“Nice to see you again, Sir. Where would you like to go today?”

I smiled at the woman. The cart driver had taken to waiting around the Parisian Lodge, my unofficial personal driver.

Really am living the high life.

“About that-” I pondered for a moment. I’d just come back from my interview, and I wasn’t sure whether it had ended poorly or not. I needed something to get my mind off things, but I wasn’t exactly sure what would be the best method.

Well, if it’s to relax, there are only two answers.

“What’s closer, a library or a bathhouse?”

The woman crinkled her nose as if I had said something wrong.

“Is something the matter?”

“No, Sir. For someone of your, uh, status, a common bathhouse is below you. You’d be better enjoying the services within the lodge itself.”

Oh right. How did I forget about that?

While her suggestion rang true, I wasn’t in the mood to return to the lodge, feeling inclined to explore even just a tad.

“Fine, if that be the case-” I nodded as if I’d been testing her. “Bring to the nearest library.”

“Of course, Sir.” The woman nodded, and only moments later, the cart was off, swiftly pulled through the busy streets, dodging other carts pulled by beasts, some of which I’d seen before and others that I’d only recently laid eyes upon.

“By the way, Sir, have you heard the news?”

“What news?” I questioned offhandedly, more preoccupied with people watching than some gossip.

“The regent-to-be will apparently be arriving here soon.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel about it, so I opted to keep a straight face. “What for?”

“Why the academy, of course.” The woman chattered excitedly. “As an act of goodwill, the current Sovereign enlisted their child.”

“Aren’t they only a few years old?”

“You’re thinking of his last son.” The woman wagged her finger as if it were an easy mistake. “It was decided that it would not be his youngest son who would be the heir to the throne, but his daughter.”

“That’s unusual.” I mused. “What about the oldest son?”

“Oh, he leads a platoon in the army, some sort of ceremonial general or something.” The woman shrugged. “I’m not sure of the details. Early on, he was decided the course of the military man, so he is out of the contention.”

“Okay, but why the daughter?”

“While the Sovereign wanted a son to rule, his looming age pressured him into taking his older daughter on as regent-to-be, for fear his youngest son would be too young to be anything other than a puppet ruler.”

“Fair enough.” I agreed with the assessment. If there was anything to be learned from history, child rulers rarely survived as anything but the tool of a shady chancellor in the background.

“She will be arriving in a week; a grand ceremony is planned for the event.”

“Extravagant,” I mumbled, beginning to lose interest in the lives of those whose station was well above my own.

“Perhaps you will end up her teacher, Sir.”

“Well, I must get the job first.” I sighed. “I was quite confident, but that Academy Director is quite the presence herself.”

“I’ve only heard stories of her. She was selected to be the academy director based on her history.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow though the woman could not see it, guiding the cart as she was.

“Yes. I’ve heard that she has served the country in a surprising range of avenues. One rumor has it she was once a military advisor to the Sovereign in his youth-”

“Doubt it.” I shook my head. “Was clearly too young for that, only maybe in her fifties, and the Sovereign is what, in his eights?”

“Could it not be she was simply that accomplished?”

The interjection gave me pause, an intriguing if surprising, possibility.

“Not just that, she was schooled at the top military academy in her youth, passing with top marks. It would make sense for someone that bright to rise to the ranks of an advisor in her youth. She was apparently involved in Carrion Gulch, the deciding factor that won the day.”

Carrion Gulch... where have I heard that one before?

“So she is military, and her loyalty and wit landed her the position. Makes sense for why the Sovereign would feel it acceptable to enlist his heir if that’s the case.”

“What was she like?”

“Excuse me?” I looked away from the crowd we were passing, confused about the question.

“You said she was quite the presence. Do the stories do her justice?”

I held my head in my hand, pondering the thought. Sure, she had been rather forward and quite sharp from my limited exposure to her, but I wasn’t sure if I could imagine her in some military uniform.

“Honestly, judging a book by its cover is hard,” I answered.

“Understandable, Sir. Speaking of books though-” She pointed toward a large building we had pulled up in front of, a massive glass dome for a roof and glittering marble columns lining the steps leading to the entrance. “Here we are. Akadia’s Grand Library.”

“Grand library?”

“Well, I couldn’t take you to any ordinary library, could I?”

I smiled weakly, knowing that this service would expect handsome payment.

“Right you are.” I sighed, defeated. Reaching into my pouch, I pulled free a gilly before tossing it to the woman, who gave me a deep bow.

“Much appreciated. When should I expect your return, Sir?”

“I believe I will walk on my return.” I shook my head, refuting her intention. “I would like to sightsee from the freedom of my own two feet.”

“Fair enough, Sir.”

Then, tipping a small, brimmed hat she wore at me, she was off. I could imagine her switching back to her usual talking mannerisms now that she was no longer in the vicinity of a ‘refined noble’ such as myself.

Yeah, if only she knew this is basically blood money.

Shaking the thought aside, I stared up at the grand library. It was as luxurious as the name suggested, with fancy marble columns, painted glass windows, and everything one would expect from an esteemed place of learning and literature.

Really saved no expenses with the foundation of Akadia, did they?

Making my way up the long hill of marble stairs cut into a manmade hill, I watched as people came and went, some looking the part of some powerful noble, others busy academics.

Well, at the very least, I shouldn’t stick out too much.

Walking inside, I felt the breath vanish between my lips as I stared in awe.

“Unbelievable,” I whispered.

The library was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. Even during my time in Songhold, their grand library was nothing compared to this, polished marble floors with all sorts of designs carved into them, elegant bookcases made of a rich black wood, spiraling staircases that led higher into the place, and even-

“No way.”

-even living tomes, several fluttering books zipping through the air.

“Can I help you, Sir?”

I whirled to my right, only just now noticing the help desk. A lady casually leaned against the counter to my right as she watched me.

“Uh, sorry, just sort of-”

“A lot?” The woman added, giving me a faint smile. “Yes, it is rather impressive, is it not? Since those who generally come here are either important figures or nobility, wealth, or academic standing, it was decided that the Grand Library should be an icon of knowledge.”

“Where’d you get the Living Tomes?” I questioned, pointing toward the books that would occasionally zip by.

“Oh, you have some familiarity with them?” The woman’s brow turned upward in surprise.

“You could say that.” I chuckled, rubbing at the phantom pains on my neck from bruises long gone.

“Well, they were purchased from the private collection of some rather… wealthy individuals, as well as on loan by a few others.”

“What topics do they cover?”

“I’d say roughly a third of them are on topics ranging from astrology to natural biology, another third are based on warfare, and the last third range on magic topics.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Magic, you say?” I felt my curiosity spike at the mention. “What subtype?”

“Mostly theoretical, the life works of past mage scholars.”

“How old is the oldest one?”

The woman crinkled her nose before giving me a quick shrug.

“I can’t say exactly, but somewhere in the period of four to five hundred years if I recall correctly.”

My excitement deflated. Part of me had been hoping that the Living Tomes would have been dating back to the era of the sages, but it had been a vain hope; I doubted such books would be publicly available, even here.

“Would you like to check any of them out?”

“For now, no.” I shook my head. “I’d simply like to browse.”

“Any topics of interest? Magic, perhaps?”

“Sure, why not.” I nodded.

“Well, you’re going to head up three flights of stairs, then head to the right for a while. You’ll be looking for the section labeled ‘Arcane.’”

“My appreciation.” I gave her a low nod, but before I could walk away, the woman called out to me one final time.

“Oh, and Sir?”

“Yes?” I paused, only half turning to face her.

“I presume you don’t have a library card?”

I half-smiled. Some things were universal, even in a place of such prestige and wealth.

“No, I do not.”

“Well then, if you find any books that interest you, I can check them out and get you that library ID in the process.”

I wasn’t sure what to say, so I gave her a quick nod before walking away quickly.

Still a little stiff with those social interactions, eh?

“Shut it,” I muttered under my breath to myself. I didn’t need a reminder from my own self-consciousness of all things. Perhaps it was my inner country-bumpkin, but I never could quite get the hang of being casual without some hint of awkward stiffness.

Whatever. Not the point.

Using only a tiny hint of mana to clear my mind of the encounter, I leisurely roamed the library, admiring the endless rows of books and artwork. Occasionally I would encounter another person browsing the shelves, only sharing a brief nod before continuing along my way.

Until, at last, I found myself standing before a smaller, dimmer section on the third floor.

Which is to say, it was still more extensive than most book collections I’d browsed in the past.

“Now then,” I whispered, slowly trailing a finger along the trim of one of the shelves. “What things of interest do you have to share with me?”

------------------------------------------------------------

Four hours.

That was how long I spent browsing the section. I skimmed through over a dozen textbooks or works of magical theory, application, or observations during that time.

It was… dull, to say the least.

My initial excitement as browsing the works had faded quickly, as I quickly found most of the ‘scholars’ of the past were simply restating the theories and observations of others, just in fancier or more elaborate phrasing. During my time in Songhold, I’d often found it the case. Yet, I had been foolishly hoping that here in Akadia, the so-called ‘city of knowledge,’ there would be more revolutionary or even outrageous theories.

I’d found perhaps two things of interest. One was from a mage nearly two hundred years ago, who proposed the idea of mana as a manifested form of living spiritual energy, the soul given potential.

It was interesting, if simply for the fact that during my time spent within the Citadel of the Moon, the dungeon I’d cleared years ago, the founding sage had made a similar claim that mana was more than what it appeared. Yet, that was also the reason that while the mage’s theory was interesting, it wasn’t exactly new, at least not to me.

The second thing of interest I’d found was depressingly small, a single article preserved from some paper nearly fifty years old. It was on the topic of Kin magic, a simple conjecture that because Kin magic was preserved through a family’s bloodline, it was some sort of genetically encoded magic that physically existed within the very cells of a person, like some sort of magical family crest.

And considering I can’t access my family’s Kin magic, but my body was altered according to some ancient sage’s spell, it supports the theory, albeit only in concept.

It was a topic of interest I would have to further investigate. Much known about Kin magic was anecdotal, a complex subject to study given its nebulous nature. I’d met a single person who seemed to have an advanced degree of understanding in the field, given they implanted their adopted daughter with artificial Kin magic, perhaps the leading expert in the field of study.

Of course, I’d also killed that very same daughter, and he’d had me effectively exiled from Dunehold, so I held doubt that I’d manage to get anything of note from him should I bother requesting information via a letter or other means.

“Guess I’ll have to find another way.” I sighed before nestling two last books into the crook of my arm. I was about to turn around, making my way back to the front counter, when something, or rather, someone, bumped into me, fell to the ground, and spilled several books.

“Ouch.” The person in question was clearly a kid rubbing at their head, maybe in their early teens at best. “That hurt.”

“Are you okay?” I bent over, picking up some of their books before offering my hand.

“I’m-” The kid squeaked before coughing into their fist, voice dropping lower. “I’m fine.”

Ahh, the joys of puberty. I’ve been in those same shoes, kid.

I spared a glance down at one of the books I’d picked up for the boy, my eyes jumping as I read the title.

“Isn’t this a bit advanced?” I questioned the boy, who crossed their arms defensively.

“No.” They shook their head vigorously, only a few loose curls spilling from their hat.

“Really now?” I felt the corner of my mouth turn up in amusement. “Because when I read the title ‘Exploring the enigmas and universal laws of magic,’ I don’t exactly think of a book for a twelve-year-old.”

“I’m fifteen.” The kid squeaked out, coughing once more as their voice pitched an octave lower. “And I’ve had tutors my whole life.”

Right, this is a library for academics or the elites. A kid here obviously isn’t going to be an academic, therefore-

Therefore the kid was likely the son of some noble or wealthy family.

“Anyway-” The kid had crossed their arms, staring at me with doubt. “What do you know?”

Children. Leave it to them to not know those to whom they’re talking.c

“I’m a bit of an expert myself.” I laughed at the kid.

“Prove it.”

I sighed, though I was more amused than exasperated. Gently placing the books on a nearby desk, I raised both hands for the kid to see.

“So, you say you’ve had tutors. What’s the most advanced thing they’ve taught you?”

The boy held his two hands in front of his chest, muttering before a flame flickered between his hands, the flames from the orb licking dangerously close to his hands.

“Oh, sheesh.” I waved my hand toward the ball of fire, snuffing it out as I extended null for a split second. “Kid, showing off is nice and all, but you’re in a library. Perhaps think through conjuring a fireball in a library more next time, will you?”

The kid looked sheepish for a moment as I scolded them before a look of defiance crossed their face.

“Well, what about you? Can you do magic?”

I laughed, unable to help it, before I cut the sound off a second later, not wishing to disturb anyone.

“What?” The kid had their hands on their hips now, staring up at me with the famous look of indignation that so many kids at that age put countless hours into displaying to their elders.

“Nothing,” I smirked briefly. The kid hadn’t even figured out how I’d extinguished their magic, never even considering why you couldn’t simply blow out a magic flame by physically snuffing it out, not while it was being provided mana, at least. “Here, take this.”

“Take what?”

Flipping my palm out before me, I whispered once as a band of water appeared. I froze the water with only a hint of effort, a crystalized ring of unmelting ice now sitting upon the palm of my hand.

Since everyone seems to enjoy warm ice for whatever reason.

I handed the ice ring over to the kid, whose eyes had widened at the display.

“How did you do that? That wasn’t the word for ice you spoke, was it?”

I winked at the kid but kept quiet.

Mostly because I’d already given the lecture once before, and I wasn’t in the mood to explain the topic to a kid.

“Who are you?” The kid stared up at me, childlike curiosity filling their gaze.

“Just a passing scholar of sorts.”

I’ll admit, I was probably enjoying playing up the mystique a bit much, but it wasn’t often I got to show off in front of a child.

I went to pat the kid on the shoulder, who was still staring down at the ring in wonder, but at that very moment, a man who was clearly hurriedly searching for something or someone came flying around a corner, his eyes widening as he saw me.

“Unhand her!”

With shocking speed, the man flickered out of sight, reappearing directly before me, a dagger whipping toward my neck.

I had to thank my instincts at that moment. My body moved before my mind caught up, having no intention of being skewered. I caught the blade in my fist, stopping it from reaching my neck.

“Harris, stop this instant!” The boy hissed, his voice rising in pitch as he spoke frantically. “This man wasn’t hurting me!”

“Apologies.” The man, Harris, bowed his head, still watching me wearily.

Which was probably wise, given I’d just caught the thrust of his dagger in a rather ostentatious way.

The man attempted to withdraw his blade but raised an eyebrow as he found the blade firmly lodged in place, my grip unwavering as I refused to budge.

“Harris,” I repeated the name, the wheels in my head slowly turning. “Harris… Harris of Godsend?”

“At your service.” The man preened, “Or rather, I used to be.”

“Do you two know each other?” The kid was staring between the two of us, confusion on his face.

“No,” Harris shook his head. “But my name is fairly well known, which is why I recall advising you not to throw it around so casually.”

I looked once more at the kid, curious as to their identity. Harris had left adventuring behind even before I had, as a result of the brutal fallout from a quest they had been assigned, four of their six members at the time perishing at the hands of a Hollow, a thing of inescapable pitch-black malice.

The same species of creature that had been made into a core component of the mana matrix that was now inside me.

“We should be going.” Harris looked at the kid, something I couldn’t read crossing his face before he inclined his head toward me. “Apologies for the suddenness of the attack. I had assumed the worst after my liege went missing.”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged.

Liege?

“You will want to get your hand checked. You’ve probably severed quite a few important pieces after grabbing my dagger.” Harris nodded toward the blade I was still holding, but I only smiled.

“No need.”

Unclenching my hand, the blade was revealed. My hand was unharmed, but the dagger was looking worse for wear. A thick layer of quicklime had coated the blade, hardening instantly in a protective film, not for the knife but for my comparatively delicate flesh.

“And who exactly are you?” Harris squinted at me, but I only nodded toward the kid, who smiled back at me, happy to be included.

“He’s just a passing scholar.” The kid beamed now that the tense situation had been resolved.

“And with that, I should be going as well.” I picked up my books from where I’d put them on the nearby desk. “I wish you a good evening and farewell.”

Before any more words could be exchanged, I briskly made my escape, rounding a corner and taking the stairs of a staircase two at a time.

Out of sight, I felt my body tremble as the adrenaline faded.

That was a little close.

Harris Flash Step. As an adventurer, he had been known to have one of the fastest opening strikes of any active adventurer at the time. From what I knew of the man, he was one of the extremely rare few that took the time to extensively practice and utilize Inner Magic. When his party, Godsend, had suffered severe causalities facing down a Hollow, his usage of Inner Magic had been perhaps the difference between a total party wipe and survival, the magic disaffecting qualities of the Hollow futile against the likes of Inner Magic.

If anyone could keep up with my Flow state, it would be him. I’d barely reacted to the man when he had taken me for no more than an ordinary kidnapper. I could only imagine what would have happened if he had come at with everything he had.

Relax Rook. It doesn’t matter what would have happened. You’re past those days of thinking about things like that.

I slowed my breathing, calming myself.

“No more.” I reminded myself.

Instead, I turned my attention to other thoughts.

Specifically, of who the kid had been.

“Wealthy is obvious. To have Harris as your personal retainer should make that clear.” I said to myself. “An interest in magic. Has had tutors in the field. Can even use magic. Harris even referred to him as liege.”

A noble?

It was the only thing that made sense. Not just that, they had to be the son of a rather important noble.

Man, times like this make me wish I paid more attention to gossip.

Still pondering the situation, it wasn’t until I found myself near the front counter, the same woman from before still there, that I began to clear my mind of the strange encounter.

“I hope you found everything you needed.” The woman smiled at me broadly, an obviously fake expression, but I wasn’t about to call her out on her customer service.

“You could say that.” I nodded. “I’ll be checking these out.”

“Oh, an interesting selection. ‘Godkin’ ‘Lost Bloodlines’ and ‘History of the Northern Tribes.’ Are you doing research on historical magic?”

“You could say that,” I repeated, preferring to be vague about it. “Now, about that library ID?”

“Ah, yes.” The woman disappeared, grabbing something from behind her counter before popping up.

“You’ll just have to read through these and sign.”

I stared in horror at the mound of papers neatly stacked atop one another.

“Is that all?” I groaned, feeling like I was physically aching.

“Oh, you’re right.” The woman cheerily leaned over, grabbing something before dropping a thickly bound leather book in front of me, heavier than most newborn children. “You’ll also need to fill out several forms regarding the return policy.”

Groaning once more, I stared up at the ceiling.

Please, gods, if you exist, kill me now.