I was standing outside in the early dawn light, staring at the store, when it hit me.

  My working conditions sucked.

  Everything about this job sucked. I was too tired to quit, and I’d already asked everyone else in town for work.

  Which leads to my next realization.

  A week. I’ve only worked here for a week.

  How can so much horror happen in one week? I was getting more adventure than an actual adventurer.

  Seriously. I was just freshly de-cursed.

  This job just wasn’t worth it.

  I slumped and walked through the Gateway.

  On the other Side, I found It, Ugly and Stupid. Stupid had glitter (NOT powdered gremlin teeth) splashed onto her cheeks, a sorry attempt at applying lipstick, and mascara.

  It just looked bored. Ugly hissed at me.

  I idly wondered if those were actually their real names, or if they got stuck with them. Like I did with Beeg.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Eez important day,” Stupid whispered. “Eez payday”.

  Oh. Right. I get paid to do this madness.

  CT sat behind his counter, fat and ugly as ever.

  “You’re late,” he grunted.

  Rather than take it personally, I just accepted the greeting for what it was. His inability to say anything nice.

  I ignored him.

  “Stupid, get up here,” he grunted.

  She happily skipped forward. It, Ugly and I all looked at each other, the same look on our faces.

  How is she so happy.

  “Your pay,” CT ground out, handing a gold coin to Stupid. She gasped happily, eyes shining like stars, and reached up to grab the coin.

  Except CT didn’t let go. Stupid tugged, and CT pinched the coin.

  I have never seen anyone look so pained to let go of money before.

  “Boss! Eetz stuck!” Stupid shrieked, both of her feet now planted on his fist as she tried to pry the coin loose.

  With a sound like breaking glass, the coin finally slipped free.

  I realized it wasn’t actually the sound of breaking glass, but the sound of pain that escaped CT’s lips as the coin escaped him.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Boss, thank you!” She gasped, smiling beatifically.

  Which, considering her sharp teeth, the dim lighting, and constant creaking - looked horrible.

  CT grimaced back.

  “Ugly, It,” he said, throwing two more coins on the ground and quickly looking away, as if the pain was too much.

  I had to fight from rolling my eyes.

  Which proved to save me.

  Because he flicked my coin at me with the speed of a bullet. I yelped and dodged, the coin lodging into the wood behind my head.

  I turned in indignation, only to dodge a second coin.

  “What?!” Both It and Ugly shrieked.

  “He’s twice your size, he needs twice the pay. Get to work,” he snarled.

  It and Ugly glared at me venomously before going.

  Great.

  After prying my pay loose, I shuffled over to CT. Two gold coins was absolutely insane. The room at the inn I paid for barely cost me 10 silver a night.

  …Maybe it was worth it to work here.

  “Aisle Three, Beeg,” CT grunted. “It’s Aisle Three every day, why do I have to tell you every day.”

  I stared at him. It literally wasn’t Aisle Three every day.

  He stared back at me, through the clipboard.

  Whatever. I had work to do.

  Maybe I hadn’t been de-cursed after all.

  ——

  I didn’t see my three co-workers for the rest of the day. Probably because Vaarg paid me double their wages.

  Right in front of them. I’d hate me too. Would probably feed myself to workman’s comp.

  I wasn’t giving it back though.

  I was in the middle of pruning back an overgrown tentacle when Vaarg stomped down the aisle.

  Which was impressive. Since he more *waddled* that walked.

  “Here,” he grunted, opening a leather book and handing it to me.

  “Read this.”

  I looked at it. On it was a Glyph…or a Rune - I don’t know what the difference is honestly. I just know I’ve never learned to read it.

  “I can’t - “ I began in exasperation.

  “Just shut up and look at it,” he hissed.

  Stupid, fat, ugly goblin. I hate you, I thought.

  But I looked at it.

  Yep, it looked like gibberish.

  Surprise, Surprise.

  I was about to stick it on a shelf and get back to work when a wave of dizziness hit me. But I wasn’t dizzy, the room was spinning.

  No, the tablet was spinning. No -

  Abruptly, I snapped back to myself. The glyph that looked like gibberish still looked like gibberish.

  But I instinctively knew what it meant.

  It meant Fire.

  I whispered the word in a language I did not know.

  A small wisp of flame grew from the page, spiraling softly before dissipating in the air.

  Vaarg grunted, grabbed the book, and walked away.

  “You’re on night shift tomorrow. You will be working with Asset Procurement.” He called over his shoulder.

  I stood rooted to the spot.

  Only mages could use magic.

  I wasn’t a mage.

  I didn’t have mana.

  I didn’t even have a clue.

  So what the hell was that?

  Also, why the hell does AP stand for Asset Procurement?