It was a hellscape. Kenan couldn't tell if it had been ten minutes or ten hours. He felt madness crawl at the base of his neck as it threatened to seep deeper. One turn would lead to magics of earth, another about various forms of decay. Then he would double back to some extravagant blade tome. He was lost.
Kenan had an endless list of options, but not a single one was viable. Each time he was set on a tome. A cold sensation of wrong would spread from his chest. Like a Fate tickled thread tugged at him. His resolution would be reversed and he continued to look.
Countless shelves passed. Each was filled to the brim with magical instructions. Each could be his. Each held their own secrets for power. Kenan didn’t bother to look at them. After so many steps his sight became unfocused. The active control of his body retreated and left behind mindless motor function. The fermented scent of old leather and bound paper was lumped into the forgotten background. His sense of sound did not escape the bounds of his withdrawn conscience.
Out of the blank-scape of memory. A bubble of chance recall popped. Tyris, Kenan’s father. The large earthman had just sent all of the year's crops into an inferno. He remembered his father had argued with both Ava and Doco. It was a hard, scary decision. But most if not all of the plants had been infested with an insidious insect. Then came the words, they echoed and bounced until they reached Kenan.
“You have to be decisive. You can't look back at your choices with regret. Regret kills. Makes you second-guess yourself, it muddles your mind. Gets you stuck in hesitation. Enough of that will make you complacent. That's no way to live. One must be decisive.”
Something shifted and rumbled at the movement. Kenan couldn’t switch his attention to the outside because another memory rocketed into his remembrance. It was of his mother. She cooked, cleaned, and folded clothes all at the same time. He had asked how it was possible.
“Sometimes you have to be ready for anything and change at a single notice. Kenny, you will understand that stones are thrown at you. Often one right after the the other. Readiness and fluidity are one and the same. Unless, of course, you want to be like your father. Who’ll just eat the rock.”
Kenan both bristled and laughed. Separate from the reaction, another thing transposed. Like the library had reacted. Even beyond that, there was a click in his mind. He started to understand but needed more. Then a third recollected event became the forefront. It was of Lucy. His sister. She had used her magic to grow a plant at a visible pace. He asked how she controlled it.
“I didn’t control it. If I force it, then the plant bucks. Same with us Ken’. Ma and Pa never force us. They guide us, show us a path, and let us walk. Besides, control is icky and boring.”
Thoughts swirled inside of his head. Imagination responded. Earth felt too set and water too weak. Plant enchantment wasn’t for him and telekinesis didn’t feel right either. He needed something that made him decisive but able to respond to any scenario. A power that couldn’t be controlled by others but guided by his hand. Deeper he dived into this active meditation. Seconds were drawn into hours while long stretches of time folded into nothing.
He must have missed a step or accidentally turned at the wrong time. His mental balance was crushed when his head bumped into a bookcase. Kenan fell back. Fear shot through him as the towering tome container wobbled. He prayed to Lathander. Either the sun god answered or luck played its role. But the bookcase didn’t topple.
His fright was quickly trimmed down to curiosity. So far all the bookshelves had been packed. This one had been emptied down to a singular book. He didn’t hesitate to grab it. The tome was red and decrepitly old. Most of its leather had been peeled off and the pages were not yellow but downgraded further to a gross brown. The author's name was ineligible beyond an N and F of the first and second name respectively. The title was intact but teetered to it being incompetent. “Coaxing Fire.”
His excitement didn’t allow him to wait to read it. To his surprise, the book betrayed his expectations. Because it didn’t focus on the creation of flame all that much. Instead, it pinpointed the movement of oxygen. How it flowed and why it allowed fire to ignite. It talked about using his mana to rapidly increase the speed of tiny molecules, and how to use his mana for fuel. While he skimmed through the tome there weren't a lot of prescribed skills or moves like other magicks would have.
He tore himself from the book. He had two problems to take care of. Find Dion and track down his way back. Despite the issues, he smiled. His body was filled with a giddy excitement. He had found his Magic!
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Kenan tucked the book under his armpit and set off. He took three steps and stopped. He looked left, right, up and down. He looked backward, and forward. “What?!” No more than a bookshelf length away was Granny and Doco. His jaw was agape while he continued. “Magic is so weird” He mumbled.
The two smiled at the boy’s amazement. Doco had a good silent laugh as he remembered his own awe and confusion. “You got yourself some magic."
“Yeah. Yeah, I did..” Kenan looked closely at one of the bookshelves to try to understand the mechanisms behind the book maze. His efforts did not produce any fruit.
“Well deary, let me have a look at it,” Granny said. Kenan shook off his deep comprehension. He placed his newfound magic tome on the desk. Granny pushed up her glasses and started to inspect the book. She flipped the pages, checked its spine, and dusted it off. “This is...hmm..”
“Something wrong?” Kenan asked. Doco leaned over and studied the tome too.
“No deary, No. I just thought I wouldn't see this book picked. This is a tome of fire, but it is different.” She gave Kenan a big grin. “It’s not one of them mass-produced tomes. It’s special!”
“Is that bad?”
“No no no deary. Well, it can be a problem if you slack on your studies. But! It could be great if you're a hard worker.” She stopped for a moment. Reached under her desk and brought up another book, it was new. It had sharp, clean leather with crisp pages. Next to it, she placed a pen on the table. “Give me your hand deary.” Kenan obeyed. “This will sting a bit.” Granny reached into the air and pulled. Outlined in grey was a weird crack that broke the physical. She took a knife from the fracture and it dissipated in a shower of glitter. Kenan didn’t realize his hand had been cut in a long, shallow line. The next five cuts on each of his fingertips did not go unnoticed.
Kenan's hidden wince turned to rushed confusion. His hand left a bloody print on the new book. Then before he had time to register the previous action. Granny took one of his fingers and drew a long red line up and down the pen.
He was further discombobulated by the sudden relief of pain. A soft grey glow covered his hand and he saw the blood that dribbled down be sucked back into his cuts and watched the wound sinch close like they were reversed totally. The crimson left behind on the book and pen lit up in a bright white, and then the light and blood disappeared.
“Did I just get hexed!?” Doco laughed at his nephew's dread.
“Specialized tomes, such as this one deary, are usually one of a kind. We give their new owners a book to write down their own findings. Magic changes with each wielder. The Standing hopes for your notes on the magic. Now deary, with your blood bound you will never lose either the pen or the book. And now you can write easier!”
“Umm’" Still confused. “Who stands?”
“Don’t mind that deary. Imagine the pen moving in the air.” Granny said. Kenan was so out of his wits that he didn’t bother to not obey. The pen, to his great surprise, lifted in the air.
“What is happening?!” The pen dropped.
“Relax, deary. It’s magic.”
Kenan took a deep breath in and out and dried to calm himself down. Then he heard the familiar peter-pater of his companions' paws. Kenan looked and Dion had bounded from one of the halls. In his mouth was an old tan-colored book. The fox gracefully lept onto the table and put the book in front of Kenan. Then howled in happiness.
“Hmmm, what do we have here?” Granny grabbed the book and grazed through the pages. The tome was older than his red one and the title had been worn to scribbles. “Wow wow wow deary. Quite the find.” She then shifted her gaze to Dion. Who yapped a convoluted series of whinnies “Yes, yes. I suppose so.”
“We can only afford one tome, Granny,” Doco said.
“Oh stop your nonsense. The new one is free of charge, and this one.” She pointed towards Dion’s treasure. “Is on the house.”
“But..” Both Kenan and Doco said. Kenan was sure his apprehension was different from his uncle's. He wasn’t sure he could learn magic from one tome, much less two.
“Ohh Stop it you stubborn fools!” She had a certain anger in her face. But it was a false rage that perpetrated its true nature of kindness. “You're gonna take it! And your gonna be thankful too!” Her words gave the gate for silence.
“What is it?” Kenan broke the stillness. Granny's face was perplexed. “The book, Granny.”
The familiar smile returned. “Well, glad you asked deary. It’s.. not technically magic persay. More like a physical technique that uses mana, I suppose. I do believe it would fit well with you young man.”
Any further questioning was cracked and shattered under the cacophonic shock of a large bell tone. “Oh, dearies. I do believe it’s that time.” She jumped from her step stool. Went around the table and shoved the three books into Kenan’s hand. Dion then jumped on the stack with a proud puffed chest. “Now, now, now. You are off.” With the extent of her physical prowess, she lightly shoved Kenan and Doco.
With swift magic, Doco zipped a bag of coins behind the desk. The other two were none the wiser of the action.
Kenan was forced to turn. In the way was a door. He wasn’t surprised at the sudden appearance. He was too full of shock for him to properly understand. The gateway opened and he was thrusted through. Kenan fell onto his feet outside. He spun to see a closed door. “Thank… you?” Beside him, Doco laughed.