SECRETS OF THE STONES

Having been given one hundred gold coins and a small shack behind Academy’s grounds, Lynne happily salivated over the shimmering coins as he inspected each and every one in the greatest detail despite the fact they were identical. However, here and there, he’d spot a few differences and flaws, which had him frowning, but just a moment later that frown turned upside down as he saw the rest of the coins. With his belly full, he bathed in the nearby makeshift lake before returning back to his shack and lying on a rather simple and plain bed. But, contrasting it to the cold stone and splintered wood of his last sleep, it was like difference between heaven and hell.

He had slept well and woke up rested and ready for a day. As classes have been canceled due to the yesterday’s events, he had a day full of freedom to do what he desired. Every fiber in his being screamed at him to go and spend all the gold he was given, but he held back. Not until I have daily income… endure, endure dammit! It was truly torturous watching the gold coins lined on the table and knowing he can’t spend them recklessly. He could feel his heart bleed, but he endured.

As he was free and unable to spend coins, he picked up the medal that was given to him by the Principal of the Academy and headed off to the library. His knowledge of current events and even in-depth knowledge of Magic was severely lacking, and as he decided to do his best in becoming a Magus, knowledge wasn’t something he could lack.

Library was a building stationed on the eastern side of the Academy grounds and was second largest in the midst. Much like others, it was built out of pure, white stone which seemingly glittered underneath the sun. It was twelve stories tall and decorated with various sculptures of people and beasts, with arched windows, terraces fenced off with balustrades, and a hefty influx of young and old going in and out. Main doorway was tall, good three-four meters up, and the doors were wooden and wide open. Above was a sculpture of an opened book, pages fluttering, with ‘Library’ carved into the arched stone beneath. Lynne stared briefly in awe but quickly shook his head; just how much gold was poured into this… such shame! Blasphemy!

As he had the medallion, he was given a small, silver key which could open doors of the first five floors of the library. Next to the reception desk was a large, heavily decorated scroll detailing what first six floors of the library contained; seventh and up floors were restricted to teachers and above.

Gotta start at the… well, start. Lynne thought as he headed left, to the first floor of the library. Bookshelves towered at two meters, filled to brim with all kinds of books – new, old, worn out, parchments… for a moment he felt too overwhelmed and thought about leaving, but after gritting his teeth he headed off to the department named ‘Histories of Highlind’. Picking up a book at random, he slowly began reading – or, rather, skimming through, as most of the books were at least six hundred pages long, and most passed even a thousand. If he were to read them thoroughly, Lynne believed he’d grow old and die in the library.

After a couple of hours of skimming through the books detailing the history of ‘Highlind Kingdom’, he felt satisfied enough and moved onto the other departments. Although very brief, the history of ‘Highlind Kingdom’ was very rich. It was first formed when legendary warrior Astark decided to leave the King he had served for nearly his entire life for he felt the King had grown corrupt. Establishing base at the southernmost part of the Alloy, Highlind grew as the offset of Elvarheimn Empire, the largest Kingdom of the Alloy continent since the age of the known. Bit by bit, more and more people began inhabiting Highlind as Astark – as the King – was relatively open-minded to all religions and cultures of the time. It was slowly established as the cultural center of the Alloy, boosting impressive knowledge and growing into a formidable military force due to the advancements made in Magic and blacksmithing, as well as having myriad of gem mines and fertile land. For the longest time the Kingdom was left alone due to all those factors, but – even if it wasn’t included in any of the books – Lynne knew that Highlind was currently at war both with Elvarheimn and Rolyrhard Kingdoms, which bordered it. However, as the border was extensive mountainous range, it was extremely hard for invaders to actually invade.

As he skimmed through the other departments, Lynne understood why the first floor was called ‘General Histories’, as that’s exactly what they were. Just some basics, cultural legends, stories of ancient, legendary warriors… very little of actual ‘histories’ were written.

However, he had more luck while exploring the second floor of the library – Contemporary Histories. There he had learn much of the current situations regarding the seven Kingdoms placed on Alloy continent. Of the seven, Elvarheimn Empire boosted the largest economic and military force, but had severely lacked fertile lands, especially towards the North. As it bordered the Northern Wastelands, it was often invaded by various types of monsters. Situation was similar with Rolyrhard Kingdom, but on a much lesser scale. The worst of the ‘Northern Invasions’ was seen by Baselr Kingdom, whose technological advancements were by far the worst. Besides Highlind, the most prosperous – culturally and technologically – Kingdom was Saylar, as it had absolutely no contact with either North or East Wastelands. It also sported the largest sea fleet of all the Kingdoms, and there were rumors that they had established contact with other land masses as well out there in the sea.

Lynne felt his head burn slightly as he took in all the information. From political strife currently breaking Elvarheimn inside-out, to supposed march of the monsters from the East, it all seemed so distant to Lynne that he barely bothered remembering it. However, as he read up on the Highlind, he grew a bit more intrigued.

Current political structure still hasn’t been updated as it’s only been a few days since the overthrow, but Lynne had doubts hierarchy would change much. Starting with the King, who had absolute law in his hands, it divided into Lordships – of which there were seven – who ruled over the territories of the Kingdom. The territories were split into Douches of the Noblemen, who were responsible for military growth of the Kingdom. In essence, it followed the system of ‘King giveth land, land giveth Soldiers’. There weren’t much information on Douches save for the fact that there were currently thirty-six active ones, but what caught Lynne’s eye was that reputable Magus of the Kingdom were oftentimes loaned off to fight either Northern or Eastern invasions of the monsters. We’re at war dammit! But, then again, I can’t imagine they were loaned off for cheap… right, it’s a right decision. Always amass gold. Gold saves. Gold never betrays.

Magus were hired independently of the regular military, and could work for as little as one copper if they chose so, or as high as thousands of gold per military campaign. Aah! I was right, the path of Magus is truly the path of riches… Lynne slowly began salivating as he started daydreaming of the days when he’ll become Magus and sell off his services for thousands of gold. Bed of gold… bath of gold… wives of gold…

More than half a day had passed before he moved on to the third floor which had information on Basics of Magic. Departments were divided by the elemental type: Fire, Air, Earth and Water, respectively. It consisted mostly of the information regarding the basics of control, conjuring, manipulation and arts of combining different types – nothing he didn’t know.

One book, though, gripped his intention immediately as he laid eyes upon it: ‘Art of Mana Growth’. He picked it up without hesitation and began reading – for the first time – from first to last letter. If gold was the basic necessity of the carefree life of love and wonder, then Mana was the basic necessity of any successful Magus. The more you had it, the bigger spells you could unleash. The more you had, the more you could fight. It was simple math, really.

The book instructed on various ways to acquire larger base Mana; from battling and natural growth, to consuming beastly souls, to ‘bathing in elements’ daily… there was no ‘best way’ as far as Lynne understood and it all depended on the personal preferences. One way, though, that stuck with Lynne the most was the ‘Warrior Magus’ chapter. It detailed that physical growth can be linked to magical one, and combining two could, in theory, lead to the ultimate soldier. However, Lynne’s face continued sinking as he read on. Not only was that just a theory, but even the ‘requirements’ that the theory posed were absolutely insane. Training every day for sixteen hours at least, multitasking between training the body and the magic, combining two through grueling pain… no wonder nobody tested this theory. This is freaking insane.

By the time he was done with the third floor, the night had already fallen over Edgemaw. Lynne left the library and headed straight to the lunchroom. Because of his attribution to clearing up the case of murder, he was given a relatively insane discount on pork chop. Whereas others had to pay at least sixty silver coins for one portion, Lynne only had to pay thirty copper coins. Because of this, he calculated that – if he spent it sparingly – those three hundred gold coins could last him a very, very long time. He ate two portions rather quickly and headed back to the small shack. However, he was stopped in his tracks by two Knights tasked with guarding the Academy grounds. They delivered the message from the Principal, and then dragged him off to the main building where the Principal’s office was stationed. What the hell does that old man want?

Principal’s office was located at the top of the main building, where he could oversee the entirety of Academy grounds through window, and even majority of the Upper Ring. It was rather spacious and adorned with colorful paintings and books, and even tables and chairs were decorated fancily and were built of Elk wood. However, the Principal wasn’t alone; as guards dropped Lynne off into the office, he was greeted by four figures, excluding the old man. They all wore rather plain robes, but the key was that all their faces were hidden under a hood, and Lynne couldn’t distinguish one from another.

“Lynne, please take a seat,” the Principal spoke in a rather haughty voice pointing at the empty chair. “I hope we didn’t disturb you terribly.”

“….” Lynne stayed silent as he observed the others, cautiously taking a seat. “What’s this all about?” he asked. He even felt a tinge of dread as he could feel a large amounts of Mana seeping out of the four figures. They aren’t simple…

“I asked you to come here to offer you a job.”

“Does it pay?”

“Eh---yes?”

“I’ll take it.” Lynne said bluntly, his expression flat. Daily income!! Yaaay! Although, on the surface, he appeared to be indifferent about the whole thing, his soul was burning with joy.

“How about you listen to our request first?” the Principal said, laughing nervously as he sat down.

“Do tell.” Lynne calmly added.

“In the light of the recent events,” the Principal began. “We conducted a thorough investigation into the manner of young Lionel’s death. The investigation, though, has led us to some rather… disturbing conclusions.” the Principal took a pause as he glanced over the four figures. He only continued as all of them nodded. “The murder was a part of a much larger thing; as you know, our Kingdom is currently at war with both Elvarheimn and Rolyrhard Kingdoms, both of which only need us but to slip for a moment to take over. However, thanks to valiant effort of our Soldiers, we’re hanging on.” Lynne nodded. “In the light of this, we have uncovered that the murder was attempt of Elvarheimn forces to create disturbance from within. It served as warning and a threat to Duke Virmicht, as he is heavily responsible for maintenance of the military. However, as Duke is a great man loyal to his Kingdom, he naturally ignored it. Despite it, though, we have realized that there are spies who are stationed rather highly within the Capital. The fact that Duke Virmicht is maintaining the military expenses isn’t public knowledge, and only selected people know of it. We believe that this murder was just the first step in a much larger plan that the spies are concocting in order to destroy us from within. We’d like to ask you to investigate the manner and report your findings to us.”

“Eh?” Lynne arched his brow slightly, terribly confused. “That’s a political nightmare,” Lynne said bluntly. “A disaster waiting to happen. Don’t you guys have some well-trained stealth-stealthy guys who usually take care of stuff like this? What can I do anyway? I can’t just start knocking from doors to doors and asking ‘Hey, are you by some chance a spy bent on destroying our Kingdom?’. And, considering what happened to Lionel, I’m not too keen on prying deeper into the knife that’s not even aimed at my throat at the moment.”

“Perceptive mind,” one of the hooded figures spoke out in a deep voice. “But mostly whiny.”

“Look at me,” Lynne turned towards the source of the voice, slightly annoyed. “I barely have Mana in my veins unlike some who just let it seep out like it’s not a big deal.” his words suddenly stunned others as the room fell into silence; ha! There’s no better worder than me! Wait, is worder a word? It has to be! It’s not.

“Y-you can sense it?” the Principal asked haggardly after a few moments.

“Of course I can, it’s practically filling up the entire room. I can barely breathe.” Lynne complained as he grew more comfortable and realized they won’t be killing him.

“Ha ha!” one of the hooded figures suddenly burst out in laughter as they got up from the chair. “I’ll take him,” the figure added. “He’s too interesting to pass on.”

“Sorry, I’m not in the business of selling my body.” Lynne refused blatantly.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’m not interested in whiny brats either,” the figure replied. “But, I am interested in teaching you how to do what you are tasked with. Question is, are you interested in learning?”

“Hm?” Lynne creased his brow as he looked at the figure.

“Your task is to uncover the spies within our capital,” the figure explained. “In order to do that, you’ll need certain skills. The reason why we chose you specifically was not because we thought you were fit for the job right away. The reason is because you’re a nobody,” ouch. “With nothing,” please stop. “And no one.” Damn you!! Lynne was nearly crying. “You don’t stand out and very few people know of you, and ever fewer remember your face. Skills required can always be learned, but such invisibility to other people is a god-given gift.” My heart is bleeding, please stop!! “Today was just a matter of seeing who’ll be teaching you. It just happens that I chose to volunteer. We have about a week to instill some basics and such, so let’s not waste anytime.”

“I’d like to revise my previous stat--”

“Yappy yappy, shut uppy,” the figure hummed as they grabbed Lynne into their clutches, easily lifting him up and carrying him like a log between armpit and waist. “Well, ladies and gentlemen, I’ll be seeing you around.”

As such, the two of them disappeared in the puff of smoke, leaving others in the silence of the ages. Cursed you all be!! Lynne thought as he slipped into blackness of unconsciousness.