Chapter 97
“Run, wait, run, run, wait,” said Aiden quietly.
“No, it's run, wait, run, wait ,wait!” complained M'redith in frustration.
The group had been studying the movements of the monsters inside of the library for the last hour and some of them were having an easier time of it than others. Aiden just did not seem to have a knack for finding and remembering patterns. They were trying to find a route to the central desk and Aiden was struggling with the directions.
“How can you keep getting that part wrong, we've done this three times now!” Norri complained.
Aiden shrugged, “I haven't eaten real food in forever! I'm weak from hunger probably!”
Glenda was behind the group and simply stared at the monsters as they patrolled the library shelves and aisles. Glenda smiled at Aiden's difficulties but only for a moment, she was too focused on the patrols.
Jay looked up as the others argued. Jay had his Mighty Book open and was taking notes on patrol patterns. He made another scribbled note as something passed over a nearby aisle of books. Above the rows and rows of bookshelves flying monsters could barely be made out moving through the air slowly, almost floating rather than flying. They moved in a predictable pattern in a clockwise direction and should be fairly easy to avoid so long as they mapped out their path ahead of time.
The other monsters, the ones that walked, were too far to make out still. The group could tell that they walked on two feet but nothing more.
Aiden was getting frustrated, “What if we just rush it? Run towards the central desk as fast as we can.”
M'redith looked at him like he was crazy. Even Norri looked surprised at the suggestion.
Aiden sighed, “OK, ok, we won't just run, jeesh.”
“I think this might be enough for today.” M'redith said as she caught Jay's eye and nodded her head towards a frustrated Aiden who was clearly not having a great time.
Jay smiled but wiped it off of his face as Aiden turned to face the group. Jay looked serious and said, “Ok. Let's pack it up then and move on to our second task on the list. Looting.”
Aiden smiled at the mention of looting and seemed to get his second wind. Everyone stood and stretched quietly not wanting to draw the attention of monsters.
“Ok, back in line everyone, I'm moving in one minute.” M'redith said as she led the group back to the door they had entered through. She gave the door a gentle kick thinking it would be too quiet for any of the monsters in the library to hear.
She was incorrect.
A screech could be heard from above as what looked like a dirty flying sheet hurled towards them. The monster was close enough that the group could make it out and now that they could they wished that they couldn't.
The back half of the monster was made up of ragged and tattered looking elongated and boneless limbs that wiggled as it moved. Tentacles.
The front half was a bleeding mess as if whoever had made it forgot to add the final layer of skin. It had only a mouth on its face, no eyes or nose. Its mouth was a round black maw with a single swollen bright red lip that ringed the opening. There were no teeth; the monster was already scary enough and most likely did not need them.
The flying tentacle monster flew at high speed towards the group and M'redith swung open the door and led the group at a run in to the adjoining corridor. They sped through the opening one at a time until Glenda slammed the door shut behind her and not a moment too soon. Just as the door shut a massive squish could be heard as the monster struck the door from the other side with a messy wet sound.
The door shuddered from the impact and something wet and viscous, thick like jam, leaked under the door.
No one stopped to investigate. M'redith ran at high speed down the corridor. There were twists, turns, forks, and four way intersections leading off in to other corridors. She ran down them seemingly at random but she knew her route. She had memorized the area earlier and was thinking of the map and what room might be good to start with to look for loot. She didn't wait long and a few moments later darted in to a side room off of the corridor they had been running through.
Her group piled in to the room and Glenda slammed the door shut behind them. As soon as the door had clicked shut a number of bodies could be heard strike the door with a thump and squelch. The thumps were quickly replaced with wild scrabbling and scratching sounds.
Glenda stared at the door for a few seconds before she looked about and grabbed a nearby beam set aside for moments such as the one they were experiencing.
The scrabbling sounds had continued unabated. The monsters did not sound as if they had planned on stopping any time soon. The door rattled in its frame as the door handle jiggled wildly. Jay turned and leaned up against it and held it shut. As Glenda approached with the beam Jay took a step back. She dropped the beam in to its fittings and barred the door shut. Feeling a little safer she turned to face her group and took a look about the room.
The room was lit by magical indirect lighting that seemed to come from nowhere in particular. The layout was longer than it was wide, perhaps double, maybe more, and was taken up mostly by four wide workstations with various glass vials and beakers. It looked like a chemical lab.
The front of the lab was mostly taken up by a blackboard which covered the entire front wall and a desk which faced the room. The blackboard had parts of a complicated formula still barely readable scrawled on it in messy handwriting. In the back of the room was a closet door. Doors led off in to corridors off both sides of the room, one of which was barred shut as monsters clawed at it from the other side.
The side walls were partially covered in closed cabinets and Norri dragged a stool over to one to begin looking for anything of value. “Hey, guys, have any of you thought about looking at some of the books in the library here? You know, instead of running through it to the center and back?”
Aiden went straight for the four workstations in the center of the room. The workstations had drawers built in to their frames and he was going through them one by one. He shut an empty drawer with a hollow thunk and opened another, this one stuffed with straw. “We're trying to return a book, not take out more books!” he said with a grin.
Glenda looked on quietly taking the opportunity to rest while the others searched the room.
M'redith went to the back of the room and checked the closet. She could be heard moving things about and her voice sounded muffled as she replied, “Norri what would you even look for? Anything in particular?”
Jay went up front and activated his Treasure sense only half listening to the conversation. He didn't want to miss his ability activating if he got a weak hit on something. He walked about the front of the room and around the front desk but felt nothing in response.
Norri shrugged as she shut a cabinet and opened another. She pulled out a six pack of dark blood red potions in shiny glass vials. The six pack container was made out of wood and had a handle which she used to set the entire thing on the ground. “Found some potions! Not sure how many are still good.” She closed that cabinet and opened another and frowned finding nothing of value.
“I'd look for anything on the Dungeon of Rebirth. Or the Dungeon of Death. If anywhere had a lost book about those dungeons this library would be at the top of the list wouldn't it?” Norri said simply as she continued riffling through cabinets.
The noise coming from the closet went quiet for a moment before M'redith replied. “That's a really good point Norri. Jay, why don't we do that?”
Jay caught his name and looked up, “Huh?”
“I said WHY DON'T WE DO THAT!” M'redith said louder.
Jay looked at Norri, confused. He had missed the conversation. Norri quickly explained and Jay chuckled.
“Because we didn't think of it? We were too focused on not getting caught on the way here, then once we got here we were to focused on returning the book.” Jay shrugged. “We can't think of everything. Thanks Norri!” Jay called out.
Norri grinned, happy to have contributed in a way no one else had thought of.
“There's nothing in here.” Aiden said in frustration as he moved to another workstation to search.
“That was what we were expecting. It's ok, I still haven't checked the whole room,” Jay replied.
Aiden sighed. He really needed a good nights sleep and a good meal but he was only going to get one of those things that evening. Maybe neither depending on how things went. He continued searching but kept coming up with nothing. The drawers did not appear to have been a popular space for storage.
Jay walked over to the workstation Aiden had just abandoned and felt a light tingling. “I think I've got something here Aiden, you might want to come back.”
Jay waited until Aiden was next to him before he ran his hands over the drawers. The buzzing continued but did not intensify. Jay moved his hands up to the tabletop and the hairs on the backs of his hands and arms stood on end.
“Whoa. Creepy.” Aiden said in fascination as Jay's arm hair stood straight up and waved in a breeze no one else felt as Jay placed his palms on one spot in particular.
It was the edge of the table and Jay ran his fingers along underneath the table's surface until he found a small catch. Jay leaned over and inspected it. He had to twist and contort himself a bit to see due to the angle but he couldn't make out anything that indicated it was trapped. Standing back up he flipped the catch and part of the tabletop flipped up revealing a small but long cubby.
Aiden grinned and he looked suddenly as if he was re-energized. Aiden looked over at Jay and Jay grinned.
Jay nodded towards the compartment, “Go ahead, all yours.”
Aiden carefully riffled through the small pile of belongings and found an old writing kit. It was quality work and would have been an impressive find had it been in better condition. Aiden shrugged, “It's better than nothing!”
Jay grinned, “You should check the other workstations, see if they have a similar compartment.”
Aiden turned and was already walking before Jay finished the sentence. Jay chuckled and moved along to check the side walls and cabinets.
He didn't open the cabinets because he didn't need to. He just needed to be close and he could do that just fine already. As he walked along the side opposite Norri he checked the cabinets as well as the wall twice, just to be sure, but he did not get any response from his ability.
Norri grinned as she called out, “Found something!” She held up an old looking leather money pouch.
“Any money?” Aiden asked excitedly.
Norri undid the ties and opened the pouch and looked inside. She sighed, “Nothing.”
Aiden groaned, “Well – at least you got a pouch out of it.”
Norri grinned, “That'll be handy. I've been using my pack up to now and that has been a mess.”
M'redith called out from the back, “Don't go putting anything in to that pouch until we've gotten a good look at it. You don't know if it is magical or not!”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “Yes mom!”
“And don't call me mom!” M'redith called back a bit more loudly.
Jay checked the wall Norri had been searching and again found nothing, his ability not going off the entire time. Norri looked at him hopefully but Jay shook his head sadly. “Sorry Norri, nothing here.”
She nodded her head but didn't look too upset. She was having fun. She continued to open and close cabinets before moving on to the opposite side of the room and doing much the same.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Jay wandered to the back of the room and felt a small buzz. “Here we go M'redith!”
“Here we go what?” M'redith said in a muffled voice from back in the closet room.
Jay entered the closet and the feeling intensified. Jay shivered as the feeling became a little uncomfortable.
M'redith turned around and looked at Jay who was now standing next to her. The closet was a decent size, six by six feet, and was completely lined with shelving all occupied by small boxes.
M'redith nodded at the walls to the left and right. “All the boxes are empty on those walls. I just need to check the back wall.
Jay nodded and waved his hands about and found the back wall to be the focus. “Something with the wall here, give me a hand,” he said as M'redith helped him search. Jay found a patch of wall behind one of the empty boxes that gave him prickly goosebumps and clicked when he pushed on it carefully.
The back wall, complete with shelves, swung open in to another room just barely big enough to walk in to with a small table. The table had three legs and a wide flat top that held a metal dish. In the dish lay a tied off leather pouch with chunky bulges and a small leather satchel about the size of Jay's hand.
Jay got down on his knees and inspected the underneath of the table. He looked at the legs and then got up and inspected the dish. “Doesn't look trapped.” he concluded.
M'redith nodded and picked up the pouch, lightly shaking it. It jingled. “Coins!” she exclaimed as she untied the top and picked through the contents. “Silver,” she said, “and lots of it.”
Jay grinned. “Aiden will be happy.” Jay picked up the satchel and opened it. Inside were three vials, all empty.
M'redith looked at the exterior of the pouch while Jay riffled through its contents. The satchel had black details and flourishes burnt in to the reddish leather and they made repeating patterns around its edges.
“Potion satchel. A nice one too by the looks of it.” M'redith said appreciatively.
“Great! We can roll for it after we take a look at it.” Jay said with a smile.
“Are we going to roll for hidden items?” M'redith asked.
“Well you'd better hope so. If you instead just give it to whoever found it I'll end up with everything,” Jay said with a teasing grin.
M'redith laughed and nodded, “Ok, ok. We'll all roll, seems fairest.”
Everyone gathered back at the front of the room and showed off what they had found.
“Ok, who wants to go first?” Jay asked.
Aiden raised his hand as if they were in class before he frowned and put it back down. He placed a small leather container sealed shut with a zipper on to the desks mostly empty surface. Aiden opened it and displayed its contents – an expensive looking but also poorly maintained writing kit. It had seen better days and the case was falling apart. The writing implement itself was still in usable condition.
It was tipped with a fine nib on one end for collecting ink to write with whereas the opposite end was tipped with a single garnet. The garnet was a decent size and the implement itself looked to be made of a metal no one could identify.
Jay focused on the item and inspected it for a few moments before his Identify ability triggered.
Fancy Jeweled Writing Kit – Common
This kit is of superior craftsmanship but has not been cared for properly. While the case is falling apart the writing implement may still work just as well as the first day of its use if repaired by a craftsman thanks to its fine construction.
Jay shrugged, “I don't need a writing kit, I'm out.”
Glenda grunted and shook her head. She was out too.
The others rolled a random number with the assistance of the System. A notification screen appeared in front of those present.
Item: Fancy Jeweled Writing Kit x 1
Aiden: Random(100) = 98
M'redith: Random(100) = 23
Norri: Random(100) = 09
Fancy Jeweled Writing Kit x 1 awarded to Aiden
“Congratulations!” Norri said happily and everyone else congratulated him on his find as well. The kit may be tattered but if repaired it would be an impressive possession to show off.
“Who else, Norri?” Jay asked.
Norri grinned, “I found this pouch!” she said as she place a small leather pouch on to the table just after Aiden had taken possession of the writing kit.
The pouch was a bit on the smaller side and appeared to have very little room inside. It was smaller than the palm of Jay's hand.
Jay concentrated on the item and waited for Identify to trigger. Shortly after he was rewarded with a description.
Pouch of Change – Uncommon
This pouch is small but not limited by its exterior size. Up to one gold piece of coinage may be stored inside the pouch using any combination of coins. Once one gold piece of coinage is stored the pouch will no longer accept further coins. The pouch will seal shut for one hour, afterwards the pouch will contain only a single gold coin which may be withdrawn at the owner's leisure. Only the bound owner may use this pouch. This item must be bound before use.
The entire group made appreciative sounds.
“Now that is a cool magic item,” M'redith said with a grin.
“You find yourself trying to turn change in to gold often do you?” Aiden quipped with a lopsided grin.
M'redith gave him a defiant look, “I plan on running in to that situation more and more as we visit more dungeons, yes!”
“Oh,” Aiden said after thinking about that for a moment. “Right. That makes sense now that you mention it.”
Norri rolled her eyes but she was still smiling.
Glenda nodded, “I'm in,” she said making a rare use of a contraction in her speech.
Jay nodded, “Ok, I think everyone is in for this one.” Everyone nodded just to make sure Jay knew they were in. “Ok, roll time.” Jay said and the system triggered a random roll for each of them.
Item: Pouch of Change x 1
Jay: Random(100) = 94
M'redith: Random(100) = 95
Aiden: Random(100) = 02
Norri: Random(100) = 91
Glenda: Random(100) = 89
Pouch of Change x 1 awarded to M'redith!
“Congratulations M'redith!” Jay said as he gave her a strong side hug before letting her go. He didn't want to accidentally trigger her class ability Giant Frame. The others congratulated her as well, it was good that M'redith had gotten it, she'd be the one to carry the random coins they found in dungeons from now on most likely.
M'redith took the pouch and went next, replacing it with the pouch she had taken off the dish in the back room's back room.
Jay identified the item.
Coin Pouch – Common
There was no description. It was just a simple coin pouch. M'redith opened the pouch and began to count out silver coins. She placed them in stacks of ten. First one, then another, then eight, then nine. Well, almost nine.
“89 silver. Not bad!” M'redith said with a grin.
Aiden smiled but he had been more excited about winning the tattered writing kit.
Norri wiggled her eyebrows, “Think of how much food that will buy!”
Aiden's stomach growled loudly. “Don't do that!” he mock complained. After that he did seem to be more excited about the coin.
M'redith gave everyone 17 coins each and had four coins left over.
“Roll to see who doesn't get a coin or keep splitting it further?” M'redith asked.
Jay shrugged, “No, let's keep it at silver coins. Skip me and give everyone else a silver. I have enough.”
M'redith shrugged but smiled as she gave everyone but Jay a final silver coin.
“And now for a real good looking item,” Jay said as he concentrated on the leather satchel.
Genesis Vault – Rare
This rectangular satchel is covered in fine detail work which has been burnt in to the soft reddish leather. The satchel is designed to be worn on a belt and the top opens and falls away from the user's body allowing immediate access to three glass potion vials, included. Healing potions stored in the vials for more than 24 hours will be 10% more effective. The vials must be stored in the satchel in order for the effect to work. Only the bound user may use the satchel. This item must be bound before use.
“Wow.” Glenda said and the group all turned to stare at her after she spoke. Glenda grinned and nodded. “I'm in,” again, with the use of a contraction.
“Everyone can use this. Anyone can make good use of this really. I know healing potions are expensive but with a satchel like that I'd carry them all the time!” Aiden commented excitedly.
Jay poked at the item and nodded, “Ok, time to roll. Who will get it? Let's find out!” as the system triggered a random roll.
Item: Genesis Vault x 1
Jay: Random(100) = 28
M'redith: Random(100) = 37
Aiden: Random(100) = 92
Norri: Random(100) = 82
Glenda: Random(100) = 12
Genesis Vault x 1 awarded to Aiden!
Aiden clapped his hands and excitedly lifted the satchel off the table and put it in his backpack. Now was not the time to be taking his belt off to put the pouch on. Later would be a better choice.
Finally Jay set the six pack of dark red potions on the table. Jay peered intently at the object and got a disappointing result.
Potion Six Pack
Six vials, four empty, but all unbroken set in a wooden carrying pack with a handle. This item must be identified before use.
“I don't know about this one,” Jay said. “We'll have to wait to get it identified back at K'tharkle.
M'redith shrugged, “Should we still roll for it or wait until it is identified?”
“Let's roll for it!” said Norri with a bit too much excitement. “If you guys want,” she added a little calmer.
Jay grinned, “Sure, lets roll for it. I can carry it in my backpack until we get back to town.”
Item: Potion Six Pack x 1
Jay: Random(100) = 15
M'redith: Random(100) = 62
Aiden: Random(100) = 33
Norri: Random(100) = 82
Glenda: Random(100) = 99
Potion Six Pack x 1 awarded to Glenda!
Glenda made a pleased sound and excitedly took the six pack and inspected it for a moment before remembering to hand it to Jay for storage in his bag. Things didn't seem to break when they were stored in Jay's backpack no matter how much abuse the backpack itself endured. Jay set it up against the opening of his backpack and the six pack and potions were sucked inside of it and neatly stored in one of Jay's 15 storage slots.
Looking about the room Jay smiled at the group, “Is everyone happy? Have a good time searching for loot?”
Everyone nodded. Although not everyone had gotten an item they each were 18 silver richer, except for Jay, who was 17 silver richer.
“Can we head back to the map room and relax a bit before bed? I know we still have to eat dinner.” Norri said with a sad look on her face. Had to eat dinner, that is how she put it. Dinner used to be something to be looked forward to, anticipated even. Every meal gave a bit of excitement as they never knew what would be offered that day or that meal.
They knew what was on offer outside of K'tharkle though. Chalk wafers, and even those were preferred over the only current alternative, gruel.
“I am hungry too. I know, I know what we have to eat but still. Aiden need food, badly,” he said mockingly before realizing that Glenda was right there and might take offense even though he had intended none.
Thankfully Glenda was still too excited about her loot win and didn't notice. She was also a bit busy removing the beam blocking the side door and lifted it out of its fittings. She dropped it to the ground just to the side of the door where anyone rushing in to the room could find it.
“Ok, we'll head to dinner at the map room, ready?” M'redith asked as she faced Jay – she was really asking him if he was ready. He nodded and the group lined up in to their standard order. M'redith gave the door a kick and heard nothing. She kicked it a second time and something slammed in to the door and made gurgling noises as something wet was dragged across the door slowly. It made a sickening squelching sound which no one was interested in investigating further.
M'redith lead them to the door directly across the room and the group stacked up once again. M'redith gave one kick, two kicks, whipped the door open, and ran a route only slightly different from the one she had originally intended. She made sure to avoid whatever was still trying to get in to the room and led her group further in to the building.