Lilia's Tale

Chapter 63: Familiars

I went straight to the last floor and started trying to find what I was looking for. I first did a rough search across the entire place to make sure there was a sort of organisation in regards to research topic. However, much to my despair, it seemed to be lacking. Papers about the possibility, or impossibility, of limb reattachment magic, together with research regarding castle building with earth magic, while temporary limb recreation was far away.

Thinking it meant I would have to search every paper to make sure I didn't miss anything, I prepared myself mentally for a long session. I sighed one last time before scouring the entire place.

Paper after paper, I checked for the topic, making sure to look a bit more into the paper itself in case I misunderstand the title. I slowly advanced, unable to find anything. Lunch came, then dinner, and I was still unable to find anything in regards to either summons' souls, or sense-sharing spells.

I went back to the library the next day, spending the entire day continuing where I had left off the day prior. I hadn't counted how many papers I had searched for, but I could tell I searched over a hundred of them.

Papers in regards to summoning magic were many, some of them being quite interesting. One of them mentioned living chains and made me read through it quickly, as Father had used similar chains before.

The paper went very in-depth in regards to the summoning itself, explaining the many intricacies and difficulties of such a summon. Additionally, it mentioned something named "inanimate summon method" which intrigued me further.

After reading through the entire paper, I came to the conclusion that this paper was indeed talking about the same summon Father had used. I was a little proud of him for being able to use a summon that had been categorized as 'extremely difficult', although it should be obvious from the Great Summoner.

Sunday came and, as I was eating, Mark came to my table.

"Hey Lilia, can we talk for a bit?"

"Sure. I'd like to go back to the library as soon as possible, though. I still have a lot of papers to scour through."

"It shouldn't take long. I have to let you know that starting tomorrow, and for the rest of next week, we'll have most of the entrance exams. It would be best if you either stayed in your room or in the library the whole day. As an exception, I'll bring you lunch so you can eat on the first floor, and come tell you when you can come out."

"It feels like I shouldn't be seen. Any reasons?"

"I was asked about it from the principal. I don't know why exactly, but it was something along the lines of having the academy specifically for the newcomers instead of the students."

"That actually makes sense. I might be done by the time you're done, though. I'll let you know if I am during dinner."

"Thank you for understanding. In that regard, how has your reading been?"

"I'm bothered by the fact there isn't any form of organisation when it comes to research papers. They're just put wherever, and it makes searching for what I want very hard."

"...Right, I forgot you were looking into the research papers," he commented after a short silence. "These are rarely looked into by students, so we've never bothered to put much effort into it. They're all looked over by the corresponding teachers before being added to the library anyways."

"Are you saying there are even more research papers that the teachers have access to, but not the students?"

"I guess? I'm not exactly a teacher here so I wouldn't be able to tell you much more about it."