Chapter 223

The inside of the library felt different and Jay didn't have to work hard to figure out why. The interior of the building was full of Librarians. There were always Librarians about in the library, but they were usually outnumbered by people just visiting to read. Today was different, and everywhere Jay looked he saw Librarians.

A lot of them were wearing leather armor and carrying weapons beyond the normal fighting knives that they seemed to carry daily. They were walking, sitting, reading.

Jay thought that it made sense – why wouldn't a Librarian be reading? They worked with books all day – or at least that's what Jay thought they did. Still, seeing them seated and not working but just reading felt odd to Jay. They were usually all so busy in the library when he had visited it in the past.

Jay and Norri were ushered over to the front desk, then behind the front desk, and finally in to one of the offices that sat behind it. Jay had always wondered what the offices looked like on the inside. Now he had a chance to find out.

The office looked like an office should – not an office with filing cabinets and typewriters, no, this was an office with heavy dark wood furniture and antiques set on shelves – an executive office.

A globe of Eden sat in the corner. Although world globes were not usually interesting, this one was not of Earth but of Eden, and Jay couldn't help but notice that the globe was larger than normal and had far more continents than an Earth globe would have. It was the first time that Jay had really gotten to see what Eden as a world looked like.

Jay would have liked nothing more than to study that globe but that was not to be. He had other things to be concerned about at the moment, and Jay followed the massive Librarian further in to the room.

The office was dark and cozy and was lit only with indirect lighting that left a number of shadows around the room. It smelled of old paper and leather and Jay couldn't help but relax a bit as they entered the welcoming space.

The massive hulking desk had a single executive office chair behind it done up in a soft plush red leather. It was a tall chair with a headrest and the giant Librarian walked over and dropped in to the chair unceremoniously. The leather creaked and protested noisily as he sat and the Librarian waved towards a green leather sofa that sat in front of his desk at an angle.

“Close door,” the Librarian said shortly. They tended to all speak in short halting sentences Jay had noticed as if they didn't want to use any more words than they absolutely had to. Jay wondered if they had spoken as Jay spoke before they were made Librarians.

Norri shut the door behind her as she was the last one inside. She speed walked over to where Jay was and they both sat down on the sofa at the same time. It was, as Jay had expected, extremely comfortable. It was the kind of sofa that was easy to sit in but tough to get out of.

The office space was muffled and quiet thanks to a variety of soft carpets and fabric wall hangings that tended to soak up sound rather than reflect it.

The Librarian sat and stared at them for what felt like an eternity but was barely more than twenty seconds – just enough time for the Librarian to Inspect them. When he had finished he nodded slightly as if in approval.

“Biblomancer Pierre,” he said shortly as an introduction. “You Lootmaster Jay and Druid Norri. Still young, but paths bright,” the Librarian said with another nod.

Norri's curiousity overpowered her nervousness and she spoke before Pierre could continue. “What's a bibliomancer do?”

Pierre smiled, “Book mage, very rare,” he said and managed to explain absolutely nothing about what a bibliomancer did. He waved with one hand though and a thick book popped in to existence in his other hand. The cover had a picture of Norri on it. He waved again and it vanished. “Not your worry now. You worry about task ahead.”

Jay really wanted to know more about bibliomancers but the time wasn't right. Instead, Jay shrugged . “What do you need us to do?”

Pierre took a breath in and sighed and Jay was reminded for a moment that this was a flesh and blood person – they might work as a Librarian but they were still human, they still got tired, they still needed rest, and Pierre looked like he'd gone a bit too long without any.

“Private room. Some use for experiments. That ok. Most times. This time? Not so much. Portal Mage knew Librarians big. Made pocket portal in private room. Too small for Librarians to enter. Need smaller person. Need go in and shut off portal. Spawns nasty tiny monsters size of squirrels. Not too bad one on one. Bad in groups.” The Librarian said before he stopped and took a breath.

It was rare for Librarians to talk so much and he paused to collect his thoughts.

Jay frowned. “How do we turn it off?”

“Go through portal. Find device,” Pierre said as he held up a sheet of paper off of his desk. Drawn on it was a small device that reminded Jay of the ones that had been given by the Portal House to Glenda and M'redith on their dungeon runs. “Smash device. Must smash device just before use portal to return. Portal start closing once device smashed. Understand?” Pierre asked with one breath. He looked at Jay and Norri intently.

Jay nodded, “I think I understand you. You have little squirrel like enemies coming through a portal too small for you to fit through. The enemies aren't tough unless they are in a large group. You need us to enter the portal, find the portal device, bring it back to the portal, smash the device, and escape through the closing portal before it closes entirely – do I have that right?”

The Bibliomancer smiled and nodded. “Easy!” Pierre said and Jay got the distinct impression that it would not be. “Agree?” he asked after a moment had passed.

Jay wasn't too sure about this but the enemies sounded easy enough. Squirrels? He could handle those he thought. Besides – Norri was a Druid – the perfect class to handle animal enemies. Jay looked over at Norri but she just shrugged. This was Jay's idea, she was just going along for the ride.

“Agreed,” Jay said confidently even though he felt a bit of trepidation.

Norri looked a little worried but didn't say anything as Pierre stood up and offered his hand. Jay and Norri both shook his hand and he finally nodded.

“Agreement struck. You close portal and get library access.” Pierre said as he motioned towards the door which had just been opened by a smiling Glenda.

“Hi hi!” she said in excitement and waved the two out of the room. She was obviously happy to see Jay and Norri again and helped usher them away from the giant desk.

Pierre sat back down at his desk as if he had already forgotten about Jay and Norri and began to open up books and fill out paperwork that had been sitting on his desk for who knew how long.

Jay and Norri followed Glenda out of the office and across the library to the stairwell in the back. They passed numerous Librarians, all of whom stared at Jay and Norri's titles as they passed.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Glenda led them downstairs and past Jay's private room with the star on it. They continued on for a bit with a number of twists and turns until Jay was completely lost. Finally Glenda stopped in front of a room with a stylized feather on it.

Glenda placed her hand against the door and it shuddered for a moment before it reluctantly swung open. “Librarian open private doors in library. Private room not entirely private, see?” she said as she led them in to the private space.

Jay wondered if he would be able to open private library room doors once he completed this task. Would he qualify as a Librarian? He wasn't entirely sure of what qualified one as a Librarian – although his title had at least gotten him in to the library.

Jay looked around and saw that the private room was laid out much like his own private library room. There were chalkboards on the walls and rolling book carts to keep all the books organized and separated between books read and books not yet read.

As they entered the room Glenda suddenly shrieked and stomped down on something which let out a wet squish. “One-tooth!” she said in disgust and frowned at her now soiled boot.

Jay walked over to her and turned on his cleaning aura. Glenda was already familiar with it and smiled in thanks as Jay's aura cleaned off her shoe and motes of light rose in to the air off of it. She was left entirely clean by the time Jay turned the aura off and stepped away from her. He looked at the rest of the room and couldn't help but notice the portal.

It tended to draw the eye.

At the far end of the room stood a portal low to the ground, but it wasn't like any portal he'd yet encountered. This one wasn't oval, but round, and Jay estimated that it was only two and a half feet across at the most. Jay supposed a Librarian could try to fit through that but it'd be close. Too close. Jay could fit through it though. So could Norri.

Jay took a step back as a squirrel jumped through the portal, only it wasn't quite a squirrel. It had one giant tooth centered in the front of its mouth and it pointed straight down and was visible even when the creature's mouth was shut. They were otherwise a lot like a normal gray squirrel – just slower.

Glenda struck out with her sword before the creature could move any further in to the room. “Little things go everywhere. Tough to keep in room. Not dangerous but bite hurts.”

Jay looked over the body of the one-tooth that Glenda had just killed and decided that it didn't look like it would be a problem. As long as they didn't get overwhelmed by numbers they should be ok. Jay began to feel a bit better about their chances – they could do this!

“You go now?” Glenda asked curiously as if unsure of Jay and Norri's plan.

“Why not? We've got our weapons, we're already wearing our armor. How about you Norri, you good to go?” Jay asked as he turned to face Norri.

Norri shrugged. “I guess so? It feels weird doing this without Aiden and M'redith.”

Jay nodded. “We won't always have them around though. We need to be able to work without them at times. You up for that today?”

Norri grinned, “Sure, let's give it a go. They're just squirrels with a large fang,” she answered with a shrug.

“I wait here for you. Kill one-tooths that come through portal. Wait for you. Come back safe?” Glenda said a bit verbosely as if she were honestly worried about Jay and Norri.

Jay smiled, “Thanks Glenda. We'll be back soon. We'll come back safe,” he added with a nod.

That left only the how. Jay realized that there was no easy way to get through the portal - other than crawling. The hole had been set up at floor level and so Jay and Norri got down on the ground and prepared to crawl through the portal.

It was a struggle at first but eventually Jay and Norri managed to figure out how to hold on to their staffs as they laid their bodies flat against the ground and crept forward slowly.

It felt odd as Jay moved through the portal. An entirely unique feeling came over him as one end of his body was in the library and continued to crawl forward as the front half of his body passed through the portal and crept forward in to an entirely new space.

Jay's stomach felt hot and sour from the experience and it wasn't until he had crawled through entirely that the sensation finally passed.

Jay rolled aside from the portal entrance to make room for Norri to arrive. He sat up and looked about. They were underground in a dirt tunnel that was only five feet or so tall. That wasn't enough room for Jay to stand up straight and so as he stood up he had to duck his head in order to not hit it on the packed dirt above him.

The tunnel itself was studded with shining purple gems that lit up the tunnel in its entirety. It was beautiful and Jay would have investigated it for longer if a one-tooth hadn't rushed towards him while chittering madly.

Jay let out a strangled scream of surprise and struck out with his staff. He managed to connect and killed the creature with one strike. There, that wasn't so bad, Jay thought to himself just as Norri arrived.

“Yech – I feel awful!” she said as she held her stomach and stood up. She walked a few steps away from the portal and threw up noisily.

Jay looked on, unsure of what to do.

Norri finished after a minute or so and wandered back over to the portal and Jay. He turned on his aura without her even needing to ask and they stood quietly for a moment as the aura cleaned Norri up a bit. After thirty seconds Jay turned the ability off.

“It's quiet,” Norri said in a hushed voice – and it was, indeed, quiet. The dirt ate up any nearby sounds and all the two could hear was their own breathing.

“Come on, let's get started,” Jay said as he walked down the tunnel and away from the portal.

Norri fell in to line behind him and the two began exploring.

“What is this place?” Jay asked as they moved past the purple crystals embedded in to the dirt every few feet.

“Nowhere. This is a little pocket dimension. It doesn't exist anywhere on Eden but in its own tiny universe. Great for experiments – if something goes bad you just cut the portal connection and the dimension dissolves. Think of it as a safety feature for research purposes.” Norri explained.

“So what was this guy studying then?” Jay wondered aloud as they walked.

Norri shrugged, “I have no idea.” She stopped for a moment and tried to dig out one of the many purple crystals but none of them would budge, not even a bit. She gave up with a shrug and continued walking behind Jay.

A chittering was heard from behind them and Norri swung about and whipped her staff through the air in a side strike. It connected with a one-tooth that had sneaked up behind them and killed it in one shot.

“These are...” Norri started to say but was interrupted immediately by Jay.

“Don't say it! You'll jinx us!” Jay insisted and he turned back to face her so she could see his worried expression.

“Ok, I won't!” she said with a crooked grin. She had been about to say that the one-tooths were easy. They were easy. If she were to say that out loud though that was just asking for trouble. Better to keep that sort of talk for after the run.

The two soon quieted down and focused on their situational awareness as they walked further in to the pocket portal dimension. Norri had a thought that kept running through her head though. She didn't say it out loud, but she couldn't help thinking it. There were supposed to be a bunch of one-tooths in there. So far they had seen only two.

Where were all the monsters?