University Path - Short Fantasy Story (Part 2)

That encounter, I will realize much later, was a turning point in my life. From that moment on, curiosity aroused in me, and every moment of my free time I spent searching for information regarding everything I could find out about the University, especially knowledge, more and more every next day. I was working for that bookstore, and just as I was changing the ink in the back of the press, an older gentleman walked into the shop, unusually dressed in a blue coat buttoned to his throat. Something in his appearance caught my attention and I paused to look from the back of the shop, even though I wasn't aware of it at first. The owner was at the counter and they exchanged some quiet words, then as if the conversation had been deliberately altered and became louder, so I can hear it. The gentleman who came began to talk about a new year at the University, and how it has been increasingly difficult to find worthy students in recent years. He brought some scripts, which he wanted to be printed. And that is where I saw my opportunity, now I can get in touch with matter that directly originates from the University. Although the visitor did not showed that he noticed that I was listening to their conversation, I had a feeling that he was very aware of my presence, as if he wanted me to get this information.

He left, and after that I said that I wanted to work here to the owner, because that was the place where I could get the most information. The owner agreed, I think only because I did not ask for more money than the one I was already getting but now for a full day job. And the moment I got started, the next few days I found discarded pages of that script. Of course, I was not allowed to access this material, but those discarded pages were more than enough to spark in me a fire for knowledge that has not been extinguished to this day. The man came several more times by the end of the year, and I kept listening to the conversation. Neither he nor the owner gave any notice of me, and I collected fragments of information that were an elixir for me, forcing me forward. And with the intention of someday, maybe I access all that promised knowledge. But I didn't see a way.

So I came up with the idea of asking my boss to allow me access to books, because I wanted knowledge. He said he was not at all surprised by the request and allowed me to take one book a week. He smiled at me with such an all-knowing smile, as if he were knowing something. The following month, my salary was increased.

The gentleman who was a mysterious customer was not coming for the next six months. And when he finally came again, he wanted to talk to me.

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