"Shit...!" I muttered, as the blazing black fire shooting out from my palms began to slowly melt the marble floor. The question 'what do I do' spiraled round and round inside my head.
However, just when I was getting desperate-
"Attention: Fire detected. Initializing defense and sprinkler systems."
-A mechanical yet pleasant female voice solved the problem with ease. Gentle rain teemed down, and radiant blue shields emerged from the ground, protecting the shelves and other furniture.
"Huh...?" I blinked a couple of times, still bewildered at what happened. The fire in my hands were put out in an instant, and I cautiously turned my palms upwards, lest fire shoots out of it against my own volition again.
At that moment, the door swung open. "What happened?!" a worried female voice came.
"Er..." I scratched my head and faced the four girls who looked at me with worried gazes. "I, uh, accidentally made a fire...?"
"Obviously you did!" Feng Mian cried. "Otherwise the sprinkler systems wouldn't have gone off! What we are asking is HOW you 'accidentally' made a fire!"
I laughed awkwardly. "Uh, to be honest, I'm not too sure of that myself. All I did was read the title of this spell book here," I said, picking up the book I dropped in a panic earlier, now slightly wet from the sprinkler systems.
"Let me take a look," Yu An Yan said, and I complied, handing it over to her.
After flipping through the pages, she sighed in relief. "Fortunately, the water didn't damage it too bad. It will dry off on its own, eventually."
"Ah...that's good to hear," I replied.
"Still, Big Brother Xuan Kai...you didn't actually mean to cast the spell written in this book, right?" Qing Yue asked thoughtfully.
I nodded. "I didn't even channel any mana...all I did was read the title - or rather, say the spell name."
"That's impossible..." Yu An Yan muttered.
Indeed - it was SUPPOSED to be impossible, at least.
"Should we...report this to father?" Yu An Xue asked hesitantly.
"No," I immediately answered. "Sorry, but...right now, he only thinks I've had magic all along, which is far from the truth. Let's keep it that way."
I had agreed to the two sisters telling Yu Ao about me having magic, but that was the extent of it. It was a necessary thing to do in order to access the Yu family library of spells, since no one was allowed to take the spell books and scrolls outside the Yu family property. That's the reason I (albeit very reluctantly) agreed.
That, was the extent of it, however. From what Yu An Xue and Yu An Yan told him, Yu Ao currently thought I had magic ever since I was born, but was just hiding it from everybody. I'm sure he had his questions as to why I did so and was probably burning with curiosity right now, but out of politeness (I guess) he hadn't dug too deep into the matter. I made sure the sisters didn't tell him anything too detailed as well, so he was still kept shrouded in mystery.
Yu An Xue nodded in understanding at my decision. "Mm...okay."
"How are we going to deal with this then?" Yu An Yan asked. "We can't have you going around casting spells without even meaning to, especially when your magic is stronger than normal people's. That's like asking for an accident to happen."
It hurt, but it was true. At this rate, I was literally a walking time bomb. I had to figure out the culprit of this problem, fast.
"This is just a guess, but..." Feng Mian began, and all of us turned to look at her. "Could it be this room's mana? Xuan Kai is different from all of us - he doesn't automatically regenerate mana, but instead sucks in mana from the outside, and environment."
"You mean...he may have accidentally channeled mana subconsciously as he was absorbing it?" Yu An Yan asked for clarification.
Feng Mian nodded. "This could be dangerous, but...let's test this theory outside, where the mana isn't as rich as in here."
*****
- Outside the Library -
After carefully making sure no wandering servants were in the area, I got ready to read the title of the spell book I held in my right hand. It wasn't the same one as before, since that one needed to dry off a bit. Placing it in a warm area like the Fire Element section was perfect for that.
That being said, the spell book I held in my hand was also a Fire Element one. Its name was Twin Dragons, and apparently it was a similar spell to Pyroflux, the one I had cast earlier. In fact, we specifically chose it because of this similarity. According to Yu An Yan (who had already learnt this spell a long time ago thanks to her Fire Element affinity), this spell sent out two dragons made of pure fire in a straight line towards the enemy. Pyroflux did the same thing, except the rays of fire it sent out didn't take on the form of a dragon, but a line that could bend and curve as the caster willed.
Making sure very carefully not to channel any mana beforehand, I directed my hand at the ground. It was the safest place to aim the spell at. I close my eyes, and nervously read the title of the spell book, memorized in my head.
"Level Two Fire Magic - Twin Dragons."
I felt...nothing. After a minute or so, I opened my eyes hesitantly, and glanced at my hand, still pointed downwards. The ground below it was perfectly fine, no sign of damage at all.
I sighed in relief, and so did the girls.
"So it really was the Fire Mana in that room after all," Qing Yue remarked. "Feng Mian, you're so smart!"
"Ehehe...no, it's nothing," Feng Mian replied, slightly embarrassed.
"But still...that is weird," Yu An Yan said with furrowed brows. "Even if he sucks in mana from his surroundings, he shouldn't be able to cast a spell without consciously channeling mana, no matter what. It's impossible!"
"He's proven the impossible possible multiple times now," Feng Mian sighed.
"Ahaha...that's true," Qing Yue added.
I could only laugh awkwardly in response.
*****
- Back Inside the Library, Floor 2, Fire Element Room -
"Okay...pick out any spells you find interesting, and put them inside the Space Locket my father gave you," Yu An Yan said. "After that, you can test them outside."
Yeah...the space locket. When I tried to return it, Yu Ao had said, "What's the matter? We're all one family - just keep it."
So, I now had the Space Locket of the Yu family on me, used to be contained with countless treasures...I mean, I really shouldn't be complaining, but I felt guilty somehow...?
"Alright," I replied to Yu An Yan, and began browsing through the shelves once more. The defense systems had retracted as soon as the sprinkler systems put out my fire, so I had no problem accessing the spell books and scrolls. Shortly after I picked up the first book, the four girls seemed to have settled on something and went outside, leaving me alone.
I didn't care about the scrolls too much, since they were for Magic Formations, not spells. Spell books were my focus - I looked for ones that seemed highly destructive, since our team was lacking in attack power right now, and my magic amplifying abilities worked well with offensive-type abilities.
I picked up some spell books from the Fire Element room, including the two I had already tried out - Pyroflux and Twin Dragons. After repeating this process for all 21 rooms on the second floor, I headed outside, where the girls were waiting.
Feng Mian noticed me first. "Done already?" she asked.
"Yeah. I don't want to owe too much of a favor to the Yu family," I replied.
"You saved me though," Yu An Yan argued. "We are indebted to you, not the other way around."
"Even so..." I began, but was quickly interrupted by my little sister.
"Okay, that's enough arguing back and forth," Qing Yue cut all of us off. "More importantly, let's help Big Brother Xuan Kai with his new spells!"
I took out the Space Locket in my jean pocket, and copied the way Yu Ao used to take out items from it. Picturing the spell book I had in mind, I concentrated and reached inside the pouch. I felt the familiar leather cover of the spell book, and decisively grabbed it.
What I took out, was indeed exactly what I had wanted. The process was easier than I had thought, but that was a good thing - it just meant the artifact was even more convenient.
"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked the girls. "Where do I aim it? I don't want to cause any damage, so..."
"Hm...why don't we have a bit of strength testing?" Feng Mian suggested.
"What do you mean by that?" Yu An Yan asked, arching an eyebrow.
Feng Mian turned towards me. "Basically, Xuan Kai will test out his spells on US, and we have to put up defenses to block his attacks."
"It is...a good opportunity...to test our...strength," Yu An Xue murmured.
"That's true. While Xuan Kai trains his offense, we can train our defense at the same time. We can save time later that way," Yu An Yan added after some deep thought.
"Then let's do it!" Qing Yue also joined in, excited to start.
It seems the other three were all in agreement with Feng Mian's idea, but I wasn't that confident...
"Er...are you guys sure?" I asked, scratching my head. "I still cannot control my own strength very well. What if I accidentally hurt one of you?"
"Heh. Are you looking down on us, or just that confident in your own strength?" Yu An Yan challenged. "You are certainly very strong, and probably none of us could beat you in a real fight. But I'll have you know that the four of us are all considered talents in Shenzhen."
"That's right! Big Brother Xuan Kai, I'm going to show you that Qing Yue is very strong as well!" Qing Yue added with a wink.
Even Yu An Xue, who usually only spoke when necessary, couldn't just take this lying down. "Mm...the four of us together...can definitely...block your attacks."
"Er, no, I'm not looking down on you or anything, but...are you sure you can do this?" I asked for confirmation one last time, even though I already knew the answer I was going to receive.
"Hmph. Why don't you find out?" Feng Mian said in a haughty tone. "With your actions, that is."
I sighed and made an exhausted expression. But that soon turned into a wry smile.
"Well...you asked for it."
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