"The Witch of the South."
The name hung in the air, weighted with power and historical context Jay couldn't grasp. After introducing herself with such grandeur, Glenda did not wait for a response. She simply began to rise, hovering gracefully in the air above the polished floor of the library. Jay's eyes widened as he suddenly felt the familiar, odd sensation of lost gravity, realizing his own feet had left the ground. An invisible force, emanating from Glenda, lifted him with the same effortless ease she displayed.
They ascended rapidly, not through the open ceiling, but directly to the second-floor gallery. Jay realized, with a chilling sense of discontinuity, that there were no visible stairs or pathways leading to this level.
It was meant to be inaccessible to ordinary patrons.
"Don't worry, it's just a simple levitation charm," Glenda said, noticing his momentary lack of control. "It's far quicker than using those stairs."
They landed softly near the furthest, darkest corner of the building. As they did, a section of the ancient wooden paneling dissolved, replaced by the outline of a simple, unassuming wooden door.
Glenda turned, her purple hair shimmering under the ambient library light, her gaze penetrating.
"Now, kid, before you follow me, I just want to make this perfectly clear. I don't know how you got your hands on that purple flame, and frankly, I don't particularly care," Glenda stated, her voice returning to its firm, businesslike warmth.
"My terms are simple, I will teach you magic, and I will mentor you, but only in equal measure to the help you provide me during my Sacred Gear research. That's what I call the law of equivalent exchange."
She paused, her eyes challenging him. "There is no going back once you step through this door. Are you still absolutely sure you want to take this path?"
Jay met her gaze. In his dark, deep hazel eyes, Glenda saw no young man. She saw a deep well of determination, cold, plain, and simple. There was no hot-blooded rage, only the stark absence of fear and the absolute certainty of his cause. Jay didn't need to say anything.
His eyes were all Glenda needed to answer her question.
"Very well, kid," she conceded, a faint, intrigued smile returning to her lips.
She opened the door, stepping through as Jay followed.
He stepped into a world that felt less like a city and more like a fantasy book brought to life.
It was a bustling city, but everything was bathed in unnatural, powerful light. Victorian structures rose high, intricately detailed and impossibly beautiful, their architecture twisting and merging with natural elements like crystallized trees and flowering geodes. People in elaborate, flowing robes floated everywhere, moving with casual ease as if walking were an archaic burden.
The sky was the most notable difference. It was bright and light-hearted, so intensely luminous it felt almost fake. But instead of the familiar whitish-warm yellow light of the sun, what Jay saw was a gigantic, crystalline sphere.
An Emerald Sun, suspended unnaturally high above the city, casting a light of breathtaking, crystalline green.
" That's an artificial sun created by elemental magic, acting as a nexus and barrier of this place. And also..." Glenda said.
"Welcome to the Emerald City," Glenda announced, her voice filled with quiet pride.
Jay felt the chromed pendant in his pocket vibrate for a couple of seconds, its faint pulse confirming the location.
Glenda noted the movement without looking. "Since you already possess that chromed pendant, which is keyed to this city's nexus, it is not necessary for you to go through the dubious registration and orientation required for new entrants to this 'city,' if you would call it one."
As they walked through the floating streets, Jay noticed the mixture of reactions from the inhabitants. Some glanced with pure admiration at Glenda, lowering their heads in respect. Others looked upon Jay, the strange, black-clad boy, with outright fear or intense curiosity.
A reaction that was highly specific.
"The cross-shaped four fleur-de-lis on that pendant is a symbol of The Wizard of Oz, which is us" Glenda explained as they walked.
"The Wizard of Oz? That fantasy book?" Jay asked, the irony not lost on him.
"Yes, and since the pendant is imbued with the magic of one of the wizards which is Lavinia, it means you are an honorary guest to this place," Glenda confirmed. "That's one of the reasons Lavinia gave it to your sister in the first place, it was an open invitation to visit. But that girl never came." Glenda said the last part with a straight, factual face.
They soon arrived at what Jay assumed was her house. It was a seemingly humble, three-story abode, built from dark, moss-covered stone, relatively subdued compared to the shimmering crystal palaces surrounding it. Glenda led him through a small, ordinary entrance hall, past a simple kitchen, and toward a seemingly solid basement door.
Glenda simply placed her hand on the door, and the wood shimmered, dissolving into a curtain of purple light that they stepped through.
They arrived instantly in the basement, but what Jay saw was nothing less than a marvel of magic.
The room he was standing in was merely a reception area, but beyond it stretched a vast, impossible space. Glenda's true home seemed to contain its own interior geography. There were countless laboratory rooms, filled with shimmering containment fields and strange, buzzing equipment, rooms dedicated to botany, rooms focused on alchemy, Jay lost count.
But the most marvelous sight of all was the colossal, spiraled library that served as the heart of the complex. The shelves twisted upward, forming a cone of knowledge that must have contained thousands upon thousands of volumes. It appeared to spiral up nearly a hundred stories high which made no sense since he had only dropped one floor to the basement. If she had told him this was one of the seven true wonders of the supernatural world, Jay would have believed it instantly.
Glenda, seeing the momentary flicker of astonishment in Jay's eyes, smiled proudly. "It's spatial magic, mostly," she said, her voice dripping with satisfaction.
Jay gave her a cold glance, annoyed at his momentary display of wonder.
"You are painfully easy to read, kid," She said smugly, conjuring a comfortable, velvet-backed chair out of thin air and seating herself gracefully. A cup of steaming tea materialized for her out of a small, shimmering spatial gate conjured by her hand.
"Now, kid, before I teach you anything, let's talk about that equivalent exchange," Glenda stated, crossing her legs. "What happened? Why the desperate need for power?"
She leaned forward, genuinely curious. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I know learning magic is almost a natural endeavor for ambitious humans. But you have one of the thirteen Longinus. You lot usually carry immense pride, and I don't think you need parlor tricks like simple elemental magic to survive."
Jay remained standing, his stance rigid, his expression unmoved.
"That's not your problem," Jay said, his voice flat. "I don't ask you the reason for your research, nor do I care. Just teach me magic as I help you in your Sacred Gear research."
Glenda's beautiful face darkened slightly, and a vein subtly popped in her temple. "You are an insufferable little brat, aren't you?" she hissed, her voice dropping. "And what do you think is stopping me from simply taking that Sacred Gear from you right now, tying you up, and conducting the research myself?"
A cold purplish aura suddenly began to emanate from Glenda, filling the vast room with intense killing intent. The air grew heavy, thick with the power of a being far beyond anything Jay had faced, even slightly exceeding the devil Berjequel.
But contrary to her prediction, there was no single strain of fear in Jay's eyes. He didn't tense, he didn't move. He simply stood there, his hazel eyes fixed on the Witch.
"You can try," Jay replied.
It was not confidence, arrogance, or pride. It was a simple statement of fact. He hadn't traveled from Romania to this foreign, bizarre land to just crumble at something so shallow as fear. He had made a creed to kill those who oppressed the weak, and he would die clinging to that conviction. He would not curse devils, angels, and gods only to shrink in fear of another human, even if that human was demonstrably stronger than the devil who annihilated his family.
Glenda watched him, her killing intent swirling around his small frame. Then, slowly, the purple aura receded, and the severity in her expression softened into a look of wry amusement.
"I'm just joking, kid. Mostly," Glenda corrected herself, taking a graceful sip of her tea. "Even though I consider myself an opportunist, I'm still a woman of honor and principles. Especially concerning hospitality in the Emerald City." She rose from her seat, walking over to Jay and playfully patting his head.
"Lighten up, kid. You'll snap in half if you stay this tense."
Jay just stood there in stoic silence, absorbing the bizarre shift in her personality.
"Now, to business. You could freely use this library anyhow you want, as magic is fundamentally a realm of knowledge and intellectual endeavor," Glenda informed him. She began laying out a schedule with a complex wave of her hand, projecting the words onto a nearby wall. "We will have a practical magic session every Tuesday and Thursday evening, and Sacred Gear analysis and theoretical sessions every Wednesday and Friday evening."
She started to walk toward a door on the far side of the room. As she opened it, she paused, turning back to Jay.
"And also, I almost forgot. As I said earlier, that Sacred Gear of yours is supposed to be wielded by an acquaintance of mine. Her name is Augusta, and she is the current Witch of the East." Glenda's tone became serious again. "But don't worry. As long as you are here, she will not be able to locate or harm you. This city is under my protection, and its magic is quite formidable."
Jay noted the information. A rival Witch in the same stature as Glenda, which he assume would be equally strong.
"Now, relish it, kid. The Magic."
Glenda vanished through the door, leaving Jay completely alone in the impossible library.
He stood for a moment, absorbing the magnitude of the structure around him, then began to walk upward, drawn by the conical, spiraling shelves.
The collection was breathtaking. It was a chaotic, magnificent archive of the arcane. The books were not ordered alphabetically, but by their fundamental nature.
Some shelves dedicated to Elemental Attunement, others to Advanced Abjuration, entire sections focused on Conceptual Magic and Aetherial Geometry. As he explored more, there are some of books about Spirits Magic, Fairy Magic and Phanteon Magic which interest him, he would be facing gods from a lot of phanteons, even if the magic is not learnable for human, learning about your enemy prowess would be wise and he noted to himself.
And also there the Angels, Fallens, and Devils. That's for later.
He saw antique grimoires bound in what looked like dragon scale, scrolls written on what must have been ancient silk, and modern textbooks flickering with holographic diagrams of spell circles. The air was rich with potential, the silent promise of power waiting to be claimed.
Jay spent several minutes walking, his mind sorting through the possibilities, his internal calculator running permutations. He didn't need parlor tricks. He needed fundamentals. He needed the source. He needed a philosophy of power that could one day confront even Lucifer, but he realized that he didn't have the correct fundamental to build that on.
Hence he stopped at a simple-looking shelf. The binding worn, the paper yellowed, yet radiating a profound sense of antiquity and stability.
His gaze fixed on the title of the book, written in simple, elegant script that transcended language barriers.
"Magic: Roots by Merlin Ambrosius."
He took the book from the shelf, its weight surprisingly light, and returned to the quiet seating area, his eyes immediately scanning the introduction.
His journey for knowledge had finally begun.