A thin, black line stretched across the horizon, and I squinted at it through the semi-transparent, floaty scroll thing that was hovering in front of me. It felt weirdly personal, like it knew stuff about me. Probably because it did. 'Name, Nakia Davids. Race, Handbook? Uh, right… something about druids?' I frowned. Did that mean I could turn into a wolf? Please let that mean I could turn into a wolf. 'A 'rare-wolf' heh, like a 'rare' book… who is a 'were'-wolf… heh. I'm hilarious?'

The line caught my attention again. It was still just sitting there, but… was it thicker than before? Nah, wait. Closer. That thing was definitely getting closer.

I glanced back at the scroll, hoping it had answers. But the moment I shifted focus, the scroll just blinked out of existence. Okay, rude. I stared at the line again, and yep, it was a lot thicker now. Or nearer. Or both.

"Uh, Admin?" My voice echoed awkwardly. "Hey, did you forget to, uh, you know, let me out before turning off the lights?" It wouldn't be the first time. Last semester, Professor Malone packed up his stuff, flipped the switch, and left an entire lecture hall full of students sitting in pitch darkness. Good times.

Nothing. No response. Of course. Admin Rat Guy—big muscles, literal rat face, somehow a manager of this whole weird thing—was gone. Completely. Just poof.

"I'm just saying," I continued to the void, "if this is part of the shaping thing, not cool. Like, really not cool. Also, that line? Not friendly. Not even a little. Admin? You're supposed to be the one in charge here! Can I just go be a book now? Or whatever it is I'm supposed to be? Because that line is—yep—definitely getting closer."

I swallowed. Was it just me, or did the void feel colder all of a sudden? I glanced around. up, he still wasn't here. "Gah!"

When I looked back towards the line, it was barreling down on me. Now a wall of dusty, black nothing. I didn't even have time to turn and run before it washed over me, trading one void for another.

Transition Completed

'Oh? OH! Oh… uh…' My thoughts stumbled over themselves as a new sensation hit me. 'I guess this is what a book feels like?' Yeah, that sounded about right.

I definitely took up space now… which was an odd thing to notice. When have I not taken up space? My mind drifted back to the sensation of being in the white void. I clicked back to reality as I realized that something pressed snugly against both of my sides, like I was sandwiched in a very tight space. Below me, something brushed the edges of what I could only assume was my… cover? Above me, though? Nothing. Just open air.

I couldn't see what I looked like, but somehow, I could feel it. I was just abou— A scroll, again semi-translucent, popped up in the void before me.

Handbook of the Druid, Eryngo: Twenty-three centimeters long. Fifteen and a half centimeters wide. Four centimeters thick. Leather bound. Handmade paper. Plant fiber stitching.

'Uh… okay? That was… oddly specific,' But it wasn't wrong. I mean, it felt right. The leather that made up my cover was smooth and soft, kind of like my baba's old notebook. Except I guess now I was the notebook. Neat.

The leather wasn't bound to anything stiff or cardboardy, just itself. And inside? I could feel paper. Bunches of it, folded and stitched into my spine. 'Not a creepy thought at all…' No glue, just thread. The paper was rough, the edges feathered. Was this stuff hand made?

Between my pages, there were… things. I couldn't see them, exactly, but I felt them. Like a memory I wasn't supposed to have. Plants? Yeah, pressed leaves and flowers for sure. Maybe even a feather? Oooh, mysterious. What kind of book was I? 'Oh right, Handbook of Druid… Erin-go? Eryngo?'

Oh! Writing! I had writing! What did it say? Was it ancient and cryptic? Cool spells? A recipe for cookies? No, wait—focus, Nakia. 'This is not the time to get distracted by baked goods.' But also… maybe a little distracted? Just for a second?

Oh… oh no… cookies. My heart sank and I began to feel sick. 'What have I done? Stupid! You chose a book! You can't have cookies! Or umm ali, or basbousa, or… oh no! Fresh baked bagels with cream cheese! Why?! Everything is my everything!'

As I sulked, I read over the writing inside me. It wasn't English or Arabic, but I could understand it as if it was. Handwritten notes filled my pages, some making references to either images sketched along side them or to the pieces pressed between my pages. Slowly my ennui began to fade as I became more and more engrossed in the writings.

It seemed I was the personal journal of a young person named Eryngo. They were a native to this Beta World, as far as I understood the term. The writings mentioned being born here, parents, etc. It seemed Eryngo had dedicated their life to trying to unlock a class: Druid. It definitely seemed like they were on the right path. Apparently, they had unlocked a rare class on their Evolution Day. A day when they reach a certain age the system becomes fully available to natives, and they unlock either a Class or Profession.

Their goal was to try and become a Druid by the next Initiation in twenty years, from the time of writing. 'Is that what happened to me? Initiation? I guess the Admin did keep calling me an initiate. But what happened? Did Eryngo become a druid?' The last entry was dated for four years before the Initiation. Nothing about it seemed out of place. Just nothing had been written after it. And nothing about becoming a druid.

'I think I would have liked you, Eryngo.' From what I could tell, they had been a fun loving, outgoing person who could go on and on about different plants and animals. Many of which, no, all of which I had never heard of before. It had taken some time to read myself, but only able to see, or really sense anything, 'It could have been minutes or hours.'

As I sat there, trying to imagine what this Eryngo was like and if they would have liked umm ali, something drifted past the edges of my mind. Was that right? 'Okay, I've been jumping around a little. Let's get organized... and make there aren't any bats in my belfry'

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The dark void I found myself in wasn't the real world. I assumed that much. The real world was what I could feel. The stuff pressing on me… 'I think it is… wood? One side feels rough, while the other is… also rough? Just not as rough. Like it was smoothed but not polished. And that tickling along my edges beneath me? It reminds me of… dust. Yeah, I think that's right. Dust.'

The void wasn't my mind either. I could 'look' around the void, though I didn't have a body in the void to do so with? It was more like a ball or seed? It contained… me. But nothing was happening out in the void either. Well no, something was.

It was like a whisper, non-coherent and soft. 'It is coming from… that way?' It was the side of me that was pressed against the smoother wood. 'Wait, wasn't one of the skills on the list about whispers? Uh, show me Skills!' The scroll, my scroll popped up again. 'No, I didn't get that one… wait a minute. Before it changed, Knowledge Absorption said something about knowledge talking to me or something, right? But now it's… Resonant Scribe. That's it.'

By harmonizing the rhythm of your internal content with the ambient knowledge around you, you generate a steady flow of energy that restores both physical and magical energy. The more organized your thoughts and the richer your surroundings in information or structure, the more effectively you regenerate. This synergy of internal and external order fuels your vitality and intellect alike.

'Ambient knowledge?' I 'felt' about for the whisper and found it again. The more I focused on it, the more I could not just hear it, but see it as it floated into the void around me. It was like listening to a room of people, well, whispering all around me. Little motes and whisps of green light started to accompany it. 'This is so… weirdly cool.' The light, in more or less a straight line, floated towards me. 'Are you supposed to be doing that? Hey! Watch the face!' As it touched my 'center', a feeling of warmth spread out and filled me as if it, 'Was restoring my energy… neat!'

Slowly more strands and whisps of light started to float into my void space, each accompanied by their own whispers. 'They're books! They're other books! Hello! Can you hear me? Heellllloooooo! Huh, maybe they are just regular books? Not initiated like me. I guess that makes sense. I didn't choose to start near another Initiate. And I doubt intelligent books such as myself aren't that common.'

After several assumed minutes no new 'strands' had shown up. Now there were eight of them. Light green, reddish-brown, white, deep blue, pastel yellow, tan, grey, and… 'Let's call that one 'iron', yeah? Hmm, but what should I call these lines of energy? 'Strands' work but sound kind of bland for how cool they are. Oh, actually. Rhythm! Like from the skill. These are the rhythms of the other books. It's not just the colours though, is it? Each rhythm has a different 'voice' that it whispers in, so I think it makes sense.'

Light green being the first. Soft. Feminine. Like someone cooing to a nervous animal, careful not to scare it off. I liked her already. She felt safe, like curling up under a tree on a sunny day.

Reddish-brown practically barged in after her, all brazen energy and masculine swagger. He whispered, but it was the kind of whisper you use when you really want someone to hear you. Like, "Hey! Hey, kid! Wanna see something cool?"

Then there was White. Cool. Calm. Like the person in charge of giving directions at a theme park. Only, every now and then, they'd break from their script—just a hint of fondness here, a touch of hesitance there. A warning. A glimmer of hope. The kind of person who could probably hold your hand through a crisis and make you feel like everything was going to be okay.

Deep blue joined in next, rough but smoothed over, like sanded wood. He was excited, though—like a storyteller who couldn't wait to share his adventures. "Let me tell you what I've seen!" he seemed to say. I liked him too. He felt… solid. Like a good friend.

Then Pastel Yellow showed up, all direct and stern, like your favorite teacher who still gave pop quizzes. She was measured but not mean about it. Just, "This is the way it is, deal with it." I got the sense she didn't tolerate nonsense, which was a shame because nonsense was kinda my specialty.

Tan, though? Oh, Tan was a trip. Snobby, absurd, and dripping with condescension. "Listen, darling," he seemed to say, "if you're smart enough, I may just grace you with some useful information. Maybe." I rolled my metaphorical eyes at him but couldn't deny that he probably had some good points buried under that tone.

Grey sent shivers down my nonexistent spine. Haunting, ethereal, like a ghost weaving a story that faded in and out of hearing. I almost wanted to lean closer, even though it was spooky as hell. Like the feeling you get when you can't stop reading a scary book late at night.

And finally, Iron. Reverent and whimsical, like a little kid spinning their favorite story, eyes wide with wonder. "And then, you won't believe what happened next!" I couldn't help but smile at that one. It was just… pure. Unfiltered enthusiasm wrapped in something magical.

'So… what do I do now? I've read, well, myself. Now that I have, I can use that one skill, Infinite Layers, to find the different 'bits' written in me. But it's not like I can talk to these other books. I've tried that already. I can't move. So not going anywhere. Besides, I don't think I want to just yet. I like these rhythms and the feeling they give, its nice.' Can you smack yourself in the head when you can't move? No. No you cannot. That didn't stop me from trying to do so.

'Books! They're books! I have a skill for books! I can read them! I don't need to just sit here… well, I do but not doing nothing. Let's see here. Echoing Script, that is the one. 50 mana to activate… 10% mana locked? While in use? Oh yeah, Infinite Pages does that. I guess that is why my Mana says it is 814 out of 824? Now, what one should I 'read' first?'

I listened to the rhythms once more. 'I'm a little partial to… light green? Maybe deep blue. Oh! And pastel yellow!'