“Oi, boy, quit making a mess of the shelf,” said a gruff voice from behind, breaking me out of my reading.
Closing the book I was holding, I turned to find a middle-aged man putting new books on the emptier part of the shelf. His movements were slow, patient, the kind that only came with age.
“I’m not messing, sir.” I was unaware if he was the owner or only a worker here, but it didn’t hurt to be respectful.
“Of course you are,” the man said harshly, pointing at the shelf exactly where I had left a bunch of books after browsing. To prove his point, he grabbed one of them and placed it in the middle of another shelf, sighing deeply. “Why did I even bother to think a child would understand order and cataloguing? Listen, you need to put the books back where you found them. Otherwise, people will have trouble finding what they’re looking for.”
I wanted to argue, to put my case forward, but he was right. I had messed up the arrangement, hadn’t I?
“Sorry, sir,” I said. “I’ll put them back where they were.”
“Leave it.” The middle-aged man clicked his tongue. “You probably don’t even remember where they were to begin with.”
With that, he set about reorganising the books. Then, as if the thought had just struck him, he asked, “Can you even read, or are you just looking at the pictures?”
“I can read.” My response came out snappier than I intended. I wanted no smear on my intellect. Sighing, I held out the tome in my hand. “I’m actually going to buy this.”
“ Secret History of Althelon,” he read the title and murmured something under his breath about pretentious kids.
Moving away from the rude salesman, I entered another section. Half an hour had passed since we entered the bookshop, and I had barely managed to contain my excitement. How could I not? After all, this was the first time I was ever surrounded by so many books.
The shop was large, two-floored, with towering shelves that reached the high ceiling. Thousands of books were stacked along the walls, packed tightly together. A few fine wooden ladders were scattered around, proving how rich their collection was—that one needed to climb to find a book to their liking.
Many other brick-sized tomes were stacked in corners in precarious piles, each one taller than myself. There rarely seemed to be any books purely based on fiction. Most of what could be considered storybooks seemed to hold the stories of some distinguished figure of the Empire. People were really progressive about letting their stories out, huh?
Nah, it was probably related to the Class thing. To advance higher above the Noble Class path, to the Prestigious or Fabled Class, an Awakened needed a certain degree of fame.
I was not intelligent enough to know how the Spell calculated fame, but after reading a bunch of these biographical books, I discerned it was more about achieving some sort of feat and collecting gravitas from that to advance. Achieving Centurion rank in the legionaries, for example, was a feat of great honour and pulled enough gravitas for one to advance their path from Noble to Prestigious Class. From there to Fabled Class, it was a lifetime of work.
I could only imagine what an Awakened needed to achieve to ascend to Legendary Class.
Along with fiction, there were little to no books involving magic. I did find a few about the secrets and mysteries of the Spell, as well as books that simply narrated what an Awakened person needed to do to get the most out of the Spell. Books titled like
100 Simple Drawings to Achieve Mastery over Your Way, or
10 Honours to Reach Prestige for the Determined were bestsellers.
I thought about getting a few of those. Many of them covered everything people before me had already figured out about the Spell. These books were written to complete the Ways in the most efficient way.
My gut twisted, feeling how boring it would be to complete different Ways simply for the sake of a few attribute points. Then the thought dawned on me.
I am already doing that, aren’t I?
But most of my Way hadn’t gotten boring yet. Suppressing my thoughts, I picked a book that discussed various Ways and the philosophy behind them.
For the first time in my life, Mum had given me an allowance—a full twelve silver leafs. When I got it, I wondered what I would do with so much money... A loaf of bread did not even cost two copper chips, which was a tenth of a silver leaf. But now that I saw how expensive these books were, my perspective of the world finally began to change.
Twelve silver leafs were hardly enough to buy a couple of dozen books of my choice, but I doubted Mum would want me to buy that many anyway. Her shelf was almost full.
I had already finished most of her collection—those that I could understand, that was. A couple of dozen books would keep me company for a couple of months more. That was why I needed to be absolutely thorough about my choice. I needed to leave some money to buy a gift for Rosalyn, too.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
I wasn’t much of a fan of history, but I still kept
Secret History of Althelon in my arms. I had told the man I was buying it, and I supposed there was no harm in learning more about the time before the Empire.
After wandering between the aisles, I found another book I wanted to read. It was actually about the Oracle Academy—the same one Rose attended and my aunt taught at. From the few pages I had glimpsed, I found that the academy was founded right around the time the Spell came to be. Given how involved the Oracle was in both, I couldn’t help but wonder if it held any answers or even hints to the greatest question of my life.
Other than being the focal point of magic and everything related to it, I really wondered if the big answers to all the questions of my life would be there.
As the burden of knowledge rose in my arms, I crept from one side to another, finally climbing to the upper floor, which was not decorated as well as the ground floor. There weren’t many shelves, just massive stacks of books and notebooks leaning against the walls. The narrow paths between the rows of books would be a struggle for anyone broad-shouldered.
Although the entrance was open, the sight of uncategorised books bound by thick ropes made me hesitate. Was I even allowed to remove anything from their stacks?
As I searched for an attendant, I heard soft, familiar voices on the other side of the row of books. Moving a few steps closer, I found the owners of the voices: Mum and Aunt Emi.
“Who would have thought I’d find a copy of
Heretical Sins in here,” said Aunt Emi. “They don’t even publish this anymore. Now, if only I could find something to gift Arilyn.”
“He probably has stacked volumes taller than him by now.”
Not true. I was about to join them but faltered on my path, hearing the next phrase.
“Curious. How long do you think it will take him to form his Essence Seed?”
“Hopefully,” Mum’s voice, “not before the ceremony.”
“If that’s what you want, then you shouldn’t have taught him the Way, sister.”
A pause.
“I thought it would take him time to learn it. A season or two to get used to it, you know, like normal people.”
“So now you want your son to be normal?” Aunt sounded amused. “Didn’t you give him a customised Arcane Knot when he was two?”
“I didn’t think he’d solve it so quickly.”
“Well, Mother taught us Essence Unification when we were... a little older than him,” Aunt said, drawing a breath. “We turned out fine. I’m sure he will too.”
Mum grunted at that.
“That reminds me, have you changed your mind about leaving the village? You can’t give Arilyn the right education and training there.”
“Who said I want him to go through the perfect education and training Mother forced on us?”
I frowned. Mum didn’t want me to study or practise? No, it sounded deeper than that.
“And yet, I see you raising him with similar methods to hers.”
“It’s not the same,” Mum snapped. A short pause, then a deep breath before she continued, “There is wisdom in her ways, even if I hate them. But I won’t put Arilyn through all that... No, I want him to grow as he chooses, without being burdened by our expectations.”
“Is that why you didn’t even tell her about her grandson?”
“No... It’s because I still resent her,” Mum said curtly before changing the subject. “Enough of that. You still haven’t answered me about my request. Will you be my son’s godmother?”
“What, I had a choice?” Aunt Emi laughed. “I thought you’d force me into it regardless.”
“Emi, I’m serious.”
“Then you should have been honest from the start. As for godmotherhood, I’d be delighted.”
“Thank you.”
“You know you can talk to me about your worries,” Aunt said softly.
[Congratulations! Way of Sneak I (100/100) is complete.]
[+2 Unallocated points.]
[Way of Sneak II (100/1000) is now accessible.]
I blinked before a grin spread across my lips. Mum and Aunt stopped talking. Finally, I stepped forward, books in hand.
“Took you long enough,” Mum said, eyes flicking to the books in my arms. “And you’ve only chosen four?”
“Mum, there are so many. I want to read them all.”
Then I finally noticed the rack behind them, where thousands of books lay in a chaotic mess, hardly any care given to their arrangement. None looked new, but most seemed readable.
“Used books?” I arched a brow, settling my stack with Mum to step closer.
“They are,” Aunt said, holding a couple she’d picked. “Some are missing more than just a few pages, though.”
“Are they cheaper?” I asked, eyes still fixed on the neglected stacks.
Aunt exchanged a glance with Mum, her lips curving upwards.
It turned out used books were cheaper. I bought fifteen for a third of their price, while some barely used ones and old editions cost half. Regrettably, I couldn’t find
The Secret History of Althelon among them. That one alone cost eighteen copper leafs—I could get four used books for the same price.
I was debating whether to leave it when Aunt Emi came to the rescue, adding a couple more books to my pile.
“It’s a good book, though it holds more known facts than secrets,” she said. “And history is important. These three will give you a solid understanding of how the Empire came to be and why it is the way it is. Maybe you’ll appreciate them more when you’re older.”
“I’ll read them all,” I promised.
“Of course you will,” Mum said, half amused, half exasperated. On one hand, she approved of my use of the allowance in this bargain; on the other, they would now have to carry books heavier than me for hundreds of miles. Not to mention the lack of space at home. “Now, are you going to carry them back to the inn?”
Thankfully, Father presented himself at the apt moment, looking thoroughly bored. I stacked the books into neat piles, then handed them to him one by one without a word.
Carry the book, Bookcarrier.
He glanced at Mum, amused, before accepting his fate.
In total, I bought thirty-two books, spending ten silver and sixteen copper leafs, leaving me with only one silver and four copper leafs, which was hardly enough to buy a gift worthy of the violin Rose had given me.
Well, it wasn’t a competition.
But then again, it was Rose. That brat would definitely complain if I got her a cheap earring.
Still, I didn’t ask for more money. Not after what I’d overheard. Then it dawned on me. If I used Mum’s coins, wouldn’t that mean she was the one gifting her little sister?
No. I have to do this on my own.