Today was a (more) normal day than usual…

I woke up at 9 AM and began to prepare breakfast for Prince Gatir. I made some eggs benedict and some other fancy breakfast items I forgot the names of. After an hour or so, The Prince came downstairs and silently sat at the dining table and waited quietly as I placed the food onto the table. We sat down and began eating in absolute (and awkward) silence, none of us even thinking of mentioning of what happed yesterday [See Chapter 10 For More Info]. After eating, I decided to clean the dishes instead of making the robot do it, just to have some time alone. I occasionally walk slowly up the stairs to check on what Gatir is doing. For most of the time, he was either sleeping or reading. After finishing the dishes, I decide to go talk to Gatir. I arrive at my study door and knock, calling Gatir’s name.

“Prince Gatir.”

After a few seconds, Gatir opens the door and lets me in, making sure not to look me in the eyes. I pick Gatir off the ground and sit him down on a couch while I pull up the chair near my desk, and so, we began talking.

“So, would you like to talk about what happened yesterday?”

“N-No, not really.”

“Haa, I had a feeling you’d say that. Prince Gatir, does this have anything to do with what you told me yesterday before I left?”

“Yes.”

“I see, so it seems you expected me to die, and yet I didn’t. So what let you know I was probably going to die?”

“I-I can’t say.”

“Great. Well, I am not going to pry, since it seems you have your own circumstances, but let me just say this. Don’t ever jump out my window, as that costs me way too much.”

“Oh, okay. A-Are you not angry?”

“No, I’m not. I was just worried. What would happen if I let you die under my watch?”

“Oh, thank you.”

“Of course, Prince Gatir. Well, goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

“…Ah, actually, wait. I’m probably going to the bookstore in an hour. Would you like to come along?”

“S-Sure.”

“Okay, then. Get dressed in an hour. See you.”

I walked out of the study and grabbed my stuff and changed into my button-up and pants, while leaving the rest hung on the hooks near the door. I then sat down and decided to nap for a bit, as I was tired of everything that had happened.

I woke up to a rocking motion as someone was calling my name.

“Maxwell, get up! It's been an hour!”

I got up and yawned. I went to the kitchen and splashed some water onto my face. I grabbed my clothes and put them on. I put on my shoes as Gatir came and put on his shoes. I then grabbed his hand as we began walking down from my house which was situated at the top of a mountain. After walking down the short path from my house to town, we walked through the slums to get to the bookstore. When we arrived, we were out of breath after walking for so long. I decided to take a little breather before readjusting my clothes and walking into the bookstore, where its owner sat facing the door. The bookstore owner always wore a fedora, and it complimented his sinister smile well.

“Hello, Lye.”

“Hey, Maxwell. Long time no see~.”

He had a playful look in his eyes, as usual. This was the bookstore owner, Lye Gin, one of the most mysterious people I’ve ever met. He sells a wide variety of books, and I suggest to anyone who may waste their time reading this Notebook, always buy books from Lye Gin’s Bookstore. I walked in and began looking amongst the bookshelves until I noticed Prince Gatir’s pale face as he pointed at Lye.

“Y-You… I-It’s you…”

“Hmm? Ah, yes, it’s in fact me.”

I place my hand on Prince Gatir’s shoulder and calm him down.

“Prince Gatir, go buy a few books.”

“O-Okay.”

Gator slowly walked away, occasionally looking over at the bookstore owner.

“Hey, Lye, do you have any good books on the 8 Systems?”

“Ooh, it seems you’re getting into magic now?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Are they for you or the kid?”

“Well, of course they’re for me. Why would I get them for Prince Gatir?”

“Well, I mean, the amount of mana flowing from this kid is insane.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, well, you see, I’m able to see the flow of mana with these nifty eyes.”

He pointed at the slits in his eyes.

“Interesting. So, what do you think I should get him?”

“Get him magical books. Make sure to get him the really basic stuff and the extremely advanced stuff. If he doesn’t start practicing now, he won’t be able to unlock his full talent.”

“Weird. He told me that he apparently has no aptitude for magic.”

“Well, of course! You’d need a very powerful device to measure the sheer amount of aptitude this kid has got for magic.”

“Amazing… Well, guess I’ll some magic books. Since you know a lot about the 8 Systems, could you give me as many books as possible for me and get me the right books for Prince Gatir?”

“Sure. Anything for my first and loyal customer.”

The bookstore owner went to the back as I decided to look around when I found an interesting book sticking out of one of the shelves. The book was bright red and seemed familiar. I walked up to the book and held it in my hand when I read the title.

I started to flip through the pages when I saw some interesting content. The books seemed to talk about Order and Chaos Energy in the universe. I grabbed the book and placed it on the counter when Lye came back out with 3 big boxes of books. He placed them on the counter with a thud and began mumbling to himself as he began to calculate the price. Gator came around with a manga in his hand and placed it on the counter.

“Is that all?”

“No, these two books as well.”

“Hmm? Interesting.”

“What is it?”

“That red book you got, I actually got yesterday from some wizard who said it was a family heirloom. That very wizard turns out to be the descendant of one of the 4 Greats (The 4 people considered to be the first and greatest wizards/witches). Well, anyways, these all cost 150 gold coins.”

“W-What?!”

“Yeah, I know, but there are a lot.”

“Can’t you do 100?”

“Nope.”

“Just this once?”

“Whatever. I’ll go down to 125. I’ll take 100 gold coins now and put the rest on your tab. Sounds good?”

“Eh, I can pay for 125.”

“Wait, then why would you go as low as 100 gold?!”

“Well, just in case you actually did go down to 100, I wouldn’t have to pay as much!”

“How shameless must you be?! I’m about to make you pay 150 gold!”

“Hey, a true merchant never goes back on his word.”

“Damn you, you damn swindler.”

“Well, see you.”

We left the place with three huge boxes of books, and the only time I didn’t bring the car was the time I needed it. And so, began the hellishly brutal walk up the mountain trail to my house. (It was during this walk I regretted living alone on the top of a mountain, but I still think it’s worth the silence and quiet I get up there.).

After finally arriving at the front door, I felt my legs about to give out. I placed the boxes down as I took out my keys. I unlocked the door and started to take the boxes up to my study one by one. After finally doing all of that, I collapsed on the couch and took another nap. I woke up at 1:30 PM. I walked upstairs and saw Gatir reading the manga he got. While he was doing that, I began sorting the books into the shelves, sorting them based on which system they belonged to and how advanced they were. After sorting them, I went downstairs and began to boil some tea. After preparing some tea and some biscuits on a tray, I went upstairs and placed the tray on a small table near the window. I then poured a cup for Gatir and placed it in front of him. I then grabbed some books Lye had given me for Gatir. I placed them in front of him and said,

“Prince Gatir, these books are for you. Start reading them.”

“Okay. Thank you, Maxwell.”

I walked away and grabbed an entire section of books that were about one of the 8 Systems of Power. After grabbing all the books and placing them near the couch next to the table, I sat down and began reading. The system that I began reading about was the Spirit System. And so, here’s what I understood from what I read simplified; The Spirit System has its own energy called iprist. That iprist could be used to create circuits of iprist called spell constructs. Thos spirit constructs can be put together in different combinations to create different spells that do different things. As for iprist, iprist comes in different colors, with each color increasing the intensity of the iprist. Iprist is also measured in something called rites. Rites measure only the volume, not the intensity. Now back to iprist. Iprist comes in the colors Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Cyan, White, Gray, and Black (weakest to strongest). Now, each level of Iprist has 10x the intensity of the level before (For example, 1 rite of black iprist is worth 100 million rites of red iprist). So that was all there was about the Spirit System. As to how to create Spell Constructs, there is an entire boom that I won’t discuss that shows you the very basic constructs and teaches you how make better constructs. After reading every books, 3 hours had passed, making the time 5 PM. After putting the books away, I decide to go outside to practice what I had learned. I hung my longsuit and top hat before walking outside. I fold up my sleeves before beginning the process of using iprist. The first step was to begin creating something called Spirit Points. In order to create Spirit Points, one has to meditate. After falling into a meditative state, I felt something flowing through my veins with every heartbeat. This was what the books described as feeling out iprist. After controlling the iprist with great care, I started trying to direct the iprist into 12 points on my chest. This was how one started out with the very basics. And usually, what would happen, is a beginner would have 12 Spirit Points, and using those points, they’d create a complex web of something called Spirit Veins, which were channels for iprist to flow through. And after training in Spirit Force for a long time, one would eventually gain more and more spirit veins, first attaining 14 points, which would classify you as a expert, and then eventually 72 points, which would classify you as a master. That’s what was supposed to happen, yet that didn’t happen, as unluckily for me, something intervened that caused my iprist to go crazy. And all of it was caused by the red band around my wrist.

(To Be Continued…)