Cassius awoke to the now familiar wooden ceiling of the inn. Memories of the previous day ran through his mind. The merciless killing he had enacted deeply disturbed him. Was that psychopathic behavior him, or the abyss’s influence?

Shaking his head he got dressed and left for the Expeditionary Group to meet up with his squad. Along the way the cool air and gray cavernous walls particularly caught his attention. It felt like the whimsical feeling of exploring an unknown world had dissipated. Perhaps he had taken this new world too lightly. The last week had been so easygoing, that he forgot his environment.

This place, this abyss, was not friendly to humans. Looking around at the people in the streets he finally noticed the look on everyone’s faces. Desperation, hopelessness, some even had noticeable scars or missing limbs. It felt like reality had finally dawned on Cassius.

It seemed this week of relative safety had left him naive. He should have never forgotten those first days in this abyss. If he were to survive, he needed the conviction to kill other humans. He was almost certain his ruthlessness yesterday was due to the influence of the abyss, or his rune. Afterall, once he realized what he had done and calmed down at the inn he felt crippling guilt and self-deprecation at how he had killed those people. Yes they were not good people, but it didn’t excuse his barbaric treatment.

“Lilith could probably give me some advice.” Lilith was a mysterious person. She was known throughout Poplis, yet she never worked with others or groups. She had amazing capabilities and could reach for a higher standing than scout, yet she remained in her arguably crappy job. She also seemed to have a better understanding than most about the abyss, as most nameless knew little to nothing about the other bastions within the abyss.

All these thoughts came to a head as he entered the Expeditionary Group. He appeared to be the second person there, as Blake was already sitting at their usual table.”How’s it going Blake?” Blake grinned, “Pretty good, how about you?” Cassius decided to lie. “I’m doing great. I’m just ready to get our money and level up a bit.” Both talked before eventually everyone showed up. Everyone exchanged some conversation, before eventually splitting off after each got their cut of money and meat. They all agreed to go to the tavern that night.

Cassius decided to go to the same place where he got analyzed. It was there that he could try and purchase some information about this place. He was once again escorted by guards into the large castle-like building. Eventually, they stopped at a tall door. Once open, the beautiful smell of paper and ink filled his nose. The room was three stories tall, with large and opulent bookcases along the walls. At the center of the room was a man with a monocle and a suit sitting at a desk. The whole place screamed luxury. It might seem strange to put such an emphasis on a mere library, but the knowledge contained here was priceless. Afterall, it was the combined gathering of every finding in Poplis ever since Argo founded it.

The guards left and the gentleman raised his head from the book he was reading. “Ahh, you must be new. I recognize most people who come here. If you don’t mind, what’s your name?” Cassius responded, “I’m a nameless sir, but I call myself Cassius for convenience sake.”

The mysterious man nodded before taking out a notebook, “Well nice to meet you Cassius, I am Walach, the librarian of the ‘Bibliotheca’. It is here where one may find anything they desire, assuming they have the money of course.”

“How exactly do I gain access to these books?” Walach grinned, “There are four levels of access to information in this library. Each one requires different levels of both money and clearance.” The first level is over there.” he pointed to the northwestern quadrant of the room. “That merely requires 1000 credits and a contract with Poplis to not disclose information.”

[Merely!] Cassius gulped at the heavy price tag. That was two weeks worth of nonstop killing creatures and monsters. He could purchase a decent armor set at that price range. It seemed today he would not be able to explore the information he so desperately wanted. “I’m sorry, right now that’s too much for my empty coffers.” The librarian frowned a bit but quickly smiled again, “That’s fine sir Cassius, in due time. We do offer some books over general information for free. It’s the least we can do for hardworking citizens.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The man’s fake smile bothered Cassius, but he ignored it. “Thank you very much. I’ll make sure to visit again when I have amassed some wealth.” Walach shooed his hand at him, “Yes of course. The free access books are located on the small shelf near the entrance.”

Cassius made his way away from the clearly annoyed man. On the bookshelf were several interesting books. ‘Abyss Plant Encyclopedia’, ‘General Abyssal Information’, ‘Geography of the Abyss’ were all books that piqued his interest. Each one looked dated, and the pages were even torn a bit from overuse. Quickly thumbing through each book he found useful information. For example, within the grasslands there were useful herbs and roots that could be used as stimulants. Or in the forest there was a fruit that apparently helped with muscle exertion.

Cassius made sure to memorize the plant life he could best make use of. Some of the plants in the book belonged to areas he had never seen, so Cassius decided to look through the geography book. Apparently, the abyss came in layers, the number of which was unknown at least to the writer of this book. Each layer circled around a gargantuan hole, the namesake of this world, the ‘Abyss’. The top layers were the largest in landmass, but they got smaller as they went down. Only the top four layers had any sort of human presence, and the one Poplis resided in was the highest one.

Apparently, the further someone went in the abyss, the more dangerous everything became. Horrors that could easily tear apart Cassius with one glance filled the fourth layer, and many wannabe heroes died within the depths of the fourth floor. Another bombshell was that there were levels above named. The order of breakthroughs in humans were nameless, named, renown, and finally reborn. However, there were hardly any reborn in existence, making it almost a mythological grade of human.

Finally, he went through ‘General Abyssal Information’, and found useful tips about different abyssals in the area. He had also found some of the monsters and creatures he had fought, each with their own fancy unique names. For example, the ant’s proper name was ‘Myrmekes’. For convenience sake however, many people coined simple names for the abyssals. He made sure to note down monsters and creatures in the area, and their various arsenals and weaknesses.

Cassius sat there for quite some time, looking through every piece of information he could glean, before he was sated. “Guess I’ll go give Lilith a visit before I head off for the tavern.” Cassius wanted to pick Lilith’s brain a bit about his… unique mindset while fighting.

He left the castle and headed towards the barracks located near the ramparts entrance. This was where all publicly employed guards, soldiers, and scouts resided. Inside, there were off-duty guards gambling and playing drinking games. Some people laid on their cots, trying to get some sleep in before night duty. While looking around a burly man approached him. “You need something?” Cassius was a bit intimidated by the one eyed man with the veteran aura, but he didn’t back down.

“I’m looking for Lilith, know where I can find her?” The veteran grinned, “Oh that gal? She’s upstairs talkin to the boss. Careful though, she’s especially feisty today.”

Cassius went upstairs into a large open room with weaponry and armor strewn about. In the center was a man at a desk with papers stacked high. He was scratching his neck in annoyance while talking to Lilith. “Look Lilith, I know that you’re worried about the scouting parties from Makrinós, but we’re spread thin already!”

Lilith snarled back, “We’re letting them into our territory, and they’re doing whatever they want! There have been three attacks this week! Two of which resulted in the deaths of our people! Not to mention the potential spies!”

The annoyed man hushed her, “Lilith calm down, and let’s talk about this later. Looks like someone’s here to talk to you.” Lilith frustratedly turned around with an angry look upon her face before it quickly softened. “Oh it’s just you Cassius… what can I do for you?”

Cassius answered, “Sorry to interrupt. I just had… a personal question I guess.” One of Lilith’s eyebrows went up, “Ahh, don’t tell me you’re confessing? I always knew my charms would get to you!” Cassius scoffed, “Yeah whatever, enough with the teasing. Do you mind if we talk somewhere more private?”

Lilith pouted as she followed Cassius. “Looks like I’ve gotta try harder than before…” Cassius felt a shiver up his spine when he heard Lilith mumble that. Ignoring the crazy girl he walked to a balcony, where they could discuss privately.

Once there Cassius turned around and spoke with honesty, “Lilith, I think I might enjoy killing a little too much.” Lilith looked very confused. “You’re really not good at flirting are you? That’s a terrible opening line!”

Cassius sighed as he facepalmed, this girl never seemed to take anything seriously. “What I mean is that I’m unnaturally brutal, hell even sadistic. I just killed someone for the first time yesterday, however it was almost like I enjoyed it. It wasn’t until after some introspection that the weight of their deaths hit me…”

A wave of understanding flashed through Lilith’s eyes. “Ahh, I’m starting to catch your drift.” She contemplated for a bit with her chin in her hand before talking again, “You have two routes you can go down. Either control your bestial emotions brought forth by your runes, or embrace them and take your runes to the next level. One will result in stability and weakness. The other one will result in chaos and power.”

Her beautiful smile and eyes pierced Cassius’s soul, “Those who choose the former never really make it far~” .