The entrance to the Temple of Enkefalos felt like stepping into another world. I'd already thought of this brain-place as weird when we first passed it on Zilra's tour but this? This was just on another level of obscure. The curved walls and strange vine-like patterns we’d seen before twisted even more intricately inside, making the whole structure look like it was grown from the ground rather than built on it. Weird, green glowing tubes ran along them. Pulsating, almost breathing like they were alive.

Ah. I've stepped foot into the Mountain Dew Headquarters.

Jokes aside, I couldn't help but feel like I was walking into the brain of some massive creature - and knowing what little I still knew about Enkefalism, that was probably the point.

Kyris leapt off Tavrin’s shoulder, staring around with wide eyes. “Not bad.” he said, giving the walls a curious sniff. “They certainly know how to make a place memorable.”

“Indeed.” I said, trying not to trip over my own tail. “Memorable. That’s one word for it.”

Wait. Was that a pun?

And then, almost like he’d been waiting for the perfect moment to make his entrance, came the bloody receptionist. His appearance just screamed "scholar". Tall and thin, his body was wrapped in long, dark robes of deep green, layered with silvery stitching that probably resembled sprawling roots or veins of some sort. His hood was pulled up, but it did little to hide the mess of graying hair that spilled out like a bunch of reheated spaghetti. A pair of thin, round glasses sat on his nose, emphasizing the sternness of those hawk-like eyes of his, which were practically boring into while he spoke. “Oh, wonderful. Another set of novices come to gape at what they’ll never understand.” he said, his voice dripping with the kind of disdain only a career academic could master. Every line of his face was carved with impatience and tiredness, like someone who’d never slept a full night in their life.

All in all, he looked like the kind of person who'd spend too much time hunched over books, obsessed with details, and just itching to remind everyone else how much they don't know.

Kyris wiggled his ears, clearly amused. “Well, aren't you a ray of sunshine? We’re not here to gawk - we've got serious business.”

The scholar gave us a long, slow blink, then shook his head as if to clear away our very existence. “Business? You? And what sort of 'business' do you suppose could possibly bring you here, hmm? Do you plan to make a donation to our network, or perhaps impart some lost fragment of wisdom that only you have discovered?”

Before I could retort, Tavrin pulled out the king’s letter of permission. I knew the second he'd see that royal seal, he’d definitely take us seriously. And sure enough, his eyes widened slightly when he read it, though he tried to hide the surprise behind a mask of disinterest. “Ah. It appears you have... authorization.”

Tavrin smirked at that, and even Kyris puffed out his tiny chest a bit. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “So, care to show us around?” I said, as politely as I could manage.

He tilted his head down to look at me and paused for a moment. Then he made a noise that might have been an exasperated sigh. “I suppose. Though it pains me to imagine what you will make of this place.” He turned on his heel and started leading us through one of the many twisted corridors. "Keep up, and try not to breathe too loudly."

He walked quickly, his robes trailing behind him as he gave us a tour - the Lattice of Lexicons - as he called it, was the first stop. I’d seen some libraries in my day, but this was... something else. Shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls. When Tavrin tried pulling one from the shelf it seemed... connected to the wall behind it via a thin, glowing, meaty thread. Along the floor ran thicker versions of said threads, leading to a glowing orb at the center, which pulsed faintly with each step we took closer.

“What happens if you, I dunno, poke the orb?” Kyris asked from atop Tavrin's shoulder. He was clearly trying to see how far he could push this guy’s buttons.

But the man didn’t even bother looking at him. “You’ll likely be removed from the temple permanently.” he replied. “Or worse.”

Kyris shot me a sly grin. “Guess we won’t be doing that then.”

We crossed one of the Synaptic Bridges next, the walkway was transparent, somehow. It gave us a clear view of the twisting, glowing network of veins beneath our feet. The more time I spent in this place, the more I felt like it really did not belong into this city, or even the whole bloody world. Like a modern art project gone wrong. This shit wouldn't exist in my old world either. We were like rats running around inside some giant experiment.

And can I just take a moment to say how ass our guide has been for this tour? Besides the names of the rooms we've passed through he has told us nothing. Nada.

This man deserved a bad review.

I looked down into the glowing abyss. “Nice view. Must be quite the fall.” I said, trying to make conversation.

Still unfazed, he led us on. “Don’t test that theory. We don’t need any incidents on my watch.”

Next up were the Nodes. Just looking at the etched runes and the weird way the room seemed to buzz with energy made me want to steer clear. It felt like you could get lost in there for hours, just thinking about... thinking. Tavrin was clearly fascinated, but Kyris kept a firm grip on his hair to stop him from walking inside.

As we moved on, we passed more of those green pits of flame I’d seen earlier. There was something almost... peaceful about them, in a creepy sort of way. Like they were waiting for someone to throw a log on the fire, only the “logs” in this case were people’s brains. Yup. We'd seen them do it right in front of us. These folks did not shy away from attracting new customers.

I wonder if they have membership fees here.

Finally, we reached the Hall of Cognition. The carvings of life cycles on the walls - birth, growth, decay, and eventually that strange, ritualistic incineration - were more than just unsettling. This place was pushing it. I'd already reflected over the cycle of life enough in prison. So of course I was an expert on the subject.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The glowing green flames added to the eerie atmosphere, and the whispers and chanting around the room were starting to put me into a hypnotic trance.

“Hey.” Kyris whispered in my ear. “You think this is where they keep all the good stuff?”

“Probably.” I whispered back, half expecting our guide to scold us for talking.

But he didn’t. He just stood there, staring into one of the fire pits like he’d seen one too many brains go in that way. “This is where knowledge... becomes eternal.” he said softly, almost reverently. “The Hall of Cognition is where the past is honored and new enlightenment begins.”

I half-expected Tavrin to ask some big, philosophical question, but he stayed quiet, just taking in the scene. Smart kid.

Finally, our guide turned back to us. “You are now free to explore... within reason. If you need further assistance call for a Nerite. Do not touch anything without permission, and remember - you are guests in a place of sacred learning. Try not to embarrass yourselves.” With that, he swept off down another hallway, leaving us in the dim glow of the temple.

For real? You'll leave us unattended? A child with two pets? Damn me, the King's word is powerful.

The other two seemed to share my surprise.

“So.” I said, looking around. “Where do we start?”

"It was your idea to come here, you can pick." Tavrin said.

Fair enough. I'd promised the king to do research specifically on Nightnail and Sandskin, but that wasn't actually my primary topic of interest. There were... a couple more things I needed to find out. Too many maybe. Now that I'd finally made it I was feeling almost... overwhelmed. Like a kid first finding out about the internet.

All this knowledge at the tip of my fingers!

First of all was of course the arcane. Now that I'd made some progress, I wanted to find out all about the element I could control - darkness. Calling it an element still felt so strange, but alas. I wanted to know everything about it there was to know.

I wandered over to one of the shelves at the end of the room.

Origins, limits, spells, former masters - give it all to me!

Hold on. How was one to go about finding what they needed? Our great tour guide didn't bother to explain that. For such a brain like him he sure as shit didn't understand us simpletons very well.

"Bloody how do we find anything here?" I said. Much louder than I wanted to. Suddenly all the whispers disappeared and the room went deadsilent. There weren't even any people here besides us, making me question where they'd come from in the first place.

"Maybe try the orb?" Kyris said with a grin. I knew exactly what he was up to.

Oh you.

"So we get thrown out first thing? No, thank you."

He did tell us not to touch anything without asking for permission first, but did that include even the stuff in the shelves?

I stopped in front of a singular massive bookcase. Tilting my head to grab one off the lowest rack with my mouth. The moment I did I felt a sensation hard to describe.

As soon as my teeth touched the spine of the book, this weird wave of... something hit me. It wasn’t like magic, not that familiar tingle I'd get channeling mana. It was deeper, stranger, like a cold splash inside my head. My brain felt like it was wrapped in fog, all jumbled up, and none of it made any sense.

I dropped the book, stepping back, my heart racing a bit. It was like trying to grab onto thoughts that were slipping away, broken pieces of something massive. No words, no real ideas, just... fragments. Like touching the surface of a lake and knowing that if I dove any deeper, I’d be swallowed whole.

“Whoa...” I mumbled, shaking off the feeling.

“What happened?” Tavrin asked, clearly worried.

Kyris, sitting lazily on a nearby shelf, was as always grinning. “You look like you just stuck your head in a mana storm.”

“It felt like...” I paused, still trying to wrap my head around it. “Like I just tapped into someone's head. And instead of hearing thoughts, I got hit with a mess of... everything.”

Tavrin squinted at the book, then reached to pick it up. His expression didn't change as he did. "I feel nothing."

Nothing, huh.

I quickly tapped another book in the shelf. This time I was fine. I dragged it out with a claw and it fell flat open before me. Nothing.

Alright then? Was that jumpscare really bloody necessary?

Whatever, let's get to it.

First stop - Darkness. I had Tavrin and Kyris gather all the books I couldn't reach or find. Had them even ask the Nerites for directions to which I must say they didn't respond all too kindly. Every employee here seemed to hate their job. Couldn't say I blame them.

I started flipping through the pages, and to my relief, the words were readable without any further hassle. It took a bit of digging, but we managed to pull together some solid info. For some damn reason literature on the arcane was excruciatingly hard to come by here. For people claiming to know it all these folks had quite the gap in the magic department. Though they did have the standard stuff I'd already gone through in the old man's collection. I wouldn't say I didn't learn a detail or two. Or maybe I just cared and remembered now since it directly affected me.

Darkness magic, or Tenebrimancy, as it’s called in the arcane jargon, didn’t exactly start out as the shadowy villain type of magic you’d expect. No ancient dark lords or evil empires bent on domination. Actually, its origins were tied to something much more... natural.

According to what I'd read, Darkness magic wasn’t about evil at all. It was the magic of absence. Not just the absence of light, but the absence of everything - energy, form, even time. It’s an element of decay, entropy, and the vast, endless void. Think of it as the universe’s natural tendency to bring things back to nothingness.

Pretty metal.

After some digging in historical records, biographies and such I could scramble together some experts of the field. If you could call them that. Each of them had a weird, unsettling take on the art.

Count Ashnak the Hollow. This guy was... odd. Lived in Tyrsenia about five centuries ago and was obsessed with erasing things from existence. His mastery over Darkness was such that he could apparently “unmake” matter. Like, he wouldn’t just destroy things - he’d remove any trace they ever existed. His signature spell, Void Erasure, would reduce enemies to forgotten memories. There was more creepy fanfiction on this guy than I'd have liked to believe.

Lavara Veilwalker. A lot less destructive, but just as powerful. Though I couldn't find an exact date at which she lived she was part of the then extensive Vucarian Royal Family. Meaning this goes way back to the times of the Solidan Empire. Lavara was known for blending into the shadows, becoming a literal part of the darkness. She used her magic to navigate through different dimensions - what she called the “Veil.” It was said she could step between the worlds of the living and the dead, using shadows as her doorway. Umbrapassage was her go-to trick, a spell that allegedly allowed her to move unseen and untouchable between realms. Right.

Lastly there was some guy just referred to as "The Abyss." A Daric warlord from centuries ago, who was feared for his use of a technique called Abyssal Binding. It allowed him to summon and control shadows that had a mind of their own. Like shadowpuppets. His magic could animate the darkness itself, turning it into tendrils that strangled or protected. Back in the day, people apparently thought he'd brought the souls of his past fallen soldiers back to life, essentially tormenting them even after their death. He'd animate whole armies of shadow people to fight wars and take over cities, all by himself. His magic was so feared that after his death, even his enemies avoided the places where his shadow might still lurk. They say his spirit never left, trapped in a castle with the darkness he once commanded.

All in all I wasn't very impressed. I didn't quite know what to make of it. Erasing matter? Shifting worlds? And reviving my fallen comrades in the form of a shadow? I'd seen some stuff in this world and still this sounded a bit far-fetched. And where in hell would I even learn spells like that? It's not like these guys were still around. And there weren't any descriptions on simpler darkness spells.

Man. One of those generic magic schools would be great right now.

Even if I hated schools. Was there such a thing? Maybe. Regardless, it was time to go onto the next topic...

...Blights.