of his head and said, “I think the owner is a guilder, but he never said. So I can’t be sure. Though if he is a guilder, he doesn’t act like it, he was able to overlook my status and hired me thanks to my skills and knowledge.”

“Well, that is wonderful,” Mother Selin said as she heard everything that she needed. “We should announce it and have a small celebration. What do you say?”

“Come on, Mother Selin, we can not do that! Didn’t you say our funds were cut?” Magnus said as he felt there was no reason to squander around with their meager amount on his behalf.

“Oh,” the Mother said as he excitement evaporated.

“Well, we can just announce it then,” Mother Selin said as she sighed in defeat. “I believe congratulations are in order.”

Magnus did not like that option too. He felt more than happy, just helping the orphanage from the shadows. He wasn’t shallow enough to need praises and whatnot. That is why he said, “It is okay, Mother Selin, I could do without.”

Mother Selin shook her head, “This is the least we can do Magnus to show you our appreciation. It would not do at all if you helped in the orphanage, and nobody showed you any thanks.”

Magnus saw that he was going to be forced into this, so to scare off the Mother, he said. “Okay, we can do that, but only after I kept this job for a few days. What do you say to that?”

Mother Selin compromised to that and left him to be, as she proceeded into the orphanage.

Magnus sighed; he knew at best he bought himself only a few days. After that, he could be damned, but it would be an appreciation day for him.

Magnus did not enter the orphanage; he went around the building and made his way over to the side tower. It was an old unused section of the orphanage, the Mothers and Matron do plan on fixing it up and trying to make it into a greenhouse, but so far it remains untouched.

Magnus cracked the door open as he walked into the side tower, the place was three stories tall and had stairs on the side that lead up. The first floor was an open round area with only dust, trash, and broken stone littered around.

The young practitioner climbed up the stairs and entered the second floor. This floor was the same as the first floor except it had a door opening out to an archway, which leads to the second floor of the orphanage. Furthermore, this floor held occupants who were chatting and playing around.

Magnus waved and chatted with them, saying only some pleasantries then moved on to the third floor. This floor was different from the rest; it was a circular room with an overarching pointy dome. It also had windows that showed the grounds of the orphanage.

The little orphan sat himself in a small corner of the room then took out the coin purse he stole from the priest. Magnus was not expecting that there would be much inside the purse, though still, he chose the privacy of this room over his own bedroom. Right now, the place at least has a few occupants inside of it, so best to look over and tally up his underhanded gains inside this place rather than where there are plenty of eyes watching him.

Even if he is going to carry out stealing, he rather do it on the sly then right in the open. He did, after all, set down the rule that there shall not be stealing anymore, so it would not set a good example if he went against it and quite openly.

With little care, Magnus upturned the whole coin purse and dumped all its content on to the floor. What he was expecting was a few iron shims, maybe even some copper thumbs, however, what fell out was none of those above but real actual gold lions.

Magnus’s eyes nearly popped out; he counted 27 gold lion, GOLD LIONS! All the little orphan could do was splatter. What took the forefront of his mind was not greed or delight but fear and anxiety.

Codex’s words came back to him like a speeding truck, the uneasy feeling she was getting from those followers of light. Now here were her words all over again, refreshed, and now becoming a substantial fact! All that was needed now to string it along was Codex saying I told you so.

However, Codex had the grace to say nothing, which did not make it better, but all the worse for Magnus.

Now to complete the mystery, Magnus took out the holy book he stole from the priest, gods be damned he should have listened to her. However, Magnus set aside his thoughts. Those could be chewed on later; right now, he needs all the facts he can gather about this new religion and see how much trouble he is in.

So he opened the holy book, or that is what he tried to do, but the damn thing wouldn’t budge an inch. Magnus looked it over; the thing looked like a perfectly normal book; however, it wasn’t acting like one.

Magnus heard Codex sigh as she said, “It looks like you need expert help.”

Magnus could agree with that statement; he was truly out of his depth.

-----------------------------------------

Once more Magnus stood in front of the Matron’s office door, both Magnus and Codex agreed that if there ever was an expert out there, than it would be the Matron. It also helped that the two of them trusted her, and she was a lot of help to them too.

Magnus knocked on the door and immediacy a response came through, “Come in!” the Matron shouted from inside the room.

Magnus turned the door handle and entered the office. There sat the Matron on her chair, working on something.

Magnus closed the door behind him, then sat himself on the edge of the Matron’s bed and waited patiently for her to finish whatever she was doing.

Finally, after some time, the Matron set aside what she was working on then turned to face Magnus and asked, “What can I do for you today, Magnus?”

Without wasting time on small chatter, Magnus took out the holy book and handed it over to the Matron. “What is this?” the Matron asked as she looked over the book.

Immediately Magnus told her everything, from the run into the priest, to this new religion, how he ended up with the man’s stuff, and what it is.

The Matron listened patiently as Magnus told his tale, and he made sure to not be stingy on the details if he wanted the Matron to help him she would need the whole picture.

After Magnus was done telling his story, the Matron looked more closely at the book, she touched it, listened to it, smelled it, and even licked it. Magnus could only watch in bewilderment as he wondered if the Matron was okay and not crazy.

“Interesting,” the Matron said after she was finished ‘examining’ the holy book, she turned on Magnus and asked, “And you said that you got it from a priest, huh?”

“Yes,” Magnus said, “Though he was a fanatic if that is what you are wondering. Anyways what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, this book is spellbound, that is what it is!” The Matron announced.

Magnus looked on in confusion, he did not understand that term that the Matron spouted, he knew what the word meant but the content she used it in perplexed. That is why he asked, “What does that mean?”

The Matron waved him away as she got up from her seat and walked over to her desk, “You wouldn’t understand, I will have to dive into many subjects which you would not be able to understand.”

Magnus hated being treated like a kid and even worse an idiot, though the first point could be argued. Anyways, that is why he said with some fervor, “Try me!’

The Matron sighed, “If you must know then spellbound means that a spell has been cast on an object or person though for the life of me I will not get into the details of how it is done.”

“A SPELL, a real, actual spell,” Magnus shouted to gobsmacked to even care that he was yelling at the top of his lungs.

Well, that just confirmed it, he is in a fantasy world! Now, if only he could get his hands on one, then he could check off a box on his itinerary list, which is right up there with banging an elf and a catgirl, fighting some monsters, and taming a dragon.

“Yes, an actual real spell, and there is no reason to shout.” The Matron said as she took out a simple black wooden stick from her drawer, it was 25 cm longs with a green gem at the end, and the stick fit snugly in the Matron’s hand.

‘It couldn’t be,’ Magnus thought, however, if there ever was one, then this had to be it. So Magnus went out on a limb and asked in a tentative voice “Is that a wand?”

“Yes,” the Matron answered primly. “Now hush, I need to focus, it has been a while since these old bones tried out any magic.”

Magnus nodded his head and did as he was told, yet there was nothing that could hide the awe on his face as he watched closely what the Matron was doing, not wanting to miss a single thing.

The Matron pointed her wand at the holy book, then a string of words let loose from her mouth, they sounded so archaic and unnatural that Magnus did not even have the words to describe it. However, Magnus could feel preternatural atmospheres coming off of each and every word, and the Matron wasn’t any old woman now. She was a force of nature as her hair billowed around unnatural.

Then finally, the book clicked opened. That single sound echoed all around the room then to up the creep factor the book opened on its very own. The Matron slumped in her chair, exhaustion was evident on her face, but that harsh mouth of her was still the same. “What are you doing gaping around like a fool? Come and look over at what you had this old lady breaking her back over!”

Magnus did as he was told, but it was rigidly, he was still mesmerized with that stunning display of magic, and he had to admit he was taking in by it. He would be lying if he said he did not want a piece of that awesome power. That is why when Magnus made it over to the Matron’s desk, he did not look at what the holy book held but put forth a question.

“Matron,” Magnus started with tentatively, when the Matron did not stop him from proceeding on, he asked his question.“Could you teach me?” He said in a single breath, not wanting to lose his confidence mid stride.

“Teach you what?” The Matron asked as she put away her wand into her desk.

“Everything!” Magnus stated, not having any words to describe what he would be learning from her.

“When you say everything, do mean you want me to teach you EVERYTHING like down to how to put on your clothes?” The Matron asked with a raised eyebrow.

Magnus could tell when somebody was messing with him. That is why he growled out, “I mean, could you teach me everything about magic.”

“I do not know everything about magic, boy, go find somebody else for that,” the Matron said as she took out the stuff she was working on when he came in.

Now quite exasperated, Magnus made sure to hold his tongue and emotions in check for the simple reason being he is the one asking for something here. If the Matron wanted to play word games with him, let her. He would not lose control of himself, and he would make sure to be the most polite and enduring person he can be.

Through gritted teeth and twitching fingers, Magnus spoke up, “I am sorry for the misunderstood Matron. What I meant to ask was, could you teach me everything you know about magic.” Then he added, “Please!”

Without looking up from her work, the Matron replied, “No!”

Magnus was silent for a long time, during all the time that he knew the Matron, she was always helpful even if she wasn’t pleasant at times. Still, she was always a guiding hand and a mentor for him.

Magnus would never have imagined that she would ever refuse him help or teach him, withstanding guarantee! That is why her response stumped him, and he couldn’t think of a reply nor a reaction.

Finally, his mind was able to reboot itself, and he asked the only question there was, “Why?”

This time the Matron looked up from her work, she let loose a long audible sigh filled with so many emotions and said. “Take it from me, boy, you do not want anything to do with magic.”

“Y- you… can not decide that for me!” Magnus shouted he did not know how to feel-- whether it be anger, for her making the decision for him that he did not need magic or sympathetic for what she went through.

The Matron nodded her head, agreeing with Magnus’s statement, and for a moment there, he got his hopes up thinking that she changed her mind. However, that was far from the truth as the next few words that spilled out of her mouth made it clear she was not going to teach him magic.

“You are right, I can not make that decision for you, and the opposite is also. If you want to learn magic, it will not be through me!”