The break between classes couldn't have come soon enough. I had been anticipating learning more about magic from the moment I discovered it was real, but who knew it would be this exhausting? My head still buzzed from Professor Doherty's lesson, my body was still tingling faintly. Sophie and I had left the courtyard together, walking back to the main building on the campus.
'Shall we head to the library, while we've got some free time?' Sophie asked, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.
'Yeah, why not?' I replied eagerly. 'I don't think I've actually been in the library yet.'
'Oh you're in for a treat,' she smiled softly. After learning that our grimoire's weren't the be-all and end-all of our capabilities, I was eager to learn more.
I felt a strange sense of anticipation as Sophie led me down a long corridor. The walls were lined with old tapestries, their designs had faded with time, but they still stole my attention. They portrayed duels between mages, scenes of ancient rituals through time, and symbols and scripture that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. We passed a few students on our way, all of them too absorbed in their own business to notice or give us the time of day.
I couldn't help but realise how different everything felt now that we had started classes. It was as if everything that had happened so far had become more real, solidifying in my mind. I started to feel like I was no longer out of place, like I truly belonged in this whole other world that had always existed, just out of reach. With its own secret history and mysteries to discover.
Velos Arcana was quickly becoming my new reality, and I found myself thinking less and less about how my life had been before I learned that magic was real. I genuinely hoped my friends at home were enjoying their time at university without me. I didn't feel bitter or abandoned anymore, because like them, I had finally found my next chapter after school.
'What's it like?' I asked Sophie as we walked along a quiet hallway, breaking the silence that had settled between us.
She glanced at me, startled by my abrupt question.
'The library? It's… special, I guess. I've not really had time to look around properly, but the girls in the dorm joke that Lydia has already made it her second home.'
I nodded, my excitement was already building in my stomach. The thought of this world having its own documented history that the rest of the world didn't know about was thrilling, I couldn't help but wonder how far their records went back, or what kind of miracles the mages from generations past had performed.
Would it explain the unexplained? Was Atlantis real? Was there truth in the Greek legends? Was there really a sword at the bottom of a lake that made Kings?
We turned a corner, and suddenly, the library doors stood firmly in front of us - massive oak doors, framed by ornate carvings of arcane symbols. The wood was dark and weathered, as though the door had stood there for centuries, guarding the knowledge within.
For a moment I just stood there, taking it all in. Theorising what magic was lying beyond the threshold.
'This is it,' Sophie said, her voice softer than usual. 'Welcome to the library.'
We pushed the doors open together, and the scent of old parchment hit me almost immediately. It was warm, comforting, like the past was embracing us. You could feel the weight of centuries of knowledge in the air, it pressed down on me as I stepped inside.
The library was… grand. Enormous, really. The ceilings stretched far above us, and the walls were lined with shelves upon shelves of books in every possible size and colour. Some were ordinary, others uniquely shaped or bound in exotic materials that I didn't recognise. What struck me most were the floating books - drifting lazily above our heads as if they were weightless, their pages fluttered like wings. It was a sight that made me giddy and awestruck.
'Don't just stand there,' Sophie whispered, nudging me lightly with her elbow. 'Come on, we've got to pick up our Foundation of Magic books from the reception.'
I followed her, my footsteps muffled by the thick carpet beneath me. The library was quiet, save for the soft rustling of pages and the ambient hum of magic that provided a calming ambience, perfect for reading. There was a serenity to the library, a peacefulness that seemed to envelop you. It seeped into your pores, calming my nerves as I followed Sophie toward the front desk.
The librarian behind the desk was a middle-aged man, his hair neatly cropped and sporting a five o'clock shadow. He looked up at us as we approached, offering us a warm, welcoming smile that seemed to radiate understanding.
'First years, I assume?' he said, his voice was gentle but firm. 'Professor Astora has arranged for you all to pick up your introductory copies. Sign here.'
He pointed at a large book that already had a couple of names that I recognised from our class listed. They were keeping track of who had signed out their copy from Professor Astora.
After we signed out names, he handed us each a book. It was a thick, leader bound volume with a gold leaf on the cover, a symbol I didn't recognise emblazoned on the front; it looked like three circles in a venn diagram. The weight of it was both comforting and foreboding. This was no ordinary textbook, it felt important. But it also felt like a lot of homework.
'Thank you,' I said, my voice felt strangely small in the vastness of the library.
'You're welcome,' the librarian replied. 'Feel free to browse the shelves while you're here. The Foundation of Magic is just the beginning, but there's something here for everyone.'
With that, Sophie and I made our way deeper into the library, past rows of shelves that seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see. I was still taking it all in, it was just a room full of books - but it felt so alive. The books above us floated above our heads. I couldn't help wondering where they were going.
Sophie led me to a small reading nook near a window, its stone archway framed by vines that were growing on their own accord. The sunlight shined through the stained glass window to create a golden glow, casting shadows across the floor. Sophie sat down at the table, immediately opening her book, her brow furrowing in concentration. I took the seat opposite her, but I couldn't help looking around the room.
'Are you really going to read it right away?' I asked, disrupting her air of concentration.
'Of course,' she replied, her voice distracted. 'This is meant to be our first step isn't it? How we're supposed to control our magic. If we don't learn the basics, we'll never get anywhere.'
I glanced down at my own copy of the book, the pages still unmarked and untouched. Part of me wanted to dive straight in as well, to absorb everything I could. But something further in me hesitated. It felt like once I started down this path, I would be stuck walking down it until I got to the end of the road. But right now we were in a room of endless paths, ones that I could jump across and not become obsessed by.
I wanted to learn as much as possible.
Instead of opening the book, my eyes wandered to the nearest shelf, and that's when I saw it - a small, unassuming book that I found intriguing. Its cover was worn, the edges frayed with time, but the title caught my attention: The History of Grimoires: Fragments of the Soul.
I don't know why, but something about it felt urgent. It felt personal. I pulled the book from the shelf and shuffled in my seat to get comfy before opening it, the pages creaked softly as I flipped through them. The words on the page seemed to blur together for a moment as I struggled to focus, but then, like a spark, it started to click into place.
The history of grimoires was more complicated than I could have ever imagined or thought possible. The book described how when a mage awakens their power, their soul fragments - broken into pieces that could no longer fit within their human vessel. That was the reason grimoires existed. A home for the shattered pieces of the soul, allowing a mage to access their magic without being completely consumed by their own power.
But there was more. The book speculated that the most powerful mages - archmages - were able to reunite these fragments, binding their grimoires to unify their soul again. This unity allowed them to wield unimaginable power, controlling magic at a level that ordinary mages could only dream of. I read on, the words sinking deep into my consciousness.
I couldn't help but think about what it meant to become one with your grimoire. How are we supposed to manipulate pieces of our soul?
My thoughts instinctively reached out for my grimoire, it appeared in its usual hazy mirage. How much of me was in this book? How much of my soul had it cost? I hope it didn't just take the good parts…
I refocused, forcing myself to process the text in front of me. I couldn't afford to be distracted, not when there was so much to learn.
Suddenly, Sophie's voice cut through my thoughts. 'Daniel, look at this.'
I glanced up, startled, and saw that she was holding a thick book in her hands. It had a deep blue cover, and a title glinted in silver lettering: Merlin: The First Mage King.
'Merlin? As in… The Merlin? Isn't he just a legend?' I raised an eyebrow curiously.
'That's what I thought too, but this makes it sound like it was all lies' Sophie muttered, a note of disbelief in her voice.
She flipped the book open, her face pale as she scanned the pages.
'I… I didn't expect this. But it's not like any of the stories I've ever heard. Merlin wasn't some wise old man who helped Arthur. He was a tyrant - a warlord who hoarded magic, controlling it for himself. He made sure only a select few could wield the most powerful spells. But because of that he stifled the entire magical world. He wanted to control knowledge, to make everyone else stupid about magic. So that's why everything became so secret. Because Merlin locked it all away.'
I stared at her, stunned. Merlin was a tyrant? The very idea seemed impossible, books and movies always portrayed him as a kind, wisened grandfatherly figure.
There was a noticeable silence, Sophie was still scanning through the pages while I processed the revelation.
'So, magic wasn't always hidden?' I asked dumbfounded.
Sophie shook her head with a grim expression.
'No. Not always. It was something everyone could access. But Merlin… he changed the world itself. Magic became something to fear, something to hide. He erased history, which probably helped to create the legend we're all familiar with.'
I felt the hair on the back of my neck standing up. As if the ground beneath me was shifting. Everything I had presumed about the magical world, I had based on TV shows and movies I had watched and novels I had read. But this Merlin bombshell meant that some of those things could have been rooted in reality, in the world of magic that had been hidden from the rest of the world.
I closed my eyes for a moment. This is the world I've entered. Where magic and the truth is a weapon. What would happen if regular people discovered that the world of magic was real? I suppose that's why we were warned about not telling people. The principal's warning about the Magisters all of a sudden seemed very real. If I did leave Velos Arcana I had to be extremely careful with what I said and did in front of others.
While learning about our misconceptions of Merlin was thrilling, I could only imagine what else we could discover in the library. But we had Magic History this afternoon, and now I was eager to learn what we were going to be taught in those lectures. I wanted to uncover more truths about the world, what else had been hidden from us growing up in a world without magic?