Ability: Book Conjuring

Adrien almost let out a laugh as the System declared his ability. The ancestors had chosen well.

The King’s expectant gaze met his as he dismissed the notification.

“Book Conjuring.” he answered the unasked question, a weight lifting off his shoulders. The path was closed to him. If he wanted more power, and he did want more power, he had to get it elsewhere. Not that he had expected anything else.

“And?” the King asked, expectation on his face. The captain coughed behind him, pointing towards the timepiece. The King glared at the timepiece before sighing.

“I suppose I shall simply have to delay my next appointment.” he pronounced, looking at the captain meaningfully.

The captain paled, hastily pulling out a white tablet and writing down on it. Adrien had no idea what was going on. The King was acting rather strangely here. Why was he so interested in seeing his power in action? So interested that he would delay a meeting for it.

“I am not sure if I will have enough Bloodline Power -” he began to protest, only to stop as he looked at the King. The King who was suddenly radiating power like gravity revolved around him.

“Return.” he commanded and Adrien felt his chest inflate as Bloodline Power rushed back into him from the orbs. What? How had he - the King winked at him as if that was supposed to explain what had just happened. Adrien was left open-mouthed, staring at the now empty orbs.

Adrien opened his mouth to protest, only to silence himself as he caught the look on his aunt’s face. Protesting was perhaps not the best idea at the moment.

“Of course.” he said. This was strange. Did the King actually think that his ability could be useful? Adrien narrowed his eyes, thinking about it. How could he…wait a second.

If he could target books then he might be able to get books from the enemy. In fact, if the definition of a book was a bit looser, then he had presumed, perhaps he could steal the enemies' correspondence. Or records of how they cast their magic. If the Kingdom could learn the secret to Elven enchantments or even steal a few Goblin spells, it would be a great advantage.

That was…useful. Not as useful as a Duke’s power should be, but still, useful. A bit surprised at his situation, he called on the System to tell him more about his ability.

Book Conjuring: Conjure and keep a book once per stage that you may access through your system interface.

Adrien scoffed. A single book once per stage. There were only nine stages to power, and even the King was stuck in the seventh.

The chances of him reaching even the second stage were…minimal. Reaching the next stage required that he double his current capacity and practice his skill. But the ancestors had given him a skill that he could only use once a stage.

How was he supposed to reach the next stage? And even if he somehow practiced it, where would he get power? The only way he knew of doing that was by killing other creatures. But he could not do that either. The ability did not even call a real book, but some System version instead.

The ancestors had chosen well. This ability really was useless.

Shaking his head, he told the King about it.

The King’s eyes narrowed. “Just one a stage? Hmm, that is quite limited. Do you get to choose?”

“The System doesn’t say anything about that.” he shrugged. The King sighed.

“Just try it, the answers should become clear.”

Adrien nodded and mentally channeled his Bloodline Power while telling the System to activate his ability. Perhaps he could use that to figure out how to use mana to conjure things.

Smiling at the thought, he looked up as his power activated. A mental construct appeared in his mind, looking vaguely like a portal. Adrien hadn’t seen a portal as only one remained active within the human lands. The Manevorus had supposedly been able to make them at will, even teleporting across the world at a second’s notice.

This would be useful.

Adrien tried to get a feel of the portal, but it was as if it wasn’t there. Mana passed right through it. Of course. Bloodline abilities in a nutshell, really. A bunch of things that just defied everything they knew about mana.

A book erupted out of the portal, slamming the thing shut as it came out. Adrien looked at it. To his eye it looked like a book. A leather-bound hardcover with no title. To his mana sense it appeared like a shapeless blob of mana. An illusion.

Adrien opened the book and looked inside the front page, his left eye twitched as he read the name and recognized it. Perhaps there was something different on the inside. Peeking to the last page, he found it to be just as he expected.

A picture of a naked woman of unrealistic proportions, red lines drawn around her breasts as if someone thought they had not been emphasized sufficiently.

An erotica. Adrien’s bloodline ability had conjured a book on the thing-that-should-not-be-mentioned right in front of the King. Cause of course did.

“So?” the King asked.

Adrien looked up in the confusion as he held the book up.

The King raised an eyebrow. “I cannot see it, though I can sense a collection of mana in your hand. Did you already use your ability?”

“Yes, your majesty?”

The King smiled kindly. “Now, don’t keep me in suspense, tell me, what book is it?”

Adrien hesitated, lowering his voice as much as he could as he whispered, unsure if he should even say it. “The Adulterous Way.”

The King stared at him as a confused expression appeared on his face. “The -” the King looked sideways, staring at Aunt Veena and the gaggle of his nephews that surrounded her. A number of them were quite young.

Coughing to cover it up, he continued. “A good attempt. Can you try again?”

“I don’t think -” Adrien began before the book disappeared from his hand. The portal appeared again and began sucking up his Bloodline Power.

“Well, it would appear that I can.”

“What was the -” Nari began before she was shut down by Aunt Veena. A new book popped out of the portal right into his hands. Adrien looked at it. History of Magic by Eir. Wait a second. Adrien read the title again, his eyes widening as he realized what he was holding.

“I take it that you got something good?”

“This is the History of Magic by Eir of Greenfields!” Adrien exclaimed. “I didn’t know it had been released yet!”

“I do not believe it has been.” an old man said from behind the King. Adrien looked at him, recognizing him. Lord Ver, a far off relative of his that served as the Court Mage.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Can you tell me what chapter has notes written on it?” Lord Ver asked. Adrien frowned. Was this an unfinished manuscript that his ability had pulled?

“The third chapter.” he said as he opened the book. “The Spells of—are these actual spells of the Manevorus clan? I thought they were lost!” Now this was interesting. Adrien didn’t know there were any spells cast by that species still known to humanity. The spells were bound to be more powerful than anything he had seen before.

The Manevorus had a reputation for it being so.

Lord Ver looked at the King, and then continued on receiving a nod from him. “Yes, a few were recovered from the diary of one of the previous kings. Lord Eir requested that I give my opinions on their use.”

As if to prove his statement, he brandished a book that looked suspiciously like the one in his hands.

“I do believe that the young lord has copied this very manuscript.” Lord Ver said, opening it to the third chapter.

“That does appear to be true.” Adrien answered as he looked at the pages and found them to be the same. A part of him was excited, and another was just as disappointed.

“So the book was in this room all along.” Nari commented. “What about the first one? Is there any chance that was in this room too?”

The King looked at her, opened his mouth and then closed it, turning to look at the captain. The captain stared at him for a few seconds before he coughed and said, “I may have had a copy of it.”

Adrien wasn’t sure he believed him. But if either he or the King had the book then -

“Adrien’s ability is pulling the books based on proximity.” Nari pronounced. “There you go, case closed. The ability is useless.”

A silence filled the room as everyone seemed to be thinking of what to say. Adrien beat them to it.

“If you leave now your majesty, you might still make your meeting.” he said, hoping the King would hear what he was saying. There was no need for the King to stay anymore. The ability had been tested. The ancestors had given him a useless ability just as expected.

“That may be wise.” the King said, getting up from his chair. “But please, do not be disheartened. I am sure there are other ways you may serve the Kingdom.”

The King left the room without saying another word, letting Adrien escape. Slinking into the hallways he tried to think of where he should hide.

What had happened wasn’t really unexpected, but Aunt Veena would want to talk to him about it anyway. And he would rather not talk to her about it. Yes, his ability was useless. The ancestors had made sure it was. That was the end of it.

But Aunt Veena would want to console him about it anyways. There was no way she would believe he was fine with it. To be honest, he wasn’t fine with it, he just knew there was nothing he could do about it.

The bloodline ability was more than a disappointment. The abilities were supposed to be legendary magic, running on the far too mysterious Bloodline Power. But here was one that was simply a copying spell that did not do any selection at all.

How basic. Adrien had still expected something more. Not something more powerful perhaps, but something more…wondrous. This was something Clan Manevorus had a hand in for goodness’ sake. The Bloodline Ability should have some self respect.

Speaking of Clan Manevorus, History of Magic was a lucky find. Adrien would need these spells if he was to revolutionize magic. Of course, the book was something he could just buy once it was out, but it was nice to have it early.

Calling on his ability, he flipped the book open to the third chapter. There were three spells there. A heating spell specifically built to melt ice. Another to conjure a cool breeze. And the final third was a seeking spell that searched based on vague intent instead of a specific memory.

Not the most impressive collection. Adrien could see why they had been forgotten. At least the seeking spell seemed useful. Manevorus spells were famous for being absurdly difficult to block. Even portals could not affect them. Adrien blinked, thinking about what he had just thought.

Even portals could not affect them.

Adrien looked at the book in his hands. The book that was a collection of mana, mana that was going to return to the portal formed by his bloodline ability if he rejected the book. Mana that was thrumming with its own frequency. A frequency just like the ones that he had been matching in those orbs of his.

And he had a seeking spell right there that could maybe work with his ability if he managed to merge the two. Of course, there were a lot of problems with his idea. The book might not return. The description did say that he could only choose once a stage.

The spell might not even take. The book might be made of mana, but his Ability used Bloodline Power. Now that he thought about it, there was a good chance it wouldn’t work. But what did he have to lose? History of Magic was a good book, but he could get the actual copy once it was published.

If his seeking spell succeeded, he might actually turn his Ability into something mildly useful.

Calling on his mana, he focused his intent on it, resonating the mana with that in his book. The two blobs of mana soon began to thrum with the same frequency. And since the two shared a signature, that meant they were one and the same. There was no reason for them to not share intent. And intent was what made magic magical.

Then he focused on what the intent was. The mana would search for a book about magic. No, not just a book on magic. A book he could use to get more powerful, a way to cast stronger spells. A way to actually grow powerful.

To grow overpowered.

Then he spoke the spell words out loud.

Intele friensund

The words were a large part of what made Manevorus spells so rare. The normal magic he cast did not use such things. The Manevorus on the other hand used them as their language. Just speaking them with intent was enough to cast the spell. But there were precious few words that they still knew about. Heck, he had thought there were none left until today. But Eir of Greenfields had somehow found them. And now he was benefiting.

A smile spread across his lips as the two manna frequencies grew close, almost imagining the spell taking hold. Only to be disappointed when it didn’t. The frequencies matched but the spell did not transfer, there was no echoing sense of intent reflecting from the book, telling him it would do what he wanted it to.

Frowning, he tried again. And once again he was foiled. The frown on his face grew heavier as he realized this wasn’t working. Why was it not working? Why was it that his hopes had to be dashed everytime? Why was it that whenever he reached for a way out of his situation, it was snatched away from him?

Driven more by frustration than an actual hope for success, he pummeled more mana into the spell. The thrums of mana grew louder, the frequencies once again matching. And this time it worked.

Adrien thought of rejecting the book as soon as he felt the spell take hold, even as he struggled to catch up to what had happened. A part of him just knew what to do. The spell had worked, somehow, for some reason. Now it was time to do what needed to be done, to not waste the chance he was given.

The portal appeared again, taking the book with it. Bloodline Power drained from his pool, and he idly noticed that it had not recharged at all. In fact it had decreased. Perhaps that was why he could still choose books, the choice would only solidify once he ran out of Bloodline Power.

For a second nothing happened.Then his Bloodline Power started decreasing rapidly. The two conjurings before had barely made a dent in his Bloodline Power. Now it was spilling out faster than his power had gone into the orbs. Like someone had turned on the tap and was draining him dry.

Adrien tried to stop it, to staunch the flow before it emptied him. The power didn’t respond. A grim feeling set on him as he remembered that if his Bloodline Power ran out, it would start pulling from his actual blood. And if even that ran out, he would die. A human couldn’t exactly survive without blood.

An entire orb’s worth of power flowed out of him, and then another. Adrien gulped as he felt his Bloodline Power empty out, though it did feel like it was over. Or that was just his hope charging his imagination.

A dizzy feeling took over his head as he felt the ability start taking his blood. A part of him noted that it was less than he would have expected. Why—oh, his Bloodline Power was recovering rather quickly. Adrien had forgotten it could do that. So, his guess was right? Had his choice been finalized to whatever came out of this portal?

Well, he could live with that.

Adrien felt his heart thunder against his ears as he wondered if this was how he would die. A wave of weakness passed over him, coming with a burst of dizziness that made him want to go to sleep. Then a book came out of the portal.

The drain slowed down, but for some reason it did not stop. Adrien gulped, looking at the book as he found himself staring at the floor. Sometime between casting the spell and now, he had fallen onto the floor. And it would only get worse. If the drain did not stop, he probably would die.

Heck, he did not know why he was still alive. How much blood had the ability taken from his body? Even a liter was too much. Then he looked at the book and a word caught his eye. There, at the very bottom of the cover was written.

‘By Prince Verlinaus, of the House Manevorus.’

Adrien stared at it, surprised by his ability to think as he looked at the cover. The wise decision would be to give the book up. To not let it drain his blood anymore. But…he couldn’t. Even as his mind told him to give up, his heart wouldn’t let it.

Manevorus. The book was written by a Manevorus. Perhaps it was a different Manevorus. Perhaps it was a fake. But he could not risk it. This book, he wanted it. No, he needed it. The secrets that this book were what he had set out for. The secrets that powered the bloodline abilities.

Adrien gulped as he felt the drain on his power spike with his acceptance. The second it did, he pushed the book away, trying to reject it before the increased power drain killed him, but he couldn’t. The magic would not activate. The book was apparently locked in.

Blinking as he felt yet another wave of weakness pass over him, he realized that he was probably going to die here. The thing that was going to kill him was a book. That and a reckless experiment he maybe should not have made.