“Hey! Over here!” There, right by one of the wooden tables, sat Myriel. She had a tall stack of books laid out next to her, and then another set of books all opened wide, with papers covering the desk, filled with notes.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, when she saw them.

“Myriel?” Ardwyn recognized her from the dining room hall where they had met previously.

“Who’s that?” Flynn whispered, giving Ardwyn a tap on his side. Ardwyn shot Flynn the kind of look to calm down and not embarrass him.

“Hi, Myriel,” Ardwyn said, and shyly smiled. The feelings of attraction he had felt when he met her earlier rose up again, and he felt some sort of warm heat in his chest.

“I was not expecting to see you here,” she said. “Who is your friend?”

“That’s Flynn,” Ardwyn said. Flynn quickly waved his hand. All of a sudden he seemed to have become really shy.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Myriel said.

Ardwyn was somewhat glad he had run into Myriel while accompanied by Flynn. That seemed to give him some social status, that he wasn’t just here alone, a total inept stranger, but also that he could make friends. Although Flynn was an assigned roommate, he didn’t mention that fact, preferring to let Myriel draw her own conclusions.

“Actually, we are researching,” Ardwyn said, trying to sound casual although he felt his heart beating fast against his chest.

“Researching?” she asked, leaning in closer. “I love research. What kind of research?”

“We are researching the Ethereal Blossoms!” Flynn blurted. His voice carried through the library. Several nearby students looked up from their books, their gazes a mix of annoyance and intrigue.

“Shhh!” Myriel said. “Not so loud.”

“Pardon me,” Flynn said. “I’m not used to libraries. Back from where I’m from, in my village, we never had a library.”

“Oh, how dreadful!” Myriel said. “A town without a library.”

Flynn nodded eagerly, his earlier shyness gone. “This library is incredible,” he said, glancing around at the towering shelves. “I’ve never seen so many books in one place.”

“I’ve never seen a library with so many books neither,” Myriel said. “Often after I’m done studying, I cannot help myself to read on random topics. In fact, today, I was just browsing and came across this rather interesting book on rare potions,” she said, and held up a book with gold letters on the spine with the title, Uncommon Brews for Common Woes.

“There are a ton of recipes in here for the most peculiar uses. Take this one for example — Graceful Gulp. Ingredients: bee pollen, dragon root, and mana citrus. Apparently improves coordination and balance. I’d like to try making that sometimes.”

“Interesting,” Ardwyn said.

“So what are you researching?” Myriel asked.

“Ethereal Blossoms like Flynn mentioned,” Ardwyn said.

“That’s an interesting subject to research randomly.”

“Well, you see,” Flynn said without hesitating to consult with Ardwyn, “He actually has some Ethereal Blossoms in his room right at this very moment.” Flynn raised his eyebrow, bragging as if they had some sort of treasure hidden away.

“What?” Myriel asked. “How did you come across them?”

Ardwyn said, “A herbalist in town gave them to me.”

“That’s truly remarkable,” Myriel said, her eyes widening in wonder. “I have never seen Ethereal Blossoms up close in person, since they are said to just bloom once every hundred years or so.”

“I wonder what is the reason for them being so rare?” Ardwyn asked.

“There are various theories on the subject”, Myriel said. “I’m sure you could read up about them in the library.”

“Actually, what we want to know is how to care for them, and cultivate them,” Flynn said. “We want to know the optimal growth conditions. I was raised on a farm, you know, and there are all sorts of tricks and tips to caring for individual plants. They all have their own growing cycles, environmental preferences, best seasons, that sort of thing.”

“Well, I could definitely help you find the proper section,” Myriel said looking around. “The library is quite vast. It took me some time before I could find my way around, and I still haven’t even discovered a fraction of everything available here.”

“We would be very grateful if you could do that,” Ardwyn said. He probably would have had a hard time even using a regular library back home.

“Come, follow me,” she said, and led them down a wide aisle between two towering bookshelves, and then turned into a narrow aisle filled with a thick scent of old parchment and leather bindings. She made another turn left, and then a turn right, at the first corridor splitting them off from the main chamber.

Ardwyn was somewhat amazed at Myriel’s knowledge of the library’s labyrinth of bookshelves. As they walked, he noticed how the light seemed to change, growing more dim. They passed by sections dedicated to various magical disciplines — he caught the names of a few book titles — transmutation, potion craft, spells.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Myriel led them deeper into the library. Some students hunched over in study nooks over massive tomes, their quills scratching on the parchment, the only audible sound around them. Some looked up as Myriel passed, followed by Ardwyn and Flynn, curiosity gleaming in their faces. As they moved deeper into the library, the students thinned out. One student slept, his head placed comfortably on his backpack, in the peaceful silence of the less trafficked area of the library.

“Here we are,” Myriel said at last, coming to a stop before a section of books nestled up against one of the far walls of the library. “Magical Herbology of the Ethereal Blossom.” She pulled the heavy volume down, struggling to balance the book in both hands. The book seemed to be hundreds of pages thick.

“I never imagined there could be so much to learn about magical flowers,” Ardwyn said.

They found a wooden study table in the corner, close to the shelf, and sat down. The table, although made out of old oak wood, was polished and smooth.

Myriel set the heavy tome down with a soft thud. A cloud of dust rose from the book. It seemed no one had read the book in a long time. She carefully opened the book and with the ancient spine creaking slowly. The pages were thin and delicate, covered with beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations of various examples of Ethereal Blossoms. Ardwyn immediately recognized the familiar form of the flowers.

Ardwyn leaned in and said, “Where do we start?”

“Let’s see,” Myriel started reading the table of contents, “Origin and History… Magical Properties… Known Varieties… Theoretical Applications… Cultivation and Care. Here it is.”

Flynn said, “What’s it say?”

Myriel began reading. “Ethereal Blossoms require meticulous care due to their exceptional nature and arcane properties. Of great importance is the regulation of light exposure. Insufficient light leads to rapid decay, while excessive light can impede growth. It is generally recommended to expose the specimens to measured periods of indirect sunlight, with duration and timing calibrated to moon phases, although more research has to be done in this subject to draw further conclusions since the blossoms occur rarely in nature, only once every hundred years.”

“This is actually a lot more complicated than I realized,” Flynn said. “Even back on the farm, we’ve never had to dedicate such care to any plant.”

Myriel continued, “Caution: Extended storage away from the sunlight is strongly discouraged. Ethereal Blossoms demonstrate a property of accumulating surrounding mana from the ether in the absence of light. This accumulation may result in unpredictable arcane phenomena including but not limited to, spontaneous portal generation.”

Ardwyn turned to Flynn asked, “Didn’t we leave them in the closet hidden away from the sunlight?”

Flynn nodded. “Does it say how long they should be in the sunlight?”

Myriel scanned the text, flipping through the rest of the pages in the chapter. “Doesn’t seem like it. All the cultivation section mentions is timing the exposure with the phases of the moon but there are no specific times here.”

Myriel continued to flip through the book’s pages. Specs of dust from the ages drifted up into the air.

Ardwyn leaned in. On one of the pages he noticed a picture of a beautifully detailed illustration spanning two pages. The image depicted a circular arrangement of stones. In the center of the stone circle was a cluster of Ethereal Blossoms. Surrounding the stone circle, faint lines of energy appeared to be radiating outwards.

“What’s this?” Ardwyn asked, pointing to the illustration.

Myriel scanned the text following the diagram. “Wait!” she said, excitedly. “Listen to this part!”

“The relationship between Ethereal Blossoms (Flores Aetherii) and the ancient Nexus Portal has long been a subject of intense scholarly debate. Historical records from the Age of Primal Magic suggest that these rare flora played a crucial role in the activation of inter-dimensional gateways, namely the Nexus Portal.”

At the mention of Nexus Portal, Ardwyn’s heart lifted. He leaned in even closer, reading the text silently along with Myriel.

“According to partially recovered fragments of text from the Codex Aetheria, Ethereal Blossoms display unique properties that allow them to resonate with the underlying fabric of portals. When properly attuned and placed within the confines of certain arcane structures, such as the Nexus Portal, the blossoms reportedly can facilitate the creation of inter-dimensional pathways.”

“I could use the Ethereal Blossom to get back home!” Ardwyn shouted in excitement. His voice echoed down the corridors of the library, but he didn’t care.

Ardwyn hadn’t fully explained where he was from. He found it kind of hard to really describe technology, and other advancements of the 21st century. As far as Myriel and Flynn could tell, his home was just part of another realm, and they were used to portals, not finding them strange at all.

What would that require? Ardwyn thought. A way to get back to the village, where the Nexus Portal stones were. That would be easy enough. And then just place the Ethereal Blossom between the stones, and he could finally get back home.

“This book right here,” Ardwyn said. “Can I check it out?”

“You would need a student account,” Myriel said. “You said you are still trying for the Academy?”

Ardwyn nodded.

“That’s fine,” Myriel said. “I can check it out for you. Just don’t lose it.”

Ardwyn clutched the book tightly in his grip. The book didn’t just hold knowledge, but the very key to getting back home.

The group made their way back through winding shelves toward the exit. At the front counter, sat an older gentlemen, the librarian, hunched over. He was sleeping. When they placed the heavy book on his desk he woke up with a startle.

“Checking out?” He asked, rubbing his eyes. When he had opened his eyes, he gave Ardwyn a more careful look, and his ordinary clothes, which were a strike contrast to the mage robes of his companions.

“Yes, I’m checking this book out,” Myriel said.

“Very well then,” the man said and searched through the library records, finding Myriel’s name, and then writing the book down in the records. “Hmmm”, the man said. This book hasn’t been checked out for almost 100 years.”

“Really?” Ardwyn asked.

“Well, the book is due by the 1st of next month. Enjoy.” The librarian said noticing their eager anticipation to get their hands back on the book as he slid it across the counter.

When they got back to their dorms, Myriel followed them, curious to take a look at the Ethereal Blossoms, since she had never seen any before. They walked up to the front door of their dorm room, and Ardwyn slid in the key. The door gently pushed open without having to twist the key or apply any force.

“Strange,” Ardwyn said, “the room was left open.”

“Did you leave the room open?” Flynn asked, curiously studying the door and the room.

“No,” Ardwyn said. “I thought I locked it.”

“Oh, well,” Flynn said. “Maybe staff came through. Room cleaning.”

They entered the room. Ardwyn carefully placed the large tome down on the desk, and turned to Myriel. “This is our dorm room.”

“What a lovely view you have here!” Myriel walked up to the window and looked out. Below was an almost panoramic view of the courtyard below. A few students sat on benches under gazebos, enjoying the last few moments before the start of classes. She turned back from the window. “Can I see the Ethereal Blossoms now?” Myriel asked, her eyes eager in anticipation.

“They’re in the closet,” Ardwyn said.

“Careful! Make sure they get enough sunlight,” Myriel said. “The book cautioned that keeping them away from the sunlight for prolonged periods of time could cause strange arcane phenomena.”

“I wonder what that means?” Flynn asked.

Ardwyn opened the closet. He looked in the corner where he had placed the Ethereal Blossoms. The closet was empty, except for a few clothes, and their bags set down leaning against the side of the wall.

The Ethereal Blossoms were gone.