Even while Cole felt the cold grip of a noose tying itself around his neck, he began to scheme. Raw power was not the only reason he’d risen to the height of Supreme Magus back in Vestria Online. The Instant Portal technique was far more effective in the hands of a skilled tactician, and while Cole was hamstrung by his lack of knowledge about this new Vestrian society, he was pretty good at improvising.

Knowing what he didn’t know only gave him a path forward.

“Is there some sort of library, maybe? I need to learn more. I didn’t even know there was a Vestrian Empire until yesterday.”

Tao, fulfilling his role as a scholar once more, opened his mouth to reply. “The Guild Headquarters have a library. While it’s main use is for research on different monster types, I’m sure you’d be able to find a history book in there. That should get you up to speed.”

Malena looked at the clock on the wall of the mess hall, standing up.

“Guys, we’ve gotta move out. We’ll be gone for a few days, we’ve got a D1 ranked Minotaur to put down, but feel free to check in with us once we get back.

The rest of Strike Force Talos rose to their feet.

“See ya, kid” said Stannis

“Good luck!”, waved Tamika.

Bellisaire and Tao merely nodded to him, before they followed their party out the door.

Then Cole was alone once more.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Today at least he should be relatively safe. As long as he remained in the Guild Headquarters, it was highly unlikely any Imperials in the town would even know he was there. He was due to meet with the Branch Master that afternoon, so as long as he remained where he was until then, he could be safe.

Cole finished his food, which had grown cold during the conversation, and exited the mess hall. He checked in with Lyndell at the reception once more, enquiring as to the whereabouts of the library.

“While it’s technically in the building next door, you can access it through a door on the second floor. You can’t miss it.”

Cole thanked him and made his way back to the stairs. Lyndell smiled, returning to his duties at the desk. He still couldn’t help but wonder if the man got any sleep.

Once he got to the second floor, he found a door in a corner with the inscription “Library” on it. While Cole knew the words weren’t in English, he could still understand them as if they were. Yet another strange benefit that he’d been given alongside his class.

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Speaking of classes, that was another area for him to research. He hoped the library would have some books that related to them. While he knew that the phase system was still in place, he wondered if any new developments had come about as a result of the time skip the world had undergone. A book on runes would also be an amazing find.

The library seemed to be practically deserted. He was on the second floor but could see a ladder that led down to what he assumed would be more books. Another ladder in this room led to an area above, and when he poked his head up, he saw chairs and tables, for study and reading use.

Cole popped back down and tried to figure out how he was going to find what he needed. He highly doubted that this world would use the Dewey system, owing to the fact the man had never existed here. Instead, he supposed he’d have to manually scan the shelves until he found what he needed.

Oh well, he did have some time to kill after all.

Cole ran his finger along the spines of the books, quickly reading their the titles embossed on them. Soon enough, he found it, ‘After the Gates: The Vestrian Empire Begins’.

He tucked the book under his arm and kept looking.

Cole searched for what felt like an age, but still found nothing to do with runes, so he decided to cut his losses and head up to the reading area.

The book was, annoyingly enough, not just a traditional history, with the author weighing in with their own personal comments far too often for Cole’s liking. However, it was good enough to give him a general idea of the present political situation in Vestria and its surrounds.

The arrival of the first monster wave initially caused chaos. The Vestrian Republic, which had no real military strength of its own, was seen to be weak, unable to help its citizens survive the ongoing crisis. From within the ranks of the Adventurer’s guild rose a small group of people who had strong enough classes to begin fighting back against the monsters, helping the Vestrian capital, which, as the book described had used to be called Vestris. This lined up with what Cole had known during his time in the VR world.

Now, however, it had become known as Auremon, and for good reason. At the head of the group that had begun to fight back against the monsters was a man named Aurem. He and his followers grew their power and influence among the populace by rescuing many villages. Cole noted that the book seemed to have an extremely positive view of that man.

Aurem and his followers solidified their stellar reputations by defeating a Titan level (as the old classification system still applied during those days) dragon that had threatened the capital itself. Once he’d done so, he’d taken the dregs of the effectively defunct Vestrian Republic, and made them his own, declaring himself as the First and Forever Emperor of the newly formed Vestrian Empire.

While the Emperor seemed to be universally reviled by those in Artesia, Cole could see why he’d done what he had. Vestria was a land rich with natural resources, and although the monster wave crisis had affected the entire world, including Shoi Cal (annoyingly, whatever had happened there was still a mystery to Cole), it had mainly been concentrated in Vestria, and many nations were hungry to capitalise on what they saw as a weak country whose wealth was ripe for the taking.

Aurem had one trick up his sleeve that ensured he would remain in power however. After declaring himself Emperor, he had proclaimed that he and his followers had developed a way to stop Gates from opening inside cities, and depositing monsters directly inside. By building structures called ‘Golden Pylons’, it effectively prevented monster waves from happening inside the area covered by these Pylons.

This was how The Emperor had expanded his influence across the nations. Pylon technology, at least in the beginning, was monopolised by the Vestrian Empire. If other nations wanted their own Golden Pylons, they would be indebted to Aurem. While the process for constructing Pylons eventually did leak, something the author of the book described as a heinous crime, the Empire had kept it locked down long enough for his influence to grow. The Artesian Merchants Republic was lucky in a sense. The book described it as a rebel state made up of disgruntled Vestrians, that the Empire had eventually been forced to begrudgingly recognise as its own nation once they developed their own Golden Pylon technology.

While they weren’t as effective as the originals, having much less effective range, they served their purpose well enough, able to keep the various towns and small cities that made the new nation free of any Gates within settlement limits.

Cole sat back, feeling much better know, although he knew he still had much to learn. He wanted to read more, but he realised when looking at a clock on the wall that it was now late afternoon. The Branch-Master of the Venture Adventurer’s Guild would be wanting to meet him soon. Cole made note of where to find the book, returning it to the shelf, and heading back into the main building of the Guild.

He first went to his room, pleased to see upon unlocking the door that it had not been touched. Cole lay in bed, relaxing a bit to pass the time. He wasn’t sure what the meeting with the Branch-Master would involve, so he made sure to get some rest.

After some time had past, Cole was still lying in bed, eyes closed. Suddenly, he heard a knock, followed by the familiar voice of Argyle.

“Cole? You there? The Branch-Master just got back from the mission.”

Cole opened his eyes.