The Bookstore Mage

Five minutes into his walk, Lucien was already regretting the fact that he went out without his cap. The cold breeze made his ears throb in pain, causing him to hasten his footsteps. With his hands in his pockets, Lucien cut through the alleys and then found himself walking along the main street.

His mind was reminiscing the past. Three years was not a long time, the small town was still the same as he remembered it. The only difference was that he was now alone. Everything had happened too fast, he had barely arrived yesterday and was forced to bury his grandfather, and had to visit the lawyer for the will reading, and sign some papers.

The whole day was too hectic, he only managed to visit the bookstore when it was already too late. Lucien booked the hotel just in case he was unable to stay the night over at his old pops' place, yet it seemed like his worries were unwarranted. His grandad had left everything spotless.

A sigh escaped his mouth as he found himself thinking about the future. The past three years were spent working and gathering money to help out his grandad. Ironically, he was unable to see him because of the same reason. Now that he inherited the bookstore, part of him felt like leaving everything behind and moving back to his old hometown and taking over the business.

This feeling was amplified by the fact that his grandad had left him, what looked like an old magical book. Lucien was reluctant to go back to the city, not until he got to the bottom of everything.

For starters, he doubted he was the only mage out there, that is if he could be considered one with his meager amount of knowledge. Second of all, his grandad never mentioned anything about his parents and Lucien grew out of that phase where he constantly asked about them. Now, however, with this whole magic thingy, the situation seemed to be far more complicated than he initially expected.

With such thoughts occupying his mind, Lucien quickly found himself standing in front of the hotel. He wasted no time and hurriedly went inside, a sigh of relief left his mouth as he escaped the bitter cold winds of January.

Lucien nodded at the receptionist, who in turn gave him a polite smile, he then made his way to the elevator when suddenly a tanned tall man dressed in a thick leather jacket walked out and bumped into him.

"Ah, sorry." He apologized.

"No worries." Lucien thought nothing of it and was about to walk inside the elevator when the tall man's hand stopped him.

Lucien glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then back at the man's face in apprehension. "Yes? Is there a problem?" He asked with a frown.

The man had a buzz cut and a clean-shaven face, his dark green eyes looked confused as he stared at Lucien for a couple of seconds before hastily retracting his hand. "Ah, please forgive me. I must have confused you with someone else." The man apologized once more.

"I'm Ryan." He held his hand to Lucien, who stared at it and then back at him with a weird expression on his face before he reluctantly decided to shake it.

"Pleasure, I'm Lucien."

"Lucien, Lucien." The man mumbled under his breath a few times as if he was trying to memorize the name before flashing Lucien a wide smile.

"Ah, please don't let me hold you any longer." He said motioning for Lucien to go.

Looking at the strange man, Lucien gave an awkward smile and tapped on the fourth floor. The elevator door closed slowly while the man remained there staring at him. It was not until the elevator began to ascend that Lucien released a breath he did not know he was holding.

"What a creepy dude." He muttered.

*****

Back on the first floor, Ryan remained motionless as he watched the elevator stop on the fourth floor. A strange light seemed to flash through his eyes before he turned to walk away. "Lucien, Lucien. Interesting, did I see it wrong?"

He quietly left the hotel with no one noticing his presence. Once outside, he made his way towards a dark alley where his figure seemed to suddenly disappear.

*****

Gathering his luggage was not a problem, Lucien didn't even have time to unpack, hence why everything went rather smoothly. He checked out, called for a cab, and headed back to the bookstore.

Breakfast had to wait until he brought the luggage back. One look at his two thick bags and then at the cold weather outside was all it took for him to decide on a cab.

After he reached the bookstore, Lucien struggled to push his bags behind the counter and checked on the old magic book. Seeing that it was still in its place, Lucien gave a satisfied nod. He'll worry about dragging the bags upstairs when he comes back as that was a problem for future him.

With food on his mind, he quickly left the bookstore and made sure he locked the door behind him.

****

On the other side of the street, hidden in a dark alley was a tall tanned man. Ryan watched Lucien leave the bookstore with a frown on his face. The young man seemed normal. Perhaps he was wrong after all?

'No.' He quickly shook his head, his eyes had never failed him before. There was something strange about that man. "Lucien. I don't think he belongs to any of the families. And he doesn't have the aura of the Council, nor, that of a Rogue. An Elemental maybe? But what would an Elemental be doing here?" He wondered.

Ryan's eyes glanced in the direction where Lucien disappeared before he turned his attention toward the small bookstore. The wooden sign standing on top of the door was no longer legible.

After a few minutes of hesitation, he slowly made his way to the front door. He glanced about, making sure that no one was around before his body simply disappeared. When he reappeared, he was already inside the bookstore.

His body froze the second he was in. He was unable to sense any magic wards, or traps before he leaped, that was the main reason he was so brazen, yet the second he was inside the bookstore, a heavy feeling pressed on his heart. Ryan felt like he was suffocating by simply standing there.

He still did not sense any magical interference or traps, but the aura was enough to almost down him to his knees. He hastily reined in his mana, causing his dark green eyes to dim. It was only then that the aura receded, but not completely. It remained there, almost as if warning him not to try anything stupid.

He quickly lowered his head and leaped back, his body reappeared in the dark alley he was standing in across the street. The second he appeared, his knees buckled and he fell to the ground gasping for air.

"What the hell was that?!" He shivered, before glancing at the old bookstore. Ryan felt like someone, or something was watching him, and he did not know what.

"Should I tell the Council?" He gulped before disappearing once again.