They walked inside Daniel's office, and a man was sitting in front of his desk. The walls were worn down, dusty, and streaky. There was a leak in the corner of the room where a bucket was always kept.

The man sitting in front of Daniel's desk had a large cloak on, but he was shortwith big eyes and a tiny mouth and nose. "Greetings." His voice was deep.

"Roberto. I'm glad you met us here, my friend," Daniel said.

"I have to say, I'm pretty impressed. I wasn't expecting you to survive, but here you are, free as a bird. Did you manage to get what you needed?"

"Of course, I wouldn't be here if I didn't. You underestimate me, Roberto. I'm a little offended."

"Come on, it's crazy talk. Pulling off a heist like that? It's never been successfully done before. Then again, I never paid attention much to my history classes at Attleton."

"Well, we never talked about bank robberies at school. So even if you did pay attention, you wouldn't have heard about that. But we succeeded. Here’s my end of the bar again for you."

Daniel and Elijah set the bags on the desk and pulled them down, revealing a pile of gold bars.

"Wow, you really did it; you two actually did the job you set out to do.” Roberto blinked.

"You seem so surprised.” Daniel furrowed his brow.

Roberto rubbed his chin. "I just didn't expect there to be that many gold bars on the table."

Daniel stood behind his desk and gripped the top of the chair. "So what's the problem then?"

"I can only take a few bars off your hand."

Daniel paused and clenched his jaw. “You must be joking."

"No. I'm afraid not. I didn't bring an equivalent amount of dollars for you to do an even exchange."

"But I told you I would have at least 50 gold bars for you."

"Yeah, and that's worth oodles of money. There’s no way I'm going to sashay around town carrying that kind of coin. I feel uncomfortable enough with what I brought."

Daniel's knuckles turned white from gripping the top of his chair. "So you've effectively wasted my time because you're a coward."

"I wouldn't go that far. Could you imagine if I got injured or if someone tried to steal from me? Your bar is not exactly in the nicest part of town. If something were to happen to me, all of your money and opportunity would go down the drain. I brought a safer amount out of good faith to you and myself."

"It still feels incredibly dishonest. You could have told me beforehand during the planning phase that you would only bring a fraction of the amount directly afterward to exchange."

"Would you have wanted that? Would you have allowed that?"

"I don't know! We could have discussed it, at least, for crying out loud.” Daniel paced around in a circle and sighed. “I see your point, and it's a good one, but it still leaves us highly unsatisfied. Now we have to do more of these meetings and exchanges."

"That's the cost of doing this kind of business."

"All right, whatever. How much did you bring to exchange?"

"I brought with me $100,000."

Daniel’s eye twitched. He was ready to throttle Roberto.”Are you serious?"

Roberto laughed. "You've lost your mind. That's a lot of money on the table."

"That's only five gold bars."

"And a perfect exchange then for tonight."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"I don't want to stash all these golden bars here."

"Does anyone come inside this office anyways?” Roberto scanned the room. “You should buy a vault, pal. Stick it over there or somethin’.” Roberto pointed to the corner.

"Put the money on my desk, and get out of here,” Daniel muttered.

"I'm sorry? Did I offend you? What about scheduling our next meet-up?"

"I'll write you a letter. For now, get out of here before I do something I might regret."

Roberto's lip curled up. "We are business partners. It would be unwise to behave rashly. You need me, and I need you."

Roberto collected his five gold bars, pulled out money from his bag, and put it on the desk. He counted out the stacks.

"That's all I have for you now. Let's link up in a week." Roberto turned around and whistled his way out of the office.

Jonathan was there to hold the door open.

"You may bring up the other three now," Daniel said.

Jonathan went downstairs, and while he did that, Elijah shook his head at Daniel.

"What are you looking at me like that for?” Daniel said. His voice had a chilling, calm coldness.

"I just thought we would have a better payday, I guess. We just went through a lot of work for basically nothing."

"Don't worry about it. Jonathan and I will wait to take the money. It will be divided and given to all new members like yourself."

"But that's not fair. I thought I would be getting at least $100,000."

"Did you not just hear the conversation that happened? We got a dose of reality. Besides, Jonathan and I have careers. We don't need the money as much as the younger folks."

"I'm not sure I can trust Roberto to come back with the money. He's a shifty character."

"Everyone has their faults. I think that it might be a little rude of you to cast judgments on someone you don't really know. I must say I'm disappointed in you."

Elijah frowned. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to like that. I'm just looking out for our best interests."

"Sorry it's not as much as you thought. I thought we would also have a substantial payday, but it happens sometimes. Not much we can do about it. But you will get your money in time, and you also have to think of it this way. In one day, you made as much as some people make in one year."

"But it's not life-changing."

"Yet." Daniel rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath. He pulled his chair out, screeching against the wood, and sat down. "I have more to say, but I'll wait until the rest of the group gets up here. I don't want to repeat myself."

Jonathan entered the office with Patrick, Richmond, Mandy, and Elliot. All took a seat in front of Daniel's desk.

"Congratulations, Daniel and Elijah. I couldn't believe it when Jonathan told us the news that you came back," Patrick said.

"Have some faith in your leader. When I promise something, you must believe it. I will not steer you wrong. And with that said, I, unfortunately, have something to admit to you. You'll find through life that when you have to rely on others, they don't always hold up their end of the bargain. So while you see this pile of gold bars before you, it hasn't equaled the dollar amount we'd thought. The supplier of money is making us wait. It will be gradual, but you will get paid $20,000 each for your commitment so far. Jonathan and I are foregoing our payment since we can get by okay without it, but I had to take care of you first. You can trust me; I will make the sacrifices necessary to ensure you will be taken care of."

"Thank you so much, Daniel," Mandy was the first to say.

"What happened?" Her twin sister Elliot asked. "I was promised more than that."

Daniel clenched his fist but explained everything that had happened to them. "So it's going to take a little while to get the money back, but don't sneeze at this. I don't think any of you realize how much this can do for you, especially at your young age. As soon as you're done with school, it would take 2 years to make this kind of money, maybe 1 year if you're lucky."

"But what about when we can start learning the iox magic?" Patrick asked.

Daniel pounded the top of the desk and shot up from his chair. "None of you have listened to what I've had to say! We've had to get the plan rolling first. Jonathan and I are the only ones skilled enough to have the iox magic and our original mage-born elemental ability. If any of you learned that iox magic now, discreet graduation for all of you would be impossible! Let's get you out of school before we give you the tools needed for this adventure."

No one had heard Daniel get so upset before. Everyone tucked their head down and didn't say a word, but Patrick still had his chin up.

"But Elijah has graduated, and he still doesn't have the iox magic ability," Patrick said.

"You must be joking! He doesn't have the ability yet because we needed him for the bank today. I swear, as brilliant as all of you are, I'm stunned at the questions I’ve heard today."

"I think we want some more transparency. Yes, all of us are interested in wealth and power and the iox magic, but we still need to hear more about the adventure itself," Patrick said.

"You all have taken a mythology class at Attleton, correct?" Daniel asked.

All of them nodded.

"Those stories about the Manticore and its minions are true. They're not just fables like they lead you to believe in class, they are real."

"But how can you know that? There's no sign or evidence that the Manticore had ever existed," Patrick said.

"That's where you're painfully wrong. Talk to any visionary; talk to any gargoyle. They know the truth. I mean, that's where the iox magic comes from. That's why you've never seen or heard about it; it's the power given by the Manticore. And if you need more proof, I think it's good to prove it to you." Daniel smiled. "As soon as you all graduate, we will start working on the iox process. Until then, if you wish to complain or question me, I will not pay you, Elijah, and Patrick, and instead pay more to Richmond, Mandy, and you, Elliot. However, you were a little rude earlier."

Elijah, Patrick, and Elliot immediately apologized.

"That's what I thought. Patience, everyone; we'll get there soon." Daniel grinned.