Draith
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Chapter 4 - Guardians of Knowledge
🕑 Added 2025-02-23 19:36:17 +0000 UTCWith my affinities revealed, we returned to the family complex and I made for the library after a short stop by my study. With Calbern in tow, who was loaded down with supplies he’d forbidden me from carrying, I stopped outside the massive building. It was the only building in the complex made of stone. And not just any stone. The entrance was gold-threaded marble, while the walls were mana-infused granite. Even the windows were stone, made of some transparent material Perth had never learned the name of.
Flanking the entrance were what appeared to be two massive statues, though Perth knew they were enchanted guardians. The left was a depiction of the Dragon-souled champion of war and fertility, Felor, a giant axe in one hand with a babe shielded in the other.
Across from Felor’s statue stood Valos, Dragon-souled champion of sanctuary and strife. Her statue held a great shield in both hands, the edges jagged with several great spikes running down the center.
As I walked between them, I considered what it meant to have their likenesses guarding the library. Perth's father had chosen them for a reason, but none of Perth's memories were giving me hints to what those reasons might be.
I suspected the answer lay in some of those lessons he'd lost focus during.
Ignoring the guardians even as their eyes shifted to follow our entrance, I moved inside the library. The halls were familiar, though not because Perth had spent his time studying here. He'd discovered that if he spent his days goofing off in the library, everyone assumed he was being productive.
He did know where the spell tomes were though, because it was the one section of the library he'd been forbidden to enter. Now that I knew my affinities that had changed. It was expected I'd spend time scribing my first spells.
However, the stairs leading upward to the second floor were guarded by a more fleshy, but far more dangerous guardian than the twin golems outside.
A librarian.
As I approached, her narrowed eyes tracked my every step. Lady Guniveer was a Mage-souled on the verge of advancement to Astral. And she'd been on the verge ever since Perth had first been allowed into the library on his sixth birthday. She'd also had the same weathered skin, thin grey hair, and penchant for giving sweets to children who didn't damage her books.
Perth's general lack of actually opening any books meant he'd managed to endear himself to Lady Guniveer entirely on accident. That didn't stop me from taking advantage of her favorable disposition as I approached.
"Librarian Guni," I said, doing my best to match Perth's usual tone, though unable to bring myself to include his usual arrogance. "The day for me to choose my spells has finally arrived."
"Congratulations on your awakening, master Perth. I knew you'd do it," Lady Guniveer replied, nodding her head with a small smile.
"That makes one of us," I said, shaking my head. Despite knowing he should be guaranteed to succeed, Perth had always harbored doubts. Even after he awoke his magic.
At her raised eyebrows, I realized that had been something Perth never would've admitted, not even to Calbern. He'd worn his arrogance like armor.
"Anyway, those spellbooks," I said, pushing past my gaffe.
"Follow me," Lady Guniveer said, waving me forward. I went to follow only for Lady Guniveer to hold up her other hand in front of Calbern. “Ah ah. Only ensouled are allowed entry.”
For a second, Calbern stood silently, meeting Lady Guniveer’s gaze with his own. Then he nodded, passing me my new grimoire and the other materials I'd need for scribing from him.
Grunting, I adjusted my weight under the load, then moved after Lady Guniveer. A single flight of stairs, and I found myself heaving for breath. I'd need to add daily exercise to my routine. Couldn't have a handful of steps defeating me.
Lady Guniveer led me upstairs. At the top, instead of shelves, each book was placed on its own podium. Even then, I immediately realized I had a problem.
There were too many spells.
"Well, let's get started. What are your affinities?"
Her question brought me out of my stupor, and I shook my head as I smiled at her. "Doesn't matter. I'm going for a balanced ascension."
She raised her eyebrow at me once again, but otherwise didn't comment other than to guide me towards the books I'd need. As we talked, I discovered scribing my spells was going to be a matter of weeks instead of hours. There were just too many I wanted to bring with me.
Detect Mana was an essential, especially if I ended up in a low saturation area. Phase Hand had all sorts of uses, though most could be handled just as easily by a servant. While time intensive, Bloom would allow me to cultivate otherwise stubborn plants.
Those were just the utility spells. Arcane Bolt, Spark and Burning Fan were all solid offensive combat options.
Then there was defense. Shield, Thorns and Dash all appealed to me.
And these were only the options I came across in my first ten minutes.
Despite having more options than a scrapper in a wrecking yard, I did choose my first spell. Then I summoned the sort of focus I’d get when working on a custom job in the shop, working long into the night to scribe it into my grimoire.
Scribing a spell was a task that took most mages weeks to accomplish, especially for their first.
It was somewhat similar to tracing over line art. Except, instead of a pencil, I was using an enchanted scrivener to set my mana into place. This required precise handling of the scrivener to create exact copies of the runes laid out below. It was surprisingly similar to welding, and it felt as though my endless hours of joining steel to steel lent themselves well to the task.
After each rune was traced, I had to dust the work with a light coating of the appropriate essence. The Aranor family’s primary source of wealth was the ability to grow most of the common essence materials for the lower order spells. Which meant even Perth had a considerable supply. The spell I was working on required a silver glitter, which carried a strong Arcane essence.
Despite the meticulous detail required, most of my time was spent perusing spells while eating copious amounts of mana-rich sweetmeats and vegetables. All to boost my pitiful mana regeneration. Which was why my first spell was Mana Draw, a simple mana gathering utility spell. A relatively standard beginner spell for any mage, though many wanted something flasher for their very first.
In a mana poor area, it wouldn't even be able to make up for its maintenance cost, but within the compound walls, it would ensure mana wouldn't hold me back from scribing more spells into my grimoire.
After I could cast it, anyway.
The final result took up the entire first page of my grimoire. I ran my hand over the raised runes, the silver now set permanently in my grimoire.
Despite wanting to cast it immediately, I laid my head down to rest my eyes for just a moment.
And promptly ended up falling asleep.
Waking in the library was an unpleasant experience, mostly due to the manner Lady Guniveer chose to employ for waking.
I'm pretty sure that using a spell to project the music of an entire Orchestra at full blast inside a library is against the librarian's code, but I’d never spent much time in them on Earth.
If not, it should be.
"Good morning, master Perth. While I appreciate your dedication, this is not your personal dreamatorium."
"Is that even a word?" I grumbled as I rubbed down my cheek, feeling where the runes had left indents.
"As far as you're concerned, it is the high champion Dragon-souled of words. Now up with you. You can sleep in your room."
Nodding, I stumbled out of the library, my grimoire held tight to my chest. It was only as I made it to my room that I realized I'd left all the scribing materials in the library. A problem for later.
Collapsing on Perth's bed, I tilted my head and stared at the grimoire. I managed to turn the page, smiling down at the spell scribed there, before falling asleep again.
When I woke, I found myself curled around the grimoire.
A subtle jerk at my grimoire made me realize I hadn't woken on my own. As it was pulled out of my hands, I was spun, revealing the thief who'd decided to relieve me of my most vital treasure. Above me stood a young woman with black hair and eyes speckled throughout with purple. Those eyes were scanning the first page of my grimoire, as the sleeve of her purple and gold combat robes obscured her face. When she moved it, I noted the hair she kept in two tight braids that formed a sort of crown. It was floating half an inch off her head.
It took me a second to recognize that my accoster was Perth's sister, Nexxa.
"Hey, give that back," I said before I could think better of it.
"Can't believe you actually did it. Didn't think you'd have the discipline, Perry," Nexxa said, letting me reclaim the grimoire. "I knew you'd finish in the first week, but only two days? And you went with Mana Draw instead of something flashy. I'm proud of you."
I didn't respond for a moment, though not because of her comment. She'd called me Perry. My name from Before. Sure, I knew, intellectually, that she used to call Perth, Perry. But still, it struck me dumb for a moment.
Then what she'd said caught up to me. I just gave her a small smile as I flipped the book open again. The spell was right there, staring up at me.
"Well, what are you waiting for. Start casting," Nexxa said, plopping herself down on the bed beside me.
"What? Now?" I asked, feeling more than a little self-conscious. I hadn't actually cast a spell before. I didn't even have a strong enough core to fit a basic tier 1 spell into my soul.
"Yes, now. How often are you going to have a Pegasus-soul prodigy around to help you through your very first spell?" Nexxa said, her eyes flashing wide to match her grin when I looked up at her.
I huffed out a laugh as I traced my hand over the runes. "Fine. You win. Any advice, great and wise prodigy of lightning?"
"Yeah. Don't go archmage," Nexxa replied, her eyes narrowing. "The librarian told me what you were planning."
"I… why not?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Because that's not you. Being an archmage takes a lot more work, Perry. And if you don't put in the effort, you'll be Mage-soul forever," Nexxa said with a half-sigh at the end.
"I'll put in the work," I said, though I could understand her concern. Work effort hadn't been something Perth had been known for. "It's real now, Nexxa. Before I awoke, it was all just a fantasy. Now I know what I need to do. Besides, I’m a Magus Dominus now. I’ll need all the magic I can get."
My words were honest, even if I was talking about my own feelings instead of Perth's.
"That's… that's good Perry. In that case, we should get started," Nexxa said, gesturing at the grimoire in my hands.
I nodded, running my hand over the runework.
"So, I'm sure your tutors told you before you awoke, but you'll need to imbue the entire spell with your mana if you want it to activate properly," Nexxa said, waving at the page. "When you're first learning a spell, I find it helpful to picture each rune one at a time as you're charging them. It makes it easier to form the impression later."
"Got it," I replied, starting with the central rune. It was the most expensive part of the spell, acting as a sort of battery that would slowly discharge. Combined with another rune that acted as a sort of gate, and the mana gathering array, it would keep the spell running until I canceled it. At least, that's how it was supposed to work.
My first attempt at casting the spell resulted in the battery getting too full. Which caused the entire thing to fizzle out in sparks of bright light that left colorful afterimages.
"Well done!" Nexxa said as I blinked rapidly, attempting to get the spots to go away. "Maybe there's hope for you yet." She bumped my shoulder, before motioning for me to try again.
"How, exactly, was that well done?"
"You managed to manifest the spell! Sure, it went down faster than a virgin on the Front, but it still manifested. That's the hard part. Now you just need to hold it together. Take my hand."
"What?" I asked, staring at her hand.
"You're low on mana, right?"
"Yeah," I said, wondering what that had to do with holding her hand.
"Mana Draw isn't the only way to boost your regeneration. Perks of studying with a prodigy," Nexxa explained, flexing her hand.
Accepting her hand, I felt a brush against my Core.
"Let it in. Imagine your Core has a curtain, and you're drawing it to the side to let in the light. The light being my mana."
Doing as she said, I was surprised at how easy it was. Then I felt her mana flow into me. It was distinctly 'sparky' but my core quickly broke it down, converting it to my own flavor. About half the mana was lost, but I was sure Nexxa didn't even notice.
"Good. Now, try again."
I nodded, leaning forward as I repeated the imbuing process, noting that it felt a little easier this time. We continued like that for several more attempts, each one resulting in another burst of bright light, though each burst did get progressively dimmer.
A knock on the door interrupted my latest attempt. Thankfully, as long as I didn't complete the spell, the mana would drain away safely. Another reason it was an excellent starter spell. Most spells didn't have such a feature built in.
Calbern entered the room shortly after knocking, bowing towards both of us. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you wanted me to remind you when your package was ready, Lady Nexxa."
"Thank you, Calbern," Nexxa said, pushing to her feet. "Keep at it Perry, you've just about got it." The last was said while ruffling my hair, which I couldn't help but flinch away from, drawing a laugh out of her.
Then she was gone, charging out of the room with an audible crack, leaving a faint purple afterimage behind.
Nodding to Calbern, I turned back to the spell. Nexxa was right. I was so close, I could practically taste it.
Also, much as it surprised me, the idea of disappointing her pushed me onward.
I pushed that thought down, and focused on the runes. There was magic to be done!
