Chapter 157 - Gift

Once Zaos trained for two hours in the afternoon, he cleaned his body and then went to grab papers and pens in the library. Once he did that, he began to write down the symbols he already knew. Some of the spells had several similar symbols, and that could be easily noticed on Zaos divided them into categories like offensive, support, and defense. However, trying to understand what they meant was really difficult. That being said, he already knew what some symbols meant. The last ones who had the same names as the spells.

"Weird… now that I think about it, the elemental swords were supposed to have two symbols to name the spells, but they don't have any," Zaos frowned. "I guess this three-pointed star is what represents the word 'sword' and the other parts…"

The symbols for fire, water, wind, and earth were a bit weird, but Zaos eventually understood them. The symbol of water was like a straightforward wave with four traces. The wind was similar, but it had two long traces that had many undulations instead of four. Earth was like a distorted circle, and the fire was a bit more complex, and Zaos couldn't quite pinpoint what it looked like, but he assumed it was something on fire.

"Those symbols are simpler than I thought, but I can't get carried away since the elemental swords were the most obvious spell to read," Zaos muttered. 'Besides, I don't know how to pronounce them… now that I think about it, I always thought that magic should be something that one can cast using voice. I wonder why?"

After making that progress, Zaos wrote down all the symbols that he knew, but then he quickly got stuck because he noticed that the language didn't have to use letters to make words. They had a single symbol for each type of world… Zaos could easily imagine how difficult it would be to find the meaning behind all the symbols.

"Well, let's start with the easy ones…" Zaos said.

Zaos said to himself that he would finish at least ten easy ones before dinner, but he didn't have understood not even five when the morning of the next day arrived. Dark clouds were making the new months of his life look really grim.

"I have got to go and train…" Zaos said.

Zaos wanted to sleep, but he couldn't mess with his routine, so he headed to the garden and found his father there. Looking more imposing than usual. Zaos already imagined that he would try to lecture him and make him give up on the research. Still, Zaos already planned to ignore every single word.

"You look like someone who didn't sleep at all," Laiex said. "You are trying to help your mom, but at this rate, you will only make her worry more."

"Is that all?" Zaos asked.

"… I know that we don't see each other in the eye all that much, and I can understand why you can't respect me as a human being," Laiex said after a deep sigh. "However, you still need to pay attention to me when I say this: nothing good will come if you insist on this path. You are not the first person who tried to know more about the ancient language and you won't be the last, but all your predecessors who insisted didn't live good lives or long lives."

"Meaning…" Zaos said.

"I don't know the details either, but like I said, those who insisted on this path were people who didn't have much luck in the rest of their lives," Laiex said.

"Good, I never planned on relying on luck anyway," Zaos said.

"I wonder who you inherited this stubbornness of yours…" Laiex said and then sighed.

Laiex already talked more than he was used to, and he wasn't that skillful at convincing others with words anyway, so he gave up hope that his son would change his mind eventually before he reaches a path with no return. After the training, Zaos had breakfast with his mom, and then he left to the magic academy to return the documents, but then Zaos recalled one thing.

"That is right, mom," Zaos said. "The director of the magic academy said hi, her name is Edea, you remember her, right?"

"Yeah, but you have been visiting her all this time?" Lyra frowned. 

"Only three times, and this will probably be the last," Zaos said. "Why? Isn't she someone I should talk with?"

"Well, he is not evil but…" Lyra wondered how she should tell her son that. "Back in the day, she was fairly known for going after the younger boys at magic academy. So, you should be careful."

"I will be careful, I guess?" Zaos frowned.

"Well, you should, you are young, but you are turning into a fine-looking young man," Lyra said. "Soon, the girls will all be over you and you will forget your mother."

"I doubt that," Zaos said. "I don't like young girls."

Come to think of it, Zaos promised to help Edea if she needed help… Now, he was hoping that she wouldn't ask him for anything unexpected. Zaos's life already was a complicated one, and he didn't need the other problems that an older woman who likes younger men could bring.

"Let's see… a gift should help me repay the debt," Zaos said to himself. "Let's stop at a shop and then buy something for her."

Considering how much workload Edea has whenever Zaos shows up, a new employee would help her a lot. Still, those weren't being sold at the capital. So, in the end, Zaos settled with a very comfy chair. The one Edea was using seemed old and uncomfortable. Besides, a chair wouldn't bring misunderstandings to his life.

"The money I obtained over those years is finally ending… maybe I should have gone a bit slower in buying all those mana potions," Zaos said.

In the end, it looked like luck was on Zaos's side. When he returned to give back the documents, Edea wasn't there, so he left them and the chair with one of the guards.