Hunted Sorcery (Jon Oklar Book 2), B.T. Narro [digital book reader txt] 📗

we were checking out and browsed for another, but I wanted to make my intentions clear.

Soon I picked one off the shelf that piqued my interest. “This one just says Magical Art?”

“Finally, you select a good one.”

I couldn’t tell from her tone if she was being sarcastic.

I read the beginning aloud, “Magical Art is the practice of forcing your mind energy to make vibrations.”

I closed the book and looked at Callie, who had a half grin.

“Mind energy?” I asked as I turned the book over. “When was this written?”

“A long time ago.”

“I thought you said this was a good one.”

“It was a jest.” She giggled as she took it out of my hands and put it back. “Most bound books here are better left ignored. I usually find the scrolls more informative. They are designed to be to the point.”

I checked out the bookshelf on the right wall. The scrolls were all organized, rolled up with folded papers standing beside them signifying their purpose.

“This is much better,” I commented as I glanced over all of the erto scrolls: water, fire, ice, wind, and even earth.

“Yes, Charlie has been organizing and labeling them. They used to be scattered throughout the bookshelves with no markings.”

I picked up one marked “ordia” and started to unroll it.

“You can cast with ordia now?” Callie asked.

“No, but it is within my range, and I’ve heard it has similarities to dvinia.”

“It does. They are the same notes but two octaves apart.”

I was very familiar with the concept of octaves by now. I had been working on notes whose frequencies were lower on the spectrum of mana, such as lF, or in other words Lower F. It was two octaves below my natural mana frequency, uF, or in other words Upper F.

Ordia was made up of the same four notes as dvinia but two octaves lower: lF, lC, D, and G. But ordia seemed to have many more uses than dvinia. Enchanters like Eden, who I hadn’t spoken to in a while, used ordia to enhance gemstones. I remember Reuben commenting that he would one day use enchanting to empower metal. Unlike Eden, I had spoken with Reuben many times over the last week, but he had mentioned nothing of his skill with enchanting. In fact, I didn’t know how he was spending his time training. He had commented a while ago that he would be a harbinger one day, like the councilman to the king, who was able to create magical contracts. Perhaps Reuben’s training had something to do with that.

As I started to read the scroll of ordia, Callie asked, “How much do you know about mana?”

“About mana itself?” I specified.

“Yes. Has Leon taught you much about it?”

I tried to think back to his lessons, not that there were very many of them.

“I ask because whenever I see him giving instruction,” Callie continued, “he only seems to aid a sorcerer in casting a specific spell. There doesn’t seem to be any discussion about mana or spell composition.”

“I don’t know how he’s given instruction to the other sorcerers recently. I haven’t spent a lot of time with him, or anyone else for that matter. But from the earlier lessons I recall, I would say you’re right. I haven’t heard him speak about mana except to confuse me when he discussed something called a rev.” I raised an eyebrow. “Does your tutor speak to you much about mana?”

She brushed off the comment with a toss of her hand. “I have many tutors, and none of them know anything about sorcery. I learned everything I know about mana from scrolls, and from…” She perused the middle bookshelf. “This.”

Callie pulled out a book at shoulder-level and handed it to me. I was first surprised by the weight of it, then the title.

“This is all about mana?” I asked incredulously.

“Yes. Unfortunately the author tends to ramble. Most of the book is conjecture, though he explains everything believably if you can get past his verbose writing.”

It was a long book, and I was not a fast reader. “Who is the author?” I asked, then read the title of the book aloud, “Understanding Mana, by J. Krover.”

“Jacob Krover. He’s a sorcerer from another time who became very wealthy and basically bought his way into the nobility. His family is still well-known for their wealth but not for their sorcery. Are you going to read it?”

The book was a little intimidating. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to start it. “If he rambles, there’s a good chance it’s going to put me to sleep, but I’ll try.”

“Good.” She opened the ledger on the small table in the center of the confined area. “Mark down your name and the book you’re taking.”

“Jon Oklar — Understanding Mana, by J. Krover,” I wrote.

“Now we’ll know who to blame if it gets lost,” she said with a playful grin.

“And they’ll wonder how he got into the library in the first place,” I reminded her.

She dropped her smile. “You will take good care of it, right?”

“Of course,” I assured her.

“I have spoken to my father about allowing sorcerers access to the library,” she told me. “He wants to, but there aren’t enough keys. I volunteered to help people in the meantime. I want to get to know all the sorcerers, but only you and Charlie have shown interest.”

“I expect that will change when things calm down a bit more. Everyone’s so focused on improving right now that learning something new is secondary.”

“I’m jealous. I wish I could spend all day improving my use of mana.”

“Can you cast any spells?” I asked.

“No, because I don’t have any time to improve! Speaking of, I’m late to another boring lesson. I could leave the key with you if you promise to return it to my quarters later today.” She batted her eyelashes.

“I don’t think I’ll be permitted to visit you,” I said. “It’s best we both leave now.”

“What about the scroll of ordia?”

“I was only going to take a glance, but it’s