A sound of thunder cried out from the sky above. The grey clouds did not help as they covered the skies, signaling rain. Allen had seen the forecasts predicting cloudy weather, but he did not expect a thunderstorm, followed by a downpour. Droplets of water mercilessly fell down on Allen's clothes as he continued to slowly walk as if the rain was not there.
Allen couldn't care less about the weather.
"Life is just a massive piece of shit. Dreams are nothing more than a pure fantasy. The reality of this world is cruel and I wish it would end" was what he thought. Allen was disillusioned of the world as soon as he began to start a job. He was faced with nothing other than hardship, dealing with countless rejections. He grew desperate, eventually causing him to become a victim to the vices of a black company. Even now, he was unable to escape from his predicament even if he tried. The company he worked for, deviously manipulated their workers and essentially blackmailed them into staying. Every worker could not quit without the risk of the matter going to court, and potentially being in a much worse situation than before.
Allen was out on the streets because he was lucky enough to get a day off. This time was precious as it allowed him breathing room from the oppressive work environment he had endured for years. A small fleeting moment of pure freedom, akin to a shard of hope. Allen gave a depressed sigh lamenting on his situation and eventually stopped in front of a bookstore. It was called "Solutions" a very odd name for a bookstore. Nonetheless Allen walked in and was greeted by the scent of old papers.
"Ohhh?? Fancy seeing you here. Special day?" said a voice. From the counter, sat an old man who did not pay attention to Allen, and continued to look at the book he had in his hands.
"Hardly" Allen responded curtly, thinking about how he had to fight every other member in his company for this time off.
"I see." There was a tone of indifference in his voice as silence soon began to fill the air again.
Allen and the old man were not what could be classified as friends. They were more of acquaintances. Allen himself was also not a very avid reader. It was only because the bookstore offered him a few benefits. One of those benefits was peace and quiet. The old man has told him once that Allen was his only customer, which meant he did not have to deal with anybody else but the old man. The other reason was because it offered internet. His company also offered internet, but the company was no stranger to using dirty methods and Allen did not want his company to take advantage of his intent to send money home to his family. Lastly, the old man himself was nice as a company. Although they did not talk much, Allen could find himself appreciating the old man. He was nice enough to even offer a few books from his collection for free, something Allen never understood why but was grateful for all the same.
Allen spent the next hour catching up with the old man. They made small talk, but mostly discussed how Allen's company was the personification of hell itself ready to take in unsuspecting souls and offering nothing but misery. It did not help that the abuse has also caused people to wish for death itself as a way to escape this cycle of torment.
"Honestly…" Allen gave a depressed sigh before continuing "Why is this the world we live in now?"
"Sounds tough" chuckled the old man. Allen wanted to give a retort, but decided to shut his mouth.
He heard the same words from the old man every time, that he did not want to argue about it anymore.
"I better get back now. I don't want to hear about another stupid speech from the landlord about late rent." Before he muttered quietly "For the 10th time in a fucking row."
"Ha ha ha… if that is the case, hold on a moment." the old man gave a chuckle before he got up and went to the backroom. Allen stood there waiting until the old man walked out and presented Allen with a book.
"Take this with you" the old man said
"Ohhh thanks." Alen said looking at the book once before putting it inside his briefcase. Allen had already expected the old man would give him a book so he always made sure he had enough room in his briefcase to fit a book or two inside.
"See you." Allen gave a final farewell and left the store. The old man said nothing in response, and only gave a smile.
—--------------------------
"Finally…I can take a break.." he sighed as Allen flops down on his bed before he stared at his apartment's cracked ceiling. He looked around, with only the archetype silence keeping him company. Every single day he's only been managing to scrape by with most of his money has been sent back home for his mother and 2 sisters. No huge and generous savings to talk about nor is there a close relative willing to help them by dishing their money away. Whether is it their fault or not Allen is still thinking about it.
He had heard stories from his mother that she and his father had eloped away from their parents when they were still in the middle of their first year in university and during their time as a family for a few years it was going well, until it wasn't. He considered his 2 sisters lucky that they are not there yet to see how this family has been slowly crumbling and tearing apart, his father lost his job as a construction worker when he was 3, and as money slowly drying up and he hadn't been able to found a job, his father, Viktor had decided that it's a fucking brilliant idea to put the money they had left at the mercy of cards and dices to get some so-called 'easy money'.
By the time his 2 sisters are born there are barely any money left to support them, all there is are fucking loansharks knocking on their door every day and destroying their home each time they managed to come in with his father are nowhere to be seen. The last time he ever saw that damned fucker was 9 years ago when he was 13 and his respective younger sisters, Jessica and Crystal 10 and 8 respectively. Either the damned bastard manage to run away and left their family behind to die or has been caught and killed by them loansharks, either way, won't make any difference because they had to leave their household and let it be taken by the loansharks while they had make do with a small rotting run-down house at the countrysides where they lived until today.
Allen's apartment was no better, a cheap run-down studio with no bathrooms, however, his proficiency at cleaning makes the slumps he's living in looked pretty decent. Seems like the skills he picked up to help his aging mother at cleaning their house alongside his 2 younger sisters are pretty damn helpful. the 3 of them usually are pretty close, always going heart to heart with each other but those 2 recently had built a wall between them these last 5 years just before he took off to the city, he wonders why, but he doesn't really intend to break it down.
"Great…all this trip to memory lane now left me wide awake instead.." he sighed before he turned his attention to his case laid down on the floor next to his pile of clothes.
"Might as well take a look at what he got for me this time.." Allen rises up from his bed, walking over to his briefcase, flipping up its 2 locking mechanisms b 2 clicking sound can be heard before he opens it and retrieve the book he had received from the old man. He didn't notice back when he was still at the shop earlier but the book itself looked quite old from the looks of its tired cover, not only did it feel very dry to the touch but it also looked very stained, as if it had been used by someone for a very prolonged time.
But the even weirder details that Allen noticed is that it's pages looked very clean with no sign of dilapidation can be seen among the papers, almost as if the pages and the cover came out of a different Era. And then, there's the exterior itself, decorated by what seems to be some sort of insignia on the front of the book, sticking out quite a bit making the book look even thicker than it actually was.
Quite a different aesthetics than the usual kinds of stuff the old man gave him but he's not gonna complain, especially when it usually offers a path to escape his sad reality for a bit at least.
…
…
…
…
empty... so Allen flips to the next page to again meet the same result and he kept going for a while to still only meet an empty page. At this point, Allen is scratching his head in confusion as to what this book actually is. A journal? With such a ubiquitous exterior? There's no way in hell, Is the old man messing with him? What kind of joke is this then? Allen sighs, closing the book with a huff as a light thud could be heard from it before throwing it over to his bed.
"What the hell…if you're gonna mess with me you might as well gave me something more of a pain in the ass than this…" he silently cursed the old man before he got up from his bed, walking towards the fridge in the corner of his room.
"Hmm…might as well keep it light for tonight.." Allen shrugged as he took 2 apples out, closing the fridge behind him as he went to the pantry to get some plastic plates and took a pocket knife from his work coat that he had kept in case he get robbed. Allen admits it's not the best tool of defense nor is he the slightest bit proficient with it, but, in such a damned world like this at least it's better than nothing, especially at keeping him alive so he can help his mother feed his two sisters back home.
Seating himself back on the bed, using the 'book' from the old man as his flat stand on his lap, he set the 2 perfectly ripe apples he caught from a passing farmer's truck a few days ago and start peeling with his pocket knife. Unfortunately for him, the circumstances of the lack of lighting in his room accompanied by his pocket knife not being the perfect tool to peel fruits conspired together against him.
"Ow-! Fuck!!!" Allen curses, surprise surprise with him went on autopilot when peeling he cut himself by his thumb, luckily it's not very deep. As the amount of blood drops are starting to make a mess everywhere Allen went back to his 'kitchen' to treat his wounds, not realizing the stains of blood starting to be drawn into the book, before disappearing among its pages
A few minutes later, Allen came back with a bandaged left thumb, luckily it's not very deep but he still hisses slightly;y whenever his thumb touched something, a discomfort for sure but not something he would call a huge one. Seating himself again by his bed, making sure to not cut any more of his finger this time, he ate one of the freshly peeled apple. As he thought, a fresh from the farm apple tasted so damned good, a perfectly balanced sweet and sour flavor with lots of water oozing out every time he bit into it. Delightful.
Thinking it would be much better to have the other apple as a perfect refreshment to eat with his leftover from yesterday Allen decides to kept it back inside his fridge, as he rises up with his pocket knife and paper plates with apple peels on top of it in his other hand, forgetting the fact he was using the book as his stand, it immediately fell on top of the floor, landing at the middle of it's hilt with both sides of the pages opened.
"Are you serious…" Allen sighs, putting his apple and paper plate on his bed. As he picked up the book from the floor, dusting it off a bit, Allen found himself at the same level of confusion when he found the book's page this time filled to the brim with text and paragraphs that he knew doesn't exist there before.
But then again, he could be just delirious when he opened it earlier, it's not very convincing, but it's the most logical explanation there is for this. Quickly cleaning everything up, he walked over to his bed with the book on top before he flopped on his back with the book in hand as he starts to read it.
It's safe to say, the first few minutes Allen spent on reading the book has been really harsh on him. Not because it contained very disturbing things but rather because it's very cringy to the point of he would drop it had it not been in the middle of a late silent night when all he could do is just sitting in his bed, watching the book tried to convince him that magic is real and it had been existing under human feets just like a shoe as if it was an 8 year old child.
Luckily for him after he forced himself through all of that suffering he has surprisingly fascinated by the contents inside. Allen couldn't help but let a slight smirk tugging the corner of his lips, it is undoubtedly still ridiculous but that's just the content of a pure normal and rational logic. He continued turning the pages, mana sensitivity, magic circuits, spell knowledges, element attunements, these topics has ensnared Allen's attention with how detailed they are explained in the book in the way he preferred it even.
And strangely enough, for a second, Allen would like to believe it is real, these topics would explain how things that exist in this modern time that couldn't be explained with just logic. Stone faces in easter island, the standing stone henges, pyramids even.
"Mana sensitivity…" Allen mumbles, a specialized sense shared among sorcerers and witches that can be used to sense each other presence, spells, chants, and curses that are broken down to 5 senses of a human: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. A very basic first step to understood but if there is anything he learned over all these years he lived, is to never underestimate basics.
According to the book, most sorcerers would only able to perceive mana by touch. A standard run-of-the-mill for anyone who would want to get their hands involved in the world of magic arts. The ones who are more blessed with talent will have 2 or more senses available to them to perceive mana which meant that particular someone would be a lot more capable of being a notable sorcerer.
Flipping the next page Allen had finally come across the 'first/easiest spell' of the book. Light orb. It's purpose is just as simple as it's name sounds, providing a light source to it's user. Wanting to be able to call the night off in a light-hearted mood before going back to the usual mood, Allen decides to follow the book's instructions.
To conjure it, first, he needed to stretch his fingers apart and leave the center of his palm exposed and then comes the hard part itself or rather the impossible part, making the orb by focusing a sling of energy around him to the center of his palm, which is not going well for obvious reasons. As few minutes flew by after trying modestly Allen gave in and closed the book.
"Hah…look at me trying to be funny.." Allen chuckles as placed the book on the small table by his bed and tucks in for the night. However, it was as if life knew he is having fun and it decided to not having none of it, because, after Allen dozed off, he felt a big kick towards his ribs as if a semi truck had rammed him.
Allen bit his lip, suppressing any will of screaming as he tried to sleep it of. He toss and turn on his bed, his hands gripped the sheets mercilessly trying to vent out his torture. His face reddens and glistened with sweat, it was as if a liquid fire was poured on him, flowing inside every inch of his veins and nerves. And it kept going for what he think an hour or two before he can even feel at ease as the pain stops. Allen's breath heavily as if he's been going through the most difficult physical exercise he has ever had before he passed out from the mental strain.
—----------------------------
Over at the 'solutions' the old man can be seen, humming a pleasant tune to himself on top of a ladder by a tall racks, putting his books in their rightful place before he stops midway. He has sensed very something pleasant, a sense he is very familiar with that he has not felt for a long time.
"It seems he has awakened his magic circuits…" he chuckles, continuing to put in the rest of his books in the rack before he slids down the ladder, not a sight that one would think could be done by an old man like him.
"Your life shall be very interesting from now on….Allen…."