While Cecil was being dragged into the core area of the library, Lucia and everyone had just gotten to the higher floors and were picking out the skills or spells they wanted. No one in their group knew about the predicament Cecil was currently in as they were busy with their own things at the moment.
It wasn't until a few minutes later after browsing through some of the selections did Lucia finally pick the spell, Inferno, a 6th tier magic spell that was suited for her current stage. Tier 6 was the highest tiered spell on the 4th floor. If they wanted 7th tier or higher spells then they would have to enter the 5th or 6th floor of the library.
Since there was no other higher tiered fire magic spells, Lucia decided on learning the Inferno spell. She had other originals that, in her opinion, were better than the Inferno spell and she could have chosen a combat skill instead, but after remembering the various skills in Cecil's family martial arts, she decided on Inferno. She was going to use it as inspiration for a new original spell.
Fina had chosen a tier 4 spell from the 3rd floor called Hailstorm. Ainz chose one from the 3rd floor as well. Despite his arrogant remark of saying he'd only choose one from the 4th floor, the boy was left with no other choice since the spells on the 4th floor were mostly tier 5 or 6 spells. Eli chose a tier 5 combat skill called Ground Shrinker from the 4th floor and it was the enhanced version of the normal Shukuchi which was actually a tier 3 combat skill.
Elizabeth had a feeling that whatever movement spell Cecil was using, it was definitely not just a Shukuchi. There was no way he could move so fast with just a tier 3 combat skill like that. Yesterday, after witnessing the battle between her two friends, Cecil and Lucia, she was more inclined to believe that it was an original skill that he had created himself.
"I'll be shameless just once and ask him to teach it to me if he can..."
Since everyone had quickly finished picking their skills and spells, they quickly went back down to the first floor to drag Cecil over and quickly have him pick his own thing, but as they were heading down to meet up with him, Velicia, Eli's roommate, bumped into them and delivered some appalling news.
"WHAT? Cecil's been taken?!" Lucia exclaimed in surprise.
"Y-Yes... apparently, he did something that disrespected the Spirit Sage... I can't believe a Sage is actually present in our school! But what I can't even fathom, however, is how the heck did Cecil managed to piss one of them off! They're called Sages for a reason, y'know?!" Velicia stated, completely puzzled.
"Tsk... what did that idiot do this time...?" Lucia muttered gloomily. Even though she said that, she wasn't too upset about Cecil pissing someone off and causing a scene because that was something she expected. What really pissed her off was that some old dude took custody of Cecil.
"L-Lucia! Don't do anything rash okay! Maybe it's not that big of a problem. Knowing Cecil, there's no way he would cause problems for no reason! " Fina said, trying to dissuade Lucia from acting rashly as she already had an inkling of what her friend was going to do.
Knowing Lucia, she would fearlessly stomp her way into the core area and take Cecil back from the clutches of the Sage, even if she had to offend the Sage in question. and indeed, it was just as she feared. The only thoughts going through Lucia's head at the moment was to take Cecil back from the Spirit Sage no matter the cost. She had already learned of how powerful these Sages were from her mother, but even then she wasn't going to cower.
"It's always Cecil saving me, so now it's my turn to return the favor," Lucia mumbled. "Even if this Spirit Sage is as strong as what my mother says, I don't care."
On their way down to the first floor, they met up with other students and they were directing weird glances at their group. This was mostly due to the fact that Lucia was emitting a very deadly aura around her and the fact that a person from their clique had caused some trouble which caused him to be taken away by the administrator of the Library, the illustrious Spirit Sage.
When they got to the first floor, Lucia looked around to see that most of the students had gathered and were waiting to exit the library. Lucia saw the instructors currently discussing something very seriously together. She only took a short glance at them and walked deeper into the first floor. Fina was worriedly following behind her while Eli was trying to talk Lucia out of what she was doing.
"Lucia, please don't do it, we know Cecil's important to you, but it's not like anything bad may happen to him! Even a Sage wouldn't punish a junior too harshly. So, let's stop okay? We shouldn't cause any more problems! What happens if it affects Cecil in a bad way?"
"...what do you think I'm going to do anyway?"
"...you're probably going to storm into the core area and send a Lava Bolt at the Sage if he doesn't return Cecil?" Eli said in monotone.
"What kinda person do you think I am?"
"Oh, so you're not going to that then?"
"..."
"See!"
While Elizabeth stared in shock at her friend who remained silent at her question, the group arrived at the door to the core area. Other students were intrigued at their actions so some of them had followed after the group. The instructors also saw this and turned to look at what was up, only to see Cecil's group of friends currently standing in front of the door to the core area.
Lucia then said with a bright smile, "I'm only going to apologize for Cecil and ask the sage to release him and if we could do anything to mend the problem then we'll do it! That's all, really!"
Fina and Eli sighed in relief while Ainz smirked. The instructors who were just about to stop the group from entering through the door hesitated when they heard Lucia's words. It was indeed better for them to apologize.
'Yeah right, from what Cecil's told me about you, there's no way that's the only thing you'll do.' Ainz thought silently, there was no way he would actually say that since it would only result in him getting burns and bruises.
"And if that doesn't work..." Lucia's eyes turned sharp and she quickly turned around and kicked the door open... that's right... she kicked the door to the core area open.
"What the?!"
"LUCIA!" Fina and Eli exclaimed in unison.
"I'll take him back by force!" Lucia declared loudly.
"I knew it." Ainz mumbled, he expected this and in his opinion this option seemed much more fun!
After kicking the door open, Lucia stomped her way into the core area of the library's first floor.
"CECIL?! Where are you?!"
Lucia looked around and saw that there were only shelves and desks in the room with scrolls and books strewn and piled up all over the place. She activated a sensing spell and found 2 heat signatures in the room beyond the room they were currently in. She then made her way through the room and down into the corridor that led deeper into the area.
Ainz happily followed behind while Fina and Eli were rooted down on their spot at Lucia's brazen entrance. The students were and instructors were equally dumbfounded at the spectacle. It was only after Lucia and Ainz disappeared into the corridor did they snap out of their daze and chase after them. Velicia, who was taking in the sight of the unusual occurrence happening in front of her, quickly chased after them when the students around her started making a racket.
The instructors quickly snapped out of their daze and quickly prevented any more students from intruding into the core area. The other S class students who were observing from a ways away were still dumbfounded at the odd event that just happened. Their 2nd ranked student in class was taken away by the Sage for causing trouble and now the 1st ranked student was on her way to rescue him... what the hell was happening? That was the only thoughts that spun around in their heads.
When the instructors finally settled the area down, they urged instructor Jin to follow after his students and make sure no more problems sprung up, though it was too late by now since Lucia had already caused a large commotion when she kicked open the door and started yelling. Lucia was running deeper into the area to the place where she sensed the two heat signatures were at.
'Don't worry Cel... I'll definitely save you!'
Lucia began circulating her mana and activated Elemental Burst. With her body enhanced, she kicked off the ground and dashed into the room. Ainz, who was beside her, was surprised at Lucia's abrupt maneuver. He sprinted forwards, but then heard chuckling and laughter coming from the room ahead.
Lucia was about to unsheathe Shirayuki, only to stop abruptly in place when she saw the Sage...and Cecil.
"Ahahaha! Who knew that you had such a technique! Intriguing, very intriguing! The younger generation really is progressing in a good way! Ahahaha!"
"No, Elder! I mean, it's not that big of a deal! Even you can learn it if you want!"
"Ahahaha, I'd be welcome to it, but I'm too old now!"
"No way, Elder! In my opinion you're still in your late prime!"
The Sage and Cecil were currently sitting around a table laughing and chatting merrily. Lucia's abrupt entrance had startled Cecil and the Sage and they turned their head towards her, right at the time when Ainz had also run into the room.
"Oh, who's this young lady?"
"Oh! Elder, this is the girl I was talking about earlier! The one who could do what I can do! She's Lucia! My best friend and you can also call her my disciple!"
"Ah, so this is the girl!"
"Huh?" Lucia gawked in confusion. What's this? This isn't what she imagined the situation Cecil would be in!
From the words of the students and Velicia's report, Cecil was angrily dragged by the Sage into the core area with words like, 'I'm going to teach this ignorant fool a lesson' and 'This insolent fool has disrespected me and this library!'
So what the heck is with this spectacle?! Cecil was supposed to be beaten up or something, he was supposed to be 'taught a lesson' by the Sage, wasn't he? Ainz could only stare back at the Sage and Cecil in puzzlement as well. Not long after, Fina, Eli, and Velicia ran into the room, panting.
"Oh! Everyone's come too? Hey, guys!" Cecil greeted the group with a smile.
"..."
Lucia and the rest could only respond with silence at Cecil's greeting. The Spirit Sage beside him was smiling gently back at their group and he didn't look like the scary elder that Velicia had made him out to be. He only seemed like the friendly next door grandpa that watched over the kids playing with a gentle smile.
"Hey! What's up? Come in and sit down! Elder Sage here was kind enough to lend me his ear and we've been exchanging information about magic and such!"
"..."
Their silence only caused Cecil to tilt his head in confusion. Just as he was about to open his mouth, Instructor Jin dashed into the room. He saw Lucia's group and saw the Sage and Cecil sitting together around a small table.
"H-Honorable Elder!"
Instructor Jin's presence caused the Elder to frown a little.
"What is it?"
"A-Apologies! W-We apologize for brazenly intruding on your private space! W-We're going to head back out now! A-and please do forgive Cecil for what he's done!"
Instructor Jin bowed down deeply, he turned to the side and saw Lucia's group staring back at him in a daze. He hastily made his way over to them and began pushing down everyone's heads, making them bow towards the Sage. Just as he was about to push down Lucia's head, he stopped seeing the stinging glare she was giving him.
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"Lucia, please bow and apolo–"
"Enough."
"E-Elder?"
"I'll handle the children, you may go out now." The Sage said plainly.
"B-But Elder!"
"I said, you may go now."
"Ugh..."
The Sage's authoritative tone caused Instructor Jin to hesitate. Seeing as he could do nothing, he only bowed once more and said, "As you wish, Elder. But, please they're just–"
"Tsk."
Hearing the Sage click his tongue caused the instructor to halt his words. He quickly turned around and walked out of the room. Seeing the instructor exit the premises, Lucia's group only stared at each other before turning their eyes towards Cecil and the Sage.
With the instructor gone, the old man sighed and said, "Finally. The nuisance is out of the way."
"?"
Hearing the old man's words caused Lucia's group to do a double take.
'Nuisance? The instructor?'
"Now, kids. Please, come, sit." The Elder gestured gently with a smile.
Everyone hesitated at first. It didn't take too much deliberation before they walked forward and began taking their seats around Cecil and the Sage. The gentle expression on the Elder's face was what caused them to stop hesitating and take the friendly gesture. Only Lucia was still standing and she continued to glare back at the Sage.
"Oh? Is something wrong little one?" The Elder asked.
Seeing the gentle way the Elder addressed her despite her giving him a death glare, Lucia hesitated a bit and asked.
"...Uhm... Cecil's not in trouble... is he?"
"Ohohoho, no. No, little one. He was before, but not anymore. So there's no need for you to worry. Please, sit."
Lucia stopped glaring at the Sage and instead directed a glare at Cecil who was innocently smiling back at her. Her glare caused him to flinch.
'Crap!'
Lucia deactivated Elemental Burst and the dark scarlet aura that was wrapping around her dissipated.
"Ho~oh..." The Elder exclaimed in mild surprise.
Lucia walked forwards and sat herself beside Cecil. Cecil was coldly sweating inside when he saw the dark expression on Lucia's face after she glared at him, and just as he expected, the girl began pinching his sides harshly after she sat herself down beside him. He could only grimace in response, it was his fault indeed since he caused Lucia to worry for him.
The thought of being taken away by one of the 12 Sages of Urrugdrasil because he disrespected him was a frightening. It was no wonder Lucia was now angry at him since the sage did say he was in trouble before.
After Lucia had her fill of pinching, she turned her eyes towards the Elder in front of her. Spirit Sage, the old man sitting in front of her was one of the 12 Sages. Sage was a title given to the people of a generation who had attained the Transcendent level as a spellcaster, the pinnacle stage of mana cultivation. People at this level were superpowers that could contend against kingdoms and empires singlehandedly and were counted as apocalyptic level beings.
Back on Earth they would be termed as strategic level threats, like a nuclear warhead, which was why the 12 Sages were the most respected and feared existences in the continent. These Sages were also there to protect their continent from attacks from catastrophe level monsters and threats, as well as attacks from other continents who had their own Transcendenl level people.
On Urrugdrasil, the Transcendent level mages were called Sages and the Transcendent level fighters were called Braves. Below them were the 8 Arch Mages, 10 Kings, and 10 Shamans. They were all spread throughout the continent tasked with the same missions; the protection of their continent. Of course, they weren't 'tasked' with the missions by anyone else. It was just their sense of responsibilities that drove them to doing it.
Although intercontinental wars rarely happened since each continent on Alterna had their own superpowers that served as a huge deterrent for anyone trying to cause such a war, there were still some brave organizations and heretical societies that wanted to start one regardless.
Incidentally, each continent had their own unique titles of transcendent level beings. Midgard's title for Mages were Arcanes while fighters were called Champions. On the Helaife continent, Transcendent mages and warriors were both called Demon Kings and they were generally the leaders of a Kingdom or Empire since power had equal ties with leadership over there.
It was unlike the Transcendent individuals of the Midgard and Urrugdrasil continents that tended to stay away from politics or getting involved with a single organization or whatever. While some Trascendents would support kingdoms and organizations, they didn't lead them or directly influenced them. It was some kind of unwritten law for these 2 continents' strongest individuals.
As for the old man in front of them, he was the oldest Sage in Urrugdrasil, the Spirit Sage. It was said that the Spirit Sage excelled in nature magic. This was a given since the Spirit Sage was an elf. Moreover, he was a High Elf, the race of elves with the highest affinity with nature magic.
Just like the Spirit Sage said, he did find fault with Cecil at first, but after listening to his explanation and finding out about the unique skill that Cecil used to enhance his cognitive senses and thought process, he was immediately intrigued. He didn't take Cecil's word for granted since he thought that the boy might lie to him so he tested him first. He asked him about the contents of the 67 books that Cecil had read back in the library's inner area.
The Spirit Sage was the owner of all the books inside the library and he memorized all the contents of the books and manuals after 200 years of reading. So when Cecil recited the main contents of the 67 books that he had 'skimmed' through, the Sage was really surprised. He took out another book for Cecil to read and decided to test him on the spot. The results only stupefied the Elder since Cecil correctly recounted every word with accurate precision after he only spent 1 minute 'reading' the book.
This caused the Elder to ask more about the principles behind Cecil's technique to which Cecil happily responded to. He didn't have to tell anything about his fundamental technique, Mana Burst, and only explained the principle and activation process of Hyper-sensitivity which was a branch skill of Mana Burst.
From there, Cecil and the Spirit Sage kept on with their discussion and lost track of time. The previous altercation and misunderstanding that Cecil caused was thrown to the back of the Elder's mind. The two spent their time discussing the various applications and uses that 'Hyper-sensitivity' could bring to the beastkin race and Cecil's application of Mana was also intriguing to the Spirit Sage.
The Sage asked Cecil for a detailed explanation of his Mana application since it sounded similar to how monsters used mana. It was incomprehensible for the Spirit Sage and just as the discussion was about to continue, Lucia and the rest barged in the room, interrupting their conversation. He already knew that the group and Lucia was coming and that she was bearing a lot of hostility, but he didn't take offense to it.
He did after all take away their friend in a rather brusque manner, so he understood where they were coming from. He rather applauded the group's courage and determination in coming here despite knowing that they were up against him, a Sage. The fox girl even looked like she was prepared to fight him, which made him rather amused.
Instead of getting angry with the group for entering the library's core area without his permission, the Elder Sage welcomed them instead. Of course, he only welcomed the students and drove away their teacher. Once everyone was comfortably seated, he smiled and waved his hand, materializing a small treant in the room that was carrying a tea set on its branches. The treant then began serving the 5 newcomers and once its duty was finished it walked to the side of the room and stood there, stationery in place by the wall.
The Spirit Sage continued to smile as the group remained silent and just stared at him. He opened his mouth a moment later and said, "Please, relax. Young Cecil and I were just about to continue our discussion on the applications of Mana and the intriguing way he uses mana to speed up his thought process. I'm pretty sure our discussion will have a good influence on you youngsters."
The group was surprised hearing the Sage talk to Cecil with such high regard. They were actually discussing about theories and applications of Mana which completely shocked them because they couldn't understand how Cecil was able to keep up with the Sage. While Elizabeth and the rest were surprised that Cecil was having a discussion on equal terms with the Sage, Lucia, however, was surprised for a different reason.
'The intriguing way Cecil uses mana? Does he know?!' Lucia shot a worried look at Cecil only to see him smiling back at her.
"It's okay, Lulu, it's only about Hyper-sensitivity."
"Oh!" Lucia sighed in relief. As long as Cecil's secret was kept, anything else didn't matter.
"Now, shall we continue, Cecil? You young ones should treat this as an opportunity. Treat it as listening to a lesson delivered personally by me!"
"Woah!"
"Y-Yes!"
"Thank you Elder!"
The group expressed their thanks and astonishment to which the Spirit Sage only responded with a light laugh, "Hahaha, at least you have the courage to come in to check on the well-being of your friend! Not only that, you had the courage and guts to confront a Sage! Those other hesitant ones just can't cut it, I'm afraid!"
The Elder smiled at the group, then he turned a teasing smile towards Lucia and said, "Especially you, lass. You even kicked open the door and stormed in to look for young Cecil here! Ahahaha~"
"I! Uhm... I! I didn't mean to! It's just... Cecil always causes trouble and I always have to look after him..." Lucia said while blushing.
"Hahahaha, just like a little brother right?"
"Huh? N-No, not at all... more like a troublesome childhood friend..." Lucia discretely turned her eye towards Cecil who was beside her. He was smiling while munching on a biscuit.
"Ahahahaha!" The Elder only chuckled in response when he saw Lucia correct him.
Cecil finished his biscuit and quickly asked, "Should we continue, Elder?"
"Yes! But before that, I should properly introduce myself to your friends!" The Spirit Sage said with a chuckle.
"I am Tohrun Natura, a high elf mage. To others, however, I'm simply known as the Spirit Sage of Urrugdrasil's 12 Sages."
After his introduction, everyone else began giving introductions as well. When they finished, Elder Tohrun finally addressed his and Cecil's earlier discussions. Cecil and the Sage explained what they were discussing to Cecil's friends first so they could get on the same page as them.
"Now, the way Hyper-sensitivity works, it stimulates the nerves in the brain by using mana to speed up the rate of information that passes through them in the form of electrical pulses and–"
Their discussion on the inner workings of Cecil's technique continued on for almost half a day. Their group had essentially skipped out on classes that day and was instead given a private lecture by both the Sage and Cecil.