Chapter 15

Krarshe wiped the sweat from his brow as he slotted another book onto the shelf. The humidity was suffocating in the small office, and it wasn't even midday yet. Professor Landry wrote in a book, seemingly unaffected by the humidity. Krarshe looked out the window of the professor's office, down to the training room below, the countless craters his morning experiments had left behind pooling the rain water, making the room all but useless. The pitter-patter of rain against the window pane was soothing in the otherwise insufferable room.

"Almost done?" Landry asked without looking up from his work.

"Oh, umm... No, not yet." Krarshe collected more books from one of the two wooden chairs by the entrance. He looked over the titles before putting them on one of the multitude of shelves, trying to follow the convoluted organization system Landry had explained earlier. I wish we could have just cancelled the experiments so I could go back to sleep, rather than tidying up this mess of an office.

All of the books were on some aspect of magic, covering topics from individual spells and their uses and modifications to magic theory and the nature of mana. He hadn't seen a library this extensive since he left home.

Krarshe felt a thud against the back of his head hard enough to cause him to drop all the books he was carrying. He turned around to see he'd been hit by a book. A floating book. He watched it curiously as it floated away from him. Krarshe looked over at Landry to see if he had noticed the mysterious book, but he just kept writing. Okay... Guess I shouldn't be surprised. He followed after the book and reached out to grab it out of the air. As his hand approached, the book darted away, fleeing to the far corner of the room by the ceiling. Again, he looked to Landry, who remained disinterested. Krarshe sighed. He dragged one of the chairs from the entrance wall over to the corner and climbed on top of it. The book was just barely out of reach. Up on his toes, he reached as far as he could. "Al...most... Got i-" The chair tipped over just as he almost got a grasp of the book, causing him to fall into countless other stacks of books.

"Be careful with that book. It can be mischievous," Landry explained, not looking up from the book even now.

Krarshe lay upon the fallen pile of books in defeat as he watched the book fly away yet again. "I swear, this book..." he groaned.

"Cursed item," Landry said. "A mage's idea of a prank."

Krarshe crawled his way out of the mess of books and stood up. "Someone has a perverse sense of humor."

"I've been told that more than once." He gave Krarshe a smile before returning to his work.

Krarshe stared at the old man for a minute before shaking his head, irked. "You have a lot of books here," he said as he began picking up books again, trying to help pass the time.

"Mmm. I've been studying magic for a long time."

"How long is 'long'?"

"Well, maybe not that long to an elf. But just about my entire life. Ever since I retired from adventuring."

Krarshe stopped. "You were an adventurer?"

"Believe it or not, yes. When I was younger." Landry looked up from his work. "Let me show you."

Landry stood up and made his way over to a chest in the corner. Carefully pulling out a collection of keys from his pocket, he fingered through them before grasping an old, rusty one firmly. He inserted it into the chest's lock and turned it. Nothing happened. He turned it a couple more times before taking it out and looking at it more carefully. "Oh, my mistake. It's this one," Landry muttered to himself. This time, the lock opened with a click. He opened the chest and reached inside. "Here, this one..." Landry took out a necklace with an amulet attached to it, offering it to Krarshe.

Krarshe took the necklace, puzzled. "Umm... What is-"

Landry said a spell under his breath and the room grew darker. Very dark, in fact. "Put it on and grab the amulet tightly."

Still confused, Krarshe followed the teacher's instructions. As he clutched the amulet, it began to glow, growing brighter the tighter he held it.

"It's a light amulet. Or, at least, that's what I've been calling it. I found it in some ruins."

Krarshe raised an eyebrow. "Seems odd."

"Not really. Equipment gets lost all the time. Some of it is from the original inhabitants, others from... past adventurers."

Krarshe shifted uneasily. He was fully aware of the dangers adventurers encountered, and it made sense. It just wasn't something he ever really dwelled on, and didn't care to here.

"This one..." Landry said, carefully pulling out another item. It was a glass case with a large, dark blue or purple crystal was suspended in the center of it. He took the amulet back from Krarshe, and in exchange handed him the glass case. "It's a soul cage."

"Wait, a soul what?"

"A soul cage," he repeated, putting the amulet back in the chest. "Touching the crystal will rip your soul from your body, leaving it an empty husk. Never touch the crystal directly."

"What?!" Krarshe nearly dropped the case.

Landry laughed. "It's fine, it's fine. That case is reinforced with magic. It'd take a dragon's strength to break it open."

"Oh, ha..." Krarshe laughed uneasily as he returned the case back to Landry. He peered over Landry's shoulder into the chest as the teacher put the case back, seeing an assortment of other objects. "If you don't mind, why did you quit?"

Landry froze, his hand still reaching into the chest for another object. "Hmm..." He stood upright and took a few paces away from Krarshe. "I guess it'd be a good lesson..." As he turned back, Krarshe could see the teacher's typically jovial expression had grown sullen. "Do... Have you heard of a 'magic-eater'?"

Krarshe shook his head.

Professor Landry walked back to his desk and sat down. "Magic-eaters are... Well, they're a kind of demon." Landry stared at the floor, reminiscing about his youth. "And, as its name implies, it eats magic. Mana. Perhaps the most dangerous creature for us mages." He took a deep breath before continuing, "Typically, they're found in ruins, consuming lost magic equipment. Well, my adventuring party were tasked with investigating such a ruin..." Krarshe noticed his lip quiver ever so slightly. "By some miracle, I was the only one to escape."

"They all...?"

Landry nodded. "We didn't know it was there. Even if we did, it probably would have caught us off guard. I was the only mage, after all. As long as I didn't cast anything, we should be fine, right? Never would have guessed the enchanted equipment we had just bought would cost everyone their lives..."

"... Sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

Landry shook his head. "This was decades ago. And besides, it's important to learn from past experiences. Right?" His mustache raised as he smiled, but there was only sadness in his eyes. "I should get back to work."

As he picked up his quill, a knock came at the door. "Professor? Could I request your assistance?"

"Oh, right. You said you had questions, didn't you, Marcus?" Landry got up from his chair. He locked up the chest and slipped the key back into his robes. "If you'll excuse me, Krarshe. Please continue organizing the room. You're free to go at lunch time, or when you finish."

Krarshe nodded, reluctant as he was. Still, it was the least he could do after bringing up that sore subject. He continued picking up books and slotting them into the holes in the shelves. He looked up at the book hovering in the corner. Mmm... No. I think you can just stay there.

The hours went by. Landry never returned to the office, but Krarshe had cleaned most of the books off the floor and furniture. Only a few books sitting on a small table by the window remained. He picked them up and brought them over to the shelves. As he went to put the last book in its spot, Krarshe noticed a small slip of paper sticking out from between the pages. Oh, was he using this book? Curious, Krarshe opened the book to the page. The slip of paper only had 'B.B.' written on it. The page appeared to be a fire spell. "Ra tso, ra hias, Soujiin... Wow, this is a long spell. Didn't realize they could be that long. What is it for... Pillar of Flame? Hmm. Wonder how it would look if I cast it?" Krarshe laughed to himself before remembering that was a source of frustration for him. "Well, either way. Done before lunch." He checked for the position of the sun, but the clouds were too dark to make any guess as to its location. He shrugged. "Yeah, I think I've enough time for a nap." He put the book onto the bookshelf and made his way out of the office, grinning to himself.

---

Krarshe yawned as he watched the on-staff student talking with a customer. He was surprised that today, despite the endless rain, there had been several customers that had come in. Naturally, Krarshe wasn't allowed to talk to anyone. Not that he cared to, but by this point he'd hoped his afternoons wouldn't be spent at the counter, whittling away his time. At least the customers had made for some slight entertainment.

A stampede of students stormed by, trying to shield their heads from the rain with their hands. Guess the day's over then. Can't wait to walk in this...

The door to the store flung open. "Karshe!" Tibault came rushing into the store, flinging the hood of his cloak off his head. Uncharacteristically, alone. "Do you want to come to dinner?"

"Umm..." Krarshe's eyes shifted to the student and customer. While Tibault's outburst had drawn their attention for a moment, the student quickly brought his attention back to the products. "I can, I guess. Why the sudden urgency?"

"I got a spell right! I think that calls for celebration!"

"Uh-huh... What about Bri then?"

Tibault's gaze shifted. "Well... The place I was thinking... My older brother told me about it."

"What's that got to do with Bri?"

"It's... If I say I wanted to go... for the waitresses... Is that sufficient explanation?"

Krarshe raised an eyebrow.

"Look, I wanted to see it, but I didn't feel comfortable going alone, okay? Besides, after all that hiding from us you did, I think you owe me."

"I don't know if that's a qualification for 'owing' you," Krarshe said. "Besides, it's raining really hard. I was thinking of just returning to my inn and drying off."

"You didn't bring a cloak?"

"It wasn't raining yet when I left."

"Didn't notice the clouds?"

"I left early."

"Yeah, did you forget what time I said I had to chase him down?" Bri said, emerging from the back room.

Tibault jumped a bit at her entrance. "Where'd you come from?"

"I walked through the building? Well, anyways, what were you two discussing?"

"Oh, nothing," Tibault said, waving dismissively.

Bri looked at Krarshe for confirmation. "He wants to go to a restaurant for dinner," Krarshe replied. Tibault shot him a look.

"In this rain?"

"That's what I said too, but he insisted on celebrating successfully casting a spell or something."

"Y-yeah, but I guess we can wait for another day. With the rain and all." Tibault laughed nervously.

"Let me get my cloak and I'll join you two," Bri said.

"Guess I'll be sitting in wet clothes then," said Krarshe.

"No cloak?"

"That's actually what we were discussing when you walked in," explained Tibault.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. I can see if someone in the dormitory can lend me an extra."

"Thanks. Guess we'll wait for you to come back then. I should be able to sneak out of here pretty easily..." Krarshe wasn't sure if the student would even notice he'd left. It didn't weigh on Krarshe in the slightest, regardless.

"I don't understand why they make you stay here until closing," Tibault said.

"Me neither. It's annoying though."

"Well, I'll be right back then. Don't leave without me," Bri said as she left out the store's entrance.

Krarshe and Tibault could see her immediately sprint past the window towards the dormitory, trying to shield herself from the rain with her hand. "Karshe..." Tibault started. "Why did you tell her?"

"I mean, you never clearly explained..."

"My explanation wasn't sufficient?!" Tibault groaned. "This is going to be so awkward..."

"If it helps, we can say it was my choice."

"You know, I may just say that."

The two bickered back and forth for a few minutes before Bri came back. She took out a cloak from under her own and handed it to Krarshe. "Here. It might not fit well, you're a bit bigger than my neighbor, but it's better than nothing."

Krarshe draped it around his shoulders. Sure enough, it came to just above his knees. "Well, it covers the important parts." Krarshe surveyed the room. "Let's go, while the on-staff student is busy."

The three, with hoods up, snuck out of the store and into the pouring rain. They made their way through the streets, splashing through the small rivers of rainwater as they flowed towards the Silver River. The streets were largely empty, save for the occasional carriage.

"Haa... I love the rain," Bri said.

"Are you mad? This is awful," Tibault retorted. "I'm wet up to my knees."

"You don't like this? It's like we're the only ones in the world!" Bri said with a twirl, arms fully extended. "Or, like we're on an adventure!"

"Umm... No."

"I don't know about that. Feels more like we're fugitives. Escaping under cover of night and storm," Krarshe said.

"That's an adventure!" Bri laughed.

"Ugh, I'm regretting this. You two are too much." Tibault pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "Thankfully, it's not too much farther."

"Let's take a detour then!" Krarshe joked.

"Yeah!"

"You to go ahead if you want," Tibault said. "I won't be joining you."

"Think about it. You can tell those waitresses you're sopping wet because you just got back from some quest."

"Waitresses?" Bri asked.

"Yeah, Tibault wan-"

Tibault's hand flew out from under his cloak, hitting Krarshe square in the chest. "Nothing. Nothing, don't worry about him. He's just being weird." He shot Krarshe a sideways glance.

Bri looked at the two boys suspiciously, but just shook her head and continued on.

"Ah, down this alley." Tibault guided them down a side street. There were a few men standing outside the door, sword on their hips.

"The Silken Courtesan...?" Bri read the sign aloud. She slowly turned around to face her friends. "Care to explain...?"

"It was Karshe's idea!"

Wow, he didn't even hesitate. What kind of name is that, anyway?

"Mmm... Why were you the one leading us then?"

Good point.

Tibault stood there, looking around as though searching for an excuse. Bri sighed. "Teva spare me. As long as you're paying and the food is good," she said, headed toward the entrance.

"See? It's fine," Krarshe said with a smile.

Tibault rolled his eyes. The three made their way into the building. The two guardsmen outside gave them a look, but didn't say anything as they entered. The room was boisterous, more than Krarshe expected in the otherwise quiet Castle Ward. Guess nobles are people too. They found an empty table and sat down. They had no sooner pulled back their hoods than a waitress came over.

"Can I get you three a drink?" she asked in a sultry voice.

Krarshe looked her over. She wore a long slip dress that came down just to just above her ankles. The red fabric seemed smooth, with a luster to it. There was a slit in the side that came up to mid-thigh. he couldn't tell, but it seemed as though she was standing in a way to expose as much of her thigh as possible. "Just an ale for me. Whatever is cheapest."

"S-same," croaked Tibault.

Bri glared at the two boys. "Whatever is most expensive."

The waitress bowed and headed for the bar.

"The most expensive?" Krarshe asked.

Bri shrugged. "Because you two are paying. And, because you dragged me to a place like this."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to come?"

"Truthfully, I was going to ask Karshe alone. I figured you wouldn't want to come here."

"Curses, you two. You're such boys."

"Well, yeah," both Krarshe and Tibault said in unison.

The waitress came back, carrying their drinks and a menu. The cups were glass, not the usual wood or ceramic he'd seen in other kingdoms. "Here are your drinks, milords and milady. I'll give you a few minutes for your orders."

Tibault's and Krarshe's eyes followed her as she walked over to another table. The other waitresses seemed to be acting very familiarly with some of the other patrons. I think I'm beginning to understand why Tibault's brother recommended this place.

"Ah-hem! So..." Bri drew their attention back, away from the waitresses. She lifted her cup and said, "To Tibault's successful spellcast. May you have more."

Krarshe raised his glass and looked over at Tibault.

"I feel like I'm being mocked here," Tibault grumbled. He reluctantly raised his glass as well.

"No, I'm quite serious. I hope you can get the hang of it."

"Just don't become an anomaly," Krarshe said. He took a drink of his ale and frowned. It was more bitter than he'd hoped from such a high-class restaurant. He continued, "It's no fun."

"Don't think I have anything to worry about there." Tibault took a drink. "Ack! This stuff is awful!"

"Glad I'm not alone on that one. This ale is terrible."

"Mine's pretty good," Bri said, sipping it again. "Probably triple the price too." She smirked.

Tibault sighed. "Well, my parents will be happy to hear it, at least. They were growing concerned at my lack of progress."

"Oh? Then you'll have good news for them," Krarshe said.

"Must be nice," Bri said under her breath before taking another sip of her drink.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing. So, Ka- Kr-arshe, what did you do today, what with the rain and all?"

"The most exciting thing I've done since coming here. Cleaning."

"What?" Tibault and Bri both said.

"Professor Landry had me organize his office."

"That sounds awful," Tibault said.

"Oh, it was. Probably more than you realize. There was this one cursed book..."

"Let me guess, it was floating?" Bri asked.

"Have you seen it?"

"No, but I've heard about it."

"A floating book? Why?" Tibault asked, reaching across the table to grab the menu.

"Some kind of cruel prank, he said." Krarshe took a drink of his ale and grimaced. "Cursed thing hid up in the corner near the ceiling. Ended up falling off a chair onto a pile of books trying to retrieve it, before he mentioned what it was."

"You didn't figure something was odd about it? Wow, Krarshe..." Bri covered her face with her hand, embarrassed for her friend.

"Hey, he said ALL of the books." Krarshe sighed. "There was a few other things he had, from when he was an adventurer."

"He was an adventurer?!" Bri said, nearly spilling her drink.

"Who?" Tibault asked, looking up from the menu.

"Professor Landry. The one old one with the really long mustache."

"I wonder if that mustache was that long when he was adventuring..." Bri mused.

"Anyways, he had some light amulet. And a soul cage."

"I feel like I'm constantly lost in this conversation," Tibault said, poking Bri with the menu before she finally took it. "What's a soul cage now?"

"Apparently some artifact that will rip your soul out of you if you touch it."

"Teva's mercy! Why'd he have something that dangerous?!" Bri asked.

"It's in some sort of container. I don't know. He just handed it to me without explaining."

"That's it. It's official. The maddener has taken him," Bri said, putting the menu down.

"Are you ready with your orders?" the waitress asked, gently placing a hand on Tibault's shoulder.

"A-a-ah," Tibault stammered.

"Oh, my apologies. Not quite yet," Bri said.

"Okay then. Please take your time," she said, gently tracing across Tibault's shoulder with her fingertips as she left, causing Tibault to shiver reflexively.

Bri rolled her eyes. "Let's get this order in before we continue, shall we? I don't know if Tibault can contain himself otherwise."

"W-what? I'm fine," Tibault said, his voice cracking.

Krarshe laughed, watching his friends banter back and forth. As three carried on, enjoying each other's company, Krarshe thought to himself how great it was that he made up with them. Then to Na'kika and the advice she'd given him. Looking at this scene now, it might have been the best advice he'd ever received.