Library of Mages (5)

"How did you know what I was thinking?" I asked.

"Because you've been mumbling under your nose the whole time. But I have to say, I'm really impressed. You've not only finished a part of the seal on your first try, but you also modified it to work with your elemental essence." he said while looking at the Instaurare Core.

As 27 started at the core, I noticed that there wasn't anyone in the classroom. "Where is everyone?"

"The class ended 2 hours ago." He said. "Keep the Instaurare Core with you and finish the seal later."

I realized it was already 6:30, so I rushed to meet with Ike and Emily. There we practiced together for a while before I continued my training. Later we went to the dorms and got our rooms. My parents will send me some stuff later, while Emily ordered everything online.

For the next few days, I went to classes, trained, and focused on making the seal. I had to rework a lot of parts to make them work, but after three days, I succeeded in finishing it! 27 helped me to make a second compartment in the Instaurare Core, this way the seal won't disappear after the soul essence is exhausted.

There are many parts of a seal, but there are two main ones. The cage, it holds different mechanisms, energy, objects, beings, depending on the type and the purpose of the seal. The lock is the other part, it holds the seal together.

The seal I just finished is a simple seal that houses a mechanism which will deploy a circular shield in front of the user. Holding the Instaurare Core in hand, I activated the seal and in front of me a circular shield my height manifested.

The shield was supported by the soul essence and could last for at least an hour. If something hit it, the shield will absorb the damage, but it will cause the exhaustion of the soul essence. It works similarly to my soul image.

When I showed it to 27, he was impressed by the results. I was able to create a basic seal that can create a shield in just four days. Not to mention that thanks to the properties of the soul image, the defenses properties of the shield are massively increased.

Other than this, every day I started to learn more about seals and their creation, as well as analyzing the symbols on my arm wanting to learn more about the inner working of the seal inside of them.

A week after we entered the university, Emily finally came to me with a plan regarding the Library of Mages. Turns out she found the blueprints of the University and was looking for the location of the Library. Which I had to admit was a better idea than just asking.

Emily determined that the most likely location is under the actual University library. There is a basement underneath it that has a storage room which doesn't fit the overall layout. Behind it, there is just empty space, where it looked like should be a room.

First, we had to do a small reconnaissance. The door the lead to the basement are behind the library building, pretending that some papers fell underneath the door we asked the librarian to open them.

She reluctantly did it, after which we had a quick look at the entrance to the basement. Dusty, and neglected, with traces of some people walking through it. No one cleans there, but people are walking there, which made it more assuring that the Library of Mages may be in there.

Finally, after observing the basement for a few days, we decided to act and enter it.

It was evening, most students were at their dorms, or on their way there. We made sure that no one was looking and approached the door. With my soul image I changed the shape of my fingertip to fit in the lock, and after adjusting it for a bit unlocked the door.

"That's a nifty trick. When you said you had a way to open the door I thought you would steal the key, but that works as well." Emily said.

"I know, it took me only two hours to learn it. Ladies first." I said as Emily entered the basement. "What do we say if we get caught? I was thinking that we heard someone asking for help."

"Come on Dominique. We came here to make out obviously. No one will believe that we heard some random screaming and decided to enter here." She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

With my soul image, I lighted up the path and went forward. The storage room was at the end of the long hallway. Just by walking here we kicked so much dust in the air that we couldn't help but to chough a few times.

We were almost at the door when white light shined. Silver chains appeared and bound our limbs! I manifested my soul image and tried to break them off, but with no effect. Struggling to get free I used all of my power, but the chains wouldn't even budge!

"I'm really disappointed in the two of you!" with a flash of white light 27 appeared in front of us! He was holding a ball of light that illuminated the hallway. "If you want to enter the Library of Mages that's not the way to do it!"

"…" We said nothing.

"You should consider yourself lucky! If I didn't stop you now, then a month of detention would be the minimum!"