"Quiet, please." a member of staff asked me kindly as they walked by me as I tapped a claw on the table.
"Sorry." I tell them before I go back to reading through what I had gathered up in the library. Which one, I did not know, I just walked into a library and asked for some tablets. As, despite our recent adventure across two continents, I was not that strong. The special measuring things even rated me as being on par with someone from Traditional House.
That had bothered me a little, so while everyone else was training, I was looking for inspiration. My magic might've been bolstered by an offensive spell, recently. But, I was still mostly attuned to the spell we oxfuinei all knew. I could make people understand what languages I knew how to speak and help them speak them too.
I mean, sure, it had its uses as it allowed me to meet one of my greatest friends. It also helped me sort of start up a friendship I wasn't too sure about. Yet, Nin started off as someone I hated. So, maybe Liadanann would come to like me more than she currently does.
Yet, that was all it could do, I just had to spit and that was the extent of my magic. In a life where I have had to dodge bullets and cannons, I do not know how just make something explode. And, that might never be the case as I was never interested in magic before. Probably thanks to what my first spell did.
A younger me would've just exclaimed disappointment if that was all it could do. But, I had learned how to focus my magic on my fingers and their claws. So it was certainly possible for me to do better. Especially if I was to go home at some point to make sure it was still safe.
Learning new magic, however, required experiences to guide your mind. Like how Nin suddenly developed his new and explosive magic. Or how Einervaene came to have her current attire. There was something in their lives that directed it.
But, what I have been through in my life had led me to nothing. Because they did the fighting and protecting. And, when I did it, it was against a foe with so little magic that it was horrifying to face them in retrospect. The stories of powerful witches casually slaughtering towns were made a reality when I saved Conquei.
However, to my annoyance, I had not learned any powerful magic because of it. So I was still stuck with what I had. And so far, none of the stories I had been reading had led me anywhere. But, maybe it was because I was growing bored and tired?
"Uh, excuse me, Oxfuine?" a nervous girl began to say as she came out from behind a tablet case with something in her hands.
"Can I help you?" I asked back as I made sure the place wasn't suddenly crowded. Thankfully, it wasn't, so I did not have to clear the table of my mess. And, I had made quite the extravagant mess.
"So, uh, I apologize if this comes off as strange, but, do you know anything about the story of the Breath Taker?" she asked as she placed a hefty piece of stone down on the thick table. Yet, when she nudged it over to me, it did not take much effort for me to pick it up.
"I might, can you remind me?" I asked her as I flicked through the not so literal pages of the tablet. Yet, truth be told, I did not know anything about this story. I had never even heard of it until now.
"It's about a witch from a very long time ago and apparently, she learned her magic from your people."
"Okay." I say with growing interest as this might be the act of providence I needed to gain a new spell.
"Apparently, your people know magic that can affect peoples words?"
"That is correct, we can make someone speak a language we know if we pass on our saliva."
"Saliva? Oh! That must explain why the witch was known to be a romantic type!" she exclaimed with excitement just before noting it down.
"I still need some reminding, I'm afraid. What was the witch's magic like?"
"Well. back then, when magic was still quite new to the continent, back when the Emerald Awakening Era first started. People used to say the names of their spells as it helped them cast it, some still do, even."
"So she used magic she learned from my people to stop others from casting their magic?"
"Yes! You're starting to remember now." she says to me incorrectly. But, I was the one who lied to her so I could hear her out. However, then I decided to quickly get out of this discussion so I could read the story on my own. So I had my ears suddenly turn as if someone was calling out to me.
And, it was oddly difficult to make a conscious effort of something they did fine otherwise...?
"Sorry, but, I have to be going. Someone is here for me." I say to the human as I grab the tablet after mixing it in with the others. And, thankfully, she was too reserved to comment on what I had done. So, she thought I had left it in the pile.
"Well, uh, my name is Ryipandel, I'd like to carry on talking about it later?" she asked me as I disappeared.
"Sure, nice to meet you." I waved at her dismissively before I disappeared. Yet, as I stood outside the library with the tablet, I did consider her offer. Maybe she could answer questions I could not get answered during my reading of the story. Either way, I really wanted this Breath-Taker to give me the inspiration I wanted.