Chapter 6: Pupil
The tender melody echoing from the vibrating string usually calming that Selene liked so much, was during the last few weeks just another reminder of my own foolishness.
It was a peculiar instrument resembling a guzheng, commonly used by Fae, which captured my attention. My mother would play a small melody every morning, but all I could think of upon waking up was that Selene, her, was still sleeping.
Frustrated by the persistent concern for my friend, I rose from my bed. Remaining still would only serve to amplify my regrets.
If I stayed put then all I could do is think about what I had done.
After quickly dressing in my usual attire which inexplicably never got dirty – likely another expression of Fae magic simplifying my life – I left the house exchanging a brief glance with my mother as I grabbed a slice of bread.
Making my way towards the study, flying and taking the fastest route while purposefully avoiding the areaI knew I could meet Selene’s mother.
She remained angry, I couldn’t fault her for it. When meeting me her gaze always switched from sorrow to hatred. Actually, even if my mother always told me that it wasn’t my fault, most of the Fae weren’t of this opinion and displeasure of my presence was palpable.
The normally harmonious relationships among the Fae was a hazy concept when I was present. I doubt Fae will always have this gaze while looking at me, but it will never go back to their former warmth.
Arriving in front of a massive double door, meticulously carved inside an unusually huge tree even for this forest. It was sculpted expertly into a true art piece.Despite my admiration, quickly knocked, we weren’t far from the center of the city and I was mindful of the significant number of people looking at me.
“isn’t she the girl who forced Selene into doing dangerous Magic experiments”, “What ? Her ? But isn’t she also the youngest ? There is no way a Fae would have purposely hurt someone.”.
Whispers that sought to be stealth and not heard by me, were heard by me.
There weren't many rumors to gossip about in a city where the most out of the ordinary thing that could happen would be someone losing a book. So obviously this event had become known and spread to everyone. Every. Single. Person. In the city.
My notoriety didn’t make me happy in the slightest. They debated whether or not they should come and greet me, likely seeking to know more details about what happened. Not their business. But before they could come, the door opened with a loud creak and swung open.
A towering figure draped in his customary dark blue cape, only this time it was embroidered with golden thread. His overall appearance looked more ceremonial than the few other times I’ve seen him.
“Hello, Alice. Please enter” He greeted me with a warm smile upon seeing me.
“Hello, Teacher”, I saluted him while entering. The inside was a wide, open sphere, there was a bridge -yes a bridge inside his study- in an X shape at the center, linking the entry with three different paths.
The other side of the bridge from where I was standing had an arch-shaped entry to a staircase going up and down, to my left and my right, were two rooms with a purpose unknown to me.
Smell of wood was invading the whole ‘room’, a smell you could find in your grandparent’s home, a nostalgic smell actually.
For sure it was one hell of a majestic sight for sure. It felt like those massive European churches making you feel as small as an ant. A feeling of amazement filled me, my mouth agape, I contemplated the sight before Teacher told me.
“This place is the place you will study for the upcoming years. Feel free to explore, if you have any question you can ask me”, the magician said. His demeanor exudes kindness, and there was no hint of blame for Selene's condition.
He led me a few floors above the entry floor, telling me the use of each floor.
Most of them were for different study rooms, such as one for Element magic where numerous objects, books and paper were present. One for Magic theory with mostly books again, etc… As suspected, the experimental rooms were located underneath, seemingly for security measures, so all rooms here and upstairs will be filled with books.
Upon reaching our destination, I beheld a library that seemed to belong to a medieval era, with the only difference; there was no end to it, neither in height nor in depth. An endless number of dusty books were neatly organized on millions of shelves.
The smell of wood was quickly replaced by the smell of books. While beholding the endless room, I wondered just how much knowledge was stored here. I had seen some pictures of huge libraries on Earth, but this was just incomparable.
“This place predates the earliest records it contains. It is speculated that this library was created at the same time as this dimension was.”, Teacher explained.
While slowly walking around different parts of the library, the Magician taught me that every Magician had left their works, discoveries, ideas, here. Thousands upon thousands of different ideas and experiences were recorded here. “Well even if I mainly talk about the research, history, and magic recorded here. There are also a good number of novels and the like here but you need to go to the end of this corridor” he said.
The corridor he looked at also had no end to it, knowing Fae, it wouldn’t be weird that you do need a few days, or weeks, to reach the end of it… “I’m not a fan of novels, I will focus on reading the one on research and history”, I lied, it was intriguing to see how they would write novels with their way of thinking, but; it was just too far, I didn’t have the patience to walk for days.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
He snorted as if he knew what I was thinking, but there was no way to be sure about that.
“For starters you need a better grasp of what magic is. You clearly have no idea what it is, do you?”, after a few seconds of silence it was clear that I did not, “Well I’ve prepared a few books you could read to help you with that, if you have any question or experiments you want to try, just come see me. I told your mother that I was going to keep a watchful eye on you”.
He talked with mom? Well, it made perfect sense, but I was baffled that she didn’t discuss it with me. Usually, during dinner, she would share with me every conversation she had during the day; she loved to chat.
However, over the last few weeks she spoke less and less, it was probably my fault, but my social skills were too poor to know what I should do.
With a snap of his finger a pile of books higher than me appeared between us. With a second snap another pile appeared, he repeated that enough time to surround me with piles of books.
"That's a few of the basics that you should read until you understand every word written inside of them," he calmly spoke without a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
For real? He expects me to read ALL THOSE BOOKS?! Just from the look of it, it looked like it would take me half a year if I focused on that.
“Do you already have a question?”
"Do I have a deadline?" Honestly, I do expect it to take six to nine months to read all of it, but I should still ask.
"Three months," Ah yes, sure... three months seems reasonable and doable.
"THREE MONTHS?!" I wouldn't even be able to read half of it by then! How could I read ALL OF IT?
"Yes, do not worry, you will find it easy to understand." Apparently, he wasn't worried that I wouldn't read all of it but instead, I would not understand all of it.
"I will be at your service if you require my help; simply say my name out loud and I shall come as soon as I can." This probably means he will finish what he is doing and come, and it could take days or more.
With that, he walked out and headed away, leaving me alone encircled by an expanse of books.
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In the blink of an eye, a few weeks had passed by, and every day was relatively the same as the day before. I woke up before the first morning light, had a small breakfast prepared by my mom, and then flew to the Magician's study to immerse myself in books.
As always, a small desk with a few piles of books was waiting for me, and I sat down before opening the book I had started the day before. The moment I opened it, a dim blue light made the pages shine, a spell cast on all the books of the library to enable easy reading. The shining pages were nothing compared to the second spell you could contemplate after opening one of this library’s books.
The moment my eyes laid on a sentence, part of its meaning and what the author wanted to tell us invaded my mind, it felt like a cup of water was splashed on your brain at every sentence you were reading.
The first time I experienced this, it made me fall off my chair, but now I can somewhat ignore it. Even with the information forcing itself into my brain, the theory behind each of those books is difficult. Magic is way more complex than I anticipated. It seems like a cobweb; if you want to cast a spell, you need to place every thread carefully, or it will fail.
No wonder that just trying to "manipulate" mana like I was attempting before amounted to nothing.
According to what Teacher told me, once you successfully cast a spell, the next attempt to cast the same spell will be much easier.
I was already on my third pile of books! If I maintained that pace, I would finish it just in the nick of time. Most of those books didn't even cover the fundamentals of magic, but it was exciting to learn more and more.
My learning wasn't slow at all; there was just a lot to absorb, and honestly, I don't believe I will even scratch the surface of the knowledge this library holds, even after reaching adulthood.
The thought made me pause.
Did Mom just scam me? Word for word, she told me I could leave once ‘I complete my training and reach adulthood.’ I will reach adulthood in the next few decades at most, which, given our life expectancy, isn’t actually much. But when will I ever ‘complete my training’?!
I will definitely ask her during dinner. There is no way she meant for me to reach Teacher's knowledge.
Right…?
“If she really did scam me, I would be the one to blame for not seeing it sooner.”
Focus, let's focus on studying for now.
Being a Fae has proven to be really useful in the case of an extreme study or work session such as this one. No need to sleep, eat, or anything that would force me to stop in the middle of my session.
After a few hours, I finished and closed my book. Glancing at what appeared to be a medieval-style pendulum, I realized it would soon be time for dinner. I had been engrossed in my reading for hours, and if I hadn’t completed the book, I might have found myself stuck in its pages for days.
After putting the book on my "finished books" pile, I left. I enjoyed organizing just gigantic piles instead of creating multiple towers of books. It wasn’t useful, and it will be annoying when I need to clean it up, but for now, it just made me smile at the sight.
As usual, I flew home without engaging in conversation, but I smiled at people who greeted me.
In just a few minutes, I arrived back home.
“Once again, you're arriving home late,” my mother scolded the moment I stepped inside.
On Earth, my parents wouldn't have minded if I didn’t even come back at all, but here, my mother had established a curfew: I was to be home before dinner.
“The dinner is not on the table yet, technically I am just in time”, I pointed out, she looked at me with disbelief, holding the dinner plate in her hands ready to place it on the table.
“Whatever, just come eat…” and I did.
"Say, mom, what did you mean by ‘complete your training’; you do not mean for me to reach Teacher’s level of knowledge, right?" I asked between two bites.
She snorted at that and looked at me like a child asking a silly question. Okay, we weren’t that far from the truth, but anyway.
“I meant when the Magician has judged you to be proficient enough to leave his tutelage.”
That was still rather vague in terms of 'when will it happen,' but I guess it should be okay?
I continued chatting with my mom; she seemed down. Of course, she would be affected by what I did. People would probably ask her for more details on what really happened with Selene.
I didn’t try to defend myself from people’s opinions, but it seems like their opinions about Mom are also changing and affecting her. I can’t let her stay like that; I need to do something, isn’t it?”