13 Chapter 2: Exastrand

"You shouldn't have done that," Codex said to Magnus who was carrying a pretty hefty pack that contained; 800 grams of oats, 3 loaves of rye bread, 4 cobs of corn, 50 grams of salt, 80 grams of sugar, 6 potatoes, 13 firewood, 2 sticks of butter, 2 cabbages, 1 jug of milk, 3 carrots, and the specialty of the day. A fried flying fish from a street vendor that came at a whopping price of a one copper thumb, which equals to 10 iron shims.

All the goods either came from the bakery, the open market where he stole those apples from, or down at the docks. His purse, which used to be filled to the brim with iron shims, was now nearly empty, all that was left was seven shims instead of the 59 shims he started off with, but still, Magnus would be able to eat well for 2 to 3 weeks.

However, Magnus couldn't believe that being a gang member paid so well, no wonder most street urchins end up joining a gang, they pay more than enough to feed yourself and in streets anyone who is able to feed and clothe you got your loyalty.

Magnus shook his head sadly at that, though. What a bleak cosmos it is, inequality has seeped through every corner of it, even here in another world. Those at the bottom fear their survive and those at the top fear losing their status.

"Are you listening to me," Codex shouted, which caused Magnus to divert himself from his reflection and hastily answer, "Yes! I was listening. You were talking about why did I have to do that. Well, do you want the simple answer or the fancy one?"

Codex immediately saw where Magnus was going with this and decided to shut it down quickly, here and now. "No, no. I was not talking about that," she said as she shook her head in disappointment. "All I said was that it was stupid, and you shouldn't have done it. Now the guards will be looking for you, and you are basically a criminal now."

Magnus snorted at that comment, "aren't I already one now," he whispered under his breath.

Codex recoiled back at that statement in shocked and horrified, clearly hearing what Magnus said, which he did not care at all.

"Listen here, young man, why would you ever think that? You are not some outlaw!" Codex said as she shouted the last part in defiance.

"You are a proper cit--" then she paused as she hesitantly added, "a... " but she had nothing, not a single thing. It is not as if she could say that Magnus was a proper citizen, HA! That would be the funniest joke ever.

Magnus caught on to it, and just chuckled not only at the awkward situation Codex found herself in but also the depressing outlook of his future. For one whole week, Magnus tried to find work, but who would hire a child a few seasons old, then he tried to find an apprenticeship, but did he have the connects?

No!

Absolutely Not!

Magnus didn't even know who his god-damn parents were in this world, and he loves keeping it like that since, in his heart, his deceased parents from Earth would always be his true parents, no matter what.

But still, a child couldn't provide for itself.

That is why after Magnus makes one more stop, he will have to go back to see that damn witch, get on his knees, and beg for forgiveness. The best outcome of this whole fiasco would be for Magnus only to receive a tongue lashing, but the worst outcome….that would be very grave, indeed.

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Magnus made his way down to Lower West Side, he went past the throng of rabbles milling about the streets and walked up to an old unused memorial. It was a large building made of black grayish slabs of stone. One structure was built like that of a tower, standing at seven stories tall, with two side sections to either side of it.

The memorial was a long-forgotten place that fell into disuse long ago. The two side sections on either side, looked near to crumbling on to themselves, the stone statues that lined the tops and bottoms have long being weathered down by snow and rain, making them look like stone lumps with no cohesiveness.

The place was so old that no one in living memory even remembers the name of the site, now it is simply called the Memorial.

Magnus went to the back of the memorial, and there he started to climb up, there were plenty of handholds to grab on to, somewhere natural and others were man-made, or more precisely, Magnus made.

On the 6th floor, Magnus grabbed on to the open ledge and hauled himself up and over.

This floor was open air on all four directions, creating the idea that it is the last floor in this building, and Magnus did nothing of the sort to dispel that idea, as he sat down then took in the sight all around him.

From this high up, Magnus had a perfect view of a good chunk of the city. Exastrand was a vast place, more like a sea than anything else. You can't really understand how vast this city is until you walk down its street, alleyway, and boulevard. There is so much to cover with a single lifetime not being enough to cover it all; from Tarlane, to the Wish, the Steamlance, Moumor court, Tomolce, Farnane town, and so much more.

But for the more practical-minded folk, Exastrand is divided into three parts. Mountaintop, Mountainside, and Mountainbelly.

Mountaintop is where the Guilds are headquartered in. There the guild members and those who hang off of them make their homes, and it is the place where all the wealth and riches are centered in.

Then there is Mountainside; it is the place where all the commoners make their homes, including Magnus. People here do not have much in the way of things, but with a trade, most can get by.

Finally, there is Mountainbelly; it is the place where the slaves conquered by the Guilds make their homes. They live in squat slums and mine deep into the belly of the mountain for ores and minerals.

Magnus took in the sight of the city all the way until the sunlight started to fade away as the two suns set in the east and west. Every time Magnus looks up into the sky and sees those two suns: the white sun, Vrox, and the golden sun Avax, it reminds him that he did not travel into the past as he thought at first, but into a whole nother world.

Magnus continued to watch the city, surveying it quietly and peacefully, as he sat on the ledge with his feet dangling over the edge until there was no more to watch as both suns were entirely gone from the sky and the white moon, Luna took over.

At that, Magnus took his cue, got up from the floor, dust himself over, and made his way to the center of the room. There, right in the center of the empty floor, he started to jump up and down trying to reach from something. Which he was finally able to grasp after a long, excruciating and embarrassing while.

Magnus then pulled down on whatever he was able to grab, which turned out to be a latch, causing a stairwell to drop down on to the floor, and the sight of another floor opened up for all to see.

Magnus climbed up the stairwell and pulled it closed after he ascended to the hidden 7th floor.

The floor was a small place, more of an attic than anything else, but it was home sweet home for Magnus. This attic is the place that Magnus could always come back to after a weary day out.

The place was circular in shape with a dome overhead, and on one side was a giant window overlooking the city.

In one corner of the room was a bed made out of hay which Magnus collected from a stable. On top of the bed was a pillow made of feathers from the butcher shop wrapped in a sheet and stitched shut. Next to the bed was a barrel filled to the brim with fresh water that was heated plenty of times over to get rid of the germs and diseases.

In another corner stood what acted as a table for Magnus, but was actually a footstool that got thrown out and he had found. Still though, it was in good condition for Magnus to work with. On the stool, many objects and contraption littered it. They were all stuff that Magnus was able to collect from trash heaps and side alleys.

Right now, the thing that took front and center stage was a shiv that Magnus was working on, it would be the weapon he would use if things get a bit personal and nasty.

Other than that, the only other thing that occupied space in the room was a chest which Magnus found here when he came.

"It is good to be back home!" Magnus said out loud to no one in particular after his gaze ran across the place making sure that everything was in order.

Then Magnus got to work on putting away his food luggage into the chest, all except for the fried flying fish, which would be lunch/dinner for today. As he did that Magnus's gaze kept on coming back to a large piece of cloth in the center of the chest. Ultimately, Magnus couldn't hold himself back and untied the cloth.

Inside it was the same black shard that Magnus found on top of the hill. Magnus didn't even dare to touch the black crystal shard since his gut feeling pointed to it being the cause of his transportation into this new world.

But still, Magnus kept on looking at it curiously as a burning question played in his mind, 'What the hell is this crystal shard?"

Be that as it may, Magnus did not have the answers, so he tied up the piece of cloth and got back to his work.

After everything was put away, Magnus made his way to the barrel to wash up and get rid of all the dust and dirt that he collected.

When Magnus looked down into the crystal clear barrel, the face that looked back at him was not that of his own, but of a totally different one.

The reflect was that of a little child who looked to be 7 years old, thin and wiry thanks to not eating much with olive dirt-stained skin. The reflection had some baby fat, but you could notice the high cheekbones were coming in. This child also had a messy tangle of azure-colored hair with a deep-set of luminescent violet eyes, topped with an s-shaped eyebrow and sharp aquiline nose.

This kid… what was his name again? Yes, Edger.

Magnus could tell right away that this old host of his would have eventually grown up to be quite the looker one day, but now this body is his, and it is nothing more than a little kid.

Magnus dumped a bucket into the barrel filling it up and then using it to wash himself up with a piece of rag. After that, Magnus cleared all the items on his footstool and prepared it to have his meal.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor with the stool in front of him with his dinner, Magnus digs in.

After finishing up the meal, which was filling after going hunger for most of the day, Magnus cleaned up his plate and put it away.

What followed after that was hygiene, Magnus brushed up using a twig as a toothbrush, then finally he made his way to his bed.

As soon as Magnus hit the hay, he was out cold, the only thing that registered before sleep embraced him was a goodnight from Codex.

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Deep into the middle of night, Magnus fitfully slept, sweat glistened down his face as he rolled around in his bed. Then all of a sudden, Magnus woke up, screaming.

"Are you okay, Magnus?" Codex asked in a worried tone.

Magnus took in a deep lungful of breath as he surveyed his surroundings and started to calm once he saw that he was in his room at the top of the Memorial.

"Magnus?" Codex said tentatively.

"Oh," Magnus said as he finally noticed Codex, then seeing the awkward situation he is in, Magnus tried to downplay things."I am alright, Codex, there is nothing to fret about."

"There is NOTHING to fret about, you say!?" Codex shout, feeling displeased. "You wake up EVERY single night screaming since we came to this new world, and you say it is Fine!"

"Look, Codex..." Magnus said, trying to placate Codex, but she quickly cut him off.

"No! Do not give me that bullshit. I have stayed quiet as long as possible, waiting for you to come forth and talk about it. But it seems like that had been too much to expect from you. So, Magnus, I am going to ask this again, are you okay?"

For a long while, Magnus stayed silent, just sitting upright in his bed without saying a peep, then suddenly, without any warning, Magnus spoke up.

"I-i have these nightmares," Magnus started off with, and Codex, who was in the background, stayed silent as she listened.

"It is this one nightmare that haunts every single night, just this one" then Magnus paused but not for long this time as he took in a deep breath to give himself the courage to carry on.

"I am back at that hill every night, and there I am butchering them all," Magnus said as he shivered and held himself tightly for even uttering his worst terrors.

Codex, who was curious at what 'them all' meant, couldn't help herself from asking, "What do you mean, Magnus."

"Everyone," Magnus whispered, and once the secret was out in the open, Magnus couldn't stop himself from continuing as he just wanted this off his chest. "I am at that hill every night, killing all of them! First, it was just Michael and his brother, then Lobal and Jovel, after that it was Bret and Anthony, next it was Aunt Avril and Grandpa Richard, finally it was Mom and Dad."

Once Magnus finished telling his dark deeds, silence reigned upon the room as nobody said a single word. Then it was all broken down by Codex, who took on a clinically detached tone and said, "Magnus, it is just a dream nothing more, and as you said, there is nothing to fret about."

Magnus shook his head from side to side, clearly not agreeing with Codex's view on the matter. "No, it is clear what this means… I am a Monster!"

"Come on, Magnus, that is not true at all. You would never do that at all," Codex said in an unhappy tone while trying to reassure Magnus.

Magnus chuckled in a bleak tone as he asked, "I would never do that? Huh?! I already killed three of those people from my nightmare!"

"You know what I had enough of this!" Codex shouted, "the only reason why you killed those three was because of self-defense. Not because you are some monster. Never!"

Magnus looked up from his finger as Codex timbre took on a softer approach, "Magnus, a monster is a person who does not care a lick about those he or she hurts. However, you, on the other hand, feel anguish whenever you have to lift your hands. That is the making of a compassionate and benign person. So tell me, do you think you are a monster?"

After a long while, Magnus spoke up, "You know how to cheer up a guy, Codex," he said in an amused tone. "Did I tell you that? Well, I am saying it right now."

Then just as Codex was about to add something to Magnus's statement, a loud moan filled with agony echoed throughout the whole Memorial. The two of them, both Codex and Magnus, paused right where they stood, then Magnus broke the stillness as he said, "Not this again. Come on!"

There is a reason why nobody in this part of town did not occupy this prime real estate, and it is because this place is haunted. Or that is what common medieval folk think.

Magnus, who is a modern man, knew better than falling into the common trapping of the ignorant folk. Seeing that everyone is avoiding this place like the plague, Magnus decided to take up residency here.

The first night when Magnus woke up to the screaming and wailing, he nearly ran out, right there and then, but after a whole night of staying awake,, Magnus saw that the damage was not substantial. Yes, he would get woken up in the middle of the night, but nevertheless, he does have a roof over his head and a place to call home.

So now all this noise is just nothing more than a nauseous.

"Do they never get tired?" Magnus asked Codex rhetorical, "Every single night, this fucker just goes on and on."

Codex just chuckled and asked in amusement, "Why don't you go check it out, Magnus?"

Magnus sneered to hide his discomfort, although he would not admit it, he does feel a bit of trepidation towards whatever continuous to makes those awful noises. From what he gathered around the block this racket has been going on for hundreds of years: if the other beggars where to be believed.

So, Magnus came to the right and proper judgment of never going down to the lower floor if it can't be helped.

"Do you think I have the time of day to mill about and go on some pointless search?" Magnus asked.

"Whatever you say," Codex said riley.

Magnus scowled but did not add anything then curled back into bed. Tomorrow Magnus has to rise up and early since it is going to be a big day, he is going to see that old witch again.