The Gathering Arc: 4

“Oh, well.” She pats the librarian on the head. “Today's your lucky day. Looks like my teammate doesn't like it when I break bitches, Right in front of him.” She takes the box off the table and throws it only to catch it “Come on, Ashlight, let’s finish this menial work up.”

I wave her off “Yeah, give me a second. I just want to talk to the librarian all right?”

Kyra points to some reading space in the distance “Sure. I'll be at the back of the library when you're ready. Have fun with her.”

Kyra says “Oh, and miss librarian, if you cripple him in anyway, I'll make sure to break every bone in your body.”

I snap “Kyra go be possessive and weird somewhere else, preferably somewhere where I don't have to see your face.”

“Don't get too comfortable with me now, or I will make you live to regret it human” Kyra walks off.

I watch her leave still feeling my irritation for her crawling under my skin before I turn my attention to the librarian “hey, sorry about my companion.”

A pitying look grows on her face “None, taken. Nobles are all assholes anyways. I feel worse for you to be honest I wouldn’t want to be where your standing tight now.”

How do I tell her things are so much worst than that? Should I even say anything to begin with. It’s not like her life matters to me anyways, however talking to her could get me some more info on where the hell I am? Knowing kyra she’ll kill her no matter what I do. my only real card in any conversation with that woman is that my body is valuable.

She asks “I’m sorry to ask but what’s your name.”

I respond “You first.”

She says “vira. vira Nullsol. ”

I sigh “Ashlight Starburn, wish we could've met under better circumstances.” I follow with another question “I notice you have a last name So your noble vira?”

She scratches her cheek “Yeah, but I only come from a minor merchant house as long as I don’t poke the hive, I get by just fine.” She adds “but what’s more important is that I don’t know who you are or the other girl and I know the faces of everyone in the school, so who precisely are you”

I have no idea what to do here “ Maybe you can’t remember a face like mine I have been told that I’m so average that a background image stands out more than me.”

She laughs “No your face isn’t that bad.” she pulls out a hidden compartment from her desk and places on the desk. A small blue orb sits in a spider-like crown, a star pattern-like map floating inside of it. Several tiny golden levers on the sides of the abdomen. “I can check the school registry for who you are though.” She takes out a small sheet of paper and starts writing on it.

I make a inaudible gulp “ and once you find out who I am what will you do?

She smiles “Well, that’s easy I’ll bring down the entirety of emperor’s bloodline upon you and your companion.”

I reach for the orb but my hand is stuck mid-swing. I try to open my mouth, But I can’t move it.

She moves her pack focusing on her writing “I’m a expert in telekinesis and proficient in both sensing magic and grimoire usage something as simple like snatching my “spider.” Away from me won’t work. I sense the acclimation of magic from you but you lack the experience to wield it. just hold on for a bit longer while I look up who you are for the sake of our safety.”

It’s not like I can move anyway, time passes for only a few moments and this is not relaxing in the slightest it feels like I’m being pulled and pushed in every direction. I’ll figure out my next steps once I’m free. I drop to the ground my muscles have given out, I feel sore like I ran a marathon and the feeling telekineses has been released “huh? Why am I so sore?”

She seems actually super sorry “A Kid, who grew up from the badlands huh. No wonder you lack experience I can’t imagine the nightmares you got put through. And with that holy relic class student in your being your benefactor things are really tough for you aren’t they.

I struggle to stand but pretend my muscles aren't jelly and say “You have no idea. I  would do almost anything to get out of this predicament expect go back of course.” I laugh I hope I’m not overdoing the disguise that Alimeus gave me

She smiles “I’m glad to see your spirit and humanity isn’t broken unlike everyone else around here. You have friend in me, I’ll reach out to you on the spider later.”

I sigh, confusion is just going to become commonplace at this rate. “I'm sorry, what?”

Puzzled she says “You can't use telepathy, so it's only common that we use spiders.. Am I missing something here? The school should have issued one.”

I say “Never got one.”

She looks down thinking “I know discrimination against people from the badlands is bad but I never thought it would affect the administration to give the bare minimum.” Determination brimming in her eyes, she grabs a several stacks of paper “no matter I must make a detailed report. The time for merrymaking will be left for another day.” She focuses on her papers “I’m sorry can you leave, I am now busy for the rest of the day.”

I ask “Wait Before I go see what does a spider do?”

She growls in frustration “they didn’t even explain the bare minimum miserable louts. she gestures to the blue orb “ This device  allows me to send messages to any spider on the web and anyone with a magical signature that matches a spider.” And if I write a message like this, she uses her pen and taps the orb

Copies of the letters lift from the page and fly into the globe, the levers clicking releasing small puffs of blue gas, the star-like pattern in the globe twinkles until I see words in front of my eyes. “Would you like to send this message.”

I ask “That's incredible, Can anyone else see this?”

She says “No, only anyone in the current within a 3ft radius of the sent message and the person who it got sent to. You can also make messages available to multiple spiders at once and any long message are instantly downloaded into your brain as a memory.”

I say “so the school provides these.”

She says “Oh, these kinds of spiders are incredibly expensive, since most have word limits. I only have my own personal one because my family bought one for me on my birthday.” She blushes “I write long letters a lot and it helps me stay in the library is when I need to study.”

I sense a teasing opportunity “So your butler can bring you anything whenever you want?”

She flashes a puzzled look “Yeah is there something wrong with that?”

Yes finally some proper entertainment, I push my hair back A devious smirk sprawls across my face “nothing wrong, with that being a fat happy noble is sounds like a good way to be.”

Her blush grows a little depper as she gets up and slams her desk “I’m no glutton if that’s what you’re saying.”

I smile “I never said anything I merely stated a fact.”

She sighs back into her seat and looks at her orb in disgust “leave I have write to my father again.” She grumbles “work just keeps piling on doesn’t it.”

I say “Ah, it doesn’t have anything to do with me right.”

She giggles “I told you badland boy, I don’t have that kind of sway and even if I did I wouldn’t use it on you.”

I ask “I see what is it than?”

She says “My father has been trying to marry me off to a noble family for God knows how long.”

Another dogshit father, I wish I could but that bastard on a pike even now. I try to hold back my spite and pass it off as a joke “Did you ever spit in his face and tell him he can go fucking marry somebody else if he's so damn inclined to be a part of a noble family?” She flashes a sad smile “No, I wish, It's my responsibility to.” She jokes “I don't hate you that much. I hope my husband's reasonable like you.”

I ask “That hard to find one?”

She Says “Your sponsor back there is pretty much the representative of all mages who are worth their salt or whose families are far more worth their salt. That's why us common classes have to stick together.”

I squint

She says “Well, common enough.”

I say “No, that wouldn't make any sense. You like have money to afford and do things.”

She says not letting her eyes leave her notes “Well, I guess that's true enough. Anyways, I'm taking up too much of your time. You have a friend to get to, right?”

I jump in a panic and Run off to the back of the library waving goodbye “Yeah, I do. I'll be seeing you, Vira.”

I get to backroom and it would be dark if weren’t a small crystal ball illuminates the room with its light it lies on top of a black inside a crown shaped object .

Around it are several circles, drawn on the black mat, white and red glowing around the ball, green and blue lies on the outer rim far from the red and white.

kyra mocks You done talking to your little girlfriend? I didn't know you were so such a player.

I plead “Spare me, Kyra. Just tell me what the hell I'm doing.”

She says “Put your hand on the ball, close your eyes, and breathe.”

I ask “What's this supposed to do? Again?

She explains “It'll give me the amount of attributes you can actually use and maintain in your body. By imaging runes in-between the circles.”

I kneel down and put my hand on the orb I feel like the ball it's sucking the blood out of my body I flicker open my eyes to see nothing.

Kyra shouts “close them your not bleeding.”

Grumbling I put my hand back on the ball close my eyes, breathing in and out