Kim loved the smell of libraries. Books always reminded him of easier times. At least when reading didn't come with strange consequences. Texts laid on the table were open in various places, lit from the dim white light of the large crystal chandelier in the middle of the five story library. Kim was studying on the second level near volumes of encyclopedias filled with studies on Ley-Line energies and how attunement effects the level of efficacy in spells.
Off to his left a group of students walked by dressed in plain black robes. One girl in particular stood out with gold embroidering of a raven on the front. Long black hair flowed behind her head like a silk waterfall. Something about this girl intrigued Kim. Pulling on the ley-energy around him lightly, he enhanced his sense of hearing to eavesdrop on their conversation.
“This is really risky guys. We have no idea how a ritual like that could effect the Ley-Network.”
The guys all chuckled uncomfortably except for one. A loud mouth young man with a buzzed haircut and a smell of hubris Kim didn't need to enhance his senses to pick up.
“Yet what if it's successful? We would be stars of the academy!”
The girl crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow. Kim went and sat back at his table of books, pretending to be oblivious to the group.
“Or we could shut down the ley-grid for the entire city for months to come. Is that worth it for notoriety?”
The man laughed and patted her lightly on the arm.
“Absolutely! What do I care? My family's got entire storage rooms full of charged crystals. It wouldn't really effect me much at all!”
Sighing and putting her face in her palm, she shook her head.
“Well Agrus, if things go horribly wrong then we'll know which family to turn to for replacing the entire grid of grounded crystals. You may not fear the people of this country, but you certainly fear your family.”
His breathing staggered a moment and he gave an angry look at her.
“You aren't the only one with pull around here. Just because you can do stupid things without much fear of consequence to yourself doesn't mean you should. The only reason I'm helping is because my thesis is on boosting resonance frequency. Unfortunately for me, you're in the same class.”
Kim mulled around in his head what they could be trying to do. The only thing he could think of was to expand the Freyan city proper's ley-grid network to surrounding settlements and farms. This was something he already knew how to fix. He did spend centuries in a city buried under sand. The group sat at a table not too far from him and continued to discuss how they could increase frequency while retaining ley-line integrity.
Glancing over at the girl, he caught her eyeing him as well. Something told Kim she knew he was researching something similar. He smiled at her and searched the desk for a book that had helped him the most in understanding these things. Holding it up to show her, her eyes and smile grew wide.
Ley-Lines and the Supernatural by Lonny Norlander
"Yes! That's it!"
She shouted at Kim with wild excitement. The men she had come in with all looked around in confusion. Agrus looked back, saw the book, and scowled at Kim.
"So that was you! Snooping huh? What, you wanna be part of our project? Think you can handle what we're talking about?"
Kim cocked an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. The girl did the same in turn.
"Actually Agrus, I think he just saved the spotlight all for you on this little project because he just showed me a way to finish my thesis without you."
Agrus whipped his head back in astonishment. Clearly this man was not used to being left in the dust.
"What?! This is a group project!"
The girl picked up the book she was reading and walked over to Kim. With a smile, she introduced herself.
"Mary Lionhart. Nice to meet you! So, I have an idea if what you're hinting at with this. Care to elaborate?"
Placing her book down on the table, she pulled out an ink and quill from inside her robe and some paper. Kim looked up at her and opened the book to a specific page. One that he had remembered reading after becoming the Necromancer that helped him re-achieve sanity.
Ley-Lines are a finicky entity. Supernatural beings are not. Simply put - supernatural occurrences are very real, but not at the same time. Ghosts are echos of energy left by the consciousness of those who are completely consumed by the Ley-Line system.
Mary looked at the line and gave a puzzled look at Kim. Kim pursed his lips and gave some thought on how to translate it for her.
Picking up a piece of paper, he wrote something on it, crumpled it up and held it in his hand. Pulling energy from the ley-lines, he used his arm as a conduit to the paper and caused it to deconstruct entirely in his hand.
Her eyes grew wide as red light fizzled away in chaotic shapes to leave nothing left. She had never seen a deconstruction before.
"How did you..?"
Kim held up a hand and pointed over at the table of guys that were now whispering angrily to each other and looking at them. While he knew what they were saying, it wasn't particularly important to him. Mary looked over at the table with great interest.
Suddenly, Agrus sat up at the table and looked back at Kim with an eyebrow cocked. He fiddled with something in front of him and the sound of crinkling paper made Kim smile. Mary looked back at Kim, then again to Argus who stood up angrily. He crumpled up the piece of paper angrily and threw it right at Kim, hitting him in the chest.
"Whoever you are... Watch yourself."
Mary looked at Kim with wide eyes as Argus left the table of two other men to sit and wonder what happened. Without flinching, Kim picked up the piece of paper and handed it to Mary. Unfolding it, she laughed and smiled heartily. Running a finger through her hair, she looked at Kim with a sense of admiration.
"I like you."
On the piece of paper in front of them, the words Your hubris is showing were written lazily. Kim chuckled and looked at her expectantly.
"You understand what I did though, right?"
She nodded at him and stood up with a deep breath. Kim had gotten pretty good at reading people over the years, but this was a pretty blatant change. This girl had just found a new reason to study.
"My name is Kim by the way. If you need any help, I'll more than likely be here. In this spot."
She looked at him with new interest.
"You're the new guy?! Oh I like you even more now! I'll be back Kim. Maybe next time you can tell me a bit more about yourself."
That smile she gave him was obviously flirtatious. The two men sitting at the table eyed him with more curiosity than distaste. It wasn't long before she left and they joined him at the table with a multitude of questions. Most people really seemed to like him. Kim just hoped once the whole Necromancer thing got out that people wouldn't change their minds.
