As Coney walked deeper into the Archives there was a kind of energy in the air. The same staticy feeling as when there was going to be a lightning storm, or when there were large power lines nearby. It made his furn stand on end, but that wasn’t going to deter him.

“I wonder what’s in the forbidden section, if the normal area has already got some obviously dangerous instructions.” Of course, a part of him did know. He’d read enough books in the genre to have and idea. “I suppose maybe they entice you into using them, or they have mind altering effects. Hell, some may even contain souls, how crazy would that be.”

Coney tried to laugh to himself. Sure he had an audience, but this was a lot. He really couldn’t get ahold of himself that easily, but at least he was following the years. The year seemed to go around the corner of the area and go back the way he came, coming out across a small ledge that he could have easily stepped over. Still, there before him were the stairs down, which he’d missed before, so it was a blessing.

Down the stairs he found more of the same, other than the forbidden section there were all sorts of things down here, all of which he could easily take had he wanted to. He had to admit, a part of him itched as he saw that some of the shelves were not merely documents. Some had boxes, and looking inside he saw items. He saw wands, knives, even a sword. Once he got really deep he saw some shelves labeled seven. On those shelves he saw things that screamed magical to his game-trained soul.

There was a sword that glowed lightly in the darkness, a bag with a face on it, so many things that he could see were special. “I… I wanna touch them. But this feels like a test of worthiness. The kind of thing that happened in Aladdin.” Of course, this was really just him trying to convince himself. He closed his eyes and walked onward.

Everything was calm, if tense, until he heard a small scuttling sound. Running towards it he moved rather quickly. Instinctively his running was using the balls of his feet, and the power of his entire foot and leg to push against the ground like he was running up stairs. It was quick, and he moved about twenty feet in less than a minute,

There, eating the corner of one of the boxes, was a rat. Normally he wouldn’t have thought much, he actually kind of liked rats. Coney’d had one once, but that was a long time ago. Still, this rat was a full foot long, so it wasn’t the best comperasin. “A Nutria?” Coney asked as he looked at it. “Or just some weird magically altered rat?”

Coney didn’t know what to do, but his decision was taken from him when the rat ran forward and bit him on the leg. “You bastard!” He said, swinging his sickle and cutting a deep gash in the rat’s back. The rat wasn’t moving quite right, and with a squeak it returned the attack, getting its claws into Coney’s thigh. “Come here you little.”

With a dexterous grab the rabbit-kin managed to grab the rat by the scruff of its neck and from there he cut it like weight, fully decapitating the creature. Panting from exertion he dropped the carcass, walking onward. His sickle was dripping with blood as he went deeper into the stacks.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

A Glint on one of the shelves marked thirteen caught his eye. He decided to look at it, picking the item up in his paw. Turning it around he found that it was a small ceramic doll of a black cat, kind of like the ones that begged for money in Chinese food places. It had a cute little sign, that said may you live in interesting times. Coney didn’t take much notice of it before putting it back, it was cute after all.

Luck increased by 1

That was weird. Was the cat magic? If it was, why did it help him increase his stat? Looking at his paw he realized he still had blood on it, same with his sickle. He sighed, walking forward as it dripped blood on the ground. “Well, at least that did something good. A stat increase is a stat increase, right?”

He heard a sound coming from inside the forbidden section as he walked back. “Maybe blood next to that place is a bad idea.” He said as he walked. Still, he didn’t do anything but move forward. Behind the forbidden section were much lower numbers than before. He’d gotten past the 500s, the 400s, and the 300s. But now behind here was everything before that.

There were a bunch of shelves, but they were neatly organized, so Coney was quickly able to walk from one end to the other to find which end had the earliest records. The earliest number was 139, and there was a black bound ledger book. Resting his still bloody Sickle against the wall, Coney opened the book and looked inside.

The majority of it seemed to be a simple day to day record of what happened in the abbey. Well, perhaps not exactly. The book started in 113. It started very simply.

I have taken the palace of my master, Felicity. She was in charge of the church for the last fifty five years, but now she has died. Her book was buried with her in old tunnels. The church yard is full, I believe I will convert the tunnels into catacombs.

Okay, so that was it. Coney would have to search this book for a reference to the graves, but he couldn’t easily get a record of them from this book. It wouldn’t have a record of who was buried, or when. “Okay, I think this is what I need. I’ll bring it up to Franka.” He picked up the book, using a metal latch that it had to keep it shut. Grabbing his sickle he started to go back. That was when he saw a figure looming over him.

The figure was tall, maybe twenty four feet or so, but it was rail thin. It was leaning around the pillar in the center of the room and looking down into the shelves. “What the fuck.” Coney whispered before clamping a paw over his own mouth as it turned its head to him.

Whatever that creature was, Coney was afraid. It was leaning against the pillar of the forbidden section. Could it have come from there? Could his reckless auctions have set it free? Shit, he really had no idea. All he could be sure of was that he sure as hell wasn’t getting back the way he came.

Sneaking down behind the bookshelves Coney looked along the entire wall to see if there was another way up. In the middle of the wall he found a door. Grabbing it he tried to tug it open, but it was locked.

The door was old and wooden however, so a lock wouldn’t stop him. He slammed his sickle into it, cutting at the wood,even as he heard the movement behind him of the tall man. It was terrifying, but it only made him go quicker, until the door fell open. On the other side, Coney slammed the door shut and leaned against it.

“This is really bad.” He said, looking at the stone on the walls. “We’re back in the Undercroft.”