Ch 11: The Forgotten Library

“This is it,” Hiro remarked. The vociferous crowd blaring, vibrating through the walls.

“Yeah,” Ace replied, with a sharp inhale, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

                                                                               ***

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, elves, dwarves, and beasts alike! Welcome to the one— the only—FORGOTTEN LIBRARY!!!” The booming voice was hearty, overflowing with enthusiasm.

“I hope you’ve placed your Zen because this year the roster is as large as ever! We have returning favourites!

Shell, the golden child prodigy and ever-mysterious Captain of the Phoenix Spearhead, and

Saint, the fabled Dragon Slayer, the Sword Sage of the Nexus Legion!

Will we see another epic battle like last year? Stay tuned to find out!

Without further ado, here we go!”

Hiro had left Ace with one final warning. To avoid Saint and Shell at all costs. Though Hiro himself did not know what these dangerous individuals looked like. So, without visual descriptions of the two, the warning was of no help to him at all. Practically useless. 

With all eyes now watching over the participants, the spectacle had begun. With both Ace and Hiro scattered somewhere in the maze, they had one goal in mind. Surviving and getting scouted by one of the big three.

Reality itself shifted before Ace’s eyes. The air around him distorted in and out of shape before consuming him entirely—a brief second of floating followed by the creak of the
burly wood now beneath him.

I’m finally here. Standing in the Forgotten Library.

Undergoing gruesome training, Ace felt like the past week was a never-ending eternity of suffering. Somehow, the novelty of being thrown into a dungeon of traps and ancient monsters felt more relaxing—for now anyway.

A mystical gold glow blanketed the towering walls, stacked with bookshelves upon bookshelves. It was as if even the air itself was enchanted. Ace walked forward, spinning around to take in the entire scene. The magical glow made everything captivating, like the world regaining the colour it once had when he was a child. In place of a ceiling was a map of constellations, sparkling particles interconnected, shining through an ink-blue backdrop.

Breath-taking. Streams of pages meandered through the atmosphere, carrying the sound of crinkling paper. Endless shelves rammed full of books flooded Ace’s vision with colour. There was a grand archway at the end of the large room, decorated with intricate patterns and detailing. Ace found himself suddenly thoughtless. Entirely in the moment—taking it all in. He traced his fingers along the stems of the books as he walked. Ornamented with jewels, embroidered with runes, some were aged and leathery. In contrast, others were smooth, as if they had been delicately preserved in pristine condition for centuries. Each tome brimming with the invaluable history of the world’s long-forgotten secrets.

The minor dents and scratches on the floor and walls told stories of daring past adventurers who had walked through these very halls in search of ancient magic and wisdom. It was inscrutable to think that even in the next hundred years, Ace would also be one of them —a small, insignificant being compared to the thousands of years of accumulated history garnered in these halls.

Part of him wanted to forget whatever was going on and pick up a book, becoming completely immersed in its wondrous world—packed with mysteries and secrets.
He strolled through the opulent archway, continuing to a…dead end?

Hah. I know what’s happening here. It’s one of those secret entrances where one of the books are a hidden switch.

Ace carefully examined the books he could reach, pulling and pushing them ever so gently.

Surely it’s not on one of the higher bookshelves, how was anyone ever going to reach them?

Catching a glint of light in the corner of his eye, Ace turned.

There, planted before him was a stunning auburn staircase, lit from the glow of candlelight.

Eh?

With his arm raised, scratching his head, Ace stared into space.

Hiro really wasn’t joking when he said shifting rooms. I didn’t sense a thing.

Turning back around to the wall of books, he—oop.

A large, circular room, with all its walls formed by bookshelves. Filled with a suspicious amount of open space, at its heart, a lavish pedestal rested, flaunting a book. Its cover was a deep-galaxy blue. Quite literally. It wasn’t static; the small white stars seemed to float across its surface.

Woah. It’s a texture pack in real life.

Without hesitation, Ace advanced forward, reaching for the starry cover and wondering how the material would feel against his fingertips.

Just before entering his grasp, the pedestal shot up into the sky.

A tail?

The long limb unfurled before whipping with a snap.

THOOM!!!

Like a rock from a slingshot, Ace was pelted, smashing through the wall of books.

Paper flakes and pages rained down.

Squinting through the gaps between the sheets, an entanglement of royal purple limbs —tentacles thrashed around. Wooden fragments protruded from the ground with each beat of its drumming, destroying the hardwood flooring.

Dusting the sawdust from his cloak, Ace got back to his feet. A tender pain jabbed at his shoulder.

This was it. Precisely what he had been training for. He snatched his rifle from its holster, the soul of the fridge cheering him on.

That’s right. This is for all the Bocari Sweets I now drink warm. Oh, and of course, Hiro is probably kicking ass in this dungeon of winding corridors somewhere, too. Can’t let him leave me in the dust. Not until I slam his smug face into the ground.

With his left hand, Ace grabbed a bright periwinkle rune stone from his belt.

Here goes nothing.

The crystal collapsed under his grip, emitting a chime. Sparkling cerulean particles forming runes glittered around him, pulsing with light, radiating with aether. The world slowed down before Ace. A feeling he compared to his field of view increasing in a game.

That’s it. I'm calling it a potion, I mean, a crystal of swiftness.

Ace darted forward, the colossal winding tentacles casting a shadow over him.

THWOOM!
THWOOM!
THWOOM!

Ace weaved in between the enormous limbs as they came crashing down.

There. A gap.

He slid through the onslaught, cloak sweeping against the wooden floor. Now, right beneath the centre, Ace pointed his rifle vertically into the bottom of the tangle of limbs.

A winding—like an engine whirring. The muzzle of the gun formed a ball of energy around it, a blinding neon yellow charging up. Then, a funnel of lightning burst upwards, penetrating through the flesh. Out the other side, the lightning flared outwards, engulfing the room in neon yellow, streaked with sprays of blood.

The crowd exploded in a deafening cheer, though Ace couldn’t hear it.

The colour drained from the monster's corpse before fading out of existence.

In its place was the star-strewn book, glowing with a new value from Ace’s triumphant victory.

The book disappeared as he touched it.

Level 2 Tome Acquired.

As Ace took a sigh of relief, he slotted his rifle back in its holster.

Abruptly, an intense throbbing pain caused Ace to reach for his head.

A migraine? Now of all times? Ah, I could so do with a cold Bocari Sweet right about now…