"Finished with your book already?" Melville greeted me with an eyebrow raised.
"Yes," I replied with a smile, "it was very interesting, have you, perhaps, kept the other books I chose yesterday here at the counter?"
"Nope. I've already placed them back to their rightful bookcases," he replied. "You should have asked me to reserve them for you if you planned to pick them up the next day."
"I shall keep that in mind next time."
I made my way to the upper floors after that short conversation, back to the eight floor where the rest of the philosophical books were located.
"I might as well read here, since I get quite busy back in the dorms," I told myself as I brought three books to the table nearest to me.
I was just getting into my book about Plotinus when I noticed someone sit in front on me.
"Plato and Plotinus, huh?"
I looked up and was face to face with the mysterious senior from the baths!
"G-good afternoon, senior," I greeted him, raising myself from my seat.
"Oh, do remain seated, I simply decided to follow you up here after seeing you at the lobby," he said with an intrigued smile. "I see you're interested in philosophers?"
"Yes, senior, I like to read about their thoughts and ponder about my own."
"How profound, and what thoughts might you have about these two philosophers?" he went on. "I believe they both agreed on the thought that 'beauty is a form', that it is not something simply viewed by an individual's eye, but depends on the beholder's taste."
"What an interesting interpretation," I said with a smile. "I, myself, believe that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As Plotinus stated,
"True, that is why I find you remarkably beautiful!" he said with a smug grin on his face.
"Because I am a good specimen of a human skeletal system?" I asked with a little laugh.
"Not just your bones, but your muscular and circulatory system as well!" he replied shamelessly. "So, are you willing to be my apprentice now that you have seen that I could be a good conversationalist?"
"Are you?" I asked, amused.
"I could talk to you about philosophy all day!" he laughed as well. "In fact I know a lot about an interesting topic that both philosophers had tackled in the past!"
"And what is that?"
The senior smiled and slowly inched across the table towards me.
"The relationship of magic and religion," he said in a whisper. "Same with the philosopher Pliny, whose book you just returned at the lobby."
I stared at the senior whose playful smile stayed in his rosy lips.
"I guess you caught me," I said with a sigh.
"So, is there something you wish to learn about magic and religion? Or is it religious healing magic you're interested in?"
I gave another sigh before resigning myself to my senior's interrogations.
"I was just wondering why mages can't use their mana to heal, when, according to Plato,
"Well, basically, the source of magic is what differentiates them," the senior readily answered. "The 'natural mana' used by magicians, come from nature and the environment that are gradually collected in their mana core. They need to issue a 'command' through a spell to use it. On the other hand, 'celestial mana' or 'holy spirit' is mostly gifted to priestesses and healers from the gods, and are utilized through a petition in the form of a prayer. Consequently, a warrior's spirit or 'aura' comes from one's own soul and needs a lot of cultivation to manifest and used in combat."
"That would prove to be a problem, then..." I said thoughtfully.
"And why is that?" he asked.
"Since I have long lost faith in any gods," I told him honestly.
I was slightly startled when he started to laugh.
"That makes the two of us, then!" he confessed. "Fanatics say that all types of magic come from the one true Goddess of the Purple Flame, yet children as young as 4 can show proficiency in magic, even without being aware that there's supposed to be a 'goddess' that gave that 'blessing' to them."
"I see your point there," I nodded. "They argue that all life belongs to the Goddess of the Purple Flame, and thus all gifts belong to her as well, and that it is our duty as her creations, to learn about her benevolence," I added, amused with the topic we were discussing.
"Ugh... utter nonsense!" the senior snorted. "Then what do they call the gods from other religions? How could they wield the exact same magic using the exact same mana while worshiping totally different gods?"
"My thoughts exactly!"
"And that's precisely why they decided to wage war against nations with different religions," he concluded with an exasperated sigh. "It's just to justify their fate and make it so that only the Goddess of the Purple Flame actually exists."
"Well... it's the religion with the most believers, or rather, the more man power who wins..."
"And religion is a means to hold such power..."
A moment of silence passed between the two of us.
"Now, are you willing to be my apprentice?" he asked again with a grin.
I couldn't help but laugh at his sudden question.
"Can't we simply be companions? Or friends, even? We could still talk about topics like these without being mentor and apprentice," I pointed out.
"True, but then I might lose you to someone else," he pouted at me.
"Who would want someone like me as an apprentice?" I began to laughed a bit louder.
"It is as Plato and Plotinus agreed upon," he answered. "'Beauty is a form'. It is in the eye of the beholder."
I stopped laughing and felt my face heat up with how he was staring at me so intently.
"T-then..." I slightly stuttered, "we would need to let another game of chess decide the outcome."
The senior's beautiful face slowly broke into a smile.
My face became hotter.
I broke his gaze and was thinking of something else to discuss, when we heard someone clear his throat.
"It is a quarter to seven, please take the books back to the shelves and prepare to leave the library."
It was Melville the librarian! I was actually glad he showed up, yet slightly disappointed as well, though I wonder why...
"I guess it's time to leave," the senior said with a frown. "Will you be visiting the library tomorrow as well?"
"Yes, I plan to spend my afternoons here, unless something comes up."
"And I guess there's no way to tell if something does come up?" he asked with a playful grin.
"I'm afraid so."
"Then I shall take my chances. See you tomorrow, unless you decide to take an early bath in the morning."
"We'll see," I grinned back at him as we made our way back to the ground floor.