The Bookstore Mage

"It's not here…" A bloodshot Lucien mumbled to himself as he closed the old magical book.

He leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his hands, a long sigh escaped his lips. After taking a deep breath, Lucien grabbed his phone from the counter and glanced at the time.

"3 am. It's already this late." He released another exhausted sigh.

His entire day was spent scouring through the ancient spell book in an attempt at locating Ian's spell. All of his work, however, turned out to be for naught. Lucien managed to find several interesting spells, some of which even looked similar to the one Ian showed him, but in the end, they were not the same.

This confused him since he was sure the language was the same, and even the patterns were the same. Perhaps the spell itself was ripped from the book? That was the first thought that crossed his mind.

One look at the ancient yellow paper, however, was enough to rebuke such thoughts. The pages of the old book were not of the same material, and although the language was the same, the writing had some slight differences.

Lucien did not notice the difference at first, but the longer he read the book, the more familiar he grew with it.

This made him think of another explanation: perhaps his book was not the only one that contained such miraculous spells. That made more sense, after all, an ancient powerful language, how could he be the only one to monopolize it?

A yawn escaped from Lucien's mouth as he contemplated his findings.

Tamellalt silently appeared by his side and gave him a deep bow before she spoke:

"My Lord, perhaps it is time for you to get some rest?"

Lucien glanced at the butler fairy and shook his head.

"Just bring me another cup of coffee, please."

"As you wish, my Lord." The fairy did not argue as silently disappeared. A few seconds later, she reappeared with a fragrant cup of coffee with a small dose of milk.

Lucien mumbled a thank you as he opened the ancient book once more. A new idea flashed through his mind.

As he was probing for Ian's spell, he came across a particularly interesting one. The spell's function was to open a temporary door to another realm.

Lucien was first confused since as far as he knew, that was not something mages should be able to do. After all, the council was dedicated to keeping an eye on the portals that opens across the world in case they were dangerous.

The instructions for the spell were a bit more complicated than usual. He was even required to make a weird offering.

Forcing himself to stand up, Lucien glanced at his phone. It was already 4 am. A yawn escaped his mouth as he made his way to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

Once he was back, he changed into his pajamas and lay on his bed. He used Imer to pull his notebook and the ancient magic book towards him. There was a spell he wanted to try tonight.

"Targit," Lucien mumbled the name of the spell.

It allowed him to dive into the dreams of other people. He needed it since it was related to the sacrifice he required.

"Tamellalt, bring me two candles, please."

The butler fairy did not dally, she instantly appeared and placed one candle on his right nightstand, and another on his left before she gently lit them on.

"Have sweet dreams, my Lord."

Lucien nodded and replied:

"Thank you, goodnight."

Saying that he glanced at the spell in his hands and memorized the flow of mana and incantation before he gently placed the book using Imer back on the desk by the window.

After he made sure he was ready, Lucien closed his eyes and started to will the mana inside his body to follow the flow instructed in the book. A feeling of drowsiness began to overwhelm him, yet he forced himself to stay awake as he continued guiding the mana.

After a couple of minutes when Lucien was no longer able to handle the sleepiness, he finally muttered the incantation and instantly fell asleep. His breathing turned deep as a relaxed expression hung on his face.

The butler fairy appeared by his side with a satisfied expression on her face, she glanced at Moon who was laying by the bed, and spoke:

"You see, he's already able to do this. It won't be long before the Lord understands everything."

Moon, however, ignored her and left the room.

****

Darkness.

That was the sight that greeted Lucien when he opened his eyes. He knew that he was dreaming, but his mind was surprisingly clear.

"Did it work?" He muttered to himself.

It was then that the sky above lit up with countless brightly colored stars. It illuminated the land below, allowing Lucien to see his surroundings.

He was standing on a vast dark sea as if it was solid ground. No signs of any other creature were seen in this strange world.

"I made it!" A wide grin extended across his face as Lucien pumped his fist triumphantly.

The spell was supposed to transport him to the land of dreams, which was the domain of the primordial dragons. Or so the book explained. According to what he understood, the land of dreams was connected to the land of the living and the land of the dead.

When certain people had dreams of their loved ones that passed away, it was all because of this place. It connected both worlds, and in a sense, both influenced each other.

Lucien decided to try this spell for two reasons; the first was to see if he could locate his grandpa's spirit. He still had so many questions to ask him, so many things to tell, and share with him, and he missed him.

The second was the offering he required for the plane traveling spell. He could only get it from here, the land of dreams.

Closing his eyes, Lucien visualized a pair of massive black crow wings on his back. When he opened his eyes again, a strange but familiar feeling made him grin. He glanced at his back to see the pair of dark wings.

Lucien attempted to control them, something that came surprisingly easy to him. Perhaps since it was a dream. After a few attempts, Lucien was up in the air and flying through the dream world.

The sensation of the wind howling in his ears, and the freedom he got from the experience were hard to explain. And although it was not the real world, for Lucien, the experience was as real as it could get.