Leige wondered how to use the magic that was flowing in his body. Honestly, he wasn't even sure if he actually had magic in his body, since there was a possibility that the cells and plasma that contained the ability to use magic were simply different for everyone.
However, he still believed that there was something that was blocking him from allowing to use magic, so he wanted to try it out. He looked at the book again, seeing a path where the vein travelled.
Thinking back to what he had read, he did recall a rather interesting chapter of a book.
Basically, it said that although the soul was the centre of magic, the flow of the magic mattered as well. So if it was clogged, or for some other reason didn't flow smoothly, magic would not be able to be used.
The soul held a certain amount of magic, usually inherited. It would normally be thought that that was what mattered, but the flow of magic was equally, if not more important.
If one could control their flow of magic exceptionally well, they could still be immensely strong.
The flow of magic was also inherited, and it would explain why rank 5's didn't have it, because their ancestors were probably the ones without magic who managed to survive, well according to his theory on how this world came to be.
...So, couldn't this whole problem just be solved with making babies with different ranks?
Maybe.
But he couldn't just force everyone to make babies with each other, that would be weird.
So, he needed to figure out how to fix it in current bodies.
Well, he was tired, and hungry, so now wasn't the time.
He could just do it in school.
Climbing out of the seat he was in, he ventured out into the large corridor. Not really sure where he was going, he wandered around, eventually drawn to a nice smell.
It had been coming from the kitchen.
"Excuse me?" his soft voice was nearly inaudible compared to the loud instructions the chefs were giving each other. However, as one person noticed him, they fell quiet, which lead to all of them looking curiously and noticing as well.
Soon the whole kitchen fell quiet, save the sizzling pans.
"Young Master Leige, may I inquire as to why you are here?" a scary looking person asked him with a polite smile on her face, but with the underlying words of 'please leave' in her tone of voice. Had the previous Leige done something to the kitchen?
Well, he didn't really care about what they thought of him, only sniffing the air slightly and commenting,
"It smells nice." to which everyone widened their eyes.
"I beg your pardon Young Master Leige?" the same woman asked in disbelief.
He looked at her, confused.
"It smells nice?" now it sounded more like a question as the chefs looked at each other in disbelief.
"Do you like the smell Young Master?" a different chef asked with widened eyes. The same boy who had accused them of food poisoning him after he had a meal he didn't like, and who had, on multiple occasions, walked past the kitchen just to comment how bad the meal looked, liked the smell?!
Why were they all so shocked? Yes, he liked the smell. He actually loved spicy food, although he looked as though he would fall apart with just one chilli pepper, he actually found the taste to be addicting.
What they were cooking looked to be from Chinese cuisine, which he particularly enjoyed, especially Sichuan and Hunan cuisine.
"Can I try it?" he asked curiously, to which the chefs finally realised that he was being serious.
They looked at each other hesitantly when one chef stepped up and grinned.
"Sure." she held out a vivid red dish, to which the other chefs watched in horror. That was a failed attempt because it was too ridiculously spicy! How could she dare to hand that to the Young Master?! Although they didn't stop her, because they all held a small grudge for the Young Master, who had previously insulted them countless of times, and had even tried to get some of them fired!
Leige looked at the dish curiously. He could tell that it was spicy. Too spicy. It was probably a failed attempt. He supposed that they wanted revenge on him for whatever he did in the past.
Well, he didn't really mind. On the contrary, he felt very excited. If he were to compare the dish to something he had eaten in his world, it would probably be Ma po tofu, a Sichuan dish he had enjoyed whenever he visited China, as the Chinese restaurants in Japan simply didn't measure up to the real deal.
He looked with excitement at the red dish. If there was anything like Sichuan Peppercorn in this world, he would be very pleased.
Without hesitation, he immediately ate a spoonful of the dish, to which the chefs gasped in horror and anticipation.
...He didn't react how they were expecting him to, at all.
A smile bloomed on his face as he looked at the dish in delight. The familiar numbing of Sichuan Peppercorn was welcomed in his mouth. He savoured the taste before swallowing.
"I like it." the chef who had handed it to him stared in disbelief, taking it from him and having a spoonful, immediately spitting it out while looking at Leige. She let out a laugh of disbelief.
"Well, would you like to try this as well?" she handed him another crazy looking dish that she had been experimenting with. He took a sniff and enthusiastically nodded, immediately eating a spoonful.
"It's good." the chef laughed, amused, taking the dish from him.
"W-What about this?" a different chef walked up to him with a dish he had been working on. Leige happily took a spoonful of the fiery dish.
"Very nice." his willingness to try everything made all the other chefs forget about their grudge, instead touring Leige around and making him try everything.
They all took a liking to the young, adorable boy.
"Here, take this!"
"What about this?!"
"I think you would like this!!"
Leige left stuffed like a turkey after the chefs reluctantly let him go, not before patting him on the head and telling him to come by whenever he was hungry.
He was relieved that he had made some friends.
It was a bit tiring living in a place where everyone either hated him or were scared of him.
Now, next stop...
Back to the library.
He had told himself that he could just research later, but he was scared of losing motivation, so he had to do it now.
After all, when he was motivated, researching was fun.
What he wanted to know now was, could the flow of magic be controlled? It didn't seem likely that the soul, and the magical capacity could be increased, but there could be some materials that enabled people to get stronger.
He was excited.
And he didn't feel tired anymore.
So to the library!
Leige went back to the large, mahogany doors, opening them with some difficulty.
What he wanted to read about were either theories about magic flow, or fables or real stories about it.
After some lazy searching on the bottom floor, he had a revelation that he smacked himself- gently, on the head for not realising before.
If there were some real stories about magic flow, something that the books he read before only briefly mentioned, and only elaborated on in one, it meant that they would be controversial, and therefore higher up, where the dust was.
Well, that was if they actually had books like that.
But this library looked to be incredibly old. Surely he could find what he wanted in the abundance of books before him.
It would just have to take some time.