Chương 5: Chapter Five: Hitting The Books

X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X Chapter Five: Hitting The Books X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X Out of all the physical problems that I could imagine arising from being forced into an entirely new body, sleeping arrangements would certainly not be one of them. Everything else had felt so natural. Even with my legs shaped completely different, I had not tripped or stumbled once since waking up in that glade.

Nor had I any trouble breathing, eating, or anything else that came to mind that had been changed so fundamentally with my new mortal shell. Nevertheless, here I am, laying restlessly on some feather-stuffed guest bed deep within the castle-like home of the Loki familia. I've been tossing and turning for hours. But no matter how I orient myself, sleep still eluded me. Partly due to not being able to find any position comfortable enough…

But mostly because I couldn't stop running through one particular part of the conversation at dinner in my mind. Where the hell did that information about Max's parents come from? When I had written Maedmux's back story, I had only bothered to say he'd been raised by gnomes, and that he was originally from Turst Fields. Not once did I ever bother to come up with a reason as to exactly why he had been adopted, other than saying his parents were dead. So why did I say all that stuff about Ravagers?

And far more importantly- Why did it not even feel like a lie? Why do I feel a small twinge of… Regret? Sadness? Anger? In my chest when I think of them? I rolled over onto my back to stare at the timbered ceiling… Before quickly turning back over when that arrangement started pulling painfully on my tail. Loki did not call me out on the falsehood. Meaning that she was either playing her cards close to her chest… Or that it wasn't actually a lie.

I was only joking when I said that stuff about me being some figment of Max's imagination… But what if I was closer to the mark than I thought? I already had his instincts, his muscle memory, and his skills… Why wouldn't I have gotten some of his ego as well? Perhaps there's more of Max in my head than I originally thought. Or maybe it's the opposite, and it is actually less of me in Max's head… Fuck, thats going to keep me up for hours.

Giving up on getting any sleep tonight as a lost cause, I heaved myself out of bed and started pulling on my equipment. When I finished gearing up, I padded to the door and out into the corridor. Even at this ungodly hour, the castle was still well lit. Ornamental scones along the walls held small, uncut crystals that glowed with a warm, orange light. I had to admit, it was far easier on the eyes than those harsh led's I was so used to living with.

I started Swiveling my ears around, and even through the thick stone walls of the building, I could hear the soft breathing and murmurs of people sleeping in their rooms. But there was a noise that drew my immediate attention. The sound of splashing water accompanied by a quiet humming. Tiptoeing down the hall, with a hand on my smithing tools to hold them in place, I approached the noise.

Peeking around a corner, I was met with a human woman wearing a black smock, her back to me as she mopped the floor, quietly singing under her breath. A servant, or maid perhaps. Perfect. I stepped around the corner with a quiet cough to get her attention. She sedately swung her head in my direction, a patient smile on her face that quickly vanished when she saw exactly who was trying to get her attention. Her mop slipped through limp fingers to crash to the marble floor with a booming echo in the empty passageway.

We both flinched as the sound reverberated down the hallway. We stood in silence as my ears whirled back and forth, checking to see if the noise woke anyone up. I heard a few grunts and mutters as people startled in their sleep, but no-one left their bed to check on the sound. Letting out a sigh of relief, I gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry for the fright, miss. I was just hoping to ask you for directions to the library, if Loki has one." I whispered to her, still worried about waking anyone up. With a hand grasping her heart, she gave me an extremely forced smile as she bent down to pick up the mop, her panic-filled eyes never straying from me.

"O-Of course sir, just head back down the way you came until you reach the grand staircase, take a left at the bottom and follow the hallway until you reach the end, the entrance will be on your right…" I thanked her with a nod and went to follow her directions. I could feel her eyes boring into the back of my head all the way down the corridor until I was out of sight. After ghosting through the mansion as quietly as I could, I found the doorway exactly where she said it would be.

The beautifully carved double doors of solid oak opened soundlessly on well oiled hinges, revealing… An absolute mess. To be fair, the library was enchanting, in its own way. The floor to vaulted ceiling shelves were almost bursting with books of all sizes and colors. While comfortable looking armchairs dotted the room, creating the perfect places to curl up and read. And the unmistakable aroma of ink and dry paper suffused the chamber down to the very stones.

It was almost exactly how I pictured the library at Hogwarts to look like. The only problem? With only a glance I was able to tell that there were precisely zero attempts to organize the collection of books here. Combat manuals sat side by side with books on mathematics. Monster bestiaries were grouped with old maps of The Dungeon. And raunchy romance novels were piled high with a few books on magical theory interspaced throughout.

I wasn't expecting them to be using the Dewey Decimal system or anything, but I mean, come on! How the hell is anyone supposed to get anything done around here if they're library looks like this! I guess it is pretty on brand for the Goddess of chaos to have a… well, chaotic library. Ooh, wait a second, is that a plant encyclopedia? X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X"What do you mean he just ' disappeared'."

Riviera Ljos Alf practically hissed as almost the entirety of Loki's command was in Finns office, surrounding poor Arcs Ākusu. Who, despite it still being a crisp morning in early spring, had a very visible sheen of sweat across his forehead as he stood at attention in the middle of the room. Audibly gulping, Arcs stammered out.

"Just t-that ma'am, when I went to check on him this morning… I was unable to locate Maedmux…"

"And, pray tell, how did a gigantic, walking, talking, hyena-man sneak past you in the dead of night?" Finn bit out from his seat at his desk, hands steepled under his chin and navy-blue eyes blazing with fury.

"It might have been when I was distracted…" Arcs muttered, refusing to look any of his superiors in the face.

"Distracted with?..." Loki asked leadingly from her seat on Finn's desk, with her legs crossed and her signature smirk nowhere to be seen. Knowing lying was futile, Arcs could only hang his head and admit with a whisper.

"He might have left after I fell asleep…" Everyone in the room groaned before Finn turned to Gareth.

"And the night guards didn't see anything?"

"Aye-" Gareth said from his place leaning against the wall.

"-Talked with them me'self at dawn, before anyone told me he was missing. It was just the usual report, none of em' said they saw-" Before he could finish, the door was thrown open by one of their Second String officers, Anakitty Autumn. A young cat person with rich, sable hair, and her longsword proudly strapped to her hip; A mundane maid with eyes downcast following hesitantly in her wake.

"I found him." X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X The executives of the Loki familia cut an impressive sight as they marched down to the library, the morning sun playing across their arms and armor as it shone through the windows of the mansion. The rest of the familia had to scramble out of the way of the group as they hurried down the staircase and towards the west wing. Finn, leading the charge, didn't pause when he reached the library doors. He simply shoved them open and strode into the room without breaking stride.

He did freeze, however, when he and the group saw exactly what their wayward gnoll was up to. Max was sitting hunched over at one of the tables, with his nose buried in a book that looked ridiculously tiny in his large paws. Even his ears were perked and tilted forwards, as if he was listening to the book as well as reading it. The hyena-man was so absorbed in his reading that he appeared to be utterly oblivious to their presence.

Piled high on both sides of the gnoll were books of seemingly every subject under the sun. One of which was actually opened and floating next to Max's head, as if gravity just forgot to assert itself on that particular object. The most eye-catching display of magic, however, was the ghostly blue, slightly transparent paw that was carefully grasping a small quill made from an exquisite ruby-red feather. The phantom appendage was literally flying across the paper of the notebook it was writing in.

Not once pausing to re-ink itself despite filling almost an entire page in the short time the group had been watching it. It was one thing to hear, and have his goddess confirm, that a being has near a hundred spells in his repertoire. But it is a different beast entirely to actually see how versatile one could be with that kind of allowance for choices. Most mages in the world would balk at the idea of wasting one of their three precious spell slots with something as pedestrian as a third hand.

But if that's just one spell out of as many as someone could ever possibly need? Why wouldn't you have spells for cleaning, or fixing broken trinkets, or for any of the other minor parlor tricks Max has displayed thus far. But in his heart, Finn knew that Max had far, far more dangerous spells in reserve than just a puff of colorful sparks or a floating shield. X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X I take back almost every bad thought I had about Loki and her amazing library!

Even if none of it was organized, she still had what must have been a book or reference source for every single subject ever. From all the various sub-genres of stories to world almanacs and atlases; Biographies of all types for pretty much every major (and many minor) God and mortal since Ouranos first descended; Encyclopedias for any discipline you could think of; And more adventure handbooks and journals than you could shake a stick at.

I had already gone over the almanacs, and learned that this world is actually just one gigantic supercontinent, with only a few outlying islands dotting the coasts. The largest of which is only about the size of Japan. I also learned that Orario is located a fair clip inland, with the ocean being several miles away. In order to facilitate trade to and from the city for its Dungeon produced goods, a sister city was built along the coast.

Pretty much everything imported or exported by the Labyrinth city goes through the port town of Melen first. I was planning on learning about some of the various countries and polities highlighted by the maps, but I got distracted reading that plant encyclopedia I found. As it turns out? I shouldn't have been too concerned about sourcing potion ingredients here. One of the first entries under the fungi category was the Amaranth Blight. The book described it as a 'red capped, poisonous mushroom with yellow spots.

Potentially fatal if ingested.' Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. It was almost word for word the description of a Red Amanita Mushroom. I would need to get my hands on a sample of one to be a hundred percent sure, but I'm fairly confident that it's the same species. The book also pointed out that, while some people claimed the fungus had medicinal properties, most major healing familia's deny that the mushrooms have any practical use.

Which means I'll be pretty much uncontested when It comes to sourcing ingredients for my healing potions… Or at least until the other Gods suss out how I'm making them and steal the recipe from me. Though, learning that healing potions in this world had to be brewed in a completely different way than my own had my paws physically itching to get my claws on their techniques in turn. I wonder if I could use the debt Dian owes me to bully him into coughing up his secrets…

Putting that train of thought to the side, I went back to comparing the source book in front of me to what I knew. This White-leafed Kite plant sounded suspiciously like Cats Tongue, Silver Lis was definitely just Dreamlily, and Akarigoke appeared to have a lot in common with Lightning Moss … My list continued to grow as I grouped plants into categories. What plants I definitely recognized; What plants I thought I knew; And the most exciting section- ones that were wholly unfamiliar to me.

Like this Crystal Drop fruit that's only found on one specific level in The Dungeon, for instance. While its rarity meant that its taste and magical attributes are widely speculated, all agree that the fruit gave off radiation in the form of a wintery, bluish-white light. The fact that it glows has to mean it's biomagically active in some way… Or that it's actually mundanely radioactive and is actively killing anyone who touches the things, let alone eats one.

But the book doesn't mention any fatalities resulting from consuming the fruit, though, so I can probably rule that out for now. Which leaves some sort of mana consumption or bleed in the form of light, but without having an example in paw… What I wouldn't do to have one to experiment with right now~ This is all just so exciting, I couldn't help bouncing my hind-paws up and down on the carpet in pure exhilaration. I've been looking at this whole isekai'd thing completely wrong!

An entirely new world filled to the brim with new and extraordinary forms of magical life! Oh, all of the incredible potions I'll be able to brew with access to these utterly sui generis ingredients! And I haven't even touched the encyclopedia on metals and ores sitting next to me yet! Who knows what kind of-"Whatcha' readin?"

"FUCK ME!" I felt my very soul leave my body when a husky feminine voice whispered right into my extremely sensitive ear. My carefully stacked pile of books came crashing down around me when my full-body flinch caused my knees to slam into the table. Not to mention my Mage Hand ripped a big hole in my notebook with the Wizardly Quill I had stuck its grasp. I stared in dismay at my ruined work before shooting the Pest a sour glare. Loki, was of course, in stitches rolling around on the ground.

Past her and standing in the doorway was a crowd of people. Most of whom were part of the group I had met last night, but there were a few new faces as well. With a put upon sigh, I plucked the book on Dungeon monsters I had cast Levitate on out of the air and carefully placed it in front of me, and then slapped a paw on my notebook with a quick Mend on my lips. Which thankfully repaired it fully, so I wasn't out hours of work.

From her place still lying on the ground, the Goddess of Being-A-Pain-In-My-Fluffy-Ass giggled out.

"Ya' know, Max, for someone with such big ears, you're surprisingly easy to sneak up on!" I only glowered at her prone form for a moment before grinding out.

"Oh! Good morning Loki, how did you sleep last night? You slept Fine? That's good to hear! Me? I had a little trouble falling asleep last night so I decided to do some light reading, but other than that I had a great night! Thanks for asking -" I bit out the last part, still glaring at the totally unrepentant she-devil.

"- That is how you say hello to people first thing in the bloody morning." I finished as I leaned down in my seat to make sure we were face to face. All she did was stick a pinky in her ear, wiggle it around, then flicked away nothing while giving me the biggest shit eating grin I have ever seen.

"Nahhh~ That sounds boring, I like my way a lot more." Before I could either blow a gasket, or drop dead of an aneurysm, whichever came first, the Goddess continued.

"And 'light reading'? You got half my library in front of ya', Max." Rubbing my still sore knees, I glanced back at the table still covered in scattered books and was forced to admit, she might have had a point… Before I could muster up a response, someone from the crowd spoke up.

"You gave us quite the fright this morning, mister Maddic." I looked up to see Finn slowly approaching the table, his eyes bouncing from me to my still open notebook.

"When we woke up with you missing, we didn't know what to…" He trailed off, his brow furrowing in confusion when he got close enough to get a good look at my notes.

"... I'm sorry for prying, but, what language is that?" Finn asked while tilting his head, as if changing his perspective would help him comprehend the harsh scratches and jagged lines of Abyssal. I could see the ears of the group still hanging out in the doorway perk up at that, with some of them leaning forward to get a better look.

"I'm sorry-'' I started, but was interrupted with a jaw cracking yawn. Of course, now I'm tired.

"-But my lawyer has recently advised me that I should keep my mouth shut on these kinds of matters." As I pulled the notebook towards me and flipped it shut, I heard a groan from the ground as Loki heaved herself up with the table.

"Now I really wish I hadn't said anything. Because we'd probably have learned everything from his favorite color to his most embarrassing childhood memory by now…" I, the rational, mature adult that I am, just stuck my tongue out at her as I bent down to pick up the books that had fallen.

"And to answer your unfinished, unspoken, and passive-aggressively asked question, mister Deimne-" I said through an armful of books, ignoring the slightly amused huff I got from the pallum.

"-I was under the impression that I was free to go anywhere on the premises as long as I stayed away from the executive suites."

"You are, of course, allowed to go where you please…" He waited until I bent back up and made eye contact with him.

"We just politely request that you let someone know before you disappear for hours on end. As your guardians and hosts for the week, your safety is very important to us."" Technically, I did, let that maid know where I was heading…"

"So you did, Max, so you did." Finn said with the same enthusiasm as a tired, workaholic dad congratulating his kid on their macaroni art.

"Just… Please keep one of us executives in the loop?" I, of course, readily agreed. But the smirk and a conspiratorial wink I added caused him to roll his eyes at the ceiling, clearly praying for strength.

"Well, if that's all-" I started, flicking the plant book back open with a flourish and skimming to where I left off.

"- I have some reading to finish." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Loki bend sideways to read the title of the book, before she let out a melodramatic moan and flopped across the table.

"' The Dungeoneer's Botanical'? Oh, Max! Say it isn't so! Don't tell me you've secretly been a nerd this whole time!?" She fake sobbed with the back of her hand to her forehead like some pearl-clutching Victorian lady about to faint. I felt both my eyebrows raise when she said 'nerd' because, the last time I checked, nerd was certainly not a word that should have been in the vocabulary of some medieval society… Unless my highschool social studies class lied to me and history was a lot cooler than I thought it was.

But historical inaccuracy aside, she did just give me the perfect setup…" Excuse me-" I said at last with a small smile playing at the edge of my lips.

"- I am not a nerd. My ma' said that there is nothing shameful about being smart." The Goddess spied my suppressed grin and let out a relieved sigh as she put a hand to her heart.

"Oh, thank myself, I thought you might have actually been boring there for a second. But seriously, come on- we've got some things we need to do today and we wasted enough time lookin' for ya." Instantly I felt a spike of irritation pierce my previously good mood at this God presuming to be able to order me around. I had to bite back a growl as I simply gestured to the book in my paws.

"I am serious. I'm in the middle of very important work right now, I don't have time to play with you."" Ho ho~" she drawled with her usual vulpine smirk back firmly on her face, either not noticing, or more likely simply ignoring my souring mood.

"Even if I said that our first destination… Is the dining room to go and grab some breakfast?" Damnit. X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X" Shoew-" I gasped through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, much to the revulsion to pretty much everyone in the room. Hey, not all of us can have those small little mouths and flabby cheeks to hide food and stuff." Waff els diff yoo -""Please! Please, mister Maddic- swallow first."

Begged one of the lower ranked officers I hadn't been introduced to yet, some girl with matching scarlet colored hair and eyes. She, together with the rest of Loki's executives, were seated across from me along a wooden table in their familia's communal cafeteria. Complying with her polite request, I titled my head back and forcefully swallowed, before continuing to talk to Loki and her crowd as If I hadn't been interrupted.

"-Have planned for the day?" Loki meaningfully looked between me and the egg flecked table around me before sighing with a grin.

"You mean besides setting up a table with a designated 'splash zone' for you to eat at? The first thing I had planned was a little visit to the Dian Cecht familia." At my questioning look she explained.

"It'll be best to go and get your money from him now, rather than later. Before he has a chance to try and weasel out of it or dig in his heels in that stubborn way of his." She waited for my understanding nod before continuing.

"And then we'll give you a short tour of the city, and maybe hit up the market on the way back. Give ya' a chance to spend all that cold, hard, Valis you'll be getting from the old man." She finished with a smirk, already knowing she had me hook, line, and sinker. While I definitely needed the money, and finding a place to replenish my crafting materials and ingredient stock sounded appealing; I was already feeling incredibly antsy with how much time I was spending with this God.

It helped slightly how un- Godlike she acted, almost to the point where I could forget for a brief time that she was some unknowable, extrinsic immortal. One whose thoughts and goals we fleeting mortals could only begin to guess at. Yet, there was this unnamable weight to her presence that just screamed Divinity bearing down on my very being at all times. It left Maedmux squirming in his skin to be interacting so closely with such a creature. But I needed the Goddess, for now at least. So I swallowed my discomfort…

Along with another mouthful of eggs from my breakfast-bucket. I had been given a plate at first, but then Loki said the magical incantation of All-You-Can-Eat. So after my fifth trip up to the serving window to get another heaping portion of food, the cook on duty threw her hands up in defeat, and went off to grab a metal bucket from somewhere. Which she then proceeded to fill to the brim with eggs and sausages and give to me with a cocky smirk…

Consequently, that nameless chef is now my favorite person in the whole wide world. And I would unironically die for her.

"How's that sound, big guy?" Loki asked, interrupting my plans to propose to the cook on my next trip up. I gave her a small shrug, but I couldn't quite keep the growing smirk from my lips.

"Sure, playing 'Debt Collector' actually sounds kinda fun." X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X"Loki?"

"Ya', Max?"

"I thought you guys said that the Dian Cecht familia was a medical organization…" Loki gave me a confused glance.

"They are. His familia is one of the greatest healing practices in all of Gekai. Practitioners the world over use Cecht's potions as the gold standard for quality and pricing. Not to mention they're one of the few familia's in existence that can produce high-functioning magical prosthetics." She answered, a questioning tilt to her voice. Probably wondering what my problem was. The problem being that I was expecting them to be based out of a hospital or something.

Or maybe some sort of cathedral-like building the clerics of yore would have plied their trade from. I certainly was not expecting to be led by Loki and her gang of hanger-ons to one of the most vulgar and ostentatious displays of wealth I have ever had the misfortune to be blinded by. And it truly was blinding. We stood before a solid adamantine gate that barred the way to an absolutely monolithic, gold and marbled pleasure palace.

The mansion made Arabian kings look down-right modest with its gleaming walls and meticulously manicured lawn, dotted with bushes carefully sculpted into statues of Dian Cecht himself in various poses alongside frothing fountains encrusted with precious gems. I had to literally hold up a hand and squint to avoid burning out my retinas from all the sunlight being bounced around.

"Well, he certainly lives in a humble abode for someone working in the healthcare industry..." Sure, Loki's familia also lived in the utter lap of luxury with their ' Twilight Manor'. But at least they had the decency to tastefully display their wealth with that Hogwarts-esc castle of theirs. But the building in front of me was nothing but pure, unadulterated, decadence.

Loki just snorted out a laugh as she led me past the gate and towards a far less pretentious looking store front attached to the outer wall of Dian's estate.

"Being the foremost in the field of medicine definitely has its perks. C'mon, let's go get you your money." X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X