The Bookstore Mage

"Would you like to drink something? Tea or perhaps coffee?"

"Tea would be lovely, thank you," Ian answered with a smile.

Lucien nodded and was about to stand up when a sudden breeze made him halt. His eyes widened ever so slightly as a hand as pale as a corpse appeared out of thin air. The hand placed an empty plate before him and Ian before It disappeared once again.

The young mage was so shocked he almost tumbled to the floor, yet he quickly tried to maintain his calm once he saw that the high mage was not alarmed.

Lucien, on the other hand, was anything but calm. His mind was swirling in shock. 'That hand must have been the fairy!' He inwardly noted. Various thoughts ran through his head as the fairy looked different from what he read.

Although he only managed to see the fairy's hand, that was enough to overturn the image that formed in his mind. The hand was too pale, and the most ridiculous fact was that the fairy seemed to be wearing a suit.

"I-Is it your house fairy, sir Lucien?" Ian asked hesitantly. He even reverted to using honorifics.

Lucien didn't mind and instead gave him an enigmatic smile. In truth, even he was not sure if the fairy could be considered his, which was why he did not give a direct reply.

To Ian, however, Lucien's smile was one of confirmation. This served to further solidify the image he had of Lucien as that of a mysterious high mage in his heart.

A few seconds later, the fairy reappeared. This time the duo were both able to see it clearly as it did not hide, a short pale fairy with long white hair and piercing grey eyes. The little fairy donned a butler suit. In its hands were two cups of tea. It gently placed them on the empty plates before Lucien and Ian before it gave them a flawless bow and disappeared.

Ian's eyes were wide in shock. That fairy was nothing like the ones he learned about. Lucien tried to maintain his indifferent attitude, yet he couldn't help himself and thanked the fairy.

"Thank you."

Ian who was still surprised by its appearance hurriedly thanked the fairy as well.

"T-Thank you!"

Lucien glanced at the tea before him and slowly brought it to his mouth. His eyes, on the other hand, were carefully studying Ian, who took a sip from his cup.

"Great tea!"

Lucien smiled and tried it himself. The green tea was hot and extremely sweet. It caused him to raise his brows in surprise.

'Isn't this the tea Estrea likes to serve me?' Lucien inwardly wondered how the fairy was able to tell that he liked it. His eyes subconsciously glanced in the direction where it disappeared before he turned his attention back to Ian. Now was not the time.

*****

The duo engaged in light chatter, with Ian doing most of the talking. He was a surprisingly easy-going young man. Once he felt comfortable enough, Ian began to overshare, something Lucien didn't mind at all and was instead quite grateful for.

Thanks to that, Lucien was able to understand a few things that were confusing him. The main one was how mages were classified.

According to Ian, one was considered a novice mage of the bronze rank when they managed to sense the presence of mana and learned their first spell to control it.

This; was Ian's rank. To upgrade; to the silver rank, a mage must learn a total of two beginner spells, and to go from silver to the gold rank they must earn a total of three. It was fairly simple for the novice rank, as beginner spells were not considered very hard, nor were they very useful.

To upgrade; to the apprentice level, on the other hand, a mage must master one apprentice-level spell for the bronze rank, two for silver, and three for gold.

Now the thing with this system was that it was the Council and the Main families that classified the spells. These two forces held a monopoly over almost all known spells and the methods of learning them, this made it hard for the rogues to grow, which was one of the main reasons a lot of groups held periodic meetings where they shared their learnings.

All of the spells; the Council and Main families approved of were considered orthodox and anything they didn't was unorthodox and deemed evil. It was a simple system where they controlled what was considered normal and what was not.

Now, if that was the truth, and if the unorthodox spells were actually dangerous was something Lucien did not know yet.

And so, with the pressure of the Council and the Main families, not many people dared pursue the unorthodox spells fearing the 'unknown dangers' they held.

As for the ranks above Apprentice, Ian had no idea about them.

"Mr. Lucien, about this spell..." Ian suddenly spoke as he brought out the old paper from his bag and gently placed it on the counter.

Lucien carefully used Imer to bring the paper closer to him. A frown quickly made its way across his face as he asked:

"Where did you find this?"

Ian lowered his gaze and scratched the back of his head before he hesitantly replied:

"I bought it from the mage market down in Bronch street."

"Mage market?" Lucien subconsciously asked, to which Ian answered:

"Ah, yes. I forgot that you just came to Holden not long ago. Below Bronch street is where the mage market is situated. If you'd like, I can take you there."

"Sure, I'll let you know when I'm free."

Ian happily nodded before he once again motioned at the yellowish paper. "W-Was I actually scammed Mr. Lucien?"

Lucien hesitated for a second. A part of him wanted to lie to keep the spell for himself. The magical book was the last and most important thing his grandfather left him. Lucien was sure that the spell on that paper was somewhat related to it.

Yet one look at the poor young man seated across from him made him sigh inwardly. The first words he stumbled across when he found the magical book flashed through his mind:

'Be aware, be good.'

"I believe It is indeed an old spell. Though I myself am not sure what type of spell it is exactly." Lucien decided to answer honestly.

Ian's eyes lit up at the revelation.

"I-I was right!"

A small smile drew across Lucien's face as he nodded.

"Yes, but I would be very careful if I was you."

Ian hastily nodded in understanding, "Yes, if the Council was to get wind of this, I'm not sure if they would simply remain idle."

Lucien nodded before adding:

"Which is why it's best if you keep the knowledge of this being an ancient spell hidden."

Ian frowned for a second his eyes darted between the old yellowish paper and Lucien's face for a few seconds before he hesitantly asked:

"Can I ask you, Mr. Lucien, to help me keep it safe?"

"Ah?"