He glanced down at the blue card, still gripped firmly in his hand.

Wow, this thing is awesome, Riarshi thought to himself as he flicked the corner of the card.

He then looked around the room. An older male and younger female librarian sat along the far right wall behind a long, wooden desk with mounds of books piled to each side. They thumbed through pages of their own books in between helping guests check out theirs.

The mumble of faint whispers, the turning of pages, and the crackling of fire were the only sounds detectable in this otherwise silent room. There were a handful of other visitors, who were dispersed around an assortment of round and long tables. Some sat by themselves, reading through whatever work caught their eye. Others met in groups, studying and whispering amongst themselves while eying the librarians cautiously. 

This massive library gave off a remarkable sense of calm, quiet, and concentrated learning that differed notably from the noisy bustle of the city outside. Riarshi's old high school library held no ground to the one he was currently in.

With a sharp breath, he began his quest.

Hours of online searching the night prior had left Riarshi with virtually no results or leads about the Magic Breaker. Considering this, and the fact that Khohn refused to tell him anything about the method, Riarshi came to assume the POH barred Heroes from revealing how to perform the mysterious power-up. It must have been in their contract, or something.

If a Hero was to post about it online, the act could probably get traced back to the original poster through either an intel spell or - more traditionally - a simple IP address scan. With no internet leads, Riarshi believed there had to be something about the Magic Breaker in the thousands of spell books sitting in the HQ library. If the POH barred online leaks, then at one point they must have established details and protocols in writing. Fortunately for Riarshi, this library was known to be the country's primary center for written information.

It was worth a shot, at least. If he couldn't find anything, so what? He'd take it as a loss and go home, possibly with greater knowledge on random, redundant information than he had prior. Reading was still a great way to kick back, relax, and let his mind wander away from the upcoming anxieties of tomorrow. 

But if he found the secret of the Magic Breaker... well, what then? 

Why did he even care about this? Who in their right mind would search a library this large for one little fact?

The answer was simple, really. Riarshi's natural curiosity had always been a trait that drew him into unwanted and unnecessary trouble. But more importantly, he wanted to know everything about the certain spell people would sacrifice their magic and livelihoods for.

Walking down the lengthy aisles between bookshelves, Riarshi traced his finger along the spines of leather-backed books packed tightly into rows. The smell of leather and old paper filled his nose as his eyes scanned the titles. The scent wasn't unpleasant, but neither was it enticing. 

He plucked out the first book that caught his eye, and his heart skipped a beat. It had a blue and yellow patterned cover and read: "The Secrets Behind the Magic Beaker: The Glass Beaker That Never Broke!"

Tilting his head back and groaning, he slid the book back into its slot. So close, but so far away.

He had a long afternoon ahead of him.

***

The clock struck noon when Riarshi finally snapped out of his reading induced trance. He'd been searching endlessly for the last two hours, sorting through stacks upon stacks of books and journals. To his luck, not a single one citied or mentioned anything about the Magic Breaker.

"Dammit, nothing here, either," he sighed to himself, lowering his forehead onto the book whose index he just scanned for the fourth time. 

To his embarrassment, his stomach suddenly let out a growl so loud he saw the female librarian's eyes dart up to him from her book, squinting thin as she pressed a finger up to her lips. "Shush!"

Shrinking in his seat, Riarshi rubbed his eyes, heavy from almost being lulled to sleep by the relaxing, rolling murmur of voices and sweet perfumed smoke floating around the library. Despite the extra rest he indulged in after his transformation against Khohn, his fatigue had carried on through the last few days. His late night the night before didn't help his case.

Dammit, I gotta get a move on, his mind's voice grumbled groggily. 

Another five minutes ticked away as Riarshi paced back and forth through the many rows of towering bookshelves. It wasn't until he passed by one specific shelf that something sparked in his brain.

This one shelf's wooden sides were raven-black, and if not for the word "mature" painted at its top in bright red lettering, it would be easily missable. 

If the POH kept the details of the Magic Breaker secret, maybe they would lock them behind a barrier? Before he could think of his next step, and with his options rapidly dwindling, Riarshi's legs carried him to the "M" section of the raven-black shelf.

And there it was, sitting in the second to last row, titled: "The Magic Breaker: The Science Behind The Limiter"

Bingo! he nearly screamed, but suppressed the urge to cheer by biting his lip. He stared at the book. 

He couldn't celebrate just yet - there was something noticeably odd about this book. 

Riarshi stepped closer and bent at the waist with a curious look on his face. Upon examining the book, he noticed a slight, dark-green haze tinting its cover and spine, looking like a toxic coating of fog.

This must be a security measure. Can I even open it? What will happen if I touch it?

Would something similar to Hara's magic crush him mercilessly into the ground? Or would it toss him into a magical cage like the demon he fought those months ago, only to be shipped to some far away prison where he would rot and eventually die. These horrific - and probably unrealistic, - possibilities spun around his head.

Gulping down the nervous ball in his throat and reacting on instinct, Riarshi grabbed the intimidating book by the spine and cracked it open.

The evil green fog dissolved in his hands, leaving him with a relatively normal looking book with cream-colored pages and a light-blue cover. The title and subtile were written in a shiny gold cursive that reflected the ceiling lights.

Releasing a heavy sigh of relief, Riarshi plopped down on the floor and began flicking through the pages. For a moment, he was thrilled to be eighteen.

After scanning over the lines that repeated what Hara and Khohn told him yesterday, he finally spotted a section half-way through the book titled: Process

He read along with his nose inches from the page, tracing his finger along the lines.

...One must take their right hand, release magic into their fingertips, squeeze around their left pectoral - just above their heart - and rotate their hand in a clockwise direction. This is the process for one to unleash the seal to their Magic Breaker potential.

WARNING: Will cause an immediate overflow of magic. Pain, paresthesia, and nausea is common upon activation. Once the influx of magic is fully utilized or dissolves from lack of use, the user will be left unable to use magic for the rest of his or her lifespan.

Riarshi lifted his face away from the book and blinked to freshen his eyes. So, this is the part Khohn was keeping a secret?

The POH and Khohn's secrecy finally made sense. If this procedure was common knowledge among the country's population, anyone could pull this trump card if someone backed them into an inescapable corner. 

An afflicting question formed in Riarshi's mind. Why did the book open for him? If it contained important or classified information, it shouldn't have opened just because he was of age. That meant anybody could have discovered this secret, even if they weren't a Hero.

Riarshi shook away the troubling thought. It didn't matter to him, anyway. He did what he came here to do. In fact, because of the amount of reading he accomplished during his search, he also learned more about how some magics could harmonize with one another based on trait, indulged in a short story about a robot and dog, and - most importantly - hadn't stressed once about tomorrow's tryout. 

He shut the book with a thump. A thin cloud of dust blew from the cover, drawing a grimace from the teen. His stealth mission was complete.

When he rose to place it back onto the shelf, a bright white flash from the other side of the library caught his eye. Two large silhouettes materialized at the library's entrance. Book still in hand, Riarshi glanced over.  He couldn't make out one of the figures, who was still materializing, but the other arrival stood out plainly with his thick-lensed glasses and brown man bun.

Riarshi's stomach dropped. 

"Riarshi?" Khohn called out across the library, earning a shush from the male librarian. Khohn paid it no mind. The upper half of his body fully materialized to reveal a gray zip-up collared sweatshirt and the top portion of navy-blue slacks. "Is that you over there?"

The sharp sting of panic flushed through Riarshi's veins. He fumbled the book between his hands and shoved it in the first open slot he could blindly find. He never expected to run into Khohn today, especially not when he was going behind his back for restricted information. 

Khohn crossed the length of the library, strolled up to Riarshi's side, and peeked over his shoulder with a scrunched brow. "I never knew you visited the library," he mused with a smile. "What were you reading about?"

"Oh... uh, nothing too special, really. I... uh, was studying something... to help me at the tryout tomorrow," Riarshi stammered. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. His mind raced, trying to devise a believable excuse Khohn wouldn't easily see through.

"Hmm? You're such a bookworm. You know books might not be the best resource for practical information, right?" Khohn teased. "You can be book smart all you want, but knowing everything there is about magic won't help you when push comes to shove." He glanced up and noticed Riarshi was in the Mature section.

"Uh, Riarshi," Khohn said with a confused tone, "what could you possibly be studying here that would help you tomorrow?"

Riarshi's chest squeezed even tighter. He felt Khohn's questioning gaze. "I, uh... I..." Without looking, his hand desperately scanned the books next to where he placed "The Magic Breaker". He pulled the first book he could grasp by the spine. He prayed that something next to the damning book would support his horribly thought out lie.

"Uhm, this!" He closed his eyes, yanked the book out of the shelf, and displayed the cover to Khohn.

A moment of silence fell over the two - a silence even heavier than the one already blanketing the library.

Khohn broke it by clearing his throat. "Uhm, I know you're an eighteen-year-old man, and all... but really?" He sounded disappointed and slightly concerned.

The reaction was not at all what Riarshi expected.

Huh? What did I pull out?

Riarshi opened his eyes and turned the book over. Its cover had a gorgeous view of the ocean and a beautiful, chestnut-haired woman stepping out from the water, who was dressed... in...

...not very much.

He stared at the title.

"Magic Babes 2018: Magical Bathing Suits Throughout the Years."

"Yes, Khohn... This is correct... This is what I was reading. Absolutely," Riarshi said with conviction after a very, very long pause. 

There's no backing down now. Like he said, I gotta face the darkness straight on... right?

"Whatever floats your boat, bud," grinned Khohn, holding in a laugh that would surely land both of them in trouble with the librarians eyeballing them.

A third voice suddenly broke in.

"Khohn, you said you wanted to grab lunch but turned in here instead. What the hell are you doing?" A deep and stern voice spoke from behind Khohn. The second figure Riarshi noticed from a minute ago had finished materializing and stomped over to Khohn.

"Magic Babes" dropped onto the plush, scarlet-colored carpet with a muffled thud. Riarshi's face stretched corner to corner with an open-mouthed look of pure astonishment.

The man was dressed in the typical male Hero uniform, but a long, flowing half-cape sat upon his broad, boulder-like shoulders. Its silvery shine contained traces of purple, blue, and gold from the shimmering overhead lights. The circle that sat at his uniform's solar plexus was neither bronze, silver, nor gold... but a blinding diamond which cast an eerie underglow over his chiseled face.

"Ah, sorry about that, Giradin," shrugged Khohn, "just spotted this little rascal over here sorting through the mature section of the library, so I wanted to see what he was checking out. Apparently he has excellent taste," Khohn snickered, sending a wink to the stunned teen.

Riarshi didn't even bat an eye at Khohn's jeer. His gaze remained frozen on the other man standing just five feet away from him.

"Giradin," Khohn began with a smile, "this is Riarshi, he's a student of mine who's taking part in tomorrow's tryout." Khohn turned toward the teen. "And Riarshi, this is Giradin. Ya might have heard of him before," he chuckled, amused by his own joke.

The mountain of a man stuck his right hand out for a handshake. Riarshi broke from his trance with a twitch and creeped his own hand forward to meet him, shivering all the way.

Riarshi felt his body revolt the second Giradin's firm squeeze enveloped his hand. If he had eaten earlier, he would have immediately vomited. 

His suffocating aura seared into Riarshi's skin, slowly crushing him into the ground and leaving him without air to breathe or time to think. The pressure of this man's presence was too much for him to handle. If he thought watching him through a TV screen was bad, this was a hundred times worse.

Giradin finally released Riarshi's hand, and the invisible pressure about to make him implode ceased. He felt like someone lifted a million pounds from his shoulders, leaving him a tad lightheaded and with cold sweat seeping through his shirt.

"N-nice to meet you, sir," Riarshi squeezed out of his uncoordinated throat.

"Same," Giradin said curtly.

Riarshi doubted he really meant it.

In the corner of Riarshi's eye, he saw an enormous grin spread from ear to ear on Khohn's face. Was he not affected by this invisible force?

"Hey, Riarshi, Giradin and I were about to hit the food court. You wanna join us?" Khohn asked with sincerity. 

Giradin sent a sudden, annoyed glare to Khohn. Riarshi was certain if Giradin did the same to him, he would have literally splattered throughout the decorative library, leaving a rather nasty mess to clean up for the janitors. 

Khohn was unaffected - in fact - maybe even amused by the man's reaction. He returned the intimidating stare with his own smug look. Giradin huffed, but didn't propose any further objection.

"Oh, uh... sure," Riarshi answered hesitantly. "I have the time." Now that the crushing pressure was off his shoulders, and he had settled down a bit, he realized that he truly was hungry. 

This afternoon was becoming crazier by the minute. After visiting the Hero HQ for the first time, being transported through some weird magic, and claiming to his guardian he was sneaking peeks at girls in bathing suits, he was about to eat lunch with the strongest man in the country... the top-ranked Hero, Giradin.