29 Chapter 18: Perception check (1/2)
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.
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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!”