Magnus came down to breakfast to see a jammed place, all the orphans that made up the orphanage were here in the dining hall. It was him that was the last person down, no wonder he saw nobody milling about in the boys’ shared bedroom.

He must have had a deep and long slumber for him to be up so late, he had only an hour or as they say, a celestial phase to report in at the secret hideout.

So Magnus decided to skip out on the meal, the only time that the orphans of Bluebird orphanage are true savages is at mealtime. It would take precious long minutes to secure a meal, and it would be a struggle to eat in peace at all.

Anyways he could have his breakfast down at the tavern; he is already planning on having a second meal there already. Also, it makes sure he did not arrive late like yesterday, that was embarrassing; he always prided himself with being on time.

Furthermore, he did not want to give the impression that he did not appreciate the lessons and training that he was receiving from his instructors, which were far from the dot.

However, his plans became undone once he was at the door leading out of the orphanage, there outside, waiting for him was the older boys. They stood milling about on the front lawn of the orphanage where the garden was.

“Hey, guys,” Magnus said as he waved at them in both a greeting and farewell. Then he attempted to make his way to the tavern, which concealed the secret hideout, but it looked like they had some stuff to say to him.

“Hey, Magnus,” Erhan said as he run-up to Magnus, carrying a pole. He was dressed in a grey mail shirt with a grey doublet on top, and he was also wearing grey trousers with a grey turban to final it off. It was the typical garb of the guard or as most like to call them the grey turbans.

“I see that you made it as a guard, huh?” Magnus asked when Erhan closed the distance with the others at his heel.

“Yep,” the young new guard replied as he made a comical salute. “Private Erhan, reporting in.”

“You will be hauling shit, for many moon turns,” Tamer said as he amiably slapped Erhan on the back.

“Though he will be making ill-gotten money by the dozens,” Etkin added from the side.

Magnus smiled at the sight of the harmonious banter, he hated to cut it short, but he had places he needed to be. “So is there anything I could help you with? I have to be on my way if I do not want to be late to work. You know how the streets are right now, busy as a bee.”

“Yes, we also need to be on our way too,” Andrew said, “Oh, and congratulations on finding a job. Mother Selin wouldn’t stop talking about and kept on telling the little ones to follow your example and try to find a well-paying job like yours.”

Magnus groaned silently to himself. He wondered how the Matron would react when she finds out that he is really working for thieves and not some exemplary member of the Guild.

“We wanted to talk about the book you gave us,” Tamer said as he cut right down to the meat of things.

“Oh, that thing?” Magnus asked, as he already had a story lined up. “Well, some guilder misplaced by accident,” Magnus said.

“You mean you stole, mhhh,” Etkin said, pointing out his underlying meaning.

“I wouldn’t say stole, that is a very harsh word, Etkin. The correct term is borrowed, that is a more accommodating word,” Magnus admitted.

The reason why he went with this story is because it is more believable than the truth, which he was no capacity to share. Anyways, commoners are always going about what mysterious powers the Guilds possess, now, here is actual proof, right before their very eyes.

He also had to say he stole it since he couldn’t say a guilder gave it to him from the good of his heart. But the sinister scheme which Magnus did not want to admit to himself was that he tied them with him with that confession.

With this one lie, they were all tied to his chariot, and if it fell off a cliff, they would be joining him as well. This false act he admitted to was that of Adam and Eve stealing the forbidden fruit. He just told them he stole the power of the Guilds, and there was no way for them to distance themselves from him or betray him in any manner since they will be taking the fall with him.

It was an airtight trap with no way to escape!

“WHAT!” Erhan shouted.

Magnus tried to pacify him, “Look, I had no idea what I stole until I tried it out, nearly died because of that. That is why I warned you to stuff yourself before you practice it.”

“Magnus, do you even know what you have done?” Mazhar asked as he rubbed at his temple.

“All I wanted was his wealth, I swear, who knew he was carrying that around,” Magnus said as he feigned a good amount of dismay and subdued.

“Well, there is no reason to cry over spilled milk. What is done, is done. All we can do is remain silent and never mention it to anyone what we have,”

“Yea,” Tamer agreed, “Anyways, tell me you guys do not enjoy this newfound power, mhh.”

That comment seemed to have done the trick because it shut up everyone.

Andrew was the first one to break the silence, “Guys, did we come here to interrogate Magnus or to give our thanks and show him our appreciation?”

Magnus could tell where they were taking this. He did not need people scraping at his feet in gratitude, so he decided to nub it in the bud when it was just blossoming. “You guys do know I do not need anything in repayment, right? I only wanted to give you guys an upper hand in your dangerous line of work, so that we do not find one of you dead. I do not want to see Mother Selin grieving or your sweethearts reduced to tears.”

“That is very considerate of you, Magnus, but still, we owe a great debt of gratitude,” Mazhar said.

“Yes, and there is nothing you can do but to accept it,” Erhan added.

“Fine,” Magnus said, accepting defeat, there was no point arguing with them when they were merely going to bulldoze right over. Why is it that people can not accept a simple, “alright, you are free to go?” Must they hold on tightly to you until they pay you ten times over?

This is just too much trouble for Magnus!

Anyways he wondered what sorts of gains they had made when they practiced his technique, if only he could see other peoples’ stats. As soon as Magnus had that thought five different screen appeared one by one, right before his eyes and it read;

[Name: Erhan Highest Stat: Strength(7.93)]

[Name: Andrew Highest Stat: Perception(8.12)]

[Name: Tamer Highest Stat: Agility(7.85)]

[Name: Mazhar Highest Stat: Intellect(8.02)]

[Name: Etkin Highest Stat: Will(8.95)]

Magnus almost jumped right out of his skin at the startling intrusion, but he quickly remembered he was in front of people and didn’t want to create the perception that he was an unhinged man. He calmed himself down and got his racing heart back to normal, and asked the only person who could be responsible for this, “Codex, what the hell is this?”

“Well, I granted you your wish,” Codex answered back.

“I am not an idiot, Codex, I can clearly see what this is. I am wondering how did you do it?”

“It looks like we are more intricately connected than I ever thought, as soon as your Perception went beyond the normal human range, I gained this ability. I like to call it Perception check!”

“Wow,” Magnus voiced, quite pleased with what he is seeing, Codex seems to get more and more useful by the day. Then quickly getting back to the serious attitude he had on, he said. “That is all well and good, but you could have given me a head up, there was no reason to give me a near heart attack.”

“Would you look at that, wasn’t this the man who was saying get into the fantasy jibe?” Codex asked, not taking Magnus earnestly serious at all. “All I am doing is falling in line and just trying out the genie act.”

“Har, har, very funny, Codex!” Magnus said, not liking it one bit when his very words were flung right back at him.

Wanting to change the topic, Magnus asked, “Can you only show one stat of the individual?”

“No, I can show you all of them, but the only stat that would really matter is the highest. It would give you more than an adequate picture of the individual, and you would not need nonessential stats clogged up your sight.” Codex replied.

Magnus could see the wisdom in that, and this system is frankly Codex’s turf, it would truly be wise for him to leave her to it. So with nothing more to ask and wonder, Magnus turned back to the conversation he was having with the older orphan boys.

“Well, we do not have much in the way of personal things; all we have is just ourselves. So ask us of any favor, and we shall do all in our power to complete it.” Andrew said.

Magnus thought about it, he has to make them complete something fulfilling, or they will never bugger off. Ideas and plans swirled around in his head then the most glorious idea stuck him. His fellow older orphans might not be worth a lot in a monetary sense, but they are a treasure load of information.

They are in key positions that would be advantageous for a thief like him and could feed him important intel. It would be perfect, a match made in heaven and it would hit two birds with one stone. Not only would they be paying him back like they wanted to, but he also doesn’t have to call in some bullshit favor.

“Okay, I know how you guys could pay me back,” Magnus said.

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

“Ferah, what do you guys have today?” Magnus asked the serving girl. She was a fair-skinned girl with large round amber eyes and long chestnut-colored wavy hair. Even at 12 seasons old, she was a busty thing, though not a surprise since kids are called adults at 14 seasons, all of them grow up so fast.

“My pa cooked up an egg dish, and yo’ can have that with bread, then there is the chicken stew from yesterday,’” Ferah answered back as she stood on the ready to take his order as she held a wooden plate in her hands, prepared to take his order.

“Okay, I will have both of them and make it two helps of each, also whatever you have for drinks,” Magnus ordered.

“We only go’ ale today, yo’ sure a little boy like yo’ should be drinking it?” Ferah teased.

Magnus scowled, he hated being reminded of his small stature and scranny figure, it prompted him to remember he is stuck in a child’s boy, and worst of all his old life. Magnus knew that Ferah meant no harm, so there wasn’t any reason to leash out at her.

Still being told by a kid that he is a kid, is hard to swallow, “Look here, Ferah I am only two seasons younger than you, so if I am not supposed to be drinking, you sure as hell ain’t as well.”

“Oh, did I hurt the poor little’ thief’s feeling,” Ferah asked, continuing with the teasing.

“Ahh, so you do know what we get up to, huh?” Magnus asked, grasping very tightly to what she let slip. Even after he befriended the girl, she never spoke of the shadier things that his new instructors get up. She would always clamp up or change the conversation if it got into that territory.

Shock was clearly evident on her face, she tried to scold her features, but she had no practice at it; thus, she only appeared constipated. “I do not know what yo’ are talking about, Magnus.”

Magnus smirked, “Oh ho ho, it is too late for that, my dear, the games up, and you have lost.”

Seeing that playing ignorance would not work, Ferah tried another route, “Please, Magnus, do not tell my father that I have let slip anything?”

“Let slip what?” Magnus asked, enjoying teasing her.

“Don’t play daft, you know what I mean,” Ferah said as she scowled at Magnus.

“I tell you what,” Magnus said as he put his feet on the table and laid back on his chair. “You let me in on what is going on here, and I totally forget about everything, notably what you let slip.”

Ferah was silent for a long minute, thinking over her options most likely, then she finally spoke up. “You know, you are a real right bastard, Magnus, right! Can’t even do a lady a favor,” she said with a huff.

“Hey, can’t blame a fellow for wanting to get in on a secret,” Magnus said, shrugging of Ferah abuse.

“Let me get your order first, then I will tell you’,” Ferah said as she walked off into the kitchen.

Magnus waited for a good long while, for Ferah to come back with his order and the tale. For a moment there he thought that she had run off, but that would be silly, this is where she lives, they would eventually cross paths, and she must know that.

All of Magnsu’s concern drifted way once he saw her walking back into the hall carrying his order. She set down the food and drink right before him with more force than necessary, and sat her self directly across from him.

“So, what do yo’ want to know, little thief?” Ferah asked as she used her rag to wipe around the table.

“Well, how is your father and my mentors connected,” Magnus asked as he dug into his stew first.

“That leader block did my pa a favor. My brother…”

“You have a brother?” Magnus asked as he interpreted Ferah mid-sentence.

“Yes, I do, he is a real loser, always drinking, whoring, and smoking,” Ferah said, anger at the mention of her brother.

“Anyways that favor your friend did was about him, he owed a gang some money and couldn’t pay them, then he had the gall to bring his troubles here. They said the tavern would make do, but there was no way my pa would give the place up, been in the family for generations.”

Magnus listened as she kept on talking, though it looked like she was so engrossed with the story that she got off-trail. Nevertheless, Magnus did not interrupt her and let her carry on since it would be after all the gentlemen thing to do.

“Anyways, your mentors came by, and they said they would take care of the problem so long as they let us use the secret hideout. I don’t know how they knew about the place, but it has not been in use for a long time. The last person to use it was our many times over great-grandpa, who used it as a smuggling ring.”

“So, what happened next?” Magnus asked as he too was now engrossed in the tale.

Ferah shrugged her shoulders, “I do not know, but they were back the next day and said they took care of the problem. My pa didn’t believe them at first, but they swore by the Great Sage, and we have never been bothered by the Thunder Leopards ever again.”

Magnus wondered what they did to take care of that gang, how damn good are they to take care of a whole gang, a ruler of a district all by their lonesome.

“Anyways by pa kept his end of the bargain and your friends pay him handsomely for the use of the secret hideout. Yet the greatest thing to came out of this whole mess was that he finally kicked out that deadbeat,” Ferah said, not curious as Magnus was but only gleeful that her useless brother got kicked out.

“Alright, I got to go help out in the kitchen, remember, you better keep your end of thief boy or else.”

Magnus raised his hands in mock surrender and said, “What are you even talking about, my fair lady? I think I have been struck stupid by your beauty and can’t seem to remember anything.”

Ferah ruffled Magnus’s hair as she got up while replying, “I am sorry, but I am not interested in little kids.”

Magnus had the grace to look ill at Ferah remark, then asked. “And do you think I would be interested in little brats like you? I will have you know I am twice your age.”

“Whatever you say, little thief,” with that remark, she walked out.