None dared to disobey and all took their seats, the Librarian surveying all of them with his singular eye.
There was silence for a few moments until the Librarian said, “Would any of you like some tea?”
Seeing as no one took his offer, the Librarian then ignored them, waving his right hand and creating a table with an ornate tea set made of black porcelain. With another flick, a teacup was made and he poured himself a cup, the scent of unknown herbs filling the air. Everyone began to wonder just what the tea tasted like, the elves more so than the others. They knew many types of tea leaves but they didn’t recognize the ones that the Librarian used and as such, they were curious.
Seeing their looks of curiosity, the Librarian asked once more, “Well, would any of you like some tea?”
This time, none of them refused, even the Orc King took a dainty little teacup and carefully sipped at it, looking quite comical. But no one laughed, they were too focused on the tea that they were drinking. The elves, in particular, were awestruck, they had tasted what they considered to be the best tea but in the face of the Librarian’s tea, everything else paled in comparison.
The female elf couldn’t help but ask, “Where did you get these leaves?”
The Librarian said, “These are the leaves of the Silgaria Tree, an ancient tree that once existed when Agleon was still young. Unfortunately, they are extinct now, not even I can bring them back. All I can do is remember them, like this tea. This tea is but a construct of my memories, back in a time where many things were once possible.”
This time, the White Dragon spoke, “Just what are you? I am as old as Agleon herself and yet I have never met a creature such as you and yet I feel that I have.”
The Librarian looked at her and for a moment, its silver eye dimmed, “I am, as far as I know, the last of my race, a race that possessed no name as it existed before such a concept.”
Somewhat unsatisfied with his enigmatic answer, the White Dragon then asked, “Then why have you called us here?”
The Librarian said, “Simple, for even though I can observe the lives of all of you here, I do not understand what lies within your mind. To do that, I decided to speak with you and glean what I can from your answers.”
The Surveyor had decided to use this inefficient method as it had no wish to break their minds. It could glean several of their surface thoughts but their core beliefs, all of that could only be accessed by it once their mind was broken. That was an easy feat for the Surveyor to accomplish but the result would be a specimen that was in the physical sense, alive but empty of sentience. It was no better than death and a dead specimen had no use to the Surveyor. It would like to keep these specimens alive for as long as possible so it could gather as much information as possible.
After a few moments, the Orc King then spoke, “What knowledge do you possess?”
The Librarian immediately answered, “I possess knowledge of the art of war, magic, and the history of countless cultures. I also possess the knowledge of species, their anatomy, their language, their intelligence, etc. I know many things and it is highly probable that I am able to answer any question that you may have. But do remember that to learn the knowledge I possess, you must first offer something of equal value.”
All were shocked by his words, if what the Librarian said was true, they could learn almost anything in the world. But his following words worried them, a price was mentioned and they were wondering what it was.
The Orc King, his eyes bright as he saw a chance to awaken the magic potential of his race, asked, “What would that price be?”
The Librarian replied, “Anything as long as its value is the same as the knowledge you seek. It could be an object, a piece of knowledge that I do not yet know, your memories, or even some years of your life. I will give you a choice on how to pay the price but know that none of the choices will be easy.”
The Orc King then asked, his eyes burning bright, “Then do you know how to awaken the magical potential of orcs?!”
The Librarian nodded. “I do.”
The Orc King, excited, said, “Speak the price, I shall pay it!”
As he stared excitedly at the Librarian, the others unconsciously leaned forward, they too wanted to know what the price was.
The Librarian then spoke, “There are two prices from which you may choose from. The first one is Sword of Korbus and the second is the lives of you and your descendants.”
The Orc King’s feverish eyes suddenly lost their look, shock and then anger twisting his face.
He growled, “Why the lives of my children?! Their life is not mine!”
The Librarian said, “Not quite. You split a piece of your life when you made your children, therefore their life can be considered yours and from them, your life was passed on to your grandchildren and so on. As you lack the necessary lifespan to pay the price, the lives of your children and your children’s children are needed. As it is, just the lives of you and your forty-eight thousand, six hundred and seventy-three descendants are barely enough.”
The Orc King’s face purpled with anger. “This price of yours is ridiculous!”
“Is it?” the Librarian asked, “It seems quite fair. After all, to awaken the magic potential of orcs is no easy feat, one you should know. And to awaken all of them, the lives of you and your forty-eight thousand, six hundred and seventy-three descendants need to be sacrificed as your combined lifespan is equal to the number of years it would take for Orckind to naturally achieve complete mastery over magic. Considering that it is the future of Orckind, I don’t think that this is too heavy a price to pay.”
The Orc King’s eyes darkened and said, “Of course you would say that, you never had to pay such a price!”
The Librarian replied simply, “Then don’t pay the price.”
The Orc King fell silent, shocked at what the Librarian had told him. But he then remembered the other choice and then asked, “Then what about the Sword of Korbus, why was that a price?”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The Librarian answered, “The power within your sword is made with the blood of countless of orcs, meaning that the energy within it is enough to awaken the magic within Orckind. Of course, the energy of the Sword must be purified and the process will destroy the Sword.”
The Orc King was silent, he just couldn’t decide on what to do, his lifelong goal was standing right before him but the price to fulfill it was far too great. Eventually, he just sat back down, finally deciding that he would rather find the answer himself.
The Librarian then took a sip of tea before asking, “Does anyone else have any questions.”
This time, a representative of Auster stood, asking, “Lord Librarian, what do you plan to do in the future?”
The Librarian replied, “Well, nothing I suppose. That is if you all leave me alone. Otium will, as it was long ago, remain neutral. But should it come under attack, I shall not hesitate to retaliate.”
This time, the Orc King asked, “What does retaliate mean?”
The Librarian turned its gaze towards him.
“It would be the complete and utter extermination of all who were involved in this attack, even the women and children. Once the purge is complete, I will leave, whether or not the nation falls is none of my concern.”
At his words, everyone felt fear, especially those that had entertained thoughts of invading Otium. This truly was someone that they could not afford to offend, it was best just to leave him alone. The following silence was only broken by the occasional sip of tea that the Librarian would take as he waited for the next question.
Finally, a human stood up, nervous but determined.
“Um, Sir Librarian, may I ask if it may be possible to learn the sword-style of Azemar?”
At that, the Librarian’s singular eye briefly glowed.
“Azemar... that human was one that intrigued me greatly. His death was truly a shame, it would have been far better for it to have been on the battlefield. As it happens, I do know the sword-style of Azemar and the price for it would be an equally rare sword-style or twenty years of your life.”
The human looked down, thinking about what he should sacrifice.
Finally, he looked back up and said, “Well, I do have a sword-style which I believe is just as rare but I do not have the book with me.”
The Librarian assured, “That is of no matter, I can just take it from your mind. But be warned, you will forget this sword-style but in exchange, you will know how to fight as Azemar once did. Do not waver in your decision, the consequences will not be light.”
He nodded and closed his eyes, trying to calm his mind. The Librarian then stood slowly, making his way over to the human. He then outstretched a hand and placed his forefinger on the human’s forehead. The human shivered as a cold sensation entered his head, sifting through his memories and searching for the sword-style. Finally, it selected all the memories that were related to it and took them away, leaving him with a sense of loss. But in return, the knowledge of Azemar’s personal sword-style filled his mind, replacing what had been taken from him. The Librarian then returned to its seat, having finished the transaction.
“Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
This time, the female human stood, saying, “There are ancient legends about the Master of Otium, about an Archmage named Ieros who created a divine artifact. Do you know how he did so?”
The Librarian nodded, “Of course, I was the one that imparted the knowledge to him.”
Excited, the woman asked, “What is the price?”
The Librarian answered, “He paid for it with a curse, a curse that would constantly eat away at his flesh until he was left dead. No matter what he did, the curse would always corrode his flesh, forcing him to constantly expend energy to heal himself and leaving him in constant pain. He chose this from the other price which were the lives of him and nine of his descendants. As he never married, he lacked the resources to pay the price and so chose the other one. As a result, he lived a life of perpetual pain until his death a thousand years ago.”
At the mention of the price, the woman’s face paled, a curse that would forever eat away at her flesh until she died? She knew that she wouldn’t be able to pay such a price so she sat back down.
Then the Librarian spoke, “Yes, power has a great price, a price that is often paid with Time. But, enough of this topic, are there any more questions?”
Seeing as there were none, the Librarian directed his gaze towards the Orc King, asking, “May I see your sword, of course, I will repay you with knowledge suitable for the price.”
The Orc King asked, “What knowledge?”
The Librarian said, “Knowledge about your ancestors, specifically the ways of the ones called Irascor.”
The Orc King’s eyes lit up.
“You know of them?”
The Librarian nodded.
“Of course, they were quite fascinating and so I devoted some of the Library just for their ways.”
But the Orc King still hesitated, after all, the Librarian was strong. He wasn’t sure if the Librarian would return the sword to him. Eventually, he handed it over and the Librarian took it easily, his silver eye studying the sword. After a time, he returned it to the Orc King and then placed his finger on the orc’s forehead, imprinting the information in his mind. As the Orc King processed the information in his head, the Librarian held out his hand, darkness pooling into a black sphere above it. The darkness began to condense into dark matter which the Librarian then converted into the material that the Blood-Eater was made of, the black and red sword perfectly replicated in the Librarian’s hand.
The Orc King stared in shock at the replica while the Librarian began to test how the sword would perform at its peak state. It held out the blade and with its other hand, began to create another dark sphere, this time converting it into golden ichor, the blood of the gods. Glowing gold liquid cascaded onto the sword and yet not a single drop fell onto the ground, the sword greedily drinking it all. As this blood was far more potent than mortal blood, it wasn’t long before the sword had drunk its fill, glowing a deep red and humming with power.
Suddenly, the surroundings changed and the representatives soon found themselves on top of a barren plateau, surrounded by desolate mountains. The Librarian slowly raised the blade and then slashed downward, the sword seeming to thrum with delight as it unleashed its power. A red crescent moon was shot forth, its size one-fifth of Agleon’s circumference. It tore apart both earth and sky, leaving a dark void where it had slashed through. The Librarian was silent, returning to its seat as their surroundings changed back into the garden of flowers. He casually dismissed the sword, the red and black blade dissipating into a dark mist.
Shocked, the Orc King demanded, “What the hell did you do?!”
The Librarian replied, “I merely copied the Blood-Eater. Do not worry, it was purely for the sake of knowledge, I possess far more dangerous weapons than some sword of a god.”
More powerful than the Blood-Eater?!
The Orc King drew his breath in sharply, his thoughts in chaos. This meant that he was stronger the Korbus and Korbus was a god, a being that was unchallenged under the heavens, just who was this being that surpassed even the gods?
Somewhat doubtful, the Orc King then asked, “Then may I see such a weapon?”
The Librarian thought on this before finally saying, “Very well, there will be no price as your mortal mind will be unable to comprehend the knowledge.”
So saying, the Librarian stood once more and summoned the Book. Almost immediately, everyone felt an oppressive aura, one that not only weighed down on their bodies but their very souls. The Librarian opened it to a certain page and then spoke a Word, a Word not unlike the one that Darkness used to stop the fighting between Light and Night. It was a Word of power, a Word of command, a Word that was beyond both mortals and immortals. Upon hearing it, their souls trembled and their bodies shook, obviously, the power of the Word had been greatly diminished, otherwise they would have been erased from existence. The Librarian then closed the Book and dismissed it, waving a hand and restoring everyone’s condition.
Her mind still shocked by the power of the Word, the White Dragon asked, “What was that?”
The Librarian merely said, “It is a fragment of the First Language, the words that Darkness used when creating Creation.”