Races: Online

Now once they had descended into the dark stairs and reached their destination—they were given the sight of the library that they so desired. It looked like any part of the Kraelonia Academy but there was always something about it that made them feel like they were in another world. Glancing above provided ceilings with chandeliers that had magically lit candles and before them was a study area, tables and chairs that they could sit in to study. There were even parchments and quills left there with not a Mage in sight.

"Had someone left that?" The young man asked. Only the sounds of a rustling cloak was their answer. It wasn't like they actually had a companion that was a great conversationalist. Well there was no use there, he rubbed his face. Instead he admired their location, the space inside of this area was no doubt affected by some kind of dimensional or space magic because there were at least more than a hundred shelves beyond the table. 

Looking for the books would prove to be a hurdle in its own.

And so the young Student followed the instructions carefully given to him—it had taken them painstaking hours to find the specific blank book in the Astronomy and Astrology section with its counterpart in the Zestir and Zo​ro​as​tri​an​ism section. And once he did… nothing happened.

"What?" The young man turned around feebly in the Astrology section. He glanced back at the walls of the library and hoped to see some kind of door opening up for them to take.

Perhaps one was expecting some telltale sign of the hidden section of the already secret library to be revealed. Now it didn't have to be some trembling earthquake, but even a clear sign or a magical door opening up in front of them would be appreciated. He sighed and glanced around the library some more—maybe there was a door that opened up but between the hundred shelves and the possible locations to where it was, well it would take them a lot more time than they've arranged themselves for.

They had classes tomorrow.

And sleep was already reaching their eyelids. They had an early bedtime back in their village and they still hadn't fully adjusted to their stay here.

Fumbling for their bag, they took out one of the recent concoctions they've made in their Potions class. A Stamina potion. Uncorking the bottle and watching the yellow liquid slosh, it reminded them a bit of pee but they gulped it down greedily and felt a bolt of energy shot up in their veins. "Alright, I can do this." He whispered to themselves—until they felt a cold draft and spun to their feet. "This isn't funny!" He shouted and felt a shudder run down their spine to find no one behind him.

Was it possible that this had been all a ploy? Some trick?

Why had they gone here in the first place? This place was a nightmare for someone who hated closed spaces as the space within this area certainly had no windows and a wind couldn't have sprung up from up the stairs… so that meant only one thing. He reached his hand out towards the bookshelf and found nothing solid in front of them. His hand had gone through the books.

He blinked and ventured forward unsteadily. It should have been obvious from the start shouldn't it—

He plunged down and let out a scream. Falling akin to a hole until they finally hit against something and thudded with a groan, it wasn't a stone floor but it still made the air go out of their lungs. Soon after and more agilely so, their companion had floated down without any problems at all. He eyed them with a slight case of envy but there was no time for that. His tiredness would wear out as they trudged up to his feet… "How exactly big is this place?" He summoned a small fire in their hand and ventured forward.

Once again, only the sound of a rustling cloak was his answer.

Somebody would surely laugh at his feeble attempt of conversation. His friend would slap him on the back for this but it didn't matter—he was going to get the book without their help. Similar to how they had descended down from the stairs, this time they crossed a long and winding hallway which thankfully had only one clear path. "I wonder what kind of Builder designed something like this? A Mage no doubt with Levels in Builder to structure this hidden portion but…" He muttered.

Tendrils of shadows swept towards them.

And then they were gone.

. 

.

.

Once his own vexations were extinguished as he stomped ten steps down, Timothy deliberately waited for the Half Elf to join him to follow after him. Now it wasn't like he was frightened but there was being caught up in your emotions and being an idiot—he had to be cautious and so the two of them descended the stairs together. 

The two of them walked side by side until he realized that it might be better to walk separately, "Er… I think it's safer to walk a few steps away from each other. I'm not sure if what that Mage said was true about this Academy being a Dungeon but it's better to be safe than sorry right?" He was blabbering. Han would have laughed at him right now.

Ellynn was someone of few words, she gave a small nod and walked ahead of him.

That hadn't exactly what he had in mind—he preferred that he was in front, at least by the chance that she could have pulled him back the stairs if something were to happen. And he was the one who had the fire in his hands, "H-Hey…" He called to her, until he stopped himself.

Elves had good night vision.

She surely had a similar vision to that. Timothy lumbered down the stairs unsteadily and paused every now and then to look at the walls. He could almost imagine the walls closing in and crushing him to death. Or maybe a giant metal ball spike falling from the ceiling. Perhaps his imagination was a little too much as he went down the stairs and after the Half Elf who had no problems going down on her own.

If anything, she was going down far too quickly for his liking.

He had to chase after her—and also maintain an appropriate distance between them. It was with great discretion that he did that as another incident crawled in the back of his mind. Reading too many books about Heroes going in dungeons made him too paranoid for his own good. He was usually the calm one but it was a different matter here. There was no way that he could get out on his own and he could only rely on his companion.

He didn't like that. Not because it was a Half Elf but because he was still pretty useless. Perhaps he hadn't exactly gotten over what the Illusory Mage had said about wishing it was Han who was here. Sighing inwardly, he carried on and, after what seemed like hours of travelling downstairs, they saw some light and the entrance.

Once they stepped inside, his jaws dropped.

Was this some kind of treasure room? A hundred book shelves met his vision as he stood stunned. What kind of books were there? He knew of the sections spoken by the Illusory Mage but if it was in alphabetical order… there were the letters from B to Y. He rubbed his hands and glanced at Ellynn.

She was also standing still.

He wondered if she was as impressed as him, his gaze swept across the entire shelves and it made him pause. Did he really have to get the book that the Mage had wanted immediately? It would take a long time to find the two empty books in the first place. He coughed and waved a hand at her, "You know, why don't the two of us split up? You can look for the blank books in the letter A section while I'll do the Z section. Would that be alright, Miss Ellynn?"

"It's not a problem for me." She gave him a small nod and walked towards the first shelves. As she did, the edges of her cloak seemed to flutter despite the lack of wind in this place.

Such a strange thing.

Was it magic or something else? Timothy didn't know the answer to that but he was sure of one thing, while he was heading towards the Z section… he was also going to check the other sections of the library just in case. He had even actually brought his bag for this occasion. Now Timothy had a few bottles of Healing Potion he made from his class earlier in the morning but there was some space for a couple of titles. He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

In it were the list of study materials that one needed to obtain for this semester, "Theory of Magic for Professor Pierce's, The Hundred Evocations Spells For Beginners, Houses of Magic Complete Edition, and maybe I'll look out for the Fighter Combat Basics Guide too." With this library, he didn't even have to spend the money he managed to get from Grandma Moe. He may have hesitated in coming here before due to the shady Mage but as he looked once more at the shelves in front of him—a surge of hope welled up inside of him.

Things were turning out well for him now.