Chương 74: 73 - Iron Library

The grey robes reserved for Iron rank students were more comfortable than they looked. Alexandra passed her hand over the cotton fabric. It was soft, smooth, and didn't wrinkle easily. She'd found a mirror inside a drawer of her cabinet, and took a good look at herself. The first thing that stood out was her white hair. It had grown a bit longer. She tilted her head. Nobody had mentioned it since she arrived in Kator. I should have asked Raymond.

Then her eyes wandered over to her facial scars, two deep gashes on her cheeks. This made her remember her missing ring finger. She felt its absence through her glove.

"Three weeks," she whispered. At this rate, there would be nothing left of her in a few months. She shook her head. Now that she'd unlocked Drain Life, she'd be able to recover her lost lifeforce. That was a start. The skill seemed quite distasteful, but she was certain she'd find a suitable target eventually. She wondered if the skill worked on insects or vermin. It would be a start. She looked at the shelves around her. She may have to look for a book on the topic.

She left the mirror on her desk and left her room dressed in her brand new robes. From there, the way to the library was not complicated. Walk down the corridor, then into a series of courtyards. She only had to backtrack a few times to make sure she hadn't taken a wrong turn. She arrived before the gates of the tower, slightly nervous at the idea of running into Tristan again. She needed to get inside this time. For her quest. Alexandra slowed down as she approached and more students walked the same path.

From Iron to Gold, there were around a dozen people going to the library, and more streaming out of it. The woman at the desk looked up as Alexandra approached. Her eyes dropped to the grey robes, then back up to her face.

"You're still not in the registers." Alexandra frowned and pointed at her clothes.

"I have robes."

"Yes. That's enough. I just need to explain a few rules to you. As an Iron rank student, you have access to the first floor. If you want the upper floors, rank up." She pulled a ledger from under the desk and opened it.

"Past Gold, you'll need Keeper approval to keep climbing. Don't take books out. Don't damage them. Be quiet. The kiosks are enchanted, use them if you need to find something. The library's open all day and night." She sighed.

"That's it. Go in." Alexandra didn't need to be told twice. She thanked the receptionist and stepped into the library. She stopped just past the entrance and looked up. The ceiling vaulted so high overhead that the upper shelves dissolved into shadow. Iron brackets held lanterns at intervals along the stacks. The shelves ran in every direction. They branched, doubled back, cut across each other at angles that made no immediate sense.

Narrow passages opened between them, some barely wide enough for one person to pass through. Ladders on iron rails leaned against the stacks. Tables occupied every corner and alcove, wedged between shelves wherever the floor opened up enough to fit them. Students bent over books, over notes. Grey robes, orange robes and the occasional flashes of white and yellow. Nobody spoke. Somewhere deeper in the stacks, a ladder shifted on its rail with a low metallic groan. Alexandra picked a passage at random and walked in.

She eyed the titles. Apparently she stepped into a section covering local geography. Whatever, she wasn't here to read. She stopped in a corner where she wouldn't block the passage and hesitated. Should she take out her journal? She needed to check on her quest, but was afraid of looking suspicious. She didn't want anyone to think that she was pocketing books into some type of spatial storage. Then she remembered that Sera too, had a book for class art. It should be quite common here. So she summoned her journal.

Opened it. Then closed it instantly. She bit her lip and walked. The shelves gave way to another section, then another. She turned twice before she spotted a table in an alcove, half hidden behind a shelf. Empty. Alexandra sat down. Put her hands flat on the table. Breathed. Then she opened the journal again. Event Quests: Format Education: Graduate as a Keeper of the Iron Ink (0/1). Reward: Epic skill. Failure condition: Leave the Iron Library's academy before reaching Platinum rank.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. She hadn't imagined it. She wiped her sweaty hand on her robes. This was her third event quest, and she was starting to see a pattern. This one had definitely appeared after Raymond's request. Did he know? Alexandra gritted her teeth. She hated that she wasn't sure. She hated even more that she was seriously considering staying to complete that damned quest. Was she so easy to bribe?

Then again, an epic skill was bound to be valuable, the food was good, the bed comfortable. She tore her eyes off the event quest. She didn't have to commit now. Instead, she made sure that her daily quest was completed. Visit the first floor of the Iron Library (1/1) -> Quest Completed: +10 exp, +1 INT, Skill Quest Unlocked: Reading. Daily Quest Streak: 20 -> 21 She smiled. Another day to the streak. She was still far from her previous record, but this one felt more tangible, more real.

Flipping the pages, she checked on the skill description and quest. Reading: Improve your ability to read. Each level increases reading speed and information retention. Reading: Read ten books (0/10). Alexandra leaned back on her chair. Considering she was literally in the most reputable library in the entire world, it would complete itself naturally. She pulled up her list of available skill quests.

Active Skill Quests: Diving Summon Lesser Demon Basic Herbology Cleaning Swimming Basic Hygiene Sewing Reading It was time to consider getting started on Basic Herbology. Aside from this one, none of the other quests appealed to her, nor were they particularly fitted to her new living environment. Well, Cleaning and Basic Hygiene probably were. But it was a matter of principle. She refused to do so much as to read those skills' descriptions. Anyway, Reading would unlock itself naturally. Or… She could cheese it.

Thinking about it, it would be a lot better if she had the skill ready to work when she got started on books she cared about. Reading speed was one thing, but information retention was the real prize. The quest said read, not understand, not remembered. She picked up a random book on the nearest shelf and flipped through the pages. Her quest didn't tick up. Sure enough, she had to actually read them. She put the book back, sent her journal away, and stood up.

Alexandra retraced her steps back through the geography section, took a different passage. A narrow gap between two shelves opened into a wider corridor, and she followed it until it dead-ended at a wall. She backtracked. A Bronze student rounded a corner ahead of her, arms full of books, and Alexandra fell into step behind her at a distance.

The girl turned left, then right, then cut through a gap Alexandra hadn't noticed, and emerged into a small open space where two tables sat empty and a lectern-shaped structure stood against the far shelf. Her eyes lit up. Finally. The kiosk was made of the same dark wood as the shelves, about chest height, with a flat surface on top. A faint blue light pulsed from somewhere inside it. Alexandra approached. She looked it over. No instructions. She put her hand on the surface. Nothing happened.

"You need to link a thread of mana to the kiosk," the bronze girl murmured from behind her. Alexandra nodded, and gave her a silent thank you. She directed a thread from her core into the kiosk, and noticed a spot in the enchantment where it would naturally slot in. She reached for it. Missed. She tried again, going slower this time, and her thread found the slot like a key finding its hole. It clicked. The surface shifted, laying out in a grid pattern.

"It's working based on your intent. Just think about what you need, and try pushing those thoughts to the enchantment," the girl continued. Alexandra focused on what she wanted, the light pulsed, and a list of ten books and their location appeared on the screen. She committed them to memory. Then she let the thread go. The interface faded.

"Thank you," she said to the girl. She was young. Less than twenty.

"You're welcome." She shifted on her feet.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Why is your hair white? Aren't you a little old to be Iron? Are you new?" She stopped abruptly, then blurted out, "Where did you get those scars?" Alexandra stared at her for a moment. Her mouth opened.

"That's more than one question. But yes, I'm new." The girl rubbed the back of her head with her free hand.

"Sorry. I'm just curious." She was thinking about how to answer when someone shushed them. Alexandra and the girl looked at each other.

"Let's meet up for dinner," the girl whispered.

"I'll be at the refectory at dusk." Alexandra nodded as her stomach protested. The first book was in a section called Bestial Materials. She found a marker after ten minutes of walking. Tidal Cartography. She turned around, took a different passage. Symbolic Numerics. She wondered if anyone had bothered mapping this place. There seemed to be no logic in this library. She walked. The lanterns thinned in some passages and thickened in others. Some shelves ran so tall the tops disappeared into shadow.

Others cut off at half height without explanation, opening into vaulted spaces where the ceiling reappeared and the scale of everything briefly came back before the shelves closed back in. She passed a section labeled Bound Geometries. A section so narrow she had to turn sideways to pass through it, the spines pressing close on both sides. Bestial Materials appeared on a marker ahead without warning. The section ran along the outer wall of the tower.

The shelves here were among the tallest she'd seen, the upper half lost to shadow. A ladder on a fixed rail stood at the near end of the row. She checked her memory. Third stack. She counted spines at eye level and followed the numbering up until well above the reach of the nearest lantern, where the system placed the book she needed. She gripped the ladder and pulled. The rail shrieked. She looked up into the dark. She breathed. Put her foot on the first rung.