In the morning, Jeb woke up and checked his Status. It was still strange to him that he had spent so little time at Second Level, especially given how long he had stayed at First Level. Then again, he supposed that he was likely going to be spending a while at his current Level before Tiering up. As he looked at his Status more, he was a little confused. Why did he have so little Experience?
A quick glance at his Status Log showed him that, for whatever reason, Leveling Up took some of the excess Experience. With increasing Tiers, it at least explained what was going to happen to his Experience. From First to Second Tier, Jeb had lost half of his Experience. If that trend continued, he would lose a Third of his Experience the next time he Leveled Up.
Though, he had lost more than just half of his experience at the last Level Up. Apparently the Level he was also had something to do with the Experience loss. With only two Levels to compare, it seemed as though the same was true. Jeb lost a percentage of his Experience based on the difference between the Levels. From Level Two to Level Three, he had lost a third of his Experience. If that remained true, then he would lose a quarter of his Experience at the next Level Up.
Though he had an explanation for what was happening to his Experience, he still did not know why it was happening to him. “Maybe the Library will have some answers,” Jeb mused aloud, moving to get out of his bed. He paused as he passed by his lute, debating whether or not to take it.
“I’m sure that finding the answer won’t take all day,” Jeb reasoned, “so I should take the lute so I can practice after I find out why I keep losing Experience.” Jeb slung his lute over his shoulder and opened the door to his room. To his surprise, there was a piece of paper hanging at his eye level when he opened his door. Try as he might, he could not find anything that the paper was hanging by or too. As far as he could tell, it was simply hanging in midair.
Frowning, Jeb grabbed the piece of paper. As soon as his fingers closed around it, he noticed gravity reassert itself on the object. It was still only a piece of paper, so it did not weigh much, but it now at least weighed something. Jeb opened the paper, remembering the Dean’s comment that there were Professors that Jeb should meet. Hopefully one of them would be the Librarian.
To Jeb’s surprise, the first name on the list was the Academy Librarian. Jeb rushed down the steps of the dormitory, heading directly to the door. When he got to the exit, he stopped. “If possible, could this open to the Library, or at least a path to it?” he asked the door. The door, unsurprisingly, did not respond. Still, Jeb had the feeling that it understood him as he opened the door.
As it had when he had gone to the cafeteria, the doorway opened into a hallway of stone. There were different carvings on the wall this time, sure, but Jeb was unsure whether that was because he was going somewhere different, or if the decorations themselves were also not constant. Following the hallway, Jeb paid attention to the walls. These were carved in intricate knotted structures that reminded him a fair amount of the Bard’s Magic.
Hmm, Jeb thought, now that I am about to be interacting with a number of Bards, I suppose that I should start thinking of him by his name, instead of just the Bard. As he tried to remember the Bard’s name, though, Jeb realized that he had never learned it. Playing through all of their conversations in his mind, Jeb was a little surprised that it had never come up in any of them. Shrugging, he kept walking. As long as he only thought of one person simply as “The Bard,” it would work well enough for identification purposes.
When Jeb made it to the end of the hallway, he opened the door. Instead of a room filled with dishes and food, though, he saw an entryway very similar to the Library in his hometown. With a start, Jeb realized that he also did not know his hometown Librarian’s name. He moved towards the desk, hoping to see the Academy’s Librarian. The paper the Dean had sent him told him that this Librarian’s name was Kaitlyn.
Jeb saw someone working in the stacks behind the desk as he approached. “Hello,” he called out, “my name is Jeb. I’m a new student here. Dean Aquam recommended that I meet the Librarian.”
The person working in the stacks poked a head out. “Which Librarian did he recommend?” they asked.
Jeb consulted the sheet of paper again, making sure that he said the correct name, “Kaitlyn?” he said.
“Kaitlyn, you have a new student,” the person called back into the stacks. Turning back to Jeb, she continued, “welcome to the Academy Library. Do you already have an account with the Library System?”
“I think so,” Jeb replied, “but I’m not entirely sure how to check.”
“What is your name?” she asked.
“Jeb,” Jeb replied.
The Librarian waited, clearly expecting him to continue. When he didn’t, she sighed. “I take it that you are from a rural part of the Republic?”
Jeb nodded. “I’m from Humdrumville,” he said.
Lines of text flashed across her eyes, somewhat like the pages that flashed by the Librarian’s eyes sometimes. As they kept scrolling, Jeb wasn’t sure if he was supposed to say something. Just as he was about to interject, she spoke.
“Just to confirm, have you entered new Glyphs into the Public Glyph Repository?” she asked. The lines of text had stopped scrolling across her eyes, but there was still faint text written across them. Jeb felt like he could read it if he leaned in closer. Instead, he answered the question.
“Yes.”
“I see here that you have a few items checked out,” she read through the list of Primers that Jeb had in his room, “though I do not see any due date on them, strangely.”
“The Librarian in my hometown never set due dates,” Jeb replied. “Is that not common?”
“Not in the slightest,” she replied, “though I suppose that will be Kaitlyn’s problem to deal with. Here is a new Library Card,” she said, holding out a small piece of thick paper.
“Thank you,” Jeb said, taking the card. After a moment, he spoke again, “what is a Library Card?”
She looked at him in shock. “How did you check out books in your hometown?”
“We went up to the Librarian and asked for a book. If you knew the title, he would hand it to you. Otherwise, if you only knew what you were looking for generally, the Librarian would give recommendations for books. Once you picked the book, he would give it to you.”
“And how did he handle returns?” she asked, clearly confused by the process.
“You handed him back the book?” Jeb replied, confused. “How do I return a book here?”
“You can return a book in more or less the same way, though there are a few after hours book drops.”
“After hours?” Jeb asked.
“Though the Library is open to students around the clock, the circulation desk is not always staffed. When it is not, you can use these drops,” she gestured to the front of the desk, where Jeb saw a few holes that looked large enough to put a book in “and send the books back. They will be checked in the following morning.”
Jeb had more questions, but someone new had come to the desk.
“Kaitlyn, this is your new student,” the Librarian who had been helping him said.
“Thank you, Margaret,” Kaitlyn said. Jeb made a mental note that Margaret was the person who had helped him. Now that he had met three Librarians, names were going to become important. “May I see your Library Card?” Kaitlyn asked, turning towards Jeb.
“Here,” Jeb said, holding out the card he had just been given.
“Interesting,” Kaitlyn said. Jeb had a feeling that she was somehow reading his Library history, though she did not have the same obvious tell of pages or text flashing across her eyes. Then again, she was wearing darkly shaded glasses. It was possible that it was, and he just could not see them.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
When she didn’t elaborate, Jeb prompted her, “what’s interesting?”
“The books you have checked out. Unlike most Libraries in the Library System, your branch does not seem to have a circulation record.” Seeing Jeb’s confusion, she continued, “in most branches, there is a list of what books the Library keeps, along with quantities. In some smaller Libraries, especially the rural ones, there are not books kept onsite. At those, patrons need to request books, which are then sent from a larger branch. I do not see any branches associated with the Humdrumville Library, though.”
“We never had to wait for books,” Jeb replied, “if that helps at all.”
Kaitlyn chuckled. “Never mind. I found the issue.” She turned back to the Librarian who had helped Jeb initially. “Margaret,” she asked in a too friendly tone, “do you know who the Librarian for the Humdrumville branch of the Library is?”
Margaret grimaced. “Please do not tell me that it’s-”
Kaitlyn interrupted her. “It is. Well, I suppose that we know where he is now, at least.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeb replied, and the two turned to him, “what is the issue?”
“What do you know about your Librarian?”
Jeb went through the facts in his head, “he’s Tenth Tier. When he Identifies something, pages of text flash by his eyes. He teaches the children in Humdrumville before they get their Classes.”
Jeb thought harder. Surely he had to know more than that. “Um,” he continued, “his favorite flavor of jam is blackberry.” Kaitlyn held up a hand before he continued.
“While all of that is interesting, only the first fact was relevant here. Your Librarian was in line to become the next head of the Library System for a number of years. Though nothing has been confirmed, rumors say that he grew tired of the politicking required for the position and retired somewhere far away from the Capital. Truthfully, many of us assumed that he had been killed and quietly disposed of.”
Jeb looked at her in horror. How could she be so casual about someone being assassinated?
“Though, that does explain the lack of circulation.”
“How?” Jeb asked.
“Your Librarian is able to copy books at will,” Kaitlyn replied. “It is one reason many of us assumed that he had been disposed of. Having someone who can make any private document public is dangerous, especially when they operate outside of the hierarchy.” She shook her head. “That is not relevant to the conversation at hand, though. Let me walk you through the procedures for using the Academy Library.”
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Age: 16 Class: Wizard Level: 3 Experience: 775/204
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Total Statistic Load: 623 Physical Load: 228 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 53 Endurance: 54 Vitality: 55 Presence: 14
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Mental Load: 395 Intelligence: 78 Willpower: 85 Magic Affinity: 84 Mana Depth: 74 Charisma: 74
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Mana: 1755
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Glyph Attunement: 31 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Water (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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Skills: Meditation Spell Glyphing Gift of Gab Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Lute Playing Singing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Glassblowing Magic
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)