Aeriliya took note on the way down that the steps were made of a smooth wood. It wasn’t new, but it was in good condition. Implying either this part of the library was new, or important enough that letting it fall into disrepair wasn’t allowed. At the end of the staircase was a seemingly open doorway. The half elf woman held up her hand and the red outline of a magic lock appeared in front of her. Simply twisting her hand to the side, the lock undid itself and she moved forward. As soon as the two women stepped over the threshold, the magic lock reformed itself over the doorway before once more becoming invisible.
“Only those who are part of the library can get in here. But even they have to open the lock before going in or out. No exceptions.”
“And what happens if someone who isn’t tries their luck?”
“Either they would be locked in here until we let them out or whatever they try to take would burst into flames”, the Scholar said with a frown. Clearly the loss of even hidden knowledge didn’t appeal to her.
Walking down a corridor with the ball of light leading the way, they came to a gate, flanked by two suits of armor. Without pausing the half elf woman continued walking forward and the gate simply opened in front of her. Above them, there was an unlit chandelier that Barya loosed a knot on the wall to lower. Lighting a match and eventually all the candles, she lifted the fixture back up high, revealing just how large the room was. While not as high vaulted or seemingly endless as the upstairs, there were rows upon rows of shelves, each with impersonal looking spines. The boring uniformity of it all either contained something as mundane as a manifest or potentially harmful like an exhaustive record of a human being Corrupted. And with the chandelier only providing so much light, it gave the impression that the underground records just kept going.
Leading her to a bookshelf, every bit as innocuous as the rest, Barya led Aeriliya to a section with only half the shelf filled. Holding up her hand, little balls of light appeared in front of certain books that drifted down and formed neatly into a pile.
“These right here are what we have on the man you’re seeking. If you think you need anything else, just ask and I will obtain the needed permissions.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Taking the stack of record books and piling them on top of the table directly underneath the chandelier. Staring at the blank cover of the record in front of her, Aeriliya almost felt like she was condemning herself. As if she were about to slather herself in entrails and start running around a pack of untamed land dragons. But those words from the disturbed soldier in the Judge’s office kept coming back to her.
“The past has come to kill us all”, she recalled, “The Hatchet Man intends to finish his work.”
She knew she was going to hate the answers she found, but answers were what she needed. Flipping to the first page: War, life’s constant companion and natural enemy. Every nation dreads and yet thirsts for war. And in this way, no greater example exists than the Demon Wars; An event that occurs when all the evil in a generation reaches its zenith.
Demons, while a peculiar existence are not a natural one, but they are undeniably a part of this world’s being. Born as the result of a person’s improper idealism and misappropriated use of magic abilities, the destructive potential for a demon is frighteningly diverse. And for as terrifying as these demons can be, the gods didn’t abandon us by giving us a way to combat them, the twelve summoned heroes. Brought into this world from parts unknown and imbued with the blessing from one of the twelve gods each, they have proved instrumental in the prevention of this world’s subjugation and its subsequent reparations.
It had been over ten months worth of fighting against the demon king Muma ‘ Iru Rabasa Du’ ‘Umis. The various races had formed the customary confederacy of alliances to fight against the threat but few victories compounded by gradual loss of ground grew with the passing months. Summoning the heroes was a foregone conclusion, but we had hoped to do so when the situation was less volatile and we would have more time to familiarize the heroes with their new world and their abilities. But on January 7th, during the 41st year of the reign of Emperor Aquila Rathbourn, there came a highly perplexing event. Several hours after all the heroes were summoned, about two hours past midnight, the summoning runes in the temple of the holy city of Acolynia acted of their own accord.
There were two witnesses to the event, composed of the guards for the summoning room. While waiting for guard change, the sound of activating magic was heard. Unable to open the door, as once they are shut, they cannot be opened until after the summoning is complete. After the room was silent again, the guards found a man standing in the activated runic circle. The man who was marked to become the world’s thirteenth summoned hero.
