Chapter 39 | PoV: Sanya
“So . . . what is this? We're both spatial mages now,” Sanya started. She studied the book in her hand. Decrepit. Falling apart. Yep, it was an old book.
The librarian smiled. “Just because you've become one mage doesn't mean you can't be another.”
Sanya looked up at the librarian and gaped. “What?”
“It's been found out that you can have at least two mage types—well, ‘classes.’ So, why not learn your second mage type as well?”
Who found it out? How many people knew this? Was this quietly gatekept knowledge that the librarian casually dropped onto them?
“Do you know anyone with two mage types?” Mai asked.
“That's a secret, I'm afraid! You'll just have to trust me.”
Mai shrugged. “Oh. Okay . . .”
Was the librarian one of the people with two mage denominations . . . “classes?” Maybe Nur was? He had these books, after all.
The librarian's face beamed, putting a hand on the cover of the book Mai held. “This grimoire is for Fleshweaving! Fleshweaving is about morphing life and changing its shape. It has use with morbid healing and can do lots of freaky stuff like making monsters out of people or changing sex characteristics! I read you can instantly tear any fauna in half with a spell if you wanted to! I bet it could give Sanya breasts!”
Sanya blinked at that sudden last sentence, flushed. She had not expected the librarian to end her long explanation like that.
Mai was also flushed.
The librarian's quick remark also reminded Sanya that her body was not feminine. The opportunity of being able to change that made her mind practically beg for it. It could be one great step to giving her what she wanted, aligning herself and stopping the dissonance and people questioning her. She needed it, like, on a primal level.
“I'll take it!” Sanya cried.
“I will!” Mai fought back.
Sanya stopped and stared at Mai, head tilted. “You want to . . . endow me?”
The librarian ignored them. She pointed at Sanya's book, star-eyed. “And that one is for Celestial Summoning, which is all about unrivaled magical projectiles! Need I say more? Spatial mages on their own don't have a vast repertoire of offensive magic. Which will be needed for the time to come.”
The time to come? That wasn't ominous at all.
She was just going to ignore that last bit? Maybe Sanya should ask her to elaborate.
“Should we even be giving Sanya that grimoire as a choice?” Mai asked. “Given she seems prone to violence? Or is that exactly why you want her to have it?”
“Hey!” Sanya cried.
“And, um, as fun as teasing her was, Fleshweaving seems more useful for her. Maybe you have another grimoire more suitable for—?”
The librarian's expression was totally unhelpful. Then a sly, mischievous smile formed.
“—Ah . . . No? . . . Hey! Wait—you want me to have something useful over her, don't you? You want me to be her Fleshweaver!”
“What!?” Sanya cried out.
The librarian wanted Mai to be the Fleshweaver so that she could be the one to shape Sanya's body, once she learned how? In other words, if Sanya really wanted her body to be more in line with that of her fellow girls, then she would need to be near Mai at some point and ask for her magical services. The librarian was artificially wanting to link Sanya and Mai together for at least one point in the future, near or far. Who knew how long it would take to develop becoming these mages and utilizing the specific spells. She was practically playing the matchmaker by giving Mai Fleshweaving. What was in it for Mai, exactly, Sanya didn't know. But, Sanya would need Mai.
The librarian's smirk did not waver.
“This isn't fair,” Mai said.
“You two can trade tomes if you want,” the librarian shrugged.
Mai shook her head. “No—no, I like this. I'm not too into violence.”
“Yes!” Sanya said at the same time. “I want to learn Fleshwea—wait, why don't we both become Fleshweavers?”
That would be perfect! Sanya could have Fleshweaving and . . . Mai could have . . . because . . . um . . . Well . . . the librarian had said they could swap if they wanted to. It was just . . . that . . . Mai did not seem particularly interested in Celestial Summoning.
The librarian looked like someone had just stabbed her dog. W-why not?
The librarian did not give a verbal response to Sanya's question. “I'm surprised no one has mentioned the obvious yet!”
“What?” Sanya asked.
“Fleshweaving could rebuild Mai's fingers!”
“Could it?”
“It's an already difficult spell on top of extreme control and manipulation, but it could eventually be possible,” the librarian said. “It's all in the grimoire.”
Eventually? Something told Sanya that Fleshweaving had an extremely difficult floor to reach in order to start casting spells. What would it take to be able to learn to manipulate flesh? Well, spatial magic seemed easy enough to learn, and it seemed like it broke the laws of the universe. Mai could already throw objects around, if inaccurately.
What kind of spells did Fleshweaving have? What were the easy spells? How would it compare to learning spatial magic from scratch?
Had Sanya expedited Mai's learning through exposing her to spatial mana and the spell forms? Had Nur expedited Sanya and her class through the same methods? How would a mage learn a new specialization without that? How do you see Fleshweaving mana or Celestial Summoning mana without a mage there that already knew it?
Ah, it was probably in the book. Sanya probably needn't worry.
Mai's eyes sparkled at the possibility of bringing her fingers back. Then, she glanced behind her, towards the infirmary door. “Could it . . . could it bring back . . . ?”
“No.”
“Oh,” Mai's shoulders slumped.
Thamina. They were talking about the student Sanya had killed. They would never be able to bring her back. She was gone.
A permanent stain forever on Sanya's character and choices. Could she ever make amends to it? How could she continue forward with this action in her past? How could she mend her relationship with Mai? Was it over for good?
It had been five days since they met. They went from meeting for the first time, to developing feelings quickly, to becoming girlfriends, to breaking that.
In the span of five days . . .
What happened to Sanya? How could things have gone so quickly?
“What's the third book?” Mai asked.
The librarian jumped, a hand going to the last book on the shelf. “Oh! This . . . It's for someone else. I thought they'd be here, but . . .”
“Zahira?”
The librarian shook her head. She looked at the book, tapping a foot against the ground in thought. “Ah, I'll just go look for them.”
“What's the grimoire on?”
“That's for them to tell you, if they want.” The librarian hid the spine of the book, if it even had any text. Her fingers obscured the cover, which appeared to have nothing on it.
The librarian headed for the door.
“Is that it?” Mai asked.
The librarian stopped in front of the door, turning to face the room. “Yes. It will be much more interesting if you figure out how to manage these new resources on your own.”
Mai and Sanya gave her flat expressions.
The librarian giggled. “And don't tell Nur. Make sure he doesn't see the books. You too, Dima.”
She waved her hand and then opened the door, heading out. She muttered something about “should have disguised the grimoires as lesbian fiction titles.”
The infirmary door shut behind the librarian with finality.
Why had Nur been hiding the books? Was he doing his own research on them? Did he not want the students to have them? Why, then? If people could have two classes, it wasn't like trying to learn one would interfere with becoming a spatial mage, which was what he wanted.
Why spatial mages? What could they do that Nur wanted so badly?
The abyss? Was that it? That strange purple place Nur had dumped them into in the market? The place Sanya could also dip people into with her basic ability?
Speaking of basic abilities, how did it show up for people who had not naturally stumbled upon the class? How did becoming a mage even work? Anyone could become a mage?
What in the name of Heliux was going on here? What was happening just beyond that door while Sanya was under house arrest and . . . recovering from her mental state?
Where did Sanya and Mai play a part in this? What was the librarian doing?
Mai turned to face Sanya. “Sooooo, do you want to swap?”
“You're not interested in Celestial Summoning. Um, you can do Fleshweaving for me . . . and it will give you an excuse to . . . No, wait, why wouldn't you just disappear from me forever and not want to weave my flesh? . . .”
Okay, swapping was looking decent for Sanya. Not for Mai though. Why didn't they both become Fleshweavers, maybe they could outside of the librarian's gaze. Sanya still didn't know why she had that reaction when Sanya had asked.
Sanya didn't understand anything!
Mai sighed. “Okay. I promise to Fleshweave you once I know how, and you want it. Is that good enough?”
If Mai promised, then that was perfect. If Mai could be Sanya's Fleshweaver, then Sanya did not have to be one. They could cover more mage classes this way, and each have a unique choice.
Maybe Celestial Summoning would grow on Sanya. Who was she to deny the whims of whatever mysterious entity the librarian was? Wait, hadn't she said that she had swapped the grimoires? Was that a joke? Or had she done that on purpose? If that was the case, was it really a swap?
Sanya nodded. “I'll keep this grimoire then.”
“Just so you know . . .” Mai warned, a mischievous smile creeping up her face. “I am going to make you very well-endowed.”
“Freak,” Sanya muttered. “Maybe don't?”
Sanya shuddered at the thought of attracting too much attention with a certain area of her body. Something told Sanya that Mai would make her unrealistically ludicrous. Sanya wanted to be realistic, thank you very much. Maybe even disappointingly realistic. The last thing she wanted to do was to meet the delusional standards of men—or was it women too, if Mai wanted to do it?
Mai crossed her arms. “You're no fun. We’ll see when we get there.”
Great. Another thing in Sanya's future to dread. Exactly what she needed. Maybe . . . Maybe it wouldn't be so bad . . . if Mai was the one doing it.