System of the Beast Slayer [litrpg Adventure]
Copyright© 1999 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 113
The sunlight was mild. A green youth stood outside the sorceress’s door, his arms filled with a teetering stack of books. He paced like a cat on hot bricks, grimacing and agonizing for a long moment before taking a deep breath and knocking.
“Roy, these are the books Lady ... Lady Lytta requested ... I just fetched the sole copies from the library. You ... you check them.”
As the boy stammered, his gaze stole furtive, bashful glances into the bedroom. He spotted the beautiful silhouette he hoped for and broke into a goofy grin, practically drooling.
“Secrets of Magic and Alchemy, The Myrthe Codex, Dialogues on the Nature of Magic, On Natural Magic, Mysteries Within Mysteries ... not a single one missing. Thanks for your hard work.”
Roy clutched the books like a treasure. He had begged the sorceress repeatedly and signed several unfair treaties just to get her to agree to lend him these instructional magic texts.
He looked up at the freckled youth standing stiffly outside the door, thin as a rail. He shook his head and muttered, “Lovesick fool.”
This “Yar,” a born romantic, had grown up in the Temple of Melitele. He was the current librarian and one of the few males in the temple.
At thirteen, in the throes of puberty, he was full of curiosity regarding the beautiful bodies of mature women. Unable to resist the sorceress Coral’s charisma, he invented various excuses to visit every few days.
But Roy knew perfectly well that this “lovesick fool” was crushing on Coral now, but in the future, he would be obsessed with the sorceress Triss Merigold, and infatuated with Ciri, who was studying at the temple. He would even try to steal a kiss from the exiled Princess of Cintra.
“Fickle fellow.”
Roy had a thought. He leaned close to Yar’s ear. “Have you used the method I taught you to confess to Iola the Second? I get the feeling she’s interested in you, too. You need to seize the opportunity!”
A blush rose on Yar’s face, and he finally tore his gaze away from the sorceress. “Um ... I ... I...”
“Are you a man or not?!”
“Of course!” Yar awkwardly straightened his slightly hunched back, craning his neck like a guilty ugly duckling. “I will confess to Iola the Second, but I have things to do today, so not right now. Um ... goodbye!”
His eyes drifted longingly toward the sorceress one last time before he gritted his teeth, closed the door, and fled.
“Such beautiful youth...” The sorceress gave Roy a charming smile and sighed. “That child is truly innocent. More innocent than you.”
“Innocent?” Roy shook his head; that wasn’t exactly a compliment. He slapped the books onto the table. “Lady Coral, stop teasing Yar.”
“Apologies, I’ve done my best to restrain my personal charm ... but you must understand, even a sliver of sunlight can illuminate the entire temple.” Coral rose from the bed and pirouetted gracefully before the boy, intentionally or otherwise displaying her hot, curvaceous figure.
Roy grimaced.
“Fine, beautiful and confident Lady Coral. Shouldn’t we discuss business?” Roy patted the thick covers of the magic tomes.
Coral wagged a slender index finger. “Sorry, your magical aptitude is substandard. It’s unrealistic to think you can become a sorcerer’s apprentice with just these few books and my guidance.”
Not long ago, Coral had performed an aptitude test on him, similar to an “intelligence test.” The results proved his magical aptitude was only a fraction higher than an ordinary person’s—likely the effect of consuming the Blood of the Sun—and far below the threshold for a sorcerer.
“Even if I gave you a letter of recommendation, Aretuza wouldn’t accept you.”
Roy licked his lips. “I don’t expect to become a sorcerer...” Although he persisted in meditation every day, the growth of his magical aptitude remained extremely slow. In terms of talent, he was still a weakling.
“I want to enhance the power of my Signs through systematic magic study.”
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