Fate browsed the Grendeven library leisurely, picking up whichever book caught his fancy only to slot it back in with a sigh.
Terry Grendeven had listed three books within their library that may contain hints on the nature of Fate's Facet, but Fate made sure to check the others first.
The Grendevens had a little bit of everything, from glossaries to storybooks to guides on various topics. Each one was either accessible through the Royal Mage Academy library, within Fate's own private collection, or were just irrelevant to his current needs.
After an hour and a half of deliberation, he finally checked the three books Terry had mentioned by name. He read their titles, the synopsis or table of contents, and leafed through a few pages as well.
Neither of the three was an exact one-for-one copy of books he had seen previously.
The first was "The Origin," a book detailing the Nine Races and how they eventually became the species on Ziobrun today. It was similar to many books Fate had seen before, except this one was quote "untouched by the Empress and containing undiluted fact."
After a quick examination, he couldn't find a specific mention of his Facet within, but he doubted Terry would lie about something like that. It was most likely buried deep.
The second, "The Coin Paradox," was a theory on the various Facets and their nature. The author aimed to explain the overlap and sometimes near-identical functions that existed between certain Facets, as well as draw a correlation between pairs of Facets as "one half of a coin."
Fire and Water, Love and Hate, Death and Health, all were some of the direct opposites the author listed, and yet share odd similarities that seemed paradoxical on the surface.
Water could burn, Fire could freeze with certain Skills; some people loved hating on things and hated to love on things; and all life resulted in death, and vice-versa.
Maggots fed on carcasses, burnt trees laid the foundation for new forests, and bacteria fed on everything under the sun.
How, then, could they be opposites, the author asked. Rather than opposites, two magnetic fields of the same pole that would never join, they were more like halves of a whole, hence the title of the book.
It was a fascinating read that Fate had to forcibly tear himself away from. The book wasn't his just yet, and he still had one more to check out.
This one was the more inconspicuous of the three. While the first two were bound by thick, sturdy leather enchanted for durability much like Fate's boots, this one was paperback.
Its cover was less professional, as well. The others were plain but for their titles, while this one had an image of a dark, humanoid figure on the cover with shining blue dots for eyes, stern and unyielding. It held its arms at its sides, clawed hands tense and ready for a fight.
The figure floated in a void of white that took up half of the cover, shattered worlds and sundered suns to its back.
And on the other half was its opposite.
Floating in the dark void of space dotted by stars and planets, a figure of pure white waited. While the dark figure was broad-shouldered and tall, this one was decidedly feminine.
Its kind red eyes were warm and accepting, its slender arms ending in hands with smaller claws than its counterpart, pressed together palms-up as it watched a world spin above its hands.
Above the duo, in large letters that were black for the first half and white for the second half to be seen against the cover image, was a single word: Creation.
Unlike the first two books, this one wasn't based in science. In fact, the first few words of the synopsis made it clear that this was nothing more than a story.
It expounded on the lives and exploits of the being of bright Yin, Prechat, and the being of dark Yang, Neptul. The two were husband and wife, two halves of a whole attracted to the other by their very natures.
Everything about this book, from its cover to its synopsis, drew Fate in like a moth to a flame. Something inside him screamed that this was what he was looking for, that this was the key to understanding his Facet better.
This confused Fate. He could tell it wasn't his instincts that were doing so; he'd experienced that feeling enough to tell the difference. His next thought was his Facet, but it was likewise silent, content to sit quietly in an ethereal part of his mind.
This motivation was without a source. No matter how hard he searched, he could not find where it was coming from.
But seeing as how it was the only response he had felt from any of the three books, he made his choice without a second thought.
"I'd like this one, if that's all right," he told Terry, handing the Arch-Mage the book Creation.
Terry gave it a short glance before giving it back to Fate. "Just make sure to take care of it."
It wasn't a rare book, far from it actually. It was widely regarded as a children's tale, and as such wasn't found in the scholarly archives of the Academy. Terry had only acquired it because he had read every other book in the Grendeven library and needed something new.
So, it wasn't an issue to part with it. If anything, he felt a bit bad that the young man who had saved his son only wanted such a paltry reward, but even after making the value of the book clear, Fate only shook his head and said "just this is fine."
Terry watched the dark-eyed Fate walk off with his usual stoicism, his monotonous voice asking his son a question.
"How did you meet such an odd student?"
"Ah, about that," Venden chuckled with an embarrassed grin. "I challenged him to a duel for Kathrin's sake and lost."
"Is he the reason you emancipated yourself?"
"He is. I'm not coming back, by the way."
A snort of laughter came from the Arch-Mage, breaking his mask for a brief instant. "Just be sure to visit."