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Chapter 96: Four spells

On the way to the library, the old man shared a bit more knowledge with Eldrian. Telling him stories about the prominent graduates and how they were now off to the war. Naturally Eldrian was curious about how they prepared themselves, asking what type of spells they specialized in.

The answer to this was not too satisfactory. The old man simply stating that each had their own path and that it ultimately depends on the person. He finished off by telling Eldrian to follow his heart when picking spells to master, which naturally did not help much.

As they walked Eldrian failed tried to get more info from the old man, failing and instead mostly receiving roundabout answers. Finally, they arrived at the library. The library was a fanciful building situated between two gardens, each of which had stone slabs where students could train.

"Nice isn\'t it?" The old man asked after they passed the entrance, Eldrian having needed his student card to be allowed inside. Inside Eldrian was left shocked by the massive bookshelves extending forward and upwards as far as the eye could see.

"Yeah." Eldrian reply, in a trance by the magical look of the library.

"Now, do you want me to show you around or will you be alright?"

Eldrian wanted to simply answer that he would be fine, but as he opened his lips he realized that he had no idea how the books were going to be sorted. Nor where what was, even if they were sorted.

"If you won\'t mind..." Eldrian mumbled, causing the old man to laugh.

"What are you looking for?"

"Nature spells."

The old man nodded and headed towards the left of the library. Following him, Eldrian was shocked by the number of books. While he had expected it to be like in films, even having expected it, he was not prepared. While passing through many book pathways Eldrian quickly realized that most of these books seemed to talk about magic.

After crossing five sections of the library the old man finally stopped. "Here we are, nature spells and magic in general. What are you looking for; summoning, healing, rejuvenation, enhancement, poison-"

"Wait, poison?" Eldrian interrupted, finding this to be a clashing topic.

"Yes, poison is a nature spell category."

"No, that does not make sense?"

"Why not. Poison is something developed in nature, for nature. It is a means of defense for animals and plants. Do you want venom spells, they are also here." The old man joked as he saw Eldrian\'s conflicted opinion.

Shaking his head Eldrian tried to make sense of this. While it made logical sense, it clashed heavily with his sense of what nature spells should be.

"How else do you expect nature magic to be offensive? You can\'t think an entire branch of magic is without offensive."

"But poison... And venom..."

"Do you think growth spells would help you more?"

"Ye... No." Sloughing his shoulders Eldrian gave up and stopped fighting. It felt weird, but at least it made sense if he simply looked at it from a standpoint that nature was, well natural. It included animals, plants and seemingly even metals.

"In that case, what are you looking for?"

"Do you know the spell Anthos?"

"Everyone does, it is a simple Tier 0 rejuvenation spell."

"So far it is the only spell I can cast, and I want to find its Tier 1 variant."

"That would be Anthizo. But you do know that it does not do much, right?"

"I have to start somewhere," Eldrian replied as he started looking for the book with this spell. At the same time, he wondered why he even was looking for a book, the Tier 0 spells could be fitted onto a small area of a page. Certainly, the Tier 1 spell would not take more than a single page.

"You\'re not going to find it in one of the books. The books are only about magic, for reading and research. If you actually want to buy a spell you have to do that at the entrance. The librarians are in charge of it, at least for the first three tiers."

"Then why did you bring me here?" Eldrian asked in confusion, wondering how there could be so many books on spells. Especially if the books did not directly explain the spells.

"To show you that you need to do research. You can\'t just jump into learning spells, you first have to understand their aim. Look for a book titled, A flower blooming."

Not understanding why, but feeling that it would be wise, Eldrian did as the old man told him. After a bit of a search he managed to find the book.

"The best way to self-study is to read. Come find me at the office when you are done."

After saying this the old man left, leaving Eldrian confused with the book in his hands.Well, it is only twenty pages. I can read this quickly. Eldrian thought, feeling that this old man was playing with him. Still even if he was it would not take him long to finish the book.

Finding himself a table Eldrian started. Finding that the first few pages were just blabbering with the author saying that all things in nature grow, even metals and rocks. This naturally did not make sense to Eldrian, seeing as metals and rocks can\'t grow.

He spent a few minutes trying and understand the author\'s viewpoint, in the end connecting it to a misinterpreted way of earth shifting over time.

The next few pages were also ramblings on how this growth is determined by set conditions. One of the foremost being magic. Reading this Eldrian wondered if then the author\'s words might have been more literal. Again spending some time Eldrian found that he actually could not deny the growth of metals and rock inside the game.

Continuing on Eldrian read a few more similar topics, in how magic could influence this. Even on how this could happen without magic, but that magic gives certain energy to things. Which in turn helps certain things appear.

After finishing the book Eldrian didn\'t know what he actually managed to learn. In the end he found the book to be similar to an internet post, having no real fact, but saying a great deal.

Maybe that is the point? To make one think?

Walking back to the reception of the library Eldrian wanted to be mad at the old man, but it had only taken him around ten minutes to finish the book. Most of the pages had drawings that he skipped. The drawings had simply been added to empower the author\'s words, yet it did little for Eldrian. He could envision better without them.

"Did Arvem give you some personal advice? You are so lucky."

"Who?"

"The old man you came in with. He is one of the most renowned Grandmages in the kingdom. He rarely takes his time to talk with people. Normally he just reads his old books."

We never even got to the old book! Eldrian thought, failing to see the advice that Arvem gave him. "If he did, then I missed it," Eldrian replied to the man\'s question.

"That is a shame." Sighing the man took a few seconds to recover, "Well I guess that is how it normally goes, he does do this with around every hundredth student. Sucks that almost no one gets what he tries to say."

"In any case, what are you looking for. A specific book?"

"Ah no, I would like to buy a few spells."

"Do you know which spells?"

"Not really, can you give me a list?"

"Certainly." After saying this the man quickly disappeared into the back room, coming back out after a few seconds.

"I assumed Tier 1 spells, sorry if I overstepped."

"No, that is perfect," Eldrian replied taking a large book from the man. Going back to his seat he opened the book and found that it started right of with spells.

Fuck me. Why so many! Eldrian complained as he flipped through the book and saw that each page was filled, the book itself having more than a hundred pages. Luckily it was sorted firstly by magic type, then magic effect and only then by alphabet. Allowing Eldrian to look at nature, healing and then read the effect of the named spell.

So many good ones...

After close to an hour Eldrian finally narrowed down his choices. He chose a simple ice needle spell for an offensive, this spell was described as very weak. But it was also said to make a very small ice needle, perfect for small gaps in armor.

The other spells he chose were all nature spells, one healing, one enhancement and Anthizo. The healing spell seemed to take energy from a person who it was healing, but in return could heal more severe wounds.

The enhancement spell he chose simply improved one\'s strength for a few minutes. Eldrian like this choice as he felt he would be able to use it while forging things. Allowing him to hammer it quicker than normal.

Anthizo according to the book, helped heal minor injuries while energizing the person. Eldrian felt it would be good to either regain stamina quicker or recover fatigue. He was not sure which it would be at this stage. His opinions only based on how Anthos made him feel.

Happy with his choices Eldrian paid the 40 silver for the four spells and headed to the office. Wanting to talk a bit more with Arvem and visit the skill library.