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6. Cure for a Bug
🕑 Added 2023-12-06 17:00:03 +0000 UTCOz opened the door. Aisling and Roan stood there, hugging large brown jugs. Roan scowled at the sight of him. “Here. The girl and the vinegar. Now let me in.”
Oz lifted one finger. “What did I say?”
Roan frowned deeper. “What? I brought the vinegar, and Aisling. What else do you want?”
Clicking his tongue, Oz waggled his finger. “You forgot number one. Ask nicely.”
Roan’s scowl furrowed deeper in his face than Oz had thought possible. He glowered at Oz.
“May I come in?” Aisling asked.
“Are you going to try to kill me?” Oz asked.
“No,” she said.
“Will you be on your best behavior?”
“Yes.”
Oz gestured. She walked forward, still hugging the jug. The golden glow of the barrier lit up for a moment as she passed through, and then she stood on the other side.
Frustrated, Roan marched up to the barrier. Oz stood there, waiting. He’s a former disciple. Let’s see how this goes.
Roan struck the barrier and bounced back, rebuffed so hard he stumbled down a few steps. He glared at Oz.
“Come on. Ask nicely,” Oz prompted him, crossing his arms sternly.
Behind Oz, Aisling giggled.
Roan opened his mouth. He trembled. His face turned red.
Is it really that hard to ask nicely? I guess Ossian and Roan were on bad terms.
“Can I please come in,” Roan spat.
Oz beamed. “Be my guest.”
Roan stepped forward. The barrier glowed.
Madame Saoirse’s voice sounded in Oz’s head. “A previously Exiled person has entered the library. Do you permit entry?”
Exiled? Oof. Sounds more extreme than Expel. “Uh, sure. Just for today, though,” Oz clarified. “Same with Aisling. Just for today.”
“What?” Roan asked.
Oz looked at him. “I forgot you got Exiled.”
Roan blinked at him. “You… what?”
“I’ve always wondered what happened. Madame Saoirse and Cecil Daggerty both kept it quiet,” Aisling commented.
Roan looked at Oz, then scratched the back of his head. He opened his mouth, shut it, opened it again. “I… let my temper get the better of me. Madame Saoirse was in one of her moods again, and taking it out on everyone. I fought back. The end.”
“Part of the library got demolished, and dozens of disciples got injured,” Aisling countered him, crossing her arms. She glanced at Ossian. “Including you.”
Oh. Uh, good to know, Oz noted. He glanced at Roan. No wonder he was startled that I forgot.
“You almost died,” Aisling added.
Oz widened his eyes. Huh. Yeah. I probably should have remembered that.
But wait, if Roan almost killed me, why does he hate me?
Rolling his eyes at himself, Oz shook his head. I’m thinking of it backward. If he hates me, of course he’d try to kill me.
Still, seems like I should be the victim here, not Roan, and yet, Roan’s the one after my ass. Did I do something so severe that even nearly killing me didn’t sate Roan’s anger?
Or is Roan just a bully, not happy until everyone around him is suffering? Always possible. I’ll keep my eyes open. Unlike the floppy, sensitive aura I’m getting from Ossian, I don’t sit back and let myself get bulled. Roan tries, and he’s going to find himself Expelled faster than he can spit an insult.
Clearing his throat, Oz waved his hand. “Let’s let bygones be bygones. Roan, as the perpetrator of this incident, you’re going to help me clean it up. Aisling, I only needed you to ask you to get vinegar, but since Roan did it anyways… I guess I asked for you for fun?”
Roan narrowed his eyes at Oz.
Aisling shrugged. “I’d rather lend a hand than allow the bookworms to eat all these precious manuals.”
“Roan, you caused this, so you help clean it up. Grab the vinegar. We’re heading into the heart of the problem,” Oz declared, gesturing them on.
Trilling, Sid ran up beside him. She froze, gazed down at the other two humans, then raced off, chasing a passing moth.
Aisling stared. “Was that a…”
Oz waited, but she stopped there. He shook his head. Couldn’t finish that sentence, huh? “That’s Sid. She’s friendly.”
“Her name isn’t Sid,” Roan interrupted.
“It is now,” Oz countered.
Aisling cleared her throat before Roan could speak again. “Should we try using our pressure to crush them? They’re just bugs.”
“Oh.” Oz paused. He turned to the other two. “Huh. Yeah, I guess that’s an option.” These two have pressure? When do you unlock pressure? Is it relatively early in learning magic, then?
“She doesn’t have a name,” Roan muttered under his breath, pouting.
“I don’t have much. I’m more of a fighter than a mage, but Roan should have more pressure than me,” Aisling said, deferring to Roan with a nod.
Roan frowned. He narrowed his eyes at Aisling. “When it comes to threatening opponents with pressure, don’t martial mages have the upper hand?”
“That’s killing intent, not pressure,” Aisling countered. She turned and glared at a passing mass of moths, and the moths toppled to the ground.
Sid sprinted over and batted at the moths. The moths struggled, batting their wings ineffectually against the floor.
“See? I can’t kill them outright with killing intent.”
“Stunning them is a good start,” Oz said. He hurried over, scooping the moths up into a big pile, then shoving them into the bloodstained cloth he’d used to wipe up the blood magic. Waste not, want not, and all that. If she takes a step toward getting rid of these pests, I’ll follow up and take care of the leftovers!
Roan frowned at the stained cloth. Dismissing it, and Oz, he turned back to Aisling. “So? It’s just a matter of picking them up afterward.”
Aisling gave him a look. “Using pressure, you can crush their eggs outright. Otherwise, we’ll have to soak every single book in vinegar. Are you going to put up with that?”
“No.” Roan scoffed.
“Then you better get to work. I’m not letting you out until the eggs are all taken care of,” Oz declared. I don’t have the authority to keep him here, nor does the interior barrier currently support that, but Roan doesn’t know that. Since he thinks I have more power with the interior barrier than I do, why not run with it?
“Threatening to keep me here?” Roan laughed. Earnestly, from his stomach, he laughed. Staggering back, he hit a shelf, and that startled him out of it. He shook his head. “Ha! I haven’t laughed that well in a long time.”
As if I didn’t know already, that basically confirms there was more to Roan getting kicked out than merely “Madame Saoirse’s moods.” He wanted to stay. Something went awry. But what?
Pretending not to be intrigued, Oz hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Come on. Moths are breeding while we’re talking. The faster we finish this, the more time you two get to wander the library.”
“If I’m using my pressure, what’s the point of the vinegar?” Roan grumbled, thumping the jug down.
“For pickles,” Oz joked.
Roan’s face twisted. He pulled back his leg to kick.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, learn to take a joke! It was a joke, a joke. While you go take care of the worst of them, me and Aisling are going to clear out the rest. I’ve only got the barest scrap of magic, so we still need the vinegar,” Oz explained. He raised his brows at Roan. “Unless you want to clear them all yourself?”
Roan scoffed.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Oz said, shrugging.
“I’m still blown away by you having magic,” Roan muttered. He gave Oz a narrow-eyed look. “Do you have magic? Prove it.”
“No problem. How about I Expel you?” Oz offered, lifting his hand in his best spellcasting pose. Though actually, I have no idea what people do when they actually cast spells in this world. I probably look like an asshole right now.
Roan scowled. Shaking his head, he turned away. “Fine. I’ll clean up some bugs. But not for you. For the books I’ll get to read.”
“Sure, whatever makes you happy.”
Still scowling, Roan stomped away as noisily as possible.
He pointedly ignored Roan as he noisily stomped away, turning to Aisling instead. Either he helps or he doesn’t, but one way or another, I’ll need a backup moth-eradication method. As virulent as the book made it sound like these things are, I probably won’t get them all in one go. I still need a way for me to personally destroy them, without anyone’s help.
Worst case, I expel him. But luckily for me, Roan seems fine to let bygones by bygones as long as he can access the library.
Is the library that valuable? Or was his grudge against me that shallow?
He put a hand on his chin. He apparently almost killed me. That’s a pretty significant grudge, as far as I’m aware.
Then again, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions. It’s entirely possible I was collateral damage, an unfortunate passerby who had part of the library fall on him, or something. But in case I wasn’t, I’ll have to keep my eye on him.
“Aisling, can you, uh, sense auras, or something?” Oz asked, groping in the dark.
Aisling gave him a look. “Everything has a qi signature, if that’s what you mean…? Do you not know that?”
Oz waved his hand. “I knew, it’s just that I forgot, since I can’t.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, but shrugged and pressed on. “Since they aren’t magical beings or objects, they’ll have weak auras. Easy to miss, especially the eggs. I’ll have to go slow, touch every shelf.”
“Can you teach me?” Oz asked. If it’s something everyone can do, I should be able to do it, too. Or maybe I’m still too weak?
“You really don’t know?” Aisling confirmed.
Oz shrugged. “I figured out how to sense qi last night.”
She blinked, shaking her head in stunned silence. “I suppose… yes. Still. One of Madame Saoirse’s disciples, unable to complete the simplest exercises, it’s a little…”
“Sorry to disappoint,” Oz said, scratching the back of his head. The original Ossian was a real case of pearls before swine, huh? Almost makes me feel bad for Madame Saoirse. If that’s the case, though, we return to my eternal question: why me? Or, well, why Ossian?
Aisling took a deep breath. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t say it to your face. My Master always says I should show more respect.”
“No, no, it’s fine. I’d rather be dissed to my face than behind my back.”
Glancing around, Aisling caught sight of a book crawling with bookworms. She picked it up and set it in Oz’s hands.
A fat green caterpillar crawled over Oz’s fingers. He looked at it, then up at Aisling.
She gestured. “Close your eyes. Reach out to the qi around us, the same as you do when you practice.”
Oh. Like when I absorb qi? But… I have to read for that. His eyes turned to the book in his hands, and he grinned. Luckily, I’m in a library, surrounded by books! He flipped open the book and began to read.
Welcome to my compilation of the juiciest, most titillating Gossip in all the Land! Herein you’ll find the darkest secrets of the noble class, laid bare for your entertainment!
Oz blinked. He checked the cover.
Gossip.
Ha. Well, that explains it. Flipping it back over, he went back to reading.
“Er, you… should probably meditate, not read,” Aisling suggested.
Ignoring her, Oz immersed himself in the book. He sunk into the words, completely absorbed in the gossip. A few pages in, the blue lights appeared around him again.
Aisling stared. “You entered a meditative state while reading? Is that even possible? You have to clear your mind, not fill it. What…”
“Uh, that aside, what now?” Oz asked.
The world rattled with each word he spoke, the blue threads fading. Oz quickly turned back to the book. Focus, focus. I can’t lose it now.
“Oh! Right. Rather than merely guiding qi into yourself, reach out. Open yourself to any qi. Fundamentally, the state of sensing qi is the same as the state of absorbing qi. The only difference is that you focus on finding qi, rather than on guiding it inside your core.”
Putting it simply… expand my vision. Oz nodded.
“What I’ve just described is the end state of sensing qi signatures, or auras. For a beginner, you’ll find it easier to send your qi into the book, then read what it interacts with. Ah, I say ‘beginner,’ but I’m still at that stage, and probably will be for years. Roan might be at the next stage already, though. Battle mages, like Roan, or scholarly mages, like Madame Saoirse, have an easier time sensing qi compared to martial mages.”
“What are those? Martial mage, scholarly mage…” Oz asked. I’ve already asked lots of newb questions. She shouldn’t be too surprised.
Aisling stared at him.
Or… nope, miscalculated. Oz cleared his throat. “No, no. You misunderstand. I’ve heard the terms before. How could I not? What I wanted to know is your take on it.”
Aisling narrowed her eyes, but the completely glassy-eyed lost look from before faded. “Figure out how to sense qi first, and I might tell you.”
“Fair enough.” Oz closed his eyes.
How do I inject qi into something? For that matter, how do I manipulate it at all? I’ve only absorbed a tiny amount. Can I even use it yet?
Only one way to find out.
Re-immersing himself in the book, Oz reached out to the tiny blue threads inside him. A handful circulated in his core, swimming idly like fish in a bowl. He gripped for them, but they slipped through his fingers like those very fish. The very motion of him grabbing pushed them away. Frustrated, he lunged for them, cornering them, but they popped up, forever escaping his grip at the very last second.
Watching his expression contort, Aisling chuckled. “You’re trying to force it, right? Instead of locking down the qi, let it flow. Create a pathway through yourself, and make it downhill.”
Oz furrowed his brows. Create a pathway and let magic flow like water? None of the books said that. Have I not read enough books yet?
Then again, there’s hundreds of thousands in the library. I’ve been here one day. I’d be more amazing if I managed to read them all already.
A moment later, Oz’s eyes widened. Is that the purpose of the Universal Theory of Magic? If you only read one manual, you think it’s the only way to use magic. If you read two, you might get two different opinions, or might get the same thing twice. If you read them all, you comprehend every starting point, every philosophy, and from there, can forge your own.
Is that why Madame Saoirse kicked out everyone but the seemingly useless Ossian? Everyone else had already taken the first steps in learning magic. They’d already decided the proper way to cast and handle magic. Only Ossian still lacked even the first steps.
“Correct,” Madame Saoirse said.
Aisling jumped. “What was that?”
Oz waved his hand. “Nothing.” Interesting how that orb she left behind can read my thoughts. I’ll have to figure that out, once I have enough magic for myself.
He focused on the book in his hand again. This time, he followed Aisling’s advice. Rather than grip at the magic, he opened a void within his core and imagined it flowing down his arm.
Magic left his core, but instantly, searing pain bit into his arm. Flinching back, Oz quickly closed down the void. What am I doing wrong?
Wait. Those diagrams I saw had passages for magic to flow through the body. Instead of just opening a path, I should use those, right?
He reached out within himself. This time, in his mind’s eye, a faint orb delineated in the palest of blue light floated out of utter black. A few motes of blue swam around inside the orb, brighter than the thin blue of the orb. Narrowing his mind’s eyes, he focused on the edge of the orb closest to his arm. There should be something. An outlet.
Through the darkness, a hole appeared, a small gap of darkness in the pale light that delineated the orb. He followed it outward. Like a vein, it flowed down his arm to his fingertips.
Oz shifted slightly, dropping his shoulder. The hole moved downward as well. He pushed the magic toward it, shooing them toward the out-stream. The fish-like motes of light wandered around a bit, but as he pushed the flow of his core, the magic scudded toward the exit. At last, a mote of light slipped down the hole. He followed it as it wandered down the passage, pushed by the core flow. A river, streaming from a lake.
It reached his hand. There, he felt it, a warmth in his palm. No longer needing the internal vision, he turned his focus outward once more and pushed, sending the mote into the book.
Within his head, the book appeared. As though the light scanned it from top to bottom, he saw the cover and every page, one after another. Even the words appeared, glittering in his mind.
Oz’s eyes flew open. Yes! What I’ve always wanted. I can download books directly into my brain!
He waited. The book floated there. None of the knowledge or words flowed into his mind.
Oh. It’s basically like owning a digital copy, huh? It exists in my brain and has no weight, but I still have to read it to know what’s in it. Oz paused for a moment, then shrugged. Still pretty nice, though!
“Did you see the eggs and worms?” Aisling asked.
He spun the image in his mind, opened it and leafed through a few pages. All the words are here. Even the illustrations, all in incredible detail. Yes, nearly a perfect copy of the book! A raring success, if I say so myself!
Except for one thing.
Oz opened his eyes and gave her a guilty look. “N…no…”
She frowned. “No? Maybe you need to use more qi. I remember the first time I searched for qi signatures. It took me ages to see anything at any distance. Though…the book is small enough that you should be able to scan the whole thing, right?”
“Uh…” Oz scratched the back of his head and smiled, slightly embarrassed. I did a great job of scanning the book. I only failed at seeing any of the living beings’ qi signatures. But how on earth do I explain that to her?
Aisling put her hand over his. “Perhaps you made a mistake. Pay attention to what I do, then copy it.”
Oz nodded. He looked at Aisling, who closed her eyes and focused, brows faintly furrowing. For a moment, he watched her, then jumped and quickly sent another mote of light down the passageway into his hand. I probably need use the qi scanning technique to see what she’s doing.
Aisling’s hand appeared in his inner vision. Thick veins filled her palm, one for each finger, the veins full of constantly-circulating bright orangey light. An even pulse of energy emanated from her palm and entered the book, passing through it from top to bottom. Where it met the eggs, the eggs lit up, almost answering her pulse.
Oz narrowed his eyes. That’s not what I was doing. I scanned the book, but what she did is more like, er, pinging the lifeforms in the book. She called out, and they answered. Subconsciously, perhaps, but still. Or rather, the magic in them responded to the magic in her.
What did she do different? The volume of magic, maybe? But I don’t have that much magic. The pulse? I did a scan, and she did a pulse. Let’s try that.
He nodded at Aisling. “I think I understand.”
She stepped back. “Please, go ahead.”
Taking a deep breath to settle himself, Oz flipped the book open in his head and began to read his mental copy of the book. Once again, he drew out a mote of magic. Rather than directing it to his fingertip and through the book, he instead drew it to the surface of his palm, circulating it for a moment, before sending it forth all at once.
Eggs appeared in his head, brilliant points of light marring the pages. The worms lit up in bright neon blue, shining bright in his eyes.
So the pulse was the trick. Oz put his hands together, closing the book in his mind. He nodded at Aisling. “I saw them.”
Aisling smiled. “Good! We can consider that repayment for admitting me inside the barrier.”
Oz frowned at her. “I wasn’t planning to charge admission.”
“No, no. I’m simply showing my gratitude. Knowledge for knowledge,” Aisling insisted, shaking her head.
Oz went to protest, but then shut his mouth and stepped back. It isn’t right to accept her gratitude for something I plan to offer freely to everyone, but she’s insistent upon it. I’ll find a way to pay her back later.
Besides, she’s already shared her knowledge. It’s not as if she can take it back now.
“You don’t have much magic, so let me take the lead in finding eggs and worms,” Aisling offered.
Oz nodded. He scanned the area, then picked up the bowl that had held the mercury. Moving to the vinegar, he filled the bowl, then paused again. I need something to spritz the vinegar around. I don’t want to soak the books in vinegar. That’ll ruin them outright. But what can I use to spray vinegar around?
A jingle bell rang. Oz turned.
Sid batted a bundle of feathers around on the floor. A leather cord bound a small jingle bell around the base of the bundle.
“Sid! You’re an angel!” Oz snatched up the toy.
Sid watched it go, bobbing her head a little. Her pupils grew wide, and she mewed.
Oz hesitated, then pulled the largest feather out of the toy and handed the rest back to Sid. Grabbing it with both her paws and her mouth, Sid wobbled off excitedly.
He nodded at Aisling. “I’m ready.”
She looked him up and down, suppressing a giggle. “You look like a madman.”
Glancing down at the bowl and single feather, Oz smiled. “I have no idea what you mean.”
Dipping the feather in the vinegar, Oz sprinkled some vinegar over the Gossip book, flipping to the pages with the eggs to drizzle them, too. The caterpillars shuddered, plump bodies withering, and the eggs paled. Oz brushed them off the page with a flick of his wrist. Sorry about that, but I can’t let you eat these books. May you seek greener pastures in your next life.
Fortunately, that bestiary had good information. I’ll need to scan it, too, and see if I can carry it around in my mind like the Gossip book.
…The first book I put in my mind, and it’s Gossip?
Oz snorted, shaking his head at himself. He put a hand on his stomach, about where the core appeared. It’s the last book I can scan for a while. I’m almost out of magic already.
Flicking the feather left and right, he quickly finished de-worming all the books on the desk, Aisling at his side to point out which ones had eggs inside. When he got to the bestiary, he casually rested a hand on it and used his last mote of magic to scan it.
“Is that all of them?” Aisling asked.
Oz nodded. “Let’s go.”
She nodded back. “Into the stacks.”
