After the sun had set, within the Monetre Library—
The Monetre Library was the only library in the city, storing over thousands of records and books that would've been lost to time, the building itself spanning over the area similar to a football field and was filled with countless shelves and even a second floor where there are more shelves displayed.
Visitors from the city and some even from outside the city came everyday to either borrow or read a few books, some studied, some wanted a rich story, while others only wanted to relax at library that day, one in particular stood out from the rest as he was wearing a long coat and a hat that covers most of his face, the man wandered at the library, walking into every corner in the first and second floor, seemingly searching for a book that doesn't exist.
His relentless steps then came to an end when he noticed a book on one of the shelves at the second floor, the book was dyed with black and the man stared at it for a few seconds before he grabbed it.
"Found it.." The man whispered.
He stored the black book under his coat and stood infront of a glass window, acting like a normal person that was merely watching the night scenery from he second floor, he waited until there was barely anyone that came to the second floor, when the man realized that he was all alone there, he quickly punched the window, shattering it as he jumped outside, falling from the second floor and escaped through the street alleyway.
CRASH!
"HUH!? W- What was that!?" A librarian that was coincidentally walking near the staircase that leads to the second floor heard the sound of window shattering and went up instantly.
However, he was too late, the mysterious man had already disappeared, leaving nothing but the shattered glass everywhere.
"T- THIEF! SOMEONE JUST ESCAPED FROM THE SECOND FLOOR!" The librarian shouted, alerting everyone in the quiet library.
"WHAT?! AGGH!!! GODDAMNIT RIGHT BEFORE WE CLOSED TOO?!" Another librarian screamed in frustration.
"CHASE HIM! AND CALL THE AUTHORITIES!"
The situation turned into chaos as some of the librarians began rushing to the scene, while some ran outside to chase the thief, the rest of the librarians also ran out towards the protection bureau building to report the case.
.
.
Tomorrow, at a certain tavern called the Laughing Fairy Tavern—
Underneath the seemingly normal tavern, was a secret hideout for the protection bureau, the division 0, a group of awakened people that works in the shadow, handling supernatural crimes along with the churches.
In the basement hallway, Heimfher was seen walking with Murph and Duskiell, they passed multiple doors, each with a sign above it that tells them what room it was.
That day in particular, after Heimfher had told Murph about him quitting the academy, he was promoted into the division instantly, and now he was being guided into a room that would determine his power.
Step!
Step!
Step!
"Umm.. Is there a risk when doing a ritual?.." Heimfher asked, he was visibly scared at the thought of doing a ritual.
"Of course, that's why we'll watch you from a distance, incase if something goes wrong." Murph answered, he didn't give Heimfher what the side effect was, but the fact that there IS a side effect was enough to make Heimfher worried.
"Don't worry kiddo, im sure you'll do just fine, well.. Atleast if you're not choosing the abyssal Gods.." Duskiell said half-jokingly, he seems to be taking this situation as just a fun side gig to fill his boredome.
A goosebump rushed through Heimfher's body after he heard the word 'abyssal gods' as he never heard of such term before, he asked Murph about it, and the answer he gave was just as vague as his answer from before.
"Huh?!.. What's an abyssal gods?.." He said.
"It's like the name would suggest.. Now, get inside." Murph replied while opening a golden door.
The three of them entered the room and was met with a spacious area, there were torches hanged on the wall, and the room itself had a few shelves that stored various objects and ingredients that Heimfher had never seen before.
'This.. looks more like a research room than a ritual room.. I thought there'd be like magic circles or strange texts on the wall.. But its surprisingly normal.' Heimfher said to himself.
While he was immersing himself with the room, looking over at every inch and corner of the shelves, Heimfher was unable to realize Murph and Duskiell walkin to the side and began searching for something in the shelves.
"Hmm.. There's only 4 magic that you can take with these ingredients.." Murph said, he broke Heimfher's focus and he was forced to look at him again.
"4 magic?.." Heimfher said, a little confused by what Murph meant.
But before Murph could answer, his question was cut off by Duskiell who told Heimfher the 4 magic power he could take.
"Fire, Illusion, Water, and Detection.. That's the available magic that you can take." Duskiell said before he gave further explanation.
"You're either going to borrow the power from Ignis, Mirabelis, Liqua, or Findelve."
The 4 gods was incredibly enticing to Heimfher, the name of those gods sounded like a powerful being, at first Heimfher was going to pick Illusion, the same as Murph. But he remembered that Murph's power was more like a distraction spell, even when he was under the illusion, Heimfher didn't get hurt or die, that means the spell itself can't cause any damage.
'If i were to choose Mirabelis, then i would have to finish the opponent using a weapon before they could escape the illusion.. The first time i was trapped in the illusion, i was confused and didn't know what happened, but after i realized that it was an illusion, i broke free almost immediately—
'It could be that the longer you're unaware of the illusion, the longer you'll be trapped.. And an awakened, especially those like Murph or Duskiell, would have known about it, and they would be able to escape the illusion in an instant, making it kind of useless—
'Unless i can fill the gap with combat skills, it shouldn't be a problem, but right now.. My swordmanship is horrendous, if i kept learning it as i work as an official, there's still a risk of coming across a strong opponent, and if i can't defend myself. i would die on the spot—
'So Mirabelis is out of the question huh.. Then that leaves only three.. Detection, is it like.. another non offensive magic? Maybe like a power to find an object or a person location from far away? Similar to clairvoyant?—
'I could choose it and only works as a seer in the background, atleast i won't be directly involved in combat.. But again, i won't have anything to defend myself.. If i got ambushed or were captured, there'd be no way i could escape—
'Shit.. Am i overthinking too much?!.. Also, i don't know if i can take another God's magic or not after acquiring one.. What if one person only capable of using one God's magic?! That'd be a bad idea if i choose something without destructive power, then– That leaves only...
It took Heimfher a few minutes to choose, and while Murph and Duskiell was starting to get bored, Heimfher suddenly raised his head and told them his choice.
"I'll take the power of fire, Ignis." He said.
"Ignis?" Duskiell was surprised by Heimfher's answer. "That's a classic huh.. I thought you'd choose Mirabelis since that's what Murph used."
"I want to atleast defend myself.. I feel like the power of illusion only affect a person's mind, and not causing anything to their real body, if they can escape the illusion fast enough, i won't be able to survive." Heimfher said, his eyes was determined as he walked to the center of the room, where a circle was drawn on the floor.
"Is this where i need to stand?"
Murph and Duskiell stood motionlessly for a while, then they shrugged off their thoughs before grabbing all of the ingredients that was needed for the fire ritual.
"I'd say Ignis was a good choice.. He's quite kind-hearted." Murph said.
Heimfher, hearing Murph saying it as if he had met with a God before, then became curious and asked.
"You talk as if you've met a god before.." He said.
"Well, what if i say i have?.." Murph answered, his lips widened with a cheeky smile.
"What?" Heimfher was startled, he didn't expect Murph to double down.
Murph and Duskiell soon gathered a few items in their hand and placed it around Heimfher, following the vague circle lines, they then used a yellow chalk to draw a new circle that resembles a magic circle, though it wasn't perfectly symmetrical or circular, it was enough to activate the ritual.
One after another, the item was placed, a piece of charred wood, three rubies, a feather from a phoenix, a volcanic rock, five leaves of the Firestarter plant, and lastly, a burning candle made out of wax and flesh.
Once all the requirements were met, Murph and Duskiell quickly took a step backwards and stood at the corner of the room, Heimfher then sat down and crossed his legs.
"Close your eyes and strengthen your desire for fire." Murph said from the distance.
"Imagine what you'd do if you can control fire."
'My desire for fire?..' Heimfher imagined a flickering flame in his mind, slowly but surely, he then gave the flame more fuel, he poured gasoline, he poured an entire trees, and when the fire grew to be the size of an entire skyscraper.
Heimfher threw himself to the fire.
'My desire for fire.. A burning heat, to protect myself.. To survive, to conjure fireballs and explosion, and to cause destruction for those who deserved it..'
Bwoonnggg..