Chapter 8: Strange New Nickname

[Third Person's PoV] 

"Hey, do you think if I call out for a book, it would appear for me too?" Secre asked curiously.

Stephen shrugged. "I don't know, but it's worth a try."

"Uhh… A book about sealing magic!" Secre exclaimed, holding up her hands.

"..."

"Phttt." Stephen covered his mouth when he saw nothing happen, while Secre stood there with her arms outstretched.

Hearing Stephen laugh, Secre blushed and lowered her arms.

"It looks like only the owner gets to order the library around, even if another person is given special access and privileges," Secre muttered, making a note of it.

"A book of sealing magic for my friend here..." Stephen called out, then turned to her. "You specialize in sealing magic?" he asked, a bit surprised and intrigued. Secre simply nodded in confirmation.

When he looked back at the book that appeared, Stephen began to laugh. The book in front of them read: Sealing Magic for Dummies.

Secre turned toward Stephen with her usual deadpan expression. "Hey, I don't think this library likes me very much..."

"It would seem so," Stephen smirked as he opened up his book and studied the first page.

Secre picked up the book in front of her. However, as she opened it, she froze—it was written in a completely different language.

"Mr. Library… What did I do to deserve such hostility?" Secre muttered to herself and the library.

"It isn't the library's fault," Stephen said, still reading his book.

Secre looked at Stephen in confusion, wondering what he meant.

"The first lesson in the Mystic Arts isn't magical in the slightest. It's about learning other languages… Which honestly makes sense, well, mostly for me. My spells rely on incantations, and many of these spells are in other languages, so we have to overcome the language barrier."

"Although I agree with what you said, I still think this library dislikes me for some reason…" Secre said, shaking her head, still not convinced.

"Give me your best book about language learning lessons," Stephen ordered. Soon after, a large book appeared in front of him titled Language Arts and Studies.

"Your grimoire is so convenient; I'm honestly a bit jealous," Secre said with a small smile.

Stephen held up a finger and rapidly flipped through each page of the book. After a minute or so, he handed it back to her. "Here."

Secre looked a bit confused, then finally remembered. "That's right—you have photographic memory."

Stephen nodded. "But even though I've memorized each page, I haven't fully digested the information yet. I still need to study it. This way, we can study together."

Secre smiled as she ran her fingers through the book. She walked over to the study table and pulled out a chair. "Shall we?"

Stephen scoffed in amusement. "I guess we don't have any other choice."

Both Secre and Stephen sat down and began studying. Stephen leaned back with his eyes closed, while Secre read the pages, swinging her feet, happy to finally read a book for the first time in over 500 years.

Due to Stephen's high intellect, he was able to absorb the content much faster than Secre—almost three times faster. While it took him two hours, it took Secre almost six.

When Stephen finished, he stood up and began walking around the library. "I'd better learn this one first before anything else..."

"Give me a book on astral projection," Stephen ordered. Once the book appeared in his hands, he started reading while walking around.

"I feel like this one will be easier to learn since I already know what it feels like for two reasons…" Stephen mumbled as he continued reading.

"We're in our astral bodies right now inside our grimoires, which is why we can only stay here for 24 hours before returning to our physical bodies. And not to mention the reincarnation spell I did… so I should be able to learn this quickly. It'll give me an advantage in studying."

Stephen spent the entire 24 hours he had available to him studying as much as possible, which wasn't difficult for him due to his mental abilities. Meanwhile, Secre simply enjoyed the pleasure of reading, casually learning new things.

As their 24 hours in the library were coming to an end, Secre turned to Stephen. "I want you to give me a new nickname…"

"Huh?" Stephen raised an eyebrow.

"I hate the nickname you gave me. I was never able to express it before, but now I can. Give me another one—I hate it."

"What's wrong with Shebird? That's a lovely nickname."

"You only named me that because you found out I was a girl and a bird... As I said, I hate it."

"A new nickname, huh…" Stephen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense since you're not really a bird anymore. Let's see…"

Stephen looked her up and down, causing Secre to grow self-conscious. He tilted his head, confused.

"What?" she asked, noticing his expression.

"You know, this is actually the first time I'm really getting a good look at you. I was so distracted with the library and studying that I didn't notice… but you're pretty cute, huh?"

"Wha–What are you talking about!?" Secre stammered, caught off guard by Stephen's words.

She quickly regained her composure, glaring at him. "Are you going to pick a new nickname or not?"

Stephen just smiled at her glare and became thoughtful again. "Hmm, since we learned many languages today, let's pick something from that… and since you're mostly black… Noir?"

"No…"

"Kuro?"

"No, that sounds more like a dog's name."

"Negro?"

"Are you even trying at this point?"

"Sorry," Stephen chuckled before snapping his fingers. "I got it! Nero. It's Italian, and it means black and strong."

"Nero, huh… I quite like that one, actually," Secre said with a smile, just as they were both whisked away and transported back to their physical bodies.

...

Back outside the grimoire, both Stephen and Nero's eyes snapped open as they returned to their bodies. Stephen closed his grimoire and sighed. "Talk about an out-of-body experience, am I right… Nero?"

Nero smirked as she chirped and nodded her small head in confirmation. "Now let's go and—" Stephen's words were cut off.

"STEPHENNNNNNNNNN!!" Asta's excited voice echoed as he ran up, holding a black book high above his head.

"I FINALLY FOUND YOU! I KNEW YOU'D BE HERE! LOOK! LOOK! IT'S MY VERY OWN GRIMOIRE!!"

Stephen was taken aback, both by Asta's shouting and by having his grimoire shoved into his face.

"Whoa! You actually managed to get one! Congrats, Asta!" Stephen exclaimed, genuinely happy for him.

He put an arm around Asta's shoulder and ruffled his hair. "Look at you, finally able to perform some magic! As they say, patience is a virtue, and those who wait shall be rewarded."

Asta rubbed the back of his head, grinning sheepishly. "Hehehe…"

"So, what's your magic? I imagine if you had to wait this long to get it, it must be pretty amazing," Stephen wondered.

"I saw Yuno and some guy fighting, and when I jumped in, this appeared!" Asta stepped back, and his grimoire floated up. Slowly, it revealed a massive buster sword.

Stephen was slightly surprised by the sword. He would've been more shocked if he hadn't just come from his magical library.

"Okay… that's kinda cool," Stephen said, clearly impressed.

"Right!?"

"So what does it do?"

"I think it can cut through magic!" Asta exclaimed, swinging the sword up and down excitedly.

"In a world where magic is everything? Isn't that kinda overpowered?" Stephen asked.

Asta grinned, giving him a thumbs up. "Totally! I'm so excited to see what else this thing can do!"

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