Tale of Four

Like in HazelTown, Alice found a building created by the Magi for their personal use. Unlike HazelTown, however, it wasn’t a hiding spot for the Magi to lock themselves away, but a massive trading hub, where travellers and residents came trading for both artefacts and materials that only the Magi could get easily. Looking up at the thin stone tower, Alice felt her mouth go agape at the massive, glowing orb atop it, pointing towards the sea; its light pulsing every few seconds.

Stepping in, she looked around, almost overwhelmed by the sound. Despite it, she pressed on. The rest of the port city was useless, none of the materials being what she wanted. Although many were brilliant for potion brewing, it wasn’t her study at the moment.

"Ahh, there’s a young one." A booming voice echoed through the crowd as a large black Magi walked over, towering over the rest of the people. Alice stepped back and looked up at the man, who easily reached a height of 6’8. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Are you using an Aretfact?" It was the first time she had seen anyone so tall, and because of it, she couldn’t help but ask, intrigued if he would share it. The black Magi looked at her before letting out a hearty laugh, grabbing his stomach as he did.

"No. People don’t realise you just gotta eat well to get like me. Come, I’m guessing you’re fresh out of the House with how you’re looking around like a lost puppy."

"I’m not fresh." Alice snorted, "It’s my second time." With a proud smile, the black Magi sweetly smiled and nodded.

"Very impressive. Good thing the first door you chose didn’t kill you instantly." Laughing to himself, he pulled Alice close to him and dragged her through the crowd, making sure she didn’t get lost. Staring up at the man, Alice couldn’t help but still think his height was fake. If he were muscular, it might have been believable, but he was too skinny, making him look like a stick figure rather than a person.

’His voice and laugh don’t match either.’ With a picture of how he should look, Alice tugged on his sleeve, "You would look better if you had muscle and cut your hair. It’s a mess. I mean, how does it even curl in itself like that?" The man reached up and grabbed his messy afro, frowning at her insult.

"I won’t tell you again, but this is how my hair is in its natural state. Please don’t insult it, and please do not ask to touch it." Alice closed her mouth, hearing his words, and nodded. Seeing she understood her mistake, the black magi shrugged, knowing what life in the Mad House did to people’s personalities and pulled her to one of the bedrooms where they usually stayed. Looking around, he took a seat and leaned back. "So why are you here? Exploring, or do you have a purpose? I’ll let you know, Magi get discounts on everything."

"I wanna make an artefact. I looked around the town but couldn’t find what I wanted." The man waved his hand and scoffed.

"All that is poor quality or fake. Here is where you’ll get the good stuff, everyone knows that." Reaching into his robe and pulling out a notepad and pen, he smiled, "What are you making?"

"Glasses." Nodding, he fell into thought, occasionally writing soemthing down and falling into thought again. Alice sat silently watching as he finally finished and handed it over to her.

"That’s everything I remember we have off the top of my head, which can be of use." Looking her up and down, his eyes lingered on the quill for a fraction of a second before looking into her eyes, "But it all comes for a price. For normal people, this is either coin or materials, but as you are a Magi, you can trade knowledge."

Alice thought for a moment and deeply frowned, "That doesn’t seem fair. I mean, what if I tell them everything I know and they decide it isn’t enough? Then they will just steal my knowledge, and I get nothing."

"Don’t worry. We have a system in place." Looking around, the black Magi grabbed a small potted plant and placed it next to them, making a triangle. "Imagine that is a third Magi. You will tell him what you wish to buy, along with the information you wish to trade for it." Raising a hand to stop Alice from interrupting, he smiled, "Those in charge of it are senior Magi. Anything you know, they likely already do. The main thing is you have to decide how much you are willing to share. You can only blame yourself if you give too much. Don’t worry too much, however. Those seniors will make sure you don’t get scammed too badly."

Alice nodded and looked down at the notepad for a moment, already thinking of soemthing. The dead Magi’s completed works were too valuable on their own, and his bones couldn’t have a price if someone knew what they were looking at. But his initial research into runes was valuable. If she tinkered with it a little to make it her own rather than his, then it meant she kept her goal still of denying his knowlegde from passing to someone else whilst using it to get what she wanted. It was the only way she could think of using it and still coming out as the winner against him.

"Is paper free?" The man nodded and walked to a nearby cupboard, taking out a stack of plain paper and a pen.

"Do what you want. Find me when you’re done, I’ll help you out." The man left after that, knowing it wasn’t his place to watch, and once the door closed, Alice slumped over the table and quickly wrote everything she remembered about the man’s description of runes. Looking at the completed piece of work, she frowned and grabbed another piece of paper, purposely leaving out a section and filling it with her own thoughts. Even if it wasn’t as detailed as the man’s previous one, it was enough.

Over and over she repeated the process for an hour, destroying the original works after completion and smiled in satisfaction. Taking them in her arms, she ran off and found the man again, who led her down one of the tower’s passages, into a side room where an old man sat with closed eyes.

"Sir, she wishes to trade knowledge for..." Alice took out the notepad and showed the old man, tapping a few items. Taking the paper, the old man looked at the items she wanted and closed his eyes, getting a rough idea of what a fair trade would be.

"What knowledge are you providing for it?" Shoving her papers into his hands, the old Magi leaned back, carefully reading each paper, not showing a single change in expression, scrutinising it, making sure it was both true and fair. After ten minutes, he separated two pieces of paper from the eight and handed them back. "These two are an overpayment. As for the rest, they will be useful for the people you wish to buy from."

Looking to the black Magi, the old man nodded. After twenty minutes, he returned holding numerous boxes. Placing them on the table, the old Magi handed the papers to the black Magi and watched him leave. "You can go. The deal is complete." Alice smirked and lifted the boxes, nearly stumbling over as she did, walking back to her room.

Inside, she put them down and carefully arranged them. From the first box, she pulled out two thick crystals that were as clear as glass but as hard as diamonds. From another old black wood, soft as a feather but durable like steel. Finally, liquid, yellow in colour, that had no scent. Alice picked each one up and held them up, determining the angle of attack on how to start.

"Why don’t you start with the wood. That’s the least valuable one." Chesh said, falling onto the bed and staring at the ceiling.

"I didn’t hear you arrive." Chesh looked up at her and smiled. "Of course I didn’t. Anyway," Picking up the wood, she pulled out the quill from her belt and placed it on the wood, "This should be easy."

"Do you have the runes in mind for the crystals?" Chesh asked, making Alice frantically nod.

"I’ll start off basic. As I get better, I’ll add to it. For now, they only need to translate what I’m reading. For the wood, maybe soemthing that will automatically fit my head. The liquid will be the thing to hold them together." Her words made Chesh clap her hands softly.

"Perfect." Tilting her head to get a better view, she watched as Alice got to work, carefully carving the wood, making sure never to cut too much.