Chapter 7

'That was a close one.' Magnus thought as he exited the Lord's chamber. 'I am extremely lucky for preparing for such a situation.'

[+3 wisdom]

[+3 charisma]

'At least I gained some more stats. At this rate-'

"Magnus!" His thoughts were interrupted by Maester Ecbert, who hurried to Magnus. "I hope you can accept my apologies, Magnus. Lord Rodrick asked me about what I talked about with you, and due to my oaths I had to comply." Magnus smiled at Ecbert and put his hand on his shoulder.

"You are a good man Ecbert. I understand that your oaths bind you and you had no other choice. There is nothing to forgive, I cannot fault a man for simply doing his duty." Ecbert smiled gratefully at Magnus, as they spoke they were approached by someone, who made her presence known by saying,

"Quite the noble man you are Magnus, many would hold a grudge in your position." The two men turned to their left, and there was Barbary. She seemed to eavesdrop on the conversation. "I am glad you can find it in your heart to forgive, we cannot have our scribe and maester be at odds after all."

'This lady is weird.' Magnus thought to himself, he didn't know why she seemed to show such an interest in him, of course, he couldn't voice this out loud, so he instead smiled and responded, "Thank you for your words, my lady." Barbary nodded with a smile and walked away.

Magnus turned to Ecbert after Barbary had left. He raised an eyebrow in question, and Ecbert simply sighed and shook his head. "That girl..." He then looked back at Magnus and said, "No matter. I heard you wished to visit the library. May I accompany you? I need something from there as well."

Although confused, Magnus simply nodded and said, "It would be my pleasure."

---

"Wargs and Skinchangers... Divination... there must be something about magic as a whole." Magnus muttered to himself as he looked through the library, his goal was to find a book that could help him gain and increase mana.

"Looking for something Magnus?" Ecbert asked him from behind,

"Ecbert, if you could be so kind. Do you have any books on magic as a whole? In my lands, magic is wielded only by the Gods. I find myself interested in your Kingdom's mystical elements."

"Ahh, the book you are looking for is titled 'Magic: A Beginners Guide.' A good read, though I am not a fan of the occult. It should be a few shelves over, the book with the red leather binding."

"Many thanks, Ecbert." Magnus then followed the directions given and found the book. It looked old, much older than most books in the library.

"That book was apparently written 500 years ago, before the downfall of Valyria. Most of it is utter nonsense, however. Take everything you read with caution, it is simply fiction." Ecbert warned, Magnus doubted the validity of his claims. After all, the fact that the man himself has mana inside of him is proof that magic is more than 'simply fiction.' However, Magnus knew how magic is viewed in the south, where the maester is from. So he simply smiled and nodded before saying,

"Your warning is appreciated, but there is no need. I am simply curious Ecbert, I will take it with a pinch of salt." Ecbert was confused,

"Pinch of salt?"

'Ah, they don't know any sayings from back home. That makes sense.' Magnus thought, "It is a saying from my homeland. It means I will not believe everything that I read. I'll take it with caution as you said earlier."

"Ahhh, I'm glad Magnus. Now I must go back to my duties, feel free to spend as much time as you need in the Library." Ecbert smiled at Magnus before putting his hand on Magnus' shoulder and walking off.

'You can tell the man's dislike for magic runs deep. If I am able to figure out how to use magic, I must hide it until I am strong enough that it wouldn't matter.' Magnus thought, 'Hey Jarvis, can you scan this book?'

[Scan initializing. Scan complete, would user like to see results?]

'Yes please.'

[I have found out that there are ways to increase mana. Most of these are rituals. There is also a drink known as the Shade of the Evening which is said to increase mana, however, this is not recommended. The drink is not very effective and side effects include madness, loss of intelligence, and erectile dysfunction]

'Yea... let's definitely not take that. Can you explain the rituals, Jarvis?'

[Most are dark rituals, which include sacrifice and also can cause side effects of insanity and madness. However, there is one that stands out. It is said not to be used very often due to the fact that it causes extremely intense amounts of pain. I recommend this, it has no side effects besides pain and is said to be quite successful.]

'How would one go about doing this ritual?'

[User must tattoo runes onto his body, these runes will awaken any dormant magic user has. User has no magic currently, it is recommended that user absorb magic from a dead human being or a dead magical creature. I can provide user with a list of targets who would not be missed. Such as bandits and the like.]

Magnus smiled, his plans seemed closer than ever. 'Jarvis, hold on that. Once I am more confident in my skills I will go out and kill some bandits.'

[Understood.]

---