Reader Mage 107-Do You Need A Special Grimoire Made?

rlin’s phone kept buzzing with calls and texts as he walked behind Guildmaster Hyeonki. And he was well aware of the culprit. Nora could be a pest when she wanted to be. In fact, she could take things up a notch and co over to the Consortium Guild and he wouldn’t be surprised. Really? She couldn’t handle a baby dragon all by herself?

He worried for whoever would end up her partner in the coming future. Trying to connect with what went through her mind was like trying to catch an eel barehanded. Both had a very low success rate.

“You can answer,” said Guildmaster Hyeonki, his hands in his pocket and the staff of the Consortium bowing in his direction as he walked past. rlin was well aware of where they were headed, after all, the path they were taking led in the direction of the evaluation room. rlin wondered if the man who had attended to him the last ti would be present. It would be nice to see an old face.

He snapped back and shook his head in reply to the guildmaster's words.

“It’s fine,” said rlin. “Just my sister.”

Guildmaster Hyeonki humd. “Nora, if I rember correctly?”

rlin’s breath hitched montarily. Guildmaster Hyeonki no doubt ca in contact with Mage prospects almost every day, so the fact that he could recall the na of one amongst the many was no doubt sothing to be amazed by.

“Yes,” rlin replied, clearing his throat.

“How’s she doing?” Guildmaster Hyeonki asked. “She had a really sharp mouth the last ti we spoke. I hope that hasn’t put her in any trouble?”

rlin chuckled stiltedly. Now he understood why the guildmaster couldn’t forget her in particular. She had a peculiar way of making an impression.

“She’s trying her best,” rlin said.

It didn’t take too long for them to arrive at the evaluation room, and to rlin’s disappointnt, the man who had evaluated him was not present.

“Good morning, guildmaster,” said the attendant seated behind the pristine white desk rlin recalled. She shot up to her feet and bowed, buttoning up her grey blazers imdiately. She obviously had not been expecting the guildmaster to show himself and had been lackadaisical about her work. rlin wouldn’t bla her, though. The day was slow. There were barely any Enkindled here for their evaluation. And those that were present had either already done theirs, or were preoccupied with calming their raging hearts.

She must have thought a bit of slacking off wouldn’t hurt.

Guildmaster Hyeonki, on the other hand, didn’t even seem bothered by her actions. He just let his eyes wash over the room as he said, “I’d like you to test him.” He nudged his head in rlin’s direction.

“Absolutely,” said the attendant. Then she turned her brown eyes rlin’s way. “Please place your hand here.”

rlin nodded and stepped forward. The palm scanner integrated into the desk was just as he rembered it to be. He placed his hand on the scanner as he was instructed and the attendant, still standing, typed so things into the keyboard before her. A beep went off.

“Uhm…” she started, clearing her throat. “He’s already been evaluated, guildmaster.” She glanced at rlin, hesitating to say the words that danced on her lips. He smiled at her and she sighed. “He’s a Deficient Mage.”

Guildmaster Hyeonki nodded. “I know that. Perform another diagnosis.”

The attendant blinked. “All right.”

She typed into the system once again, and, this ti, a blue light shone below rlin’s palm. A second later there was a similar beep, but the attendant’s reaction was different. She gasped as her head jerked back slightly.

rlin frowned.

Guildmaster Hyeonki turned to her. “Is there a problem?”

“Uhm…” She swallowed, unsure what to say. “I think the diagnostic system is having so hiccups—problems, I an. I’ll contact the technical departnt to have a look at its architecture.” She looked at rlin. “If you’d just wait a mont.”

“Nothing’s wrong with the system,” said Guildmaster Hyeonki.

“Huh?” The attendant blinked. She glanced at the monitor and cocked her head. “But that’s impossible.”

“Tell what you see,” said Guildmaster Hyeonki.

“Uhm…” She let her fingers drum on the keyboard. “Initially his mana output was capped—sorry, climaxed at thirty percent of a D-Rank Dungeon,” she said. “Now, it’s at sixty percent of a C-Rank Dungeon.” She glanced at rlin who was equally as stunned as she was, then at Guildmaster Hyeonki, who returned a plain stare her way. “It’s like his mana got stronger.”

rlin wouldn’t say that those words fit the term absurd, but they still surprised him regardless. He had known, deep down, that his mana was progressing just like he was, even without the System quantifying it for him.

“So,” said Guildmaster Hyeonki, “he has about the sa mana as a C-Class Mage now?”

What?!

rlin’s mind took a spin. He was unable to steady himself and stumbled backwards in return. He must not have heard correctly. But if he had, then now it was absurd.

What did the guildmaster an by saying his mana was on the sa level as that of a C-Class Mage now? And why was the man not looking one bit surprised about all this?

rlin was confused, and that was without taking into consideration the fact that a Mage’s Class was evaluated based on how their mana compared to a Dungeon ranked similar to them.

“That’s impossible, guildmaster,” said the attendant. “It’s unheard of for mana to get stronger, and grow. I still think the system’s architecture has a bug. Are you sure I shouldn’t contact the technical departnt?”

Guildmaster Hyeonki took a deep breath and exhaled. Then he walked to the door. “If that will put your mind at ease, then do. Co with , rlin, we have sowhere else to be.”

rlin blinked, bowed at the attendant who had now gone from being stunned to appraising him, and hurried after the guildmaster.

They made their way to a different section of the Consortium Guild next. This place was even easier to figure out than the evaluation room. After all, it was packed with rows and rows of shelves of Grimoires, and all around were staff in white lab coats bumbling about. The sll of leather and wax and glue filled the air, as well as the sound of machinery whirring from the edges of the room. It was noisy. Far too noisy, that the guildmaster was not noticed as quickly as he should have. When he was, though, everyone stopped in their tracks and welcod him.

“What brings you here, guildmaster?” asked one of the staff, round glasses seated on the bridge of his nose.

“Is In-Su in?” Guildmaster Hyeonki asked.

“Yes, guildmaster,” replied the staff. “Right this way, please.”

The man led them in the direction of an office secluded from all the noise, and inside was seated a rather young man who looked like he was in his early twenties, at most, twenty-five, if rlin was to be precise. Where they were was no doubt the Grimoire production departnt, and if the young man currently greeting the guildmaster was the head of the departnt, then he must be a genius to be overseeing such an important aspect of a Mage’s life.

Hold on. That wasn’t even the most important thing. What in the world was he doing in a room filled with Grimoires? Surely, it couldn’t be what he was thinking, right?

“Ah… So he’s the anti-mage?” the man, who went by In-Su, apparently, turned to rlin with a smile. “Nice to et you, rlin Tyrrell.” He stretched forth a hand.

rlin took it with a slight frown, his brain not giving him a mont of rest as he kept on piling questions upon questions in his mind. “Nice to et you too.”

“You’re famous here, you know?” he continued. Then he leaned in closer, “The Mage who wants to put us out of business.”

rlin chuckled. “Eh… I think I’ve heard I’m one of a kind,” he joked. “The multitude of Mages still need your services.”

In-Su smiled. “I like you.”

“Thank you.”

He turned to the Guildmaster who had gone ahead to probe through the shelves of Grimoire in In-Su’s office.

“To what do I owe this visit, guildmaster,” In-Su started. “Do you need a special Grimoire made?”

Guildmaster Hyeonki shook his head. “No. Not yet, perhaps.” He glanced at rlin and withdrew a Grimoire from the shelf, tossing it at him. “Channel your mana into this.”

rlin caught the Grimoire sharply and blinked at it. “I don’t understand.”

“Sa here,” said In-Su. “If I recall, and no offense to you rlin, isn’t he a Deficient Mage?”

Guildmaster Hyeonki nodded. “He is. But he’s a weird one. I want to run so private tests on him, to find out what exactly he’s really capable of. Make sure no one hears about whatever you see in this office.” He then locked eyes with rlin and dropped his gaze to the Grimoire. “Well, get on with it.”

rlin blinked himself back to reality. He still couldn’t understand what exactly was going on, but he couldn’t keep the guildmaster waiting, so he went on with what he had been told to do.

Just like he recalled from the manual Nora had received with her Grimoire, one needed only to channel a bit to find out what Hex they possessed. The Grimoire in his hand was a C-Class Grimoire, as was evident from its dark-brown leather; in other words, the headmaster was probably trying to figure out if he could use magic.

rlin’s heart pounded, and blood rushed to his head, as he channeled his mana out. There was a possibility he would be able to use magic. Really?

He pursed his lips as his mana reached his fingertips and trickled onto the Grimoire like drops of water falling rhythmically from the mouth of a closed tap. The whole reason he was able to use anti-magic was because his mana had no identity; that was why he couldn’t use magic in the first place. That was why everything that had happened to him had happened to him.

There was no way he was able to use any Hex.

However, when the Grimoire absorbed his mana, sothing weird happened. rlin’s eyes almost sunk into his head as the small orb on the Grimoire glowed and varying symbols flashed across it. He saw the spiral that represented Nora’s air hex amongst other different symbols.

In-Su leaned in closer at the sight. “What’s this?”

Guildmaster Hyeonki simply humd, then pulled his gaze from the Grimoire’s theatrics, and placed them on rlin, who was nothing short of stunned.

“That’s enough,” he said a mont later and pried the Grimoire from rlin’s hands. “I’ve seen what I wanted to see.”

In-Su gulped. “Absurd.” He studied rlin, curiosity evidently etched on his face. “What exactly is up with you?”

rlin’s heart skipped a beat for the umpteenth ti. He had no clue what was going on, and, he would be honest, had never been more starved of answers in his life.

What was wrong with him?

“You may go ho,rlin,” said the guildmaster before rlin could ask anything. “I’ll call for you once I’m sure what exactly is going on here.”

rlin swallowed his words hesitantly, and bowed in compliance.

He left the Consortium Guild with a ssed mind, and arrived back at he and Nora’s apartnt feeling even worse. After all, he was put to work imdiately. Blue had nearly frozen the whole apartnt, and Nora bickered tirelessly into his ears, claiming that he had intentionally ignored her calls and texts—which he had, but denied it either way—and threatened to eat him alive if he ever left her all alone with Blue again. Then she told him to take care of the ice, and left the apartnt angrily.

Thank God for Reader Mage. Because, otherwise, rlin had no idea how else he would have turned their frozen room into a steam room.