A ray of light shined brightly through the curtains of the library as Valentine sat up from the couch turned bed he had slept in the night before. It had been 3 months since the once pristine and cozy library was turned into a shelter for the teleported group. While the first few days had been the most rough, the 3 long months were not easy for the group. Within the first week the snacks stored in the library ran out, luckily a nearby river provided enough fish for the group. Most of the books in the library had been turned into tinder to warm the group in the cold months that had followed their arrival. Overall, the group was tired, ragged, and scared.
After the first night, the group collectively agreed to call the small green creatures goblins, named for their striking resemblance to the goblins in games popular to the younger students. While these goblins had slowed down the attacks once the first large group was wiped out, there were many smaller groups that attacked the library and the inhabitants. The students realized that simply making magical barriers to surround the library was not a long-term solution to the irregular attacks of the goblins. So the group created a series of walls and tunnels with their magic around the library. Allowing for the students to easily enter and exit the area, while remaining safe within the walls.
Valentine’s thinking of the past 3 months was interrupted by Terran’s loud cough. In the months after the transportation, the group had gotten much closer. Valentine figured it was because the constant relying on each other in life-or-death situations. Whatever the reason, Valentine had grown very close to the group of people he now lived with, especially Terran. His personality had mellowed out a lot over the months, and now he was well liked by the entire group.
Valentine sat up and looked at the resting Terran, one week ago he caught a sickness that left him bedridden, unable to do much but eat and rest. It was Valentine’s chore last night to watch Terran and look after him. While no one else in the group had gotten this sick, no one else in the group had been as active as Terran. He regularly patrolled the area around the library, fixing any minor scratch or dent to ensure its long-term use would have no problems. But when fishing one day he suddenly fainted, leaving him in his current state.
“How is he?” Professor Roxanne entered the room quietly asking the question only when she had already shut the door.
“Same old, same old. I didn’t notice any changes last night or today.” Valentine gave a grim look toward Terran as he spoke. “You don’t think he’ll be stuck like this forever, do you?”
“I... I don’t know. But I can only hope that he will recover soon. In the meantime, we should do all we can to help him. I have prepared more medicine for him, why don’t you go get some fresh air and I will watch him for the rest of the day.” Professor Roxanne walked toward Valentine and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Really, worrying will only make you feel worse, can’t have two of you missing from the action now can we?” She gave a light chuckle and smiled at Valentine.
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“You’re right, thank you professor. Please look after him while I am gone.” Valentine stood up from his resting spot and walked towards the door.
Lightly opening and closing it, Valentine walked out the door toward the main entrance of the library. Exiting the door and stretching in the morning sunlight, Valentine took a deep breath of fresh air. He thought to himself that if everything wasn’t trying to kill him, this place would be nice to live in. Chuckling to himself Valentine strolled over to the dugout hole directly across from the main entrance of the library. The hole was about 6 feet in width, slightly elevated from the surrounding ground, and against the wall surrounding the library. This was only way for someone to enter and leave the area inside the wall. Its entrance was small enough for one mage to quickly fill with dirt to prevent intruders, and the path that lead through the ground was long and maze like, with multiple ‘bulkheads’ as Terran called them. These bulkheads being more narrow parts of the tunnel at the turns of the maze, allowing someone to quickly and easily defend the position with a spell.
Walking through the underground maze Valentine thought of how genius Terran must be to come up with a perfect defense like this. While the wall was the group's common consensus, they were unsure of how to enter an exit. Any idea was shot down for being impractical or too defenseless. But Terran thought of and executed the maze perfectly, thinking of it made Valentine all the more impatient for Terran to recover. At the end of the maze that had been thoroughly memorized by the entire group at this point Valentine stopped. Grabbing an inconspicuous rock and pressing it against the wall, a hole slowly grew outward from the rock and allowed Valentine to walk outside the multilayer wall protecting the library. Now outside, Valentine grabbed the key rock and placed it exactly where he had found it before the hole closed up behind him.
Valetine took a quick note of the surroundings, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so he began his walk around the outermost wall. Of the 10 walls surrounding the library, the outermost one was the thickest and tallest. Its height easily dwarfed the 2-story library, and even a fireball cast by Professor Roxanne was unable to pierce it. However, Terran still thought that it might not be enough to protect the library, so he also cast a protective barrier on the wall, one made with much more preparation and power than the previous one cast on the library alone.
As Valentine walked, he repaired any wear and tear on the wall and recharged the barrier, while not necessary to do daily, Valentine took it as his responsibility when Terran fell sick, as it was something he did daily. Finally completing a full circle around the wall Valentine took a moment of rest. While he was fit, it was still tiring to walk the length of the wall while repairing the magical barrier, especially with the little food that he had been eating as of recently.
In the corner of his eye Valentine noticed movement in the woods. While it wasn’t uncommon for wild animals to venture near the wall, the movement was too sudden and quiet to be a wild animal. If Valentine wasn’t on his highest alert, he wouldn’t have noticed it. Valentine took a deep breath and readied himself for a fight with a goblin or coyote. Lurking forward Valentine raised the bronze sword that he now used as his primary form of self-protection. While using magic had more damage, unless it was a big fight like the first day, there was no need to expend such an effort on goblins. So, the group collected best condition weapons the goblins left behind, Valentine choosing a sword as it fit his quick paced fighting style the most.
Valentine entered the forest at the spot that he noticed the movement. Still on guard he crouched down and looked at the surrounding foliage. It was just the beginning of autumn, the dead grass and orange, brown leaves covered the floor of the forest. At his feet Valentine scoured the floor looking for some clue related to the movement he saw earlier. As he searched, Valentine found underneath the scattered leaves, a folded piece of paper