Valerie and Samantha sat at a gnarled wooden table, steaming cups of tea set before them while a frantic Albert searched through bookshelves and muttered to himself. It had taken a monumental amount of pleading to convince the huntress and her compatriot to stay, but Albert knew he couldn’t pass up this chance. A one in a million opportunity, the man thought to himself, he would be a fool to not answer when fate came knocking. After a frenzied back forth consisting of Albert stacking books next to the table, hurriedly reading the contents and then tossing the reference aside he eventually sat down in front of the confused girls gasping for breath and dabbing at his forehead with a handkerchief. Samantha offered her cold and untouched cup of tea to the man which he graciously accepted, downing the contents in a single gulp. Finally ready, the elf tried to meet Samantha’s curious gaze but was forced to look elsewhere, his eyes refusing to stay locked onto the girl. He broke out into a wild laugh that only further befuddled his guests.
“It’s true! I thought it may be an exaggeration or attempt to appear more, oh what do they call it nowadays? Edgy? Yes edgy! But that’s not the case for you my dear, you have it! You truly have it!”
The excited man said between breaths, his ecstatic tone doing nothing to assure the girls they were in a safe environment. Sensing the unease, Albert stifled his enthusiasm and coughed awkwardly. Placing his hands on the table, he addressed his guests with all the confidence and equanimity he could muster.
“My dears I must apologise for my outbursts, I admit I am truly taken aback and could not help myself. As well as a librarian running this fine establishment, I am a scholar by trade and make it my mission to learn all I can when I can especially when it comes to topics no one has ever covered before.”
The librarian went on to explain some of his many research papers the majority of which focused on the dull to the pointless. In one dissertation he wrote on frogs’ legs, not their taste or suitability as a delicacy, but on how many leaps a frog can make within a single lifetime and if their legs deteriorate from these jumps or continue to develop allowing for increased height and distance. Neither girl was interested in the topic as evidenced by their one-word answers and lack of engagement. Undeterred, Albert explained his current fascination: aspects.
“What are they truly? Where do they come from? What everyday applications can they be used for? I have spent years studying this topic and learning all I can yet every day I feel I am no further forward in answering the greater questions. Then, you come waltzing in through my door.”
He said to Samantha, his voice quivering with barely contained energy. The topics of aspects had indeed been thoroughly investigated and examined over the countless years they have existed. That being said, no one knew where they came from exactly and could only speculate with the most common explanation being they were gifts from the divine. It was a simple solution the elder librarian acknowledged but was never truly happy with. ‘Why settle for half measures or easy answers?’ was his mentality. Thus, he studied the phenomenon as best he could and with the little resources available to him which were considerably lacking. As were living case studies, the man nor any of his known associates possessed an aspect and very few revealed as much unless forced or obliged to, such as those in positions of power. Having an individual appear out of nowhere who openly admits to owning such a power and a unique one at that was the sort of silver plater he could not refuse or send back to the kitchen.
“Miss… Samantha, you are a rare specimen possessing a talent I would very much like to study. With your permission ofcourse, I would hate to impose but at the same time must beseech you for the sake of furthering our understanding on powers we have only scratched the surface of.”
Although his voice was earnest and the look in his eye seemed genuine, the huntress was apprehensive to believe another set of convenient lies. She turned to her friend with a raised eyebrow, it was ultimately her decision to make but surely, Samantha wouldn’t take this whack job seriously. They barely said a word to the elf and he was ready to fall to his knees before them. Well before her, but they were a package deal and if she was going to get her boots kissed then Valerie definitely wasn’t missing out. The shadow user was never one for long thought processes, she didn’t have the time nor the need when death was so close at hand. To her if a there was an experience to be had she might as well do it, no matter if it was leaping off a cliff or becoming a test subject for a fat elf.
“Okay.”
Both the huntress and librarian sat back in surprise utterly baffled at Samantha’s quick acceptance. Albert had been cooking up numerous offers and promises to persuade the mysterious girl. He couldn’t offer riches, but he would gift the clothes off his back if that’s what it took. The fact it didn’t relieved, confused, befuddled and perplexed the man so much so he had to be sure.
“Are… are you certain? You don’t even know why I want to research your power. I can explain if you like?”
In truth he spent so long faffing about just to give himself time to come up with a sales pitch and a part of him wanted that effort not to go to waste. Samantha shrugged and nodded for the elf to proceed while Valerie still reeled at the odd turn of events. Coughing awkwardly, Albert directed both of his guest’s attention to a shelf in the corner of his library.
“That whole bookshelf contains records, details and research papers on some of the known aspects in the world today and the one next to it holds yet more documents. This is a small library I’ll grant you, but my collection is anything if not up to date.”
The pair of bookshelves could accurately be estimated to be less than one percent of the total research done on the greatest mystery of the world. If the elf wanted to dedicate himself entirely to the topic, he would need a continent spanning chain of libraries to cover every single paper ever published or tome which directly discusses the topic. The librarian tapped a shaky hand against a book on the table, drawing his guest’s attention back to him, as he slid it towards them.
“This right here, this one book, is the only tome in this entire library with any details on the Aspect of Shadow. It is a fictional re-telling of a man believed to have possessed the aspect. A man we cannot prove existed.”
The book in question had a questionably provocative cover with a partially shirtless man draped in a dark robe. It was barely thicker than a pencil and was the authors first and only publication before they disappeared into obscurity. Whether that was due to some malevolent forces or shame at penning such a trashy novel was up for debate.
“Within this world there are many aspects for all manner of weapons, tools, elements and concepts but few, VERY few, have ever wielded the Aspect of Shadow. My fellows within the academia are baffled as to why as almost all other Aspects have had at the very least a handful of users. It does not matter what training you undergo, who your parentage is or how badly you desire it, next to no one has achieved what you possess my dear.”
Albert enunciated each word carefully ensuring the weight of Samantha’s situation was beyond any doubt. He then delivered the coup de grâce with expert showmanship.
“Samantha, you have a gift, one I would imagine few know anything about, yet many would covet. As such, you have the chance of a lifetime to help advance our knowledge on the many mystical powers that make up our world and I ask you with all the sincerity and hope in my heart to help your fellow man.”
Valerie stared at the man and resisted the urge to vomit. He sounded just like Sikandar, all sweet words trying to get exactly what he wanted while returning nothing in kind. Gripping her friend’s shoulder with a might too much force she turned her in her chair so they were facing away from the librarian in a half huddle. Whispering quietly so as not to be overheard, Valerie tried confirm they were both on the same page.
“Samantha please tell me you are thinking what I am thinking here?”
By which she meant; tell this freak to take a hike, flip over his table, rob him blind and then run for the hills. This library was a bust and it was better to cut their losses and run before either of them ended up on a dissecting table. The shadow user nodded her head in agreement and gave a quick thumbs up. Slowly twisting back to face Albert, Valerie placed both her palms under the table ready to toss it.
“Apologies Al but I’m afraid we-“
“I’ll do it!”
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Samantha cut in, throwing Valerie like a punch to the gut. Albert meanwhile was overjoyed taking out a pen and paper while scribbling furiously and excitedly asking question after question.
“Wonderful! We must start immediately! Please you must tell me in agonizing detail how did you first achieve your aspect? What skills has it granted? When did you-“
“Hang on, HANG ON!”
The huntress interrupted gripping her friend by the shoulder and turning them away from the intrusive librarian once again.
“Samantha what in the bloody divine are you doing?!”
She half whispered half demanded more accusatory than concern. The calm girl shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know, he seems nice. Reminds me a lot of Papa and I don’t have to answer every question if I don’t want to.”
Valerie gave her friend a hard look, she didn’t exactly like the reasoning but knew how much Samantha’s father meant to her. If she wasn’t saying something outrageous, giggling at the most inappropriate things, or generally being annoying, she would talk about all the things her father taught her before disappearing. If she saw even a fraction of him in this librarian, then who was Valerie to deny her friend?
“Fine, but if I think things are getting too… personal then we are out of here. Understood?”
Samantha nodded giving a thumbs up once again. Sighing dejectedly, the huntress hoped that meant they were on the same page this time. Turning back to the worried librarian, Valerie took the opportunity to extort what they needed out of the man.
“She’ll do it, but you’re going to have to offer us some things as well.”
The huntress stated not caring if her friend disagreed. If she wanted to spill her secrets that’s fine but they could at least squeeze out a few concessions in the meantime. Albert regained his excited demeanour and quickly agreed not taking a second to consider the implications like his muse. Without revealing too many details, Valerie explained her and Samantha’s current situation regarding the non-existent identification papers and their lack of accommodations. The librarian understood their plight having encountered many scared and homeless youths in his long life. He found lodging and did his best to help those unfortunate few get back on their feet whenever he could but there were always those who slipped through the cracks. He assured the girls he was more than happy to help even offering the room above the library that typically served as storage to become their temporary living quarters. As for the documentation, they were in luck as the librarian had a colleague in the local administration that owed him a sizable favour and could arrange for the girls to receive new sets of identification allowing them to enter and exit the city as they pleased. Valerie wasn’t entirely convinced given everything the man promised would take time to bear fruit, but Samantha pressured her friend to accept the offer believing wholeheartedly in the librarian’s words. Thus, a hastily written contract was drawn up and signed, the two illiterates using a drop of blood in place of an actual signature. With the right spell or incantation, it would suffice in proving the documents authenticity should a judge or other governing body be forced to intervene in the event either party broke the agreement. Even so, Albert added free reading and writing lessons for the duo as a signing bonus.
With the formalities taken care of, Albert was given the full tragic story of how Samantha gained the aspect of shadow. Despite her attempts to describe the events with a merry or nostalgic tone, his face morphed into a mask of horror from the dark tale. The librarian took down as many notes as he could even sketching out a rough rendition of Samantha’s vision, a revelation he nearly fell out of his chair at the mention of. A shadow user who had also received a vision from the divine? He was one more outrageous coincidence from dropping to his knees and thanking the gods above for bringing such a gift into his life. Valerie offered little in terms of her own circumstances only piping up to help explain some of Samantha’s more colourful interpretations of events. By the time they were done with the preliminaries it was far into the night and Albert was rubbing away at an ache in his palm, stacks of hastily written notes strewn across the table in a shorthand that would have been ineligible to any but the librarian. Thoroughly interviewed to the point of mental exhaustion, the duo sat awkwardly not sure what to do. That is until a cacophonous rumble that began in Samantha and ended in Valerie signalled yet another problem the pair needed resolving.
“Don’t suppose you have anything to eat in this place?”
The huntress enquired. Albert looked at his guests confused only now realizing the time and that he too was a little peckish.
“Hmmm? Food? Oh yes food, that rights. Uh no, no food in the library. Grubby fingers and all that, don’t want to stain the pages.”
There was nothing worse than finding an old book shoved into a corner with the pages covered in some mysterious food stains in the librarian’s opinion. Tapping his good hand against the table, he debated where to grab a meal at this time of night. He could whip something up back home but today was a special occasion and the two deserved a reward for tolerating his unending questions. The answer suddenly came to him and he snapped his fingers unintentionally making Samantha jealous; she should have asked for lessons on that too during negotiations.
“I’ve got it, Joanne’s! She’s a friend, she has a restaurant just around the corner. Haven’t eaten there in ages but she has some of the best… what do you call it? It doesn’t matter, it’s all meat, meat and more meat. That’s actually the slogan, I helped her come up with it. Wait no, did I?”
The librarian said hurriedly, his brain scrambled from the afternoon’s events. Grabbing his hat and walking cane, he led his new tenants out of the building and down the street to a very busy restaurant. The “slogan” was actually the two-story restaurants name which was prominently displayed on a huge sign with magical stones embedded into the letters making it glow bright in the summer night. Albert cut through the crowd surrounding the establishment receiving a few glares and admonishments as the heavy man barrelled his way towards the kitchen, loudly calling out to his old friend. The duo stood outside the building pretending to not know any elf librarians and idly wondered if they still had time to run for it.
After a minute, Albert returned with the owner, proprietor and head chef Joanne who had to duck under her own doorframe to exit. Joanne Willow, as it turned out, was a seven-foot-tall mountain of a woman with deep scars visible along her fur covered arms and an eye patch covering up the scar from her missing ocular organ. She was a beast man, or beast woman to be more exact, who looked like someone took a black-furred wolf stood on its hind legs, mixed it with a body building super model and draped it in a ‘Kiss the cook’ apron. Craning their necks to look at the larger-than-life chef, both monster hunters were suddenly and inexplicably hit with a single thought to best describe the beast woman: buxom. Ironically Joanne had wanted to name her restaurant ‘The Buxom Wolf’ but ran into legal troubles learning the name was already trademarked by a brothel on the other side of town. The head chef stood tall over the monster hunting pair, judging them with her one good eye, her gaze fell on Samantha and remained there unwavering.
“You. Is that my cousin you’re wearing over your shoulders?”
The giant woman said in a voice that could make fire freeze in place. She crouched low coming inches away from Samantha’s face and nodded to the Duvolf pelt still draped over her shoulders. The accused girl could feel hot breath against her and tugged at the fur before answering as innocent as a newborn.
“Is it? He’s pretty warm.”
Joanne’s eye grew wide, and she let out a laugh that howled into the night.
“HA HA HA! I like you girl; you got guts, and you make my skin crawl like it hasn’t in years.”
She turned her head and looked over the huntress next. Joanne grinned, exposing her canine teeth in a not so friendly jagged smile, upon noticing the girl gripping her sheathed blade, not a shake or quiver to be found.
“And you… you’re alright hehehe.”
Rising back to her full height, Joanne gestured for the pair to come inside.
“Any friend of Albert is a friend of mine! Come on in and eat to your hearts content!”
Turning back to her restaurant she ignored the annoyed looks of waiting customers as she disappeared under the door frame again. Samantha unabashedly followed behind Albert and the beast woman while Valerie slowly eased her grip on her weapon and stepped into the dining establishment. Crossing the threshold, both monster hunters were both struck by the all-encompassing smell of cooked meats as filled their nostrils. The delicious scent of meat grilling, frying, smoking, searing, stewing, roasting and so much more latched onto their hungry minds. Both Valerie and Samantha’s mouths watered and a ravenous hunger unlike anything they had ever felt seized all control. Joanne guided the pair plus Albert to a table right next to the kitchen where yet more beast men and women worked cooking all sorts of meat dishes to perfection. How they avoided hair ending up in the platters was a trade secret and after tasting just the entrées no one would care if they found a stray strand. A rabbit looking beast woman appeared from nowhere and tried to give the trio a menu before the much larger Joanne gripped the pamphlet shooing the girl away.
“Tonight, you eat on the house, whatever you want we’ll make it!”
The head chef announced much to the girls delight and Albert’s grateful thanks. What followed was a night of indiscriminate indulgence as Valerie and Samantha feasted on specially prepared meals the likes of which would fit in a king’s banquet hall. Joanne specifically brought out the trio’s meals each time, joking with the librarian and enticing the duo to eat more and more helpings. By the time they were done, Valerie was sure she had eaten her own body weight in delicacies and then some. Samantha too was in awe while face down from the taste overload and on the verge of slipping into a food coma. After so long on the road and eating very basic meals, the two were unprepared for the influx of spices and flavours. It was like a breath of fresh air after nearly drowning, a breath that was deep fried and came with a tangy sauce. If they weren’t careful, they could become addicted to the incredible restaurants many options and never leave. Despite his size, Albert only had a single helping slowly picking at it over the course of the night simply enjoying the chance to catch up with an acquaintance he really should have talked to more often. Joanne wholeheartedly agreed, joining the party as her staff cleaned up the almost empty restaurant. She drank heavily from a large pitcher containing some dark and alcoholic beverage although it barely gave her a buzz. The beast woman offered some to her guests, but Albert rejected the proposal on their behalf considering the ale would probably cause most to blackout from just a whiff. Valerie could only sit back and try not to fall into a coma herself while Joanne laughed and ribbed the conked-out pair.
“HA! Y’know, you two remind me of the greatest adventurer I never knew: ME, back when I was a welp on the road. Coming to a place like this woulda been a dream come true. That’s why I opened it, give some of the little people a chance to try the finer things in life. You can thank Al here for inspiring me.”
She said slapping the old librarian on the back and causing him to nearly drop his drink on an already stained waistcoat and shirt. Fixing his glasses, the elf retorted mirthfully.
“Yes, well you deserve as much of the credit as anyone. You earned all the funds for this establishment, all I did was open my doors and let you read from my books.”
The tomes in question were a collection of dwarven recipe books as well as almanacs on various meat dishes and how best to prepare them. Valerie could just barely make out what was being said as she tried not to fall asleep, thankfully Joanne kept them awake as her voice only had one setting: loud and proud. Samantha let out an unbecoming belch and groggily voiced her opinion muffled by the wooden bench she lay upon.
“I wish I could eat here every night.”
It was the highest praise a chef like Joanne could receive and she accepted it with all the grace a woman of her disposition could muster.
“HA, you bet your ass you could!”
She laughed again, the cackle slowly petering out to a sigh.
“Course I’ll have to charge you next time. Still got a business to run.”
This statement partially woke Valerie up as her mind flared with worry for how they would make ends meet. They couldn’t rely on people’s generosity forever and didn’t want to be a burden to Albert or worse: indebted to him. The old librarian noticed his new tenants worry and tried to assuage her concerns, but Joanne beat him to the punch.
“If you two are looking for some extra coins in your pocket just do what I did.”
She let the statement hang in the air causing Valerie and a still sleepy Samantha to look her in the eye. Smiling wide and exposing her teeth as she often did when feeling particularly jovial, Joanne said a few simple words that would help define the girls lives forever more.
“You could always join the Adventurers Guild.”