Sparks of a Flame (2)

<Access Granted>

Aether breathed out a sigh of relief when those words appeared on the screen by the door. A click and a faint beep sounded, then the door leading into the restricted section of the library creaked open.

He walked inside, then closed the door behind him.

"Let's see," He whispered. Unlike the rest of the library, there were no automatic lights here. No fancy screens to immediately find the books he was looking for either.

It actually reminded him quite a lot of the Yotsuras library. The smell of old parchment and dusty pages was hanging in the air. He took a deep breath and enjoyed the familiar, peaceful smell.

"Light." He whispered as he raised his hand. The silver orb that appeared in his palm remained hanging in the air even after he lowered his hand. "Let's see," He whispered to himself as he looked around.

The Restricted Section was just as large as the normal section of the library, if not larger. He Tried counting the rows of shelves, but lost count after thirty. His smile widened slightly as he carefully stepped forward.

He approached the first shelf and reached for the first row of books he laid his eyes upon. His fingertips touched the spine of a book. He felt the texture of the old leather binding brush against his skin. His lips formed a thin line as he pulled his hand back. These tomes were not cared for properly. They were severely damaged and looked much older than they actually were.

He continued walking amongst the shelves, reading the names on the spines and searching for a particular subject. It took him a while, but when his gaze fell on a book titled 'Eyes of Truth', his eyes narrowed.

He carefully reached and took the book off its shelf. Seeing the dust rising into the air, he held his breath as he stepped away from the shelf with the book in hand. Soon after, the thick layer of dust settled once more, and Aether glanced around to find the seating area. He soon found it, and sat on a wooden chair and placed the book on the desk.

'While magic is very real and visible to the eye, the flow of it is quite impossible to see. Mages have found ways of sensing it using what I'd like to call a sixth sense, but it is, in my belief, not reliable, and only a fraction more real than a myth.' The book read. Aether rolled his eyes and flipped through the pages. "What the hell is this nonsense?" He mumbled.

'A very small fraction of people have, what I'd like to call, Eyes of Truth.'

"Finally!" The young man exhaled, his voice filled with annoyance. "Who let a superstitious idiot like this write a book?" He grumbled as he flipped the page.

'I believe those who have Eyes of Truth are descendants of an old race who could interact with magic as we can with any object. They had ascended, able to warp reality itself with but a simple thought.'

Aether snorted. "Rubbish." He leaned back on the chair and stretched his arms. Was this garbage what he had wasted those points for? Annoyed, he put the book back on its shelf and turned his attention on some other old tomes. He wasn't about to waste his chance to look at every nook and cranny of the restricted section. With a sigh, he got to work.

A while passed in silence. If he weren't used to perpetual darkness and damp and dusty environments, he would have lost track of time. About an hour had passed when he heard a click, and a beep. The door creaked open as he quickly stepped behind a shelf.

The noise of the library filled the restricted section. Loud voices echoed as someone shouted at others about having identification. Aether's eyes narrowed as he watched from a slit in between two books. He could see quite a crowd outside. What was going on there?

A few quick steps sounded as a short, petite person stepped through the door and closed it behind her. Aether's eyes widened. Wasn't that Mara? What was she doing here? His lips formed a thin lie as several possibilities crossed his mind. He refused to believe that her being here was a coincidence.

Mara slowly walked amongst the shelves, her steps hesitant. She was hugging a very large, thick, leatherbound book.

Aether sighed inwards, then lightly coughed to make his presence known.

"Who's there?" Mara almost shrieked. Her voice trembled as her eyes darted around in the darkness. All blood was drawn from her face.

"It's me," Aether spoke up as he took a random book from the shelves and walked into the open. "Sorry if I startled you." He kept his voice low, this was a library after all.

Mara breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh. No, I'm sorry." Her voice trembled. "I thought one of those guys out there had come inside too."

Aether was reaching to take another book from the shelf when she spoke. He stopped and lowered his arm as he glanced towards the door. "What guys?" He asked as alarm bells began to ring in his mind. Was that commotion out there a threat?

"Just some second years who wanted to access this section." Mara sighed. "They probably heard my conversation with Professor Chloe and wanted to use me to gain access instead of wasting their own AP." She shook her head. "I actually got a bit scared and just ran here." She laughed nervously.

Aether's lips formed a thin line. "That was probably a good choice." He said in a low voice as he approached the door. "What did you come here to research though?" Seeing how scared Mara seemed to be, it would be best to keep her distracted from the still ongoing commotion.

"I heard that there are a few people who can see magic and mana. And even fewer who can sense wildmagic." Mara absentminded replied as she reached for the same book Aether had checked out earlier. "I was rather curious, it sounds like such an interesting concept."

Aether froze mid step just as he was reaching for the door. "What?" His shock was immediately doubled as he felt a surge of mana outside. His eyes narrowed as his slit pupils focused on the door, seemingly seeing beyond it. His iris' let out a silver, otherworldly shine.

"Run!" He shouted all of a sudden. He threw himself aside, just before the building shook with an explosion.