(Surprise, new daily update schedule because I challenged a cat and a smut writer... Enjoy :)
Arthur Leywin P.O.V.
I still had plenty of time before the auction so I decided I should get some more research done on this world, I still had plenty of questions unanswered on the happenings of this world. I had checked Vincent's library in the manor but I had no luck finding anything I was looking for. So I decided since I had today all to myself I made plans
I had made plans to go to the Xyrus Library. I leave the manor and instead of taking a carriage I decide to walk, the weather is strangely always nice in Xyrus.
Twenty minutes into my walk I realize how far the Helstea manor is from the main city. 'Maybe I shouldn't have walked. Hmm, maybe I can speed this up.'
Using wind I push myself forward and begin to run full speed. I speed down the side of the road. The wind pushing my hair back must make me look ridiculous but it was refreshing and really fun. I slow down before I reach the city and walk in normally.
I arrive at the library and begin looking around. I search around for a while till an older woman walks up to me and asks, "Hello there little one, are you perhaps lost?"
Did she think I was too young to read or something? "No, I am just looking for a few things."
"Oh, I didn't know there were other kids your age who like to read." She says a bit surprised.
"There are other kids my age who come here?" I ask, I'm not too curious but I guess if I come across them I can ask for help finding stuff.
"Yeah, a little girl who looks to be about your age. She comes here often to read about things like Artificing."
Artificing was something I had a particular interest in after learning of it in this world. The idea of creating items that could use mana in various ways was certainly something I wished to do.
"What are you looking for exactly, I can help you find it," she asks nicely. She probably doesn't want to leave a child on their own in such a big library.
"I was looking for stuff on the ancient mages who built the teleportation gates and made Xyrus float." I had been wanting to research them ever since I learned that it was them who built those things. After all, what would be interesting about an Ancient society of people who could perform magic in ways that we couldn't even fathom?
"Oh the ancient mages huh, quite the rare topic. There aren't too many books on them but they would be in the History section instead of the Magic section. Here the History section is this way." She leads me to the History section across the library. She looks around for a short time and pulls out a few books, which she then places down on a table near me. "All those books should have some information on them."
"Thanks." I look over to the four books on the table. I sit down and begin to read through the first one, The Mysteries of Xyrus City.
...Long ago Dicathen was populated by a race of people we yet to know the name of. They constructed many of the important things we use today such as the dimension rings and teleportation gates.
As I'm reading through the book I can't help but notice the woman that had helped me lurking around. I understand it may be because she is concerned about an unsupervised child but something doesn't seem right. I should probably just leave.
I get up and check out the books from the front desk, then leave the library. I walk a bit but I still feel their gaze on me, I don't want them to follow me to the manor. I quickly turn into the alleyways and take several sharp turns to try and lose them.
I look around to see if they followed me, when I see no one there I take a sigh of relief. I start walking away. I then feel a knife to my neck. Someone holds a knife to my throat from behind me.
"Don't move brat mage." I can already recognize the voice being the woman that was following me.
This is the second person to know I was a mage, 'how did they find out?' I didn't use any mana this time. Did they sense my mana core from my stage? I don't have any time for this. I stomp on their foot and elbow them in the stomach and begin running and take another turn. I wait for them to turn the corner before I jump them, I knock them to the ground over near a wall.
I release bloodlust onto them and ask, "How did you learn I was a mage?" I focus my bloodlust on them.
"I- I- I found out from some random information brokers, they give out information to slave traders and rogue adventurers like me who want to make a quick buck." She was rather quick with revealing the information I needed.
"Where do they operate? Where can I find them." I ask.
She gives me the information on where to find them and before I leave I slit her throat using Wind-Swordless style. 'I can't have people sharing this information anymore.'
I left to the location she had told me about, It looked to be some random old bar. I can't just go in there and kill them because they may not even be the ones with the information. I will first find out if they even know and if that girl was lying to me. I walk in using the front door. The bartender spots me and yells, "Who are you? Ya lost or somethin'?'
"I came here looking for information." I lift a bag of coins so I can pay.
"Oh yeah? What kind of info do you want?" He asks, his voice is rough and difficult to understand.
"I want to know about the boy mage," I ask.
"Yeah, but it'll cost ya," He takes a good look at me.
"Wait a minute, auburn hair and blue eyes. You're him aren't cha. Get him!" He yells to the other employees. They all reach for weapons that were hidden either under the counter or in the staff-only area.
I quickly use wind to speed myself up and jump at the bartender, I use wind-swordless style to slit his throat and enhance myself with mana to push him hard enough his corpse tumbles into the next guy. There were a total of three enemies, I stomp on the ground using earth magic and make the floor rise into a pillar of earth in front of me, I kick the pillar with earth magic to make it crumble and send tons of pieces of rubble at them, I trap them under rubble making finishing them off easy.
After they were all dead I walked back into the alleyway and used earth magic to make a hole deep enough for me to bury all of them. I cover up the hole and begin heading back to the manor. I didn't like having to kill people so often, but to protect myself and my family I'm willing to take down this entire continent.
Thankfully I hadn't got any blood on me so I didn't need to change, so I walked back to the manor with the books still in my bag.
Back at the manor I go to my room and begin reading more on the ancient mages.
I was surprised at how little information there was on them. I knew the information was scarce but the most information I even found on them is that they were responsible for things like dimension rings and some underground cities that only a few were even found. Perhaps if I were to find one of their civilizations I could learn more about them but for now nothing.
'Sigh, all that work for nothing.' But to think seriously for a moment, it's worrisome to think that there is the possibility for other people out there who wish to find me and would possibly be willing to harm my family in the process.
***
The next day I headed back to the library. The books I checked out were of no help so I decided to switch what I was looking for. I began looking through the aisles of the library to find something that would peak my interest, looking around I found myself in the section for magic and mana. I decided to look around and check a few books to see if they could help me. The first book I found was about all of the deviant abilities recorded or discovered so far. I decided to grab that one to look through at a later point. I also grabbed a book on documented mana beasts since I needed to know more about them like their abilities and weaknesses while I'm adventuring.
I begin to read through them but so far nothing. While looking I heard a loud ruckus from the street, I decided to check it out to find a large crowd of people gathered on the sidewalk on both sides of the street. I look towards where everyone is getting their excitement from and see a rather elegantly designed carriage, sure the ones the Helstea family had were nice but the ones in front of me were covered in gold and an assortment of other gems and patterns.
"Make way, make way. Royal family coming through." A guard yells while walking in front of the carriage, he ushers people in the street to the side of the road to let the carriage pass.
'So the royal family was coming to Xyrus after all.' Vincent had mentioned that the royal family had told him they would be attending this upcoming auction event. They appear to be arriving a day early. I don't get too good of a view of them but I can see a man who looks a little older than my dad, he has mahogany hair and red eyes. I assume this man is the king due to him being the only man in the carriage. I can't see anyone else in the carriage though so I simply watch with the other people as it passes by.
I wonder what could peak their interest during this auction event, they seem to have enough money to buy whatever they want. I guess Uncle Vincent is running his business that well.
I checked out the two books I grabbed before I got distracted, I put them in my bag and began wandering around the shopping district. I passed by the ever so popular shop, 'Xyrus Elixirs', and looked in through the storefront window. I see quite a few people there, I see an elf boy near the elixirs. He looked around my age, maybe he had already awoken their mana core. I use mana to sense them to see if they have a mana core. Upon seeing their mana core I was shocked, they had a light orange stage core like me. How was that possible?
Even if he was one year older than me he would only be around nine years old, that's early for elves.
I see on their jacket a logo for a family household, it wasn't something I recognized but it did have a flame in it so maybe they are famous for fire mages.
Choosing not to get involved with a noble I simply walk on by and leave, I head on back to the manor since my family is probably wondering why I have been gone for so long.
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