Cheater's Prosper 4 (Patreon)

Daniel made his way through the bustling campus, the tomes from Raum clutched under his arm, doing his best to find a way to handle change. However, he wasn’t distracted enough to miss the way the students parted around him, their eyes darting away, none daring to make eye contact.

Daniel wondered how much of that was fear and how much was disdain, but either way, it was better than being ignored completely.

As he tried to find a solution, Daniel found himself delving into Gregory’s memories of the first year. The hope, the eagerness to prove himself worthy of the Stonebridge name, and the bitter disappointment that followed.

Gregory’s early days at Everglade had been filled with the naive belief that hard work and determination would be enough to overcome his family’s disgrace. But the other students — the rich nobles that he tried to join — had made it clear from the start: Gregory was not one of them.

He was a relic of a failed house, a reminder of a horror story that no noble wanted to acknowledge.

The rest, Daniel knew from the books. Raum came along, exploiting his vulnerability with ease. Raum had whispered promises of power and prestige, dangling the possibility of resurrecting the Stonebridge legacy just out of reach. Gregory had latched onto those promises, blind to the strings attached, and by the time he realized the cost, it was too late.

Raum’s hold on him was ironclad, reinforced by debts that Gregory could never hope to repay.

But Daniel wasn’t Gregory. He had the benefit of foresight, the knowledge of how Raum’s schemes would unfold, and, more importantly, the ability to change the outcome. He wasn’t interested in playing the role of the hapless henchman, doomed to failure and obscurity.

If only he could remember exactly what was the details of the plot.

Lost in thought, Daniel walked to the famous library of Everglade, the grand entrance looming before him like the maw of a great beast. The library was one of the most revered places at Everglade for a reason, a repository of magical knowledge spanning centuries.

It had also been a very convenient plot device, holding the answers for many plans Raum — or more competent villains in further books — had launched.

Though, Daniel was sure the current plot was not one of them. He wasn’t entirely sure how it resolved — and why the books were a problem in the first place — but he remembered reading Gregory putting the books in Henry’s bag while he was distracted by something else, and it getting resolved in the great hall.

Daniel wasn’t here to change it, but to change what followed. Once Henry had dealt with the disaster, he had used a spell to check the magical signature on the book, which led back to Gregory. If he could find a spell to scramble the residue, he might prevent the situation from blowing on his face.

“Now, all that remains is to actually find the book,” he muttered as he walked among the shelves, the scent of old parchment and polished wood enveloping him. The library was vast, its ceilings soaring high above rows of shelves that stretched endlessly in every direction.

Finding the correct spell book.

Unfortunately, while Everglade Library had many incredible features, being organized was not one of them. There were no convenient computers with installed indexes he could search that would point him in the correct direction.

If he hadn’t read all of the books, he might have just written the library. But, he remembered that, in one of the books — the ninth one, if he wasn’t wrong — one of the bigger problems had been solved by discovering exactly that.

One that not only solved the problem of finding the book, but also learning the spells.

“I hope it works,” he muttered even as he went toward the back of the library, searching for a dusty bronze statue of a dragon with a missing foot, which had been described vividly. One that could be used as a search function as long as someone had shared an interesting nugget of information that wasn’t known by the spirit infusing the statue.

Even knowing exactly what to look for, it took him fifteen minutes to find it. He crossed his fingers even as he pressed the intact foot of the dragon, and whispered. “Antunada the third has spent five years with Faes,” he said.

It was the exact phrase they had used in the book, one that he luckily remembered. Maybe because he had read the last few books relatively recently.

He waited in silence for several seconds, before the eyes of the dragon glowed. “What information you’re looking for, student,” a creaky voice asked.

“A book on magical forensics, and how to erase them,” he said, slightly afraid of the question. Luckily, the spirit of the dragon statue didn’t question him about the reason. His eyes glowed, and the book appeared at the base of the statue. Daniel touched, and the information in the book flooded into his mind.

The moment the flow had ceased, the book disappeared, leaving him with a horrible headache.

It was not a pleasant experience. And, that was with a relatively low-leveled book. The spells that were in the book were ingenious, but ultimately, they were hardly more than cantrips. But, even then, they were enough to leave him with a headache.

“Not just a headache,” he muttered when he raised his hand, only to realize his nose was badly bleeding.

Maybe there was a good reason Book-Henry didn’t start using the feature every day.

Of course, Daniel doubted that he could do that. Unlike Henry, he didn’t live in a world that catered to his every whim. However, instead of wasting his time thinking about the grand strategy, he started practicing the spells he learned.

“Good enough,” he said even as he sat down on the nearest table merely half an hour later, his body trembling with exhaustion. However, despite feeling like he had just run a marathon while drinking a gallon of vodka, he was happy.

Having the ability to cast about a dozen spells that he could use to manipulate the evidence was exactly what he needed. Though, even with the magical knowledge transfer, it was a bit of a surprise. The books had always implied that Gregory was magically weak.

Admittedly, Daniel wasn’t suddenly a powerhouse — he would have hated to fight magically with Henry, or even Raum — he was far from weak. Clearly, he had been hampered by his poorly-aligned staff, though his lack of intellectual curiosity didn’t help.

If he was being honest, Daniel wasn’t exactly a walking ad for curiosity, but he had two advantages. First, magic was truly wondrous for him, far more interesting than pre-calculus.

More importantly, Daniel knew exactly what was coming. The later books had a wide range of enemies that created a lot of devastation before Henry’s inevitable victory.

Daniel didn’t want to end up as one.

“Let’s give Raum a little gift,” he muttered even as he started casting every spell he learned in the book, making sure there was no magical evidence for his touch. However, he didn’t do the same for Raum’s magical signature.

He was in the mood for some entertainment, and it wouldn’t do good to change the plot too much too soon.

With that done, he started walking, ready to leave the library and intercept Henry so he could put the books in his bag. As he turned a corner, Daniel’s gaze landed on a familiar figure seated at one of the library’s many study tables.

Eleanor, one of Henry’s best friends — and one of the love interests in the future books — her nose buried in a thick tome, completely engrossed in her reading.

Daniel couldn’t help but pause. She was everything the book described: curvy, and beautiful, with long brunette hair and an air of quiet intelligence that set her apart from the other students. Eleanor was not a background character, but her role meant that she was often overlooked while being treated as a walking plot device, her other traits undervalued until, in one book, Henry ‘bravely’ notices her beauty and decides to stand against the rest of the students.

Defending an absolute bombshell that solved most of the problems he faced was a chore.

The prudent thing was to walk away. Trying to talk to Eleanor was like throwing a bomb at the plot. She was part of Henry’s main group, her knowledge of obscure magical lore proving useful in critical moments.

Also, she was not exactly the biggest fan of Gregory.

Daniel hesitated, watching her for a moment. He could see the way her brow furrowed as she studied the text, her fingers tracing the lines of ancient spells with a delicate touch. There was a vulnerability to her, a quiet determination that Daniel found very attractive.

Not that she was lacking the conventional beauty.

Yet, Daniel didn’t dare to go and talk with her. A part of it was the leftover enmity, but the bigger part was his lack of courage. He couldn’t risk the plot in such a radical manner.

Also, he had never been a ladies’ man, and Gregory’s memories were not exactly helping there. With a sigh, he walked away, leaving Eleanor to her studies.

He still had a plot to ruin.