8 Storms & Clouds
'What in the-'
He thought it was all a dream.
The moment he was about to curse, he felt an unsettling hunger as his stomach let out a large rumble as it echoes throughout the library.
'I'm quite hungry though I already ate...Might as well use some of my ration ones..'
On some days he would lose the appetite to go eat and the credits he receive to buy the food would be unspent and could be used for another day.
Credits could be used in the school to buy the luxury food and other magic items to boost efficiency. But due to the contract he signed for those who can't buy common commodities, the credit he received could only buy essentials and food.
He heads off to the canteen once more, feeling more famished than others.
Reaching the main door, he opens it to reveal the appalling scent of spices and meat.
He goes and sits down, and a chef who sees him regularly comes around, who just so happened to be old like the librarian and they were forced to keep the job at the academy forever due to strict regulations of secrecy and magical knowledge to be held high.
His name was Gordon and he forgot his last name due to memory loss.
"What can I get for you lad?"
"I'll get the Second Ration Set please."
"Treating yourself I see? Coming right up!"
Everyday, he would receive the same set meal for a period of time before it is recycled after a month. The Second Ration Set was more like common food that could be seen in feasts and aren't exquisite with other food items like the rock lobster they serve with its shell as hard as rock which held succulent white sweet meat and dazzling innards that taste like butter.
Gordon comes back out the kitchen and out came two dishes. One was a noodle dish that hailed from the Eastern Continent, a staple that becomes a luxury in another part of the world. It was the dry version of such and it was mixed with dried chili and other herbs to make it smell nicely and great noodles al dente and could hold the saturated spice mixture pretty well to guarantee to keep flavor with every bite. The other was a sizable rack of lamb cooked in salt and pepper with a few garnish to come with. These would be common goods one could find in Solreach and it would probably cost an arm and a leg to a commoner, a few luxury that Ray could enjoy. The moment the food appeared on his table, he thanked Gordon who shined a bright smile and went into the noodles. The flavor seeps into his mouth and he immediately took a piece of the lamb and chewed along with.
Pure bliss.
It costed 5 days worth of credits to Ray but he enjoyed every bite of it.
Each bite made him sweat from the dry heat and the tender lamb that held no stench from blood.
A master chef must've cooked it as he wanted more, but his stomach couldn't handle it.
He finishes the last noodles before pouring the remainder of the lamb into the bowl with the dry rub and sauce. Mixing it very well before asking a servant on the side to get a bowl of rice, a free item one could by to ensure nobody dies of hunger in the academy at the least.
He finished eating and he felt the capacity of his stomach all the way filled.
This would usually never happen to him with the normal set of food items, so it was a bargain for him.
He walked out with a bulging belly, noticeable due to his small physique.
But at the moment he opened the door, he felt an extremely fast metabolism enter his stomach and completely erased the bulge.
The satisfaction of eating all that food was gone and hunger was replaced once more.
Everything in the world has mana, everyday objects contains just a sliver of such, which eased his overwhelming hunger for magic to an extent. But he doesn't know this, he wasn't a beast nor a savage.
'Wha-?!'
He didn't know what to do at this point, he was panicking what he could do to ease his hunger as it would most likely repeat itself.
He goes back in to try once more with a more puzzling face Gordon who cooked it once more.
Ray now knew common food would ease his hunger, but the price to eat it was extreme.
he would have to use at least 50 days worth of credits to survive one day, not even he could fork up that much credits, something essential that makes buying it so expensive and so common in the academy that no one could sell it. He was even closer to death than he thought and so he gloomily returned back to the library.
His happy times was always reading books and fully memorizing the contents. His brain capacity allowed him to hold information of all books he read to an extent with his strong memorization skills, and with longevity, it had been improving.
He found a book, 'Storms & Clouds Vol 1' by Ed Dallus, a famed magician who aced in Lightning Magic that hailed from Moire, his theoretical grading was quite low to his actual magic talent though.
The moment he flipped through half of the book in quick pace thinking of his impending doom, he remembers his dream.
he contemplated over the ideal since any magic book catches high prices at the market value.
'Mmmmm.... Might as well give it a shot.'
He made sure that the librarian was still taking her long afternoon nap, he crumpled a page and devoured it.
His mind went blank as he collapsed once more.
But his consciousness was still there, in his dream realm.
'What is this?' He wondered, as a man wearing light blue robes with yellow linings on it, showing his mastery as a roaming magician in the Lightning magic field.
He began chanting three words and a magic circle appeared at the base of his staff.
The complex design showed itself to Ray as it finally shot out a single lightning bolt from his palm, a traditional way of casting magic by hand other than a staff. As he witnessed it, the construction of the circle itself to the revolving circle, the bolt finally came out as it struck a dummy. It twitched for a bit before going silent, black marks appeared on the body.
In his mind, he could somewhat feel a message appearing in his head, as if carved inside his head.
he used his consciousness' hands and read out the words.
[Understanding of book is ADVANCED]
['Storms & Clouds Vol 1' no longer available]
he read out those words within his mind and another thing appeared right after the other.
A grim voice that spoke of evil and darkness. A demon almost.
[Level 1 Lightning Bolt Learned...]
