Tarous, стр. 15

you looked closely you could see several of the books had tiny fangs on them and those things were sharp! I rubbed my neck at the spot I had once been bitten by a book. It had been my first time visiting the top floor of the library.

The library was old and the magic was exceptionally concentrated on the top floor. The concentration of magic was so high at times it had unforeseen consequences.

I looked at the title of the books and sighed. Just looking at a single shelf from a single bookcase was enough to make me shake my head. Just the books from this one shelf in front of me would be considered precious treasures in some of the smaller schools of magic. Just these few books could be used as a corner stone to start one’s own school of magic and here they were left out for any student to read. This truly was the greatest school of magic. It was the reason I had decided to attend this school.

There were more things than just books here. Knowledge had been recorded in all kinds of ways. One shelf held several different colored gems. Most of the gems were red rubies, blue sapphires, or green emeralds. If one held them they could have all the knowledge contained within the gems instantly inscribed into their mind, knowledge that could never be forgotten. These were actually forbidden to students and were a perk for teachers only.

Another shelf contained what appeared to be green jade fortune cookies. These were a rather strange treasure the school had found a long time ago. Occasionally slips of paper would appear within these jade fortune cookies offering knowledge. On rare occasions profound spells and even secret fighting arts would appear on the slips of paper inside the jade fortune cookies. Most of the time though the slips of paper contained rude suggestions instead of helpful knowledge.

A jade fortune cookie once offered me a slip that said, ‘You need to lose some weight.’ Unfortunately, the jade fortune cookies are almost indestructible and won’t break, despite how many times you jump up and down on them. Eventually a guard in silver armor had to drag me away from the offending item.

After finding a few books that interested me I placed them down on the nearest table and proceeded to sit down and read. A calming sensation overcame my senses and made it easier for me to focus.

Once again the uniqueness of the Freak College’s library shined through. The table, like all the tables in the library, had runes carved into it, most carved on the bottom of the table. Along the corner of the chair I was sitting in were carved runes to help to clear the mind and some to help focus it. Hidden in the library on bookshelves and in corners and along the top of the walls next to the ceiling were hidden runes. These runes were all connected in a grand formation that would help to improve the memory of those studying here along with several other beneficial effects.

I took out a pen and a few sheets of paper, just in case I needed to take any notes. The first book I looked at was Army of the Dead – Fourth Edition. The book had a simple introduction and was split into thirteen chapters, each concerning the animated dead proceeding from the simplest to create to the most complicated. I skimmed through the book briefly before focusing on the chapter on skeletons.

I read over the skeleton section multiple times while occasionally pausing to take notes on it. Then I opened another book, Supreme Skeleton Creation. After reading the first half of the book, I felt my brain hurting. The difference between a skeleton archer and a skeleton mage was huge.  I could easily create a skeleton archer, but a skeleton mage might be more than I could handle. All I could do was try. I made a few notes on a list of ingredients and items I would need.

I spent the next day gathering all the materials. I didn’t have to kill anyone to get a skeleton, since the school had thousands in storage. Our school really had skeletons in their closet. I bought distilled essence of souls to animate my skeleton. I also spent a large amount of money to buy a blue Sea Sapphire that had spent centuries at the bottom of the sea. A master of magical jewels had carefully carved the jewel and soaked it in special potions to increase its power.

Most people would outfit their skeleton with armor, according to the books. I had spent so much money on the jewel and soul essence I had little money left. I did have enough to buy it some blue robes that had a low level enchantment to increase resistance to impact and a cheap wooden staff that I could carve a few runes into. I also included a small non-magical dagger in case my skeleton had to fight in close combat.

I spent my third day etching complex runes all over the skeleton. Most of them I didn’t fully understand because of their complexity, but I was able to follow the instructions in my book. Runes were similar to a programming code in that they told the magic what to do. Paths also had to be carved to join certain runes in specific ways, which reminded me of computer chips. Quartz gems had to be imbedded into the skeleton to absorb mana from the air. Many of the tiny gems acted like capacitors, storing magic inside of themselves.

For some things I followed the traditional method, using an enchanted knife to carve the runes into my skeleton’s bones. For the more delicate work, I used a high powered laser and special magnification goggles. The school had a small laser lab that students were allowed to use for school projects. I also used the lab to make tiny grooves in the bones