I am now standing in front of a library.

It sounds so mundane, right? Wrong. For all my 16 years of life, I had never thought that reading is something I would do voluntarily. I can read of course, but the idea of sitting around reading a book for hours on end just fills me with so much dread that it makes me want to puke. But it seems that is what I must do.

Man up, Alean! It's just some book, it won't kill ya!

Fuck. I'm hating it already.

Looking despondently at my chaperone, I once again thought of escaping. Yermen is standing next to me, looking in the library with sparkling eyes. The nerd is probably drooling at the thought of spending his entire weekend reading some dusty tomes.

"Well, what are we waiting for," he asked.

"Nothing..." I mumbled.

I know this is necessary, but it won't stop me from complaining in my head. I had never been good at studying books, so now come face to face with rows and rows of shelves, stacked to the brim with books and scrolls that I have to read through, I think I died a little inside. It's necessary, I remind myself.

After some bickering, we decided that we'll search the Academy's library right after lunch for more info.

Well, Yermen decided that.

I just went along because I have no better idea than to just report about it.

I think that it'll be fine since I feel like my patron is someone kind, but Yermen wants to be sure that's the case. And since I can't convince him otherwise, I decided to stick with him and help with his research.

Yermen had said that just reporting would be too hasty and reckless. I know that he's worried about me, but I feel like he's babying me somehow. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Sigh.

Maybe he's right though. Maybe I'm too impulsive. But after our talk, I want this blessing to be good. I feel like this is what I'll need to get what I want. Not Hero level good, but at least good enough. And the best way to learn about this blessing is the Blessed class.

Entering the library, Yermen quickly move towards the counter. Is there supposed to be a librarian here? Looking around, I can't seem to find anyone who's in charge. Following my friend, I'm surprised to see a giant leather-bound book suddenly come floating in from a floor above us. As the floating book came to rest in front of Yermen, he speaks to it like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"Archive, I wish to browse books about divine lore."

"Why are you speaking to a-"

Before I got to finish my question, scrolls and books fly in from across the library, quickly surrounding us as the giant book begins to flip through its pages so fast I couldn't make out what was written inside.

I can sense it now.

Magic seems to come to life around me as runes and enchantments trace themselves through the air in complex patterns and formations. Each rune, each line of text a wellspring of information. It is so much that it threatens to overwhelm me like when I first laid my eyes on the screen in my dreams. Then a hand quickly touches my shoulder and all of it vanishes as if it had never been there.

"Sorry! I forgot all about that." Yermen quickly apologized in a whisper.

"Wha... what just happened."

"The Archive's defense mechanism. You're only supposed to be able to summon it if you have a library pass. I forgot that you don't have one"

I can feel my brain pounding fiercely. My eyes are threatening to pop out of my head. It feels as if I had sat and read a book for 1, no, 3 days straight.

"Urgg, my head..."

"It's a Mental attack meant to incapacitate an intruder. Sorry, again."

"Is my tongue suppose to feel like I ate sand and my ears ring like a bell?"

"Sigh. Yes."

I try to sit down, but the change in perspective makes me feel like puking even more. Looking at Yermen, he seems to be holding a stack of some books and a few scrolls. I idly wonder how such a scrawny person is able to hold so many books. He looks at me with a pitying gaze.

"How about you take a break first, I'll just look through these really fast."

"Um."

Mumbling out a reply is the best I could do as I sit and wait for the bout of nausea to finally end.

===

After about half an hour of sitting and not emptying my lunch on the library floor. I finally stand up and walk over to the table Yermen is reading at.

He seems to have sorted the books into two piles, and I even see some books that didn't look like what I had seen him holding before. His reading speed is so fast that I can hear pages flipping continuously.

*Flip, flip, flip*

"How are you reading so fast? I couldn't even read the first line and you already flipped the page."

"I'm skimming," came a terse reply. "I'm only looking for keywords"

"Huh."

I guess this is faster than reading every line in the book. Still, isn't this way too fast? He looks at a page for only a few seconds and moves on. Geniuses sure have it easy.

"Aha!"

The sudden shout wakes me from my thoughts. Yermen seems to have found something. Quickly I glance at the page he stopped at.

The book he's reading from seems quite old. Its pages are yellowed and torn at the edges, the leather bindings frays and scratches adorn its surface. Remarkably, the metal clasp is pristine, as if time had not passed for it at all. The book is supposed to be a journal of sorts, detailing a researcher's journey through different countries across the continent. This person seems to be looking for some ancient relics while trying to learn more about the Gods worshipped by other civilized races.

'My journey once again brought me to a new and exciting discovery. While exploring the ruins that I had obtained knowledge of from some friendly locals, I have found a special object within. The training I went through in the Academy proves to be vital, as traps and monsters block my path at every turn. That place was once a religious site, a temple, or a shrine of some sort. Once I reached the inner sanctum, I found depictions of figures worshiping someone holding a lyre. The lyre-holding person must be some kind of God of Music or something similar. What's really interesting is that I found a metal lyre on the pedestal in the center of this room.

It must be a replica meant for decorations only, for I can't sense any magic within, but its historical value is quite high. An ancient civilization that worships music, how exciting! I can't wait to learn more about it.'

'It seems that the lyre is made of some kind of special metal. Even though the ruins are ancient, the lyre doesn't seem to have any signs of rust or damage. I have drawn all the decorations and murals found within the sanctum, and I have made another discovery. While the biggest and most prominent mural depicts a lyre, there are also others that depict different instruments held by different figures also worshiped by the people. There seems to not be a singular God of Music, but a wide variety of them, each holding domain over an instrument. That is my hypothesis on this matter. Still, there's not enough evidence to prove that is the answer. I did not find any other instrument throughout the ruins. I wonder why only this lyre is left.'

When I read to that point, the book was suddenly closed.

"Hey, I was reading that."

"You should have read faster then"

Seeing the smug look on Yermen's face makes me want to punch it in.

Still, I didn't know a book could be this interesting.

All I've ever read in my life are textbooks, filled with dry and boring lessons. This book reads like a story about an adventure that my dad would tell me whenever he came back from an expedition. It's really interesting.

Huh. Maybe books are not that bad after all? And I do feel like I learned something from it.

"Well, did you figure out anything?"

Yermen frowns. "It's strange, the book said that there are different Gods for different instruments, but your blessing somehow can summon all of them. And then there is this aspect about wine that is not answered."

"Maybe we should report this to the Academy. They have more resources, so they can find things faster than us."

"I still think it's dangerous," Yermen said warily.

"But who knows how long until the two of us can find anything useful. Besides, my dad told me before to trust my gut if I'm in a bad situation, and my gut tells me that I'm fine."

"Well, your gut is really big after all. The amount of food you can eat never ceases to amaze me," said an amused Yermen.

"Really, I think this is fine," I said with more determination.

Yermen looks at me for a moment, then lets out a long sigh.

"Fine, you win. But I'm not letting you go alone, or else you might say something stupid to them."

Smiling from ear to ear, I beamed at my friend, "Thanks!"

He's such a good friend.