The next morning saw Ryan waking up with difficulty, his alarm clock blaring from the other side of the room. He’d had a hard time sleeping, his mind still preoccupied with the events of the previous day. He could only remember bits and pieces of his dreams, images of the Eriz forest in which they’d been yesterday evening, the manticore, Professor Becker, and other fragments of his memories. Slowly, Ryan stood up, getting out of his rumpled sheets, walked to his alarm clock – He liked putting it far away so that he had to walk to it, it prevented him from falling asleep again after turning it off – and switched the alarm off.

As he was getting ready for the day, Ryan tried getting the manticore out of his head. There wasn’t anything he could do about it, after all, and so worrying would do nothing to help him. That was easier said than done, however. No matter what he tried, his thoughts always went back to the creature from yesterday, and its unexplainable behavior. Sighing, Ryan put on his plain clothes and left the house.

The weather was getting colder, summer was ending. As Ryan made his way to the bus stop, he could see fall slowly take over nature around him. Trees were starting to lose their leaves, their colors turning from bright greens to pale yellows and reds, a chilly wind swirling through the street. Usually, Ryan wasn’t one to pay much attention to these kinds of details, but he was desperately trying to distract himself from his thoughts. Unfortunately, it didn’t work that well.

Sighing again, Ryan gave up and retreated into his mind, accepting his fate. He tuned out the outside world, letting his body carry him to the bus stop, climb inside the bus, and finally arrive to school.

Ryan’s high school wasn’t exactly a big one, but that made sense, as Eriz wasn’t a big city. It could almost be called a village, lost at the foot of one of the many mountain ranges of Switzerland, in the middle of Europe. This was the kind of village that was slightly too big for everyone to know everyone, but where many people were still familiar to Ryan when he passed them in the streets. Ryan thus knew many of the teens going to his school, but he didn’t really talk to any of them. If any of them ever approached him, he would usually be cordial to them, but he never went out of his way to socialize. That way, people usually ignored him, and he ignored them in turn. He had far too many secrets, anyone that got too close was at risk of discovering them.

Classes, as always, were largely uneventful. Ryan made sure to sit in the back whenever he could, but was still attentive. Today,  work proved to be the distraction he needed, allowing him to keep his mind busy. He was a rather good student, among the more studious of his class, though not the best. The day passed in a blur for Ryan, nothing unusual happening, and soon enough he was done with his last class of the day.

Ryan considered visiting Becker, who was working as a history teacher in the school, - Probably because he was very knowledgeable when it came to history, after studying so much of it in search of magical knowledge - but decided against it. He’d come back late last night, and figured he might as well come home early today to compensate. It would appease his parents, if only a little bit.

Only moments after Ryan left the school building, everything in his mind blurred.

-

Something was wrong, Ryan could tell as much. He wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, however. He’d suddenly found himself standing in front of an old shop, studying its wooden walls and dusty windows. The whole building was exactly what someone would expect an antique shop to be like. This wasn’t the problem, however. What bothered Ryan was that he had no idea how he had arrived there. His last memory was of him leaving the school building, walking among the other students towards the bus stop. After that, his mind drew a blank. Ryan felt like he was in a dream. A strange atmosphere surrounded him, but he couldn't explain what felt strange about it. It just did.

Still confused, Ryan kept studying the antique shop in front of him, before turning his attention to his surroundings. Unfortunately, try as he might, the details of the world around him wouldn’t register in his mind. He would look and look, but the moment he glanced away, he would forget what he’d seen. Ryan couldn’t even be sure there was anything around him, besides the shop.

There was nothing normal about the situation, and the manticore from yesterday once again appeared into his mind, taunting him. Trying to keep calm, Ryan decided that he might as well investigate the shop. He didn’t want to try to blindly wander in a world that he couldn’t remember. Moreover, Ryan was pretty sure the antique shop was the only thing he could focus on for a reason. It might have been a trap of some sort, but standing there would ultimately be pointless. Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps towards the old wooden door, and twisted the doorknob before entering, his hands shaking.

Ryan was relieved to see that whatever kept him from looking at the world didn’t affect his ability to perceive the inside of the shop. Looking through the dusty windows still left him with no memories of what he’d seen, but the interior was fine. Ryan had expected to see a mess of old furniture and various old items, all of it covered in dust, like one would usually find in a regular antique shop, but the reality was nothing like it. In front of him, he could see many small stands, each of them holding a different item. On some of them he could see flasks, with colorful liquids, while others held things such as jewelry, strange instruments, and other intriguing items Ryan had never seen anywhere else. Against each wall he could see shelves, filled with books and parchments of all kinds.

Most importantly, however, was the thrum of magic he could feel emanating from everywhere around him. Some of these items were clearly magical in nature, some floating or moving without any help. If he focused hard enough, he could even see the magic in certain of them, gently pulsing within.

Forgetting all about his worries, Ryan was now getting really excited. He didn’t know where he was, but this place was filled to the brim with items and books, books that must have contained an incredible amount of knowledge. Researching magic was such a frustrating task, having to navigate through so much fake information to finally find something that might or might not be real. This place was a dream come true for him! He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt that happy about something.

Deciding against toying with magical items he knew nothing about, Ryan swiftly crossed the room towards the shelves, looking at the different titles he could see with glee. Some of the books didn’t have a title, and many of them were in foreign languages, there even were some he didn’t recognize at all, but he still could discern a few English names among all the titles. Feeling overwhelmed, Ryan spotted a very opulent book he felt would be interesting, and opened it with enthusiasm.

Oddly enough, the book he picked was simply titled Spells, and contained what anyone would expect. Its pages were handwritten, and contained many strange diagrams, circles crossing each other, with other geometrical shapes sometimes joining them, giving a mesmerizing result.

These, Ryan knew, were spell matrixes. In a way, they were the instructions someone needed to go through the process of casting a certain spell, kind of like an equation. Every few pages depicted one, with handwritten notes underneath it, seemingly explaining what each matrix did, how to use it, and what precautions to take. Ryan felt like he’d won the lottery, his hands gripping the book tightly, a rare smile blooming on his face. Spell matrixes were one of the easiest ways to tell whether he was looking at made up magic or not. Fake ones were easy to recognize, as the drawings always respected a variety of rules that Ryan had long ago learned by heart. He could tell these were all genuine, and that excited him to no end. He only knew maybe a little bit more than a dozen matrixes, and was capable of slightly altering some of them to get different results, but nothing more than that. This book probably contained more knowledge  than he’d ever learned, and it was only one of the hundreds of tomes present in the shop.

Too excited to think, Ryan sifted through the book until he spotted a spell that called to him. The notes underneath the matrix indicated this was some sort of divination spell, used to “see magic”, whatever that meant. Ryan couldn’t discern much more than that however, as the handwriting wasn’t very neat, and it seemed to have been written a long time ago, the language a bit archaic. Still very curious and excited, Ryan just stared at the matrix for several minutes, trying to memorize all of the small details that composed it. He wanted to try it, and it seemed to be a safe enough spell at first glance, but for that he needed to know the matrix by heart.

“Are you enjoying yourself ?” Asked a deep playful voice from behind him.

Ryan jumped. He’d been so focused on the matrix that this interruption sent him reeling. Turning around, he spotted an old man standing there. He was smiling, holding himself in a relaxed posture, just looking at Ryan. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the old man. He could’ve been anyone’s grandfather with his balding white hair and joyous visage. His eyes were twinkling with what Ryan thought to be mirth.

Even though he didn’t seem hostile at the moment, Ryan kept a wary eye on him, all the while trying to make sense of the situation. He was fairly sure the old man hadn’t come through the door, he would have heard it creaking, and there was no other way of entering the small shop that he knew of. The only logical explanation was some form of magic, which wouldn’t be that surprising, considering the situation Ryan currently was in.

“I…Who are you ?” Ryan stammered. He’d been caught off guard by the man’s appearance, and was now trying to sort through all the questions swimming in his head. Inwarly, he cursed himself. He'd let himself get distracted by a simple book, something that he would never usually let happen, especially in such a strange situation.

“You’re not answering my question, then? Although I don’t believe I needed an answer, you were clearly enjoying the book,” the old man answered, still grinning. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry, just calmly standing there. “You don’t need to know who I am, but I will answer a few of your other questions for you as I can guess what some of them are. I am the one who brought you here, but do not worry too much about why. All I really want is to help you. I promise I do not have any malevolent intentions. I’ll send you back once we’re done. This place is a bit unstable anyway, seeing as it doesn’t really exist.”

“Why did you bring me here ? What do you mean you want to help me ?” Ryan asked, clamping down on the unease he felt. He’d completely lost his enthusiasm, the previously fascinating tome lying forgotten in his hands.

“I wish to help you, as I believe you’re soon going to need it. Simply put, I believe a lot of things are going to be changing in the coming months. Be it by chance or fate, you happen to be very well placed to see all of it unfold. Now, enough questions, let’s see what would fit you best.”

Without waiting any longer, the old man looked away from Ryan and pensively looked around him. After a few thoughtful moments, he went towards one of the small stands that littered the room, and picked up the item that was resting on top of it. “Everything in this room is part of my collection. I’ve gathered a lot of trinkets over the years, and these are some of the most interesting and powerful ones, as they seem to have a mind of their own. I’ve never been able to use most of them, which is why I'd like to give one of them to you. I’m not entirely certain of what each of their full potential is, either. I hope you’ll have more luck than me with whichever you get,” he said, coming back towards Ryan with one of the strange trinkets in his hands.

“And what if none of them will let me?” Asked Ryan. He was still very confused, and had many more questions, but he knew that he wasn't very likely to get answers anymore. Hanging around Becker had taught him that much. He didn’t think the old man had bad intentions, but he couldn’t be certain of it, and thus stayed slightly wary of him.

“Then I’ll improvise something, don’t worry. I've got a few more tricks up my sleeves if it comes to that.” The old man winked. “Although I don’t believe that will be necessary. I have a good feeling about this.” Wordlessly, he held out the item, waiting for Ryan to take it.

Looking down, Ryan tried to figure out what it was. It looked like some sort of pistol, if it had been made by someone who’d only had a brief description of what one was supposed to look like. The proportions were all wrong, there was no trigger, and the barrel was solid, no hole for a bullet to travel through. Still, there was a strange power thrumming from it. Ryan, realizing he was still holding the spellbook, set it down on a nearby shelf before taking the weird pistol in his hands. Unsure of what to do, he just looked in confusion at the old man.

“What now ?” He asked.

“Well, just try to push some of your magic inside, see if something happens. If the artifact rejects you, it should feel like you’re trying to push your magic through a wall.” He answered.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Ryan did as he was asked. Focusing on his mind, he grasped the well of magic within him, and guided some of it towards his right hand. Just like the old man had described it, Ryan was sad to note, he couldn’t get any of it through the pistol. Letting go of his magic, he looked up at the man, noticing his usually hazel eyes were glowing a faint blue.

“Well, that didn’t work,” said the old man. “But don’t worry, we’ve got plenty more to try!” And with that, he took the strange item from Ryan, set it back to its place, and picked another one.

This same process lasted for a little while, Ryan receiving a variety of items, all strange in their own ways. There was a gemstone switching colors, a transparent ball of glass, and even what Ryan was certain was a kettle. That last one had greatly confused the young teen, but the man seemed to know what he was doing.

Finally, the old man brought forth a bracelet. It had a very intriguing design, made of an unknown metal twisting around itself like a braid, One part of it black and the other white. It was beautiful, if a bit unusual, and Ryan felt a strange longing when looking at it. Used to the process by now, Ryan reached out for it. The moment his fingers made contact with the bracelet, however, it disappeared from the old man’s hand, and, without any warning, instantly reappeared around his wrist. One moment it was in the man’s hand, the other it was firmly attached to Ryan’s right wrist.

Ryan, surprised by the sudden movement, jerked his hand away, before starting to feel dizzy. He could feel his magic being pulled towards the bracelet, and he couldn’t do anything about it, no matter how hard he tried. There was no way to stop the flow, and he was starting to panic, adrenalin flooding his veins. Fatigue washed over him, a sense of lethargy permeating his limbs, and before long his legs gave out, Ryan painfully falling on the ground, unable to move.

“Well, what an interesting choice. I wonder what will happen.”

Ryan didn’t get to hear any more before he passed out.