《Mortem Comedenti(Death Eater)》Chapter 7: Magic(II)
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He was lost, that is all he knew. As soon he walked into the hellscape of books, turned to look back from where he came, all he could see were more books. Even though it had been no more than ten minutes, he thought he was already going mad. Even with so many options in front of him, Kenan was having the worst time picking.
Eventually, he just started walking aimlessly and thinking to himself. Daydreaming. A memory popped up in his head. It was of his father, Tyris. Kenan had asked his father why he just burnt all the crops instead of hoping for the best.. That year most of the plants had been infested with a bug. All he heard were the words told to him.
“You must be decisive, once you make a choice, you must have no regret. If you do, that will lead to hesitation, that will lead to complacency and that will lead to death. One must be decisive.”
Another memory came to mind. It was of his mother. She was cooking, cleaning, and folding clothes all at the same time. He had asked how it was possible for her to do that.
“Well, you have to be ready for anything and change from one thing to another. The world likes to throw stones, and oftentimes one right after another. You have to be ready to act, to be fluid, and ever expecting change.”
Soon after that, he recalled a time with Lucy. He saw her actively growing a plant at a rapid pace with her magic. He asked how she controlled it.
“I do not control it. To control something will effectively allow yourself to be controlled. I guide it. Similar to Mother and Father. They guide us, show us a path, but not make us choose it.”
The thought swirled around inside of his head. “Decisive yet fluid, uncontrollable but guidable. Hmm.” He said out loud. As he walked around, the deeper and deeper into thought he dived. At this point he could no longer tell how much time passed. To him, in this deep walking meditative state, an hour felt like a second and vice versa.
He must have missed a step, or accidently turned at the wrong time. Because his head came to bump into a bookcase. Kenan fell back, fear went through him as he saw the towering container wobble for a few seconds. He prayed to the gods that it wouldn’t fall, and then fall on to the next one, and so on. Lucky it seemed he didn’t have enough mass to topple it.
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Fear was quickly turned into curiosity as while most bookshelves were full, this one was completely empty, except for one book. Kenan quickly grabbed the thing. It was red and incredibly old. Most of the leather of the book had been peeled off and the pages not yellow but downgraded further to this brown. The Author's name was ineligible with the only letters Kenan could see were A and then W. The title was still intact. “Coaxing Fire.” He flipped to the first few pages and began to read.
To his surprise, this “coaxing fire.” didn’t actually focus on fire all that much. Instead it pinpointed the movement of oxygen, how it flowed and why it allowed the creation of fire. Next it talked about using his mana to rapidly increase the speed of tiny molecules, and lastly it went into using his mana for the fuel of the fire. He saw, skimming through the book, that there weren’t a lot of prescribed skills or moves like other abilities have.
Before he read more, he took himself out of the trance and closed the book. He looked at the cover and felt it with his finger. Giving a solemn nod he smiled. He had found his Magic!
Before he let the excitement get to him, he took a deep breath and focused. He had two more problems to focus on. The first, was getting back to the desk. The second, was finding Dion. However, he was sure the fox and it’s cunning could smell it’s way back. He was not so sure about himself. He tucked the book under his armpit and set off.
He went out the direction he thought he came from. Looked left then right, finally forward. “What!?” Either he was imagining things, or right in front of, no more than a bookshelf length away, was the desk with Granny and Doco. He continued forward in amazement. “It must be magic.” Again he said out loud.
Granny and Doco, who had just finished their talk. Smiled at the boy’s amazement. Just like himself, Doco was too awed and confused about the book maze’s weird properties. “You picked your magic?” Doco had asked.
“Yes. Yes I have.” Still stunned.
“Well, dear, let me have a look at it.” Granny said. A smile on her face. Kenan shook off his moment pf paralysis and went to the desk and placed his book on it. Granny pushed up her glasses. “This is...hmm..” She said as she began flipping through the book.
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“Something wrong?” Kenan asked
“No dear boy, No. I just thought I wouldn’t see this book be picked in my day. This is a tome of fire, but it is different. It is specialized, and not one of them mass produced tomes.”
“Is that bad?”
“Not bad nor good. Well, it can be bad if you are lazy and lack focus on your studies. It could be great if you're a hard worker.” She stopped for a moment. Reached under her desk and brought up another book, it was new. Sharp leather and clean, crisp pages. She also placed a pen on the table. “Give me your hand dear.” Kenan obeyed. “This will hurt a bit.” Suddenly she took a knife and cut a shallow but long line on Kenan’s palm. Then she did the same but smaller on each finger tip. Kenan had winced but didn’t struggle. After that, she placed the bloody palm onto the book, making a handprint. Swiftly took one finger and drew a long line up and down the pen. She then waved her hand on top of Kenan's. The pain had disappeared. So had the blood. Then suddenly, both the bloody handprint and the blood on the pen started to light up, before finally disappearing.
“What?!” Kenan began to question.
“After a person takes a specialized tome, we give them another tome of their own to write down their findings. Every time, that magic changes a little. We hope you will give us a tome in the future. We had to put blood on the pen and book so that you may never lose them, and now you can write easier.”
“Umm’ Still confused.
“Imagine the pen moving in the air.” Granny said. Despite Kenan's surprise at the moment, he did. The pen lifted in the air.
“What is happening?!” The pen dropped.
“Relax, dear. It’s magic. Something you should be very Intune with in the near future.”
Kenan took a deep breath in and out. Calming down. Then he heard the familiar pitter-patter of his companions' paws. Kenan looked and saw Dion came bounding down one of the halls. In his mouth was an old tan in color book. The fox gracefully leapt on to the table and put the book in front of Kenan. Then he howled in happiness.
“Hmmm, what do we have here?” Granny grabbed the book. Then she took a few minutes to read. “Oh wow, I didn’t know a book like this was in the library.” She then shifted her gaze to Dion. “Yes, yes. I suppose so.”
“We can only afford one tome Granny.” Doco said from behind Kenan.
“Oh stop your nonsense. This new one here is free of charge, and this one.” She pointed towards the tan one. “Is on the house.”
“Bu..” Both Kenan and Doco said. Both of them had the family trait burned into their brains. Do not borrow what you cannot give back.
“Stop it you stubborn fools!” She looked somewhat angry, but like the anger when a grandma can’t shove more food down their grandchildren's mouth. “You're gonna take it!”
“If I may ask, What is it?” Kenan asked after a few minutes of silence.
The smile returned to her face. “Well, glad you asked. It’s.. well complicated. Not exactly a magic per se. More like a physical technique that uses mana I suppose. I do believe it would fit well with you young man.”
Suddenly a sound of a huge god-father clock rang out. “Uh-oh. I do believe it’s time.” She then got up and went around the table. Took the three books and put all of them into the hands of Kenan. Dion then proudly jumped on the stack of books. “Now, now. You are off.” Then she lightly shoved the two. Kenan turned to see the door suddenly. Suspecting that Granny didn’t want them to pay, Doco telekinetically put three gold onto the desk. She opened the door with a wave of a hand. “Have a good day children” before finally shoving the two out the door.
Kenan realized he was back outside. Turned around. “Thank… You?” As he saw a closed door. Doco, beside him, started laughing.
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