After Ezera was guided all around the place and the first floor, he and Dereck separated, as the other needed to speak with the Queen.
As for Ezera, he didn't retire immediately. Instead, he asked one of the lurking priests if he could have access to the library.
He must have imagined the disdainful look the man leveled him with before it disappeared with an amiable smile. Ezera didn't think he did.
The priest graciously led him to... A part of the palace he hadn't been at before. Strange. He was certain the library had been on the second floor.
There were three other persons inside the library then. One of them looked like another priest, the other two were dressed a bit like students. Maybe they were scribes in apprenticeship?
Ezera thanked his guide before making his way inside. He could finally learn more about the prophecy, the Apocalypse, the history of this world as a whole... And of course, he was quite interested in those spells that seemed different from Graces.
He started slow. He managed to find a book recording the late half of this century. Thanks to a basic timeline, he learned that this world was in the year 843 of the Tiger Age. Whatever that meant. The previous age had been called Solene, and the one before Owen. It was particular. Did it record the name of the first new king of the age? No, probably not. On another hand, how were the changes in ages decided?
Reading, he learned Lenacia's father had died when she was seventeen. She was now thirty four. The birth of her first son was unclear, but he put together that the boy, Ysmel, must have been born around the death of the late king. Ezera wasn't going to pry.
The crisis that the kingdom had been facing had been calmed thanks to Lenacia's stellar government. Or something. It had only been completely resolved rather recently. Four years ago. Another book from a different source claimed the Queen had been unable to resist against the crisis until the arrival of the savior, the new head of the Church. It sounded quite biased, therefore Ezera checked the author of the book and found it had been written by a cardinal.
At any rate, what had been the crisis in question ? Ezera hadn't found any mention of it yet. Had it been economical in nature? Or was it an invasion of monsters? If that was so, why would none of the surrounding nations help them?
Ezera soon came to the conclusion that none of these books would give him the answer he was looking for. He resolved to ask around in the future. He moved to another section of the library. This one was called 'Spells and Arrays'. He opened one of the books, examining it. It looked quite new. Its title was "Magic for beginners".
As it happened, all the people who had Graces could use magic. That was explicitely said. It was less natural than if it were one's own skill, but it is possible. Anyone could light a flame with a single word.
At that statement, Ezera fixated on proving it wrong. He found said 'word', the incantation for the little light spell, followed all the instructions on posture, breath regulation, accents of the word, as well as all the nonsense regarding feeling the connection to the suns.
"Lum," he said.
Nothing happened.
Ah hah ! He thought victoriously. Here, first proof that this book was lying! Well, not really, it did precise that only Grace owners could use magic. But the way it was written was so condescending he simply couldn't resist.
It reminded him of his years at University, when his teachers said one thing was impossible, and how he then explained how it was actually possible in his next essay. Oh, how he had loved to see their teeth chatter angrily as they read his papers. Always made his day.
Now back to the present. Spells obviously relied on the connection between the soul and the suns. What about arrays? As he flipped the pages until he reached that particular chapter, his eyes fell on a strange diagram. Was it an array?
An array. It looked like a formation of caracters that he couldn't decipher into a connected line of instruction – but put in a circle. It was similar to a music score or mathematic formulas, Ezera realized. He was curious. Did it mean anyone could make arrays?
He soon came to understand that only about a hundred arrays were in existence. He thought that was sad, what with the endless potential of combinations. He interrogated himself. Could these books be borrowed?
He shuffled around some more, until it dawned on him all the books in the area were of the same surface level of understanding. Well. He'd just have to ask later where to find more complicated stuff. For now, it would be useful to acquire a catalogue of all the caracters used in arrayal work.
For now, he was finished with researching. Enough of all that work! The kids were probably done bathing by now, he should go and check on how they were faring.
It's not like he needed any of those magic cheats to be cool anyway.
As expected, the kids were in the dorms. Most of them anyway. He knocked.
"Who's it?"
"Your favorite teacher ever."
"..."
At least the door opened.
"Professor Gemstone? What are you doing here?"
"I was here to tell you about the next class schedule but if you don't want me here I can go away-"
"Wait!" Ashera stopped him immediately. "Class? As in school?"
Ezera smirked knowingly.
"Well yes. School. You know, this teeny tiny insignificant step that'll get you your future once we get back to our World? Admittedly not as interesting as what you did today but still."
Yuga groaned. Clearly there was one who wasn't ready to go back to school.
"But what about the training?" Alexandra asked. "You said we could do what we wanted."
"Yes. That hasn't changed. But I requisitioned your afternoons to continue training your mind. You'll never get too much of that. And speaking of afternoon! Among the few of you, how many did Dereck ask to go in the forest next afternoon?"
They looked at each other.
"Not me," Helene shook her head.
"I'll be there," Ashera said.
Suzuka nodded.
"I spoke with Shanon. She'll also come with us."
"I see. I'll accompagny you as well. I think it'll be time for lunch soon. Or, well... Dinner. Then, you'll have free time to explore and rest until Souper. I'll leave you to it."
"Yes, professor," some of them chorused as he closed the door behind him.
He too had some time to kill. Perhaps shall he make friends with the servants in the mean time.