Mastermind: A Story You Won't Believe

It was still early when Locus opened his eyes.

It was a day like every other. He crawled out of bed and followed his morning routine, dressing, brushing his teeth, washing his face, and then going outside.

Just like every other morning, he went for a 30-minute run to wake up his body. The sun was rising and made all of the buildings shine in a golden light.

"Good morning, Mrs. Copperfield!"

"Oh, hello, dear. My, you're up early again."

Locus grew up in a small town where all of the residents knew each other.

"Thanks again for helping me fix my roof."

"Thank you for running that errand yesterday."

"I appreciate the help with baking that cake for my son."

He was quite popular around the townsfolk, since he spent a lot of his free time socializing and doing good deeds.

"It's my pleasure."

When Locus came back home, he prepared breakfast for his parents and little sister. He got some bread, laid the table, and fried some eggs. He has usually done this every morning since about a year ago.

"Breakfast is ready!"

Mere seconds after the words left his mouth, his little sister Daisy came rushing out of her room. Locus smiled. She always wakes up early and is just waiting for him to prepare the food.

"We're on our way."

His mother's voice came out of the living room. A little while later, her face appeared in the door frame leading to the dining room, followed by that of Locus' father.

"Did you kids sleep well?" Mary asked.

"Mhm"

Daisy had already stuffed her mouth with bread.

"And what about you, Locus? After all, today is your important day."

"You say that like it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. I do this every year."

"Still, it is kind of a big deal."

His mother was right. Today was the day that Locus had to deliver the ordered ores to Mr. Orvis.

"Will you do it the usual way?" his mother asked.

"Sure, why not?"

Locus had quite a reputation as someone who could easily execute and deliver difficult customer orders.

"It looks like you're putting good use to your ability."

Indeed, excluding the high-tier abilities, Locus' ability was nigh perfect for transporting goods. It allowed him to turn any material into another and reverse the process just by touching it, as long as the new material has the same state of aggregation as well as a lower density than the original material.

When delivering ores to Mr. Orvis, he just turns them into wood, which makes transporting them far easier, and upon arrival, he turns the wood back into its original state, that being the ores.

That way, he has to transport less weight and has an easier job moving stuff from one place to another.

Of course, running errands was just a part-time job of his. To make living a little more comfortable, he decided to earn a little bit of money, and with an ability like his, it's not much of an effort.

Nevertheless, it took Locus a few days to get to Mr. Orvis since the ladder lived a few cities further in the east, which means that once a year, Locus left his hometown of Condre Village to make this important delivery.

In return, it did pay pretty well with about 500 silver.

With a payment like this, the job contributed its fair share to Locus' allowance.

"When will you be back, big brother?"

By now, Daisy had finished her slice of bread and looked her brother in the eye with a curious look in her innocent eyes.

"Well, it'll take me about three days to get to Unipolar City."

That was the city in which Mr. Orvis lived and where the ores were supposed to be delivered.

"I guess I'll spend a day there, unloading the wares and turning them back into their original state. And then, of course, I'll come back. Since there's less weight to carry for the horses in front of the carriage, if I leave early, the way back might cost me just two days. In any case, I should be back in about a week."

Daisy pouted.

"Why can't you be back tomorrow morning?"

Locus and his parents started laughing.

"Well, if you had a teleportation ability, I could just make it by tomorrow morning."

"Isn't there anyone in our town who has one?"

"Unfortunately not, although that would be pretty nice." Mary answered.

She turned to Locus.

"So, when will you leave?"

"Mr. Andersson awaits me with the goods in an hour."

"And you've got everything you need?"

"Please, mother, this isn't the first time I'm doing this."

"Okay, if you say so."

His mother raised her hands as if she wanted to surrender.

"As long as you're all right, I'm happy."

"Thanks mother."