Spectral Regalia

Ch 27: The Book Keeper

Avrin was impressed at the layout of the book store a few blocks away from the inn. He managed to get there using directions from the lady at the front desk of the inn. The interior of the book store was what one would expect in such a world of magic and swords.

Solid wooden floors and walls that were carved quite expertly with intricate designs. Avrin had a feeling he shouldn't have been impressed too much, as there surely was much better out there.
He looked around. Although it was a book store, there were only a few shelves, set off to the side and sparsely littered with books.

There wasn't a shelf in the middle. Maybe because the owner didn't want anything stolen. Avrin wouldn't blame him, considering the difficulty in hand writing a book with no way of mass copying it.

Avrin looked at the bald man who was quite thin. He wore a casual vest with a top with rolled up sleeves underneath. He also wore a sort of monocle and had an interesting beard shape. The man wasn't looking at Avrin, but Avrin could tell the man was still sizing him up.

Avrin looked at the titles of the books on the shelves. Seleria's Beginnings, Kings of Seleria, The Gourmet cook book, How to Catch Flying Fish... Avrin huffed quietly to himself. Thinking logically, these books would be worthless because anyone born on Seleria would come across this knowledge sooner or later.

Then again, Avrin had felt he needed to value knowledge, especially now that his new body seemed to hold astonishing memory.Avrin spoke to the man, his hood still covering his face, only his lips visible.

"Dear sir, how much are these first 3 books?" Avrin had limits to what sort of reading material he would handle. A book about catching a flying fish was useless, but then again... He cringed, his fist clenching before the man responded. Avrin couldn't resist, as if a hidden side of him wanted it. "Sorry, I mean these four books." Avrin chuckled quietly to himself.

The man shook his head as if somewhat annoyed at being interrupted. "The first two books are 14 and 16 gold. The other two are five gold each." Avrin's eyes widened. The first word that came into his head was robbery. Avrin raised a brow, took all four books and approached the man at the desk with a glass section displaying several interesting books.

Although Avrin had his interest for the moment, he again asked the bookkeeper. "Dear sir, I understand that books are a luxury, of course. But the prices are a bit too much. Can you not cut me a deal?" Avrin smiled and his face became somewhat visible in the sunset light. The man twirled his beard slightly and replied.

"Books are hard to come across. Those books are all made by acquaintances of mine and not even I was able to receive such a fair discount, as they had gone through a lot of effort. My friend's knowledge has more value than gold. Do you not wish to trade knowledge for gold?"

Avrin became quiet. The man did have a point - gold was indeed something Avrin cared not for at the moment, but he still wanted to experience haggling. It would be an interesting skill for when gold wasn't the currency, but something of more value.

Avrin eyed the books in the glass protective container. He felt a somewhat interesting mana flow around it, as his hands were resting on the glass. The only way he felt this without using his augmented eye was by the dark matter that made up his hand tingling with hunger and excitement. It was the second time he experienced this feeling other than being in that accursed shield that kept him prisoner.

Avrin spoke quietly as he read the names of the book. It seemed he could read letters, but numbers were a different thing. He then remembered the words of that Surven man saying that they were glad it worked. Possibly what they had given him was still in the testing stage.