The Library

The rest of the class was uneventful and ended after the hour was up. Before they realized second class was over as well. They walked down the stairs to reach the hallway leading to the canteen.

On their way down, two second-year students bumped shoulders into Alex.

"Watch where you are going, first-year," One of them smirked.

"Are you not going to apologize?" The other one asked.

Looking at their crest it was golden with a blue sapphired gem to indicate their second year at the academy.

"Oh, I am sorry! Would be a shame if I let down my guard in the future though!" Alex apologized sincerely then changed his tone of voice to indicate otherwise.

The two older students left and Thomas caught a glimpse of Alex's fingers, they were sparkling with heat residue. Alex was ready to fight them head on. Their golden crests said it all, the hierarchy has spoken behind doors, and this was Alex's first warning.

They had an uneventful lunch and decided to ignore the topic which beckoned on their minds.

"Are you going to the library?" Corbin tried to strike a new conversation to change their obvious thoughts.

"Mm…" Thomas sipped his drink.

Alex leaned back in his chair aloofly and did not bother to join in on their conversation.

"Well… let us know if you find anything interesting!" Corbin grinned.

It was obvious why Alex was annoyed and initiated the more idling posture. During the entire course of their lunch, eyes from the upper-class and above were flung their way. All because Alex had "invited" them back upstairs, and the people around them were clearly not in favor of it.

Thomas took his leave shortly and promised to catch up to the two later throughout the day. The library was across hall then first to your left, since the canteen resided in the South-Eastern Wing and the library was across in the South-Western one. Thomas headed right on in and was in complete awe when he saw the place.

Shelves were levitating in the ceiling and there were even some cloud things floating above. The library was vast and had multiple sections and floors. For Thomas it felt more like a maze he could easily lose himself in.

"The clouds are entities protecting the forbidden section," A girl stole Thomas' attention while she was reading a book standing a few meters away from him.

"Thanks," Thomas smiled and walked up. "You seem to know your way around, any general tip in finding things?" Thomas decided to seize the opportunity in asking her while they were talking.

The girl sighed, "The orb in that lies slightly in front, just tell it what books you seek and collect the sparks then follow them," she closed her book and disappeared into the rafts.

No matter if the conversation was cut short, Thomas was glad she told him the necessary information in how to navigate this place. He walked up to a small podium with an orb centered, then an AI hologram fairy appeared before him.

"Any books concerning Arcane abilities or systems if you have them, please," Thomas spoke and the AI nodded.

"Scanning… records of Arcane abilities found… records of systems… do you perhaps mean to integrate magical combustion systems?" The AI asked while scanning.

Thomas sighed. The system being a dead-end was something to be expected.

"Just the Arcane records then if you, please," Thomas concluded then picked up the sparks.

Instantly when picked up, Thomas let go one of the sparks and like he was told, it flew and disappeared into the different sections. They navigated him through to the books he sought out for.

Thomas then sat down around an enclosed desk area and hit a very similar looking orb like the one in the canteen. A sphere ensuring full privacy was created as a bubble around him.

"Now then…" Thomas began to flick through the books the AI picked out for him.

After a while he exhaled loudly. This was a dead-end… All the books had been torn in all of the sections concerning anything remotely close to "Arcane Abilities". Only some historical records remain that Arcane abilities used to be useful and helpful centuries ago.

From what Thomas managed to acquire, anything concerning "Arcane" was on the same mythological scale about "Void". He closed shut the final book and rose from his seat. It was time to take his leave after skimming through the lot of books for a few hours.

For some reason, the books began to glow and the sparks reappeared to carry them back on their own. The system was highly efficient. Thomas could feel that the remaining book in his hand sought to be brought back automatically almost like a magnet was calling back for it.

On his way out of the library Thomas could hear the noise of a thud and couple books falling over.

"How did you even manage to enter the academy, huh? Little scaredy cat! Nervous wreck!" A couple of students were laughing and ganging up on the final kid who managed to pass.

Thomas pondered whether to intervene or not, then realized he cared nothing for it. In every school there was some form of bullying, the strong against the weak. The same girl appeared behind him.

"I would let it go if I were you," she said and disappeared promptly once more.

Right before she left, Thomas barely managed to scan her, however it was interrupted by the range and loss of vision.

[Name: Emily Moon Fae]

[Race: ??]

…

The scan remained incomplete. Thomas thought it best to save it for another time and heard a loud punch being launched into the kid's stomach. He was being beaten up quite badly.

There was nothing Thomas could do unless he longed for a beating as well. Thomas chose to turn around and a tight unsettling feeling formed in his stomach. His stomach harbored more regret of a "bad feeling" than his unsympathetic mind, and it left a lingering feeling of bitter remorse in Thomas' abdomen.