Eryth stepped into the village's library. He exclaimed in awe as he took in the many gigantic shelves and books all around.
The place was dim, lit only by some candles around. The air was just the right amount to keep a person alive.
He had planned to meet with Heyt at the library but couldn't find her anywhere. Eryth paced around the place for a while, taking in everything around him, he was a big fan of books and the smell of old books only made him smile.
"Can I get you something?" A voice asked.
He turned to see a lady standing behind a counter. The woman looked at least in her early thirties. She had yellow skin with dark hair which she tied up in a bun. Her eyes were also yellow with a thin line in her pupil. She wore a dark crop top which had a single sleeve and revealed much of her breast.
As Eryth walked closer to her he could see that she coupled the top with a short and a stocking that reached up to her thigh.
"Is there anything in particular you're looking for?" She probed.
"I'd like all the chapters of you." Eryth leaned on the counter, a smile forming on his lips.
The lady looked at Eryth with a smirk. "I am married."
"Many have told me those same words, though they usually wait till after…"
Her brows shift up. "So you go around getting chapters of married women?"
"Only when they are as beautiful."
She scoffed. "I haven't seen you here before."
"I'm Eryth, just moved in."
"Well Eryth, unfortunately, my chapters are closed, you'll have to pick out another book," she said with a smile.
He smiled and tapped his finger on the desk. "You say that but the look on your face says otherwise…"
"I never let anger consume my face."
Eryth nodded understandably. "Playing hard to get, huh? That makes it more fun when I do get it… I like it, I like you."
"I am married," she repeated. "And unlike you, he possesses outstanding decorum."
"Indeed." Eryth stood up straight.
"A book about Rune Act then."
"Certainly." She smiled.
The librarian led Eryth further into the library and stopped in front of a door. A key appeared in her hand and she used it to open the door.
"You should find everything you need about Acts in here… even the OR-DER and Chaos gods if that's what you want," she added before walking away.
Eryth sighed before stepping into the room. Everything in the room was dusty and old. Most of the shelves were completely covered with cobwebs and alive spiders crawling over them.
"When was the last time anyone entered this room?" He walked up to a shelve and took out a random book, wiped the dust to read the title.
"Kagurath, the sleeping Chaos, by Aalik." He hummed. "I didn't know Aalik was a writer."
He opened the book and began going through the content from the first page.
"Kagurath, the first pure chaos being to wonder any realm. Created from the fires of the High war, a catastrophic battle fought by the OR-DER gods."
"He possesses a tremendous power that he could will a chaos being to be from nothing. He corrupted many of the OR-DER gods and pulled them into the pit of Chaos and absorbed the entire entity of some.
"He cursed the entire multi-realm with chaos for many years until he was beaten and put down by 'Ruhe' one of the 7th OR-DER gods, labelled the strongest, some claimed he was only able to do it because of the help from all the other gods. Ever since, Kagurath has been locked in Maelstrom, with murmurs of the goddess of the dead and ghost 'Rapulnu' trying to bring him back and before his death, he wrote a book which the possessor would be able to use every Act and more but with the expense of losing half the time they have left to live for."
Eryth shut the book and placed it back into the shelve. "What load of pigshit."
He then walked further into the room and stopped in front of a statue among others. Though it was just a statue, it had explicit and intricate detail and it was just like the being he had seen earlier during his fight with the Shadow Monsters.
He rushed up to the statue and wiped the dust from it and read out. "Goddess of the undead and ghost…" he paused for a moment before finishing. "Rapulnu…"
Eryth's skin crawled with goosebumps. He quickly returned to the shelve and took out the book he had earlier read, flipping through and reading its contents. He looked up at the shelf, looking for other books containing her, but didn't find anything. The book he was holding was the only one she was mentioned in and he turned his heels out of the library with it.
A while later, after going through the book, Eryth head on to join Monk Zumma and Danila who both stood by the mouth of the forest. He could see Zumma pointing and muttering something to the winged girl.
"What are we talking about?"
[Not this guy again] Danila immediately went quiet while the monk turned to Eryth.
"Eryth," he muttered.
"What's going on old man?"
Eryth put his hands up. "You don't have to tell me though if you don't wanna."
The monk folded his hands behind his back and sighed. "It's nothing I can't tell, after all, it involves the safety of you and everyone in this village."
"Oh dear Dun, I hope we are safe."
Dun, the god of wisdom.
"Many years back I created a domain shield that would cast any shadow monsters away from this village, and since shadow monsters love to roam the bushes and high places, it was bound to happen."
"The domain shield was supposed to protect this village, but it has holes in it now."
"Okay, cast another one then," Eryth said with his brows glued together.
Zumma shook his head. "It takes a lot of energy to do so, and sadly I do not possess that much energy."
Eryth paused for a second and a little more before speaking. "So you're old."
"Sadly."
"Well isn't there someone else that could do it? In this village?"
"The domain shield can only be cast by an Expansion Act user and there's only one other in this village, Daya the librarian."
"Oh, that's her name? Daya?"
[What a weirdo]
Eryth turned around as he heard the voice behind him but saw no one. He could hear a voice speaking, clear words, but wouldn't figure out where it was from.
The bald monk continued. "And we've tried but she doesn't have enough energy, so I plan to add her to our training session while someone else handles the library."
"And I want to start her training now."
As if on cue, Uobleza, Blutox, Grevla, Heyt, and Daya approached the trio.
"Are we late?" Heyt queried.
"No, you are just in time," the monk said.
"I think what she meant was how is he here before us," Uobleza said, pointing at Eryth.
Eryth chuckled and shook his head.
The monk cleared his throat and started. "Today, we'll be slaying shadow monsters. The domain shield has fallen and the monsters out there will be able to walk into this village. You are to slay the ones already in the woods while I train Daya."
"Easy," Uobleza shouted.
"Now, shadow beasts are strong in the dark but afraid of the number of their opponent, unless they are enraged by something. That is why you must travel in group."
"Oh, can I go with Eryth? I want to be in the same group as Eryth," Heyt said before the monk completed his words.
"You're with me," Grevla said.
"No, I'm not. You can't continue to hold me down like some child. I am old enough to make my own decisions."
The monk sighed. "Just group yourselves into two groups of three."
After much rambling, argument, and verbal assault, they finally made their decision. Instead of two groups of three like the monk mentioned, they divided into three groups of two with Heyt and Grevla on one team, Uobleza and Blutox on another, and Danila and Eryth on the last.
"Fuck you," Heyt yelled before running into the woods.
"Heyt, wait," Grevla followed after her.
"So," Eryth started as he walked into the forest with the Danila. "What is your Act?" He asked, but she didn't reply, she kept her head down and continued forward.
"You know, not talking will only make this difficult and could lead to our death."
[That's a lie.]
The voice again.
"Did you say something?" Eryth asked. "I've been hearing things since back at the village."
[Another lie. Maybe you're the one that'll kill me with your lies.]
"Are you sure you're not talking?"
Danila stopped and turned to look at Eryth, her face slightly lighting up.
[No way]
"What?"
[Can you really hear me?]
Eryth veered around. "I hear words, is that you?" He turned back to Danila.
"I cannot believe it, you really can hear me," she said out loud with a smile.
"Oh look you are talking now," Eryth smiled
"It's you, you are Azkaal."
"Az… what now?"
"Until Hex destroyed my home, I was the princess of the Fae land," she started rambling.
"Before my home was destroyed, there was a prophecy that said the princess would meet the one, the first one she would be able to speak to telepathically, they would hear each other and be bound in many ways more than soul and that person, Azkaal, shall she be bonded to and a new home shall be formed and seeds shall grow, strong and tall…"
"Whoa, okay, okay… I am pretty sure I have nothing to do with that," Eryth said, already regretting that she could speak openly to him.
Danila took his hand and placed it on her chest. "Can you feel my heartbeat?"
Eryth looked into her eyes for a moment. He saw a glimpse of something in her eyes, a moment. He was quiet for some seconds before speaking. "That and also your breast."
"A being that is not from the Fae land is not supposed to be able to feel the heartbeat of a fairy, only Azkaal can."
Eryth slowly pulled his hands and began walking away. "Okay, I am not your Azraa or whatever... It is probably someone else."
"Wait, I could use this," Danila said, drawing the mage's attention. He stopped and turned back to face her.
"What?"
"That is what you are thinking about right now."
"No, it's not."
"What the fuck?" She added.
"Stop it."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck."
"Danila, stop!"
"Why now of all times?" She continued.
Eryth grabbed her by the shoulder and pinned her to one of the many trees. "Stop going through my thoughts," he ordered.
"I can't help it. I just know that you think it's kinda hot to have someone be able to hear your thoughts, oh, the things you could do…"
"Stop using your Act on me!"
"It's not my Act. I am a Telekinesis Act user, Telepathy and Empathy were prophesized to unlock when I meet Azkaal," she revealed.
Eryth moved away from her and slapped his forehead. "Oh fuck."
"Don't be sad, you can also hear mine, it's just like you did earlier."
Eryth exhaled and placed his hands on his waist. "I can't hear anything."
The fairy smiled wickedly. "That's because I'm blocking you out with my Telekinesis."
Eryth shook his head. "Unbelievable, I thought fairies are supposed to be kind."
She laughed. "If only you met my mother." Before she could finish, a shadow monster burst out into their location, reminding them of the reason they were there.
It roared out loud before charging at Danila who stared at it in shock.
....
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