"Er… ok… Ok, you… you… your name is… Da… Daniel right? I have a pro… pro…" The girl in a brown robe was stuttering hard as she tried to force out what she thought but got cut off mid-sentence.
"Propose right, las? You're gonna propose to him!" Murphy's voice cut in, but this time, the girl in a brown robe was quick and pulled an empty can in the recycling pile into her hand and threw it at the old man's face.
"Whoa!" The old man was quicker, he ducked down, avoiding the can that was thrown at him.
Clank!
"Proposition! You nosy old man, just go and sleep already!!" The girl in a brown robe voiced out her frustration showing a middle finger to the old man, while the old man just shrugged with a smile and returned to his shack.
"Proposition? What kind of proposition?" Daniel asks, curious about what she was going to offer.
Hearing the question from Daniel, the girl in a brown robe quickly suppressed her anger and calmed down. She then explains to Daniel.
"You see, In our mage societies, most of the Artificers are not strong enough, and many of the promising but weak ones got kidnapped by those noble family mages or those large clan mages. The lucky one got forced into a contract to employ them in the service of those mage clans while the unlucky one got forced to become a slave and make artifacts for them non-stop." The girl in a brown robe stopped to let Daniel digest the information for a bit then continue.
"My proposition is, I'll be your sponsor and will protect you from those greedy mages. Providing you with a place to stay and a workshop for you to do research and build your things including all of the magic material and funds.
In return, I got a 50% cut from what you make and sell to the market in the curtained world. How was that sound?" She offered and extended her hand waiting for Daniel's answer.
Hearing about the magic Material, Daniel is immediately interested in the deal. This is it! This is the chance to get his hand on those juicy magic materials!
"I'm very interested, but there's a problem." Said, Daniel.
[Is Dan going to ask for more dividends? I want to give him 70% at first, but If I did that, it would be too suspicious since right now I'm just a stranger to him. He already heard my real voice, If I were to be more generous or give him too much incentive. He might know who I really am…] The girl in a brown robe thought to herself while panicking inside.
"What is the curtained world?" Asked Daniel.
"Huh?" The girl in a brown robe let out a confusing voice without masking it. This question was out of the blue and she didn't think he would ask her this question.
"Didn't your teacher tell you anything? It should be the basics of the basics you know. It's like how to take a bus or know how to differentiate a girl from a boy…"
Then she went silent for a moment as if she had remembered something important.
"Oh right… Some boys are more beautiful than girls these days. Let's just forget about it." The girl in a brown robe holding her head as if having a headache.
Hearing that Daniel thinks back to The Keeper who told him to try learning about the rule himself. Is the Keeper considered his teacher? Maybe?
"Well… My teacher didn't tell me much. Other than teaching me how to create these things, He just told me to learn other things myself." Daniel said as he pointed at one of the spider golems.
"Ah… Those hermit old-school types huh? I hate to admit it, but those kinds of teachers are great but the things they like to pull such as letting their pupil experience the curtained world by themself is a little bit too far sometimes." The girl in a brown robe let out a sigh.
"We can't stay here if we're going to talk about the curtained world. Let's change the place. I'll bring you to your new home too. Even if you don't accept my offer, I'll let you stay there until you find a good place to stay." Said the girl in a brown robe.
Daniel smiles and nods, grateful for the girl's generosity.
"Oh, Thank you. Then please wait a minute." He turned toward the group of spider golems that just finished building the shack and whistle.
The group of spider-looking golems turn toward Daniel and walk to him then, 9 of them merge together and transform themselves into a single ball not larger than the size of a basketball.
Daniel went to pick it up and felt that it was a little lighter than a small dumbbell. Daniel was a little amazed by this function but didn't let it show on his face. He remembered the card details of these spiders.
Card: Golem construction squad
Picture: A group of spider-looking metal golems is working at a construction site.
Rarity: Common
Type: Artifact-Creature
Mana Cost: 1 Non Element
Description: Pay 2, and create the token that copies "Golem construction squad"
Power: 1
Toughness: 2
Flavor text: The trusty aide of any mages who want to build their personal tower! Smart, handy, and very efficient. A horde of these things can build you your magic tower in a single day!
{It seems that the words in the flavor text are also considered one of the factors on how the card will work when it is actualized in the real world.} Daniel thought.
Seeing the marvelous function of the spider golem. The girl in a brown robe was stunted.
{I thought he was very good to be able to create these things, but This is not the work of an apprentice Artificer at all! the function and the efficiency of these little golems. The one who created it should be at least an Advanced rank Artificer!} She thought and thought about the future prospect of the man in front of her.
Then, the girl in a brown robe led Daniel to the parking lot nearby.
At the parking lot, a black BMW car parked near the parking post. The girl brought out her smartphone to scan the parking post, paid the bill, and went into her car.
Daniel followed suit and sat in the front seat beside the driver where the girl sat. He then placed the ball on the couch in the back seat.
After both of them close the door Daniel sees the girl setting the GPS in her smartphone and he's looking at it in interest.
"What? What are you looking at?" The girl was a little bit startled as she asked.
Daniel smiled wryly.
"Well… I thought that the mage would… you know… using the orb to show them what they want to know, flying on the broom, or teleporting to your destination. Something like that, I never thought you would use the GPS and drive a car."
"Aaah? This is 2033, not middle age. Why can't we use those convenience gadgets and machines? Besides, teleportation is categorized as ancient magic. We can no longer use that. All the knowledge about ancient magic has been lost for centuries." The girl retorted back.
Daniel nods then sit still as the girl in a brown robe drives the car out of the parking lot to the road and goes straight to downtown.
In downtown, traffic jams begin to appear and the speed of the car begins to slow down. The girl in a brown robe decides to use this time to explain to Daniel.
"About the Curtained world or the world behind the curtain. It's the name given to the world behind the scene where average people perceive it. It referred to the world where Vampires, Lycanthropes, Mages, gods, demons, ghosts, and many beings in legend and folklore are living and walking in everyday life.
The people of the Curtained world also include those organizations from the underworld, such as the mafia, triad, and Assassin organizations. Of course, only a big enough gang knows about the existence of the curtained world. The others know only rumors. Most of them don't know that we exist at all."
"Why hiding? Is there anything you want to keep to yourself?" Daniel asks, The common motive of people who try to hide something is that they fear something or that they are afraid of losing something.
"Do you remember the ancient magic I spoke of?" Asked the girl.
Daniel nodded in response.
Seeing the nod the girl continued.
"That's right, one of the reasons Ancient Magic is lost is because of the deficiencies of the magical power or mana. To use ancient magic, we require a high concentration of mana, in other words. The quality of mana in the atmosphere and the mana vein within the earth are slowly degrading as time passes.
This is caused by the rise of the human population and the spread of science."
"Why is that?" Asked Daniel.
The girl continued to explain while driving.
"That was because every human has a set of magical veins within their soul, even when it was unused, the magical vein still drains a little of mana on earth. Usually, mana will be replenished by the beliefs of the people, especially the worshiping of gods or the fear of the unknown such as ghosts or the like, when science becomes basic knowledge. This cut a lot of mana replenishing capacity of the earth that came from the people."
"If it's true then, why did the mages let it happen in the first place? Wouldn't destroying the knowledge and the spread of science be a wise move for them?" Daniel asks again.
"Of course, they tried that and already lost. That was because even within the mages group, there are those who seek the betterment of humanity rather than the prosperity of the selected few. Some of them saw the potential in technology. While some just didn't care because they thought that it was not their problem. The moment the earth's mana degrades to the point of losing normal magic, they wouldn't be in the world to experience the consequence. Just like the problem with the earth getting warmer."
The girl stopped a little bit as she watched the traffic light before continuing as she drove through after receiving a green light.
"Now you can imagine if the knowledge of magic and the existence of the curtained world were to spread. What would happen?" The girl asks.
"The use of the mana will increase and the belief and fear toward the unknown will be further lessened because when they knew that vampires and beings in folklore were real. Humans will do anything in their power to understand them." Daniel replied.
The girl nodded then continued.
"Exactly, and from history, don't forget that the last time people knew about the existence of magic. What they did is catch the magic user to burn on a stake."
"The Witch hunting?" Daniel asks.
The girl nodded and drove the car into the highrise building that seems to be a luxury condominium.
"We've arrived," Said The girl, then she got out of the car.
Daniel picked up the metal ball on the back seat and followed suit.
The girl in a brown robe led Daniel to the elevator and then to the 40+ floor. Both Daniel and the girl get off the elevator and walk to the room not far from the elevator hall.
The girl uses the key to unlock the door to the room inside. Revealing the luxury living space for one person and the magnificent view of the city at night outside of the large window making it priceless.
"Welcome to one of my safehouses. If you accept my offer. It will permanently be yours." The girl introduces the room to Daniel.