Controlling Destiny - 14 The Grand Library

In a small room, 2 figures were huddled in the corner talking to each other.

“Are you certain he already knows how to utilize the magicule drawing technique?” One figure asked the other in a whispered voice.

“Yes, I am certain,” the other figure replied.

“I was there when that fool Ignis was telling the other instructors in the lounge.”

“Well, I’m not surprised that the other instructors refused to believe Ignis about this. After all, they probably do not think it is possible to use such a technique.”

“The instructors at this Academy are all fools,” The first figure replied.

“They do not even know such a simple technique as the magicule drawing.”

“Honestly, I have no idea how this Academy is still functioning with such ignorant faculty.”

The second figure exhaled heavily from his nose in a fit of anger and frustration.

Composing himself again, he said calmly. “Well, you know what our mission is,” He said flatly.

“Of course,” the second figure replied. “I have already notified Mavira of her instructions.”

“This next step must not fail,” The first figure said earnestly. “If we can not draw out our target the hard work we have done for the last decade will all have been in vain.”

“Not to worry,” The second figure confirmed, “All preparations are nearly complete, now all we need to do is simply wait for the right moment to strike.”

“I’ll be counting on you, then.”

Without a sound, the 2 figures blended into the shadows and disappeared. They left behind no evidence which even hinted that there were 2 people there merely moments ago.

Meanwhile, headmaster Magmus was pacing around his office impatiently.

“Well?” He asked the secretary with a hint of frustration in his voice, “has it been confirmed that Ultrix has already learned the magicule technique?”

“I have yet to confirm directly, headmaster Magmus,” the secretary replied. “However, from the sources that I was able to gain, and the first-hand account from instructor Ignis has provided enough evidence.

“Dammit!” Magmus cursed out loud. Composing himself yet again, he turned sternly to the secretary. “I need to know where he learned the technique from.” He said solemnly.

“We purged the libraries of these kinds of techniques for a reason, dammit!”

“I do not see what the big issue is,” the secretary replied with slight confusion in her voice.

“Secretary Alena, you have only been with us for a few years so it is understandable that you do not know some of the reasons for why there are hidden techniques.”

“I would explain it all to you right now if I could, but unfortunately I do not have the time.”

“The basic gist of it all though is that with too much power can also come a lot of responsibility.”

“This Academy used to be a lot more powerful than it currently is, however, with a corrupted faculty and pupil-body, the Academy almost doomed itself.”

Alena was about to say something else, but Magmus suddenly stood up from his sitting position and pulled out his token.

Glancing at it for a moment, his expression turned awful once again. “Apologies, Alena,” he said. “It seems that there are urgent matters that I need to attend to. I’ll be off, then.”

Secretary Alena said nothing as Magmus walked out of his office. She merely went back to her desk and sat down deep in contemplation. She had lots to think about.

Unaware of the commotion that his incident had caused, Ultrix was busy trying to master summoning fireballs. Currently, he could only summon a few sparks, but not a complete fireball yet.

[Ah, it’s of no use,] Ultrix thought sadly to himself. No matter how hard he tried, he could only summon sparks and not actual balls of fire.

Ultrix decided to make a trip to the grand library instead.

Walking to the information desk in the middle of the library, Ultrix asked the lady working there if there were any books on refining affinity.

“Yes, sir.” The secretary replied formally. “Those books will be on the 3rd floor.”

Taking the lift up to the 3rd floor, Ultrix briefly looked through the bookshelves before sighing.

[There are so many different books here that it will take me ages to read through all of them!] Ultrix thought with great disappointment.

[Besides,] He thought to himself, [these books are all extremely basic, and the best of them only show how to reach pinnacle affinity.]

Feeling hopeless, Ultrix walked back down to the secretary’s desk. “Excuse me, ma’am,” Ultrix said awkwardly, “But I was wondering if there were books that are of upper-division?”

The secretary seemed to contemplate this for a moment before saying “There are indeed more advanced books on the lower floors, but to access those I’m afraid I would have to verify your identity.”

Ultrix handed the secretary his token and she scanned it in a small runic device momentarily.

Upon seeing the results on the token, the secretary shook slightly before recovering her composure.

“Senior Ultrix, is it?”

[Uh, Senior Ultrix?] Ultrix thought awkwardly to himself. [Why the heck did she suddenly address me as a senior? This lady is a lot older than me!]

Ultrix, however, decided to play along. “Yes, that would be me,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Right along this way, please,” the secretary said politely.

Walking to the lift, the secretary showed Ultrix how to use the token as a key to unlocking further levels.

“All you need to do is inscribe your token with the level that you want to access,” She said.

“There is a guidebook here that shows you all of the levels you can access. Your identification has an access level of 4, which means most of the levels are available to you.”

[Sweet!] Ultrix thought to himself. [Now I can access more useful information!]

“Thank you very much,” Ultrix replied politely.

The secretary nodded and quickly retreated to allow Ultrix to do whatever he wanted.

[Level 4!] The secretary thought to herself. That was one level even higher than her clearance. As a secretary, all she had to do was use the public spaces and manage some other lower rooms from time to time.

However, for a level 4 clearance, that was only second to the level 5 abilities of the headmaster and elders. Whoever this Ultrix person was, he was quite powerful.

[I must make sure to treat him with even greater respect in the future!] The secretary thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Ultrix sneezed abruptly in the lift.

“Achoo!” [I wonder who’s talking about me this time?] Ultrix thought to himself.