The Man followed behind The Husk quietly as they ascended the tower. In an impossibly smooth and silent way, the Husk walked past several doors, some locked, some not until finally stopping. The door that stood before them was no different than any other in the tower. All of the doors in the tower matched the aesthetic and quality of the entrance on the first floor. Each hid the contents of the room beyond without fail, each stronger than anyone would think necessary.
The Husk reached forward and placed it's wrapped hand upon the door and holding it against the black surface for a moment before turning to The Man and speaking. "You should be able to open the door. Proceed inside." The Husk rasped a command while stepping to the side of the door.
The Man's face showed that he had his doubts about the method used to unlock the door. From his perspective, The Husk had not actually touched the clearly visible keyhole, nor had he detected the presence of any magic being used to unlock the door either. Nevertheless, he chose to at least try and open the door before voicing these doubts. The Man placed his hand upon the nob of the door and attempted to turn it. Expecting that, like the first time he tried, for the door to be locked. To his marginal surprise, the nob of the door turned with ease, as if it had just been oiled the day prior.
The Man pushed on the newly unlocked door with bated breath. Every interaction with The Husk had been bizarrely profitable in one way or another. The magical guidebook on their first meeting was valuable to anyone. While the information on the war the second time they met had not been entirely useful, it had strengthened The Man's resolve to get stronger and learn more about magic. The location of this tower was almost priceless to The Man. Even the research he'd been tasked with had served to deepen his understanding of mana and show him how to use it more efficiently in the spells he knew. With this thought in mind, he had little doubt that the room's contents would follow the pattern.
Time slowed around The Man. His heartbeat echoed in his ears, slowing with each inch that the door crept along its curved path, his hand placed on the door felt limp and weak, failing to accelerate the action as he so desired. The moment seemed designed to test him, his patience, his desire, his strength, everything. And the further the door swung, the more the anticipation of The Man grew, and so to did his fear. Nothing could be seen in the room beyond the doorway. In a manner unlike that of The Husk's face, space ended. The floor of the landing stopped, and in place of what should have been a room, was endless placid darkness. Yet, The Man pushed the door further.
Finally, when everything appeared to still completely. When The Man felt his own heartbeat come to a halt and his arm felt so heavy that it would fall from his shoulder. At the instant, his emotions reached a peak, and he felt like the room never existed, and the truth was that he lay dead in the hall, time snapped back into place. His blood resumed its journey through his veins, strength returned to his arm, and the empty darkness cleared and left the room beyond the door clearly visible.
"Are these what I think they are?" The Man said wondrously while gazing into the room.
"Yes, each is a guide like the one I gave you upon our first meeting." The Husk''s rasping voice came from behind The Man.
On the other side of the door was a library, much like the one The Man used as a study Almost every shelf was utterly filled with near-identical tomes of black leather with ornate gold inlay. Every shelf sat just above the tops of the books beneath, leaving just enough space for one to fit a finger. It was as if the books had been written first, then the shelves assembled to accommodate them. All the spots were filled, except one, in the top left, sat a single empty place. A spot that the Husk moved towards, while The Man stood with his gaze fixed on the tomes in front of him.
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"There's so many. I don't know where to start." The Man said with the same tone of wonder as his gaze drifted across the tomes.
Pulling a single tome from the shelf, The Husk spoke. "They were meant to be read in order. You posses the first," The Husk lifted the book in its hand toward The Man. "This is the second."
The Man took the tome from The Husk's extended hand and began skimming through the pages. While a quarter of the first volume had been dedicated to teaching the art of mana manipulation, and only then did it switch to the pursuit of specific spells. The entirety of the tome in his hands had been filled with spell after spell, each visibly more complicated than the last, and with difficulty, rose the apparent danger for the target of the spell.
Before he made it halfway through the available pages, The Man stopped and pulled a small sheet of parchment from his pocket, and held it to the pages. He looked between the book and the note for some time before looking up and speaking.
"It's the same handwriting. The note you left in the entrance, and this book, it's the same script. But it doesn't match the first book." The Man said hurriedly while holding up the note and the book toward's The Husk.
"HAHAHAHA." For the first time that day, The Husk's terrifying voice took on the same ethereal horror it had held in their previous meetings. "You noticed that so much faster than I thought you would. I didn't think you'd hold onto that letter for so long." The Husk's voice dropped it's ever-present nature as he spoke, returning to a more directional sound with each word.
The Man had frozen at the laughter of The Husk. The Sudden shift in presence having stalled his mind with the fright that husks' were famous for. Seeing this, The Husk raised his bandaged hand and snapped his fingers in front of The Man's face.
"Come on back, Boy." The Husk rasped while The Man shook away his fear-induced stupor.
After clearing away the fear a little bit, The Man spoke the questions that now filled his mind.
"Did you write these? And, if you did, why did you have me do that research? I mean, anyone who can write these books," The Man gestured to the shelves. "Should have an incredible understanding of mana."
"Boy, what makes husks' so dangerous?" The Husk rasped a question while moving to sit on the desk that was against the wall.
"What does that have to do with anything?" The Man said, confusion written clearly across his face.
"Everything." If the rasping voice of The Husk could have a tone, then right now, it would have been rather, matter of fact. "My kind cannot bring mana or spirit into our bodies. Everything we are capable of is a product of our physiology, nothing more." The Husk produced the small gem that The Man had created before continuing. "Before you made this, the act of using magic would have killed me in a rather explosive manner" Grasping the stone tightly, causing it to vanish between the wrappings on its hand, The Husk finished speaking. "While not a permanent end, such a fate would be quite a setback for me. So, I choose to avoid it."
"So, you wrote all of these books, so someone could make it possible for you to use magic? If that's the case, why bother showing the rest of these books to me? I already gave you what you wanted, right?" The Man questioned.
"You're starting down the right line of thought." The Husk said while standing up and moving toward The Man.
"Starting?" The Man asked, his internal tension rising.
While passing beside The Man, The Husk started speaking.
"I will give you a hint. The mana stone is not my goal, merely a little bonus along the way." After speaking, The Husk moved toward the still open door and spoke again. "You might want to start reading, I imagine there are several lifetimes of knowledge in this room." The Husk gestured to the shelves in the room.
"If you need me, do call. Otherwise, I will return in ten years to check on your progress." The Husk rasped while standing in the doorway. "Don't neglect the research tasks too much during this time. We both know you can produce better results." With those final words, The Husk disappeared through the open door, leaving no sign that he'd even been there.