When A Mage Revolts

"Yup, it’s a gingko," the System answered.

"Why did you say that you did not recognize this leaf? Is there something wrong with you?" Benjamin almost shouted angrily at the System.

"‘Gingko’ is the name of the leaf where you are from. I don’t know what is its name in this present world," the System replied seriously. "According to Benjamin’s memories, he never came across this leaf, that I’m sure."

Benjamin paused, immediately realizing how difficult this could be.

Gingko was commonly found in his world of origin. Gingko plants populated the floor level of the house he used to live in. The leaves would often scatter on the ground. He even picked up a particularly pretty one to use as a bookmark. All in all, he would not consider gingko unique and unusual.

When he saw that the medium of his curse was a gingko, he was quite delighted. Fire spell, and a gingko? Would this mean that he could easily break Michelle’s curse?

However, the System’s reminder made him understand the problem he was facing. If he could not find gingko in this world, what could he do? If there was no gingko to be found in Benjamin’s memories, it would probably mean that it could not be found in the kingdom. If Benjamin would stay in the kingdom, it would be almost impossible for him to find one.

What if it was worse than that? What if the gingko in this world had already extinct?

It was understandable, actually. If Michelle chose a common leaf as the medium, she would be asking for for her curses to be broken. When he thought about it from this perspective, gingko was definitely a rare plant here.

What could he do?

After some consideration, he decided to do some research.

"Grant’s study desk..…. Was there a book on the desk? Its book title is along the line of ‘The Encyclopedia of Plants in the Kingdom’." He asked the System.

"Affirmative," the System gave him a positive answer.

There was no more doubt. He just needed to get the book from Grant, and the answer would reveal itself soon. At this moment, his urge to break the curse trumped anything else. Thus, he quit hesitating, stood up and hid "Magic 101". He then rushed out of his room and ran towards Grant’s bedroom.

If he was not mistaken, Grant was probably not in; he should be cultivating his divine arts in the church still. That was his routine throughout the weekdays.

Benjamin found that the life of a genius and an average person was really different. An average noble of his age would have already ended their Sunday School curriculum and spend their days messing around and doing whatever they want. A genius, on the other hand, was still studying.

Grant, though, Grant not only studied, he was wildly imaginative, and hid a lover around him.

As Benjamin recalled the episode when he ‘borrowed’ the book from Grant previously, he genuinely thought that he had the coolest baby brother.

Did the bishop have any idea that Grant hid a person under his sheets?

Benjamin reached Grant’s room in no time while he was lost in his thoughts. He knocked the door out of caution, and only opened the door as no one answered - Grant really did not have the habit of locking his bedroom.

There was no one in the room. Grant was yet to be home.

Benjamin put aside his guilt and thought he was just going to borrow a book. It was nothing major. Hence, he marched straight to the study table, searched around for some time and finally found the book.

"."

Benjamin read these words on the book cover as he prayed fervently that he could find any clues on gingko in it.

"Grant? Why are you back already? Have you finished your work from the church?" A voice suddenly came from behind.

Benjamin did not freak out. He turned and saw his mother, Mary, standing outside the door, arms crossed and looking at him, confused.

Mary was also rather stunned to see Benjamin.

Mary seemed to finally realize that she got the wrong person when she saw the bruises on Benjamin’s face. She smiled awkwardly as she said, "Ah, Benjamin, it’s you. I thought it was Grant! You look really similar from the back, really."

As Benjamin recalled the scene where he looked at himself in the mirror, he could not help but nodded, "I guess so."

Mary seemed rather perplexed after speaking of their resemblance. She approached Benjamin and studied his face properly, as if making sure that he really was not Grant.

Benjamin chuckled, "I’m not Grant, really. I’m just here to borrow a book," he said as he waved "The Encyclopedia of Plants in the Kingdom" before Mary’s eyes.

"I know," Mary still stared at Benjamin’s face, as if she was mesmerized by it. "It’s just that both of you are getting more alike. You used to slouch and hide when there were people around, so it wasn’t obvious. Now, after your father sent you to the army base for a few days, you’ve changed, and now you’re almost like Grant."

Benjamin shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "Probably."

Mary laughed a little as she continued to gaze at him. Benjamin was a little weirded out by the scrutiny.

"Um, I got the book that I wanted to read, so I’ll go back to my room now," he shook the book before Mary again in an attempt to shield himself from her eyes.

He also really wanted to start flipping and search for information on gingko.

"Ah, right. Okay, go back and read. Reading is good for you. I should also meet Mrs. Wooder for tea now," Mary paused as she realized her staring was a tad inappropriate. She finally diverted her sight.

"Goodbye," Benjamin nodded as he bid Mary farewell. He left the room.

"Goodbye, my child," Mary smiled.

Benjamin returned to his room with "The Encyclopedia of Plants in the Kingdom" in his hands.

He closed the door securely and flipped the book excitedly.

As he had no idea what gingko was called in this world, there was no use for him to search the table of contents page. He could only flip the book page by page, study and compare the illustrations on each page to find a picture of gingko.

"The Encyclopedia of Plants in the Kingdom" being an encyclopedia was not a thin book and could not be an easy book to search for information. Even though Benjamin sped through the pages, he still took around one hour to completely flip from the first until the last page of the book.

In his search, the hope he had in his heart dimmed each time he flipped pass a page that did not show a gingko. When he was nearing the end of the book, he was already giving up.

Did gingko really go extinct in this world? Or maybe, it was not grown in the Kingdom of Helios?

When he was flipping the last few pages, Benjamin found an illustration of a familiar fan-shaped leaf. His heart jumped at the sight, and as he read on, he found a name etched under the drawing, the words small and delicate.

The Tree of Time.