Chapter 169

Not Stopping to Ask for Directions

Find your way home Cassie, just follow the stars and setting sun Cassie.

Gah!

Have I said how much I dislike being blind sometimes. Well okay, being blind all the time is annoying, but I’ve grown to mostly deal with it. In fact, most of the times my Angel’s Sight is far better than having normal eyesight, as I can see through, around, and into objects that would otherwise be hidden.

Take for instance the fact that I have found not one, not ten, but close to two dozen unique entrances to dungeons, underground cities, and other various temples that have never been explored. The OCD portion of my brain is telling me to pop in, check out the numerous sights, see what is there and then leave.

The more practical side of me, the part that knows me, and has put up with my shenanigans for eighty plus years now, knows that I will be distracted by all of these shiny things and not want to leave one of these places after I start investing. Which is why I with chattering teeth press onwards in my search for a random place out in the middle of the desert somewhere.

While I can see quite a distance, with my current visual range sitting at over fourteen kilometers, thanks to my impressively high Perception Attribute, I still have not seen a marker.

If I had eyesight I could base my direction on the placement of stars, the rising or setting location of the sun, or many other things one could use for directions.

Currently I only know that I need to head approximately eighty-seven miles west of the last inhabited lands. Mental math told me that I myself moved at least twenty miles away from civilization, when I dealt with the ramifications of my body trying to merge with a fragment of the Mirror of the Dead. A thoughtful birthday gift apparently intended for my eightieth, total, birthday. Yes, seventy-two and a half years living, and seven and a half years here, for a grand total of eighty years.

Honestly, the gesture was nice, but now I am dealing with the consequences. As I teleported at least twenty kilometers away from the nearest habitable location. Though I purposefully went north, not west with my jumping, this way I wouldn’t inadvertently cause problems for Mallory and the others, when they went back home. A great gesture, that sounds really stupid at this point.

Then while I was being healed by my familiar, my Simulacrum that had taken my place in the middle of the desert apparently decided to search around some of the ruins and ultimately got me completely lost, when I retook my position with her in the desert.

I would almost swear this was a not so subtle attack on me for stealing Zero back to be my Tower traveling companion. While I would no doubt want me to have Zero, I could also see my own Simulacrum’s point of view in that I was stealing her friend and work colleague.

So how does a blind teleportation expert attempt to search a vast area out in the middle of nowhere?

The answer is simple, in that I only need to do a spiral pattern search. Since I want to head west, I will begin going in a clockwise rotation, making sure to Teleport in a slightly arcing path that will slowly but surely lead me out from my starting location, and ultimately lead me to one of two places.

Either I will find civilization again, at which point I can follow the edge of unblighted lands, until I get to one of the known direction markers. Then with that I will turn west and search out for my home. Or I will find my home.

That was the plant at least, and it was an amazing plan, the only problem is that I think this world is trying to mess with my lack of attention, by constantly placing neat places to look through and explore.

I am going to be fine. This is nothing. I am of singular conviction right here and now. I have a clear plan of getting my blind self out of this desert and back to civilization, all I need to do is follow my plan and not get distracted.

I can do this.

***

(Thirteen minutes later)

“I can’t do this,” I say as my legs and whole body are trembling. I’ve made fifty-five jumps. I found the western most border of civilization that has not been consumed by Blighted lands, and even changed my search pattern to be a north to south zig-zag pattern, rather than the spiral pattern that got me my bearings.

There is just one problem.

This world, it utterly hates me.

I am in the middle of the desert, but due to my spells and constitution, I don’t need to worry about lack of food or water. In fact, so long as I have air to breath I can possibly live indefinitely.

So, taking a few moments to search an area is not really a problem, for survival purposes.

While it might be mean for me to potentially delay my arrival to my fellow guild members, it will only hurt them if they find out about this slight delay.

Then again, if what I find on the way is worth sharing with others, then no one will mind, right?

Of course, there was absolutely nothing that this world could throw at me to make me alter my plans of getting home. I had to get home to reassure my best friend Mallory, and my daughter Gwen that I survived. Also, there were likely classes that I was missing to give to my students. At this rate it would nearly be impossible for anyone to pass the curriculum in four years.

Which was why I was resolute in the fact that this world would not be able to tempt me away from inevitably finding my way home.

Until I saw four words that forever changed my life.

Library of The Tribunal. Not only was it a library, but it was one of the Tribunal, where all of the ancient races allegedly met and shared knowledge equally. Yes, extinct dragon-kin, ancient elves, magical orcs, faeries, and even lesser species who proved themselves were allowed access to the Tribunal.

This was the Shangri-La of libraries, and I found it.

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Poof.

My body Teleported out of reflex alone. I might have been fully accepting of the Teleportation, but I didn’t consciously do it, it just happened.

That was how I found myself right next to the entrance of a giant pillared structure that was over five kilometers deep under the ground. There in its full ancient opulence were the seven steps that led to a tunnel with unfathomable knowledge just steps away.

Out of wanting to make sure the building was safe, I stepped forward. As I did, I felt the odd pull of Spatial Magic at work, just beyond what appeared to be a completely black wall.

I could almost tell immediately what the structure was, but it wasn’t until I got closer that the full description of what I was staring at became apparent.

Unexplored Dungeon: Library of The Tribunal.

Tears.

Involuntarily I found myself crying tears of densely compact mana.

This was too much. I was too weak. I knew what this would mean. If I entered, I would not be able to leave, lest I forever ruin this place. The bibliophile’s dreamland.

A dungeon of books, that will then spawn even more books and floors of books the further down you go.

It was paradise.

I could not imagine a more perfect place to live the rest of my life in.

Yeah, sure, there would likely be monsters and dangers that I would have to no doubt work my way through. Also, it was very likely that I would need to kill the books in order to read them, but these were books. Ancient and forbidden knowledge. Knowledge that might even explain the starting point of the Blight.

Everything I could ever hope to learn or read about would be there. There might even be another story better than Rahul. Yes, after having met a person named Rahul, I am still doubting whether that is the real Rahul, but after meeting a Rahul, I no longer find the series of Rahul and the Maiden, to be as captivating.

I am almost certain that I can find one or maybe even two series that are just as good, if not better than Rahul and the Maiden.

Trembling.

Yes, I am super excited, and scared, and above all I want to be able to get back here, but I need to find my home. Yet, unfortunately, I can’t.

I almost feel like I did every time I went into a Books-A-Million as a kid. Just being able to go in and smell the books, the coffee, and the adventure. I imagined all of this and more just waiting for me, just beyond that glowing black door.

Still, despite all of these conflicting thoughts, I somehow managed to raise a trembling hand towards the door. My fingers just inches away from committing me to exploring what is possibly the most magical land in this world.

“No, Cassie, bad!” I scolded myself, taking my hand down quickly. If I go in now, this place will only be fifty floors-ish at best. That would be a complete waste of the true potential that this place would have. No, this would be my retirement, again, to myself. A place where Zero and I could go and explore until the day old age, or we died buried under a layer of ancient leather bound tomes that smelled of knowledge and possibilities.

Chattering.

My teeth were chattering at the thought of turning down such a prize. This was a once in a lifetime event that only happened because I was so lost.

In fact, after realizing where I was, I realized that I was likely much further out than I initially thought. I also realized that I was likely much further north and west than needed to find my actual home.

Realizing this meant that I could likely find my way back here.

Chime.

I heard a chime and was so startled that I ended up Teleporting away, lest I accidentally fall into the dungeon and end up ruining what would otherwise be the find of the century.

However, the world itself seemed hellbent on getting me to enter the dungeon right here and now as the chime I had heard, was actually the prelude to a world announcement.

World Announcement: Rejoice for the sacred Library of The Tribunal: Unexplored Dungeon has been discovered. Now knowledge of the ancients can once again be recovered.

The world always did this when sacred realms were found. The first person to enter the Arcanarus University also triggered a similar warning. But this was the first such announcement that I had seen since I first entered the world. These announcements were normally done as a double-edged sword, as they both gave the finder credibility that they had found such a place, but also made it so there would be a rush for people to go out and find out where such a place was. Basically, these messages were meant to give the finder a reason to either grab resources needed for a long delve and enough time to reenter. Or they gave the original explorer a reason to sell exact locations to the highest bidder.

As for me, I didn’t want to sell the locational data, even though I was fairly certain people would be out here shortly looking for me.

Which was why I left in a spiral pattern, similar to the one that let me find civilization again, before I began searching through the desert.

I could of course go in the direction where I now thought my home, the guild base, was located, but that would also be trouble, for then people could just go from the guild to the dungeon.

No, that was my never-ending library, and I would be darned if anyone else found it first.

So now, I had a new goal for my seemingly never-ending to-do list.

The list I had so far had could be broken down into two distinct tasks.

To do list:

* Do everything.

* Retire in the Library of The Tribunal.

I figured that was as classy as I could get. Additionally, I couldn’t help but feel that knowing that my dream retirement place was available to me, I couldn’t help but feel even more reason to clear off my back log of items to accomplish, before finally retiring.

I think it was the third Teleportation away that I finally stopped shaking from adrenaline pumping through my body. Yes, it was exciting to find new and exciting places, but it was another thing to find the ultimate dream goal was there ready for the taking. In fact, had it not been the fact that I was already mentally committed to learning magic, and as much as I could about Magic and Qi both, I could truly see myself abandoning my advancement on the Arcanarus Tower.

The only problem was that I knew that despite how far down the Library of The Tribunal that I would go, there was no guarantee that I would learn anything more about magic, Qi, or whatever else was available in the form of powers.

“No, the Arcanarus Tower is the best place for you to grow and experience the joys and wonders of magic.” I said to myself.

A mere ten hops later, I felt that I almost believed the comments.

While books were amazing, I felt that specialized knowledge would be what I needed the most at this current time.

Within twenty hops I once again found the western shoreline of where society and the ever-expanding Blighted lands met.

From there, I traveled south quite a ways, and then finally found a few markers that seemed familiar, at which point I began heading west again, away from civilization.

Then it only took about an hour to find the first sign of cultivated lands.

The lands were a deep vibrant green of magic, both Life Magic and Nature Magic were in abundance. Seeing the fields, I felt a sense of relief, as I finally knew I was home, again.

Within two jumps I was at the center of my school yard.

Calm.

There was a calming aura that seemed to permeate me as I rested in my field. I took a quick moment to breathe in relief that I had finally managed to make it home.

Then before I contacted or told anyone about my arrival, the first thing I did was to make good on my promise.

Positional Teleportation.

Instantly, a doorway opened up between both me and my Simulacrum that was on the two hundredth floor of the Arcanarus Tower. Within a second, Zero’s long head swam into view, and then cautiously he entered the portal, after which the rip in space closed behind him.

Zero came in, spun around the same way a dog would when entering a new place.

“Oh I can smell your essence throughout this whole place.” Zero said excitedly, then continued. “It is clear that you have put a lot of work and effort into building up this place.”

While there was no malice in his words, I couldn’t help but wince at the thought. I was down here putting my work and effort into building this place up. Yet, while doing so, I neglected quite a few people that are near and dear to me.

While nothing malicious was meant by the words, I took them for what they ultimately were, a stark reminder for me to try harder and to not forget the important parts of my life. For while accomplishing goals are great, they are only truly worth something if you have friends and family to enjoy those moments with you.

“You ready to see Mallory and my daughter?” I ask.

“You have a daughter?” Zero asks, and like that I wince as it is clear that I have a lot to catch everyone up on. This will be a growing experience; of that I am certain.

“Yes, she is amazing and far smarter than I could ever hope to be.” I state proudly, meaning every word.

“Really?” Zero presses as we begin making our way out of the central plaza, past the guards.

“Oh, Doctor Spiritlight, you have returned?” The guard captain of the campus states.

I just nod to him, “yes, sorry but I got a bit lost there for a bit. But now I’m back, for now.”

I add the last part on, as a subtle hint that I do intend on doing a lot more exploring as time permits. Though I will still have at least one Simulacrum here, while I proceed to explore the Tower and beyond.

That said, I do need to go about putting out any flames that might or might not have occurred from my being attacked by my birthday present, and the fact that I got slightly lost on my way back here, twice. Though the second time was technically on purpose.

Though before I could get too far, I heard a familiar voice call out.

“You’re back!” Mallory cried out, her voice echoing everywhere as if her voice was amplified to be picked up and projected to all corners of the lands we were in the process of reclaiming.

Zero too turned his head, looking for the source of the voice. Only to tremble as he caught the blur that was charging straight towards us.

“Hello-oof!” I manage as I am tackled in place by the very powerful Mallory who has recently begun not holding back during her interactions with me. A thing that my bones and nerve endings are not too appreciative of, though it is good to know that she truly does care.

Then putting me down, she pauses and looks at me with an odd look.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Mallory begins, but trails off, then finally she completes her thought “I just figured you had something to do with finding the Library of The Tribunal, is all.”