((Spoiler doesn't seem to be working for me, so I'll be posting the entire chunk.)) Spoiler: Chapter 80: The Foundations "Ahaha! So you want to forge a pair of gauntlets out of this material? No problem! We'll do it for ya for free, lass!" There was an unexpected gem in the pile of rust. Said gem was standing before me, right now. [Grandmaster Blacksmith, Damascus Runeforge] Damascus from damascus steel...is that how dwarves name their children? By giving them names after metals? I thought it was a unique thing, until I looked around earlier. Lapis, Zirconis, Topaz, etc... ...Is this a collection of minerals? Even the postman dwarf is named after a rock. How does anyone expect the mail to be delivered on time, then? You know what? The first to think about this in detail loses. Let's not. "Yes, please. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you could calibrate the gauntlets to specialize in speed." "No problem, lass. How much tempering would you like? Which of the elements should I enchant your gauntlets with?" That's a tricky one. Wind suits me best, but I kind of got used to the dual-elemental nature of the first pair. What to do, what to do...maybe I should consult with Rufilia... [You have a message from the Library. Accept?] Hmm? Speak of the devil. Accept. [This message is a recording. "Mika, I forgot to tell you, but don't enchant the gauntlets with any enchantments. There are specially reserved materials used in the enhancing of your knuckles."] "..." Quietly, I made a gesture of denial towards the blacksmith. "I understand. Unenchanted it is, then. Not enchanting them means I'll have more leeway with the polishing. Expect a fine piece of work, lass." What did enchanting and polishing have to do with one another? Out of curiosity, I asked the blacksmith. Of course... I should have already learnt my lesson with Rufilia. Another 5 hour lecture awaited me; by the end of that, I had learnt way more about metals than I would have cared about. Stuff about magic conductivity, resistance, and stuff like that. At one end of the scale, we have metals like bronze, copper and iron. Softer metals; they don't conduct mana very well, no, in fact, the mana consumption is terrible. They shatter easily, can't take the heat (literally), and basically suck in general. As the metals scale up in terms of rarity, they get much tougher, whether it be in terms of durability, mana conductivity, or innate power. That's not all; there's something called a breaking gauge, and it measures both magic (enchantments) and physical (reforging, tempering, sharpening) enhancements. As a material gets loaded with more and more enhancements, the likelier it is to shatter. For weapons made of common ores like iron, they can only handle one enhancement before shattering. Pure iron grants an extra enhancement slot, but the durability drops as a result, since it is softer than regular iron. Rubiconium is on par with adamantine, so it has a much larger breaking gauge, obviously. Not too much of a cheat, though. "And it's finished. Take a look at it for yourself, lass." You forged it while you were explaining stuff to me?! As expected, Grandmasters are in a league of their own. "Thank you." And if anyone was wondering why I was behaving so different from usual, it's because of the fact that the dwarf before me is a craftsman. One doesn't simply disrespect artisans of their craft, and hope to get away unharmed from it. In a match between two evenly-skilled individuals, the quality of their equipment makes a difference. And where does that equipment come from? No-brainer. Underestimate a craftsman, and they can play plenty of nasty tricks on you. A nail here, a bolt there...Wearers don't notice the minute details, but crafters do. Remove one single piece, and the whole thing crumbles down. And that's one of the scariest experiences anyone can have with equipment; to have their armour crumbling away during a fight...assuming they survive said fight, that is. [Received Legendary Equipment: Reforged Astral Knuckles] Alright. With these, I can fight somewhat decently, at the very least. "That wasn't easy. Honestly, making these from an ore I haven't seen in ages was rather tricky. I was expecting to fail the first try, but now..." The lump had started off the size of a regular household cat, and what remained now was roughly as big as a fist. "Hmm...sell the excess?" "No way! Firstly, this thing is priceless at the very least. No one would be able to afford it,. Secondly, forget selling, just possessing it would endanger my life. And lastly, I've got no intention to make this into an accessory, for some upstart noble that only has eyes for outer appearance. If they want shiny things, they can go buy a mirror." "Then, should I go toss the batch?" *Vein popping* "This material is as good as adamantine, and there's a sizeable chunk of it! You want to just throw it away? Are you crazy, lass?" I don't ever recall saying that I was sane, though. Also, you've been going on about how it was comparable to adamantine, but how am I to know how good that is if I haven't used it myself? Back then, there wasn't any fantasy metals like mithril or runesteel, you know. Which reminds me, any new equipment needs to be field-tested first. We didn't get anything productive done last night, because most of us ended up drunk, but someone did mention something about some other thing...I'm not making any sense, am I. |Oi, Earth to Rufi, 1, 2, 3...| When stuff happens, just dump it on h---I mean, just ask her for help. Yeah. That's what I meant. Just leave it to her, and it's fine. |......| There's no response. Only static on the other end. |Say, is anyone there?| |......| Apparently not. Dammit. If Rufilia doesn't answer, that means I won't be able to transfer to another world. Both of us have Space Magic maxed out, but I don't know where to find the next ingredient, so it's impossible to move out by myself. Well, I'll just treat this as an extended break. And with any break, there's one thing that must be present. *Bonk* The thrown log landed perfectly into the furnace, and started burning, dyeing the surroundings vermillion. "Well, Henry, since you're still here, let's talk. I want to know about the history of this world. About the current structure, past myths, and famous people." Spoiler: Chapter 81: What she dislikes Learning history was not part of my agenda. Learning interactive history with plenty of hand motions and sound effects was most certainly not part of my agenda. Getting yet another lecture regarding the wonders of so-and-so kings was definitely not what I signed up for. Plus... "Weren't you occupied with making your domain golden? How did you know this much?" Not being condescending here, but most people have a much smaller mana pool that I do. Henry's mana pool, plus the mana expenditure from him utilizing his Golden Touch constantly, wouldn't have worked any wonders for increasing that. "Well, when I ran out of mana, I browsed through the old books around here. Having a small library in the castle helped out a lot." Ugh. <---(Has a much bigger library but never read a single useful book beyond the ones leading to other worlds.) "You see, if I slacked off, I'll never get better." Tch. <---(Slacked off at every opportunity.) "I found out that organising the old texts helped me to calm down. In fact, arranging the shelves and placing the books back to where they belonged, gave me a sense of satisfaction." Wha...this guy. He's a better librarian than I am. Dammit. What's with this sense of defeat...? "Well, since you're from the modern world too, don't you read fiction? Light novels? Fanfiction? Anything?" I can't leave this standing. He has to have his weak points, too. "Well, I held the position of a professor before I died, so I read non-fiction, mostly. Fiction doesn't sit well with me; it's unrealistic." Critical hit. Dammit! My worth as a librarian is dropping more and more... |In the first place, Librarians aren't supposed to become front-line melee combatants!| Rufilia's tsukkomi abilities are getting better each day...Wait, what? |You were listening into the conversation?| Something fragile shattered on the other end. |Of cours---I mean, not at all! I have no idea what you're talking about!| Telekinesis...You know what, I'll let it rest for now, since I'm tired. |So, you've been listening in as I was forced to sit through two long lectures?| |To be fair, I only listened to half of the second one.| This girl...she... |Alright, hurry up and get me to the next world, already. I haven't got all day.| Any longer of the earth fairy, dwarves, and Henry, and I'll actually go insane. No kidding. |As for that...um...I might have some bad news. Portals have a cooldown period.| What. |You see, if the same portal was to be opened too frequently, it might cause a disturbance in the spatial realm, which would be disastrous to everyone. It would break the connection between two worlds completely.| Then let it be broken. Why should I care for that? |If it breaks, your Administrator status will be revoked. Which means you spent the whole of the previous day in vain.| ---! |All that drinking, putting up with nonsense, listening to boring talks; All for naught.| Nononononono. That's just too horrible to think of. But what's worse is that... |Rufi! You're not supposed to be such a type of person! That kind of manipulation shouldn't be associated with you; you're getting corrupted!| |Says the person who's the main cause of it!| Uh...Ahahahaha...She got me there. |So what am I supposed to do now? If I have to sit through a third lecture, I swear, I'll first fill up my EXP bar, then shatter the connection to this world personally.| [Librarian has been awarded the title 〈〈Whimsical Tyrant〉〉.] I'm not a tyrant! Rather, why is even the system itself tsukkoming to my words? |Just throwing this out there, but you're in a completely new world.| And...? |Don't you feel any urge to adventure and see the unknown for yourself?| |Oh, right. I forgot about that.| |Well, the spatial realm should settle in about 5 hours, so do whatever you can before then.| 5 hours...How should I put it...This period of time is perfectly irritating. It's not lengthy enough---like, have you ever heard of an adventure that only lasted 5 hours?---but it isn't short enough, by a long shot. 5 hours spent on a small walk would be practically insane, after all. Plus, there's nothing to do. After the Dungeon Master became allies, there's practically no more conflict. There's also the fact that only a few minor issues were left to be taken care of. Originally, this world resembled a Renaissance-Era Earth, with fantasy mixed in, but a few decades ago, a Dungeon Master appeared, built a great dungeon, and gradually started expanding. Or rather, he built a dungeon and isolated himself in it, and left everything to his subordinates...Damned hikikomori...but still, due to that, the dungeon's territory extended out to ridiculous ranges. Any living beings that were formerly living in the area were either massacred, or forced to escape. The human race was driven out into other continents, beyond the reach of the Dungeon. The subterranean races, like the Dark Elves and the Dwarves, retreated underground to their own fortresses, and shut themselves in. The earth fairy was formerly a spirit of the earth, but it seems that even those stronger races experienced casualties while retreating. Therefore, even though the relationship between the two parties were now that of 'allies', Henry was still being monitored quite vigilantly. "Say, why did the lass go quiet?" [Collecting her thoughts.] That was a lie, but it's better than admitting the truth, so it's fine. I mean, no one else here knows Rufilia, so I can avoid being labelled a lunatic, at least. "In that case, how about I take you guys on a tour of my castle? You guys have invited me into your homes, so it's natural that I should respond in kind, right?" I think some worrying words were just spoken, but it should be fine, right? There's no way they would--- "Hey, why not! Let's go!" [Agreed.] ---They agreed? What the hell? At least have some wariness, people. When someone that's made friends with you for literally a day invites you to their own house, the standard response should be no, not yes. Do they not have this thing called 'caution' over here? Or is it because the common ways of thinking are too different from what I'm used to? "Hey, someone drag the lass along, too!" Oi, don't bring me into the conversation suddenly. And definitely don't bring me to the castle again. I'm not interested in touring the same dungeon twice. [Come with.] "Ehhh, I've got stuff to do---" "You can do it on the way!" So shameless. Where do they even get their unreasonable nature fro--- "Achoo!" Why did I sneeze? The weather isn't even that cold. And so, we rode off happily in the sunset...not. There's still more?!
So here's an update on what's happening. 1000 words per chapter is way too short, and the writing quality will drop, so I've decided to write in a different manner. The storyline is more or less unchanged, but with more detail. I'll be posting the regular chapters in the old format (1000 words per chapter/per 3 days), but there will be a revamping of the previous chapters, this way, it will be much neater. Notice that Chapter 1 is Missing? Yeah, that's because it's been re-written. Added quite a bit of lore into it. It should be uploaded as soon as...well, now.
And without much further ado, here you go. Spoiler: Volume 1 Chapter 1: Unexpected Beginning The sun was blocked out by the grey clouds, forming lazy patterns across the sky. Despite that, the morning's weather... "Jeez, the heat is unbearable. Stupid weather forecast lied." A girl was perched on the edge of a balcony, dangling her legs casually. There was a half-finished can of soda next to her. "I came up here expecting rain...Cold weather with soda would have worked out fine, but...tch." She tipped the can closer to her mouth, but it had been emptied long ago. "There's no more...Tch." The can went flying, and landed neatly into a rubbish bin---4 storeys below. Meanwhile, the girl emptied her left pocket, and stared at its' contents. "There's enough for one more...Should I buy it now, or save it for later?" It seemed like an average shopping mall scene, minus the fact that it was on the rooftop of a school, and the girl was sitting on the railings, dangerously close to falling. It was worth noting, also, that lessons were ongoing, so all students were in their respective classrooms--or they should have been, at least. The girl was obviously an exception. "Well, the next lesson's about to start. Better hurry or I'll get another sermon." The girl shuddered as she eased herself back onto safe ground, ready to head down to her classroom... "What'd you say?!" ...Or not, it seemed. "What's wrong with me?! What do you see in that bastard?! How is he better than me?!" Arguments like these spoilt her mood, since she preferred to spend her time in quiet solitude. She didn't understand why people had to argue so violently until they got all red in the face, and were gasping for air. It was such an inefficient action. Judging by the conversation, it seems to be another problem regarding love...Which seems to be happening more and more often nowadays...Seriously, people with interpersonal relationships should just learn to let go. If it doesn't seem like it'll work out, then don't try to make it work forcefully--one will only bring themselves more pain by doing that. As she mused somewhat belatedly, the shouts were getting louder. Well, it seems like it won't be ending any time soon, so unless I intervene, I doubt that conversation will go anywhere. Having decided so, the girl headed for the source of the commotion. A typical disagreement between a guy and another girl, it seemed. "Excuse me. If you two are having a couple's quarrel, please tone it down slightly. There are still lessons ongoing, after all." Granted, I'm not attending lessons myself, but there's nothing wrong with using logic to back up one's actions. After all, it's difficult to debunk something that's been proven logically correct. She tapped the shoulder of the guy, waiting for him to make way. The coins jingled in her hand. In the city filled with normal individuals, where crime was practically non-existent and public order was good, there was a tendency for people to relax their guard, especially in school where there was only students and teachers. Unusually, what greeted the girl was a knife in her stomach. "...Oh. Well, that's also a way of greeting, I guess." Even if she did spend a few moments to respond to the sudden situation, for someone who had just suffered a fatal strike, the girl was reacting in far too calm a manner. "...Ahhhhhhhh!" The would-be victim screamed. "Stop making such a fuss. It's just a stab, seriously." "Once she's finished, you're next, traitor!" Two voices overlapped, the guy and the stabbed girl had spoken out at the same time. Is he in the right mind? Jeez, this is why I hate days with half-assed weather. Nothing good ever happens on them; people tend to do half-assed things to reflect the weather...or is it because they were affected that they do such moronic things? You know what, forget it. The fact that she was calmly thinking about unrelated things elicited a bitter smile from the girl. She could see that the other two were conversing, but the details of that exchange eluded her. Or perhaps, she was the one that didn't pay it any attention to begin with. Now, where was I? Ah. As I was saying, it seems like today is the day I die. The reason for that is the idiot before me. And the knife sticking out of my stomach. "Huh? Why aren't you collapsing?" The guy frowned, staring at the stab wound. "Well, aside from it hurting like hell, I'm fine. Still, it is becoming difficult to breathe, that much is true." The coins in her hand spilled out, mixing with the drops of blood that had fallen onto the floor long since then. I guess this is fine, too. After all, I don’t really have much hobbies of my own, nor am I heavily involved in any relationships. Family? Haven’t seen them for a while. Friends...what does that word mean again? Still, the girl wasn't going to just stand there and die without putting up much resistance. It wasn't out of any kindness, and neither was she somebody who relished upholding justice, but still... I guess I'll rather make the trip to hell alone. There's no sense in getting someone else to accompany me, after all. Vigilante justice is illegal, but seeing that I'm about to die, maybe they'll cut me some slack. "You said that you're going to stab her afterwards?" "So? What business of yours is it?" The guy tried to look menacing, but failed spectacularly. After all, his body made his emotional state plainly obvious. "Did the weather get to you? You look a little pale and shaky. I could refer you to some good psychologists, if you want. Nowadays, getting a mental problem isn't a light issue." "Shut up!" She frowned, ever so slightly. How troubling. I don't mind staying like that, but judging by the way he reacts now, he'll definitely attack the other one after I perish of blood loss, and...I can't exactly imagine her surviving. Unless, well, desperate times call for desperate measures, I reckon. For a few seconds, it appeared as though she was staring into space. In actuality, though, the girl had already made up her mind. Few people knew that this girl, who ran up to the rooftop everyday to slack off, took martial art classes in her spare time. Even fewer knew that she was, in her own opinion, a 'fairly accomplished' martial artist. Practically nobody knew that she had already won more than a few unofficial competitions, and she had already worked out her own method of fighting. She was a prime example of how appearances could be deceiving--Even though she was fairly young, there was a frightening amount of strength in her body. Still, adept as she was, a wound such as that would still be fatal. She was practical like that---Nothing short of an immediate surgery would cure her, and she wasn't anywhere close to a first-aid kit. Having already realised that, she made peace with that notion. "Well, I suppose I'll do my best, then." Saying thus, the girl gently laid an arm on the guy's shoulder. A gesture without any intent to harm; that's how it appeared like. "Don't blame me for this. You brought it entirely on yourself." Then, the girl made her move. "What are you talking about---! Release me!" While the guy was distracted, she had slipped behind him, and, using the knife arm as leverage, rendered him motionless. As a consequence, however, the lodged knife burrowed deeper into her flesh, drawing more blood which soaked the floor. A brief spike of pain flared as one of her major arteries were severed. Tch. To her, it served as a good reminder. The fact that she was essentially running on borrowed time reared its ugly head at her. At this rate, I might not be able to hold out as long as I initially thought...it's already a miracle that this much blood loss hasn't sent me into a panic... Just for good measure, the girl forced the guy into an armlock, leveraging her life to keep him immobile, even as blood flowed out like a river, staining the front of her jacket. To put it bluntly, the whole thing was one hell of a bloody mess. "Shit! Release me!" As if anyone would accede to that request. Still, despite the ever-growing pain and numbness of her limbs, the girl's tone didn't change even one iota. It was as if her voice consisted entirely of various sets of pre-recordings. "Blame yourself, not me." Perhaps the fact that her expression had remained unchanged throughout was the freakiest thing, amidst all else. "Say, you, go fetch a few teachers. Tell them that he's armed." "You bitch! Unhand me!" Despite the guy struggling furiously, the fatally wounded girl kept her grip firmly, not allowing him to move so much as an inch. Meanwhile, the would-be victim snapped out of her trance, stumbling down the stairs. Just in time, too. My vision is dimming. The girl's strength was failing. Her brief burst of adrenaline was reaching its last legs, and the only reason it lasted up till then was due to the physical difference between the duo. That had temporarily bridged the gap caused by getting stabbed, but the loss of blood imposed a strict time limit on her burst of strength. If this keeps up, he'll break out of the grip...it can't be helped, then. She loosened her arms just enough for the guy broke out of the hold, which he did...just in time to get a foot up his behind. The sudden momentum broke his balance, and he fell forward--down the stairs. *Bam* Said guy was now lying on the stairwell, stunned. Footsteps were racing up the flights of stairs. "Get the med-kit!" It's too late for me. What kind of good would a med-kit do? Staunch the flow of blood? Hah. The girl wasn't really able to see clearly anymore. White spots were occupying much of her vision, and she was seeing shadows that weren't there. Even if she was to be sent to the hospital immediately, the fact that her blood had stained the floor crimson didn't exactly paint an optimistic picture about her survival. I never understood this logic. Prevention is better than cure, but there's no rules preventing students from carrying around sharp objects knives in their bags. The means to kill is already within arm's length, all along. In that case, when situations escalate, the more irrational ones will be the first to take out those things, and stick others with the pointy end. And all that's available are medical kits. Like an old tree, the girl's legs lost their ability to function, and she collapsed heavily, crumpling on the ground. The blood that had pooled around her in large quantities splattered out even further. There's none of the pain I expected...only numbness. There's no fear, either. But again, why should there be fear? Humans are born, and then they die. No matter what they may accomplish in life, none of it matters once they die. Riches, honour, glory, achievements...Those mean nothing to the dead. It's just another inevitable thing, so what's the use fearing it? Overhead, thunder crackled in the gloomy skies. A light drizzle begun, diluting the blood on the concrete floor. So much for drinking soda during a rain...Ah, the English teacher is going to give me another sermon for not being on time...That reminds me, I still have this book that I never returned with me. Maybe they will accept it if I return it now? The pitter-patter of feet stopped at the stairwell, where she had kicked the guy down at. Someone gasped. Judging by the proximity to the roof exit, they had caught sight of her fallen on the ground. *Bleurgh* Which was immediately followed up by someone's food exiting their body via reverse digestion. Seriously, it's just blood. What's wrong with seeing it...But again, I suppose most people my age haven't experienced seeing this much blood spill at once. She was one of the rare few that had already became accustomed to blood flowing on a regular basis. Rather, she was among the scant few that could carry on with her own activities in the middle of a free-for-all group melee. Wait, now that I think about it, doesn't that mean I'm abnormal? But I always thought I was comparatively normal, especially when compared to those that are locked away in iron towers. At least I'm not going on and ranting about nonsense...Still, are they just standing there? I was hoping the teachers would have approached me by now, but it looks like that was still on the optimistic side, huh. Except for the howling winds and the pitter-patter of the rain drops, it was quieter than a grave. As I thought, not a chance, huh. No one here will approach a crime scene stained by blood, superstitious or not...Well, it won't matter to me in a few seconds, anyway. The gradual slowing down of her heartbeat was the best evidence to the girl; she wasn't going to make it. I hope the other girl managed to find her way to safety...Well, I tried my best. Things could have gone better, certainly, but I don't regret my life choices...No one will weep for me, anyways. Her blood had dyed the surface bright crimson. A third-party watching on would have observed her lying spread-eagled across the roof, her chest slowly rising and falling. So this is how humans feel in their final moments...I guess it can't be helped. Treat it as my first and final act of goodwill towards other people in this short life of mine. Then, as if an afterthought, Ah, now I'll never get the chance to buy a copy of 'that' next week...How regrettable. The light in her eyes dimmed out; a last breath of air puffed out of her lungs, and she stopped moving. In the midst of the blood, the falling of the rain, and screaming, the fact that her necklace glowed green briefly went unnoticed by others. Location - ??? "It's been so long..." A girl was sitting behind an office desk which, in turn, was practically overflowing with documents. Still, the background would have provided sufficient proof that this place wasn't some second-rate workplace. To begin with, the sheer volume of books already narrowed down the number of possible locations that this could be taken from. Secondly, regular books aren't supposed to fly. Except that in this case, they did. Plus, most of them looked really old, and had covers gilded with metal plates. *Bonk* "Are there no worthy candidates this year, either? Really...?" The girl had already cupped her head with her left hand. In the right was a large book. "It seems like this is certainly the case...Another year without a Keeper, huh." Her tail swished back and forth anxiously. "If I go by the amount of power in the storage, we'll last for......another week. That's not nearly enough, dammit!" The [tearing up one's hair in frustration] act was being showcased here in full. Strands of blue hair littered the floor, as the girl massaged her scalp roughly. "I've already deactivated the smokescreen and force field traps, but the power consumption is still a severe issue...Without a Librarian here to equalize things, this place won't stay in one piece...Tsk!" *BUZZ!* Something broke down, and the room shook slightly. The mana cannons that had been swivelling in their stands, ready to fire at intruders, all lost response and hung limply. As she watched, the glowing blue stripes at the cannon mouths faded away, signifying that they were out of power. "...This is bad. Without the cannons, the defence system won't be able to retain much of their effectiveness. Factoring in all the remaining defences, and...Nope, not enough." The mumbling girl, young as she looked, was the embodiment of a formerly great era. The physical embodiment of the Library, a reminder of a better age. "Ask, and you shall be given. Seek, and you shall find." That was the motto of the once-glorious establishment. It was worth pointing out, however, that the Library's motto only applied to members. Any undesirables seeking to run off with treasures met the front end of a mana cannon. Besides its priceless collection of ancient texts, displayed proudly upon rows of solid mahogany shelves, the Library was also the keeper of an item that was of far greater value. One that was kept hidden, within the innermost sanctum. At the same time, this treasure attracted the attention of many powerful beings, most of which invaded the Library, desiring the treasure for their own. Despite that, the Library withstood and evolved, wiping out waves of intruders. However, as time wore on, it was apparent that the Library had faded from the memories of people. Fewer and fewer intruders passed through its doors, until the Library wiped out its final intruder, and grew silent. It then stood still, undisturbed, for nearly 5,000 years. However, as time wore on, the passing years had taken their toll on the library. The defences crumbled, deactivated, and stopped functioning, one by one. Any building not protected with preservation magic rotted away, the once-glorious structure was slowly creeping on its way to join the ranks of other similarly forgotten structures. Perhaps out of a sense of self-preservation, the Library replicated itself, in the form of a girl who looked no older than sixteen. A girl with deep blue hair and luminous yellow eyes. She hurried around, managing the systems and seeking out someone to work with her. Still, the situation remained dire. Power wasn't being replenished due to the lack of a Librarian, and the whole structure was now practically running on fumes. For the girl, it was incredibly difficult to keep the place operational, and the fact that she managed to keep the whole place running by herself, spoke highly of her management abilities. Still... "If this goes on, I'll have to turn off the defences to save power, but if I turn off too many, there's a possibility of invasion. On the other hand, if I keep them as it is, we'll run dry in a week. It's either going to be invasion or starvation, huh..." She wasn't a human. Despite her tail, she was no demi human, either. In fact, the girl wouldn't be considered 'alive' in the first place. She was a Living Artificial Intelligence, a product, as well as the first and the last of her make. Being a Living A.I, she was superior to regular A.I.s, possessing the ability to feel and project emotions. Right now, that ability was utilized to the fullest, as she frowned heavily. It almost seemed as if she was human, when she wasn't even breathing to begin with. While it meant that she did not require sustenance or rest, it also meant that her life force was tied to the Library. When it thrived, she grew, but similarly, she'll fall with it, too. She was also, in a way, living on borrowed time. It was ironic, however, that it was precisely this reason that allowed two entities, both of which had no relation to each other whatsoever, to be connected on a much deeper level. That connection worked a brief miracle. "If only a Librarian would fall out of the sky right now...Not that it'll ever happen, but I think I am entitled to a bit of dreaming." And that small miracle responded to her muttering. *Crack* Right after she had muttered so, the ceiling crumbled and then fell apart, causing a heavy wooden cabinet to tumble-down into the room--with another girl on top of it. A Few Minutes Earlier, One Floor Above The room was dilapidated, the furniture crumbling and the wall panels rotting away. A speck of emerald light manifested in mid-air. It then proceeded to expand outwards, forming a glowing circle (in mid-air). Glowing letters formed, and surrounded the circle. If a mage was present, they would have recognized it. A summoning ritual was taking place, and something was about to be pulled here from another world. It wasn't any old summoning ritual, either. Regular summoning called forth a completely random being, so it was somewhat akin to spinning a wheel of fortune. On the other hand, having the summoning circle change colours meant that a very specific being was about to be summoned. The emerald circle represented the wind. And the runes around the circle, as well as the sigil in the centre...Both represented a very familiar nocturnal animal. Within seconds, the ritual completed itself, and a rupture formed in the centre. This was followed by a person--a girl--exiting the rupture, which happened to be still in mid-air. There was a brief lull before gravity did it's work, and another human discovered that they couldn't fly. *Thump* "...Ouch...Where am I? What is this place?" Having been thrown into an unknown environment, the girl reacted immediately, scanning her surroundings for any threats. "Wait a minute. Even if I'm an atheist, this place definitely isn't particularly holy or demonic." Before her, rather than an endless expanse of white that she had expected, was a setting which she presumed to be from the interior of a rather old room. There was a fireplace, and cushioned seats were located around it. There were also an uncountable number of shelves, filled with rows upon rows of books. She herself happened to be lying down on a carpet. The only problem? This place looks like it's been unused for...Well, ever. This place is practically caked with dust, and the fireplace... The girl stretched out her hand, touching one of the logs in the fireplace, and it crumbled away upon contact. How many years must have passed for the wood to become this fragile...Where is this place? It resembles neither Paradise nor the Purgatory, and it looks as if it's been abandoned for a very, very long time. She was about to call out, but the sudden realization of two facts shut her up immediately. Firstly... When I landed on my bottom, there was pain. If I was already dead, then according to all those stories I've read, a small fall like that shouldn't have even hurt. The whole 'ghosts float all the time and therefore cannot fall down' argument is still dubious, but even if I leave that out, a spiritual body shouldn't feel physical pain. Which means...I'm alive? And the second was because she heard something knock against another object with a considerable amount of force. It came from somewhere below. Noise means people. There's someone in here with me. Right now, the girl didn't have an inkling to where she was, and how she was alive. Those facts, coupled with the suspicions that she wasn't even on Earth to begin with, raised her vigilance level. She studied the room once again with more wariness, this time looking over the scattered materials to see if anything could become a potential weapon for her usage. There. A stray metal rod. She reached out for it...and stopped. Forget the walls, even the floor was in horrible condition. Just that brief movement produced an alarming creak. Thankfully, whoever--or whatever--was downstairs didn't seem to have heard it. Dammit. I can't even move from this spot. The girl took charge of her own inventory. A ball of twine, a few writing pens, a book, a packet of pepper (goodness knows why it was in her pockets), a thermos bottle (again, no clue how she stuffed that into her coat pockets), and lastly, a kaleidoscope. None of these are going to help much...Is there anything else--Ah! She dug out a magnet from her coat pocket. It was one of those small horseshoe-shaped magnets, the types sold in bookshops. I certainly hope that bar is made of iron, or steel. Otherwise, I'm done for. So she said, but that wasn't actually the case. If the worst did happen, and someone attacked right now, she could still dodge once, swipe the bar, and then give them a good old-fashioned beating. With deft movements, she secured the twine to the magnet. Then, she carefully set the magnet onto the floor. It did not creak. "Phew." Thankfully, the magnet was light, so it didn't exert any weight on the floor. Thinking for a few moments, she took out the thermos bottle, and emptied its contents quietly onto the floor. There were a few ice cubes mixed into the contents. With the ice serving as a lubricant, the magnet should be able to slide without making a noise... It worked. The magnet smoothly slid over to the bar, and to her delight, it stuck. The girl begun slowly tugging on the twine rope, which she had braided twice, to drag the bar towards her. It was a success, or, at least, it had been a success until that point. Under normal circumstances, she would have remembered it. However, the circumstances caused her to, unfortunately, forget about some extremely important things. The fact that the wooden floor creaked should have warned her that the flooring support wasn't very strong. Then, she went ahead and soaked it with water, further compromising its structural integrity. The icing on the very disastrous cake was the bar. It was made of steel, and a pure steel bar is no light object. And as for what happened next, one can probably guess. *Crack* The wooden floor splintered---she felt the carpet beneath her sag downwards suddenly. Uh oh. I forgot that the flooring is unstable. *Crack* Um...This was most definitely my fault. Since it was going to collapse either way, and she didn't have enough time to shift positions due to the awkwardness of her limbs, the girl tugged on the rope with considerable force, pulling the bar into her hands. Good, it's steel. With something resembling a weapon in her grip, the girl felt much better. At least right now, she wasn't defenceless, against whatever manner of beings that might appear. Although, if someone pulls a fantasy/another world prank, this steel bar won't do much, especially against stuff like dragons...Nah, there's no way. In the end, fiction is fiction. It's not as if I'm going to meet a girl with blue hair and yellow eyes. *Rumble* The floor gave way, causing the girl to land right into the room below. Unlike the previous one, this room was more or less in shape, books were strewn about messily as well, but there were no traces of dust, and the furniture was kept clean, something that only a well-kept room would possess. And of course, that room happened to be occupied. The occupant was a girl with blue hair...and yellow eyes. Well, now I'll have to eat my words, I guess... Both girls took a few seconds to observe each other, sizing the other up and determining if they were a threat. The blue-haired girl glanced at the black-haired girl, and the black-haired girl did the same. Then, the latter hefted her steel bar, and charged at the former. Some Few Minutes Later "Ugh." The black-haired girl was lying on one of the sofas that had survived the brawl. Nearby, the blue-haired girl was shaking her head, as she wrung out a moist towel. "I say, who blasts a newcomer with fire on the first meeting?" "Says the one who went for the head with a blunt weapon! Were you trying to give me concussion, or something else?" "To be fair, all I had was that bar. Tossing magic into a melee fight is plain cheating---Tch." The black-haired girl shook her head as she tried to get up, causing her an intense headache. "I told you to lie down! That's what you get for being stubborn!" The duo were past the 'kill each other on sight' phase, and were currently staring at each other; the blue-haired girl's gaze was one of curiosity, while the black-haired girl had a deadpan expression on, like usual. "Still, I stick with my previous statement. Using magic in a close quarters battle is cheating." The black-haired girl forced herself to a sitting position; Sighing, the blue-haired girl sat down beside her, abandoning the towel she had. Right now, any attempts to help would be met with disdain, she could tell. "Let's not talk about that for now. The more important thing is, you're standing here, perfectly fine. Any other person would have been vaporized long ago." The blue-haired girl didn't hide the joy in her voice. She knew the implications of that occurrence---No, she had been eagerly awaiting for that occurrence. After all, the location she was standing on only excluded three types of entities from it's defence system. First was herself, obviously. She wouldn't get much work done if she had to dodge the traps constantly, and that would just burn through the power even faster. Second were the customers of the Library. Across the thousands of years, there had only been a few of them, not numbering more than a dozen. These entities were allowed the privilege of borrowing the priceless tomes in the Library, and therefore were treated as friendly beings by the system. Third was the Librarian herself. After all, the Library's existence literally depended on her existence. No sentient being would be in a rush to kill itself. Granted, most of the defences were down, but enough of them were still active, and from that, the blue-haired girl could make an accurate guess at the other's identity. First-time visitors had to go through an automatic registration process at the entrance, if they were worthy of being a customer. The black-haired girl didn't arrive via the entrance, that much she knew. Which meant that, via a process of elimination... "You're the Librarian. This place is your home." "I see. In that case, no." There was a short but deafening period of silence. "...Huh?!" Spoiler: Volume 1 Chapter 2: Meet and Greet "I already told you as much. Not a chance." "Why?!" It was already late afternoon, and the black-haired girl wasn't amused in the slightest. But again, if anyone had to listen to someone else pleading for a few hours straight, they would definitely be irritated, too. Therefore, she figured that she'd better stop the other party from continuing to talk, before the urge to beat someone up overrode her reason. "Let's go through what you've been telling me for the past few hours. Sit down." "Y-Yes!" Seeing that the other party had settled down, the black-haired girl sighed. "Alright, so according to you......Actually, what did you tell me the past few hours, again?" There was a small lull. "......You forgot all of it?" The tables seemed to have been turned; now it was the blue-haired girl's turn to get angry. Her instincts were definitely telling her not to answer in the affirmative, but she didn't exactly have many other choices. "Well, yes...?" "......" Sensing that something was definitely wrong, she raised her guard. *BOOOOOM!* A blast of severe magnitude enveloped the black-haired girl, causing smoke to billow outwards in a miniature mushroom cloud. The surroundings were vaporized; only the far ends of the room escaped damage. This was no man-made explosive. No explosive would go off with that much force, nor would it be timed so perfectly. No, this was an action caused by something mysterious, something unscientific. Something that should not have existed. Magic. A force that couldn't be explained by science alone. When the dust cloud cleared up, there was a perfect hemisphere blasted into the floor. Exactly half of a sphere, without a clod of dirt less, or more. What was even more unbelievable was that, despite the blast that followed, and the fact that the ground had been utterly decimated causing partial collapse, the location where the black-haired girl had originally been standing was untouched, she herself completely unharmed. No, she didn't know any magic. Neither did she possess some kind of innate magic resistance. The fact that she emerged completely unscathed--- "Tch, like I thought. The Library protects the Librarian." Despite not having become the Librarian yet, the Library had already recognised her as its new owner, it seemed. On its home grounds, no harm would come to befall the Librarian, especially not from its own defence system. "Well, there's that." The anger from earlier dissipated, like a mirage in the blazing desert. No, rather than just calming down, it would be more accurate to say that she had...given up? The blue-haired girl was projecting an aura of dejection. Well, she's one of those types, I guess. Jeez. That was the second time in the same day that she had come into contact with death, yet the black-haired girl remained calm. In fact, rather than thinking about nearly being killed, she seemed to be entirely indifferent to the notion of dying. "So, what will you do?" It was a laugh thoroughly saturated with self-derision. "You've refused to help. Currently, the Library is holding on due to your presence, but once the hour passes, should you refuse to become the Librarian, then all of these will fade entirely. We're clinging on to our last ropes here." The blue-haired girl glanced up, self-mockery in her iridescent yellow eyes. Those eyes, which had originally been glowing like a pair of stars, seemed to darken ever so slightly. "I've worked so hard to keep this place going, because I care about it. It's more than just a place I live in, or carry out my duties at; it's an irreplaceable part of me. I can't just let the culmination of 5 thousand years just fade away like that...but what choice do I have? There's no chance of finding another Librarian in a week, much less a willing one." Perhaps it was because of her denial, but the blue-haired girl was currently in an emotional mess. Due to that, her Living A.I. status, which gave her the ability to think and feel, was currently showing its potential, albeit in a very negative way. "You. You're the place's last hope, but even if I offer you riches, you won't agree to help. People like you never agree to conditions like these, as long as you don't feel like doing so. Not even power or honour will move you...And I can't even kill you, because the Library extends it's protection to dissipate any attempts on your life......Why did you have to be summoned?!" After the self-despise came the inevitable hatred. Humans did that, and Living A.I.s weren't exceptions either. The blue-haired girl was venting all of her own stress at the only other person present. "Why did you have to take the place of another Librarian who might have agreed?! Why do you have such a horrible personality?! Are you even human to begin with?! Also, if this place crumbles, your own life will be endangered as well! So---" I guess this is where I interrupt. "Does that matter?" "--Huh?" The black-haired girl leaned in, grabbing the other girl by her front lapels. "What I'm asking now, is whether that matters to me." By all rights, I should be dead, but I'm not, because I've been summoned, and all my wounds have been healed. Therefore, I should be grateful...I hate that kind of logic the most. The black-haired girl shook her head to clear those thoughts, failing to understand why others thought so differently compared to her. That's a line right from some fanciful story, isn't it? Complete rubbish made up by some upstart who thought they knew perfectly how reality works...true, it is fiction, but having the content of the story differ completely from reality makes it nothing more than pipe dreams. The best fictional stories are the ones that have portions of real life weaved into them. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. To the book-lover that she was, those books that were completely fantastical were, in her opinion, a testament to the irresponsibility of their writers. If one were to think about it, in most fictional stories, have the summoned heroes ever successfully returned to their own worlds? No. The stories I've read, pertaining to the reincarnation or another world genre...Most of them ended with a conclusion similar to [The Hero defeated the Demon King], or some kind of nonsense along those lines. There isn't anything on how they returned home, or if they even returned home in the first place. Without a clear conclusion, anything could have happened. They could have decided to settle down comfortably, or they decided to move out of the capital, or--in the worst case scenario--they were enslaved and forced to continue their gruelling jobs. And right now, that's exactly the kind of vibe I'm getting. [Only you can help us now]...was that how the line goes? Hmph. "To start with, I didn't ask to be summoned--Strike that, I didn't ask to be reborn, to begin with." The lazy feeling around her vanished, replaced by a bloodcurdling aura. If she behaved like a fluffy rabbit previously, then the girl standing in her place right now was, undeniably, a hunter with a loaded shotgun. It was enough to get the other party to take a subtle step backwards, except that her collar was still being pulled, restricting her movements. There was a universally accepted indicator of 'threat'. It was measured by how skilled the entity in question was, multiplied by how hostile they were to other sentient beings. After all, even a structure like a laser cannon was not a threat if it wasn't primed and aiming at someone. Therefore, because the black-haired girl slacked off on a regular basis, and didn't wish to harm anyone, her threat rating was almost zero. This applied even during the incident when she was stabbed, since she didn't have any intention to kill her attacker. However, the combination of disgust and anger that she was experiencing now, made it extremely hard to hide her killing intent. That, along with her prowess in martial arts, caused her threat rating to skyrocket drastically. "Reincarnating me suddenly, then trying to guilt trip me into helping you. I daresay, have you no concept of shame? I never asked to come here, and I never asked to be reborn. Yet you went on about how I was so selfish because I didn't want to help you. With that attitude, did you honestly think I would agree?" Her harsh scolding had already long since left the other party in tears. "I---" "Also, have you been spending the last ten years of your life locked up at home, or something? Humans aren't as kind as you seem to believe; even if another was summoned, he or she has a high chance of rejecting your plea. In that case, what's the use of blaming me for it?" "That---" "Lastly, don't ever try to get me to do something by threatening me. I don't react well to threats." As if to support her own words, the black-haired girl slammed her hand on the heavy wooden table, which promptly cracked. "Are. We. Clear?" Intimidated, the other girl could only nod--before she burst out in tears. The tear drops spilled out of her clear yellow eyes, sliding down her fair skin and dripping onto the floor, riddling the wooden floor with damp patches. Jeez. Now I feel slightly guilty. With all said and done, she did act for her own benefits at sake, but not solely so; after all, she wasn't a monster that didn't understand any feelings. In a way, the other girl's actions mirrored her own. What's the best thing to do in this situation...? If it was a regular meeting between two people who were both logical, the best way would be to talk things out in a calm and collected manner, and wait for the duo to eventually arrive at a suitable conclusion, one which was agreed on by both parties. Of course, they couldn't do that now, mainly due to two important factors. Both of us act based on logic, but we are still fundamentally different...To begin with, my method of thinking is rather different from a regular person's, which would make seeing eye-to-eye a really difficult problem. Also, we don't have the luxury of time here... Reluctant as she was, the black-haired girl decided to utilize one of the skills best suited for humans--improvisation. I guess I could think of a way to help...I mean, if it's as she says, I'll end up disappearing too, if this place fades. In that case, the first and foremost goal should be to prevent this place from disappearing. In order to formulate a plan, one must first learn the details and the problems, in order to think up countermeasures. For her, she didn't know the exact cause of the structure's gradual fading, and she didn't really understand all that stuff about Librarians and whatnot. Therefore... "Hey, you. The one with the blue hair. Name yourself." She did come through as extremely rude from that, but she scarcely cared. To her, being nice was equivalent to being naive; she wasn't going to be taken advantage of, if she could help it. "Huh...?" ......Not very bright, is she? "Your name. Surely you must have one?" As much of a loner as she was, the black-haired girl couldn't tolerate a case of not having a name. Names meant something significant to their owners, after all. "I was given the factory name of REFLA-001 by my creator. Will that---" "Denied." An instant rejection. "That sounds just about the most annoying name I've heard, and I've heard a fair share of horrible names in my time. I'm not going to start addressing you by code; Hell no." Which brought up a new problem: How should she address the other? It wasn't as if she could just call it "One" or "You" all day long--that would be no better than sticking with the series name. REFLA...Re...Ri...Ru? Ru...Rufi...Rufilia! That's it! ...Let it be known that the black-haired girl, being human, was also imperfect in her own ways. Coming up with names was one of the areas she didn't excel at. And so, after completely butchering the information given to her... "Your name will be Rufilia from now on. Rufi for short." In a tone that didn't allow for any disagreements or opposition, she managed to force the conclusion she wanted. "Ehhhhhh?!" Yep, talk about being unable to come up with an adequate reply. There were some things that would cause such reactions, no matter how good the recipient was at thinking on their feet. "Since you have no objections with your new name, start explaining. Tell me about Librarians, this place, yourself. Tell me everything." In particular, she was interested about the Librarian part. Especially with regards to whether she would be paid salaries, how much those were, whether her three meals would be covered, and what kind of living conditions she would get. It wasn't healthy to be doing jobs for the monetary pay-off, but she had to earn a living, somehow. The black-haired girl was actually quite reasonable, as long as one ignored the fact that she was totally unreasonable. "...Understood. This place is a location known as the Library. While it may appear conventional, this entire building exists in a dimension of its own, which also happens to be a hotspot that gates converge. As such, this world can access plenty of other worlds." That tripped one of her self-imposed warning flags immediately. Having picked up experience from mingling with the darker sides of life, the black-haired girl was already well-versed in picking out underlying messages. The other had been far too honest with her answer, an act which reminded her of businessmen and how they conducted themselves. And like any shrewd politician, she's definitely hiding something. Let's think about it...If this place can open up many gates to other worlds, then it would also mean that... "At the same time, this place is also vulnerable to a combined attack from different areas spontaneously, especially when more than one gate is opened simultaneously, am I right?" Having been seen through, Rufilia's face was flushed deep red. "...Tch, you're smarter than I thought you would be." There seemed to have been an insult tucked into that short sentence, but she chose to ignore it; that was also one of the reasons behind her usually good temper. The other was due to a sense of impending crisis that she felt, upon thinking more deeply on the other's words. "Moving on, you said that the Librarian has to be there to prevent the Library from disappearing. Why?" "That's easy to answer. It's due to what humans know as [The Law of Equivalent Exchange]. The stronger an item, the greater a flaw it possesses. In this case, the Library is extremely powerful, and therefore it is perpetually in a state of instability. The Librarian acts as an anchor that secures the Library to reality, preventing it from disappearing." ...So I'm just a glorified piece of rope? "And when you say that the Librarian has to be present, you meant..." "Yes." Oh, dammit. For anyone that was slow on the uptake, the Librarian had to 'be there', physically, to stabilize the Library, preventing the energy system from spiralling out of control. It wasn't as if she could never leave, but still, the Library would start experiencing the same old issues if she was gone for a significant length of time. It would basically be a fancier version of confinement. Ninety-nine out of a hundred people would have declined that responsibility. "Very well. I'll do it." However, she was definitely in that 1%. Once again, it wasn't for charity, or some similarly ridiculous notion, but rather because of her own nature--The girl was an avid reader. Liking books was simply an understatement--She respected books. To her, books carried the very souls of their writers; in every word, the feelings of the writer could be seen. Which was why she simply could not tolerate watching a library, an ancient one at that, become ruined. Not when she could do something about it. And since she was rather free at the moment... "Let's get to work." "Okay...Eh? You actually agreed?!" Rufilia was caught completely off guard by the unexpected boon she had been given. Before, she had resigned herself to a dead-end, having the last possible chance disappear away before her, but those words came out of nowhere. Words that rekindled hope. "Don't be so happy yet. I'm only helping to the point where I'm benefitting from it. Otherwise, you're on your own. Also, I'm counting on you to do the bulk of the work, since I just arrived." Despite those words, the black-haired girl was grinning mischievously, a spark of interest present in her eyes for the first time. It was obviously a sign of agreement, because if anyone were to have given the matter some deep thinking, they would have realised that the black-haired girl stood to gain almost nothing by doing so. 40 Minutes Later "And that was the last one. Finished." The black-haired girl set down the feathery blue quill she had used to sign the document; a crumpled, musty rectangle of yellowish parchment, which was reminiscent of Egyptian papyrus. "Honestly, why was there the need to use this type of paper in particular? It was such a hassle to write on." "I apologise; the supplies of stationery were running out left and right, so we had to make do with the bits and pieces that we had on hand." While she was complaining on the outside, the girl smiled inwardly, pleased. Perhaps she was one of the few people who gained satisfaction from coming into contact with items that should have died out with ages that had passed long ago; in a way, she admired archaeologists and how they could devote their entire lives seeking the unknown. "It's alright. After all, part of the romance in signing such an important document should be from touching the paper itself. Conversely, if that had been presented to me in regular type-written paper, it would have more than killed off my interest." Papyrus was made out of plant fibres, and similarly, the paper she was given had a rough and uneven texture. For people who didn't know how to write with brushes, that piece of paper would have proved a real troublemaker, but she had handled enough brushes in her life to pick up basic calligraphy. "Still, where did this feather even come from? It feels quite cold to the touch, though not unpleasantly so. Plus, the feather size is too small to have come from something like a kingfisher." She looked up, just to see the A.I. gaping wordlessly at her. Not for the first time, too. "What is it? You're staring as if you've just seen a freak." "...Perhaps I have. How did you know this much?" "Well, I did say that I liked reading, yes? It would be a real shame if I failed to know this much, even after reading so many different texts." The black-haired girl looked up just in time to miss seeing Rufilia's brief smile. Additionally, she didn't pay much further attention to it, due to her own personality, which was unfortunately enough, since that had been the first pure, unforced smile that Rufilia had made. In those 500 years, lots of history had been created, but events like these had never happened; they were landmark moments in their own right. Therefore, it was a pity that both had missed out on it. "Of course it was too small. It's a feather from an adult kingfisher." That was another first. The aspect of the Library had developed a sense of humour by herself. "...I see. Was I supposed to have laughed there? In that case, haha." Unfortunately, that sense of humour could stand to use a lot more refining, before it could pass off as being adequate. Simply put, it was just bad. "Ahem...Jokes aside, that quill was made from the feather of an Icy Phoenix. One of the last ones I have in stock." "Why did you use it then? Save the one-use items for something that's more important than a contract." So she mumbled, but that was just a reflex built-in from her gaming experience. The habit of hoarding as much consumables as possible, without having to use any. In fact, she remembered once boasting about her mountain of unused consumables in a game she once played...That had became nothing more than a bitter memory for her. Which reminds me, that was around the time I started to isolate myself from the outside world...Ah, thinking about the younger days...The naiveté that I had back then. Now that I think about it, it was also around that time that I begun losing interest in things such as gaming, wasn't it? "And with this, the contract is complete. From now on, you have control over everything I have to offer, and this one pledges her utmost to assist you. In return, it is this one's fondest wish that you would guide the Library back to its golden age...Hm?" Ah! "I have heard your request, and I will do my best to see that they are fulfilled. Therefore, here's to a successful partnership." Having been lost in her wondering, the black-haired girl nearly missed the pass, which would have created the perfect awkward situation. Thankfully, there was a verbal cue from the Library, just in time. Barely two hours in, and I'm already slipping...Looks like my skills have gotten rusty. Maybe it's time to change the setting for a little bit. Therefore, the black-haired girl grinned, before she tossed out a single question. An extremely simple question, yet loaded with enough realism to make one vomit. Worse still, it was a perfectly innocent question. "Say, Rufilia. There's one thing you've not answered me yet. How much pay do I receive, in what kind of currency, and what kind of items do I spend them on?" The Treasury, 5 Minutes Later "This place is...woah." Even for a person of few words such as herself, the black-haired girl could not help but gasp in admiration, at the sight of overwhelming richness in this 'room' she was brought to. No, to begin with, the word 'room' was a severe misnomer for where she was currently at. Eight bejewelled pillars held up a ruby-encrusted sphere. In the centre, there was a gleaming black spire, studded with pearls the size of baby fists. The floor was made of a strange translucent material that sparkled with a brightness not inferior to that of diamond. In fact, the whole place could be seen as the epitome of wealth itself. Which, when compared to what she saw outside... "Say, Rufilia. What's with all this concentration of wealth here when the rooms you're using are all so shabby. Or are you the type that likes to hide their riches all in one place? That type of being never has a happy ending, you know." It similar to was one of those 'bedtime stories' she had seen when she was younger. The victim, who was secretly a miser, hoarded all of his material wealth and hid them into a hole in his walls, while maintaining a façade of being poor, leaving his own house in shambles. When the pile of treasures was eventually stolen, he had been devastated, but to her, that was one hell of a stupid decision. Just like how the protagonist of that story placed it: If you hide your wealth without ever planning to use it, then you might as well not have possessed it to begin with. At least you won't have to worry about it being stolen, in that case. "...The defences don't get powered by money." Oh. Now I see. She had to keep reminding herself that Rufilia was a Living A.I., not a human, which proved to be easy to lose track of, especially when the two of them interacted. Rufilia simply acted so...humanly...which made it difficult to see her as something that wasn't. But again, it would make sense in the end. Unlike humans, Rufilia either didn't have sense of aesthetics, or was too focused on prioritizing survival to care about visual appearances. She was utilitarian, through and through. Therefore, the value of all those wealth added together was worth absolutely nothing in her eyes, because they didn't hold any relevant purpose. "Then, why did you bring me here? If all of these were as useless as you said, then surely we wouldn't need to have come here?" Unfortunately for the black-haired girl, that statement would prove to be a pit she dug for herself. After all, Living A.I.s were capable of emulating emotions, even more so if they happened to have an example right before them. Rufilia slowly turned around to glance at her. "You see, a steel bar won't do you much good against something like a dragon." She fought to keep her expression neutral, even as the urge to grimace constantly nudged at her facial muscles. After all, having thought about it, it was really embarrassing to think that she had trusted a bar of steel to provide her with adequate protection. That snide remark was sufficient enough to send her logical self into disarray, even as her face remained passive, and she searched for a good rebuttal--which was sadly unavailable. "...So I take it that there's something that could slay dragons here?" For the second time since they met, Rufilia smiled, but this time, there was nothing remotely approaching kindness in it. It was the grin of a devil. "Well, it depends. How much confidence do you have in your luck?" Oh, dammit. I see where this is heading. She had forgotten that most stories that dealt with [Reincarnation] also dealt with [Cheat Skills]. Or more precisely, regarding the granting of overpowered skills to the person that was accidentally summoned to help. And most of those stories......I'm assuming that this isn't going to be the case where I get to pick my own cheat skill. In fact, with what Rufilia said, I'm more than convinced that this will be some kind of lottery-drawing system. And in regards to those things... If her status could be represented by letters, then the value for her [Luck] stat would undoubtedly be negative. In fact, she was one of those types that would probably get struck by lightning twice in the same thunderstorm. It was like winning the lottery, but in an extremely painful way. You know what? Forget it. I'll just treat it as another possible method of fighting. After all, even if I pull something like a cheat sword or a cheat ability, it's no use unless I'm physically strong enough. The foundation has to be stable if one wants to build a grand castle atop. "Alright, let's get this over with, then. I'm not expecting much, but what kind of contents are inside this...thing?" Having failed in her baiting, a trance of regret brushed past Rufilia's expression, before it was quickly replaced by her usual smile. "This spire is the vessel that contains all the treasures sealed inside it. You can essentially think of it as a gigantic grab-bag, since it can contain--well, essentially anything. For something physical like a weapon, to something non-material, like a concept. Since it's your first time picking out a treasure, I'll pay for the cost. Consider it a freebie." The black-haired girl briefly considered the ramifications of pulling out a concept, but quickly realised something else. The black spire wasn't exactly small. And if the pearls on it each represented a treasure...well...Saying that there was 'a lot' of choices wouldn't do it any justice. Trying to make a decision based on logic was impossible in this scenario. I guess I'll have to go with my instincts...Tch, it can't be helped. She held an inherent dislike for anything that couldn't be explained by logic. Fallacies and gut feelings applied exactly into that category. Not thinking, just feeling out the right way...Yeah, that made absolutely no sense. Therefore, the black-haired girl was currently staring at the numerous pearls, trying to see which would look like a reasonable pick. ...They all look the same. No matter how she gazed at them, the pearls looked completely the same. Regardless of size, shape, colour, opacity, they all resembled carbon copies of each other. "Don't rush; take your time." That remark might have been made out of good intentions, but due to the timing, it came off as incredibly sarcastic. At this rate, I'll have to go with a rando--Hmm? There was a light tug on her arm. It was so brief and light, that she wondered if she had imagined it. Was that a trick of my mind? It doesn't seem so... Even as she wondered if she had imagined the whole thing, the tug came again, this time with more force. Oh? What's going on? Is it guiding me? The invisible force seemed to be dragging her arm upwards--or it could just be her imagination at work. Her arm stopped at a point that was between roughly 6 pearls, without reacting any further. There's 6 choices here I can pick from...Yeah, right. Like I'll trust in the machinations of some unknown force. I'm not some puppet that can be manipulated as and when people feel like it. Therefore... Deliberately, she chose the pearl that was directly above the six others she was guided to. "I'll take this one." "Are you sure about that? You could always pick others, you know." "No, it's fine. I'll take this one." Rufilia shrugged. Have it your way, she seemed to be implying. "Well, I'll be unsealing this one, then. |Unseal, Zuraio Adamalitch|." The pearl shattered into powder, and at the same time, a strong wind formed, enveloping the area in a buffeting gale. The disintegrated pearl scattered in the wind, as a luminous green glow appeared where it used to be. "An item of the [Wind] element...No, from this degree of power, it's an item of the [Storm] element!" She had no idea what Rufilia was muttering about, nor why she was so excited. The only thing that filled her vision was the rapidly expanding luminous glow, which soon filled her vision completely, before abruptly fading out. It wasn't a weapon. At least, it wasn't anything physical. She didn't see anything new around her. "Um..." For some reason, Rufilia sounded as if she was extremely shocked. And the reason she was shocked was because of the black-haired girl. "What is it? Did I grow a tail or something?" Afterwards, she would make a note to keep her mouth shut in these kind of situations. Her ability to correctly predict these kind of unfortunate results was uncanny, to say the least. "...It's easier for you to see for yourself. Here." As Rufilia spoke, she pulled out a full-length mirror out of nowhere, and set it before the black-haired girl. "Thanks for the mirror--Ehh?!" In the reflective silvery metal surface of the glass, a familiar black-haired girl was staring back at her. Everything from her face, her clothing and her expression was completely similar to how she remembered it. Of course, the two lupine ears jutting out of her hairline, plus the fluffy tail that was shifting behind her, were things that she never remembered having. In other words...She glanced at her own shadow. Sure enough, the casted shadow wasn't that of an eighteen year old girl, but rather that of a wolf, standing on two limbs. "...Well, I guess this is..." Spoiler: Volume 1 Chapter 3: Nothing Could Go Wrong There was a large table laden with all sorts of delicious food. Some of them looked so splendid, that they were practically glowing. Two people sat at the opposite ends, and neither of them touched so much as a single morsel of rice. "...If this keeps up, it'll end up being a repeat of lunch, you know..." "......" Several hours earlier, there had been the exact same scene occurring, where not a single mouthful of food had been consumed. That session had been concluded with the entire batch being tossed out. So much wastage. If that act had been witnessed by anyone else, the two would have been severely rebuked for wasting so much food, maybe even to the point of violence. It was during those times that the Library's privacy came in handy. "...Just eat something. The Library might defend you, but it can't do anything if you kill yourself, you know." "..." Nope, she wasn't depressed. After all, the process--whatever it was that happened--had been largely beneficial to her. Because of it, she had felt her own physical abilities improving further, to the point where she couldn't even call it a mere "gift". Back then, even though she was already very capable at close-quarters fighting, she still found it difficult to do things such as destroying metal objects with her bare fists alone. Now? She could easily crush items like metal plates without even thinking about it. When she had a brief spell of dizziness earlier, she had leaned against a marble wall, and the wall had been the one that had given way. Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch. Having gained so much power demanded an equally large cost in return. And right now, that cost was wrecking her usual way of living. Firstly, the event that had caused her to become this way--the so called 'gift'--took place nearly a day prior. Because it was late by the time both of them managed to react in a manner that was somewhat adequate enough to deal with the situation, she had gone to sleep rather than solving the issue that was at hand. It was a horrible decision, of course. Rufilia had to interrupt at least 7 times over the course of one whole night, because she couldn't adapt to the sudden changes in her own body systems. After all, humans weren't nocturnal creatures, but wolves were. Because of that... "You sure didn't get enough sleep, did you." A pair of cloudy green eyes stared back at Rufilia. "...If there was an award for being obvious, I'm surprised you haven't won it by now." Day 2 of having the "bonus", and she already wanted to remove it. The thing was, it couldn't be removed. Whatever had given her those abilities seemed to have melded completely into her body, leaving behind a bunch of troublesome traits. As a melee fighter, she was the type that slept rather heavily, but at the same time, she could wake up instantly if need be. Sleepwalking wasn't a habit of hers. At least, it didn't use to be a habit until the previous night. Dammit. To wake up while wandering the hallways was already bad enough, but to have Rufilia wake me up while I was perched on all fours atop a balcony...Okay, bad memory, stop thinking about it. Essentially, her human self didn't get any sleep for the entirety of the night, and when dawn came, the wolf part of her demanded rest. As a result, the nature of the wolf, which was more active in the night, disrupted her sleep constantly. On the other hand, after dawn broke, it seemed that those effects had stopped, and she was able to nap briefly, missing out on breakfast. Then, at lunchtime... Seriously, that much of a power increase is a large problem in it's own right. I couldn't even hold the fork normally without snapping it in half, and as for the knife...I think it was supposed to cut apart meat, not metal...Also, what was with that insane craving for raw meat... Because of that, she had to go hungry, and as the day progressed on and transited into night, her control over her newfound powers slipped. She would experience a blackout, only to find something destroyed near her. "This is no joke, Rufi. If I carry on like that, it will only be a matter of time until I snap and go off on a mindless rampage. This power needs to be either removed and controlled; there's no other alternatives." Immortality and blinding rage. That was a mixture no one would ever want. The girl didn't relish dying a second time, that was for sure, but if living meant that she would lose control over her own actions-- --Then I'll rather kill myself now while I still can. "Well, there is a way to control that power, you know. I mean, since you're a fighter, you should know." She blinked, taken aback momentarily, as she took time to process the information that was just given to her. "...I never expected you to give me that kind of suggestion, Rufi." Every hardened fighter would know what she was referring to. Learning to control new abilities via the trials of combat. And in order to control something inhuman, something so brutally bestial... This is essentially a suggestion for me to hunt other humans, isn't it? It's the fastest way to solve this problem, but at the same time... She was capable, that was true. She could kill without shedding tears or looking away, that was also true. But there was one more aspect to her personality. One that took priority over the other two. And that happened to be the fact that she didn't relish taking lives; she did value whatever was left of her own humanity. That 'bonus' took a huge chunk out of it, now that I think about it...Forget it. It's a necessary sacrifice. Therefore, I pray that you will not hold it against me. A self-gratified wish was all she could offer to the ones that were soon to be her victims. "Say, Rufi. Could you find people that have sinned heavily and yet roam unpunished? I will do it if I have to, but I'll rather not go after innocents." A murderer or a vigilante...I didn't think that I'll have to pick my poison so soon... The wait for a response felt as if it was an eternity; she, who had never been a religious person, begun praying, hoping that there wouldn't be an answer. Naturally, her prayers went unanswered. [Training Ground has been picked.] [Beginning Scenario.] The Twisted Dungeon, Lisandre, Entrance "Rufi, you really need to work on your accuracy. No matter how much physical strength I have, I can't fly yet." She did get teleported to the location she needed, except that she had appeared in mid-air--again--nearly a hundred metres up. Nothing like a hundred-metre freefall to wake people up in the morning...It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in it's own right. Mainly because most participants, willing or unwilling, usually wouldn't survive to experience a second one. Still, my leg strength is ridiculous...I had expected to break at least one of my limbs, or something. Not that I'm complaining, though. I mean, who wants to get injured if they could avoid it, right. Not including those with rather...unique...hobbies, of course, but in the first place, they shouldn't even have been counted in. "...The teleportation array glitched somewhat, so it put you there." Typical behaviour. Blaming the tools. "Fine, I'll let it go for now since we're on a tight schedule, but what's with the welcoming committee? Did you accidentally gather that bunch too?" Using her enhanced eyesight, she could see quite clearly, even in the mist and the snow. A few miles out, trudging across a large snow-covered plain, was an entire army on the march. A well-equipped, professional army...Not. "Are those...You know what? Nevermind." From the high ground she was atop, she could see discrepancies in the formation. While the vanguard consisted largely of knights in armour, the rear guard consisted of mostly figures in chains. Upon closer inspection, those figures all possessed various sorts of animal ears and tails, and they all looked equally miserable. So those are the fabled beastmen...How do I put this, somehow, I'm not really impressed, even though it's my first time seeing them... Another disadvantage of becoming partial wolf--it became a lot more difficult to surprise her. True, that trait also meant that catching her off guard in a fight was very unlikely, but at the same time, she didn't get to feel pleasant surprises, either. I hope I don't end up with this kind of reaction when I meet a dragon sometime down the line... At the same time, this situation led to a new problem arising; which group should she attack? She didn't have enough information to go off on. After all, the beastkin that had been shackled up could either be slaves, or bandits. The former would mean that she had to attack the humans, while the latter meant that she had to go after the beastkin. Without knowing fully about the situation, she might as well flip a coin and depend on luck. "Rufi...Is there any context to this place? Is this place merely a manifestation of a certain concept?" If the entirety of her surroundings--the land, the sky, the scenery--were all mere illusionary constructs based off somebody's imagination, then she had no qualms destroying it. After all, efficiency was a must, in order to facilitate slacking off. "If by that, you meant that this world once existed in someone's imagination, then yes. This world, it's inhabitants, it's laws...Someone once visualized all of that, thus resulting in it's creation." That posed an unexpected problem. Being new to magic and how they worked in tandem with her knowledge of science, she couldn't afford to do things with a 'wait-and-see' mentality. After all, if the world she was in was a product of someone else's imagination, then damaging it could cause some undesirable side effects. "Then, if I cause damage to it, will it have any lasting effects on it's creator?" There would always be times when she wouldn't have much of a choice, especially during the most dangerous of situations, where it was either her own life or an innocent's, but for now, as long as she had the choice, she wasn't going to harm an innocent person if she could. "It depends. Some worlds are connected to their creators deeply enough that any slight interference could damage both to a significant extent, while some are abandoned by their own creators. For the former, destroying the world could cripple the creator, but in the latter's case, even removing every last trace of the world wouldn't harm the creator by a single sliver. And in your case, the world I've sent you to...It's been abandoned since long ago. To the point that...well, just take a look behind you, and you'll understand." She tilted her head, ever so slightly, and it was only then that she realised the presence of a massive sinkhole on the crest of the mountain behind her. It extended deep into the ground, and the darkness within was unfathomable, even to her lupine eyes. Only a single wooden platform stood at the edges, hanging by a rope. As she approached it, the sense of unease grew. The darkness seemed to be pulling her in, beckoning her to approach and descend. With her newly enhanced sense of smell, she could identify a thick aura of purple fog around the mouth; the smell of strife and death. The wolf ears on her head pricked up, and she managed to detect faint echoes in the air--disembodied voices that went 'come down here'. If she wasn't a fighter, she would have left the place long since. If she hadn't been used to seeing violence, she would have already lost her sanity. Without her confidence in her own abilities, she would never have approached it to begin with. However, she had all three, and in surplus, at that. So whoever thought up this world--whoever brought it's concept into creation--abandoned it long ago, huh. What a pity. Without it's creator here to keep it in check, this pit, this sinkhole, started filling up with negative energy, and gradually became twisted to this extent, when it could have been a place filled with wonderful mysteries, akin to a certain rabbit hole...What a waste. Of course, even as she lamented the loss of a potentially great creation, she couldn't bring herself to hate whoever abandoned it, to begin with, for two reasons. Firstly, it wasn't her world, so it's connection to her wasn't that strong, and secondly, she understood perfectly. The reason why the world before her had been left to it's own. The landscape and the surroundings...They're so peaceful. Quiet, undisturbed, untouched...The way nature should have been. Even though it was winter, the harshness of the chilling wind was mellowed by the gentleness of the falling snowflakes. Rather than a place where humans found it difficult to survive, it resembled a winter wonderland. A perfectly preserved, natural winter landscape. As she observed, she recalled a specific report that she had glanced through in the past. A report that investigated the relationship between the nature of a writer, and the quality of their written work. Right now, the exact line of reasoning could be applied to the creator, and the created world. To have thought up such an ideal...Whoever imagined it must have been in their younger years, when their thinking was still on the more optimistic side. This world was meant to reflect an ideal reality, huh? She couldn't help but to shake her head in sorrow, having guessed at the truth. And as that person grew older, whoever it was, they saw the ugly face of reality, and thus lost their faith in what they had imagined to be the ideal...which resulted in this world being thrown away and left to it's own...Leading to this pit that has appeared right here. A gathering point for all of the negativity. The girl gave one final, regretful look at the pit, before shaking her head to clear off her thoughts, once again setting her sights on the group that was slowly approaching. Well, first things first. I'm here to achieve something, so the other things can wait until later. Meanwhile... She studied her palms, and then her forearms, scrutinizing her thin yet muscular limbs. Her tail swished back and forth, brushing aside the snow on the ground. "I wonder if I inherited a wolf's ability to stalk their targets?" 20 Minutes Later "Hey, hurry up with the sacrifices! We're already behind schedule!" There had been a makeshift camp set up on the outer fringes of the pit. The interior of the camp was a flurry of motion; knights were hurrying about, carrying what seemed to be carts of food to and fro, piling them up near the hanging wooden platform. The one shouting the orders was a potbellied man that looked more like a pig than a human. He was just plainly grotesque, there was no other way to describe him. In fact, the only thing that separated him from the identity of a 'cannon fodder' was the cloak draped across his shoulders; something that only a high-ranking person would be able to wear. "What about the offerings, Commander?" "Just toss them in along with the sacrifices! We don't have the time to separate them out nicely! Or do you want to be the one standing here, organizing them into neat piles?" Under the glare of the pi--the Commander, the knight that actually went to ask a reasonable question withered, and shrunk back. Meanwhile, the other knights went to herd the group of chained beastmen, bringing them over by pushing them with the points of their spears, as the beastkin snarled and made attempts to lunge at them. "Doing this is just...Somehow, even though they are mere beasts, this feels undeniably cruel." One of the knights mumbled as he poked a beastman with his spear, causing his comrade to reach in, and give him a resounding smack on the helmet. "Stop thinking about it, and you'll be fine. Otherwise, this much will end up crushing you later. Just think of them as animals like the cows and chickens that we eat, understood?" With that, the knights successfully got the last of the beastmen onto the edge of the sinkhole, just before the suspended wooden platform. Upon another order from the Commander, they forced the beastmen to start boarding the wooden platform, which slowly begun sinking into the gloom. From a forested area nearby, a girl was watching all of those proceedings, bit by bit. "Huh, that's interesting. Sacrifices and offerings...So that's how they prevent the darkness from spilling out onto the surface, eh. Well, that's good to know." A hundred out of a hundred people would have fled upon seeing her expression. "...So they were like this even back then. How utterly disgusting. But again, I should have expected this sooner, shouldn't I. That some of us, no matter the time and age, will just end up becoming absolute pieces of trash. Utter wastes of space and oxygen. Honestly, they should just all go and die." In the shadows of the dense vegetation, the harshness of the winter wind only served to make the girl's expression even more menacing. The glint of her eyes, against the backdrop of the disappearing sun, dyed her face in rusty-red streaks. Just like splotches of blood, fading out with the light. "...Oops, can't have them running before I even make a move. In that case, to keep this place minor-friendly..." When she grinned, the exposed teeth were jagged, and wickedly sharp, nothing like the rectangular molars of human beings. As night time descended, her lupine half begun taking over, altering her appearance. "I should directly attack the camp...if I wanted to die early, that is. Let the death row prisoners have a few more hours to write their wills and say their prayers, eh?" All in all, the girl that was currently perched atop the branches of an evergreen resembled more of a demon than a human. In fact, it was a miracle that her eyes weren't glowing red, nor were there horns growing out of her temples. Still, the group before her had already, in her opinion, signed off their death warrants, including the commander. No, especially the commander. One would usually expect people with more authority to make better decisions, but honestly, the commander was the most incompetent in the whole of the bad lot. Seriously, how did someone that incompetent managed to become a Commander? A Knight-Commander, no less! Which idiot assigned him that position? Still, even idiots had their uses, in her book. Mainly because they tended to either be easily influenced and naïve, or they were foolishly determined to do the wrong thing. The commander that was in her field of vision fulfilled both. Let's see how much you'll be laughing after tonight. The Camp, Knight-Commander's Tent "Bwahahaha! Drink more! More!" "Cheers!" "To the Kingdom! Hahaha!" In contrast to the other tents outside, which were set up in a hurry, and resembled more of blankets tied to sticks, the tent in the centre was brightly coloured, and even had fortifications dug around it. Within the tent came boisterous merrymaking noises. If one were to peek inside, they would see nothing but a scene of feasting, people stuffing themselves with food. On the other hand, the knights that were standing outside, on guard for enemies... Wow, that must suck. A certain girl was leaning against the trunk of a sturdy tree, munching on an apple, as she observed the camp from nearly 500 metres away. Unlike the knights that were shivering in the harsh wind, she appeared to be completely unaffected by the biting frost. Well, after all the troubles that it's brought to me, if there weren't any benefits in exchange, I would have gone berserk. Having a wolf's adaptability towards harsh weather sure makes this a lot easier. As for those guys out there...well, too bad~ It's true that she was sympathetic, since she knew the feeling of being frozen over very well, but in this case, she wasn't going to offer the slightest bit of assistance, mainly due to one fact. "Commander, all the sacrifices have been sent down into the pit! We've completed it on time!" Even as the last batch of beastmen were forced down the platform, being sent to their deaths, the knights did nothing except to cheer at completing their task. There wasn't the slightest bit of guilt over sending so many beings to their death, in fact, if there was any reaction, it was to throw a massive party in the commander's tent. After she had watched all of that from afar...It didn't matter to her that some of them were hesitant, and some felt guilty. To her, all of them had already fallen under the same category of 'trash'. Any traces of pity she might have felt at the ones unfortunate enough to be outside were merely traces; She wasn't going to make any exceptions. "Let's see...I doubt any of the people here have heard about 'Shock and Awe' tactics. I'll go with explosions normally, since it's a better scare tactic, but there isn't any gunpowder or sulphur here, so that plan is ruined." The alternative was fire, but firstly, it was winter, so the fire wouldn't really be that effective, and secondly, it just didn't have that 'shock' factor to it. Fire was scary, but not really a threat, even on a regular day. "...Something that can shock without giving away my own position...Tch, is there anything here that will suit that purpose? Anything at all?" She was still holding on to some of the supplies that she had initially been summoned with...And none of them were of any help. I mean, a pepper bottle could do lots of damage to people that haven't seen it before, but-- "Wait, 'that' could work." --Sure enough, she came up with a great plan for distraction. With some twine, the magnet that she fortunately kept, and the pepper shaker...The resulting product ended up looking really weird. The pepper shaker was tied to the front of the magnet and held in place with twine. It would be really amazing if it worked; with an extremely large 'if'. At the same time, it would be utterly hilarious if it failed, because the chances of succeeding can't even be referred to as 'miniscule'. Also, it would be making history in it's own right. "I don't think anyone there has experienced breathing in a cloud of pepper powder, so this should be good; I apologise for what I'm about to do beforehand. Now...eat this!" Gripping the small bundle in her hand similar to how one would hold a baseball, she extended her arms backwards, and threw. The ensuring projectile flew swiftly in a straight line, veering slightly to the right--And struck a guard right in his face. Even worse, since he happened to be taking a breath of fresh air, his helmet visor was opened, and the contents of the broken shaker spilled right into his face. There was a brief lull as the pepper got to work, and then-- "ACHOO!" The one-in-a-million odds paid off, as the affected guard let go of his spear for a few brief moments to rub his swollen eyes--and immediately doubled over, retching. A fist was lodged deeply into his stomach, and that fist was connected to a certain person. Someone who seemed to be exceptionally pleased. "Oh hey, this isn't so bad once you get used to it. In fact, this kind of reflexes would do wonders for close-quarters fighting. Although, the adaptation process sure took quite a long time, but hey, I got some unexpected rewards out of it, so it was quite worth the trade in the end." [Your control over your Lupine form has increased over 50%. From now on, you can toggle between human and wolf forms at will.] [You risked an important decision completely on chance, and succeeded. Gained title: Gambler. Effects: When leaving decisions up to fate, they become slightly more likely to succeed.] Being able to actually control her strength was a great thing, but the additional title came as a pleasant surprise; True, having more power makes it easier to do things, but no matter how much power one has, there's always a significant chance of failing. On the other hand, having that title meant that the odds of her succeeding would be increased. Most importantly, that title went along quite well with her nature. "You don't believe that there's any point to life, and therefore you do things out of interest rather than out of results. If you had to decide, you would rather leave it all up to happenstance, wouldn't you? That's a nihilist if I ever saw one." [Librarian has the qualities of a realist mixed with those of a pessimist. Gained title: Nihilist. Effects: Your lack of drive to do the things you aren't interested in renders you immune to crowd control magic and the like. Charm magic, mind-controlling magic all fail to affect you.] Both of them were the Library speaking, but the embodiment of the Library, Rufilia, was much blunter with her words than her system counterpart. As a result, she had gained a title that she didn't really want, but the effects were good enough that it made her reconsider. Although, when all of her passive effects and personal parameters were added together, it posed quite a bit of a problem. Mostly because her status looked something like this: Name: ??? Race: Wolf Beastkin Class: ??? STR: C AGI: B+ DEF: C- VIT: D+ INT: B She didn't have enough STR to focus fully on offensive, but her VIT was high enough to clear her from the category of a [Glass Cannon]. However, her DEF values didn't quite meet the requirements to become a [Bullet Sponge], but her overall parameters were specialized enough to avoid being labelled as a [Jack-Of-All-Trades]. Therefore, after taking her newfound passive abilities into consideration: My ability parameters are everywhere...This could end up really badly if I don't start taking steps to modify them immediately. Therefore, the moment she had been given the [Nihilist] title, she had already came up with a plan, with regards to how her combat style was going to be like. First came her background in martial arts. She wasn't going to give that up so easily. Second was her AGI values, the highest one among all of her parameters. Last was [Nihilist] which granted resistance to status and crowd control effects. By combining those three, she arrived at a conclusion: Hit and run tactics...Those aren't my forte, but I presume that I'll have to suck it up and roll with it this time. After all, it's not as if my forcefully changed race has any relation to--wait a minute, now that I'm able to think of it without panicking, wolves...what were their general characteristics again? Territorial animals that lived and hunted in a pack, but also had the skills required to survive alone, if it ever came to that. That was the information she had gained from an encyclopaedia from so long ago, and yet it unearthed itself from the veritable pile of facts in her head, and resurfaced at that very moment. More of an agile fighter than a brawler...check. Was equipped with skills to survive alone...check. Melee combatant...check. What the heck? Racial traits actually affected the way my parameters would develop? Even as she reeled from this revelation, she conveniently forgot that personality was very important for defining race. Before all that mess had happened, her living habits were already similar to that of a wolf. Solitary and utilitarian. Those subconscious habits had been the one that guided her back then, not the force of some unexplainable magic. By the time she had finished this inner monologue, the other guards had already been dispatched, knocked out and unmoving. She didn't kill anyone yet; mostly because she didn't have any ropes or something to muffle any dying screams. In fact, the fact that the brief melee at the entrance didn't attract any undue attention was already quite fortunate, even though she was more than prepared to fight the whole camp in one sitting. Her objective here was to get used to her newfound abilities. That had been achieved. Therefore, returning to the Library immediately would be the natural thing to do, except for a few events. Firstly, what would she do with the guards? Secondly, what about the beastmen that had been sent down into that fell pit? Both seemed like potential sources of profit, now that she thought about it. Plus, her schedule wasn't exactly brimming with things to do. "Ehhh, I guess I'll go down there and take a peek at what's below. These guys, in the meantime, can take a really good nap. After all, I'll just have to alleviate them of their duties. Not that much of a hassle to do." Grinning, she piled up all the fainted guards and left them on the floor, arranged in weird patterns. After that, she walked about the fringes of the camp quietly, stopping at each corner to do something. "Done. Although I don't think anyone here knows the meaning of S.O.S. by a long shot, at least this posture will help them sleep better." Having settled her matters on the surface, she headed for the wooden platform which had just risen back up the surface, and gently stepped onto it, descending into the darkness. As soon as she had left, the encampment collapsed, the tents sinking into the ground, as the earth swallowed the whole of the camp, burying the merrymaking people alive. Any traces of there having once been a camp were gone, including the guards that had been knocked out and left there. In a sense, being buried alive was a much more horrible fate than being killed directly. "Seriously, don't camp at weird areas that you have no control over. You never know what might happen there. Although, it's interesting how the immediate area's ground was sentient."