Black Onyx - Forgotten Magic

Gerald left the Auction House with quick steps.

A servant, sent by Arthur, was having trouble following him in the dense crowd outside. The mysterious old man he was supposed to follow was surprisingly fast and agile. He almost lost him a few times.

Suddenly, the cloaked old man sped up and disappeared into a side alley. The servant had no choice but to run after him.

Ultimately, just as he turned the corner, he smashed, head first, into an incoming person. Ignoring the searing pain in his face, he looked slightly up at the tall, young man standing before him. With his fancy armor and a black crystal symbol on the chest, he gave the impression of belonging to some powerful group or family.

It left quite a mark on the servant's mind.

"Whoa there, buddy! Are you alright?" Gerald laughed and helped the servant stand straight.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. Sorry for the inconvenience, sir!" the servant Quickly apologized and found an excuse to continue on his chase. How could he have known he just passed the target without a second thought? He quickly disappeared deep into the side alleys, convinced that his target ran forward.

Gerald watched him for a while and waited until he completely disappeared from his sight.

"Haha, too easy!" Gerald laughed. "How could I not know they are going to send someone to track me down, so predictable!"

Without the servant knowing, he quickly discarded his outer disguise. Removing his cloak, fake beard, and gloves he completely transformed. Especially after he gained height when he straightened his back, nobody could recognize him.

He got rid of the evidence by throwing it on the roof of the buildings inside the alley. Fake beard ended in his pouch and so did the potions. Although it somehow pained him to discard his stuff, it was necessary for his plan.

Luckily the cloak, gloves, and the chest weren't exactly expensive. He kept his generic leather boots. So many people wore them that there was no way he could be recognized by them.

Gerald had planned to meet with the Silver Phantom after he was done with the potion business, but before he found the proper Inn, his eyes fell on a massive stone building.

Made out of pure white stone, with massive columns outside the walls, supporting the roof, it somewhat reminded him of ancient Greek temples. Above the entrance was what could be described as a dragon, with an open book between its claws, carved on the wall.

"A library?" Gerald's eyes sparkled. He immediately changed his plans about socializing and went towards the entrance.

But, before he even set a foot inside, two guards blocked his way with crossed halberds. "Halt! Citizens have no access to the Great Library!"

"What?" Gerald blurted out. 'Is every library off the menu? What do I need to do to get into this one?' he thought.

Then he suddenly remembered something. He quickly took off his glove and showed the ring. "What if I'm a member of the Guild?"

The guard rolled his eyes and removed the halberd, stating "You should have said so earlier. Also, why would you cover your ring? Isn't it inconvenient?"

Gerald glanced at the ring on his finger. 'There is no way I can put it over my gloves! Or do they expect me to remove my gloves in the city?'

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," he answered.

"Have a good day, sir! Don't forget to pay the fee at the entrance," the guard said before returning to his post.

'A fee?' Gerald looked around the room for visitors. Indeed, there was a short line before a desk near the door to the next room. People were paying before going inside.

Just as he was trying to figure out how much money was the fee, quick and strong steps sounded out behind him.

It was a group of youngsters, about the same age as him, maybe a few years older. They all wore the same attire, a one-piece cotton cyan gown. They also had a silver insignia on their chest.

Each of them carried a short staff on their belt and many of them had hands full of silver and gold jewelry. Rings, bracelets, chain gloves with sparkling gems in them…

Gerald was shocked to see such a grand display of wealth. The first of the youngsters even had two neckless around his neck and a beautiful tiara on his head, with many deep-blue gems, although he was a man.

He wasn't embarrassed to wear it, like Gerald would be, instead, he held his head high, and his eyes were full of pride.

"Ooh, look! It's the students from Auralba's Magic Academy!"

"I hope I can pass the entrance test and be accepted! It is my life's greatest wish. Please, gods, help me!"

"Yeah, you will really need the help from the gods, because you will get nowhere by yourself."

"If only my daughter could marry one of them, I would be soo happy for her. Too bad she's even uglier than her mother…"

"Tha's partly your fault, did you even look yourself in the mirror? Haha…"

"By the gods! They are so wealthy! Look at all those jewels!"

Gerald listened to people speaking among themselves and he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Meanwhile, the group of students completely bypassed the line and entered the library. The person at the desk only spared them a smile and a nod. No entrance fee for them.

"Damn, they have it good! They probably have mountains of privileges just by being students of some famous Academy!" Gerald was somewhat envious of them, but not too much.

Although he had to wait, it was barely five minutes, almost not worth mentioning. It did somehow annoy him, however, that the fee was ten silver coins for just a one-time entrance.

'Oh, how I miss the internet! I could get everything I wanted in seconds, and for free!' Gerald complained in his heart. Technology had so many upsides that downsides, like pollution and addiction, almost weren't worth mentioning. Almost.

Of course, if the entire planet was ignoring it for decades, even centuries, then it became a serious problem.

The second room was absolutely massive. It was more like a giant hall than a room.

Rows and rows of books covered the place. Even the high walls were full of books. There were also many long tables with people, mostly Academy students, reading on them.

The library was split into many sections; Magical animals and beasts, with many books on the ways of taming, feeding, riding, and fighting them.

A plant section, containing the known herbs, their properties, and some of their basic uses, as well as the required environment to cultivate them. Just the section about farming herbs had hundreds of books. It was quite overwhelming.

There was also a section about metals, their uses, as well as an in-depth introduction to metallurgy and armor-making.

Of course, we can't forget the most versatile section of them all: The general magic section. It contained all the accumulated knowledge, experience, and experiments, failed or not, for the past one thousand years. And that was only what came from the Kingdom of Myrtana.

The Central Burronian Empire's knowledge was not present. After all, enemies would not share their discoveries just for fun.

Espionage was, of course, present, but they couldn't move an entire library at once, so the information transfer was slow.

Gerald walked around the library, not reading, just looking. He felt all jittery and excited. So much to do, but so little time. He could spend his lifetime here, just reading every day. Of course, that was not an option.

Not all knowledge was necessary, and he could figure some things out just by living in this world.

When he arrived at the beast section, a certain book grabbed his attention. It was the thickest among the rest and it appeared to also be the oldest. The cover was made of thick leather and the pages were made of hard paper.

Gerald read the title, "Bestiary; an in-depth study on magic beasts. Interesting…"