‘…as the Evil Wizard walked away from the fiery pit, our hero was left to die as he slowly sank into the hot pool of molten lava. Hanging by the arms, Thaddeus had no hope of surviving this problematic setting. If only he could use his magic!’

*Ringedingling*

‘Yet luck was on Thad’s side, the wizard’s daughter had learned of her father’s evil deeds and wanted to put a stop to them. She had followed him to this dungeon and was watching everything from….’

*Ahem*

As I was reading this incredible piece of literature I was interrupted by the scraping of someone’s throat. Upon realizing I wasn’t the only on in the store I decided to return to reality and put down the book I was reading. I was supposed to be tending to the store.

“How may I be of service, sir?” I said as I looked up at the customer.

In front of me stood a tall, handsome man. Hehad a rich look about him, he wore red robes with a golden dragon design curving around his body. His hair was combed neatly to the side, the long blond strands dangling from the sides of his face.

Djinns, I thought, a Noble.

“Interesting book, is it?” asked the man with a small smile on his face.

“Oh yes, it’s the story of Thaddeus, the Wizard that…”

“…that wielded the Nimrod Fragments of old to defeat all the evils in the world. I know that story well,” finished the man as he walked picked up the book I just put down. He started to look through the pages. Please don’t lose the page I’m on!

“It just so happens that I’m here to buy any books you might have on the Nimrod Fragments. If they’ve got any historical value, I want it.”

I look at the customer with a sour face. He was still holding my book and I was already imagining him walking away with it. That would really suck.

“I’m sorry sir, but the book in your hands is the last of its kind,” I answered as I sighed.

“Is that so? That’s too bad then. Even though I love me a good Thaddeus book, it’s fiction nonetheless…,” he answered and he put my book down on the counter. He looked somewhat disappointed.

“Well, any works featuring the Nimrod Remnants are incredibly popular. They were the bestselling books we had for years.”

“I can imagine. Are you sure you guys don’t have a secret stash of books locked away somewhere? I’ll pay you handsomely for anything worthwhile.”

“No sir, what you see is what we got,” I said as I pointed around the room. The room we were in was very dark, lit only by a single window next to the entrance. All walls were covered by bookcases filled to the brim with musty books, the only surviving books of the Liberal Library after the great Fire Calamity that burned down the entire city. There were a few spiders here and there, but they were harmless. The only things in the room were survivors of that disaster, myself included.

“That’s too bad then…” he said while looking around the room. “But I expected as much. It would probably have been a work of fiction anyways.”

“Well, Nimrod Fragments are fictional anyways. Any good book on history wouldn’t feature them, would they?”

“You’re right about that, son. You’re right about that,” said the man absentmindedly. Why act so vague about it? I mean, how could such convenient power-ups exist in reality?

“Anyways, that’s not the only topic I’m interested in. Do you have any books on the Blue Moon Dance? Any kind would do.”

The man looked me in the eyes with a serious face as he said that. I knew of the Blue Moon tale but it wasn’t a well-known story. And besides, it was children’s story. Why would he be interested in that?

“We got a book on that topic, but I really don’t think you’ll want it.”

“Oh, and why’s that?”

“Because it’s a book with nursery rhymes for little children.”

“Oh, that’s quite all right. Can I see this book?”

The man was keeping a straight face but it was clear that he was internally excited. So I got up and walked towards the nearest bookcase. I stopped in front of it and closed my eyes.

Now which one was it….

“What are you doing?” asked the man.

“Shhh, allow me.”

Ah yes, that one. I reach out my hand and pulled at the seemingly empty air in front of me. With that motion a book flew out from the shelf and into my hands. I turned around and handed the book over to him. The man was looking at me with a surprised look on his face.

“Did you just use telekinesis? At your age?!”

First of all, I was already ten years old, turning eleven the next week. Second of all, no, that was not telekinesis.

“No sir, I used my Soul to pull it. See?”

I held out my hand and showed what it was I just pulled. In my hand was a small silken thread that ran from my hand to the book I was holding.

“And you so happened to have it attached to the book I wanted?” he asked with disbelief.

“Nope, I attached such a string to every book in the store. I just had to remember which thread it was I had to pull.”

The man thought about that for a bit and looked around the room. He probably thought that the threads he was seeing were spider webs. I wouldn’t blame him. Most customers do.

“That’s a cool way to use your Soul, if I do say so myself. Must have taken you a lot of time to do.”

Off course it did, but it sure beat having to climb up into the book case every time a customer wanted to see a few books. Books they were most likely not even buying.

“Nah, sir. Nothing is too much work to make our work here more efficient.”

“Anyways, can I see that book?” he said as he held out his hand. I flipped through the pages and opened it up at the page with the Blue Moon poem.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Here, sir, take a look.”

The man gave an approving nod as he took the book from me. He stared at the pages and I could feel that his excitement was increasing.

“Is this what you’re looking for?”

The man didn’t answer straight away, but once he finished reading the poem he answered:

“Yes, this book was worth the trip here. Do you have anything else that I might find interesting?”

I thought about that for a while, trying to remember every book we had for sale. It was no easy task, but Uncle Max made me do it. It’s good training of the mind, he said. Took me a few weeks but I managed to do it eventually.

“Wait right here sir, I might have something else.”

I walked to another book case, this one held much older books, they were the most valuable items in the store. I stood still again for a moment, remembering which thread led to which book and then pulled at it. Another book came flying out of the bookshelf and right into my hands.

“I believe this one contained a story about the origin of the two moons…”

The man walked up to me and looked at the book in my hands. He shook his head and said:

“That won’t be necessary. I can see that that book is way out of my budget.”

I looked at him, and then at his clothes and couldn’t help but be surprised.

“But I thought Nobles were extremely rich?”

The man started to laugh. “Hahaha, I think you misunderstood something. I’m not a Noble. I’m a Teacher.”

As Nobility were known for their strength, Teachers were praised for their intelligence. They did not fight on the front lines but were tasked with the training of young students. I’d be learning from such Teachers in just a few weeks. It was mandatory, after all.

“A teacher? That’s awesome! Where do you teach?”

“At the Capital Military Academy, the most elite school in the entire country.” He answered proudly.

“That’s the one we’re going to! Maybe we’ll have you as our teacher next semester!”

“We?”

“Oh, by ‘we’ I mean me and my friend Ragnar. We’ll both be 11 at the start of the next semester so we’re enrolling at the same time.”

I put down the book and walked towards the counter. I sat down and took out a piece of paper to write down the transaction. As I did, the teacher put down the book and looked at me writing.

“Something the matter?” I asked.

“It’s uncommon for commoners to learn how to read and write at such a young age. Where’d you learn to do that?”

“From my uncle. He’s been making me help around the store ever since he took me in. He teaches me many things, writing was just one of them.”

I finished up the writing and handed him the piece of paper. He looked at it and his face turned into a grimace. He probably saw the price I’d written down.

“Urgh, I know books are expensive, but this is ridiculous…”

Well, considering most of these books were hand-written and one-of-a-kind items, it seemed fair for us to ask such prices. Most of the copies had burned during the fire incident. These were all unique.

Nevertheless, the teacher paid the money.

“Thank you for doing business with us, sir. Please come again.”

The man looked at me and revealed a little smile. “You’re not going to ask? Most children would ask me straight away to show them my Soul.”

I couldn’t deny that the thought hadn’t occurred to me, but that would have been considered rude.

“Off course not sir. But if you really want to show it, I won’t mind.”

The man’s smile turned into a wide grin and he took a step back. Placing both his hands in front of him, he started to focus on the materialization of his Soul. In his hands appeared a vibrant red leather rope, coiled up in a neat bundle. In the palm of his hand lay a golden handle with a yellow gem at its end. A wave of hot air emanated from the whip that the man had just summoned. It was obvious that this weapon used the Fire attribute.

I couldn’t help but stare in awe. Such an impressive Soul wasn’t that common in remote villages such as Sophia Village. Only Uncle Olaf’s hammer radiated this much strength.

“Wow,” I said. “That is one impressive looking Soul.”

“It isn’t very strong though, otherwise I would be a Noble. It is quite inefficient on the battlefield. It does help me maintain order in class though. Not many students want to feel my wrath twice.”

His grin didn’t waver and I could feel a cold sweat run down my spine. Note to self, don’t mess with the teachers.

“Put that thing away before these book catch fire,” I said remembering where we were at. He released his Soul and the energy returned to his body.

“Well, I wasn’t planning on burning the place down. I don’t think my wallet would allow that,” he said and he laughed. He picked up the book and started to walk away.

“Thanks for the book, I think it should help me in my studies. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

He opened the door and was about to step through it, but before he did I just had to ask:

“Do you regret it? Do you regret that your Soul settled in this form?”

The man stopped and looked me in the eyes.

“No, never.” And then he left the store.

I mauled over that answer for a bit and decided to continue reading my book.

‘The evil wizard’s daughter came back and…’

*Ringedingling*

For goodness sake, can’t a man read in peace?