The next morning, Yemi and the twins took Jack to the Grumgrod Central Library, where Tobin was supposed to be working at. As they entered, Jack was greeted with the sight of a library that seemed to be on its last legs. The shelves were nearly devoid of books and whatever books they have had covers that were mostly worn-down as though they've been there for centuries. Jack randomly picked a book off one of the shelves and opened it, only to be greeted with a cloud of dust as he flipped the pages. He coughed, trying to clear his sinuses of dust before putting the book back on the shelf.

"Damn, this place is pretty run-down, huh," he said. "You're saying that Tobin works in a place like this?"

"Well, I beg your pardon," a voice spoke from behind Jack. "Grumgrod Central Library may look like it is in disrepair, but I can assure you that it is the finest establishment in the educative and scholarly arts this city has to offer."

Jack turned around to see that the one who spoke to him was actually some sort of tree person. No kidding, this "person" legit looked like a tree in human form. Its body, while covered in a standard medieval robe, was composed of twisted wooden roots with the skin of rough brown bark and its head had branches sprouting upward with green and brown leaves attached to them. This tree person was also incredibly tall---nearly twice of Jack's height---that it emanated a sort of towering presence simply by standing next to Jack.

"Holy truck! You're a tree person!" Jack exclaimed with wide-eyes.

"A tree person? My oh my, I find that rather offensive. Have you not seen a botnaflor before or are you just that rude in general?" the tree person spoke in a rather haughty manner. Its voice was in the same level of weirdness as Musashi, as though two voices---one male and one female---were speaking concurrently, resonating with each other to form a completely new type of voice.

"I do apologize for his rude behavior, Senior Brown-Oak," Yemi said politely, stepping in with a bow.

"Ahh, Mrs. Kronli. Here for another visit, I see," the tree person known as Senior Brown-Oak said. "Tobin is at the study room teaching a class right now. It should be ending anytime soon."

"Thank you, Senior Brown-Oak."

Yemi and the twins headed towards the back of the library and Jack quickly followed. However, as he was leaving, he turned his head to gaze back at the lumbering tree giant with further intrigue. As he watched, he saw that Senior Brown-Oak was somehow able to "grow" its root-like legs---extending its already impressive height even further---allowing it to reach the top of the bookshelves to restock it with books. Such a handy power to have, especially for a librarian. You don't even need a ladder!

After passing through the library, they were able to reach one of the small study rooms---ones with a round table and several chairs that could fit about a dozen people at most. Inside the room, there was already a lesson going on. The class was composed almost entirely of students who were in their late teens, all of whom were either human or dwarf or a mixture in between. At the front of the study room was someone---presumably the teacher---writing something on the blackboard as he taught.

"Sometimes, a letter in one word may sound completely different from that same exact letter in a different word," the teacher said. "Using the phonetic chart will allow you to decipher the proper pronunciation of any word. Each word has a corresponding phonetic form, with each phonetic symbol having only one proper pronunciation. Once you are able to decipher a word in its phonetic form, you'll be able to pronounce any word without fail."

Jack got a good look at the teacher, who was most certainly Tobin judging by his looks alone. He had a height and build that was a mix between human and dwarf and was seemingly only a couple years older than the twins at most. Similar to the twins, he also had dark-brown skin and ginger dreadlocks, though his hair was tied into a short wolftail at the back of his head while leaving some bangs to slightly cover the right side of his forehead in a somewhat stylish manner. In addition, he wore a pair of spectacles with circular lenses and carried himself with an air of dignity and refinement that was appropriate for someone of the highest academic profession.

"Hi, Tobin," Yemi said as they entered the room, waving at her son.

"Mother?" Tobin replied with a bit of surprise. "You are early today."

"Hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all. We are just about finishing." Tobin turned to his students. "Alright, class, that will be all. Remember to study your phonetics chart. There will be a test coming next week."

As the students left the room, the twins rushed in to greet their brother.

"Brother Tobin!" the twins cheered as they basically glomped their brother with the enthusiasm of a firecracker.

"Yeah, yeah, I miss you two as well," Tobin said as he patted both of the twins' heads to try to calm their overly bubbly spirit. The young teacher then noticed Jack and raised a curious eyebrow. "Who's this?"

"Tobin, let me introduce you to Jack, the newest member of the Crimson Flame," Yemi introduced. "Jack, this is Tobin, the son I've been telling you about."

Upon the introduction, Tobin looked at Jack with even more intrigue, to which Jack could only respond with an awkward smile.

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Yemi and the twins took a moment to explain the situation to Tobin as Jack waited patiently, sitting at one of the chairs inside the study room. As they explained, Tobin was eating from a small food container that Yemi had brought him, one that was filled with pieces of leftover roasted boar from the dinner last night.

"So let me get this straight," Tobin said after hearing her mother's request. "You want me to teach him, the most recent member of the Crimson Flame, how to read. This 'Jack Slater' fellow, one who's been learning blacksmithing and enchanting from you and father, needs basic language lessons from me."

"That is basically what I'm asking you to do, yes," Yemi replied with a kind smile.

Tobin sighed as he pushed his spectacles up slightly with his finger in a manner that a badass person wearing glasses would do so to show off just how badass they were. "Mother, I don't think you exactly comprehend what I do here. What I teach is highly advanced lore and language, not basic lessons for kindergarteners."

Yemi put her hands on her hips as a somewhat playful gesture of displaying authority. "Oh, so you think you're too high-and-mighty to do the job, is that it?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying at all," Tobin rubbed his neck as if indicating slight discomfort for implicitly rejecting his mother's request. "It's just that...there are plenty of teachers out there who can teach him."

"None of whom are as good and trustworthy as you, I'm afraid."

"Oh, is that flattery I'm hearing?"

"Oh, please. I have no need to flatter. I'm merely stating facts. You are indeed the best person for the job. Listen, what you're doing here helps contribute to the Crimson Flame's efforts. I don't need to tell you how inconvenient it is for one of our members to be illiterate. The sooner Jack knows how to read and write, the sooner he'll be able to join missions and help our cause."

Tobin rubbed his chin to ponder for a while. "Does father know about this? More importantly, does he agree to this?"

Yemi did a brushing-off gesture with her hand. "Why does it even matter? It's not like you seek for his approval anyway. In fact, you seem to relish in disobeying him at every opportunity you get."

"I'm just curious, that's all. Besides, if there's ever a chance that he did disapprove of this and tries to kick down the library door to get to me, I'll at least be prepared."

Yemi sighed, rubbing her temples as if experiencing a mild headache. "Honestly, you are just like your father. Yes, of course he knew about this. He wasn't exactly happy about it, that for sure. In fact, he couldn't even stand anyone mentioning your name around him. But you know how it is. He'll drink a lot, sleep it off, and eventually go back to his normal self. He always does."

Tobin scoffed. "Of course. Seems like nothing has changed, as usual. How typical."

"Who cares whether he likes it or not. This is Crimson Flame's business. His disapproval alone cannot outweigh the needs of the group. He'll get over it."

"If you say so, mother," Tobin said as he finished the last piece of roasted boar meat in the lunchbox. "Though I'm going to need double the portion of roasted boar for the next couple of weeks, As payment for his lessons, of course."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Hey, no fair!" exclaimed Leti.

"You're taking away our portion!" exclaimed Riti.

"You two are getting fat anyway," Tobin said, sucking his finger off the oily boar fat.

"What did you just say?!" the twins snarled. They then leapt onto Tobin and playfully pretended to bite into his arms like a pair of hyper-energetic zombies, punishing him of the unforgivable crime of assuming the weight of a female.

"Argh! Help, mother. They are trying to cannibalize me," Tobin said with deadpan sarcasm.

Yemi merely giggled at her children, who seemed to get along quite well with each other.

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After Yemi and the twins have left, Tobin and Jack were now alone in the study room, beginning their lessons. Tobin took a piece of chalk and proceeded to write something down on the blackboard. What he wrote down seems to be four sets of letters or symbols that resembled some sort of foreign alphabet. Each set was slightly distinct from the others, having different number of letters and different styles to the way the letters were written. Although Jack couldn't exactly read these letters, he could discern with a fair amount of certainty that these belonged to four completely different languages.

"These are the four basic languages of the Civil races, each pertaining to a different race," Tobin explained to Jack as he pointed to each set of letters on the board. "Elvish, Dwarvish, Humish, and Orcish. There is also Wilderspeak, though that doesn't exactly have a written component. Besides, not many of the Wilder races even speak it now---preferring to adopt one of the languages of the Civil races---so it's pretty much a dead language. Probably the only ones who uses Wilderspeak regularly are the Wilder Sages."

Jack raised his hand. "Umm, excuse me, but...what are the Wilder races? And also, how are they different from the Civil races?"

Tobin looked at him with a blank stare, as though Jack had just asked him what one plus one equals to. "You don't know what the Civil and Wilder races are?"

"Not only that. I'm also not that familiar with all the country names. Elrinthia, Halandril, Dorencor...first time I've ever heard those names. I actually don't know a lot about a lot of things. Heck, it's the first time I've ever met someone like Dingo Hwyte. He's like some sort of dog person, isn't he?"

Tobin was so flabbergasted by Jack's complete lack of knowledge that he felt like he was being punched in the gut. "A dog pers-...he's called a furrofaun! That is the proper term to use when referring to someone like him!"

"Let me tell you what he actually is: fan-art material for furries on Tumblr, that's what."

Tobin curled his brow. "What in the world is a 'Tumblr'?"

Jack gave a nervous chuckle. "Trust me, you don't want to know. But hey, at least there's something I know that you don't. See, you're not the smarty-pants know-it-all that you think you are, huh."

Tobin observed Jack with increased fascination, as though he was from a realm completely alien to his. Not only did he not know even the most basic of common knowledge, he seemed to possess some otherworldly knowledge that Tobin didn't. Either that or he's making things up on the fly.

"You claim to be illiterate and yet you speak of things that even I, a loremaster, have trouble comprehending. I'm honestly not sure if you aren't just making most of it up," Tobin acknowledged while shaking his head. "You are an incredibly strange person, Mr. Slater."

"That I am," Jack replied with a brush of his hair, seemingly proud of his own sense of quirkiness. "And please, call me Jack. 'Mr. Slater' makes me feel like an old man and I don't think I'm that much older than you."

"Very well then, 'Jack'. Anyway, we're here to learn about basic language comprehension, not the lore of the races."

"Aha! But one could argue that you can't truly understand a language without learning a little something about the people of which it came from. Also, you're a loremaster. Explaining stuff about stuff is basically within your wheelhouse, or so I've heard. It shouldn't even take you that long. Maybe a couple minutes at most."

"What kind of person is so lacking of basic knowledge that that they don't even know about the lore of the races? What kind of rock do you live under?"

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, I get that a lot. In fact, some commenters on Royal Road are already criticizing this series for that aspect alone. Oh boy, I am already hearing the cracks forming on the fourth-wall right about now."

"Umm...'Royal Road'?"

"Aha! See?! Another thing that I know and you don't. Jack Slater: two points. Tobin Kronli: zero points. Woo-woo!" Jack pumped both of his fists in the air as if celebrating a victory.

Tobin took off his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose before putting the spectacles back on again. "Fine. You want to learn about lore, I'll teach you about lore."

"Alright! Lay it on me! Just a brief overview is fine, though. Nothing too complicated. Not trying to get a Ph.D or anything over here. Just pretend I'm a complete stranger who has absolutely no knowledge of this world and needs a quick rundown on things. Stuff like races, countries, etc."

Tobin took a deep breath before continuing. "Fine then. Let's start with race. The races of this world are basically separated into two broad categories: the Civil races and the Wilder races. The Civil races, as the name suggests, are the ones who have been the driving forces of the development of civilization while the Wilder races, on the other hand, have its roots more closely connected with the wilderness of nature. There are basically four Civil races and five Wilder races. For the Civil races, you have Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and Orcs. For the Wilder races, you have Furrofaun, Plumafaun, Scalyfaun, Botnaflor, and Mycoflor. Each of the five Wilder races embodies a general characteristic from the fauna and flora that dwell within nature. Furrofaun embodies mammals, Plumafaun embodies birds, Scalyfaun embodies reptiles, Botnaflor embodies plants, and Mycoflor embodies fungi."

Tobin then pulled out a large scroll of parchment and hung it over the blackboard, revealing a sort of map. As he explained, he pointed to the corresponding nations on the map of which he was referring to. "Among the Civil races, each governs a different nation of which their race originates. Elrinthia is governed by the Elves, Dorencor is governed by the Dwarves, Halandril is governed by the Humans, and Okuzan is governed by the Orcs. And then there is the territory of the Demon Army right over here, looming over us with the threat of death and brutality at every waking moment."

On the map, Jack could see the different nations on display. All the nations were basically situated on a large continent. Elrinthia---separated by its Northwestern and Southeastern counterparts---was situated slightly at the northern part of the map. Halandril was bordering on Elrinthia's southwestern side while Dorencor was bordering on Elrinthia's southeastern side. Okuzan was right at the northwestern side of Elrinthia, having a large strip of landmass followed by a couple of large islands. Then there was a large section of territory out in the far east---bordering both Elrinthia and Dorencor---that was labeled with an icon of a skull with bull horns. A demonic skull, from what it seemed.

"What about the demons?" Jack asked suddenly.

Tobin paused for a brief moment, trying to understand the question. "Excuse me?"

"The demons. Are they a race like all the others? How do they fit into all of this?"

Tobin pondered for a while before answering. "You know what, I'm not exactly sure myself."

"What? Are you serious? You guys have been fighting them for centuries."

"Oh, so you have heard about the war with the Demon Army. I guess you're not as clueless as I thought."

"Well yeah, I've heard a little about them from others here and there. Plus, you can't really ignore the intense security check around here. Gotta touch a piece of divinium every time you enter a city? Geez, I have an easier time smuggling a bottle of water through an airport."

Tobin sighed tiredly. "That's precisely the point. It seems like the more we fight the demons, the less we understand them. To call them a singular race would mean that they all share similar biological features, but they simply do not. Each variant of demon seems to have its own unique biological traits and magical proficiencies. For example, a deadwalker is different from a changeling, which in turn is different from a behemoth. It's more accurate to call them a collection of races than a singular race. And yet, they all seem to share one common singular goal: to eradicate us all. Why would this collection of races join together for the sole purpose of wiping out the rest of the Civil and Wilder races is still a matter of intense debate amongst scholars."

"You haven't tried talking to them? Maybe sit down, have a cup of tea, and chat about calming down with all the killing and whatnot. Maybe come up with a peace treaty or two. That's how most major wars usually end, right?"

"It's not like we haven't tried, but all attempts at diplomacy and compromise with the demons have ended in failure. And it's not as though we couldn't communicate with them. Demons are perfectly able to speak our language and are in fact quite intelligent in most regards. It's just that all they ever talk about was how they are going to exterminate us, with hardly any discussion as to the reasons behind it. They are not like any other empire, good or evil, that we have ever faced. At least with empires like Elrinthia, they make some amount of sense. Normal empires want to expand, seize, and control. However, the Demon Army is something else entirely. They do not want our surrender, even if we offer it to them. They seek only to destroy. They cannot be influenced by political negotiations and maneuvering. All they've ever wanted was complete and total annihilation of all of the races, by whatever means necessary. It's as though they are not a race of sentient beings but are instead the personification of pure hatred, one that is completely devoid of reason."

Jack crossed his arms and smirked with a shit-eating grin. "Heh, I know of something else that is a personification of hatred and completely devoid of reason. It's called 4chan."

Tobin gave Jack a deadpan stare. "I'm not even going to try to understand whatever nonsense you spout out of your mouth. Now, can we move along with our language lessons?"

"Ooh wait! There's one more little thing I need to ask you. I promise I won't bug you afterwards."

Tobin sighed. "Fine. Ask away."

"So, umm...Yemi mentioned something about the 'heirloom axe incident'. I kinda want to know more about that."

Tobin stiffened. "What exactly did my mother tell you?"

"Well, she was kinda skimpy on the details, only telling me that that particular incident was the reason you and Oren had a big argument, forcing you to move out of the house and whatnot." As Jack was explaining it, he could tell that even the mere mention of the incident was making Tobin uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. Is this a sensitive topic? We don't have to discuss it if you don't want to."

"Yes, it is a sensitive topic and, no, I don't want to discuss it," Tobin affirmed with a rigid tone.

"Okay, sure. That's totally cool, bro. Mouth-zipped. Not talking about it anymore."

"Good."

And so they continued their lessons as normal, though with a slight air of awkwardness persistently hanging in the air.