Raze stared at the book, confusion written on his face. Why would the librarian, who had basically tried to kill him, suddenly give him a book?
He walked to a table and placed it down, then flipped it open, eager to see what the librarian had for him.
As he opened the first page of the book, he was stunned by what he saw. It wasn't a magic spell or anything like that, it was a book with drawings inside.
The drawings ranged from warriors and mages to dragons and more. Each page had the full depiction of a powerful being unlike anything he knew.
The issue now was that he had no idea why the book was given to him. What was he meant to learn from it? What sort of knowledge could he possibly gain?
He spent a few minutes staring at it, but there was nothing to be gained. Then, before he knew it, he got invested, flipping through the pages one after the other.
He was locked in, barely blinking and breathing in a fixed subconscious rhythm. Slowly, time trickled by, and before he knew it, it was morning already — and he was still sitting there.
When he snapped back to reality and realized how long he had been that way, he tried to get up. But then, the book began pulling his mana.
This shocked and scared him. He tried to step away, but the mana kept draining. It kept pulling until his mana system ran out. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop it.
He collapsed to his knees, his hands shaking and eyes heavy. He was getting dizzy and did everything he could to stop himself from fainting.
Right when he was about to pass out, the book stopped pulling his mana, finally setting him free. Raze fell backward and slammed into the ground, his face covered in sweat. He stared upward and stayed that way for a few minutes, not moving at all.
In his heart, a dread for that book had formed. He got up slowly and staggered to the table, each step heavier than the last.
He looked at the book — it had turned on its own to the first page, and there was something different. The image on the first page was of some sort of demon warrior. He had two curved horns, a simple yet very long black coat, and a one-ended long straight sword.
He had a handsome face and a very well-built body,the was a definite hotshot.
Initially, when Raze had looked at the drawing, it was black and white; there was absolutely no color. But now, the lower half of the man was colored all the way to his knees.
"Did that happen after it absorbed my mana?" Raze wondered, trying to put two and two together. If the absorption was what colored it, then it meant there was something more to it.
Raze was intrigued now. He wanted to know exactly what would happen when the colors were full, but that would mean he would have to allow the book to take his mana, and that wasn't a good feeling.
Right now, it was already morning, and he felt and looked like shit, all because of the book. He didn't want to have to look like this every time it took his mana.
But he had no way to control it. He would have to live with it that way.
Raze closed the book. He looked around for the librarian, but they weren't there, so he finally left the library and returned to his room, exhausted.
He forced himself to start preparing for the day, and when he was finally done, there were heavy dark circles around his eyes, and he had the expression of someone who had just been sentenced to death.
He walked out of the room, and Elaine was headed his way with a tray of food. She looked at him — his eyes and his movements.
"Young master, did you stay up all night?" she asked, her eyes looking right into his soul.
"Uhmm, it's not like that. I was working on something," Raze replied.
"If you don't learn to rest, young master, you'll have a lot of trouble in the future. Work doesn't start for a few more hours, you should use that time to rest more," she said.
"No, I can't. Remember that I promised Ella to train before work? I have to keep that," he said.
"I'm sure she'll understand, young master. Please," Elaine said, but he shook his head.
"I can't. She already asked, and I don't like to break a promise," he responded, then walked past her.
"I'll eat later," he said. Elaine watched as he walked off, her gaze lingering on him for a bit with a hint of worry and wonder in her eyes.
Raze got down and immediately saw Ella standing there.
"Hey!" he greeted her. She waved at him, an enthusiastic look on her face, since she knew they would start their training.
"So, where do we practice?" she asked.
"The training ground," he replied and led the way. It was the same training ground that had been used for the presentation a few days back.
They got into the training ground. Raze faced her, and she faced him, an eager look on her face. He looked at her and took a deep breath.
He started thinking of the best way to explain wordless casting to her, and after a few seconds of brainstorming, he was ready.