Author's Note: Just got back from a holiday. So this is a tad shorter to get back into the swing of things.
I woke up this morning with a migraine. My team didn't help since they spent the morning arguing over something. I thought over the beginning of the next semester as I began brushing my teeth, I heard Jackl yelp "You traitor!" from outside the bathroom. A small rat quickly ran in with a chip in its mouth. It was Mouseinghimer, the smallest of Griffith's three rats. The brown ball of fuzz scampered up my side and sat atop my shoulder, happily nomming away at the stolen chip.
We spent most of the day in the vale, shopping around and hanging out. Though Jackl insisted we train so, we had a short sparring session before heading back to our dorms. As we walked, I felt something strange… Ever since the battle in the Forever Fall Forest my ability to sense emotions has gotten stronger, and yet this was different from that and at the same time felt familiar.
I quickly left the other three, using a lame excuse as I headed towards the strange feeling. I slowly made my way, eventually stopping in front of a bookshelf at the very back of the library. On instinct I began searching the shelf, following the feeling as it became fainter and fainter, until the last traces of it disappeared. I looked at my hand, having already pulled a small, old, and completely out of place book from the shelf.
Its edges and spine were reinforced with dented golden medal, a red silk bookmark poking out from between the stained pages. It was cold to the touch, yet seemed to hum in my hands. Opening to the first page I began to read.
"Hello, If you're reading this then you're like me, or the book broke. Either way, I'm Õ̵̜̪̯̱̻̪̽͗̉ẗ̵͕̘́̊͋̾͌͘͝t̷̖͙̟̅͋́̾f̵̨͝f̸̱͎̜̀̂̋̈͜ ̸͉̱͂͗́͂̒̇S̸̠̤͚͕̲̥̘͒͐̎͋̚͝s̷͉̃ẻ̷̻̰̥̪̑̔ṉ̸̲̤͌͒̏́t̶̹͑̍͝e̷͎̼̖̾̓̈́̂͆̚t̸̰͙̞̤́̆̉͠t̷̛̘̣͕̗͌̽̕f̵̰̰̲̺̟̘̀f̸̫̣̊̿̎s̴͎̪̐̾̾̌̕͝͠ͅ, though you wont be able to read my name anyway, so i dont know why im writing it… Anyway, I'm making this book to tell you what I had to figure out on my own.
Our abilities don't naturally regenerate like Aura does, we have to find natural sources of it that I like to call 'Nodes'. Which is harder said, or written in this case, than done. When looking for them, the older the better. Large trees and old caves have been the best I've found. Though, my search area isn't too far outside of Mistral so, there are probably more sources to find. Anyway, I stored some in the book so I'll 'show' you how to get to it.
Following the introduction were a set of instructions on how to draw the energy stored within the book itself, or rather the metal coating its edges. First I closed the book, resting my hands in my lap. Focusing on its weight and feel, the humming sensation became clearer. I imagined gripping the sensation, the sensation travelling up through my arms like electricity. Slowly the humming faded, my body feeling warm as I opened my eyes.
The book no longer hummed as I held it, though I quickly noticed the time as a message came through from Griffith, "You're going to get in trouble if you don't get to the dorm. Now!" In a panic I started running back to the dorms, only to ram into someone on my way out the library. "Sorry!" I called after me as I kept running, not wanting to miss curfew and get detention.
"Sup." Jackl greeted me as I entered the room. "What's that book you got?" he asked, reminding me I was still holding the book. "Oh, it's… I found it in the library." I responded sitting on my bed as I threw it to him. He tried to open the book, but the cover wouldn't budge. Standing up, he used more and more effort to open it, but failed, eventually throwing it against the wall in frustration. "Weird, opened just fine for me…" I remarked as Jackl picked it up again, frowning as he put it on my dest, "Yeah, really weird…" he said like a disappointed kid, causing me to laugh.
I fell asleep surprisingly quickly, a strange contentment and comfort overcoming me. "Finally,…" a feminine voice calls out in my dream. An endless echo within a world of fees and darkness, a place I quickly recognised as an exact copy of the forest I woke up in. "...the story gets interesting"