Val slipped through the loitering gaggle of students, easy to tell by the bulbous bags likely filled with texts regarding everything from spell tiers to mage ranks, and entered through a pair of automatic doors. Her walking pace slowed to a crawl as she soaked in the utter massiveness of the Library of Wyn.
While the lower floors were parquet and carpet interwoven like grass and concrete outside, the upper three were made of some type of see-through material. Her gaze speared through five rooms in one attempt alone, showcasing rooms of bookcases and desktops and knowledge. She even spotted what looked to be an art class in one of them, something Caro would've loved to join no doubt. There might even be a music lesson and an open seat for Val.
Though the library was a short five minutes away from Restore Health, she was always too busy doing one thing or the other, be it juggling two jobs or taking care of her brothers. She would kill to shut herself in one of the rooms and flip through book aft—
'Focus Val, focus.'
Pacing towards the attendant's counter, she rang the bell. "Hi, I'd like a guess code to access one of the computers please."
"No problem!"
Val had to give it to her, the attendant was lightning-fast. In a minute she was well away towards one of the open areas, sitting down in front of a desktop computer. She woke it up with a click of her mouse, slipping in her code and getting right to work.
Doc said she had a piece of information. It was time she gathered more.
Opening a browser, she typed the words 'Aether Fruit' and searched for results. Black brick-like letters popped on the screen, and a loud chime blared out of the desktop's speaker, attracting ireful gazes from many.
INFORMATION DENIED
"Of course," she muttered, wincing and putting the device on mute. She was getting really tired of the Laws of Secrecy. The reigning government declared excess information the cause of the most recent war, censoring once-accessible information to everyone save for mages. It hadn't given her any problems until now.
Backing up a step, she typed, 'Mundane information on Aether Fruit.'
INFORMATION DENIED
She tried for synonyms. 'Qi Flower.'
INFORMATION DENIED
'Mana Seed.'
INFORMATION DENIED
Val groaned. Searching the internet for anything magical had never been so maddening. She could understand the protests that ensued when the ban was first passed during the aftermath of the Third Great War. Perhaps she should join them too. She chuckled at the thought.
Time went unnoticed by Val and amid of web searching, the desktop flashed a white screen. Bold red letters streamed across the page.
[Thirty minutes of free time are up! Sign up with the Library of Wyn for a library card or come back tomorrow. Thanks for hanging around with us.]
'Great…'
She didn't have tomorrow. With shifts lined up in Sheryl's Corner and Blue Mine, alongside the fee of a card, the message was as good as a sendoff.
Reclining in her chair, she spotted a man rise from his seat in the adjacent room. The man slipped a card into his pants back pocket. Val cracked a smile. 'Perfect.'
Val got up slowly, meandering out of the room. She gasped as she bumped into the man, dusting his jacket off frantically.
"My goodness, dear me!" Val straightened the man's leather jacket, swiping the card as she patted his face. "I hope you're all alright!"
"Yeah, yeah." The man plucked her hands off himself and tugged at his sleeves disdainfully. "A bit dramatic, don't you think?"
Val flashed a smile, arms behind her back as she hid the stolen card. "As long as you're okay."
He harrumphed, sauntering past without another word. The minute he was out of sight, Val's smile slipped off her face as she sat down once more. Inputting the man's library code, the desktop became accessible in a short moment.
Val drummed her fingers on the desk. What to type, what to type.
He had mentioned that an aether fruit was a measly piece of information, meaning it had to be a part of something. But what? A new drug in the hospital, perhaps? Or maybe the latest tech employed in surgical operations.
No, she was thinking too linearly, always leaning towards the typical parts of life.
Information on an aether fruit itself was banned, meaning it was magical in nature.
"What about it being a reagent…for an elixir…" she muttered to herself. The pieces came together, and Val found herself struggling to type as a rush of realization surged through her.
Since the market of alchemical items was a gold mine the government couldn't afford to shut down despite what happened during the Third Great War, they were accessible to the mass majority. The slim information available on the net was just barely enough to gather the details necessary to select which item a person ought to buy, keywords a prerequisite to come by anything useful.
Val typed. 'Top elixirs and potions containing an aether fruit.'
In a matter of milliseconds, the answer eluding her for six years appeared on her screen. Val's eyes flickered back and forth, rereading the lines displayed on the desktop. 'How did I miss this?'
[Search Results:
Tranquillity: an alchemical substance that can be used to enhance cultivation experiences.
Liquid Aether: an alchemical substance that can be used to refill one's Aetherial Vessel in dire situations. Only mages who've reached or surpassed the rank of Magister can consume this potion.
Life's Hymn: an alchemical substance that can be used to not only heal Aether Vessel Abnormalities but also promises longevity.]
There it was.
Typing less than ten words brought a direction Val sought out since her mother's condition took a turn for worse. She turned off the computer, not even bothering to check the hows, whats, and wheres concerning Life's Hymn. It wouldn't be there either way, especially since one of its ingredients aided in the ascension of a mage. Those aspects were tightly sealed, and probably the reason she had never heard of it.
There was only one option to take if she indeed wanted more information: to become a mage.
The idea both thrilled and chilled her.
After all, being a mage came with a package of power and prestige—both of which she severely lacked as a lowly unbound living inside the Second Halo. But best of all, it came with the ability to cast spells and learn the elemental arts. In her eyes, this was not just a chance to reunite what was left with her family, it was a chance to become more. The goosebumps rising at the idea and the grin threatening to break out across her face spoke of what her truest desires were.
The chilling part, however, dutifully cooled such a thought.
Not only did she need to pass the Tripartite Trial to even begin her research on Aether Fruits, but should she fail she'd have to let go of yet another 10, 000 rednotes—the price of participation for one year. That was 10, 000 credits she could use to help feed her brothers. 10, 000 she worked for in several of different jobs.
'Let's say I do become a mage. What's next?' Val wondered.
The number of variables in her course of action from here on out was dizzying. Even if she gleaned the existence of an Aether Fruit from an abandoned newspaper of all things, for all she knew, the cure could be completely inaccessible,
Better yet, she had to focus on being able to pay for the treatment currently keeping her mother alive, or else all will be for naught.
Then there was her life after passing the trials. What then? She didn't even know if she could cast a spell with her measly aether strand count of eleven, nor if any type of institute would allow her inside its premises.
They had tested the genius of Wyn's aether strand count all those years back, during Deduction Day, appalled to find she held no talent.
"And ASC of eleven! A borderline-typic!" they had cried. "A true shame."
A shame she wore till this day, like a stubborn stain of a dish that didn't want to wash away—the fallen prodigy.
"What about my PAST?" she'd beg her teachers, her instructors, to whoever wanted to listen. She knew it was hopeless—ASCs and PASTs, the two tests conducted, were practically intertwined. If you flunked one of them, chances were, you'd flunk the other. "What about my PAST?"
"Some things are better left alone," was often the reply.
"Better we don't find out," was the other.
They could never finish the sentence.
'Better we don't find out you're more of a disappointment than we thought.'
Her speed of growing and enlarging her Aetherial Vessel relied mainly on her Position on the Aether Spectrum of Talent, an important aspect left undiscovered. The ensemble—the group seeing to the testing of magical aptitudes—left her shrouded in mystery, or on a real level, had simply forgotten about her.
With all of that laid out though, Val found she didn't care.
Drake chase or not, something primitive within her was eager for the challenge and thankful for the fuel to take the first, ever so small step she'd been so afraid of.
It scared her.
It urged her.
Val grasped unto such feeling, wrapping it within the folds of her soul. Her success meant the revival of her remaining parent, and that alone was enough to embark on what was very much conceivably a fruitless journey.
If not to finish it, enough to start, at the very least.
"It says that your card was most recently used here, sir."
The attendant Val met out in the front and the man she pickpocketed ambled in as a pair, heads swivelling as they scanned the room. They went from computer to computer, and it didn't look like they were going to stop.
That was her cue to leave.