Chapter 3 : Unexpected

"Mr. Lloyd, can I get this book?"

"No books can be taken out of the academy library."

"..."

Mr Lloyd, the old librarian, answered dryly without even glancing at Harvey and the book he was carrying.

Mr Lloyd is quite a mysterious man. He looks like an ordinary older man, but rumours say that he is a powerful mage. No one knows where this older man came from.

Once upon a time, there was a student who wanted to take a book out of the library. But before the student managed to get out of the library door, he suddenly fainted without knowing why. Many students thought that it was Mr Lloyd's doing to prevent the book from being stolen. But no one knows the truth because the distance between the librarian's place and the library entrance is quite far. In the end, the student was suspended by the Arcane Academy professor.

"Mr. Lloyd, I found this book lying in the bottom corner of the 2nd floor."

Mr Lloyd, who was initially busy reading a book, turned to Harvey.

'Hmm'

He looked Harvey up and down, and he had a slight impression of Harvey. It was also because Harvey was quite famous. Aside from being a descendant of a family of wizards, Harvey himself had a pretty bad reputation for his lack of power.

"Hmm... Harvey Remington?"

"Hah?"

"Are you Harvey Remington?"

"Uh, yes, Mr Lloyd."

"You know that no books are allowed out of the library?"

"..."

Mr Lloyd glanced at the tattered book. He then narrowed his eyes, fixed on the shabby book.

"Give it to me."

Harvey gave him the book.

As Mr Lloyd examined the shabby book, he had a slightly confused expression on his face. However, he quickly returned to his cold expression.

"Empty? Where did you find this book?"

"The book is lying under the corner of the 2nd floor, sir."

"Hmm, there doesn't seem to be a book like this in the academy library."

"Eh, then, can I take it?"

Mr Lloyd, who heard Harvey's words, glanced back at him. He then gave the book back to Harvey.

"Take it"

"Thank you, Mr Lloyd."

It was Harvey who received the book and put it in his pocket, then quickly said goodbye to Mr Lloyd and left the library.

After Harvey left, Mr Lloyd looked back in the direction where Harvey had gone.

'Gillian looks like this descendant of yours lives up to what you said.'

Mr Lloyd, who was alone there, sighed and muttered with a sad expression.

"Did you predict this, Gillian? Huhu looks like I still have to keep my promise."

***

Harvey, who came out of the library, rushed to head back to his dorm room.

Arcane Academy student dorm rooms are separated between boys and girls. The male dorm room where Harvey was located was to the west of the main building. Meanwhile, female students are located in the east of the main building.

It wasn't long after Harvey walked in he finally made it to his room. Curious about the book, Harvey quickly entered and locked the door to his room.

Harvey opened his pocket and took the book. As his hand held the shabby book, the necklace around his neck shook again. He was curious about why the necklace was vibrating.

'What should I do

Harvey frowned. He was confused, not knowing what to do.

'Is it possible..'

Harvey placed the book on the table, and then he removed the necklace his grandfather had given him from around his neck. Then Harvey put the necklace on top of the book. But the results did not match Harvey's expectations.

'...huh?

"Nothing happens?"

Harvey went into a daze and just stared blankly at the book and necklace.

"Hah, damn it."

Harvey cursed softly. He thought something would happen or that the empty shabby book would have a secret inscription on it. It may also contain a treasure map. But in the end, it didn't match what Harvey had hoped for.

He then took the necklace back and wanted to put it back on. But when he took the necklace.

"ackkk"

A small scream escaped Harvey's mouth. His index finger suddenly bleeds like it was stabbed by a needle. Harvey's blood dripped on Harvey's necklace. The emerald-coloured gem was stained with blood and flowed into the shabby book. After that, something unexpected happened.

"Uh, what is this? Did my wish come true?"

Harvey was shocked by what suddenly happened.

The shabby book that had been silent at first began to vibrate like Harvey's necklace. The longer the two objects vibrate, the faster. Harvey's necklace began to emit a bright light. Harvey narrowed his eyes at the light emitting from the necklace.

'crack - click'

There was a crack in the necklace, and the light emitted was getting brighter. Harvey then reached his hand out for the necklace.

At that time.

Puffs!

Before he could even reach the necklace, the necklace and the book shattered into pieces and broken in all directions.

And it was carried away by a sudden wind and sucked into Harvey's fingertips.

Harvey gasped in surprise at this sudden scene.

'suck-

'Whoops-

Harvey's eyes widened, and he took a deep breath. Wild magic mana began to enter Harvey's body.

'hiss-

Harvey was starting to hurt because of the uncontrollable magic of Mana. The foreign Mana flowed through every muscle and vein of Harvey's body. A sticky black liquid oozed from the pores of Harvey's body. The foreign Mana helps clean the dirt inside Harvey's body.

Strange Mana was flowing over and over again in Harvey's body. The pain in Harvey's body began to subside, and the black liquid that came out of the pores of Harvey's body increased. The dirt that had accumulated on Harvey's body also came from the various elixirs he had drunk since childhood. Elixir has a fairly high source of mana energy but is not entirely free from impurities.

'pop!

Simultaneously with the easing of the pain in Harvey's body.

Harvey heard a pop-like sound in his head. Harvey held his head in pain.

"Arghhh!"

Harvey screamed in pain. As his head felt pain, unfamiliar words were transmitted to Harvey's brain.

But Harvey didn't understand the content of the knowledge because he was in too much pain.

Sentence by sentence, transmitted into Harvey's brain to form a piece of knowledge. Harvey only understood that it was something called the 'Heart of Mana'.

He tried to focus on the knowledge transmitted to his brain. But he couldn't concentrate on understanding it.

An hour, two hours... time passed until Harvey finally passed out from the pain. Although the pain in his body had lessened a bit, Harvey's head felt like it was about to explode, making him unable to take it anymore.