Ember's Library
One of them, a haughty-looking young man with an upturned nose, sneered in their direction. His voice carried clearly, dripping with disdain as he mocked, "Tch. So she roams around for so long, and all she has to show for it is returning with some common mortal?"
His companion, a equally arrogant-looking woman, let out a derisive laugh that grated on Gladius's ears.
"What a joke!" she jeered, her voice laced with scorn. "I suppose this common mortal lover is all she's good for these days."
It was evident what they were trying to provoke with their childish taunts and insults, their petty jabs a transparent attempt to rile Arianna and assert their perceived superiority.
Gladius merely shook his head at the transparent nature of their jibes, wondering how some mages could be so lacking in wit and subtlety.
Arianna, for her part, ignored the petty comments as effortlessly as breathing, long accustomed to such juvenile behavior from her peers. A faint smirk played across her lips, as if she found their pathetic attempts at provocation more amusing than anything else.
However, in that very moment, an extreme surge of mana suddenly spiked within Arianna's and Gladius's senses, causing them to freeze in their tracks. Their gazes snapped upward, drawn inexorably to the heavens above like moths to a flame.
It wasn't just them; those two Arcane Nexus mages and all the other citizens walking the streets turned their attention skyward, their expressions awash with awe and reverence.
This torrent of mana was overwhelming, suffocating in its intensity, and exuding a searing heat that threatened to incinerate anything foolish enough to approach.
Hushed whispers of wonder and trepidation rippled through the gathered crowd like a gentle breeze.
"Ah! Soulfire Nobles are making an appearance!"
"Every time they grace us with their presence, it's always a grand event for the city."
In that moment, Gladius narrowed his eyes, his sword sense detecting intricate and complex formulas and magical principles howling across the air like invisible tempests.
Bright flashes of flame illuminated the entire area, and out of those blazing bursts emerged a truly breathtaking sight.
Three divinely beautiful mages hovered in the sky above, their feet gliding across the empty air as if defying the very laws of gravity. Glistening flames danced beneath their feet, propelling them forward with each effortless step, while their overwhelming mana signatures exuded a terrifying flow of power that dwarfed anything on the ground.
It was two handsome young men and one stunningly beautiful woman who comprised this group of Soulfire Noble mages. Their features were sculpted to perfection, as if chiseled from the finest marble by a master artisan. They didn't even deign to glance toward the mortals below, continuing their stately procession across the celestial pathways only they could tread.
Gladius's eyes widened slightly as he bore witness to a feat he had once thought impossible.
These Soulfire Nobles were quite literally walking on air, each step as effortless as if they were traversing solid ground. It might as well have been flight, as the noble mages made their way toward the Ashen Woodlands in the distance, their forms wreathed in an aura of arcane majesty that seemed to set the very air ablaze.
More whispers of awe and trepidation swept through the gathered crowd, the voices tinged with an almost reverent fear.
"The Air Flow Steps! Another set of Nobles has mastered this art to such a high degree!"
"The amount of control and understanding you need to wield such profound magic is mind-boggling, even to my family's senior mages. Soulfire Nobles are just too terrifying..."
Arianna nodded, her eyes filled with nothing but respect as she watched the awe-inspiring display unfold before them. There was no envy or resentment in her gaze, only a genuine appreciation for witnessing other mages blossom in their comprehension of complex formulas and magical principles.
"Average mages would have no hope of mastering the Air Flow Steps," she murmured, her voice tinged with an almost wistful quality. "Even slightly talented mages would see barely any, if any at all, success in attempting such a profound art. But we can ponder the intricacies of this magic another time. For now, let's get inside the library and begin our exploration."
Gladius found himself nodding slowly, his own surprise at the Nobles' achievement tempered by his growing understanding of the mystical forces of magic that permeated this world.
As he followed Arianna into the grand entrance hall of Ember's Library, he couldn't help but feel a sense of eager anticipation coursing through his veins.
The lobby itself was a spectacle to behold, a cavernous space that seemed to dwarf the size of an entire football stadium back on Earth. It was a realm of such vast magnitude that accommodating hundreds, if not thousands, of people would be effortless.
Rows upon rows of shelves lined the aisles, each one laden with tomes and scrolls that promised to unveil the vast depths of arcane knowledge and wisdom.
The magical energy within the library was denser and more potent, with various sources of concentrated mana radiating from the very books themselves. It was as if the essence of magic permeated every fiber of this sacred space, a realm where the boundaries of possibility were ever-expanding.
As one would expect in such a hallowed place of learning, there were relatively few common mortals present. The few Gladius spotted appeared to be mere servants, tasked with handling the more menial tasks at the behest of their mage masters. Their gaunt faces and haunted eyes spoke volumes about the harsh realities of their existences, bound in servitude to those who wielded true power.
Arianna made a straight path toward one of the shelves of books, Gladius following closely behind her. They came to a rather unique aisle, one where there weren't many mages lingering around. And the few mages who were present appeared quite different from the ordinary, bearing more solemn, focused expressions compared to the overbearing confidence many other mages exuded.
Arianna's focus was locked onto a particular book in this secluded aisle. She reached out, pulling it from the shelf, revealing a beautifully designed text.
The cover depicted a detailed image of the world itself, and there was a potent flow of mana continually streaming out of the ancient tome, as if it were a living, breathing vessel of arcane knowledge.
Gladius glanced upon the title, noticing that it read, "Worldly Flow."
Arianna nodded approvingly at the book, her eyes glinting with anticipation as she said, "This will greatly help you, the both of us really. Books like these deal more with the theory behind magical energy and the world at large. They don't really delve into the specifics of Innate Spirits or depict powerful Magical Arts, thus the books in this aisle aren't as popular among most mages."
A faint smile played across her lips as she continued, "But given our profound connection to the world itself, this tome is almost tailor-made for us. Come on, let's get reading."
Gladius nodded without any hesitation. He was particularly eager to gain more information about this wondrous world of magic, to delve deeper into the intricate forces that governed its very existence.
Arianna chose an empty table to situate themselves at, one tucked away in a quiet corner of the library. As Gladius took his seat, Arianna pulled her chair right up next to him, their bodies touching in a subtle yet intimate proximity.
Naturally, Gladius wasn't bothered or made any comment about it, though he couldn't help but enjoy the sweet, intoxicating scent that seemed to emanate from Arianna's very being, as well as the soft warmth of her form pressed against his.
Arianna remained calm and composed as she opened up the ancient book, her fingers tracing the worn pages with a reverent tenderness.
The text within was precisely as Gladius had expected. There were no real words to be found, as one would expect from a conventional book. Rather, just like the Magical Arts scroll he had comprehended, there were only strange, arcane runes and other hieroglyphic symbols carved along the pages, their secrets awaiting unveiling.
The only way to truly read and comprehend the knowledge contained within this book was to have one's mana senses scan the pages, allowing the profound information behind these symbols to be translated into the mind itself.
Naturally, Gladius could perceive everything with his finely-honed sword sense, which had been sharpened to a razor's edge through years of dedicated practice.
Various streams of information began to rapidly swirl through his mind, flooding his consciousness with a torrent of mystical insights.
He found himself highly intrigued, even more so than when he had studied the fundamental nature of magical energy before. These were principles pertaining to the world as a massive, interconnected whole, delving into the symbiotic relationship any being had with the realm they inhabited.
It was enlightening to Gladius, as if the layers of fog that had always clogged his sword sense were now being cleared away, revealing to him a hidden depth to this world that he had never quite grasped before. It all made sense, falling into place like the final pieces of an intricate puzzle.