Bookbound Bunny

B2 - Chapter 58 - Old Pages

Lily silently paged through the uncovered notes, trying to see if she could make any sense of them without Arakil's help. He must have known her intentions because he didn't disturb her during the process.

Lily found the ancient language fascinating, although she knew she had no real hope of learning it on her own. She wasn't a linguist, and other than her momentary curiosity, she didn't have a deep desire to understand it.

This, coupled with the fact that Arakil had frequently mentioned that magic was universal, transcending languages, cultures, races, species, and so on. This was one of the reasons why Arakil always emphasized that intent, combined with visualization and Mana control, was the most crucial aspect, as, at the end of the day, words and even gestures could eventually be cast aside.

Since the words didn't really matter, Lily paged through everything quite quickly. She mostly wanted to see the different shapes and almost get a feel for the person who left them behind. Lily thought it might have been a girl due to the flourishes and even sometimes strange doodles in the margins, but that was merely her initial gut feeling.

It felt somewhat out of place in an ancient grimoire intended to contain magical knowledge for eternity. Still, Lily couldn't be judgmental as her younger self had scribbled hundreds of drawings into these pages.

I wonder if I should ask Arakil to remove those... Lily thought with a hint of embarrassment.

Then Lily began looking at the glyphs. There actually weren't too many, which led Lily to think that the person who recorded this didn't have much knowledge on the subject. The fact that it also wasn't drawn all too neatly compounded her suspicion.

While Lily had no idea the purpose behind the glyphs, she attempted to decipher some of the components. But as she scrutinized each one, she found absolutely nothing even remotely familiar in them.

She could accept that, as Arakil had never taught her anything on this at all, but what she was unwilling to let go of was that the glyph's structure seemed to make no sense at all!

"Do these glyphs even work?" Lily finally asked, breaking the silence.

[They did back in their time.]

"How!?" Lily almost demanded, feeling a simmering frustration. "They make no sense at all! It feels like they break every single rule you taught me."

[Faith.]

Lily blinked in confusion at Arakil's simple answer. "Pardon?"

Arakil let out a sigh, as if he'd been dreading this topic.

[They work through faith. Rather than rules or logic, they rely on the sheer might of the divinity that supports them. The mightier the deity, and the more devoted the follower, the more rules can be broken.]

Lily couldn't help but frown. "That doesn't sound fair."

[Oh, trust me, I brought up my complaints regarding this topic endlessly. Unfortunately, not many others shared my enthusiasm on the matter, citing problems such as it being unnecessary for priests to need to spend years studying how to draw.]

Lily was shaken. She wasn't sure how serious Arakil was about the matter, but it sounded increasingly like blatant favoritism and cheating. She'd already been jealous of how blood glyphs worked with minimal effort, but now this had gone further than she could have even imagined.

[On the positive side, they can't do anything outside of their deities' domain, so they are limited in that regard. Still, I must admit I had my own outburst when I once saw a man scribble only his god's key in the dirt and pray for rain, and it actually worked.]

Lily almost wished she hadn't heard that story. The bad drawings, which made little sense, were bad enough, but now Arakil was saying that some of them didn't even need to meet that bare minimum requirement. The bar was already low, and yet somehow they could go even lower.

[Don't worry, I can promise your hard work will prove far more beneficial in the long run.]

Lily nodded, feeling a little better thanks to the small reassurance.

Getting back to her original goal, Lily began looking for the key Arakil had mentioned in these glyphs. While they abandoned the established norms, it didn't take her too long to find the recurring symbol in each drawing.

It resembled an abstract version of a flower, with adornments and filigree added to enhance its impression. Lily had to admit that she thought it was pretty beautiful, and she found herself oddly drawn to it the more she scrutinized it.

I swear I've seen this somewhere before, or maybe something similar? Lily wondered to herself, refraining from mentioning it out loud, as it sounded preposterous.

"Is it okay if I draw this?" Lily suddenly asked.

[Feel free to, but do note, it will serve no purpose. But if you wish to for your own amusement or penmanship practice, that is perfectly fine.]

Lily couldn't help but chuckle. She appreciated the warning, but she had zero expectations that it would work, and was more interested in seeing a completed glyph that actually followed all the established rules.

Lily sketched out the symbol once on her own before committing to ink. She'd become extremely dexterous with copying from eye alone, but still had enough precaution to try it beforehand.

Her initial sketch went well, as the key actually wasn't too hard to copy. Arakil had mentioned that it wouldn't be too complicated to draw, as that would only hamper the deities' followers. Not to mention, copycats couldn't use the key unless authorized, so it mainly seemed for appearances' sake.

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Happy with her test run, Lily brought out the ink and began drawing the flowery key into the barren circle. In a short amount of time, she'd finished the drawing, and the glyph was picture-perfect, in her opinion.

"What do you think?" Lily asked.

Arakil floated from his reading position and examined her work.

[Excellent work. It's now a textbook example of a divine glyph, complete with a key. Feel free to try activating it to see the difference between no key and a non-functioning key.]

"I won't get smited, will I?" Lily asked.

[Of course not! I wouldn't have suggested it if there was even a fraction of a chance of that happening.]

Lily giggled. "Sorry, I was mostly joking."

Lily then filled herself with Mana and once again touched the glyph to activate it. Just as before, it began to shine as the Mana seeped inwards to the center, it soon reached the crest, and Lily held her breath in anticipation to see the difference. This time, it didn't immediately fail when it touched the circle, and the key began to glow with a flickering light.

[Hmm... seems she hasn't kicked the bucket, or she's passed the mantle on to another. Watch, it should turn red n—]

The key turned gold in a bright burst of light that flooded out into the rest of the glyph, replacing every bit of silvery Mana. Lily and Arakil both gasped in shock as the page shone brightly and burned up in a golden light, before enveloping Lily in a warm glow.

Lily felt as if she'd drunk one of Camilla's energy elixirs, or had a quick power nap, as some of the day's fatigue vanished. Both she and Arakil were speechless; neither of them could have expected this outcome.

Lily was the first one to break the silence, "Did that just work?"

[Despite any reasonable sense. It appears it did.]

"Did the rules change?"

[They shouldn't have... Quickly bring me some more ink, I will draw another one using one of my other keys.]

Lily dashed to fulfill his request. Once again, Arakil turned a blank page into a miniature masterpiece, except this time he filled the key with a strange symbol that looked like a crying sun. He removed the page and eagerly encouraged Lily to activate it.

Lily once again activated it, both of them staring in anticipation as the glyph lit up and proceeded to the key. It flickered for a few moments before the entire glyph went dead.

"It didn't go red or gold," Lily replied.

[Looks like expired keys do not work. Was it a fluke? Or...]

"Or?" Lily repeated expectantly.

[Or do you somehow have permission to use her key?]

"Why would I have permission? I couldn't even use magic before I met you,"Lily quickly pointed out.

[Are you a follower of any deities?]

Lily shook her head. "No. Only healers do that."

Arakil remained silent as he seemed to be lost in contemplation. Lily waited patiently for him to finish while she tried to puzzle out something of her own.

Maybe my mom was a follower? Although I can't imagine a Lagia being one, unless they were an apothecary. But even then, why would it apply to me?

Lily was having no luck with her own attempts, but eventually Arakil finally responded.

[I can surmise two potential reasons, both of which have unlikely circumstances tied to them, regrettably. The first is that when you tried to use the key, you were granted access approval on a whim. My issue with this is that while it can happen, it usually involves someone whom the deity has been watching for some time and would like to bring into the fold. Excuse my bluntness, but I can't see a reason why a deity would pay close attention to a Lagia in current times.]

Lily actually chuckled at that, as it was a little similar to her own thoughts regarding her mom. "Yeah... I can't see why a god would follow me so closely. And I'd prefer to not think I've been spied on for who knows how long. What's your other idea?"

[My other idea is that I've been granted permission. I might have actually had it before my last slumber as a token of appreciation for some assistance I provided.]

"What did you do?"

[It's a bit of a long story...]

"I've got time."

Arakil let out a sigh and began a sanitized and summarized retelling of his events with the Saintess of Purity against the Cult of Pestilence.

Naturally, he left out the part where he was puppeteering her lifeless body for a time and spoke as if they were fighting hand in hand. Throughout the retelling, Lily was left speechless except for the momentary gasps of shock and awe; she had no idea that Arakil had led such a storied life in the past.

When it finally came to an end, Lily almost gave him a round of applause. It was one of the best stories she'd heard in a long time.

"I can't believe you saved Purity," Lily replied.

[It wasn't much, and I got some valuable knowledge added to my archive.]

"I can't believe you're making it out as no big deal. This is Purity we are talking about!" Lily emphasized. "If you were talking about Piety, I'd understand, but Purity is like one of the biggest churches in the kingdom!"

[Really? To be honest, I'm surprised to hear she's still around. She was on the verge of losing her position when I last saw her. I'm amazed you've never mentioned this before...]

"Ceedale only had a church of Piety because they were the only ones who could afford it. But while Purity doesn't have as many churches, she has followers all over the world!"

[If she's so popular, why is she lacking in churches?]

"Well... when you offer free healing with optional donations... people tend to be cheapskates."

Arakil actually let out a tired and pained groan in response before replying.

[It sounds like she's still hopelessly optimistic... I do hope she at least added self-defense to her tenets.]

"I'm not sure... I've only seen the Church of Piety, so I've only heard stories about the free healers from Purity. But anyway, having heard your story, I can understand why she probably gave you access to her key."

[A rather nice bonus, I must admit. If she's become a bit of a bigshot now, then it might be my first divine key worth a damn.]

Lily couldn't help but laugh at Arakil's response before she finally managed to ask her question.

"But then why does it work for me?"

[A yes... Well, that is why I said it has an unlikely circumstance attached to it. My working theory is that you are being granted permission through the Familiar bond. I have access, but I'm your Familiar, so you've inherited it from me.]

"What's yours is mine?"

[Basically.]

"I guess that makes sense," Lily replied, still sounding unsure.

[As I said, it's not an explanation I'm fond of. But with the evidence available, it's all I can come up with. There is obviously the chance it was a one-time fluke, and no further glyphs will work for you.]

Lily gasped and then immediately asked Arakil to do another test. Lily wasn't confident in drawing the glyph herself yet, so she left it to Arakil again, although he inserted Purity's key himself this time.

Lily once again activated the glyph, and the key burst forth with golden light as it was activated.

"Looks like it wasn't a fluke," Lily said joyfully.

[That appears to be the case. I suppose I'll need to add some new glyphs to our lesson plan. Having an emergency healing talisman or scroll would be prudent.]

Lily smiled. "There's just one issue..."

[Oh?]

"I don't think I'm going to get to sleep tonight..."

With two fatigue-removing spells cast upon her, Lily was feeling refreshed and invigorated. That, combined with the excitement of the evening and her thoughts racing at the possibilities, sleep was the last thing on her mind.