Vendrick and Jin reached the third floor, and a particular part of him was eager to finally reach the library. He had a duty to this place, an agenda he didn't feel comfortable sharing with anyone at this time. His attention however was turned to the entrance. This time the insignia marking the wooden doors was not unfamiliar unlike the past. No, he had been seen the same icon moonlit hanging behind Vendrick. The first moment he had paid attention to its details was at the Battle of Ferris. And so he realized what that floor really meant.

"It's the same."

“Yes it is, that's the Sentinel Sigil. Inside these walls, the elemental warriors in Sanctum are advised to make their Sigils known. It is much safer to recruit companions who have proven themselves and have earned the right to carry our Sigil, than any other knight for hire spread around the inns around the kingdom.”

Jin was learning more and more with each day he spent in Sanctum, and there were several questions he wanted to resolve with his brother. One of the biggest unknowns on his mind was the fact that he hadn't made it past the Hall of Trials as an elemental warrior. Ultimately, he had not been chosen by any of the great nine elemental figures who were worshipped here.

“Brother, now that I have failed the Hall of Trials and the gods in Sanctum have denied me...what am I even doing in this place? If I cannot get any stronger, if I cannot harvest the elemental like Eliza and Viktoria then I must be forced to question my purpose.”

"Dear brother, you know that I love you...I wouldn't bring you along to such dangers if I didn't believe there were other means."

“Other means? Of becoming an elemental warrior?”

Vendrick nodded, “There are other Bastions, other Ways...Although Sanctum is the most renowned of all in Elba. Which is why Lord Alaric wanted me to bring you here foremost. If Alaric wasn't so close to King Henrik, you wouldn’t even be granted entry to begin with. Millions dream with the opportunity , but few are born within an influential House or have enough gold to sway the opinion of the Sages to give them a chance...”

"Dad never told me there were other options, other places to go."

“That's because your dad didn't want you to side with unaligned forces and forbidden faiths. It is known, the warriors whom wield the most potential within Elba have always been raised in Sanctum at their core; Belenus of the East, Gannicus Umbra, Crowley Euler you name it...Hell, from what I’ve heard 10 of the current 13 members of the Brotherhood have once walked these halls to train with the Nine Keepers at the very source of the Elemental Faith; your father included."

Jin didn't quite know how to feel about what had transpired. His father had lied about Sanctum, he thought that was his only way out to ascend and become a lord. And now, suddenly it wasn't the only alternative. This all sounded like a bad joke in bad taste. He had carried with him a poisonous, disgusting feeling that had plagued him since he had failed the Hall of Trials. He just didn't mention it, but it was running inside him. It corroded to the point he had kissed that ascendant with red eyes. If he'd known there was a plan B or a plan C, maybe he wouldn't been as tempted to accept the red-eyed girl's proposal.

What had he done?

With the realization, the anguish slowly turned to anger. Jin wouldn't choose a second or third path. No, he would not choose mediocrity over another choice now that he had already reached this point. His father had guided him in a scheming and cold way, and had indirectly manipulated Jin into making decisions he couldn't turn back from.

Hundreds of shelves composing more than a thousand winters surrounded the room on all sides. Arranged in rows, hundreds of people could be seen reading books and writing others for publication. In the corner of the room, waving to the pair was a girl who was half Jin's size. And if her stature wasn't enough, that orange iris confirmed the suspicion that that figure was interacting with none other than them.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

"Took you guys long enough." Alaeria grunted.

“Well, Jin over here was asking me weird questions and being all sentimental. For now we need to focus on the task at hand.”

Jin shrugged, "There's a little bit of truth in that, I must admit."

“Anyways, so did you bring it?”

“Yeah, it’s right here.”

By the time Jin pulled it out of his pocket, the nail was different. Especially when he compared it back to when he'd first found it. The contrast was clear. The thick, sharp look of the nail was totally different from the last time he'd taken it out of his pocket. It was as if the item itself had had trouble breathing, and was now fading. The colors on its surface had faded, and in a matter of hours, it had darkened, looking more like a piece of burned nail than possible evidence of what they would have to face.

"Did it look this way before?"

"No, it seems to have aged greatly in a few hours."

“Interesting, please everyone take a seat,” The girl pointed towards two chairs across her. Laying on the table in between were several books; most were thick as bricks and seemed old and ancient enough to summon a sneeze at any second.

Taking a seat Jin looked around. Hundreds of booths lined up in columns and rows held thousands of scrolls and among them pieces of poems, artistical depictions borne of strange lands. From their covers, Jin imagined that they were all unique, that they varied in content. Some presented historical facts, titled by wars that Jin vaguely remembered being mentioned in his childhood. Other works were written not for the purpose of teaching history, but for how to repeat it. Books that functioned as instruction manuals for elemental techniques. Each book seemed to fit into a specific kind of elemental affinity, and it was written by different, prominent authors who made their careers in discovery and sketching the Elemental Way's branches.

Authors who had practiced their entire lives and refined elemental energy to the point of developing a technique worth recording. Techniques that needed to be passed on to future generations, and needed to be taught through reading and rigorous training. The step by step was duly recorded in these books, but they were not made for most to read. Each book had its specific requirements, and one of them was repeated over and over again.

To add this stance to your plethora of skills, the Sentinel Rank and a compromise to Sanguis is required.

Under ranked elemental artists are strictly forbidden to practice the form within this manual. In the case you proceed to learn the Nine Paws- Fist Style Form before you refine your nucleus past Disciple, you may suffer from seizures, deafness, elemental sickness and imminent death.”

-Garion Nihann, 6th Scribe of Sanctum, 226 A.T.

Jin threw that book away like he was allergic to parchment's touch. In a daze, breaking out in a cold sweat, while not being able to tell if he was suffering from the effects of having read only the warning on the back of the technique manual, or if it was his mind playing tricks on him.

“Jin do not touch these manuals, they won’t do you any good. The chronicles, poems and diaries are all safe, however.”

"Got it." He quickly voiced the cold sweat made its way down his stressed forehead.

"So why are we meeting here, of all places in Sanctum?" Vendrick asked, "If we wanted to meet somewhere private we could have just met in the outer courtyard away from most people."

“When Jin showed me that object, I instantly remembered something that I read in a diary once. Unfortunately, I can’t recall the specific name of the book, or even the author.”

“So you think me and my brother will help you go through a hundred thousand manuals? I did hear rumors you were a little insane but I never thought you would go that far.”

“That's not...that's not what we are doing idiot! I may not have a good memory for authors, but one thing I am certain. I read the book after I got past the Disciple Tribulation. So in this table are all the books that I’ve read since, you just have to skim through them, see if you can find anything that resembles that claw.”

And just like that, the work and reading that they would be subjected to were largely reduced. There were still twelve books on the table, but considering they were three people, the idea didn't seem so daunting anymore.

"How do we split this?" said Jin.

"I will go through the manual skills." said Vendrick turning toward a hefty stack of scrolls.

"Well in that case I'll go through the Reports and Tales," Alaeria concluded with a smirk, "Which means you'll start with this one Jin."

The girl slid a thick red book toward Jin. Taken from the bottom of the stack of books, the title took Jin completely off guard. And like a reality check, it terrified him entirely. Falling onto his back on the floor with his eyes still fixed on the cover.

It read...

Azazel's Ascendancy Book II: The Founding of House Bahaeryon