Chapter 80: Heavy Reading

News From Around The World

Fleet Of Surveillance Drones That Were Sent To Almawt Were Destroyed By The Country's Defenses

Thomas Everett Teaches Thousands Of Doctors And Medics Heal and Purify Spells

UNDF Captures Dungeon For Training Purposes

46 And Me and HeritageTree Working Towards Incorporating Xothican Genetic Markers So Customers Can See What Percentage Of Xothican They Are

VVVVVV

Skysign

Tom and Tala teleported into the market square and were beset upon by the cold winter winds.

"Shit!" Tom cursed under his breath.

Since they stayed on a tropical island, Tom didn't have much in winter clothing. A sweater was about as much as he had for himself or Tala. The cold wind chilled Tom to his bones. The feeling was mutual as Tala found herself shivering. Tom got out a large comforter sheet from his Inventory and wrapped it around Tala and himself. They scanned the area and found more humans present in the city. A couple more food trucks opened up to more long lines. Now the Xothicans had access to hot dogs, gyros, poutine, and dim sum.

Some humans were setting up magic torches on the streets that emitted heat. The cylinder on the top of the stand was made with iron with traces of mythril. Runes were carved into the cylinder that glowed a slight orange colour. The area within fifty feet of the beacons were at a comfortable twenty degrees Celsius. While the creators of these torches call them Heat Emitting Beacons or HEBs, the general populace call them tiki torches due to their appearance.

"Okay, you're my guide, Tala," Tom said. "Where's the university?"

"Over that direction," she answered while gesturing with her head towards a street.

They walked down the streets with their comforter. Something they noticed of the Xothican residents was that at least half of them were wearing winter coats made by humans.

"My people are really going all out in sucking up to the people of Skysign," Tom joked.

"You and I both know how important Skysign is," Tala said. "It's one of the biggest economic centres of the Erlonia continent. Or even Xoth."

"Hey, I'm just worried that the people of Skysign will become suspicious of humans after getting so much charity."

"You humans are pretty open about your interests with us. While my world's people will still have some suspicions, they don't have the same level of pride you humans have. If they're offered something, they'll usually take it. So long as no formal agreements were made."

"Right, right."

The two continued down the snow covered cobblestone streets. As they travelled further away from the market square, they saw less people with human clothes or food. The houses became more fancy in their exterior design and the Xothicans spotted by the two lovers were dressed in grand clothing. At this point they realized that they entered the upper-class district. Some of these nobles and rich merchants spotted the two and, for the most part, ignored them. Some sneered at them.

After a ten minute walk, Tom and Tala reached the university. The build resembled an average person's idea of a medieval castle. The building was made with brownish-gray brick and was three storeys tall. The building itself was shaped like a capital T with a line that came out at a right angle from each side of the top of the T. A thick tower came up from the center of the T's intersection. The tower extended from the top of the main university by eight storeys.

From each of its twelve corners, a spire with medium blue roofs protruded past the main building's roof by one storey. The building is surrounded by a five meter gray brick wall with metal spikes on top. The front gate had the university's name on an iron sign above it.

ERLONIA'S UNIVERSITY OF MAGIC

"What do you think?" Tala asked.

"Very nice. Reminds me of some of the older Canadian or English colleges."

"Yeah, I kinda see that," Tala said as she crooked her head. "So as I said before, this university is the absolute top magic school in the world. It's tuition matches that."

"How much per semester?"

"Depending on the intensity, three or four gold per semester."

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Tom cursed. "And I thought the Americans had it bad. Okay, so we'll visit the Headmaster first and then we'll head the library and learn every single spell we can."

Tala nodded in the affirmative to him. They walked through the gateway into the main yard. Several students hung out near the front doors. Some were reading books while others were talking to one another. All of them were briefly distracted by Tom's and Tala's presence as they walked by and into the university.

"Hey, it's one of those humans," one of them whispered.

"He's huge!"

"What's he doing here? Who's that with him?"

"Did you see the match he had against those Adventurers? He's incredible!"

Tom and Tala entered the building. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Tom threw the comforter back into his Inventory.

"So which way is the Headmaster?" Tom asked Tala.

"Just follow me."

Tala turned to the right and Tom followed behind. At the next intersection, they went left.

"The Headmaster stays at the top of the center tower," Tala said as she walked towards the center of the University. "It's also where they keep some higher level artifacts and research."

They approached the entrance to the center tower and saw four guards in front of the door. Tom scanned their stats and found that each of them were in the mid-twenties in terms of level and were all Magic Blades. Their gaze fell upon Tom and Tala as they approached.

"Good morning," Tom greeted. "We're here to deliver a book to the Headmaster. He should be expecting us."

Tom pulled out a chemistry book from his Inventory to show them.

"Is it okay for us to use the Peek skill on both of your Inventories?" one of the guards asked.

"Sure thing."

The guard looked at Tom's Inventory and his stoic facial expression did not change. At the time, all Tom had in his Inventory was the comforter, his armour, several cans of pineapple juice, four egg salad sandwiches, his phone, and his sword. Tala had some snacks and her staff.

"What's a phone?"

"It's a device that allows me to talk to people across long distances who also have a phone." Tom pulled out the phone from his Inventory and held it towards the guard. "I just press some numbers on the screen and it'll connect me."

The guard scrutinized the phone. Tom assumed he was using his Identify skill to get more information on it.

"You can put that away. Um, what is a Nephilim's Will?"

"My sword," Tom answered.

"You'll need to leave your sword here with use while you visit the Headmaster. Your friend here will also need to leave her staff. Both items will be returned to you when you leave the center tower."

"Actually I'll just put it somewhere safe," Tom said. "Tala can you pass me your staff?"

"Sure." Tala passed over her staff.

"Just a moment." Tom teleported away and then reappeared after a couple seconds. "There we go."

"What was that?!" the guard gasped.

"I can teleport. I quickly hopped back to my home and left our weapons there. Sorry, I just don't trust anyone with my weapons. Nothing personal, it's just we have had a lot of problems in the past with people trying to deceive us." Tom paused for a moment. "I also really don't want to lose my current sword. Goddamn Wendigo destroyed my last one... So, you can check my Inventory again if you want to make sure that I have no weapons."

"I'll be doing that." The guard looked at Tom for a second time. "You're good."

The guards gave some space around the door so Tom and Tala could go through. The door lead to an immediate spiral staircase. The stairs went up around the outer portion of the tower in a spiral. At every few meter, the stairs will flatten to a two meter length of floor next to a door. The walls on both sides were made of dark gray brick.

Tom and Tala travelled up the stair case to the top of the tower where they ended at a wall. The the left was a door with golden and silver metals adorned on it. A plate at eye level displayed:

Headmaster Vulin Wunyar

Tom approached the door and knocked on it several times.

"Come in," the man on the other side said.

The door made a click noise and then opened itself. Tom and Tala walked inside. The office was small with bookcases on both sides. A large chart of the stars covered the wall behind the desk. Several orbs of light illuminated the room.

The Headmaster sat at the desk. He was an old elven man who looked like how Tom imagined a stereotypical wizard would look. The elf had a long white beard. He wore purple robes with silver trimmings. The hood was pulled back onto his back.

"Good morning, uh, Specialist Everett?" the Headmaster greeted. "And Tala Mau?"

"Yes," Tom replied.

"It's an honour to finally meet you Headmaster," Tala said.

"And you're supposed to be the daughter of Leo and Nia Ordata," Vulin said with a hint of credulity.

"It's the truth."

"Forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Vulin apologized. "You wouldn't be the first person to claim they were related to him or any of the other heroes."

"I'll prove it in the coming tournament," Tala assured him. "That staff will allow me to use it."

"Well, I wish you luck. More so if it's all true."

Tom took out the chemistry book from his Inventory and placed it on Vulin's desk. "As promised."

Vulin picked up the book and looked at the cover. "What a lovely looking book. The two humans that visited my university were an interesting bunch. A scholar and a diplomat. The two made the deal to offer human knowledge of science and advanced mathematics to our school in exchange for access to our magical knowledge. This chemistry book will be the initial offering to pique my interest and show their sincerity."

Vulin opened the cover of the book. The inside displayed a chart.

"The periodic table of elements," Vulin read aloud. "An advanced understanding of the nature of our world. How can I resist? I'm going to go through this book. I'll head over to the human embassy after I'm done. Thank you, both of you, for bringing me this book."

"We were heading here anyway," Tala said. "We offered to deliver this book."

"Well, thank you nonetheless. I'm assuming you're here for the library?"

"We are. We want to brush up on our magic before the tournament."

"Well, I won't keep you." Vulin briefly held up his book. "I too have some reading to go through."

"Alright then," Tom said. "We won't keep you. Come on, Tala."

The two left the room and the door closed behind them. They proceeded down the stairs.

"He seemed... unusual."

"From what I know of him, he was always a bit strange. Drifty with his thoughts."

They exited the tower to the indifference of the guards. Tala held Tom's right hand as she guided him through the hallways. Tala was genuinely excited to show him where she worked.

"We're almost there," she said.

"Seems like someone missed the library more than they let on."

"It's not that. I just wanted to let you know all about my life before I met you."

Tom chuckled. "Alright, alright. No need to rush. We have all day."

Tala slowed herself and went back into a walking pace. Tom released her hand and quickly wrapped his right arm around her side to pull her close. Tala leaned her head into his arm.

"What do you think of Lucia?" Tala asked him.

"Well, she seems nice. A bit odd, but that's not surprising considered her background. This is just my first impression of her, mind you. We've only known her for about a day. Are you girls getting along with her?"

"We are, so far."

"That's good."

"This is the library," Tala announced as they arrived at a closed double door.

The two wooden doors had a metal plate over them:

LIBRARY OF MAGIC

"Like the library of your world, silence is golden."

"Gotcha," Tom said.

They opened the right door and walked inside. Inside the library were five rows of bookshelves. The walls had magic orbs that emitted light.

"I see why you were hyped whenever we visited human bookstores."

"Books are rare on Xoth," Tala explained. "Magic books even more so."

"Tala is that you?!" an old woman called out to her.

Tala looked in the direction of the voice.

"Nee?"

"It is you!"

Tala rushed over to the librarian's desk with Tom behind her. The librarian woman was an old leporine beastkin woman who wore a light brown dress. Her gray bunny ears drooped to the sides.

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"Where have you been all this time? You just vanished. I was worried sick."

"It's a long story, but to make it short, due to the recent phenomenon I was transported to another world."

"You were a part of that?" Nee gasped. "I've heard of the world fusion situation."

"Then surely you've heard of Tala's involvement on my world," Tom interjected.

"Well, I guess I was in denial about it. I've known Tala for a while and I never would have expected her to go on adventures. Let alone, take down Mordiggian and Ithaqua."

"It's all true," Tala said. "I was on Earth for almost a year. We went through a lot."

"That... is surprising. I'm glad you're well. I'm guessing you're not coming back to work?"

"Sorry, no," Tala replied. "I'm with the humans now."

"So why are you two here then?"

"We want access to the library."

"Sure thing. Now, you already know this, Tala, but for..." Nee gestured towards Tom.

"Thomas Everett, but you can call me Tom. Pleased to meet you Nee."

"Oh, so polite. Pleased to meet you Mister Everett."

'How bad are the men's manners in this world?' Tom thought to himself. This wasn't the first time he received this comment.

"Since you two are not students of the school, you'll need to pay a fee. One silver for the day for basic access. Five silver for additional access to the more advance books. Each."

"Jesus Christ," Tom muttered under his breath. Ten silver coins appeared in his hand. "Here. We need full access."

Nee pulled open a drawer and pulled out a key.

"This key will give you access to the room where we keep our more advance skill books. Please return the key when you're done in there."

"Thank you, Nee," Tala said.

"Any time, dear. Not sure why he's willing to drop so much money on a first trip to the library. Just to be sure, you do know that this fee is just for today."

"Oh, I know," Tom assured her. "I know what I'm doing."

"Okay, then. Just making sure. We've had some people come in to pay that fee only to come back the next day thinking they can still browse the library."

"Oh, I've worked retail before," Tom said. "I know about those types of people."

Nee chuckled. "Don't I know it. Alright, I won't keep you. Please enjoy the library. And Tala... It's good to see you again."

"Likewise, Nee."

Tala and Tom walked over to the shelves that stored the books. Tala noticed Tom salivating at the number of books.

"I wouldn't get too excited," Tala cautioned him. "At least ninety percent of the books here are history and theory books. The remaining ten percent are the actual skill books."

"It's still better than the three that the UNDF has." Tom took out his phone from his Inventory. He gestured towards it. "You sure that this is allowed?"

"There's technically no rule against it. Only that students are allowed to take books from the library. Nobody would suspect this method of copying."

Tom grabbed the first skill book he saw on the shelf. It was a Wind Blade skill book. Tom opened it up and started the phone's camera to record the book's content. He slowly turned the pages so the phone captured all its content. The plan Tom had was to record the content of all the skill books that the library had and he would give the footage to the UNDF so they can create skill books of their own.

The world of Xoth was without printing press technology so every book had to be hand written. Skill books take more time than the average book due to the charts and sigils that are required to understand a spell. If a sigil is off by too much, the drawing has to be thrown out. These sigils were necessary to helping a person learn a spell as it shows them how mana flows for the spell to form. The learner then has to memorize the sigil enough that they can replicate it themselves. Tom's Book Learning skill allowed him to bypass this process and instantly understand how a spell works.

As soon as the last page of the skill book was recorded, Tom used his Book Learning skill to learn the spell. Satisfied, he placed the book back. Tom wanted, at a bare minimum, to know one spell of every element. He didn't want a repeat of his first mission where his magical and physical attacks couldn't be used against an enemy.

"Did you get the spell?" Tala asked.

"Yah. Let's continue."

Tom and Tala continued to go through spell books. Both recording them and Tom learning from them. Tom learned the basic attacks spells from several elemental fields: Ice Spike, Rock Throw, Poison Ball, Leaf Swarm, Gust, Flash, and Water Spear. There were other spell books that Tom already knew but he still recorded them with his camera.

Leaf Swarm Type Activate Mana Required 50 Rank B Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to launch a swarm of leaves that cut like blades.

Gust Type Activate Mana Required 30 Rank C Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to launch a large gust of wind. Increasing this skills level will increase the force of the attack.

Flash Type Activate Mana Required 20 Rank D Level Beginner 1 (0%) A non-lethal attack. You give off a bright light that can temporarily blind an opponent at higher levels.

Water Spear Type Activate Mana Required 50 Rank B Level Beginner 1 (0%) A spear of water is summoned and then launched at the opponent.

With the attack spells out of the way, Tom focused on the shield spell books that were available. This library had a book for every elemental shield. He recorded and learned every one of them. When he finished the last elemental shield spell, a notification window came up.

Notice Due to learning every magic shield spell, you can combine them all into one powerful shield spell known as Omni Shield. As a warning, your current progress with any magic shield will be lost, but you will start at a higher level on the new spell. Do you wish to combine them?

"Oh, hell yeah," Tom muttered.

Omni Shield Type Activate Mana Required 70 per minute Rank S Level Beginner 5 (0%) You are able to surround yourself with an adaptive shield that reduces damage taken. The element type of the shield's damage is based on what element the attacker is weak to. Increasing this skill's level will increase the damage inflicted by the shield.

"What happened?" Tala asked.

"Since I learned all of the elemental shield spells, I was able to combine them all into one powerful shield spell. It apparently will counter enemies with elements that they're weak to."

"That sounds really useful."

"Oh yeah. Do you want to learn it?"

Tala thought on it for a few moments before she answered, "I don't think so."

"Why?"

"Well, you said it counters using an opponent's weakness. My shield counters with fire magic. I heal from fire. Even if an enemy is resistant to fire magic, if they catch on fire and get in close range to me, I can heal from the fire on their bodies or the environment if the fire spreads. I might be more versatile with the Omni Shield but I won't always be able to heal from all my attacks."

"Good point. Oh, Tala quick question."

"Yeah?"

"I'm looking at these books, and I've noticed that you girls have skills that aren't in books here. Why is that?"

"Well sometimes we run into people with spell books who are willing to allow us to learn from them. Sometimes, nobles here bring their own books and... forget them in the library. A few of the skills we have, we were born with them. Like my Fireball skill. It's rare but it can happen. I guess the fact we were all born with several skills should have been a sign that we were special."

Tom continued looking through the books, but as Tala said, it was mostly history books.

"Is there a reason why the number of spell books is... lacking?"

"Two reasons," Tala answered. "Books are extremely expensive to make. Spell books even more so and many hoard them for themselves to gain advantages against others. Believe it or not, this university has the most spell books in one location than any where else in the world. Even noble families will only have between one to five books to themselves."

Tom sighed. "I was hoping to absorb a ton more spells."

"Now you're being greedy," Tala said coyly. "You've already learned more magic within two hours than most people would learn in two years. You still have the advance room. There we store a few more spell books and older history and magic theory books. We should check to see if any of the magic theory books can boost your stats."

Tom took Tala's advice and pulled out book after book to see if his Book Learning skill would activate. Of the dozens of books he touched, only six actually activated his skill. One book was about Xoth's history and the formation of the different countries, another was a bestiary similar to the one Kara had given him, the others were books about the principles of magic. These books boosted his Wisdom and Intelligence stat by three points each. Considering that these books were the ones to give Tom boosts, he decided to record them with his phone.

With the main library out of the way, Tom and Tala went towards the advanced room. Tom took the key that Nee gave him and inserted it into the key slot of the door. As the key entered, glyphs around the hole lit up.

"Oh, it's magical too."

"Can't have someone make a copy of the key and break into the room," Tala said. "These books are far too valuable."

The door opened and the two walked in. The room was fairly small and Tom compared it to the same size as an office room. The room contained a desk with a chair and a bookcase. The bookcase contained a dozen books.

"Well, this makes it easy."

Tom picked up the first book and is eyes widened when he saw the author's name.

"My god... Tala, look!"

Tala glanced at the books and gasped. The book was a spell book for an ability called Magical Buckler. The author of the book was Delix Ryezious.

"Reia's father! She would have wanted to see this."

"I can always bring her here later. Just too bad that this wouldn't be a useful skill for her. Being a two-hand weapon user and all. It's absolutely perfect for me."

Magical Buckler Type Activate Rank A Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to create a buckler on your forearm made from pure Mana. In its default state, it does not draw Mana. Instead it only drains Mana went it takes damage. So long as you have a Mana reserve, the buckler can remain.

Tom held up his left arm and summoned the buckler. Blue energy formed a foot-and-a-half wide circle on his arm. A bulge came out from the center of the buckler making it obvious that it can also be used to bash someone.

"Oh, I like this. I'll have to remember to thank Reia' father next time I see him."

Tom made sure to record the book. He returned the book and picked out the next one.

"Are you kidding me?" Tom muttered. "Now we have Niala Ryezious. I would have thought that the Eikoryu Empire would have their books."

"What's the book for?"

"Staff and trident combat techniques. It seems I can use Book Learning and... It increased my Mixed Martial Arts skill by one level. I'll record it and have Reia study its content. I think she'll be really happy to continue to learn from her mother."

"She will."

Tom went for the next book and had to do a double take on it. "This is truly a red letter day. Tala look."

Tom presented the book to her and tears came to her eyes.

"F-Father!" she softly cried out. "Oh, Kara..."

Tala grabbed the book and opened it to see its content. She lingered on his words and stared at it longingly. It wasn't the information that held her attention. The writing in the book was the first contact that she has had with anything of her father's in the real world. A tear went down her cheek.

"He was truly a great man," she said as she handed the book back to Tom. "I want to know this spell."

Meteor Strike Type Activate Mana Required 600 per meteor Rank SS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to call down a rock from space to strike your opponent. Increasing this skill's level will increase the size of meteor you are capable of.

Tom used his Teacher skill to pass on the skill to her. Not long ago, he wanted to teach all his girls the Book Learning skill once he entered the Master level for Teacher, but as it turned out, Kara had placed a lock on the skill that prevented anyone else from learning it. The skill will die with Tom. Makes sense considering how powerful it was. Kara couldn't risk it getting out into the public.

"Now it's yours," Tom announced.

"Thank you."

"I would suggest we try this spell in an empty place where no one can get hurt."

"Agreed. I think there's one last spell book in there."

Tom reached for the next book. A smile came to his lips when he saw the spell's name.

"Oh yeah!"

Levitation Type Activate Mana Required 40 per object per minute Weight Limit 10 KG Rank SS Level Beginner 1 (0%) You are able to use your magic to levitate and even launch items. Increasing this skill's level will allow you to lift heavier objects and throw with greater force.

Tom immediately tested the ability by lifting the book in the air with the spell. He placed the book back on the shelf and then taught Tala the spell. Tom fingered through the remaining books and found the rest were rare history, spell theory, and Xothican military strategy books. Tom copied them all his his phone and, at the same time, increased his Intelligence and Wisdom by one point. His Tactician skill increased by one level.

With the last book copied, Tom sighed in satisfaction. He checked the time on his phone and saw it was one in the afternoon. The time reminded his stomach that it was empty after hours of research.

"We're done here," Tom declared. "We'll quickly swing by HQ and let them download this information."

"Let's return the key to Nee then."

They walked out of the room and locked the door behind them. The pair approached Nee with the key.

"You two are done already?" she asked, surprised. "I hope you found what you were looking for."

"We did," Tala replied.

Tom stretched out his hand holding the key. Nee took the key and put it away out of sight of Tom and Tala. A small crowd of people entered the library while they talked loudly. It caught Tom's and Tala's attention. The group of students were mix of beastkin, elves, and naga.

"According to the rumours going around, two of the warriors who took down Mordiggian are here studying," one of the students said.

The small group of students quickly approached Nee's desk and shoved Tom and Tala out of the way. The two moved out of the way to avoid accidentally hurting them.

"Out of the way, commoners," the leader of the group sighed. It was a lupine beastkin man in his early twenties. He was dressed in the school's uniform which was a robe with glistening green trimmings. "You librarian! I heard that two of the warriors who killed Mordiggian and Ithaqua are here. I demand to speak with them."

"Oh yeah?" Tom said.

"Speak when spoken to, peasant," the student hissed.

"They are the ones you were looking for," Nee said while pointing to Tom and Tala.

"Them?" the student scoffed. "A member of the newcomer race and a girl I recognize as one of the librarians. Laughable."

The other students laughed with him. Tom rolled his eyes and tapped Tala's shoulder to signal her that it's time to go. He didn't want to give these people the time of day. They walked away from the group of asinine noble kids.

"Oh, you're just leaving without a word?" the beastkin man called out to the two. "I guess we don't have much to expect from the humans. Cowards, the lot of them."

"Well, I expected to not run into some random asshole today, but I guess we're both leaving disappointed today," Tom said under his breath.

"What did you say?!" one of the students yelled.

"Shh!" Tala hissed. "This is a library. Keep your voices down."

"How dare you speak to me in such a manner!" the Lupine Beastkin student yelled. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Look, man, we don't want trouble," Tom said to calm the situation. Last thing he wanted to do was cause a conflict between a kingdom and his people. Humanity already has enough problems without him adding to the list. "We're just leaving."

"I am Vickor Donoll, the son of the Duke of Hollow Wood Kingdom. I am due respect."

While the biggest kingdoms of the Erlonia continent were the Eikoryu, Zokot, and the Duellia, the continent was still peppered with various cities, towns, and smaller kingdoms. The Hollow Wood kingdom was one of the minor kingdoms and nothing of real interest.

"Well, that's cool," Tom said indifferently. "Tala and I are going to go now."

"Hold it! I heard one of you are entering the tournament. Which one of you is it?"

"It's me," Tala quickly turned and replied.

"The librarian?" he scoffed. "Here I thought I would be able to face off against a powerful warrior. Not some lowly, poor, unimportant librarian girl. Guess I'll be taking that staff this year."

His words cut at Tala, but she didn't feel cowered by them. She felt anger. Her fists clenched.

"You will not win the tournament," Tala almost growled at him. "I trained hard and risked my life in order to get where I am. There's no way in the Abyss you'll win."

"Commoners will never amount to anything," Vickor declared. "Save yourself the time and embarrassment."

"I should say the same to you," Tom shot back. He was beyond annoyed with the man at this point. "We were the ones who took down Mordiggian and Ithaqua. We are first ranked Adventurers and we're level forty. Look at you. You're level eight with no accomplishments other than being born."

"You read my Status, you fiend!" Vickor raised his hand and muttered, "Fireball."

A ball of fire appeared in his hand.

"Dispel," Tala quickly casted. The Fireball went out like a candle flame and smoke rose up from its place. "There is not supposed to be any use of spells within non-designated areas. And a Fireball in a library, of all places, is definitely a big no-no. If you want to fight, save it for the tournament. I'll be more than willing to indulge you."

Vickor grit his teeth before he released the tension in his body. "Very well. Come the tournament, I will show you your place."

Vickor jerked his head to dismiss Tom's and Tala's presence and walked by with his entourage in tow.

"Damn, Tala," Tom said in disbelief. "Did you know the guy or something?"

"Never seen him before in my life," Tala shrugged. "He was just really rubbed me the wrong way."

"Well, be sure to keep that fire for the tournament, cause god damn."

"Thank you both for not escalating that situation," Nee said. "I would really hate to lose more books due to some entitled noble student. A couple months ago we lost the Water Blast spell book because of this."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tom said. "Why was that guy even looking for us any way? He sees us and then starts jeering us."

"He probably thought we would have been some high ranked warrior or noble and wanted to get on their good side," Tala explained. "As soon as he saw we weren't, he likely lost interest."

"What a prick."