Sirius Chapter 15: Chapter 14: The Library

Read chapter 15 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

Unhm . Li threw himself onto the bed, exhausted after a long day. He had just taken a hot shower and was in a towel, steam still rising from his body. Lying there staring at the ceiling, he remembered what it was like when he was still tied to Tai Lung. "Feels like years ago..." he said to himself. Rolling on the bed, Jihan went over everything that had happened up to that point. His brain was pinging that something was off. "Why did she act that way?" Thinking about how Akemi had treated him that morning, he reflected on everything that could have caused it. "Did I do something to hurt her?" Stretching, he looked at the clock. "It's still early; maybe I should go for a walk." Leaving the room, wearing spare clothes he had bought for the bargain price of twenty points each, he headed to the food court which, despite the name, hadn't been used for that purpose yet. "I'm starving." Taking a bite of a sandwich he'd just bought, Li spotted Akemi in the distance heading to the board and, shortly after, stepping onto one of the platforms. "Where's she going at this hour?" Li went over to the orbs. "If I remember right, she pulled something from here...?" Seeing that the text above one of the crystal balls read "Library," he felt a slight aversion to the orb. "Well, what harm could it do? It's just reading something for an hour." He pulled one of the spheres and, heading to the nearest platform, crushed it. When his vision finally cleared, he was standing in a monumental oval-shaped structure. Shelves packed with books formed corridors throughout the library. The wooden floor made Li think back to an old school he had attended as a child. "This place... is incredible!" The boy declared. "Indeed, my young friend. And not just incredible; it's magnificent!" Li was caught off guard by the voice that appeared beside him. "Where did this old man come from?" The man had white hair and a white beard, wore round glasses, and was apparently blind in one eye. "Good evening?" "Good evening, boy. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence in this splendid place?" "Sir? Have we met before?" Li asked, uneasy. "Not yet, but it's an honor. My name is Hakim; how shall I refer to you?" "My name is Li." "I've been introducing myself a lot lately." The boy thought to himself. "Perfect. Now that we know each other, back to the previous question. To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence in this splendid place?" "This fellow is a little eccentric. Is everyone in this place always so... different?" "I just came to have a look; I'm not looking for anything in particular." "It would be strange to come looking for something; this is a library. Not just "a" library, but the greatest of them all; thousands of years of knowledge are stored here. Generally you come here to find the answers to your questions, not to go searching for them." The man played with his words, leaving Li increasingly confused. "So tell me, what is your question?" Jihan had no answer ready; he didn't want to say he'd ended up there because of his curiosity about Akemi. So he opted to say something that would make sense to the old man. "Sir, I'm looking for a way to get stronger." "Section 37B, just follow this corridor... although... I think a library is better suited for making your enemy weaker." "Hakim?" "Ah, don't mind me; it's just the ramblings of an old man who's past his prime, haha..." Leaving Li behind, he called out from a distance: "If you need me, just call; you know my name!" Jihan waved to the old man and continued in the direction he had indicated. All the shelves had a number and a letter; it didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for. When he got there, he took the first book he found. "Kung-Fu? In book form? This place must be a joke." Putting the book back in its place, Li moved from shelf to shelf, scanning the titles. Until one caught his eye. "The Foundations of Mana, Albert H. Hye. What a strange name... sounds interesting." Remembering havin