Chapter 2: Homeless But Not Penniless
Midnight in the city of Engelburg was almost always equally alive as daytime. Bustling in the air of urban excitement to drown the stuffling anxiety, the noises of passing chatter and rushing footsteps overpowered the quiet humming of magic-powered cars. Huge, vibrant holographic advertisement colored the main squares, displaying repeated commercials between tall buildings and decorating the view along the sky trains.
Under the dazzling skyline, however, there were some areas that looked a bit out of place. As if stuck in time for decades, these areas still had the outdated electric lamps lighting up the alleys and narrow streets, as opposed to the lighting made of magic showering the metropolitan area. It was almost the end of winter, but the asphalt was still covered by thin layer of snow and ice, reflecting the flickering neon signs from old-designed buildings.
In one corner of the street, a scrawny young man was sitting atop a spread out dirty cardboard, munching on a bland bread. Wearing a blue hoodie whose color had extremely faded out, along with worn out jeans and sneakers, his body shivered slightly as the cold wind blew. He was leaning on the dull wall, his knees stood supporting his extended arms. His brown eyes were barely visible, partly covered by overgrown dark brown fringe. He was staring blankly at the wall ahead, seemingly uncaring of anything around him.
After the last bite, he dusted off his clothes and stood up, feeling like the world was upside down for a second due to low blood pressure. He activated his Iris, and suddenly a glowing silver ring appeared around his left pupil, perfectly covering his iris, hence the name of the device.
Ever since the discovery and implementation of magic on the public mass level, Iris had widely replaced smartphones as the latest means for communication. Connected to a chipset planted in the brain with super thin optical fibers and electrodes, Iris was installed on one of the eyes, which upon activation would display a holographic window only visible to the user. As long as the user was able to wield even the tiniest ounce of magic, Iris could provide them with any services available, from simple phone calls to access to the internet. It was basically similar to smartphones, but without the hassle of having to hold it by hand.
The young man stared at the Iris window floating in front of his left eye. It displayed the homescreen, filled with a clutter of app icons. He glanced at the digital clock on the upper corner of the screen and then at the toolbar next to it, which currently showed a small message icon.
With a single thought, he expanded the toolbar box and opened the message.
[I've fixed the glove. You can come pick it up tomorrow morning.]
A little smile formed on his lips as he closed the message and deactivated Iris.
The young man then did a brief stretching up, loosening his muscles and warmed up a little bit. He walked up to the nearest subway station and scanned his Iris on a scanner mounted on one of the 2 meter-tall gates. After a beep, the gate opened and a notification popped up on his Iris window.
[General Credits available: 1504]
With the dwindling amount of cash and credit cards, General Credits had become a payment system that covered fares for all public services in the country, including transportations, as well as all kinds of purchases in groceries, restaurants, and shopping centers.
The young man headed to one of the train platforms and sat down. Ten minutes later, a faint breeze in the air approached the platform from inside the tunnel, signaling the arrival of the train. The train was powered by kinetic magic from mana conductors along the railway that reduced the weight of the cars, keeping them afloat a few centimeters above the ground. The train itself was equipped with its own kinetic mana conductors for stabilization as well as to thrust the train forward. The train arrived at the platform and gradually slowed down to a halt.
The doors slid open and the young man hopped into the car, which was currently filled with three other people sitting far away from each other. This was not an unusual sight, considering the lack of residents out and about in this part of the city, especially at midnight. He took a seat near the door and leaned his head against the window. A few seconds later, the doors closed and a gentle drag could be felt within the train, signaling that it had started moving. For the next fifteen minutes, lulled by the smoothness of the ride, the young man dozed off.
----
[40 General Credits has been used]
[General Credits available: 1464]
The young man deactivated his Iris and exited the station. Four stations for 40 credits worth of fare later, he had arrived at downtown Engelburg. Truly, the view out here, compared to the old part of the city where he usually rested, was like night and day. Crowds of people walking along the sidewalks, sparkling lights from sidestreet stores and buildings, the occasional passing-by of surveillance drones, and different smells that blended into one invaded his senses.
He walked ahead for about five minutes before turning right to an alley. He spotted a metal door, which was a back door into the currently still closed Rodriguez's Wand Store, and banged on it three times. He activated his Iris while waiting for a response.
A few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a woman in her 20's, with dark olive skin and black wavy hair that fell to her waist. She was wearing a loose green shirt underneath a sweater, a pair of cream-colored sweatpants and slippers. Her hazel eyes, which still had traces of sleep on them, met the young man's. She frowned and said, "Max? I told you to come tomorrow morning."
Max glanced at his Iris window, which was currently showing a text version of what the woman said. It was received through the speech-to-text system installed on the device, connected to an audio sensor planted in his left ear. With a thought, he typed a reply within less than two seconds.
After he finished typing, the text-to-speech system immediately got to work, and a robotic sound then came out from a small speaker planted right below his left ear.
[But it's technically already tomorrow morning, isn't it, Debra?]
Debra sighed and stepped aside from the door. "Come in, then."
Max entered through the door and followed Debra through a hallway that eventually led to her workshop-slash-home. On one side of the room, all kinds of handitools hung from wooden platforms mounted on the wall, and a table beneath them with some sort of dagger seemingly still being worked on. On another side of the room, there was a display of Wands in various forms; from the weapon forms like knives, classic guns, and laser guns, to the ordinary-looking ones like glasses, bracelets, and earrings.
Wands were built by Wand Makers, and they came in different forms and functions, depending on the design request of their handler. In most cases, people owned several Wands for mundane activities and one Wand in the form of a weapon. The constitution did say that citizens had a right to bear arms, as long as they were registered and licensed.
"This way," said Debra, guiding Max to a small table near a door that most likely led to her bedroom. "It took a while to not only repair it, but also replace the mana conductor with a high-quality one."
Max looked down at the table, where a pair of leather gloves laid neatly on top of it. They were his Wand. The gloves were colored white on the backside and black on the other side. He picked them up and carefully put them on. They had an extension that came down to his wrists, each where a white flat stone the size of his thumb nail was embedded next to the strap that locked the glove in place.
Max inspected Debra's handiwork for a while before sending a bit of mana into the gloves. The white stones glowed briefly before they dimmed again. He nodded in approval.
[Feels nice. I can tell the stones are good quality. Thanks, Debra. How much do I owe you?]
"100 credits," she replied, grinning and crossing her arms.
Max raised his brows in surprise.
[Is that a discount for me? You do know that I'm homeless but not penniless, right?]
She chuckled and said, "You're my friend, Max. It's not because I underestimate your financial situation. Just pay me quick."
Max nodded and accessed the General Credits app on his Iris. He went to the Transfer option, selected Debra as the receiver from his list of registered users, and typed in the amount before confirming.
Debra's right iris glowed green, notifying her of the payment. "Nice, thanks. Now scram before I call the cops on you for disturbing my sleep," she said jokingly.
[Alright, alright, I'm going. Thanks again.]
Max headed outside before Debra closed the door behind him. He slightly smirked while looking at his gloves again, thinking how much more he could do with the new, better magic conductors. With a relieved mind after finally getting his gloves back, he walked off toward the city, ready to test out his upgraded Wand.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone