"Mr. Loreihre! It is always great to see you. I hope the library isn't troubling you these days, it has been a while since I've come to pick up a book".
"Oh Isabella, just call me Artelcalin or Artel for short. Using last names is so formal no"? Artel says staring directly at Isabella before noticing Isaac's short figure next to Isabella's right leg, slightly hiding behind it.
"Who might this be Isabella"? Artel leans forward enough to take in Isaac's features that were being hidden from behind Isabella's legs. As if on cue, Isabella picks Isaac up into her arms before flashing a gentle smile that seemed to brighten up the room.
"This is Isaac, and he is my son". She says with a bit of pride in her voice. Isaac waves his small hand awkwardly not really knowing if he should say hi or just not say anything, resulting in his awkward wave while in Isabella's arms.
Artel focused his greenish-yellow eyes on Isaac, causing Isaac to want to reflexively run away from him. Lightly laughing at Isaac's reaction, he turns to Isabella asking her for the payment for the library's entrance fee. Isabella takes a silver coin out of her dress pocket and hands it over to Artel, who grabs the coin, smirking, before pocketing it in a pocket on the upper right chest of his black tailcoat.
"Your son must have never seen any other species other than humans right? I am honored to be the first Galtmer he has seen". He slightly chuckles to himself.
"So he isn't a human. He looks like he has been sick for a year straight, and his ears are so pointy. He looks like what my world would consider being elves". Isaac had played many fantasy games since he was always at home a lot. In those games, there was a species called elves, who were similar to the man in front of him, with sharp features, pointy ears, and darkish or light yellow skin. It made Isaac wonder, other than humans and creatures like the lycan, were there other species on this planet?
"I need to gain a lot of money fast, if I had money, I could just read to find the information. I know silver coins don't grow on trees, and I can't let Isabella keep footing the bills for that expense.
"Artel, I want to get a book for my son as a gift for his birthday". Isabella says while following behind Artel
Artel turns around somewhat shocked before he turns to stare at Isaac again as if to confirm something with his fierce eyes.
"Isabella, surely he would want a toy for his birthday, isn't he too young to be reading out of books from a library like this? Granted we have books for small children, but he still seems a tad bit too young". Artel says to Isabella with an arched brow, looking for an explanation as to why a child who does not even look to be past the age of 5, would want a book from the library as a gift for his birthday.
Before Isabella could even retort, Isaac speaks in a soft voice, yet calm and collected.
"I wish to learn Mr. Artel". Such a simple statement, yet it shocks Artel as he finds newfound respect in Isaac before smiling towards Isabella.
"You have a great child here Isabella. It is very rare for someone at his age to want to learn. Most of the brats in this village hate the very idea of having to read, instead of going outside to play with wooden blocks or childish games". Artel refutes the children of the village out loud with a scowl on his face, but it quickly disappears when he looks at Isaac.
"Isabella, he's too young now, but would it be possible to have him work for me when he is... let's say...7 years of age"? He asked with some excitement in his voice.
"This kid is a natural-born genius, I've been needing more help with this library, and haven't found someone to do so, other than Kanade. This is a perfect opportunity to enlist some help for the future...*sigh*...why couldn't this child be older, I want him working for me sooner".
Isabella slightly shifts a little when hearing how directly Artel asked for her son to work for him in the future. It made her feel very proud for Isaac, yet still sad knowing that he needs an education first and foremost, it would be a waste of his capabilities.
"I'm sorry Artel, but Isaac must attend school. He won't have the time to work for you and attend school".
Isaac who was currently celebrating in his head about being allowed to work for the library in the future, felt like he could hear the sound of a car crash resounding through his head when he heard what Isabella had said.
"ISABELLA!? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? WHO WANTS TO GO TO SCHOOL TO LEARN NUMBERS WHEN YOU ALREADY KNOW THEM FOR MULTIPLE YEARS"!?
Isaac felt like he was on the verge of dying. Such a great opportunity was being taken from him, by his own mother.
"Clearly I have not made you change my diaper enough, I am going to start exercising just so I can get hungrier to poop more, and see how she enjoys the extra load of nastiness to take care of". Isaac thinks as he begins to brainstorm more and more ideas of how to get back at Isabella.
"Why that's preposterous, there is nothing that school can teach your son, that I can not teach better, you know this Isabella. I will personally make sure that your son becomes well educated while he works for me, so don't you worry about that. You must have forgotten that mages like me, are most proud of our minds". Artel says while pointing towards his head, and staring at Isabella, to see if she will agree now that he has given her such a great deal.
Isabella only sighs seeing nothing wrong with what he said, but still raising Isaac to her face to ask him for the final decision. Staring into Isaac's eyes, she can see the clear excitement in them, but her motherly instincts couldn't help but be worried still.
"Isaac, do you want to study at the library with Mr. Artel instead of going to school with other kids your age"?
Inside the depths of Isaac's mind, all he could think about is how stupid can one possibly be to give up the chance to be taught by a mage.
"Oh dear mother, what seems to be the problem with your brain, has it become dough just like the bread that you work with constantly"? Isaac thinks while almost breaking his neck with how fast he was shaking his head up and down.
"I really want to learn with Mr. Artel mommy"! Isaac says in an excited tone, thinking about how he might actually be able to learn magic if he asked Artel to teach him. Even if Artel wouldn't teach him magic, it wouldn't stop him from trying to learn to access the power of magic on its own. He didn't know still if there was some type of ritual, item, or another thing that allowed one to access the power of magic, but he could surely find that information in the library.
"Isaac, go ahead and follow Mr. Artel to go pick out a book, no matter the book, I will get it for you". Isabella says while sitting down at a table in the library while waving her hand at Isaac, ushering him to go and take a look for a book he wants.
Without a second thought, Isaac immediately follows Artel up the stairs to roam the library for a book he would want. As Isaac was taking a look at the books on the shelves while also following Artel, Artel interrupts him from his search.
"What type of book are you looking for Isaac"? With the question directly aimed at Isaac, it caused him to take a slight pause before replying to the question.
"Magic". Isaac replies wholeheartedly.
Artel bursts out laughing for a while, seeing as he didn't expect Isaac to give that type of answer. Only causing Isaac to narrow his eyes at the outburst of laughter.
"Whats so funny"? Isaac asked Artel, not really finding the excessive laughter to be funny himself, but then thought about how he would react if he saw the situation. A kid no more than 2 years old, comes up to you, and says he wants to learn magic. In Isaac's previous world, such a person would be looked at funnily and ultimately ignored. Those one the internet however...Isaac imagined the amount of memes to be made if a guy truly believed he could become a mage back in his world.
"It is only just that, at your age, your brain is not developed enough to be able to learn magic". Artel says after finishing his laughter and sitting down in a seat close by while crossing his legs with a smirk.
"Not developed enough"? Isaac asks in confusion, not quite understanding what he meant that his brain was not developed enough.
"Mages ability to wield the Arcane, is broken up into two core parts; physical and mental. The physical aspect comes into play with exertion of magical energy. The stronger your body is, the easier it is to bare the load of the magic power you use, this is even more critical as you grow stronger and stronger as a mage. A mage can have acess to the knowledge to the most powerful of spells, but if any mage were to try to use such powerful magic without a body that can support the kickback, they will be critically injured, if not die". Artels says in a very serious tone, devoid of much of the emotion he had before, staring at Isaac to view his reaction. After the silence, he continues.
"The second core part is the mental aspect. You could almost say that between the two, the mental aspect is the most important, and the one filled with the most danger. A mage's brain as they pursue the path of magic, grows to become stronger and stronger. Most roles in this world, that require one to be very intelligent, are usually runned by mages. Its also a fatal weakness to the mage, if a mage is to ever go past their limits of magic capacity, or try to use spells that are too far out their league to use, their brains can potentially experiences a shock that turns the mage into a vegetable, or they die...".
The features on Artel's face increased the tension and seriousness of the words he spoke. Isaac was suprised at the information he was informed. It made him second guess himself, asking if becoming a mage was something he wanted to continue doing. With such dangers on the path, Isaac felt it was neccessary to think over it, but then he remebered the heart quenching fear that overtook him when Isabella and him almost died at the claws of the Lycan. The weakness was disgusting to him. How could one be satisfied if they died without even able to do a single thing to prevent their death?
"That is fine". Isaac says with a dertermined expression on his face, staring up at Artel without breaking eye-contact, the fierceness in his eyes not letting down for even a second when staring into Artel's own hardened gaze.
Artel's smirk becomes almost impish as he stares at Isaac.
"This kid will become a great mage someday if he works hard enough, and I'm willing to allow him the chance to pursue the path of a mage". Artel thinks before patting Isaac's shoulder while looking at him with a kind smile.
"When you are old enough, I will happily teach you magic, but you must work hard young man". He says while raising his hand into that of a handshake. Isaac immediatley returns the handshake with as much vigor as his 2 year old body contained.
"Thank you so much Mr. Artel"! Isaac exclaimed.
"Don't think too much about it, now, lets go get you a book of something you can put to use immediatley". Artel says while leading Isaac to a certain set of bookshelfs in a aisle of the library. Strangely, all the books on the shelf were as dark as the night in color, but all of them had different numbers ranging from 1-100.
"This section of books, has a book you will want". Artel reveals, waving his arm in a outstanding manner as if the books held such grand prescence, that they needed to be introduced in such a special way.