Chapter 14
This is a fictional story by realTensai
With the second school day coming to its end, Alvis made his way to the school library. He wouldn't have to meet his mentor, or better to say, the mentor's robot, today. That was why he could go explore the depths of the library.
Ever since Alvis got the system and the ability to respawn after death, there were numerous things he wanted to research. And if any place had answers to his questions, it wasn't the internet but this library. It was one of the biggest in the world, after all.
It didn't take Alvis long to arrive at the library. He had often spent time in it and already read quite a few books there. It was his go-to place, apart from the workshop.
As Alvis went in, the odor of books welcomed him. The hushed whispers of turning pages and the soft creaking of wooden floors were like melodies in his ears. The quiet atmosphere felt balm to his soul as he made his way through the library. There were quite a few people Alvis could see, but their numbers paled compared to the seemingly infinite number of books surrounding him.
The library equaled the entrance ceremony hall in size, and it was only filled with books. One could only imagine how many books there were.
And within this near-endless collection of books, Alvis wanted to find some about time magic and systems. The mysteries of his newfound abilities tugged at his curiosity, having his mind buzzing at night.
Alvis wasn't an expert when it came to spells and what was possible or not, yet he was pretty sure that returning after death should be impossible. But somehow he could do that, which let him wonder how. Maybe one book within this library had the answer.
He also had another thing in mind, which he wanted to do some research on. He stared at his blue box, his class popping into his view.
His very existence contradicted the laws of nature.
A human shouldn't have mana.
This was the way it always was. Yet Alvis didn't fit in that picture. Not only did he have mana in his body, he also had a mana core, and could control his mana.
Someone like him shouldn't exist.
Alvis hoped he could find a book about this topic. Perhaps he wasn't the only human mage in this world. Maybe there even was someone in the past who was like him.
He would have to read through quite a few books if he wanted to find out.
——
An exhausted sigh escaped Alvis' mouth as he closed the book he had just read.
A few hours had passed since Alvis started reading through some books, yet the results were pretty nonexistent. Alvis had picked up every book that looked like it contained information about time magic.
However, the more he read about it, the more questions arose. Time magic in itself was a difficult topic to understand, but the way the books described it made it seem like they intentionally wanted to make it seem even more difficult. The number of mental breakdowns he almost had were uncountable.
Alvis even used his skill mastermind that added ten stat points to his intelligence just so he could understand one book. In the end, he barely understood the basic principle of it. He had to arrange his thoughts if he wanted to make use of this information.
Something that every book stated was that time magic was impossible. In theory, it was possible, yet it wasn't in practice. The answer to this was pretty simple.
It was a way too complex spell to cast that also demanded way too much mana. One author even said if one would put all the mana in the world together, one could go back in time by one minute. Alvis wasn't sure if he was exaggerating, yet this statement was one that stuck.
Yet it just made his situation all the more complicated.
Alvis could return by death and this multiple times. In his last loop, he respawned a few hours before his death. This was way more than one minute. So, in other words, the mana that was needed for him to respawn was way more than all the mana combined within this world.
This is impossible.
It made no sense, yet it happened to him. The sheer amount of mana necessary to boot his system wasn't something that even existed in this world.
Not in this world.
An unpleasant thought erupted in Alvis' head, and he started grimacing without wanting to. Yet he had to admit that it made the most sense. There was only one being that had enough mana to supply for Alvis' system. The being who haunted Alvis for his entire life. The being with whom Alvis always got associated.
The Devil!
Alvis grabbed his white hair while he racked his brain for another possibility.
I don't want to have anything to do with this guy!
The Devil got sealed away by the Great Seven a long time ago, so he couldn't be the one who granted Alvis the system.
Yeah, this just can't be.
Alvis shook off this thought, trying to forget about this possibility.
With that, he also put aside the topic of time magic. He wouldn't find out more, anyway.
The next thing he looked for was books about systems. However, he found nothing that would help him. Alvis already knew he would find nothing if he looked for systems that were like his. He doubted that video game-like systems were a common thing. That was why he looked for books about curses that perhaps had similar effects as his system. Yet all he found were just regular curses and nothing even close to his situation.
Alvis wanted to call it a day after not being able to find out something useful. The books he had to go through to understand time magic also led to him having a headache. Even though this was the case, Alvis stayed to do some research about mages.
This was the only topic he still had to deal with. Only because of his class as a mage, a mana core formed within him, saving him from his illness. Alvis just had to learn more about them.
With that, Alvis started his search for books about human mages.
Alvis' fingers trailed along the worn spines of dusty tomes, his eyes scanning the titles in the hope of finding the knowledge he sought. In the beginning, Alvis approached the task optimistically, his excitement palpable. He selected books with promising titles, flipping through their pages in anticipation. However, as hours passed, the initial enthusiasm waned, replaced by a growing sense of discouragement. The library became a labyrinth of frustration as he navigated through countless shelves.
He studied ancient scrolls with faded ink, their contents more cryptic than enlightening. Leather-bound encyclopedias seemed promising, but their pages yielded nothing more than mundane information on historical events. Alvis' brow furrowed in frustration, as he couldn't find a single mention of human mages.
That's it, I'm asking the librarian.
Desperation set in, and he approached the elven woman—a stern figure with glasses perched on the edge of her nose. Alvis hesitated before interrupting her meticulous sorting of returned books.
"Excuse me, ma'am," he began, trying to keep the annoyance from his voice. "I'm looking for books on human mages. Do you have any recommendations?"
The librarian peered over her glasses, scrutinizing Alvis with a discerning gaze.
"Human mages, you say? That's an unusual topic. Let me check our catalog."
She tapped on her digital pad, scrolling through the vast database.
Alvis waited with bated breath, hope rekindled. However, the librarian's expression soon shifted to one of disappointment.
"I'm afraid there's only one book on that subject in our entire collection."
His heart sank.
"Only one?"
"Indeed. It's a fairy tale book, in the kid's section. The title is 'The Bad Human Mages,'" she informed him, gesturing vaguely toward the depths of the library.
Of course, I didn't find it. As if I would look in the kid's section.
He just clicked his tongue and followed her directions, navigating through the maze of towering bookshelves. Dust particles danced in the air as he reached the designated section. The lone book, its cover bearing the weight of ages, seemed to mock him with its scarcity. He picked it up before sinking on a couch. His brain burned while exhaustion started hitting in.
"Just one book in within this vast collection."
Human mages didn't exist, yet the topic could at least be talked about. He had imagined he would find a few 'what if' books. Like the hypothetical ones, talking about what would happen if humans had mana or why humans couldn't be mages. Yet all he found was a fairy tale book.
Looking at the book, it just looked like a normal book for kids. Other than the odd title, which was The Bad Human Mages, Alvis didn't find anything noteworthy.
Alvis skimmed over the pages, not reading every detail. However, with every page he turned, Alvis found himself more and more indulged in the story. His eyes were glued to the pages and his heart pounded. It wasn't something Alvis could explain, but deep down, it felt like he knew the story already. Yet he couldn't remember ever reading or hearing from it. Still, it resonated with him.
It was when he arrived at the last page and saw how the story turned out that his breathing suddenly became heavy. His knitted eyebrows displayed the hate that flooded his thoughts, but Alvis didn't even know what he was angry about. He clenched his fist and had to suppress his mana from leaking out. It was the first time his mana acted wild since he had a mana core!
"W-What's going on?!"
It was just a fairy tale. This was what Alvis wanted to believe. However, his body's reaction wasn't normal, and he knew that. Maybe it was the system that had a problem with the story.
The fairy tale talked about how there were humans in the past who made a contract with the Devil to gain mana. The conditions of the pact weren't known, yet the humans got what they wanted, and became mages.
Those mages were so strong that they started terrorizing the world. Their human brains paired with mana made them unstoppable. They were the biggest threat to world peace after the time of the Devil.
The races all got together just like they had done to defeat the Devil and fought the mages. It was a brutal war with many casualties on both sides. However, in the end, the other races won and killed all the mages. Through fighting together, the other races realized that there was no superior race and created the World Race Organization.
End of the story.
It was a made-up story aimed at entertaining kids. It couldn't be true because Alvis knew how the World Race Organization was created. They created it with the sole purpose of uniting the races. It was documented in history books and was general knowledge. They didn't fight some mages before creating it.
Yeah, this can't be.
Alvis shook his head and brought the book back to where he got it from. He couldn't believe such stories without actual proof. However, he kept wondering about his body's reaction.
But being way too fatigued to think about it any longer, he just went home.