Introduction 4

After grabbing her keys, Iyla hurried back to the alleyway where the store was. She tried not to stare too long at the new exciting creatures that she was seeing, but couldn’t help but admire them. Above, pegasus’ were flying, some even with passengers. On the sidewalk over there, a man whose upper body was furry, and whose face was like a tiger’s, was standing by the crosswalk while chatting away on his phone.

It was like she had been transported straight to a fantasy land where everything was possible. But because it was so unbelievable, she felt more certain that it had to be some kind of dream.

Not too long after leaving her apartment, she arrived at The Corvus. This time, the neon open sign was obnoxiously bright, to the point where she wondered how she had missed it previously, even sitting at the cafe.

She waited a moment to catch her breath, and then entered the store.

The store was same as usual, only this time, there was a hallway leading off into the distance, as well as multiple doors. The same shopkeeper was sitting at the front desk

“Um… excuse me?” Iyla said. He looked up, somewhat startled, and then set down a calligraphy pen. In front of him were a stack of rectangular pieces of paper, some with writing on them.

“Oh…you’re back.” The man said idly. He got up from his seat, and stretched his arms and neck. “Come with me.”

With little explanation, he started walking towards the back of the store, and Iyla reluctantly followed. They entered the uncannily long hallway, and walked past quite a few doors before arriving at a Japanese style sliding door. The man in black slid the door open and walked inside, leaving his shoes at the entrance. Iyla did the same, and stepped up into the room.

It was a small room with wood floors, and a low table with cushions around it. He motioned for her to sit, while he disappeared off into another room, probably the kitchen. She heard the familiar, calming sounds of an electric kettle boiling and the clinking of tea cups. In just a few minutes, he returned with the tea and set it down on the table.

Iyla gently touched the cup with her hands, warming them up. She didn’t realize how cold they were until this moment. However, she made no motion of picking it up to drink.

“It’s not poisoned, I promise.” He said wryly.

She cracked a smile. “I’m just waiting for it to cool down.”

He sighed, and then picked up his own cup, taking a sip.

“My name is Jin, by the way.” He said. “I assume you’re here to consult me about something?”

“Yes!” Iyla took a deep breath, before starting. “I think that book I bought yesterday is haunted!” She explained how she had started seeing creatures that were straight out of a fantasy novel. As soon as she had finished her explanation, she realized that she hadn’t even introduced herself. “Oh! And my name is Iyla”.

She started drinking her own tea, taking bigger gulps.

Jin rubbed his chin with his right hand, staring at the woman sitting across from him. “You’ve never seen this stuff before?”

Iyla shook her head.

“Did you bring the book with you?”

“Uh, no? If it’s haunted, then I really don’t wanna touch it!”

“Hmnn…. okay. Alright, I want you to try one thing.” Jin grabbed a scrap piece of paper out of his pocket and scribbled a note onto it, placing it in front of Iyla.

He then held out his hand palm-side up. “Can you hold your hand up like this and say what I’ve written?”

Iyla copied the movement and glanced down at the note.

“Grimoire of Heaven, Tome of the Earth, Codex of the Unknown, heed my call!”

Just as she finished speaking her command, a bright magical circle appeared on her palms. The circle glowed a violent blue, and then began spinning into the shape of a sphere. Words from an unknown language started circling the sphere, like the rings of Saturn. A second later, the same iridescent book with scaled leather that she had purchased the day before appeared within the sphere, and gently deposited onto her hands.

Jin grinned.

Iyla turned the book around in her hands. It was definitely a physical object, not a hologram.

“What the… how did I do that!?”

“Congratulations. You’re now the registered owner of that book, and are now a magus.” Jin replied.

Iyla narrowed her eyes at him. “A… magus? Like a witch or a wizard? Someone who can use magic?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Then…” questions started running through Iyla’s head wildly. Why did the codex register to her? Does this mean everyone in the world could use magic? Who was Jin, and why was this shop so much bigger on the inside than the outside?

“Jin…does this mean that I can quit my day-job!?”