Hello everyone :D Thanks for reading my story. This chapter isn't as adventurous as the others, but next chapter will be very interesting. I’m looking forward to writing it. Thanks for commenting, reading your guys comments is what gives me the strength to write this story, despite my laziness XD If you like my story please rate it. You’re all awesome, enjoy the chapter.
******************************
Volume 1-Memories
Chapter 5-The Library
Immediately after the path ceremony Sorin strode in the empty hallways, thinking about his predicament. Monster tamer was an uncommon enough path, and in fact it was rare to see a monster tamer in the world. Though the latter was attributed mainly to how they obtained their power. The problem was that monster tamers took far longer than other types of paths to gain power. A normal caster would simply learn how to cast certain spells and then master them. A monster tamer had to do all that and then find a monster, and try to tame it without being killed. Not to mention a monster tamer would have to find strong monsters to tame. Sorin knew there were some monsters caged in the tower but they were either under tight lock, being used for experimentation, or were being sold because they were weak.
Sorin had almost been killed twice in the span of two days. He would have to grow strong if he wanted to survive, especially because Chrysos Jade would be released from prison in 6 months. In simple terms he was fucked.
Because of all these things Sorin was heading to the one place that could make him stand a chance; the Black Tower’s library. As Sorin came upon the Library’s door he noticed the two 8 foot metal golems that stood guard. Sorin pulled out his amulet. Every student had one. It kept the students from being attacked by the golems that patrolled the Tower. His amulet was a little special; because he had won 1st place in the entrance exam, his amulet had been modified to allow him to enter the four floors of the library, which was only allowed to 4th years. As he showed the amulet to the guards, the golems moved aside and let Sorin through.
As Sorin entered the library he marveled at its size. The library held thousands of books, hundreds of shelves, and dozens of tables where students could study. The library was in the shape of a circle and balconies went around the whole room forming a ring. There were three balconies each one two dozen feet up from the other. Each balcony was another floor of the library with the ground floor being counted as the 1st floor. Golems guarded each balcony ensuring no student who wasn’t allowed on that floor would ever step there. As Sorin looked up he guessed the ceiling was about a hundred feet high. The whole place was lit up by glow stones. Some glow stones hanged on the ceiling while others were on stand next to the tables. Shelves were scattered all around the 1st floor so Sorin wasn’t sure how many people were in the library at the time, but he surmised it was only a dozen or so. It was late at night and the year had just started, there was no project or homework yet for a student to study for.
But Sorin wasn’t here for a school assignment; he was here to gain power. Chrysos was a 4th year student, as such he had access to every floor of the library, but so did Sorin. Sorin had to level the playing field as much as he could. Sorin decided to start reading from the 4th floor.
Sorin started up the stairs to the first balcony, also known as the 2nd floor. As he got there he showed his amulet to the golems and they moved aside. As he made his way to the stairs of the 3rd floor he saw a girl at the foot of the stairs, she was looking up at the next floor.
Sorin walked up to her and he realized that she was quite small, maybe not even 5 feet.
“You’re in my way,” Sorin said.
The girl jumped in surprise and quickly turned around her eyes widened as she looked at him.
“Y-you’re Sorin Vei, the one who killed all those testers.” The girl stuttered.
“I am, and what of it?” Sorin said slightly irritated. He had enough going on to have another gawker to remind him of his predicament.
“W-well, you’re not as strong as people say. Even if you did survive those two Jade attacks!” the girl replied.
“Oh?” Sorin thought she would be scared but instead as he watched her, he saw a lively spirit ready to fight back. Sorin was surprised, this girl was small, with pale skin, orange hair, and freckled cheeks. Her hair was tied up in a bun and she wore black baggy pants and a grey blouse. All in all her looks were average. But her green eyes behind those glasses showed strength.
“Yea, if you hadn’t killed those people you wouldn’t have gotten first place. Matt and Eres would have.” She countered.
That caught Sorin’s attention, how did she know Matt and who was this Eres.
“What is that supposed to mean? That test was rigged; if it weren’t for me then the winner would have been undeterminable.” Sorin glared.
The girl took a step back, “Well, if you hadn’t been there then Matt from Toira would have won. He was able to get his group together and they got all the medals before any other group. Or Eres from Henia would have won. She climbed the tall spire and got the black medal before anyone else.”
Sorin stood silent as he digested this information, Matt didn’t tell him of how he had managed to win with his team. And Sorin didn’t know who this Eres girl was either.
“S-so you see, I’m not scared of you,” the girl looked up at Sorin.
Sorin quickly decided on his response, he had made enough enemies for the time being. For now he needed an ally and information. He recalled the 5th rule of power; with enough peasants even the mightiest of kings can be defeated.
Sorin smiled, and shrugged in a “giving up” gesture, “No, I suppose you’re not. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Sorin Vei. And who do I have the pleasure of knowing?”
The girl slightly relaxed, “My name is Catherine Ash, 2nd year student of the Black Tower.”
Sorin noticed the steel earring, in the shape of a flame, on Catherine’s ear, symbolizing her being a member of the great Ash family. But there was no ruby on the earring, so she was not a member of the main family like Belendor.
“Well it’s nice to meet you and please do not be persuaded by the rumors, I’m not some back stabbing maniac. But enough of me, what might you be doing by these stairs?” Sorin asked nicely.
Catherine’s shoulders relaxed but she still seemed to be on guard, “An upperclassmen told me of a book that could help me along with my path, but I just found out it’s on the 3rd floor and since I’m a 2nd year student I can’t go up to the 3rd floor.”
Sorin grinned, “Well, then perhaps we can help each other. I don’t know how any of these books are assorted but my amulet allows me to go up to any of the four floors.”
Catherine readjusted her glasses, “What are you trying to say?”
“You show me how to find the books I want and I’ll get the book you want on the 3rd floor.”
“But, the books aren’t allowed to be moved to different floors or out of the library for that matter. The golems would act the moment a 3rd floor book landed on the 2nd floor.”
Sorin smiled a smile of reassurance, his grey eyes giving him a look of kindness, “Let me worry about the details, you help me to find the book and I’ll get it for you.”
Catherine looked up the stairs at the 3rd floor, she looked back at Sorin and reluctantly nodded. Catherine showed Sorin that every table had a type of searching orb. If you picked up an orb you could say a word or phrase to it, then the orb would float up into the air and go looking for books that were the most relevant pertaining to the words you said. All one would do is follow the orb to find the books.
Catherine told Sorin the title of the book she wanted and gave him one of the search orbs.
“So I’ve done my part now what’s the plan?” Catherine asked slightly suspicious.
Sorin did a quick short bow, “Leave it to me.” Sorin walked up to the third floor.
Catherine hoped she hadn’t just been played. She stood at the foot of the stairs to 3rd floor. After 5 minutes Sorin returned walking down the stairs. Catherine was relieved that he hadn’t been lying.
Sorin sat on the middle of the stairs and patted the spot next to him. Catherine looked at the golems that were at the top of the stairs looking down at them, but Sorin continued to pat the seat next to him. Catherine reluctantly walked up the stairs and sat next to Sorin.
“So what’s going on?” Catherine asked tensed.
Sorin pulled out the book Catherine had asked for, from behind him. “Well though it may be true that golems might attack you if the book reaches the 2nd floor, but this book is still on the stairs. The book and you can be on the stairs with no harassment from the golems. Hence, you can read the book.”
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Sorin handed her the book and smiled, “I’m a man of my word.”
Catherine’s eyes widened, “Thank you,” she said gratefully.
“It was my pleasure. Though I did notice, that book is for the path of spell smiths, are you by chance a spell smith?”
Catherine looked down, shame could be seen in her eyes, “Yes.”
Sorin understood. There was nothing wrong with being a spell smith, in fact they were sought after because of their unique ability to make magic items, ranging from legendary swords to the search orbs in the library, even the golems from the Tower where made by spell smiths. The problem was that the Ash family was known for producing great flame spell casters, just as the Jade family was known for producing powerful stone spell casters.
If you were born into one of those great noble families and didn’t have the path corresponding to that family then you would be placed into a low position never having a chance of rising to great heights, like that Jade captain who had guarded Nephritis, despite him being a Jade family member himself. Catherine was in the same position; she was not a flame user.
“I only asked because I thought that spell smiths are quite amazing,” Sorin said.
Catherine scoffed. “The spell smith path is nothing compared to the flame path.”
“Are you kidding me? Both those paths are strong, but if you want to talk about a bad path then my monster tamer path fits that description.” Sorin said changing the topic.
“You’re a monster tamer!?” Catherine whispered in surprise, after all they were still in a library.
They spent the rest of the night talking about many things from their families, how the Tower worked, to what was their favorite food. Towards morning Sorin asked if she came to the library often, she said yes. Sorin told her, he too would be coming often and that they should meet up soon. They agreed on a time and left for their respective rooms.
**************************
A month had passed by. Sorin had spent some of the time in his classes, unlike other paths there were no classes available specifically for the monster tamer path due to the low amount of monster tamers. Only a dozen other students in the Tower were monster tamers. Because Sorin had been taught a lot of the mana theories by his grandmother, Sola, he had no need to attend most of his classes. Instead he spent his time between training his slave, Dog, and studying his path in the library; all the while being on the lookout for Jade students looking for revenge. He had already evaded two possibly dangerous encounters with Jade students.
His slave’s loyalty had been polishing up nicely but it was his time spent with Catherine that made him happy. She was different than him, though she didn’t believe in the same methods of obtaining power as he did, Catherine did understand his thirst for power, and she too tried to strive to become better. At first Catherine was weary of Sorin, but after a week she had lowered her guard and eventually she warmed up to him. Though Sorin at first was only nice to her so that he could use her as an ally, he soon found himself enjoying her company.
Catherine had been a well spring of knowledge, she knew where all the shops were located in the Tower, who were the strongest and weakest students, what spells Chrysos Jade was accustomed to using, and the rumors that had spread through the students, such as how the secretary Elise was a vampire; most people didn’t believe that rumor, but Sorin remembered her fangs and then he wasn’t sure what to think. He had also found out who Eres was. Eres had not only gotten the black medal in the entrance exam she had also been excelling in her classes, she was supposed to be of the wind path.
Sorin still spent time with Matt and he had learned that Eres and Matt were becoming fast friends. That was good, if Eres was friends with Matt then it would be easy for Sorin to become friends with her. Matt himself was growing in popularity, he was a natural born leader and his skills with the swords was growing rapidly; people had begun to style him as a dashing knight from the stories. Sorin though preferred to stay in the shadows, getting attention was the least thing he wanted at the moment.
Sorin was studying in the library, he was reading about spell runes. Spell runes were how people casted their spells. All spells were composed of runes. The caster would have to think of the spell they wanted to cast then they would use mana to form the runes, once the runes were formed in a certain way, similar to an equation, then the spell would activate. Unlike mana, spell runes were visible, but only to trained spell casters. Sorin after a month of training had begun to be able to clearly see spell runes himself.
As Sorin looked to his side he saw Catherine intently reading a book. Sorin looked at the book’s cover. There was no symbol of the Black Tower on it, meaning that the book wasn’t from the library. It was Catherine’s.
“Catherine, what are you reading?” Sorin asked with some interest. “Catherine?”
Catherine looked up and blinked a few times, “Sorry, I was focused on this book. Between classes, studying, and working at the furnaces and anvils, I need at least a little time for myself.”
She held up the book, “I bought it at one of the shops. It’s about a half-elf and her travels in trying to find true love. Though honestly sometimes it seems more about her trysts with men; she keeps sleeping with a man practically every other chapter.” Catherine and Sorin laughed.
“Hey, Sorin. I’ve been wondering, can you tame a half monster half human, like the half elf in my story?”
Sorin sighed, “Honestly I haven’t tamed any monster yet but from what I’ve read it’s impossible to tame a half monster half human hybrid. Or a monster that’s quarter human for that matter.”
Catherine nodded, then she shyly looked at Sorin and whispered, “H-have you ever slept with someone?”
Sorin looked at her, “What, you mean like have sex?”
Catherine nodded. Her cheeks were a little redder then before.
“Of course I have,” Sorin answered in a matter of fact. He continued not really thinking about Catherine, more about his memories, “I had sex with a tavern girl while I was visiting some relatives, there was also this beautiful teacher who taught me mathematics when I was younger.”
Sorin laughed, “She was a hard one, super strict in her lessons and in etiquette. But like any noble family, mine is influential. With the right strings pulled she had no choice but to become my “mistress” Though technically neither of us is married, my grandmother said that since she is a commoner she must be called a “mistress”. It’s strange seeing as I’m the noble and more her master and she my servant, but whatever, that’s how culture is.”
Sorin looked up in thought, “Huh, I didn’t think about it but I wonder what’ll happen to her now that I’m gone.”
“Oh, there’s also my current slave, she’s cute I suppose, so I guess she’s pleasant when I’m tired after a long day,” Sorin said as an afterthought. He glanced at Catherine, and his smile disappeared.
Catherine had tears in her eyes. Sorin didn’t know why but he instantly regretted everything he had just said.
“Catherine, sex is simply an act that humans do because of their nature. Anyone who tells you that they do it for love is just horny.” Sorin said trying to make up for his previous statements.
“So you don’t even believe in love?” Catherine said harshly.
“Well, I believe in family love.” Sorin said, not sure what was happening.
“Excuse me, I have to go,” Catherine said hurriedly and left.
Sorin wasn’t exactly sure what happened, why was she so angry? Sorin thought of a reason why but if that was true he would rather not think of how that could affect their friend-relationship.
Sorin scratched his head, “Ah, fuck this.” He got up and went to his room.
*******************************
When Sorin got to his room he saw Dog cleaning the room. When she saw him she immediately got on all fours and bowed her head, “Welcome home master, this Dog is happy that you are back.”
Sorin ignored her went to his bedroom and lay on his bed. He raised his hand. Spell runes began to appear. Then an ethereal bronze chain formed into existence and began to coil around his arm. This was his power, weak as it may be, Sorin would make it powerful.
Sorin made a fist and the chain and runes burst into ethereal dust, quickly fading from existence. Sorin lay in bed, tomorrow he would go to one of the Tower’s shops and would tame his first monster.