The Unbreakable Bow

It was a rainy day. Aefrine was in the library like always learning Carthagonien and Celtonic. He managed to get most of his answers right when Alma had questioned him about the three books she had given him thanks to Larry's help. So, she even allowed him to give his opinion on each one.

The first one was a romantic novel by the title of "The borderline" about two orcs of opposing tribes who fell in love with each other, but the war between the two tribes separated them. The shock was that the two lovers realised that the war had started due to their relationship. So, they decided to escape their homes and travel the world together. However, their story ends in tragedy as they are caught and executed. For Aefrine, it really showed him the horrors of war and how people love and hate each other easily .

"Don't you think their decision about running away was rash?"

"What ? You want them to stay and live in a hostile environment?"

"No, I mean they could try to stop the bloodshed and try to get the two tribes closer to each other . I know it will be very hard, but simply running away from the problem didn't solve anything. And also, the fact that they didn't think about their families wasn't good either . Sure, they were terrible. Anna even got kicked out of the house, but still, they must have been worried about her. I mean, it said they did sob quiet tears on their execution. "

"Sorry to break it for you, but they were crying because of their lost honour more than any family ties. I know a lot of people out there who will read this and pity the couple, but if you ask me , they deserve it."

"What?"

"They were both born into important families in each tribe. They clearly had great responsibilities, but they simply ignored them and left them for their selfish desires. In the end, they were just selfish ."

"Well, if you ask me , the ones who came before them weren't any better . They just increased the hostilities between the two tribes . The fact that too many people died just because their relationship is so annoying to me."

"Well, to them,they died for honour. ".

"You mean they hated each other so much, they were ready to die just to make the other suffer?"

"Sigh, most politics are like that . Anyway, to the next."

The second was about a Carthagonien detective trying to solve the unsolvable mystery of the murder of the Duke's wife. Its name was misleading, though: "Time for Lunch"

"Honestly, I didn't understand what was going on most of the time ."

"What you didn't understand it ."

"No, I never understood what Mark was doing most of the time. Nor did I understand how the murder occurred. "

"So, you are just naive ,I suppose,"

"Also , I couldn't believe that it was her son who killed her . I just...it didn't make sense. He killed his mother so his father would take the blame and he will inherit their fortune? Really, who would do such a thing?"

"There are some people who will do even worse, unfortunately. "And Detective Mark , well I don't like him .."

"Why?"

"He used methods that were a bit too dirty if you ask me ."

"He is a detective. He will do anything to solve the case. And again, there are people in real life who will do worse."

"I didn't like this book in general. It sets up bad examples of people for the reader."

"Well, I like this book because it represents all the bad types of people in society. "

"Is society this bad?"

"What, no. It's just that there are people that you shouldn't associate with, for your own good."

The third book was an adventure of a destined hero to stop the emperor of floods. Its name alone was a challenge for Aefrine: "The adventures of the Knight of Zarmadin in the seas of forever land and his ultimate victory "

"I love Andrew. He was kind and brave ."

"Really? He didn't seem like a real person to me ."

"Why?"

"I mean he is just this perfect warrior who always knows how to solve problems miraculously and whenever he is down he just uses that stupid necklace that his mother gave him to make a super weapon designed only for that particular situation. The story is so predictable ! He goes fights a slightly stronger opponent, uses the necklace, saves everyone, and repeat. Like, wow!"

"Well , the emperor 's tragic story wasn't predictable for me ..."

"What?"

"But I do hate the fact that Andrew simply killed him . "

"What was he supposed to do ? Tell him to stop and join his team ?"

"Well, his powers are useful. He could help the drylands with some rain. That way, he could redeem himself. "

"It is not that easy , Aefrine. He terrorised people for centuries. "

"I know, but he was just a lost man after all.."

"A lost man? He used to help people with their fishing before they banished him because he accidentally brought terrible sea monsters to the bay. He stays in hiding for years and then decides he hates humans and attacks them. He literally said that he had forgotten why he had attacked humans. Honestly, if I decided to kill hundreds of people, I would remember why. Not to mention, he was very dumb. He had Andrew dead multiple times, but somehow, he always does the most stupid move. "

"Maybe....he wanted him.... to kill him ? I mean, Andrew's sword was the only thing that could kill an emperor after all."

"What? That will just make him even dumber ? Who on their right mind would want themselves killed?"

"Well -"

"Oh my God, the sun rised higher than I expected. Let's get back to Celtonic before you go to the old man."

"Why do you keep calling him old man ?"

"Well, he is a man, and he is old !"

"No , I mean -"

"Until he learns to respect me ,I won't respect him."

"..."

"Er, Princess Alma?"

"Yes."

She was busy looking for a book.

"Do you think there is a book that might help me with soul magic or phys magic ...and of course in Celtonic!"

"Eh? Of course, there is !"

"Oh,OK."

For some reason, Aefrine didn't expect such a friendly response.

"Just give a moment ..."

She left the shelf she was searching in and went to the wooden ladder. The library wasn't big compared to the feast hall but it was tall . It was a round room with two floors. Both floors had beautiful colourful windows on the northern wall. The rest were full with bookshelves. But only the ground floor was fulled bookshelves in the middle of the room,mostly because the second was really just a wooden ladder that led to a wooden platform to the upper bookshelves.

Next to the door , there was a table where the library keeper, miss Berta, ever since she was no longer responsible for Aefrine's education, would put a book on her face and sleep on her chair for most of the time when Aefrine would be in the library. Aefrine never bothered to ask Alma why.

"There is it."

As she found the book, she slid down the ladder and then she went between the walls of books and minutes later, she landed three books of different sizes in front of Aefrine.

"Wow ,three whole books "

He laughed nervously. Now, looking at all these pages ,he would rather get back to the endless time tenses of Celtonic.

"Yes, there is more, but I think these will be enough. Our library isn't that humble."

"You really do love this library,"

"I guess since I have nothing else interesting to do when dad is away."

"Oh,yes . Where is his majesty? I haven't seen him for weeks ."

"Royal duties , anyway, let's get back to magic, shall we?"

"Magic in general?"

"Yes, I think you need to learn the other types of magic before you decide to waste your time on only one."

"Ok , I guess you're right... I remember there are eight ,wait ,no ten types , right?"

"Well, it depends on your definition of magic,"

"Eh ?"

"Just don't focus too much on the definitions , okay. Look. "

She first picked a small book with the title: ' My guide for natural magic usage by Yuang Yuang' . She opened the first page and showed it to him. It contained a number of small rectangles in a very wide and very short 'U' formation. Eight rectangles were on the same line on the bottom. A big black rectangle containing the letters 'Ch' was on top of the left side of the line, and a big yellow circle containing the letters 'Or' on top of the right side .

"This is the magic table, basically, a simplification of the magic types . The bottom line is the eight types of magic, and the other two are the original ones."

"So, soul and phys magic are on that line ?"

"Yes , can you guess them?"

"Er ....oh, this one had phys in it, so it must be phys magic?"

He pointed his finger on the third rectangle on the right.

"Yes , and what about soul magic?"

"Er...."

"Right next to it ,dumby."

"Oh,"

It was the fourth rectangle on the right.

"What about the others ?"

She started pointing to each one of the rectangles from right to left and naming each one:

"Ti stands for time magic , Tem stands for Temperature magic , Phys stands for physiological magic, Sol stands for soul magic , Ma stands for material magic, Li stands for light magic, Gra stands for gravity magic , Sp stands for space magic and finally Sod stands for sound magic ."

"Ok... and what about the other two ?"

"Well, this one, Ch stands for Chaos while the circle stands for Order . They are the most complex ones. Thus, their names don't really represent anything. But I like to think of them like a booster and a nullifier. Chaos magic boosts your magic, thus making better magic with less mana cost, and Order magic nullifies magic. Thus, you can theoretically negate the magic of things around you. They are both useless and ineffective without the primary types. But there is a theory that suggests that the eight primary types all come from Chaos magic . That is why they are called the original two."

"So....how can I use Chaos magic? It might help me with phys magic?"

"Ha, ha ,nice try, but as I said , Chaos magic is very complex . You would probably die trying to use it naturally. "

"And what about Order magic ?"

"Even more complex... there is a reason it is the only one with a circle. No creature can use it because it is the only one that doesn't come from Mana but rather the sun radiation. The only living beings that can use it are plantes in general . And even their Order magic is of bad quality. They absorb it from the sun somehow . I mean, at least with a great quality enchanted tool, you can use Chaos, but with Order, there is simply no way. "

"Oh, Er, what are enchanted tools?"

"Enchanted tools are tools that are enchanted."

"Er.....,yes, and what does enchanted mean ?"

"There are magical gems that can store magical properties. They are used in making tools that are enchanted, thus enchanting them. There are two ways of enchanting simply fixing the gem on your tool or melting it into it. They put less strain on your mana, but they still make lower quality magic than natural magic. The reason they are so good is that by putting multiple gems on one tool and with careful crafting, you can make a tool that do something a person can never do. "

"What, how ?"

"A person can only use one type of magic at a time. Thus, he can not mix magic types together. But if you make an enchanted tool with a gem of space magic and a gem of temperature magic, you can make a staff that can freeze an entire lake. Or with a gem of phys magic and a gem of gravity magic, you can make things you touch float in the air . Or at least those are ones that I heard of. "

"Wow! How do I get one?"

"You can't. They are very expensive. Gems are the number one natural resource of the modern era . Not to mention, we are probably the poorest nation in terms of gems . Damn it.

I wish I could get an axe that makes earthquakes . That way , I can wake up that old man without him realising it was me ."

"Okay ...how about we go back to natural magic..."