"Huh?" Alex looked back and saw a bearded man with blonde hair and blue eyes, his hands on his hips, looking at the papers with a proud expression.
"Who are you?" Alex asked.
"Hahahaha, greetings, my young friend. I am... Homer," the man replied.
"Hah... G... greetings..." Alex nearly choked on his spit. This was definitely not who he thought it was.
"Looks like this is your first time in the library. May I be your guide?" Homer suggested with a smile.
"Uhm, yes, but why, Sir Homer? I don't know you," Alex asked, puzzled.
"Well, I feel a certain connection to you, my friend. It's like the Fates are pulling my destiny towards yours," Homer said, stepping closer to Alex—too close.
"Uhmhmmmm..." Alex stepped back slightly and smiled. "Sorry, I don't really get into that... kind of thing," he said with a cough.
Homer realized the awkwardness. "OH, no no no, you don't have to apologize! I'm also normal; sorry for seeming creepy just now. That wasn't what I meant," he laughed.
"As I said before, I feel a certain connection, like a connection to the gods. I just feel that I have to guide you now," Homer explained, waiting for a response.
Alex eyed the man carefully. Strangely, his instincts weren't setting off any alarms. Since his time in the army, Alex had developed a keen ability to detect strange people—whether they were enemies or friends. Occasionally, he could even sense their intentions just by reading their aura. He was also adept at reading body language and had an excellent sense of spatial awareness.
"You know what? Why not, Sir Hector? Let's do that," Alex smiled, deciding to lower his guard.
"Hahahahahaha, great! Now tell me, Alex—by the way, you can call me Hector, please—where do you want to go? This place is enormous, and you might get lost if you wander around aimlessly," Hector said, waving his hand.
"But first, let's pay," Homer said as they walked toward the counter near the entrance.
"Three bronze coins," the counter lady, a beautiful woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, requested.
"Here you go," Alex said as he paid.
"Here you go," Homer echoed as he also paid.
They turned back and headed toward the center of the library.
Alex noticed how immense the shelves were, stretching over 1,000 meters. The building even had a second floor, making it an incredible masterpiece of architecture.
"I want to get techniques for my little apprentice. Homer, do you know where I can find different Magos spells?" Alex asked.
Homer paused for a second.
(Shit, did I say something weird?) Alex thought, starting to sweat.
"You're a Magos, Alex?" Homer asked.
Alex nearly panicked. He had made such a rookie mistake. Damn it.
"Hahaha, yes, but I'm not that strong, though. Just a 1st level Spark Magic..." Alex said, trying to downplay it.
"HAHAHAHAHAH!!! GOOOD, GOOD, GOOOOD!!!" Homer laughed heartily with Alex.
Homer then pointed to the second floor.
"Down here, you'll mostly find history and other boring stuff. Upstairs is where the Magos spells are. Let's go," he said, leading the way to the stairs that spiraled upwards.
As they ascended, they reached a landing where guards were stationed.
"Greetings. You'll need to pay to access the second floor," a guard in iron armor stated.
"I see. Here you go," Alex said, handing over the payment.
"Thirty bronze coins," the guard specified.
"Here you go," Alex said as he paid.
Both of them proceeded to the second floor.
Alex was surprised when the guards didn't take any coins from Homer.
"Why didn't they..." Alex started to ask.
"Well, I'm kind of special here. I'm an amateur writer. Don't worry about it," Homer said with a smile.
Alex's eyes widened in realization. Was this Homer... the Homer he was thinking of? What period was this? He couldn't make sense of anything, so he decided to ask later about what Homer was writing.
The second floor was a vast space filled with shelves, each one lined with people examining the contents.
"In this section, you'll find Tier 1 Spark Spells. The second shelf holds Tier 5 Spark Spells, and the third shelf contains Tier 6 Spark Spells," Homer explained, guiding Alex through the rows.
Alex nodded, committing the information to memory.
"What about that shelf?" Alex pointed to a shelf surrounded by a bronze barrier, placed higher up.
"Ah, that's where the forbidden spells are kept. They're only here because the protective spells in this establishment can suppress their immense evil aura. Even that bronze is blessed by the gods' power—one of the few times we've cooperated with them. Forbidden spells are some of the most malevolent creations in all the worlds. There's a theory that they're directly sent to the human world from Hades' underworld," Homer explained.
"Hm, well, it's good they're protected," Alex said, relieved. He wanted nothing to do with those techniques.
"Good, now let's choose a spell." Homer and Alex headed to the Tier 1 Spark Spells section to browse through the options.
Alex, not knowing much about the spells, decided to ask for help.
"Can you... explain to me how to learn spells?" he asked.
"Huh?" Homer was surprised.
"You see, I only know a few spells, and I kind of... forgot how to learn new ones. Where I come from, you learn spells by talent—if you have talent and repeat the spell enough times, you just learn it," Alex said, making up an excuse.
"Haha, right... alright then, I'll teach you the spells, Teacher..." Homer joked, making Alex blush with embarrassment.
There wasn't much choice; Alex needed to learn this.
Homer approached the spells and began to explain.
"You see, this spell is called Inkstone..."
There was a long talk about how the spells worked as Alex managed to discover the immense complex theory behind the spells of this world which made Alex think, this world was even more mysterious than he previously thought.
End of Chapter.