Chapter 26:

The Shimmering Capital

The Wind Calls the Flowers


Finally I’ve reached the capital! I can’t wait to see all the sights behind this gate. Here I go! Time to see all the sights Fae talked about, and the library I made this journey to find. I began to take a step into the capital but was immediately halted by a guard.

“Are you visiting the Capital of Milarch?” The guard asked me.

“Yes, I’m here to visit and use the library.” I answered him.

“Sorry, but to enter the capital you need to pay a fee of two-hundred copper.”

“Two hundred copper!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

While I did have two hundred copper, it was almost everything I had. To pay the entry would mean I would only have three copper to my name. After everything I did to protect this money, I won’t even get to stay in the inn I bragged about to those thugs.

Seeing as there was no other option, I handed the guard the two hundred copper so I could get into the capital. Waving the money goodbye brought tears to my face. My poor money was taken from me before I could even spend it. I guess I’ll have to just focus on going into the library instead of relaxing.

“Hey, do you know where I can find the library?” I asked the man with my money before he could escape.

“Ugh, if you follow the main path and take the first left, it should take you straight there. Now if you’re done bothering me, I have important business to attend to.” The man responded as he took off.

Well he wasn’t very nice. At least I found out where I needed to go. I looked towards the path he mentioned but a gust of wind hit me in the face, causing me to cover my eyes. When the wind quelled, I gently dropped my hands from my face and allowed myself to take in all the beauty in front of me.

The beautiful brick path sparkled as though it was an art piece on display. Each brick had been meticulously placed to create specific patterns with specific ridges. The flowers emanated light, attracting the busy bees who made their way around to each of them, collecting their daily wages to take back home.

The sun shone down on the greenery, causing it to make the trees stand taller than they would have normally. The sunflowers stood up to their namesake, their stems were twisted after presumably following the sun. I could see a bunch of people walking around, buying and selling things, and I could even see the different races of children playing with each other.

Following the man's instructions, I walked the path in awe of the sights, almost missing the turn he had mentioned. Catching myself and taking the turn, I saw a giant building coloured white and gray. The points on the building made it look far closer to a church than anything else, but on the front a sign read “Library”.

I knocked at the door, waiting for someone to escort me in. As the door hinged open, a woman at the door blocked the way. She looked me over, trying to make out who I was. After a short silent period, she had finally decided she wanted to speak to me.

“Who are you?” She questioned.

“Uh, I’m Celestia and I’m here to read some of the books you have here.” I replied.

“Ok, Celestia, pay the fee.”

“Fee?”

“It’s six silver to use the library for a week.”

Hearing the number almost caused my eyes to roll out of my head and shrivel up. That’s so much! I’ve never even laid eyes on that much money before. Seeing as I couldn’t just pay the fee, I tried other methods to get in.

“Can’t you just make an exception for me?” I asked.

“No.” She swiftly responded.

“You know, I’m a super powerful mage, isn’t that something to get me in?”

“No.”

“I’m so close to learning how to heal limbs to the point where people can use them again after removal, I just need to enter that library.”

“No. Get out.” The lady had finally had enough of me and slammed the door.

Well that didn’t work. I need to use the library if I ever want to advance on this problem and make good on my word to the village. What do I do though? There’s no way I can ever get six silver. I grabbed my head with both hands, trying to force my brain to think of something.

I know! I’ll just break in. Yeah right, like I could just do that. I would be a permanent criminal to all of Milarch. Not to mention Fae would most likely get really mad if I become an enemy of the nation she swore to protect. But seriously, what do I do?

A green light shone into my eyes causing me to go momentarily blind. Looking for the culprit that caused that, I realized it was the ring Fae gave me. An idea had come to my mind when I noticed the ring on my finger. I can just sell this! If it’s for the purpose I am using it for, Fae can’t get mad that I sold it. Not to mention when I see her again, I can just have her make me another one. This is a fool-proof plan.

I puffed out my chest and began looking for a place to sell the ring. I found a jewelry store while looking around for a good place. The jewelry inside looks high class. Maybe they’ll pay me a good price for this ring? I pushed open the door gently so as to not accidentally destroy anything in the store. The cost of breaking anything would easily make this money issue far greater.

“Hello there young miss.” The elderly man greeted me. “What can I do for you today?”

“Actually, how much would you buy this ring for?” I questioned him, hoping to extract a fortune from him.

“Hmm, let me take a look.”

“Okay!” I handed him the ring.

“Hmmm. Looking at it, I would say maybe only three hundred copper perhaps?”

“Huh? There’s no way!”

“The jewel isn’t even magic, ma’am.”

“But the ring itself is made of gold.”

“Normally that would have some value, but it’s diminished by the engravings inside.”

“Ugh, just give it back. I’ll ask some other place.”

“You won’t find a better offer than what I just gave you, honestly. You’d be lucky to sell it for even one hundred copper.”

Stepping out of the store with the ring as quickly as possible, I began looking at other places. It seemed the old man was right, however. I’ve visited thirty places and none have given me a good offer. I’m even desperate enough to try a blacksmith.

I stepped into the store of the blacksmith, trying to identify anyone inside.

“Hello there!” A voice spoke to me.

“H-hello.” I replied, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

“Ah, sorry! I guess you can’t see me very well.” A tall and bulky man stepped out of the shadows and into the light.

“Much better.”

“Oh, are you new here? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Yes, I just arrived in the capital a little while ago.”

“I see. My name’s Flint, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Ah, my name’s Celestia. It’s nice to meet you too.”

“So what can I do for you Celestia?”

“How much would you be willing to buy this ring for?”

“Well, let me take a look at it.”

“Okay.” I handed him the ring. He struggled to properly hold it with his large hands.

“Woah! Are you sure you want to sell this?”

“Uh, yeah. I need the money.”

“I’ll pay you fifty silver for this.”

“Fi-fifty silver!” The insane number had shocked me into repeating it.

“Not high enough? Sorry but that’s the best I can do.”

“No, no, it’s great! I’ll take it.”

“Alright let me get your money.”

“Thank you so much!” I was still in shock that someone was willing to buy the ring for so much.

Taking the money, I once again thanked him and made my way out. With this, I can get into the library and stay at the inn. There’s so much more I could do with this amount. I love money, it’s so amazing! The joy I had from the amazing sale caused me to do a couple of turns in place to celebrate.

The same woman was there at the library, this time looking far more annoyed. I ignored her obvious face and handed her the money quickly. Surprised at seeing me with the money, she handed me a small slip of paper that guaranteed my access into the library for the next week. Giving her a smile, I swiftly walked past her to look for the biology books.

This place was huge! Even with labels, finding the books I wanted was like trying to get through a labyrinth. Without the labels, I may have never found anything at all in here. Finally finding the biology section, I looked for a book on the body of humans. After a little bit of searching, I found a book which not only covered the body of humans, but human-like creatures as well.

I took the book and found the nearest available seat and table in the library. I quickly swished through the book, looking for anything of value which I could recognize. My impatience grew and I kept getting faster and faster until I suddenly stopped. A single word had caught my attention, causing me to flip back to the page I had seen it on.

Nerves.” I spoke aloud.

I remember Fae mentioning nerves when she was first explaining to me why healing magic wouldn’t fully fix detached limbs. Yes! This has to be it. Or at least it could serve as a clue for me to use. Reading through the page, the book noted how nerves were so complicated that mapping the whole system would be near impossible and that no one had attempted the feat.

“Ugh, this is so useless.” I lamented.

Seeing a brief note in smaller text on the side of the page, I decided to read it, hoping it would give me something. In this case, it seemed like my intuition paid off. The note in the book read “It has been concluded that nerves use electric signals to send messages. A multitude of experiments have shown that electric shocks stimulate muscles, heart beats and the like.” That was exactly what I needed.

An idea popped into my head. What if I paired electric magic and healing magic to shock the nerves so I could find them easier? Then I could heal the nerves, too. It was a brilliant moment of genius. However, I didn’t know how to use electric magic, and there was no guarantee it would work. But it was genius nonetheless.

Putting the book away, I looked for standardized textbooks on electric and wind magic. While I needed electric magic to test this hypothesis, I wanted to learn wind magic so I could fly around to more places. I’m really tired of walking around.

I tried to find my way out of this shifting world of books which had locked me away somewhere in its depths. I must have taken over a thousand steps just to find the way out.

“Am I allowed to take out these two books and return them later?” I asked the woman glaring at me in the front.

“Yes you are, but if they come back after your one week period, you may face jail time.” The woman answered my question

Jail time for a book seems a little harsh, but nevertheless, I left with the books I needed. I swiftly dash out of the library, trying to find a good place to practice magic. There were people everywhere, as if the entire capital had been out looking for something to do.

Seeing that people were avoiding the alleyways, I quickly made my way into one so that I could use that space to learn and practice the magic described in these books. I’m going to learn this quickly for sure, and then I can finally start making some headway on helping others.