Scarlet led Leo away from the lounge and to her room. It was less decorated than Leo expected, basically looking just like Felix's own room next door, just with a few personal knick-knacks lying around, and a couple extra dressers, which Felix presumed were for Scarlet's more expansive wardrobe. Scarlet sat on her bed and looked at him.
"So what is the Crystal Maiden Palace really?" she asked.
Felix smiled wryly. "If I truly told you, your brother and grandfather would personally pin me down and take turns flaying me. Please don't make things difficult for me, Scarlet." he said with a difficult expression.
"Eh? Is it something bad?" Scarlet asked, with an even more curious expression.
"Some people would consider it so, some people would not. I won't give you more information even if you whip me." Felix said.
"Hmph. I'll just ask one of the slaves then. Jasper!" Scarlet called out. Suddenly, a muscular, middle-aged female slave with scars over most of her face appeared so quickly that even Felix had no idea where she came from.
"Yes, Young Mistress?" she asked, kneeling.
"What's the Crystal Maiden Palace?" Scarlet asked her.
"Apologies, Young Mistress, the Master has given a soul order to every slave under his purview not to answer that question." Jasper said with a smile.
"Eh?!? No fair! He knows I can't issue soul orders yet because I'm not a mage yet!" Scarlet said, pouting.
"Apologies, Young Mistress." Jasper said, before withdrawing as quickly as she arrived.
"Is she your guard? She looked like she could beat me up pretty quickly." Felix asked.
Scarlet stopped pouting and looked at him mirthfully. "That's not saying much since even I could beat you up pretty quickly."
"I'm not that useless you know! Even I have some combat spells and a few tricks up my sleeve!" Felix protested.
Scarlet giggled. "No offense Felix, but I have a decade of experience training in close combat and using a whip. I'm pretty confident."
Felix was floored. "You've been training in close combat since you were seven?!?" he asked exasperatedly.
"Yup! I've personally had to beat up a few Young Masters who didn't know their place. Jasper taught me a lot." she said with a smirk.
Felix finally understood why Scarlet was able to bruise him even through his Rock Skin. It turned out she was some kind of combat-oriented tomboy! No wonder she was chosen by the fire element. Or... was she like this because the fire element chose her first? Felix wondered.
"Well, that's certainly admirable, but I think I'm more well-suited to magic than any kind of close quarters combat..." Felix said bemusedly.
"In that case, do you want to see the library? Grandpa said you can have access to any spells you want." Scarlet asked, swinging her feet at the edge of the bed.
Felix nodded. "I do, actually. I'm still only a beginner mage, so I need to expand my spell repertoire quickly." he said.
"Okay." Scarlet said, hopping off the bed. She led Felix out in to the hall and through some other hallways before they arrived at a grand looking mahogany door. Scarlet opened it, and Felix followed her inside. In the room was, unsurprisingly, a library, full of bookshelves, with many tomes.
Felix whistled. "Books are rare and expensive. The Belrose family is wealthy indeed." he remarked.
"Hmph! You don't know the half of it. The value of this library is definitely greater than every coin in the treasury, twenty times over. If you dare to so much as crinkle one of the pages, see if the slaves don't drown you to death with their spit for daring to besmirch such an opportunity they could never dream of." said a woman nearby.
"Auntie Mara!" Scarlet said happily, running up to her and giving her a hug. The woman looked down tenderly at Scarlet.
"This old slave isn't worthy of being addressed as your aunt, Young Mistress." she said, with a sad expression.
"Hmph! Who dares to contest me doing so? Even if it's Grandpa, I'll beat him up and see if he dares to resist!" Scarlet said fiercely.
Mara smiled and tousled Scarlet's hair, before turning to Felix. "The Master informed me you were to have full access to the library. I am it's keeper, so I suppose let me know if you need any help. That being said, I'm going to re-iterate what I said before, you better not mistreat these books! Knowledge is the backbone of any noble family, and knowledge of magic especially so! Harming a book here is just as bad as if you personally took a knife to the Young Mistresses' gut! And not only that, the Master has authorized me to personally flog anyone who dares to damage the books here, even if it's the Young Master! Do you understand?" she asked him solemnly.
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Felix nodded repeatedly. "I will definitely treat these books as if they were my most beloved firstborn child." he swore.
"You had better! But if you do damage a book, you had better tell me immediately so I can repair it, hiding it will be ten times worse!" Mara told him. Felix continued nodding like a chicken eating grain.
"Good. Now then, looking at you, you're just a fledgling. My advice to you is not to try and rush to learn all of the big fancy advanced spells, but to build yourself a comfortable repertoire of low level spells first, to make sure you at least have the basics of every field covered. Also, naturally, as a member of the Belrose household, you should probably construct the spells related to slavery quickly, since I'm told you're a dark mage." Mara told him.
"That makes sense." Felix said.
"The library is organized pretty simply. The spell-books are classified by their elements and grouped together, and organized by grade. Naturally, we have far more dark element spells than any other, but we have a decent collection of most elements, except for light, since books on light magic are mostly controlled by the church. Books related to the slave trade and business records are over there." she said, pointing to a far shelf. "And the miscellaneous books are over there." she said, pointing to another shelf nearby. "Any questions?" she asked, finally relenting to Felix.
"No, thank you very much for the explanation." Felix said with a bow.
"Hmph! Don't bow to me, I'm nothing but a slave, and you're basically the second Young Master now. Grow a tailbone and some pride before you let down the family." Mara said with a snort, before turning her attention back to Scarlet and walking away with her with a smile, leaving Felix among the books by himself.
Felix was pretty bemused with the book-keeper. She called herself a slave, but it was clear she barely put him in her eyes at all. Felix shook his head and glanced at the spell-books. The library had a very expansive collection of dark spell-books, but it was unfortunate that this was useless to him, since it could never compare to Arboro's knowledge of the darkness. The wood spell-books might be of slight use, since there were likely several new wood spells created since when Arboro was alive and actively practiced wood magic, but, really, the earth spell-books would be by far the most useful to him. Not only was it his primary element, but Arboro only knew a couple of low-tier spells of the element.
Still, Felix walked over to the dark spell section. What caught his eye was a book on a pedestal at the end of the row, bound in chains. Felix walked over to it. It had the title Enslavement. It was covered in chains, with a large padlock with a blood-red jewel in the center.
"You're being watched." Arboro spoke up in his soul. She sounded very weak.
"By who?" Felix asked.
"It's that Leo brat. I recognize his aura. He's definitely a water mage. Take the Enslavement book. That lock on the cover is a blood seal. If I had to guess, it will only open for members of the Belrose bloodline. Luckily for you, you easily qualify as one. Put a drop of blood on it and it will open. I imagine that Leo is waiting to see you open the blood seal to make sure you're really a member of the Belrose family and to verify your story." Arboro said weakly. Somehow her voice sounded hoarse despite being only transmitted to his soul.
Felix picked up the Enslavement book. He pulled out a pocket knife, and briefly deactivated his passive Rock Skin, before pricking his finger and putting a drop of blood on the red jewel. The jewel absorbed the drop of blood, but nothing happened. Felix was confused.
"Shit." Arboro said. Felix felt a tremor in his soul, and nearly spat up blood, as he felt Arboro forcing herself to use her power despite her weak state. The lock on the book opened with a click.
Felix had a dark expression on his face for a moment, but he quickly erased it and pretended as if nothing was wrong. He took the Enslavement book to a corner and opened it to read. It showed the Enslavement spell and described it's usage, but, naturally, Felix had no use for the book, and was merely reading it for show.
"Arboro, what the hell happened? Why didn't the blood seal react to my blood?" Felix asked her in his soul.
Arboro laughed darkly. "Isn't the answer to that question obvious? You're not really related to the Belrose family by blood." she said, sounding very faint.
"You mean..." Felix started, but didn't dare to finish the thought.
"That Leo brat stopped watching you. Pray he didn't notice the delay on the padlock opening, or he didn't put much thought into it. Read whatever books you think are most useful to you, I already carved the frame for the Enslavement spell into your spell space, you can construct it at any time. I will need to rest for a while, I've greatly over-taxed myself today." Arboro said, before going silent.
Felix frowned deeply. He re-locked the Enslavement spell book, and, after a moment of thought, turned to the miscellaneous section. There were many different kinds of books here, from history books, to cooking books, to children's books, and everything in-between. One title caught his eye, "Sins of the seven races". He picked it up. It wasn't a full book, just a bound poem, it seemed. He cracked it open.
"First is the dark, whose great sin is Pride.
They look down on all, and put none in their eyes.
Second is water, whose great sin is Envy.
None may rise from the depths, and they are dragged down quickly.
Third is fire, whose great sin is Wrath.
They burn far too much, and destroy all in their path.
Fourth is the wind, whose great sin is Sloth.
Getting them to work, is like herding a moth.
Fifth is metal, whose great sin is Greed.
They desire to have all, and take far more than they need.
Sixth is the earth, whose great sin is Gluttony.
Their stomach is their heart, and they know no satiety.
Seventh is wood, whose great sin is Lust.
Nature blessed them with beauty, and a thirst for greater thus.
Only the light, is free from these sins, the angels are blessed, and know not of the dark within."
Felix thought about this poem. It seemed to describe the eight races and their proclivities. Although he had never actually spoken to an elf, he had heard of their great beauty, and the couple that he had seen in passing on his many recent wagon trips did look pretty appealing, and he had to admit, he had never heard of a fairy plowing a field or anything. His own experience with a dragon made him definitely believe they were prideful, and he, as a human, knew they were a greedy race. "Birds die for food, and humans die for wealth.". He had heard this statement before, and he could not deny it. It seemed this book was likely to be accurate.
Felix put the book away, and he turned his attention to the earth spell section of the Library. He found some spells which looked very useful to him, and collected them to take to his room. He picked out "Earth movement", "Rock spike", "Sand shield", and "Supergravity" for now, and retired to his room to read.