The Time Keeper

Chapter 4 - An Intriguing Library

The book I had picked out had the title, "The History of Magic in Goldeen" as I was now intrigued by the unknown of this world rather than general knowledge and history, which I could easily figure out over time. Magic was not something I was knowledgeable in so starting off here would be beneficial early on if I am to figure out what to do next.

I walked over to one of the unoccupied lounge chairs making sure to sit away from anyone else so as to not be disturbed.

Not many people were in the library as of present which I had noticed prior to sitting down; the few librarians, a couple browsing the shelves, and about four or five others reading separately. It was still quite early in the day, the clock in the library displaying around 8:30 in the morning when I came in.

Yet still, I don't know the day, the month, or the year. I should ask someone but that might arise too much attention and suspicion of myself as someone not from here, I'd like to be as anonymous as possible until I start my rise to success.

I picked up the book to read and started to swiftly absorb the information from the pages, stopping once in a while to reflect on what I had read hoping to understand the contents of the book.

In the book, there was a lot I didn't understand relating to things such as sociology, politics, cultures, different eras and even a few things on gods, but I only skimmed over those. I just wanted a basic understanding of this magical power at this stage. A few important points I had come across was that magic was natural to this world, being known and used from the beginning of existence here and that it seemed to be taught in the most prestigious schools to those of high class and prestige.

"If it's being taught to this so-called high class, why would it be a crime... Even punished by death?" Was this town or city of Leode not part of this so-called high class? Would that place Caius was saying be part of this class? Goldeen was is?

I continued to read on, hoping to find an answer to my question. The book explained that the use of magic was highly regulated and controlled by the government and the churches. Those who were not part of the privileged class were not allowed to use magic, but there was no explanation as to why that was.

I read on, learning more about the history of magic and how it had been used for both good and evil throughout the ages, but it was rather vague and read as if someone was uninformed. The book detailed the rise and fall of powerful magic users before the rise of the current governing powers, the different creatures that used to exist in this world, and the various forms of magic that could be wielded using verbal incantations.

Flicking through, there were many pages missing that looked to have been ripped out rather than having fallen out from old age and poor care. How could you do such a thing to something as precious as a book?

A few pages and notes were written in some foreign languages as well—nothing of the world I once knew—so trying to fully understand everything was impossible at this stage. I would have to figure out how to decipher it or learn it in some way eventually since it might help me understand how I got here.

As I read, I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe at the depth of knowledge contained within the book. But obviously, my number one question was still left unsolved which was why I came here. I knew it would likely take some time, but I hope not too long.

About an hour longer into my reading session, I put the book down to reflect on what I had read but noticed someone across the room from me, someone I hadn't seen enter the building earlier or even sit down. Usually, I would notice this as I had been taking note of those entering and leaving whilst I had been reading and figured there were around twenty-four people still in the building.