When I entered, I felt a gentle breeze. I opened my eyes. We're actually inside the picture. I'm standing on green grass, barefoot. My feet felt a tingling sensation. And there is the giant tree—we are roughly around 50 meters away from it, yet it's still huge. But I didn't see any sign of that boy.
I quietly followed Shila. She stopped in front of the tree and started shouting—
"You shit-eating ugly dog, come out! Or else, if I come there, I'll feed those balls of yours to the rabbits."
Whoa she really has a cursed tongue. Maybe after birth, she ate the extremely bitter neem leaf instead of honey. (In ancient times, some people used to feed their child honey after birth, so that they would speak sweet words like honey.)
A large rope dropped from the tree in front of us, and that elf boy came down by the hanging rope.
"My sweet little Marshmallow, why are you cursing so early in the morning? Don't you see the kid is watching you? What if he learns some bad things from you? He's still in his learning phase, you know." Then he pinched my chicks & poked me while teasing Shila . I must say, he has some guts I can't even dream of. annoying Shila replied ,"Back off, you fucker. And the boy's already rotten, so a little more won't make a difference."
Really what does she think of me? Does she think everyone is like her!
"And whose fault is that, my sweetie pie? I already warned you before—if you can't, you can't—but don't half-ass it! You are one stubborn and persistent kitty cat, you know that. No matter where the fish is hidden, you always somehow manage to find it, huh ? (What the heck is this guy saying? eve I don't get it. And I am the narrator here ) I guess you're just lucky."
She replied angrily, "Hey sucker, don't cross the line. And the boy is my business, so don't stick your shitty nose in here."
With a goofy smile he said, "You're still feisty as ever. So, is the boy already at that age, huh? Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought him here."
"That's the case. So, take him."
I turned to her and asked her, "What do you mean by take me? Hey hey hey, are you selling me off to this shit?"
He glared at me and said ,"Oi brat, only my sweetie can curse me, not someone like you. If you make the same mistake again, then you can say bye-bye to your virginity in front of the orcs."
Well, someone who knows Shila is bound to be like this. That wasn't something unexpected.
I looked at both of them tensely and asked, "So, what will happen to me? Will I live? ...…Shila?"
That elf boy was good-looking—but not as much as me—and had a sweet tongue, but my gut was telling me he was up to no good. Really, why can't I meet a normal person in this world? First Shila, and now him. God, please smile upon my fate again.
Then he (not God, the elf bastard) spoke his sweet words again, but I could see his cunningness.
"Oh, where are my manners? I am the con—
(I think he was about to say he's a conman or something like that)
I mean, I'm the Librarian of the First Floor 'Bornaloi' of the Ancient Beda Tree: Amond Shakya, at your service."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Shakya."
Shila somehow looked disgusted hearing his introduction. She warned me that, "Well, don't get caught in his honey trap. All the time be on your guard. Anyway, as you now know, he will take you to the inner library for learning mana breathing. His personality may be weird, but he gets the job done. Still, don't let your guard down."
I thought—you're one to talk about personality. You yourself are as weird as anyone could be. That's probably why you're acquainted with him in the first place.(￣_,￣ )
Then Mr. Shakya led the way to Bornaloi. Then he entered a hole under the tree. The path seemed quite long. To be at ease, I struck up some conversation.
"Um, so this Big Beda Tree is also like the one under which me and Shila are living, huh?"
"Yes, because that one is also a Beda Tree. There are actually four Beda Trees. Bornaloi is in this Beda Tree, named Sama Beda Tree. And the Beda Tree in which you are staying is the Raga Beda Tree. The remaining two are the Yajura Beda Tree and the Arthroba Beda Tree. All these trees are connected to each other. These four trees store all the knowledge of the world. Didn't Sweet Pump tell you about this?"
Maybe she did—or my parents—but that was before I appeared in this world. So I said something like, "She said those ages ago, so I forgot, hahaha." I acted like a cute fool.
"Oh, is that so? Well, you are very precious to my Angel, so I must take good care of you."
"Are you two married?"
"Hahahahaha, may heaven bless you for your words,
but not yet. You see, she is playing hard to get. You know how women are. Oh! Here we are. After you."
So we entered through the large royal door. I saw another big library like ours here. But unlike ours, it is much cleaner and fancier. Still, I don't see any people—of any species—except us, like our house.
"So why don't I see anyone else except us?"
"That's because, when a VVIP enters the Beda Tree, the rest of the world is not allowed at that moment. But as we are bending time and space here, it won't be a problem. Because we will be done in light speed. Hahaha."
"WOW, but I never saw anyone else in our library."
Hmm… Is it because we are also living in bent time and space? No, I don't think so. I didn't see anything special in particular. And we could hear the monsters cry, and rabbits and other things were moving normally too. Or maybe the whole forest was under the magic… no, no, no—that would be way more mana-consuming. And Shila is only an intermediate-level healer. Not a king spirit to control that much of a wide area. Then Shakya said, "I don't have the permission to say that much. And… no, forget it."
If it's too much of a big secret, then I shouldn't know either. Ignorance is bliss after all.
"Ok, never mind."
"Now, Prince Luo, let me begin your path toward the magical journey." He bowed like a puppet with cut strings, his smile sharper than Sheila's knife . He regarded me as Prince. Is he mocking me, as I have lost everything? sigh! He then waved his hand, and five books with different-coloured auras appeared before me, floating in the air.
"These five books will be the stepping stones for you in your great journey—or so I hope."
The first book is Viriyana. It contains the most common mana breathing techniques. It is also regarded as the first known technique for breathing among almost all non-human species. But some humans are also able to use it.
The second one is the Book of Ariyana. Using the first book as a basis, humans created this technique.
The third one—not that you need it, I hope—is the Book of Shedva. In a later period, humans discovered that demons also use a special breathing technique different from the existing ones. By analyzing it, they found out it is a totally unique mana breathing technique. But it's not that suitable for humans, as the process is quite violent.
Then there is the holy Book of Yutina. Legends say that this breathing technique was given by the goddess GIA to the Princess of Yutina for her devotion.
Finally, the last book was discovered just a few centuries ago. The summoned hero Nicolas Hamel wasn't able to use any of the other books. So, he created his own breathing technique. Now, some others are also able to read and practice it .But this is a very, very, very rare case.
Normally, if someone is not able to use any of these, then they have no chance of using magic.
"So let's see what your fate holds for you, shall we? Please go ahead and breathe out on each book. If it's suitable for you, you will feel the bond with the book—like a contract."
Whoa, just… awe. I can't believe it. I am finally only a few steps away from learning magic. I ama supura exciteda (my crazy talk, hehe).
I went in front of the first book, Viriyana. It is a normal-looking book with a leather cover. Its aura isn't that intimidating like the other ones. But this book seems to have more pages than the others. I breathed out on it—but no, nothing happened. I was a little disappointed but happy too.
I guess you guys already know why I was secretly glad—huh? I'm not a fan of being common. At least a little more than average. hehehe.
Now the second one, Book of Ariyana. This book is deep green with golden metal carvings of tree vines on the side. It looks quite royal, you know. I breathed out on it too—but still nothing. Well, I was kind of hoping, but… never mind. I still have two left—except the third one, Book of Shedva. It has a deep blackish-purple colour and a silver skull in the middle. This book has a very intimidating aura. And—human suffering drawings on the leather? Or maybe it's human skin? Well, I don't wanna know. I crossed my fingers and breathed on it too. Luckily, nothing happened this time either.
Now I headed to the holy Book of Yutina. A white book with a cross in the middle, decorated with gold. It really felt like I could hear the church bells and see divine light falling on me.. When I came near it, I felt like kneeling and praying. But not that much of an urge, haha. So, I breathed on it too. Still nothing.
Now only one left. I am now scared, frightened. What if this one also rejects me? I don't want that—after coming this close to magic, I don't want to go back. So again, I crossed my fingers, prayed to God in my mind, and finally… breathed on it again.