Chapter 49: Misininterest
After Michael leaves the crazy guy posting bounties behind, he decides to do something he'd not had the chance to do since coming to this city. Try and use this land's magic.
While he was very satisfied with his ability to use Dota 2 heroes abilities, he was lacking a certain flexibility that most regular mages had. He was currently only able to use a couple of spells, but the mages of this land were able to directly manipulate the elements from what he'd seen... They could even levitate themselves relatively easily, giving them a limited form of flight...
Even Guiche, who was probably the weakest enemy Michael had faced thus far, was able to conjure metal golems and transfigure weapons. Such an ability would be incredibly useful for Michael, especially since he couldn't deviate from his planned Spirits without drastically decreasing his potential strength.
He was feeling slightly giddy to see what elemental affinity he had, but first he actually needed to learn more about this land's magic... The academy would have been a good place to start, but unfortunately, that opportunity has passed... If he was more composed earlier, his situation would've been drastically better... But his mistakes could now only be built upon, not taken back.
Michael wanders around the city for around half an hour, asking passerby's the locations of shops that might sell books. He'd been hoping that a city as large as Antomiers would have a library, but apparently, such a 'luxury' only existed in the capital of Germania and Romalia. Not even the capitals of Tristain or Gallia had public libraries, which was surprising to Michael... Until he remembered that the printing press likely didn't exist yet.
Fortunately, while Antomiers didn't have much in the way of public services, it did have a thriving economy. Allowing many Pawnshops to acquire more valuable items, such as books relating to magic.
*D-ding!*
A bell chimes as Michael steps through the door of the store, his eyes tracing the outskirts of the room where many items were already on display. Pieces of faintly glowing armour, shimmering jewellery that had obviously been enchanted in some way, directed monster carcasses, and even... Books!
Despite his intentions to act polite, his feet had already carried him to the nearest bookshelf, his eyes scanning the titles of each one to find what he was looking for.
"How to pick up fair maidens? No... The obituary of Brimir's-... Butler. No..." Michael mutters with slight worry that all the books would be as useless as this.
Twelve uses for dragon faeces...
Elf sightings in the last five decades...
The tale of a princess and her lustful chef...
Methods to utilise the magic finger... Ah!
Michael flips open the latter book and starts skimming it. Before immediately shutting it closed with a slight blush... "I swear, these nobles have too much time on their hands... Or fingers..."
"Hello sir, is there something you're looking for?" a voice suddenly asks behind him, as Michael finally notices the tall man leaning over his shoulder.
He barely manages to stop himself from jumping out of his skin and turns to face the man... The person in question was around 6.2ft, a mountain in comparison to Michael, and had long white hair with a handsome face. He was thin and wore something akin to a luxurious-looking business suit, with a monocle sitting over one eye and a slight smile present on his face.
"Hello? I didn't mean to scare you, dear customer. But I'd feel remiss if I didn't mention our store's policy of not reading before purchase." he explains as Michael tries to compose himself.
"Ah, sorry! I was just checking if the contents matched what I needed... Really, you should place books of that nature higher up so kids can't get them..." Michael says before shrugging and placing the book back onto the shelf. "I'm Mike by the way," he says while offering a hand.
The man accepts the hand and gives it a firm shake, "My name is Loutiel Outous, a pleasure... Now, may I assist you in finding what you are looking for?"
Michael nods, "I need some books on magical theory, and anything else concerning it..." he pauses, "I... I think I might be a mage, but I have no idea where to start." he explains.
Loutiel smiles, "Ah, another noble's bastard then?" he mutters as he begins walking over to a bookshelf on the other side of the room.
"Bastard!? Are you trying to start a fight or something!?" Michael angrily retorts at suddenly being insulted.
Loutiel chuckles with an apologetic expression, "No, I meant it in the kindest way possible... Nobles have the irritating habit of not taking care of their progeny, leaving behind lost mages all around the continent. You are in luck however, I do possess some books concerning this matter." he explains as he pulls a dusty book from the top of the bookshelf.
He flips it open and clears his throat, "The Founder's teaching on magical theory, authored by a former master of the Tristain Magic Acadamy, Baron Morrigan. With this you should be able to learn the basics of magic, though, you'd need a wand to properly utilise it. A specialized one if you intend to do anything meaningful." Loutiel lists off.
Michael nods reaches out for the book, but has it brought out of his reach as Loutiel smiles down at him, "Ah, ah. First, the cost... Five hundred gold." he states, causing Michael's body to twitch.
"Five hundred!? Why is it so expensive!?" Michael exclaims at the ridiculous price... Five hundred gold was enough to feed an entire village for a couple years at the least!
Loutiel gives a light laugh, "There's a reason finding magical texts is so difficult... Every country wishes to limit who can learn it as mages can become powerful enough to destroy armies alone. So they all try their best to avoid providing their future enemies with resources... After all, if there is one thing this that exemplifies Nobility... It's the fear of the people they are supposed to serve." he states with a fierce grin.
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