章 32: The Library
Ahhhh, the library. An oasis of knowledge in a world of chaos.
At least he hoped it would be.
After having finished choosing his elective he decided to properly check out the library for the first time.
Ideally, it would be perfect for increasing the data stores within his ability.
"So the system is pretty standard, alphabetically sorted by name and you can check with the librarian for anything specific. They're from the Dempster clan so they have a magic system all sorted out for the books to help you find whatever you need." Erwin explained.
Jacob had decided to tour the place with Erwin since the polite young man had already spent some time using its facilities.
The library itself was a majestic place, with multiple floors and shelves so high a ladder was needed to reach the upper ones. The whole place was lit by magical candlelight and a calm silence encapsulated the space.
Jacob couldn't quite describe it but he felt very comfortable looking over the aisles of books, like he was in his own home.
"Not many people in here huh, I thought this place would be packed all things considered" Jacob said.
"Despite being literal superhumans the majority of dreamers refuse to utilise a literal treasure trove of information and instead opt to try to show off in the courtyard for god knows what reason. It's almost as if instead of evolving as a species we're devolving" Erwin responded with more than a little contempt.
Not only did Erwin know the way around but he tended to respond with a bit more wit than most of the people Jacob talked to.
"You know you might be onto something. I mean, who needs limitless knowledge when you can dazzle pigeons with superhuman cartwheels?" Jacob joked.
A small chuckle came from the two young men as they joked while Erwin kept walking.
"This section is one I've spent ages in. Outsider dream realms." Erwin gestured to another of the aisles.
"The long and short of it is that these are a bunch of records from dreamers with realms outside the 5 main ones. I was hoping to find something similar to mine but no dice." Erwin explained.
"You know I am quite happy to have you in class. Although I find this whole experience exciting, I have to admit it's a little daunting. My upbringing wasn't exactly as exciting as most of the other dreamers here so I'll admit I often feel a little out of my own depth. But when I saw you in the class looking as bewildered as I was when I first arrived, I felt a little better." Erwin confessed to Jacob.
Jacob didn't have the heart to tell him that he had expressed himself like that on purpose to lure someone helpful into giving him information and trust.
Try as he might Jacob was at heart, a distrustful. It was part of his nature and he didn't have any plans to change.
"Well, I'm glad my cluelessness was so reassuring for you" Responded Jacob, smiling with mock sarcasm.
"Well… clueless is a little generous, confused and terrified is more accurate" Jested Erwin as they continued to pace the library.
"Seems a little harsh for someone-" Jacob started to respond only to be cut off as he tripped over an object at shin height, hooking his foot over it and coming crashing to the floor.
He groaned slightly as he thanked his reflexes for getting his hands in front of his face before he hit the ground.
"What the hell…" He questioned no one in particular as he got back to his feet, looking over at what had tripped him in the first place.
Only to be met with a pair of eyes, one a mystical emerald green and the other a striking bright blue.
"If you don't even know how to walk, I can't imagine you'd have much use for a place that requires you to know how to read" the owner of the mismatched eyes commented dryly.
The aforementioned owner was a girl, roughly 20 by his estimation.
Comfortable and slightly baggy clothing covered her concerningly small frame. It was bordering on fragile if he was being honest.
On the other hand, her face was that of a professional poker player, a stage above his own in fact.
The only expression was that of slight inquiry. As if to say, 'why haven't you said anything?' yet somehow also giving the impression of not wanting to be spoken to.
Her short black hair was kept in a simple style showcasing once again the girl's efforts towards convenience rather than beauty.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, her efforts were in vain as her natural charm managed to shine through despite her fashion choices.
The way she spoke was halfway between an Irish and English accent, an odd yet not disharmonious combination.
On top of all that she was vaguely familiar. He couldn't help but feel they had met before.
Although the girl's good looks and sudden questions had startled him, he still had his ability to talk, talking without needing to think was pretty much his only talent after all.
"Big words from someone incapable of perceiving someone who's about to kick them in the leg" He responded.
"The fact that you can't tell the difference between illiteracy and being absorbed in research only further degrades my impression of your intelligence." She responded.
'analysis have I somehow pissed this chick off beforehand?'
[2 occasions of contact. 1: Briefly seen before events of being beaten by Victor. 2: In class. She is the only member of the Dempster clan group in class]
With that, it finally clicked, he hadn't paid much attention before, but he knew he had recognised her from somewhere.
She was the girl he had seen with the blue text walking away from the courtyard on his first day at UDRD. He hadn't paid much attention to her in class because... Well why would he?
"What exactly are you researching anyway? The latest and greatest methods in annoying people and causing unintentional bodily harm to innocent pedestrians?" Jacob jabbed back.
"Actually, I'm studying Maxwell's theory of magical node structure origination based on quadrant formulas." She responded, looking him dead in the eye as she silently dared him to challenge her again.
"Ok, Ok, sorry to bother you Stephanie, we're going to head off now. Enjoy your studying." Erwin intervened.
"I would like to but the fact that the library is stocked out of the latest quadrant theory study along with this idiot's inability to see in front of him makes it a challenge." She responded snidely.
This, of course, annoyed Jacob.
He wasn't a vengeful person by nature, but he was a spiteful person with a fair bit of pride.
Sure he had discarded that pride on many occasions for what he liked to call the greater good but pride nonetheless.
A full second after giving her a look that made lemons seem sweet, he walked away.
Only to return 5 minutes later.
However, when he returned he had a few words for the rude girl, among other things.
First of all, he dropped a dozen books at her feet and stated.
"If you're still stuck on something as basic as Maxwell's theories then you should at least know that quadrant formulas are only the tip of the iceberg and need to be considered with the bi-linear and non-linear equations he uses in his sanction study observing the effects of nodes under the various mana outputs when regarding the overall mana density of the quadrant. Do that and you'll be able to apply the basic principle to your own node creation and mana memory spells provided you have the correct ability" He droned on condescendingly.
He had very little idea what all this meant but after skimming the pages of all the books he could find with similar titles and asking analysis to summarise and formulate a response based on the contents this was what he got, so he decided to trust his ability.
The girl, who he now knew was called Stephanie, looked at him for a few seconds, stunned.
"…Thank you." She eventually managed, slightly confused at both being helped and talked down to.
Unfortunately, this only served to irritate Jacob further, bringing up one of his odd quirks.
"Don't thank me, it's a pointless statement. People who just say thank you are just too lazy to show gratitude properly, so they decide to use the most bare-bones method of saying two boilerplate words instead of actually returning the favour."
"Do you know how many times I've heard 'thank you' followed by silence? It's never 'if you ever need a hand with whatever' or, 'Don't worry I'll deal with the next wack job who walks into the shop', not even 'Here let me pay you for all the trouble you got into fighting off the possum in the bushes'."
"The amount of God damn times I've done favours for people and gotten jack shit in return is so numerous I could probably claim it as a charity for tax purposes."
"If you're thankful pay me back, I don't care how, give me money, owe me one, or at least give me a good laugh."
"Just don't sit there pretending two meaningless words are enough compensation for someone going out of their way to help you." He ranted.
Stephanie once again was quite stunned, clearly not expecting such a psychotic rant to be provoked just by saying thank you.
Being stared at in stupefaction quickly reminded Jacob that maybe a silent library wasn't the best place to go on crazy monologues and he quickly turned and walked away, Erwin walking over to him as he stifled a small grin at his antics.
"Shut up" Jacob said flatly.
"I said nothin-" Erwin began to reply, still smothering giggles.
"I said shut up" Jacob repeated, finding a quiet place to actually sit down, and read for a purpose other than spite.
***
A few hours later Jacob and Erwin decided to call it quits. It was late anyway, and they had their first elective the next morning.
The evening had proven very useful to Jacob, although he couldn't recall most of the content instinctually, a quick prompt to his ability allowed him to instantly access everything he had read. Not to mention breaking down more complicated concepts or events for him to understand more easily.
Interestingly enough on the way out Jacob saw something odd that caught his eye, a man was walking down one of the aisles of the library.
Given that the library was abandoned apart from him and Erwin the fact that someone would come along at this time of day was quite odd.
Jacob decided to assess the situation and sent Erwin on ahead while making a basic excuse.
The man walking around by himself was not irregular, but he did notice they had a hood over their head and more importantly, no patch.
A patch was given to every student and staff of the UDRD, they acted as magical markers that appeared on whatever the wearer wore in two places, a small one on the right side of the chest in the front, and a large one on the back of the person.
The students in the catch-up course were given special designation patches since they were technically not a part of any clan.
"Yo, hoodie. What you looking for man?" Jacob shouted to the man.
His goal was simple, he figured if the person was suspicious he would make an excuse and leave, and so would Jacob. He wasn't the type to try and play hero after all, as long as the hoodie guy didn't try to harm him he was content with ignoring him.
If they were not a criminal or person with ill intent, then they might be another new dreamer like him.
For the first two months of their course, new dreamers could potentially be added as the wait time before the next semester was too long to be reasonable.
If that was the case Jacob could potentially form a good relationship with the hoodie and hopefully add to his revenues for information and if worst came to worse, backup against assholes like Victor.
Returning to the situation at hand. The hoodie was startled slightly by Jacob's call, turning around and showing a mildly shocked and unattractive face. Not to the point of making a baby cry but definitely enough to discourage any careers in hospitality or showbiz.
"I… uh. Nothing! Just… research stuff…" the ugly man stuttered slightly, clearly caught very off-guard by Jacob's call. Quickly turning back and beginning to speed walk away from him.
"That was the dictionary definition of suspicious, but if he were really someone who was straight-up evil then I doubt he would have been so off-put by being shouted at, luckily it's not my problem." Jacob muttered to himself as he began to walk to his dorm.
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