Klein woke up the next morning determined to avoid his mentor.

  It wasn’t that he wouldn’t love to start some training and to learn more about his trait and grow stronger. It wasn’t that he had suddenly forgotten about the enemies on his tail, and the deadline on his very life.

  He was just tired.

  The last few days had been hectic in ways he hadn’t imagined his life to be. All the fighting, the surprises, the sneaky business, it had gotten tiring. He was never built for that life, and although he understood the necessity of it, he also didn’t wish to burn himself out just at the beginning of it all.

  When he woke up, he was shocked to see that it was early morning of the next day. Around 4 a.m, his clock told him. He had slept for more than 15 hours! Although regret came at this colossal waste of time, Klein found it hard to be angry about it. He felt fresh and more well rested than forever.

  Honker was still there. He was on Klein’s chair–his small head placed on his own feathers like a pillow–where he slept.

  Klein didn’t know what to think of it. This show of trust, or this show of his own stupidity. He sighed and got up silently. He tried not to make any noise, lest he woke up the goose. Walking quietly, he walked out into the empty hallways. They were well lit by mana lamps on the ceiling. They were once placed against the walls, but kids often stole them. The academy would find the thief, but the kids never stopped. This chase was recorded in the academy as one of the greatest times for advancement in anti-divination spells and wards by the mage students.

  The lead perpetrator was even gifted multiple magical lamps and prizes during his graduation. But the academy did learn their lesson, and placed them high enough to deter the students from trying.

  Klein chuckled and went to the communal washroom to freshen up. Half an hour later, he was out.

  What to do now…

  He looked around his room to find anything to do. In the back of his mind he already knew of the hundreds of things that needed to be done, but consciously, he knew that he didn’t want to do any of them right now.

  Might as well finish the blankets I guess.

  It wasn’t work, he felt. Well, it was work, but over the months he had done it so many times that the work had become more therapeutic than anything else. Just mindless application of his skill, to be lost in the void of it all.

  Nothing could beat that.

  With a plan now, he took his robes, a bottle of water, his slinky to pass time when he got tired, and silently closed the door.

  #

  His ‘company’ worked from a rented storage unit. There was a hub of them in the city, sitting exactly in between the residential areas and the real commercial area.

  The storage units themselves were dark and a little unapproaching. The number of times he had heard of bodies stuffed in some units should’ve been enough to dissuade him to box himself in his rented unit and work on the blankets. It had certainly dissuaded Alain, who often worked from his own dorm, and only came here to dump the stuff.

  Klein, on the contrary, thought that the storage units were an amazing place. Sure, it was a little dark and depressing, but it was clean! It was peaceful too!! No one approached it out of fear of its reputation. Sometimes he even thought that the rumours were grossly exaggerated by some other loner to live peacefully in one of the units. He had met some of the residents. Lovely people.

  Walking up to his unit–numbered B32–he opened the box, and walked inside. As he expected, twenty blankets were strewn inside.

  Alain had a few good qualities, but cleanliness and order weren’t one of them.

  Klein first folded them up and put them in a neat order at one corner of the box before he sat on the ground and began working.

  He knew why their business was failing as soon as he touched the first blanket. It wasn’t a problem with the threading itself. Although that was indeed, one of the problems faced by his blanket–like seriously that guy even has only one fucking skill and that’s weaving stuff. How in the hell is he still not great at it?–but the main problem was the material itself.

  If all of his problems were to be summarised in one word, it’d be–money.

  They didn’t have enough capital to afford better materials to make the blankets. The blankets themselves, thus, had a somewhat rough texture. He could make them as soft as he wishes, but the texture would always foil all his efforts.

  With his new skill though, he thought there might be something he could do about it.

  Texture, as far as he was concerned, came under material properties. And if he was right, then perhaps he could change the texture of the blanket to be smooth along with soft.

  He channeled his mana in the skill, the familiar glow of it covered his hand. But before he could apply the effects, he hesitated a bit. With a sigh, he finally activated his trait as well. He concentrated on the effect of the skill against the blanket.

  As his hand touched the blanket, he could feel the mana seep into the blanket and change it on a fundamental level. His mind strained under the exertion and a headache seeped in his temples, but he held on for just a while more. To learn just a bit more.

  And when the skill stopped its effect, Klein laid on it heaving and panting. His head thrashed and pulsed against his skull with a hammer, and thinking anything had become hard. But despite the pain he was in, he could feel the softness of the material under him.

  He smiled and simply lay on it. It was cold above, he had after all put a heat-reflection coating on top to keep the outer cover cold, and to keep the inside insulated.

  The softness and the smooth texture of his blankets gave him hope. Maybe things weren’t so bad. Maybe he could actually do something with this.

  The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  He spent another few moments admiring his handiwork. It wasn’t perfect. Far from it even. There were uneven spots of smoothness. The heat work though was as perfect as he could make it.

  It was progress in the right direction.

  I can do it, yes.

  After a few minutes of massaging his head and letting the headache subside, he found the next blanket and began working. A smile was plastered on his face through it all.

  #

  Klein didn’t realise how much time passed while he worked. Sometime along the line, and along the many blankets around him, he found himself slowing down to notice the effect much closely and also find the ways his trait worked.

  Although he couldn’t see much more with his trait than the surface changes, he was nevertheless excited for what the future might await.

  His trait in itself was very basic then. It allowed him to gather basic information around him. Basic, as he said.

  But he also remembered the feeling of dots and lines he had tapped into during the fight, also the feeling of the world crumbling around him when he had visited the Charting Borough. He didn’t know how any of that worked, or why they even worked–maybe he’d have if he had gone to his mentor for some formal help, but he tried not to regret his choice.

  When he was finally done working on the last one, his product felt slightly better than the first one. Small improvements, but they were there.

  What time is it? It couldn’t be that long, can it?

  His stomach growled at that moment, and a different information entered his mind. It was something he hadn’t felt till now. He somehow knew the exact time it was. 11:43 am.

  That’s pretty neat, but damn that’s late. Was I really absorbed in work for so long?

  He walked out of the unit and soon into the glaring sun overhead. The time seems about right. I need food.

  He locked the unit before walking to the commercial district to get some lunch. The academy canteen would’ve had lunch for free, but he felt like spoiling himself just a little bit today. He was gonna earn some money soon anyway. He would also have to contact his delivery guy to deliver the goods.

  Lunch passed peacefully by a small place in one of the alleys. He liked the place as it was clean, hidden from the sun, and well respected. The food was cheap too!

  After lunch was over, he went to the delivery guy. He was someone Klein knew from his days back in the Charting. Both of them had left the Borough around the same time and went different ways from there. One joined a library, the other a delivery company. Klein enjoyed just a slight percentage discount because of this connection, but that much was enough for him to sway his decision in their favour.

  The delivery company was located in a relatively isolated part of the city. It was a small farm with a few bulls to pull carriages, and the carriages itself stored in a small shed-like garage.

  “How’s the work been mage boy?” Hugh smirked as he reached the farm. The guy in question–Hugh Miko–sat outside on a chair with a few of his peers. A beer in hand, he was the typical alcoholic one can imagine. With disheveled hair, black eyes, and a bony face; he was a short guy. He always blamed poverty for it. Klein tended to agree with that consensus. People in the Charting tended to be on the shorter side, except for a few.

  “Just finished another batch. You sure you should be drinking in the afternoon?” Klein asked as the others ignored him after seeing it was him. He had been here far too often.

  “When else would I drink?” He looked genuinely confused, “It’s the least traffic time of the day. A lot of the drivers are free. People usually sleep in their houses at this time after lunch. If anything, I’m only gonna get busier in a few hours. Though I’m assuming I’m gonna be busy now as well, since you are here.”

  He stood up with effort, groaning like an old man and handed his drink to someone else. “How many this time?”

  “20.”

  “Big order huh. Let’s hope it pays off better this time,” He walked into the farm and brought two bulls outside. A few minutes later, he had tied them into a six wheeled carriage. Klein sat inside, while Hugh worked from outside.

  When they reached the storage units again, both of them loaded the stuff in the carriage together. It was then that Hugh said, “By the way, I heard that someone in your academy died. What happened?”

  Klein stopped for just a second, surprised, as he asked, “The news has reached you too?”

  “So it did happen. Do you know about it?” Klein didn’t answer directly. He didn’t know if it was his trait, or his premonition, but he asked.

  “Why do you ask?”

  “Oh it’s nothing. There were a few men and women going around asking for any information about people involved in the incident. Heard that they were willing to spend quite a bit of money on it too,” He said as he loaded another blanket in the carriage.

  “Is that so…” Klein answered blankly. His mind was busy processing the information he had just received. People were out there looking for him?

  Of course they are! Why wouldn’t they be?

  He swallowed as he continued to load the blankets. He threw the thought away as much as could for now, and focused on the current order. But even then, as he sat in the carriage he couldn’t help but feel eyes on him. Lips that said his name, and ears which searched for his location.

  I need to deal with it quickly, otherwise I’ll go mad!

  When he reached the destination, he quickly connected to the buyer to let them know he was here. In a few minutes, a few men came outside, following the lead of a short portly man. He wore a monocle on one eye, and a moustache on his face.

  He checked the goods, counted them, and with a happy face thanked Klein profusely for fulfilling such a short notice order so well. He then told his men to unload the order, and paid him exactly one gold coin. It was 20 silver more than they were promised, but the man was generous and too happy with the order.

  The happiness Klein felt at this was short lived though.

  “Gentlemen, would you like to do a job of mine for some extra cash?” He said. His tone was surprisingly high for his stature.

  Hugh’s ears pricked up and he said before Klein could respond, “What is it?”

  “Well you see, there are some… esteemed guests in my house right now, and they are looking for some information. You might not know, but there was an incident in the academy a few days ago, and…” His voice drowned and was silenced in Klein’s mind as his mind caught up to what the man was asking of them.

  Suddenly the feeling returned. Like the world had been stretched and rotated by the hands of fate itself, and everything crumbled around him. His mind whirred, a sharp noise in the distance like a hammer striking metal.

  Then everything came back all at once. Hugh knocked against his shoulders in concern. There were three extra people around him. Black cloaked, they were, they looked at him curiously.

  “Are you okay?” Hugh asked.

  “I.. I’m sorry. I just zoned out. I haven’t had proper sleep today,” Klein excused himself. He avoided the gazes of the people in black cloaks, and almost instantly knew that was a bad choice.

  “Take care lad. A young mage like you needs to take care of themselves better,” A woman in the black cloaks smiled at him and said. Klein was horrified at the smile. He couldn’t help but clench his fists. An image of the same woman covered in his blood surfaced in his head, and he squashed it as far as he could. What would they do if they knew I was the one they are looking for?

  “We’ll be going now, Mr. Djerv. Thank you for your hospitality,” A man with golden hair and green eyes, the leader of the black cloaks perhaps, turned to the buyer and said, before leaving with his party.

  “Dangerous,” Klein heard the still smiling Mr. Djerv mutter. He only caught it because of his trait, but he couldn’t help but reciprocate it. They were dangerous.

  And so was the plan which surfaced in his mind.

  Some holiday this day was going to be.

  #