Next day, There were no classes. It was a free day, Melch thought he was not going to waste it. Where others would have spent the day resting or strolling about the academy grounds, Melch''s mind was focused on other matters. He had questions regarding the research note and a better place to begin finding those answers would be the library.


    He rose from the dormitory early in the morning without waking Leif, who was sleeping soundly with his mouth wide open. The academy was quite silent because most of the students were just a few in motion. Most were probably sleeping since it was a free day.


    Just as Melch entered the library, the smell of old parchment and ink had filled the air. Long rows of books seemed to go on forever because the towering shelves cast long shadows in the dimly lit space.


    He approached the counter and found that the librarian was in a full blown discussion with a frustrated third year student. He was arguing on the extension of the borrowing time for a particular book.


    The student even complained "I have already use the credit before, can''t you just give me a few weeks?"


    The librarian, an old man with sharp eyes shook his head and said "Rules are rules. Unless you are willing to provide the additional contribution points like the previous one, I cannot extend it further."


    Melch watched as the student groaned in defeat finally accepting the terms and taking the book with a sour expression. The whole exchange reminded him of the false sense of victory he had felt before during his life thinking he had succeeded only to realize later that he was far from it and crumble instantly.


    Once the student left, Melch approached the desk. "Excuse me, sir," he said. "I need some information regarding deciphering older books."


    The librarian looked at him, then back at the book he had borrowed earlier. "Ah, so you''re having trouble with that, have you? No surprise. Research notes are full of just bits, some scholars even use some spells to hide some content or what they''ve found. If it''s that kind of spell, you won''t be able to read it unless you know what spell was used or can find someone who breaks it."Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Melch frowned. “Is there any way to figure it out myself?”


    The librarian thought for a moment before replying “Well, there are two common options. The first is to seek out an expert magician who specializes in deciphering spells but finding them is less likely. The second being a better option is to take it to the Adventurer’s Guild. They have skilled individuals who can break enchantments for a price.”


    Melch sighed. He knew the Adventurer''s Guild was expensive and he certainly didn''t have much money.


    "Are there any books here that might help me understand the process?".


    The librarian nodded. "There might be. If the student who wrote the research note learned to do it themselves, chances are they studied from books within this very library. Try searching the farthest sections, where older texts are kept. You may find something useful there."


    Having thought of this, Melch turned towards the extreme end of the library. The corner was more dusty. There, the books were not touched for so many years. He was browsing the titles to get anything on how to decipher the texts.


    After a while, he narrowed down his choices to three books. One was a Modern Forsic translation of an ancient text and the other two were written in the original Ancient Forsic language. He soon realized that the third book, though also in Ancient Forsic contained some familiar characters ones he had seen in certain sections of the research note.


    Curious, he took the book to the librarian. "Do you recognize this language, sir?" he asked pointing to the strange characters.


    The librarian examined it closely before shaking his head. "That''s not from our kingdom, that''s for certain but as for its exact origin… I don''t know."


    Melch''s curiosity only grew. If this language wasn''t even from their kingdom, then what exactly had the writer of the research note been trying to hide?


    Deciding this was his best opportunity to unscramble the mystery, he took it and headed straight to the history section. If magic could not have it for him, maybe through historical records he might find some clue.


    He sought something that may have been in any way comparable to the book''s language. However, nothing turned up. Almost at his last straw, something caught his eye: one parchment between two huge books. Old and frail, it had strange symbols scrawled across it that meant nothing to him at all.


    "This… feels important." he whispered tucking the parchment under his arm.


    If it didn''t have any direct relevance to the research note, it was still worth investigating. Sometimes forgotten knowledge held the greatest secrets of all.