Regardless of what Amadeus thought, hunters in Alcacia didn't see much use in studying. Most hunters in the peaceful merchant city were lower ranked, and even the few higher ranks rarely ventured very far from the safety of the walls. Hands on experience and physical training were enough for them to get by.
"Well, what do you think?" Reid asks while gesturing his shy companion into the room.
"Wow." Faerie answered with a look of wonder. "It's amazing."
While the existence of tracing and production magic made books fairly affordable, it was still rare to see so many in one place. Outside of libraries and noble houses of course.
"So what kind of books were you hoping to read?" The boy asks.
"I don't know. All of them I guess!"
"Haha, alright. Well, when Lilly mentioned this place, she said the left shelf is for magical stuff, like spell books or alchemy manuals. The middle shelf is for boring stuff like history books or research manuals. And the last shelf is the interesting one, its got all the story books and stuff." His biases were on full display in his response.
"They may not be fun, but the knowledge that can be gained from history books and manuals are very important." Amadeus chides him telepathically.
"Exactly! Don't be mean to the books Reid." Faerie says with a small pout on her face. "Apologize to the books."
"Right, right, sorry Mr. Book." He says sarcastically. "Well, why don't you go take a look. See if anything catches your eye."
The smile instantly returns to her face.
"Okay!" She replied with glee before running off toward the shelves.
"So, are we really going to memorize all of this?" Reid asks Amadeus telepathically.
"Not all at once. But yes, eventually we will. We'll start a library of our own in the mental plane."
"Crap…"
"Now, I think we should start with…"
As the two discuss the specifics of memorizing the entirety of the library, Faerie walks gleefully down the row of books. History, alchemy, even math, they were all fascinating to the curious youth. Eventually she stopped near the end of the fiction section, her attention was caught on one particularly thick blue shelled book.
"Oh, I know this one." She muttered to herself as she tried reaching for the book that sat high up, on the top shelf.
The book remained frustratingly out of reach until another hand reached over her head to grab it in her stead.
"This the one you want?" Reid asks while handing the book to her.
"Yes! This is the one that Mary always reads to us, but it looks a lot bigger than normal."
Reid takes a peek at the title, The Folktales of Stahlnine: A Combined Anthology.
Faerie quickly plops the book down onto the table as she hops up onto a wooden seat.
"Um... Reid, would you mind reading a story for me?" She asks nervously. Even though Mary had taught the girl to read common, she still preferred hearing someone read stories out loud to her.
"Sure, any story in particular?" The boy asks while sitting down next to her.
"Anything is fine, and thanks!" She said with a smile on her face.
Reid pulls the book in front of him and immediately realized something was wrong. The boy didn't know it yet but the written language he had been taught was primarily humish, with just enough common to get by in day to day life.
His father, despite being a half elf, was part of the human supremacist faction. As such he believed that having to learn to read and write in common was beneath him. Due to his bigotry, Reid now had to deal with the fact that the language he can read and the language he can speak are not the same.
"Amadeus can you, uh, help me out here? I can't understand this…" He asks through their connection.
"What? Why did you volunteer to read if your illiterate?" Amadeus responds in an irritated tone.
"I'm not illiterate! I can read… Just not this."
*Sigh* "Fine."
Amadeus switched places with Reid.
"Eep!" The abrupt change made Faerie jump a little.
"Wait, why did you switch? I just wanted you to tell me what it says." Reid complains to Amadeus.
"Are you serious? I refuse to sit here and translate the whole time. That's ridiculously inefficient. I'll just read it to her and save us both some time." He responds with his typical cold tone.
"Are you going read Mr. Amadeus?"
"Yes, so long as you're okay with it."
She gives him a small nod while leaning in close to look at his face.
"Mr. Amadeus… Do I know you from somewhere?"
"I don't believe so. Why do you ask?"
"I don't know why, but I feel like I know you somehow… Sorry for saying weird stuff." The girl is unsure how to explain the sense of familiarity that she felt with Amadeus.
"There's no need to apologize. I am curious as to why I seem familiar to you. I don't exactly have a normal appearance after all." He says while pointing to his glowing eyes.
"I guess that makes sense…" Fairie says while looking down. "But it's still true! I feel like there's a connection between us."
"Is that so?" Amadeus takes a moment to consider the girls strange statement.
"I wonder…" He begins to remember a recent conversation. "Faerie, you are an elf correct?"
"Mmhmm, or a dark elf at least."
"Then perhaps that has something to do with it. I was recently informed that elves and spirits share a bond of sorts. I have no idea what that bond entails, but that is probably why you feel this way."
"Oh really? That's interesting! I don't know a lot about being an elf, since I grew up in human territory and all. I hope I can learn more about it someday!"
"That's a great attitude to take, and who knows, maybe there's a book somewhere in this library that can teach you more."
"I hope so!" She says with a big smile on her face.
"Well we certainly got off track there, how about I start reading."
"Yes please!"
Amadeus takes a seat next to the young dark elf and pulls the book between the two of them. Faerie's chair scraped against the wooden floor as she tried to move closer to the new narrator.
After an exaggerated cough to clear his throat, he began spinning an audible yarn.
"Long ago, when the world was but dust cresting the void, the great god of creation, Vala, looked out upon the nothingness and decided to give it form. By her will, the realms were forged. The realm of mana, Onesel, the realm of spirit, Itwonna, and the six physical realms.
The great goddess of life, Axia, then looked out upon the new realms and decided they were too still. By their will, they created the races and beasts that inhabit the lands. In time one race came to dominate each realm, elves in Elthrese, beastkin in Druforce, humans in Fiftiss, dwarves in Seistiss, demons in Heptill, and the elementals in Coldate.
For a long time there was peace, but it was not meant to last. The great god of chaos, Zhelzia, decided the realms were boring. Disgusted by the stagnation of the races, he forged a new realm; a congregation where all beings could meet and live together. He named it, Stahlnine. For many centuries to follow, each realm and its deities vied for power within the new realm. These conflicts continued to grow in scale and intensity, eventually leading to The Great War. Despite their differences, the power of the various races were nearly equal. With no side able to claim victory over the others, the war slowed into a stalemate. That delicate balance fell apart the day the malice appeared.
The demons, a kind race with gray and red skin, horns, and bat like wings, had their realm invaded by malice. The parasitic sludge spread through their realm like a plague. The demons tried to resist, but they failed, and the corruption claimed them. Their gentle hands grew razor sharp claws, their warm expressions grew harsh and hateful, and their skin turned pure black with unsettling lumps of strewn on flesh that moved as if they were a being all their own.
The corrupted demons were stronger than anyone could have anticipated. The tides of war shifted instantly. With every battle fought and won, the malice claimed more victims, growing their army even further. The unprecedented threat of the demons could not be ignored.
In response to the demon threat, representatives of the five races met at the 'summit of heroes'. An alliance was formed to drive back the threat of the demons and their malice. Slowly but surely they were pushed back to Heptill, while the scant few that remained in Stahlnine went into hiding.
With the threat of malice ever present, a new nation was formed in the center of the continent, Allios. It stood as a bulwark against malice, and as a symbol of strength that had been achieved through unity. The end."
As he finishes the story Amadeus lifts his head to see Faerie's glimmering yellow eyes.
"Wow Mr. Amadeus! You're like, the best story reader ever!" Her enjoyment was infectious, and even Reid had to admit the man was a good storyteller.
"How'd you get so good?" She wondered.
"I simply have plenty of experience. I used read for my own kids long ago."
"You have kids!? Aren't you too young?" She asks confused.
To answer her question, Amadeus pulled the guild card from his shirt and showed it to the girl.
"As you can see, I'm quite the old man. I just look young because Reid and I are sharing his body."
"Whoa!" She said as her eyes shot open. "6000… Even us elves don't live that long. Do you think I could meet your kids one day? I think it would be tons of fun to play with them." Her voice was full of childish innocence.
"Unfortunately, that can't happen. They passed away millennia ago."
"Oh, I'm sorry…" She said as she looked away and began rubbing her hands together.
"It's fine, you have nothing to apologize for. They all lived long and fulfilling lives. At one point, I offered them the same method I used to extend my lifespan past that of a normal human, but they all said no. They said they wanted to remain as regular humans, and that I was on a path they simply couldn't follow.
I tried to convince them, but in the end, I respected their decisions. They all lived a long and fulfilling life. They were lucky enough to pass away peacefully, while surrounded by loved ones. I maintained a relationship with their families for a time, but after a few generations they all began to feel like strangers." He explained in a matter of fact tone, although it was quite a bit softer than when he was talking to Reid.
"Weren't you sad?" She wondered.
"Perhaps for a time, but I had my research to keep my mind occupied. Besides, what happened was just the natural order of things. People grow old and eventually die. Honestly I am the anomaly for living so long."
"Hmmm." Faerie thinks for a while on what he said. "I still think that would be lonely." She concluded.
"I've never really given it much thought… but enough about that, how about we read another story?" He says with a slight smile.
"Yeah!" She shouts.
Amadeus begins to flip through the book, searching for an interesting story to read. Suddenly a certain title catches his eye.
"Usurper?" He says aloud.
"Oh, I know that one."
"What's it about?" He asks curiously.
"Mmmm, I think it's about a guy they call the Usurper who thought he was the best person at everything. He challenges a god to a contest but gets beaten really bad. It ends with him being embarrassed and dying all alone. It made me really sad the first time I heard it." She frowns at the memory.
"A man who was embarrassed after he was defeated by a god…" He says under his breath while holding his ID up to his face to read it.
'TALENT: Dual Soul, Runic Magic, Enchantment, Alchemy, Usurper'
"Usurper..." He muttered again, and for a brief moment, he could swear he heard a certain god laughing at him.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
A gentle Autumn breeze flowed through a quiet city park. Danny, Lance, and Anna all sat around a picnic blanket, completely exhausted. In the end they were no match for Faeth's boundless energy. Even now the young dark elf girl was frolicking alone through the park.
Mary and Cynthia sat on their own blanket, not too far from the kids. Mary had a gentle smile on her face as Cynthia began to prepare lunches from the large wicker basket in front of her.
"I don't know how she does it." Anna complains.
"No idea. I thought guard training was tough, but keeping up with her is impossible." Danny admits.
"Heh, just you wait Faeth. I'm not done yet… just give me a second to catch my breath." Lance says while trying to hide his labored breathing.
The three continue to relax under the warm sun when a familiar voice suddenly calls out from behind.
"Did we miss anything?" Reid asks.
They all look over as the boy and the other elf twin join them on the blanket.
"Not much, just a bit of cardio." Anna replies with a warm tone. "How was the library?"
"It was so much fun! Mr. Amadeus read some stories for me, and even promised to teach me some magic!"
Everyone's jaw dropped at the quiet girl's sudden declaration. They were surprised that Amadeus would be teaching the girl, sure, but what truly shocked them was how bold and energetic Faerie was acting.
"That's amazing Faerie." Cynthia says as she walks over with a plate full of sandwiches. "Did you make sure to say thank you?"
"Mmhmm, but thank you again Mr. Amadeus."
"It's no problem. It will help me experiment and learn about a new casting method I wanted to employ. It's a win-win." He speaks telepathically to everyone.
"That's wonderful Faerie. I'm surprised though, I had no idea you wanted to be a mage." Cynthia admits.
"I always liked magic, but I couldn't do the chants like Faerie could. But if I can do magic without having to cast, then there's no problem! I cant wait!" She said with a satisfied smile.
At the same time she finished her explanation, Faeth finally returned to the group. She immediately ran up to her sister and locked her in a tight hug, nearly lifting her counterpart off the ground.
"So you're gonna be able to do magic too?" Faeth asks. She was all too aware of how much it hurt her twin to not be able to perform magic with her.
"Mmhmm!" She answers as she hugs her back.
"Well that's wonderful. Thank you Amadeus." Cynthia says while smiling in the twins direction.
"Like I said, this benefits me as well. There's no need for your thanks."
"Even so, thank you."
"Seriously, there's-"
Amadeus was cut off by Danny. "You may as well just give it up, she may not look it but Cynthia's as stubborn as they come."
Everyone on the blanket nods their head in agreement.
"I see… then you are welcome."
With that, they began a wonderful picnic between the whole orphanage. The sense of comfort and normalcy of the event signified an end their crazy first couple of weeks together.