At least what I thought was a grimoire - it was probably just a beginner magic textbook. Something like "A Beginner's Guide to Magic" if you will. I mean it looked aimed towards kids from the vivid colour palette.
If I ever went book shopping, the author 'Asim Clevio', was one to look out for. His grimoire was perfect to learn the alphabet from, because of the clarity of the text. I was hoping it would eventually teach me magic too.
I think it covered the basics of magic and some common beginner spells—at least, that's what Silvia said when I asked her about it. My current ways of passing the time included reading lessons with Silvia, napping, and flipping through the library books. To wrap up the day, Silvia would usually read me a bedtime story as well.
While it initially felt awkward to be read a bedtime story at my age, I got used to it. Plus, it reminded me of when I was much younger back on Earth with my real parents. Those were fond memories I'd gladly relive.
The bedtime stories were usually selected from one of the eight fairy tales mentioned earlier. Eventually, Silvia worked her way through all eight, only to start over again on the first book the next night. It felt like an endless loop—an 'Endless Eight,' if you will.
I had a personal favourite from the eight fairytales. It was titled, 'Legend of the White Dragon'. It told the story of a lonely dragon who started off as a little koi fish in a small pond. One day, a human boy saw the fish – along with other fish - caught in a trap and vowed to save them.
The boy, kind-hearted and brave, dove into the crystal-clear waters without a second thought. The little fishes flapped helplessly in the tangled net, floundering in desperation. Ripping through the net the boy comforted them softly,
"You're all free now."
All the fishes but two left immediately. One of the fishes who stayed was the little koi who couldn't bear to leave without thanking the boy.
"Thank you for your kindness human, I will never forget this!" The koi fish spoke in earnest, his true feelings on display for all to see.
"Any time!" The boy grinned in reply, clearly happy he made a difference. Just then,
Plop! Plop! Plop!
The sound of a fish bobbing up and down caught their attention. The boy and the koi turned towards the source - it was the other fish that stayed: a cuttlefish.
"Don't mind me you two!" it bubbled, cheerfully splashing about, "I'm just a cuttlefish that loves diving!" it continued joyfully. "But yeah, thanks for the save kiddo."
For a moment the boy, the koi and the cuttle were silent – then they all began to laugh together.
The story continued from there to follow the rest of the koi fish's growth and his journey to becoming the legendary white dragon. After many lucky chances and much perseverance, the koi fish leapt over the dragon gate, becoming a real dragon.
Now that he was a real dragon, he searched endlessly to repay the young boy but alas, it was to no avail. Disheartened, he decided to look for the cuttlefish that loves diving – perhaps he knew where the boy was. Unfortunately, that search came up short too.
It's said the dragon swore to protect humanity from then on to repay his debt to the young boy. Apparently, while on his travels of saving humans, he unknowingly ended up saving the young boy who was now an old man.
Quite a cliché story, right?
It wasn't the first time I'd heard a story like that, but this one resonated with me. I had always thought being eternally grateful was a burden, but the dragon saw it differently. To him, it wasn't a burden, but a gift - a way to share his newfound purpose with others.
Even with humans planting traps to harm his kind, he managed to see the good in them and forgive the very people that trapped him. To have the ability to exact revenge but choose not to - an upstanding character.
Unfortunately, in all likelihood this was a story told just for kids to learn to forgive others - completely fictional. Regardless, anytime Silvia read Legend of The White Dragon it was always a goodnight.
Silvia had her own favourite of the five. "Tale of The Sky Empress". A tragic love story of a young girl, from a world in the skies, falling down to the human realm.
The story tells of a young man who met a homeless girl on a familiar street. His town wasn't particularly large, so he often saw the same faces. But this encounter was irregular—not something his regular town had seen before.
The middle of the street, broad daylight, amidst a cascade of feathers lay a girl - unconscious. In a classic boy meets girl story the young boy found himself taking care of her and eventually taking a liking to her. He soon realised the girl had amnesia.
Over time they grew closer and before he knew it the boy found himself feeling a way he never had. He was in love. And like wildfire the love spread rapidly between them. A couple was born that fateful night.
And then they lived happily ever after.
Well, that's what you'd normally expect from a kid's fairytale but the story goes on.
On that fateful night, a couple was born - but not one destined for fortune or favour. Slowly the girl began to regain her memories, creating a conflict between her two identities.
She realised she had to return. Due to a curse placed upon her race - the sky people - she couldn't leave her world in the skies for too long. This wasn't her rightful place. But with her wings injured from the fall she couldn't fly again. Not without help.
With no way to contact anyone to help her, she was trapped. A nightmare she couldn't wake up from. Tossing and turning, the young man made a critical decision. Left with no choice, he forcibly cast a supremely powerful wind spell, in hopes that it could return her to her rightful place in the skies.
They made a pact to see each other as often as possible. The girl promised to let the boy onto the sky island - a place previously reserved only for her people. In return, the boy vowed to show her everything the human world had to offer. They swore to honour their agreement, binding themselves with an oath made beneath the stars.
Once he cast the spell, he watched her soar into the distance, masking his true feelings with a smile as she joyfully flew away. Filled with excitement to return to her royal kingdom, she arrived in high spirits. However, upon her return, she learned a harsh truth: sky people and humans were forbidden to be together.
She couldn't believe it. Rather, she didn't want to. Taking matters into her own wings, she secretly planned to return as soon as she could. Weeks later she returned to the human realm, only to find her partner had died shortly after he cast the spell.
The young girl, the sky empress of the world, could only return helplessly to her sky island, shrouded in deep melancholy. Legend says the world's storms are her way of venting her anger at life's cruel unfairness.
By this point in the story, Silvia was always crying. She loved this story a little too much. I was almost certain an anime studio like Jhibli or Nufotable in my old world could adapt this story into a cinematic masterpiece - it's a shame neither Silvia or I would ever see it though.
I could tell this story meant a lot to her - she had been reading it since she was a child. Her mother used to read it to her just like she was reading it to me. In that sense, it was a cherished family tradition.
In fact, I was sure she had memorised the entire story and could confidently recite it from memory. The only thing she wished to correct was the ending - specifically the girl's reaction to the young boy's death.
Silvia knew the boy didn't want to cause her such pain. He made the best of a difficult situation. He loved her completely and wouldn't want her to vent her anger by sending storms to humans so frequently.
Of course, this story seemed even less plausible than the legend of the white dragon. Mainly because it just seemed like an etiological myth - a myth which describes why the world is a certain way. Something like Prometheus stealing fire to explain how humans obtained fire in my old world.
I mean how could there possibly be continents in the sky? And one completely undetectable to humans? I mean how would that even work? What sort of magic could possible hoist someone from the human world to this realm in the skies anyways?
The story raised more questions than it answered, but I wasn't one to dwell on it too deeply - tragedies weren't really my thing. I preferred stories with a satisfying ending where reflection was encouraged.
Either that or an inspiring story where the main character constantly defies all odds to emerge victorious—something like The Heroic Tales of The Paladin Hero. This book was Glyffe's favourite.
It told the story of a knight captain in the military who was deeply in love with the princess of his time. He was willing to do anything to win her hand in marriage. Tragically, the princess fell gravely ill with a devastating sickness.
The court physicians - lacking any means to deal with this terrifying illness - were powerless to help. In desperation, the king summoned a world-renowned figure, the great alchemist Synthio. Synthio declared that he could create a cure - but only if he could obtain certain magical materials from cursed forbidden lands.
This put the king in a difficult position; he couldn't, in good conscience, send his men into death traps, even for his daughter. After all, he was a virtuous king. That's when the knight captain - who would later be known as the Paladin Hero - stepped forward.
With a small brigade of his most trusted men, the knight captain dove headfirst into unfathomable dangers - determined to save the princess.
They journeyed past twilight fortresses and crystal caverns, across bloodstone deserts and weeping plains, through shattered realms and labyrinths of forgotten dreams.
What was meant to be a mere few years of travel became an odyssey of a lifetime. A saga filled with endless dangers, heart-stopping thrills, and unrelenting trials.
From trading with elusive elves and bargaining with drunken dwarves, to braving torrential waterfalls and escaping erupting volcanoes, their journey was nothing short of legendary.
After reaching the final forbidden land – The Abyssal Forest - the knight captain and his men fought off a multitude of monsters, coming out victorious after a gauntlet of treacherous battles.
Soon enough, the final treasure and the one the princess needed most - The Evernight Flower – was spotted. Know to only grow in extreme darkness, the Evernight Flower was rare even in the Abyssal Forest.
On that day, the men witnessed something that no one in history could claim to have seen. Before their eyes, the Evernight Flower bloomed.
A wilted blossom slowly transformed, petal by petal, until it unfurled into a magnificent full bloom. The flower radiated a soft, purple, ethereal light that enveloped the surrounding grey trees and pools of ash, illuminating the forest like a starry night.
Its light was a beacon of hope to the great brigade, offering a priceless dream. And yet... the real nightmare was still to come.