Anime Fantasy: Mage's Path

Merlin stood in a large hallway lined with towering bookshelves. Beside him was a well-dressed elderly man wearing a formal black tuxedo, which highlighted his position. He was the chief librarian of the Parada Library, and each step he took exuded authority.

"You will organize the returned books from here," the head librarian said, pointing to a bookshelf on his right. "To there." He pointed again, this time towards the bookshelves at the end of the hall. "Do you understand?" the head librarian asked, looking at Merlin, who was pulling a trolley filled with various books.

"Yes, sir," Merlin nodded in response. "By chance, are we allowed to read the books here?"

"Only during your break times or when you're done with your tasks," the head librarian replied sternly, adjusting his silver monocle.

With those words, the head librarian left to give orders to the other librarians in the building.

'Damn, this is going to take a while,' Merlin thought.

Was the head librarian trying to overwork all of his employees?

It was no wonder they were lacking in staff!

He glanced towards the wooden trolley behind him. There were at least a hundred books waiting to be placed back. A deep sigh escaped his lips.

They must be planning on weeding out the incompetent employees from the get-go.

He wasn't in a rush—he estimated that he would have plenty of time after organizing them. It just felt like he would have to expend more energy than he had hoped.

The bookshelves stood at a staggering 10 meters tall, and reaching the books at the top required pushing a rolling ladder.

"Let's just get this over with. I want to learn more about this world's magic system."

Before placing the books, he organized them in the trolley by their main topics and alphabetically. This would help him place them without needing to go back and forth through the bookshelves.

He started to walk over to each bookshelf, properly placing books in order—sometimes needing a ladder to reach the higher shelves. After what seemed like four hours, Merlin was already covered in a sheen of sweat.

He took note of his physical condition, realizing that he needed improvement. Daily tasks were more strenuous when one's body wasn't adequately trained. Neglecting his physique could be dangerous in this unfamiliar world.

Placing the last book in an empty space on the shelf, Merlin couldn't help but grin.

After working as a part-time librarian in his teenage years, Merlin was experienced enough to finish a task that would ordinarily take an average librarian six hours in just four hours. He wasn't overestimating himself; the Parada Library was large enough to merit that amount of time.

"Finally done, now I can see what you have to offer."

He retrieved the tome from his leather satchel, its ivory cover smooth under his fingertips. Descending the ladder, he set it aside, finished with his duties. Surprisingly, despite the kingdom's size, the library wasn't bustling with visitors. Occasionally, a few students in dark school uniforms asked for assistance finding books, but overall, it was quiet.

Finding an empty table and seeing no one nearby, Merlin took a seat on a wooden chair, placing the tome on the table. He settled into a comfortable armchair, the worn leather creaking softly beneath him, adjusting the cushions and leaning back.

This was one of the few reasons he took this job as a librarian.

Not only was he adept at this kind of duties, a library was also a place where he can get some free time to himself to think and read his tome. Another boon was since he needed information regarding the world he was in, a library was a treasure trove for such knowledge.

After a few minutes of stretching his arms and neck, Merlin flipped open the tome. As he turned the pages, his eyes widened in amazement. The text was written in a different language, one he did not recognize. Even so, he could read it as if it were his mother tongue.

"Good, no need to learn a whole new alphabet," he mused.

His eyes scanned the first few pages, taking in every minuscule detail. He came across a section titled "The Essence of Mana." The text explained that mana was the lifeblood of the world, a mystical energy that flowed through everything. It powered magic, fueled spells, and was the core of all enchantments.

'It seems that every creature born in this world has access to mana, but not all are able to sense it even after years of trying,' Merlin thought.

According to the tome, once a creature's mana was completely depleted without a way to generate more, they would perish.

Fortunately for Merlin, mana was abundant everywhere. The tome emphasized that mana floated around but not in a physical sense and was often present in the air they breathed.

"Interesting. It means that mana is all over the world. I'm guessing even the chair I'm on has mana in it, even if it's a tiny amount."

Mana was akin to quark particles, the fundamental building blocks of the universe that Merlin studied during his time at the university. It existed in all things in varying quantities.

Flipping another page, his eyes glanced upon a title: "Steps in Using Mana."

The tome explained that to properly use mana, one had to go through a step-by-step process.

The first stage was mana absorption. A person had to take in mana from the surrounding area. This could be done through various means, but Merlin chose the simplest method: breathing.

Merlin couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement run through his body. 'Would I be able to drop meteorites casually in the future?' He really hoped so.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, inhaling through his diaphragm and relaxing his body.

The tome explained that to pull in mana, one needed a visualization of what mana looked like.

After a few moments of thinking, he envisioned mana as a blue mist-like aura that surrounded him, converging into a sphere in his chest and solidifying once it settled.

After a few minutes of breathing, he felt nothing change inside his body. 'Am I one of the few people who cannot sense mana?' He thought in disappointment.

In his eyes, it made some sense. He was from a world where the concept of mana and magic didn't exist or was completely forgotten.

Contrary to his thoughts, however, he suddenly felt a burst of energy swelling up within his chest.

-Shh...

His breathing felt cold and minty as a faint mist escaped his lips.

It seemed he had succeeded in the absorption phase. Now he had to perform the next phase, which was circulation.

Once the sudden rush of power was no longer overwhelming, he imagined moving ley lines of mana through his body, similar to a nervous system—reaching from his chest and slithering outwards to his arms and legs.

It flowed naturally, the feeling was akin to drinking a cold smoothie back during a hot summer day on earth.

The sensation of mana in his chest gradually dispersed throughout his body, enveloping him with newfound strength.

This was it.

This was the start of his magical journey in this place. He might be a speck of dust in the world currently, but he planned to change that in the future.

Opening his eyes, he quickly skimmed through the pages of the book, searching for a spell he could use.

"There!" His finger pointed to an illustration of a magic circle, encompassing various patterns of triangles and squares.

The magic circle was labeled as a Tier 1 Magic Spell: Create Wind.

He chose this spell as it was not too dangerous like fire magic, which might set the entire library on fire, or water magic, which could damage nearby books.

Once he visualized the magic circle on his palm, he moved the mana inside his body towards it, drawing its unique pattern with the mana on his palm.

With a small whisper, he uttered, "Create Wind."

A small gust of wind generated from Merlin's palm, causing the tome in front of him to flip through a few pages. His hair slightly rustled from the wind as he felt all the energy he had felt before disappear immediately.

'It was weak, incredibly so. But it's a start! I'm going to become a wizard, baby!'

Merlin clenched his fist in excitement, a few laughs escaping his mouth, causing some of the people passing by to give him weird looks.

"You're not allowed to read unless you are done. I said so, correct?"

"Hm?"

Merlin looked to his left and noticed the head librarian standing beside him, hands clasped behind his back. Instinctively, Merlin stood up.

'How long was he watching? Did he see what I did?'

"I was already done, sir."

"Ho?"

The head librarian's mouth formed an 'O' shape, clearly impressed by Merlin's actions.

"It seems I have misjudged you. Most hires we get often quit before the day ends. I apologize."

"There's no need to apologize, sir."

"It is fine, I never expected you to even do the job, let alone finish it."

The head librarian's eyes softened, forming a crescent shape—quite unlike their previous encounter.

"It was all but a test. I hope you didn't take it to heart."

"No, sir. I'm thankful that I was given an easy task."

"Easy, you say?" The head librarian chuckled. "A lot of youngsters these days can't even handle a few hours of labor, so you are already a diamond in the rough."

He continued, "Anyway, I just came to tell you that your per diem can be collected from the receptionist you spoke to earlier and that you could leave once you're done."

Turning around, the head librarian left silently with his hands still behind him.

Contrary to his earlier thoughts, it seems that the one overseeing him during the job wasn't a shmuck that has unreasonable hate towards those under them.

He had too much history with those kinds of people, he once got into a brawl with one after learning they were sexually harrassing one of his co-workers.

He was fired, yes.

But, he made sure that they would be using dentures for the rest of his sorry life.

As Merlin watched him walk away, he notices that the head librarian's footsteps didn't produce a single noise even when he was right beside him.

Inside this silent library where even a whisper could be heard, he atleast expected to hear even a little noise.

'Is he an assassin or what?' Merlin suddenly felt goosebumps crawl to his skin.

Muttering underneath his breath, "I need to be careful, one wrong step and I might land on someone's bad side."

He knew nothing of what this world fully had in store and taking precaution in actions are is a must.

Seeing as there was nothing left to do, Merlin stood up from his seat and headed towards the library's lobby where the receptionist was.

To say that he loves money is an understatement, he was obsessed with money. The reason he has so much experience in all kinds of work despite being a college student was due to him wanting to amass wealth to buy his family a decent house and leave their old run-down one.

And now, it was time to get his first pay in this world.