A sheet of paper flipped with the twist of a finger.
"Hmm," Her lips pursed, Maria scrunched her brows.
She sat upon the chair, legs crossed. Her ruby eyes viciously glued onto the contents of the book in her hand and, from moment to moment, a frown crossed her petite face. Her peach-colored hair, reaching her shoulders, waved back and forth with every small break she took to contemplate a certain thing.
She blinked, shifting another page of the book.
The gentle rays of the sun illuminated the place, piercing through the grand window at her left and emptying into the room. The library was striking, cleaved in two by a long stretch of tables, there were five rows rows of bookshelves on each side, and five columns of bookshelves in each row. And there, in the midst of it all, sat a girl dressed in full white. A collared, short-sleeved shirt, shorts, socks extending up to her knees, and small shoes. All in her favorite color of pure white. Matched with her beauty at such a young age, if anyone were to catch her figure, they would have surely thought she had received a blessing of sorts from the heavens.
A certain figure stood behind, watching the young girl in placid wait. Dressed in a simple maid uniform of dark blue with a white 'blouse' at her front, her golden-blonde hair receding to her waist and her golden eyes blinking sparsely.
Maria held the book 'Understanding the Sacred Text' in her hands, staring defiantly at the pages. She was almost finished.
"So the U rank just means Unique?" She murmured.
'The Sacred Text of specific individuals is an interesting concept. For some, their skills and stats are bare-bones, what they say is what they do, everything written in plain words in which no secret can be found. For others, their might remains guarded, their skills to be ventured, a mystery of secrets found through the experience of what exactly their skills entail. In the end, those are the two types of Sacred Texts in this world. The direct and the indirect. The clear and the elusive. However, do not forget, the Sacred Text of an individual is only really ever a template, it merely judges their skills in relation to stats, not their full strength. That is to be discovered.'
Her eyes glimmered a faint gold as a white window appeared before her. She skipped over everything, calling only upon her second skill, 'Forever a Crimson Blade'.
[Forever a Crimson Blade: Some born Kings, some peasants. Some born farmers, some warriors. Some born a fool, some a genius. Some born to peace, some to battle. Some born to paradise, some to purgatory. Yet, none as cursed a fate as the Blade.
Even when shattered, a blade is not merely a sword to be swung. May your broken fate shine eternal.]
"I see," Maria nodded to herself.
"I still have no idea what any of that means."
Ais's emotionless voice drifted into her ears, "Princess, should you not take a break?"
"Ah," Maria smiled, lifting her head up from the book as she closed the final page.
She turned around, "Big sis, how many has it been now?"
"This is only the second one and it's almost lunch time..." Ais replied, her voice stretching out even in monotone, "Take a break. It's impossible for you to read 10 books in a single day. That boy is only tricking you."
"No way!" Maria's voice rang as she lept from her sit.
"If he can do it, I can too! There's no way I'm losing!" She looked up, her cheeks puffed in the childishness that revealed are young age.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Ais shook her head, patting the head of the little girl, "With his skill, I'm fairly certain only he within this castle can accomplish such a feat as reading that many texts in a day."
Maria could only frown at those words, pouting lightly, "I'll show him."
She gnashed her teeth. She had always lost. No matter what sort of game or competition the two had, she would always lose. If it was checkers, she lost. If it was chess, she lost. If it were a game to see who could get their parents to do the most absurd thing possible, she lost. Even if it were playing 'Capture the Magic Orb', a game where her superior speed should work in her favor, she still couldn't beat him. He always managed to catch it with little effort, seemingly knowing where it always hid and knowing the path it would fly. Somehow, even he didn't know for certain how he managed it.
Now, their latest competition was simply to read 10 books in 1 day, and she was unwilling to admit she had been tricked.
However, her eyes suddenly brightened as a light bulb seemed to pop in her head. As quick as a child, her thoughts had easily shifted to something else without her awareness.
"Wait, I just have to test it myself..."
"Hmm?" Ais tilted her head.
The princess took a step back.
She grinned cheekily, stretching her right hand and willing, "
A flash of white light tore through the air as her hand disappeared within. She felt her way and grasped onto something and, naturally, she pulled. First came a crystal-like ball of gold, next came the handle of crimson read, a hilt radiating gold, and finally a glistering, clear, silver blade.
"Oh?" Ais raised a brow, watching as the girl grasped a sword from the veil of thin air.
"Now..." Maria examined the weapon, pure ruby eyes reflected back.
"What exactly does this do?"
The two-year-old princess was truly a strange girl. Ais nodded to herself, truly a strange girl indeed.
The princess humped back once, her hands struggling to lift the weight of the weapon. Although she did have an A ranked strength, she was still only two years old currently, her body was simply underdeveloped for such exertions at the current moment.
Clunk
The weapon's blade dug into the marble floors of the library.
"Oh come on!" The little girl huffed and puffed, her arms struggling to lift the weight back up.
"..." Ais watched placidly, a slight bit speechless.
Yet, her eyes narrowed moments later.
A pure white radiance seeped from the girl's body, seemingly draining into the hilt of her weapon. Although the person herself failed to notice, Ais's mind wavered.
Maria grinned a second later, suddenly finding the weapon much lighter, and pulling the blade with all her strength, "Got it-!"
A plump and short boy ran forward with a book in hand.
"Hey, hey, Maria-"
"!!"
Clunk
His ruby eyes widened as the noticeable visage of a silver blade flew directly in front of his face. His heart bet with such ferocity that he feared it may just jump from his chest. As gentle freckles of his red hair fell, the boy couldn't help but gulp, suddenly feeling his throat stale.
He raised his hand to wipe the sudden sweat from his face.
"Ouch,"
Immediately after, he quickly withdrew his hand.
"What the heck...?"
The boy scrunched his brows as he studied the wallowing, dancing, balls of red light that gently floated from his small right palm. He could feel a clear warmth radiating into his very bones, and as he looked on, he seemed to recognize this energy.
"...why am I on fire..."
He suddenly grew quite wary.
His hands shook frantically as he jumped around. He wanted it off. Off. And the energy seemed to follow his command, shooting out of his body...endlessly. The little boy failed to notice the pinking of his cheeks. And likewise, as well, failed to notice the rising temperature of his body as a cove of glittering red light danced around him.
"What the heck..." As soon as she came within a meter of the boy, Maria couldn't help but stop.
It wasn't painfully hot...but the burning sensation prickled into her very bones.
Sweat rolling down her head, she watched the boy in wonder, her eyes glazing golden.
[Name: Arthur Springfield
Strength: C
Speed: B
Mana: A
Skills: Instant Cast (U) Literacy Master (U)
Overall: A-]
[Instant Cast: Allows the ability to instantly cast a spell without the need to chant the incantation.]
[Literacy Master: When it comes to mastery over the art of words, only you could be crowned king within this world.
"That wasn't there before..." She furrowed her brows.
"Arthur!"
The boy turned his head, seeing the hazing figure of a blonde haired young male running towards him. His world took a turn, revolving and spinning. And soon enough, he came to face the ground and passed out.