“Here we are! Queen Theratsu’s Library! Otherwise known as our oldest archives…”

Tsuhara said proudly, twirling a key chain around a finger.

As agreed, Alisson had been given permission to browse the old knowledge of the Kitsune. That was one of the two great boons the Queen would be bestowing on them. The second, was the Moonlight Cannon.

Before him was a library that was as old as the nation itself. It rested somewhere under the royal palace, as Alisson had needed to walk several flights of stairs down into the earth, through guard checkpoints and magical barriers. He had brought along Celis and the apprentices, but for good reason. The library was vast, one pair of eyes wouldn’t be enough to find what he was looking for.

“Thank you, Tsuhara. We’ll notify the guards when we are finished, though I suspect we may spend the day here.”

Tsuhara nodded happily, though would stay for some time. Alisson approached a nearby reading table and motioned for Celis and the apprentices to come near. He withdrew a notepad from which he had listed some topics.

“Spread out, find me any texts on the people of Sabasa. In the same vein, I hear the only books on slimes and dragons are here as well. Go.”

With a wave of his hand, his posse nodded and dispersed. He had some time to contemplate in the quiet library. The shelves here were tall, their construction was clearly ancient. There were some layers of dust over books which were so thick that he couldn’t make out the binding of the texts; It felt wrong to disturb even the dust here. The candles had been relit by them as well, at the bases of the candles were large piles of melted wax. There were loose sheafs of paper, perhaps left by previous patrons of the library that contained notes of various intelligibility.

He spent the time writing a letter that contained a piece of his upcoming schemes. That was, a reason to head north to meet with the angels of the HACA in the short term. In the long term, it would give him his key to an army. Alisson was quite proud of himself for this scheme. He had never applied his mind to developing these kinds of political maneuvers against those considered his allies, so he was still wary. Wary that he might have overlooked something. Even just one crack, one mistake, it could lead to his and Celis’s executions.

He waved over Tsuhara, and handed her the letter. “Deliver this to the Queen. I don’t need to tell you to keep it secret.”

Tsuhara nodded, and took the sealed envelope. With a bow, she took her leave just as Marenix returned with the first pile of books. He seemed to be the only one of the three that actually knew how to use a library to find desired titles.

“Thank you.” Alisson smiled and started to read the first of many texts that day.

“Why do you wanna learn about this stuff anyway…?” Marenix asked tepidly.

“It doesn’t concern you.” Alisson muttered offhandedly, waving him away.

Marenix frowned but complied.

The first topic of note was that of the Sabasa. The island nation had been stricken from maps following a decision by Sidonia to keep the people’s existence a secret, that was about a millennia ago, so not many in the rest of the world even knew they existed anymore. Even Alisson, someone high up in Sidonian society, had only heard whispers here and there. There had apparently been some sort of agreement between the Sabasa and Sidonia, and that’s where Alisson’s knowledge ended. To that end, Sidonian naval forces have done a good job at blockading the island and keeping shipping routes away from those waters.

The island itself was south of Andestine, and east of Sidonia, laying in the open waters southeast of the mainland of Aleeze.

For the first time, Alisson peered into what the Sabasa really were.

“Dogs…They’re dog people.”

Alisson’s eyes widened. Like the Kitsune who bore foxlike resemblances, the Sabasa had dog-like appendages, and were apparently renowned warriors. They were sought after by the people of the world as excellent, loyal companions. That was to say, that before Sabasa was isolated, they exported mercenaries of the highest caliber. They were the first knights. The first masters of the longsword, the idols of loyalty that the rest of the world would model their chivalry after.

Their government seemed to resemble an anarcho-monarchy. The best of the Sword Barons would rise to become the high monarch once the previous one had died of natural causes. Lineage meant nothing to these people, only skill and loyalty mattered.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Alisson put a hand to his chin as he read. Certainly, a dog was a man’s best friend. If he had the chance to…Perhaps he could cultivate a crop of powerful allies from this breed of people. A dog never betrays its master. Promises were brittle things in comparison to a loyalty that was so deeply rooted that it stemmed from one’s blood and bones.

But knowing the history and the people did not tell Alisson as to why they were now isolated and stricken from the world.

The next topic of note was that of the slimes. A breed of beast Alisson had thought, some mutated abomination that was hellbent on killing and eating those around it, but no, slimes were not like the common beast at all. They lived in isolation, their sentience was in question, and the inner workings of their biology was all a mystery as well. They were gelatinous, amorphous things of varying color, but apparently could change their shape, color, texture, hardness, anything really, at will. They had a documented ability to devour and break down any material or living thing caught within them. There were theories that they were not one cohesive being, but rather a colony, an amalgamation of smaller things working together.

They had, in recent times, gone extinct to the public eye. None had been seen on the mainland for hundreds of years. When they were around however, it appeared they were useful to great warriors and spymasters for reasons that Alisson couldn’t decipher.

So, they were tools. Valuable tools. If Alisson encountered one, he would do well to make it one of his belongings. They might be extinct on the mainland, but Alisson had the hope that they were still to be found in places that were no longer traversed by the rest of the world. Deep underground, forgotten springs and forests, the highest of mountains…

Or…Alisson tapped his finger on a map, on the island of Sabasa. A place that had been isolated from the rest of the world.

The last topic Alisson wanted to investigate were that of the dragons. He had heard long since birth of tales of great warriors that drank the blood of dragons to grow physically stronger. Those great warriors, knights of eld, may very well have been the Sabasa. Thus, if he could perhaps find himself a dragon to slay and devour, he may grow with that same boon that did aid the men of old in fighting the rampant beasts of then.

It seemed the stories were not far from the truth. There were dragons, but those described were far more human than Alisson had heard. People with scales, horns, reptilian tails, and bodies that resembled insects more than reptiles. There were many breeds and kinds of dragon, of varying degrees of monstrosity. Some were like him and the Kitsune, men with traces of a more bestial blood that had long since faded with time; but others were more horrific, more akin beasts that would destroy villages singlehandedly to feast. Monsters that roamed the earth, sieging the castles and bastions of man as walking calamities.

At least, that’s how the texts described them; they appeared to be a big problem for the old world. Now, they were gone. Perhaps it was a case of humanity finding a foe so terrible that once they had the means, there were genocides until they ceased to exist. If only man had the collective strength to do such a thing to the common beast.

By that same thinking though, walking calamities was how the man of eld would describe the Kitsune and Nekomata of old. From the stories Alisson had heard from his elders, the old Nekomata had not an ‘Opensen’ to use their manifestation, but their true form was constantly on display, and it was more bestial and abominable than just ears and tails. The elders lamented how far fallen the current living Nekomata were in comparison to the old bloods. That was history that was so far back that Sidonia was not in the picture however, so Sidonia had thrown most of it away; giving the illusion that the history of the Nekomata started with herself.

But Alisson now knew that truth.

It seemed these dragons were now in the same boat as the slimes, they’re extinct, or so people say. There were more recent sightings of them than the slimes; the problem was that these sightings were disputed as being real dragons or not, as they were not like the beasts in the stories, but something different. He didn’t know where he could go about finding such creatures, let alone partaking in their blood, but now he knew more about them.

Alisson was sure that there were other things that he could learn if he scoured all the texts here, more advantages to be gained, but as it stood that would take far too long. Time was of the essence, and just learning this had taken the entire day. Ashylnde and Celis were slumped over the table, bored out of their minds and tired from reading. Marenix seemed to have a greater stamina than even Alisson in reading however, as Alisson had to peel him away from the books before they left.

“We went through all this trouble to come to this library and now we’re just going to leave?” Marenix whined.

“Mare…It’s been like ten hours! I wanna sleep…” Ashlynde moaned.

“Then at least…At least tell us why we we’re even here!” Marenix looked up to Alisson defiantly, closing his fist. “You haven’t been telling us anything! There’s something going on and I know it. You just make us train all day and night when you’re not around and then when you do bring us along you don’t tell us anything.”

Marenix’s outburst seemed to get the attention of Ashlynde because her head snapped up and she took Marenix’s side, pouting up at Alisson in protest.

Alisson sighed. “I suppose I will need to tell you both at some point or another. The full story of things.” His eyes sharpened at the two of them. “That time is not now, but if you still desire the truth, I will reveal it to you soon enough.” Alisson turned and began exiting the library. “A word of warning however…Once you learn the truth, there is no turning back. You will be bound to us in life and in death. Though I doubt hearing that will satiate your suspicions.”

Marenix and Ashlynde were left silently looking on at Alisson, seemingly conflicted. Celis walked by and ruffled Ashlynde’s hair. “Come on…I’ll make you my body pillow tonight if you don’t hurry up.”

Ashlynde shivered and sped to follow Celis.

Marenix stood still, frowning. “The truth, huh?”

***