The Scream of A Thousand Libraries Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The End of Bureaucracy (II).

Read chapter 40 of The Scream of A Thousand Libraries by Susangja on NovelPedia.

POV: RENATA SILVEIRA. We were still processing what Professor Francisco had explained about mastery as we returned to class right after recess. The first few minutes were always noisy, until everyone settled down, went back to their rooms, and the class reorganized. That always stole a few more moments than it should. The professor, used to this, picked up his pen and quickly resumed the content without waiting for our attention. “Now, let’s talk about energy recharging.” I opened my notebook quickly, ready to continue my previous notes. “You already know that QPs are our magical energy,” he said, as he drew a circle on the board, filling it with short lines. “What you might not have realized yet is the process behind generating this energy.” He wrote the word 'reading' in big, bold letters. “Each time we read, we’re feeding our subconscious. The information piles up, and from it, QPs arise. That’s why I’m always insisting: read every day. Even routine, brief reading guarantees at least a small recharge or a slight increase in energy” I thought of all the times I forced myself to read before bed, even when I was tired. And all the dozens of times teachers repeated the same thing, and yet, many students chose to ignore it. Maybe now it made more sense than I imagined. “Reading time is crucial,” he continued. “Ten pages equals, on average, one QP. An entire book, between three and five. But it’s not just about quantity: quality matters too, more complex readings are usually better because they take longer…” Some classmates whispered, trying to mentally calculate how many QPs they’d accumulated. I did my own quick math. “But pay attention,” the teacher raised the pen again. “You all cannot confuse energy channeling with energy activation, alright?” He drew an arrow from the circle to a small mark, a symbol resembling a diamond. “You can channel energy into a literary mark without activating the enchantment. In that case, the energy isn’t spent. It stays there, dormant, like water stored in a dam. You can even transfer that energy to another mark or disperse it, if you want to cancel the action.” His words felt like a revelation. I’d never thought about the difference between channeling and activating. “This principle,” he continued. “has been exploited in fiction so much it’s shaped many magical systems you’ve read about. The classic concept of mana comes from exactly that.” Some laughed, but I stayed silent, intrigued. “Does art imitate life, or does life imitate art?” he teased, smiling. “That’s a question you should always think about in our lessons.” I frowned and copied each concept and diagram into my notebook. ‘Because, if you think about it, a lot of things we see in fiction are actually inspired by real things we sometimes don’t even know are real… interesting ideas, I’ll look into that later.’ I saw Professor Francisco put the pen on the desk and pick up a sheet from a folder. “That said... before we move on to the next topic, let me quickly wrap up some bureaucracy… A quick announcement.” He turned to the board and after a few moments, finished writing a date and the school address. “For those who want to temporarily increase your magical energy, there’ll soon be a book fair here at school. Reading besides being fun is also good training, so check it out, ok?” he announced, waiting for the class’s answer Which came instantly, almost in unison: “Okay” A small commotion swept through the room. The book fair was already a tradition at the school, almost every year there was one… The detail was, always on different dates, always random Why? Nobody knew… But that never stopped the students from speculating. I even heard rumors of people making pools to guess when it would happen… Not that I’ve ever joined, of course… ‘Hehe’ The atmosphere around the fair was always fun, we could buy new books, take a break from the routine, stroll a bit without worry. It was a welcome kind of pause. Even at the start of the school year, whi