Letting himself indulge in the feeling of cloud beneath him, Simon continues enjoying the time he has with the night. Just then, his forehead is flicked.
"W-Who is it?"
"Me."
That voice!
Jumping up from his position, he finds himself inside the same lucid dream as before, his bedtime clothing has been changed into that of a much more open version. Draping over his body is a simple wool cloth covering his entire shoulder and body. And just before he can ask the librarian about the strange clothing, his attire returns to the uniform of the Academy.
"Come quickly. Time is limited."
"Ok but I thought you were busy with maintaining this place."
"Worry not dear, you are but my only hobby around here. The job is already finished so I am thinking of granting you some advices on what to go on in your trips here. I suppose that this will be something happening fairly often seeing how easily you reenter this place."
"Thank you, miss Librarian."
Simon drags himself to the desk. A cup of steaming tea, the bitter taste can almost be smell from his seat.
"You are now focused on learning spells and combining them."
"Combine?"
"Multicasting and using multiple spells in parallel or consecutively to obtain even greater effect. With that comes better control."
"Haven't I been practicing that just now? I mean I was able to fire two spells at once."
"There is a slight difference in the way I'm going to teach. Yours is all about practicing the spells to the point of being familiar enough for your body to automatically use them quickly. Add in little time lag between each spells and you can call that the basic of multicasting. My technique aims to alleviate the need to spend so much time getting used to a spell."
The Librarian then points at her head using her index fingers.
"This, the mind. Now tell me, how can the mind be the answer?"
'To not require as much time familiarizing myself with spells ... just to cast them normally. But to do that means to start from the very beginning and to sync up with other spells is through a parallel process. Maybe splitting the mind into smaller consciousness group and letting each use a spell ... or using interchangeable runes to automate the spells'
With mind swirling around many possibilities, Simon still has no clue. Splitting the mind up is a a danger to his mentality. Other means equate to cheap tricks.
"Your first thought about splitting the mind is really close to the answer. I will just impart the essential knowledge into your brain and then you can use this place to your liking to reach an answer."
A fingertip touches Simon's forehead. A cube of light enters his body and he begins... to have a seizure.
Knocking himself off the chair and onto the floor, Simon has no capacity to care about the environment. Every muscle in his body is spasming and his consciousness is dying out.
Seeing that scene, the Librarian can only look back at her finger and thinks:
"Oops."
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Simon's now standing in a dark space, no light presents and yet, he can 'see' something in front of him. A dark sphere but the quality of this darkness is different from the environment; Simon has no clue what it is but he feels like he should approach it.
The sensory derivation makes his steps unstable and it results in him crawling on all four to reach the floating sphere. Swinging his arm aimlessly around to get the distance down, Simon finally manage to touch the surface of the thing.
Cold, somehow he views it as uncaring.
The sphere pulls him in and Simon feels his body twisting into the form of spaghetti but the process was quick and painless.
"Hah!"
"I apologize for not controlling the mana difference between you and I. That leads to you being overload. Now we can continue. Drink the tea, it will help you."
"Y-Yes."
Dragging his body up, Simon weakly drinks the solution on his side and then brings his feet toward the shelve of books behind the Librarian. Scanning through the list of instructions engraved onto a stone pillar in the middle of the place, Simon breathes in relief seeing that the place will respond to the visitor's mind to find the appropriate books and writings.
He begins scouring through heaps of books, just scanning for the titles to find books of interest before reviewing the pile he has formed. Somehow he has the basics of mind magic, neurology, psychology, anatomy and other topics in his memory. Not the unclear, somewhat vague bits of information but solid knowledge foundation.
After who knows how long, Simon can confidently claim that he has reached a conclusion: using mind magic first to allow for parallel thinking streams and maintaining the stability of the system through other means.
"You have reached a stop on your journey. Tell me then, what's your answer?"
"Mind manipulation for multiple thinking threads at the same time... Something only the best mages can attain talent-wise. And is the base knowledge retainable?"
"Not really, it is a passive boost only in this place. The library seeks those with curiosity and vice versa. This place exists not only to record but also to enlighten."
Simon knows that the second purpose is meant for him. This place, according to his initial arrival, is not somewhere anyone can be in.
"Your answer is sufficient for now. I am willing to teach you the method and then you can follow along in your waking world. Use this material."
The Librarian throws a scroll toward Simon. Barely catching the surprisingly heavy scroll, Simon then unfolds it vertically and begins skimming through the content.
"I thought it would be some technique to train in... Is the method you want me to follow ... a ritual?"
"There are some advantages to my way of doing it beyond the usual techniques.
Firstly, mana techniques can be stripped away via memory stealing or amnesia. In the latter case, parallel thinking can result in multi-personality syndrome and overload the brain from the discrepancy in memory, information and sensation. This situation can be prevented if you can hide yourself or become strong enough to protect yourself. The ritual can reduce these issues by making a copy of your brain's information through the mana system, basically preventing you from forgetting the technique.
Secondly, the ritual is a tool for training your mana core. You need to be able to circulate your mana throughout your body. The Academy is already teaching that method but getting it done sooner is something fundamental for you to get access to more complex and impactful spells.
Thirdly, solving the math behind the ritual circle improves your ability overall. I cannot just force feed you answer because I respect your privacy."
"Oh."
"It's fine. As someone who has given guidance before, I have plenty of experience! So place some trust in me!"
Simon doubts that claim considering the previous incident but nevertheless, good will is still good will.
"Thank you, miss Librarian."
"Why do you want to become stronger?"
"Because... I just feel like it? I mean I'm trying to keep up with others in the Academy. Oh, I have one last question, does mana core affect eye sights?"
"Possible but unlikely. There are indeed bloodline where ocular abilities can manifest as an exit for surplus mana. But for most people, there is no connection. Your eyes changed?"
"Thanks for explaining it to me. I am just curious because I have seen the ritual's side effect."
"Ah, that's fine. It's just temporary."
"I still have some more questions."
They chatter for a long time, the Librarian answering questions and chatting. Soon the time is up and Simon disappears from the place.
In the transient phase between dream and reality, Simon lets his body float in the peaceful sensation before waking up. The time... is still night?
He remembers the time difference to never be this drastic. He can confidently say that he has spent hours but here, mere minutes have passed. Now is midnight at ... the thirteenth hours.
'Impossible!'
Getting up and kicking the door open, Simon takes a look around. Still the usual corridor but somehow it is this normalcy that touches upon something unfamiliar.
'Maybe I'm just hallucinating.'
He thinks as he goes to wash his face with cold water from the metal faucet. Yet the smell of the new bathroom is replaced with the moldy, rancid smell of something rotten in the bathtub. Pushing the door into the bathroom, he fumbles around the wall nearby to turn on a switch.
Pulling the waterproof curtain apart, Simon sees his body with a large hole in the stomach submerged in the black liquid. But from the state of the wounds, it is just recent. Then where does the decomposing smell stem from?
Checking everywhere inside the bathroom, Simon finally turns his eyes to the door he has just entered. The door remains the same but the view beyond it is warping accordingly to his viewing position.
Just before he can go and check it, the living room shakes and stands up. A gigantic eye with the diameter of a door stares back at Simon inside the bathroom before tentacles wrap themselves around the frame.
Eyes meet eye and before he knows it, his stomach is pierced by something invisible. Simon tumbles and falls into the tub. The corpse before has disappeared and he is now replacing its place. Feeling the warmth being sucked out of him, Simon pushes himself up to no avail and soon enough, he slumps down completely in the same position. And as soon as his eyes close, a jolt brings him back.
"Huh huh huh What just happened?"
It is now morning. Simon runs to the bathroom to check his body.
'Why did a nightmare happen just today?"
Simon mutters as he scrambles around for any injury. Nothing comes back but that does not explain the dream.
'What was I dreaming about'
He soon finishes his routine and quickly goes for breakfast.
"Simon, catch. "
"Where did you get this apple, Janus?"
"Just ask the ladies in the cafeteria nicely. They are quite generous with fruits and desserts. Just don't ask for protein or any thing along that line since they will get all pissy about it."
Simon joins with Janus, who is leaning against a pillar and waiting for him. Everything is normal, he wants to believe that but as soon as such thought surfaces his mind, his mana core pulses with displeasure. The thing is sending out signals to draw him somewhere but why must he follow its order? He should be the one in control, not the reverse.
"Today is your break day, luckily. Tomorrow my department will continue the basic exercise routine. Today is only about aura theory so you are fortunate to not be dealing with aching muscles. We can meet again at lunch for some tea. I will be bringing in a new friend so show your face at our base."
"Yeah I will. Just need to go now."
As he makes his way to the Elemental Magic Beginner class, he finally notices a crowd of people flocking toward the front door of the classroom. Tapping onto a student nearby, he asks if there is something important going on.
"Hey there, just asking. Why are they flocking here?"
"Oh, it's one of the Seven Stars! The Durolinth princess, the most beautiful lady in the entire continent! Of course most people will flock to have a glimpse of her beauty. Boys wish for even a glace from her, girls do everything to be in her social circle. She is joining this class."
Simon takes a moment to check his schedule for the classroom.
'Yep, seems to check out.'
Simon manages to sneak past the crowd and find his seat somewhere not near the princess at the front. While he can understand the benefits of being friends with the princess but if this is the noisiness all the time, he would rather not know her at all.
He just sits in an inconspicuous place in the middle and sticks to his own thing. Soon enough, the chatter is removed when the teacher arrives. It is the same one checking the mana cores of every freshmen in the place just a few days ago.