The first Glassroom we visited gave us the impression that although these sections of the library would look strange, they would always, at least loosely, resemble the rest of this place. However, as we stood there, flabbergasted by the sight of the indoor forest, our expectations regarding the other Glassrooms were immediately shattered.

"Hmm..." Gier mumbled after a while. "This place makes very little sense. It's a lot bigger than it should be. Almost looks like it's its own little world."

"I don't know about you, but I ain't feeling like I would like to explore this place in particular," said Rogier, who was most likely still a bit traumatised after his encounter with the glowing sword.

"But maybe, there are books hidden in the bushes," Amy exclaimed and headed off into the forest, only to be halted by the book hunter, who grabbed her by her backpack.

"Don't wander off! We have no idea what we might find here. If you go into the woods and an animal will jump on you, I will gladly let it eat you," he told her and none of us had any doubts about his seriousness.

"Come on, let's calm down for a moment," Gier tried his best to organise us. "This place isn't just some forest. It's incredibly dense with flora. Clearly, we aren't meant to wander off. But maybe, there might be something useful up there," he pointed at the small stone pathway going up a hill, upon which stood a small shrine.

"You really wanna go there? Even after all that happened in the previous Glassroom?" Rogier asked.

"Well, we are here to explore, no? Besides, if we approach slowly and cautiously, there shouldn't be any issues. In case of danger, we will immediately turn back around."

Upon hearing this, Rogier rolled his eyes. "Fine! But you'll go first this time. If something tries to cut us down, I want it to be pissed at you."

Gier agreed and without further ado, we slowly started our ascend. For the first couple of metres, I could sense that all of us were full of tension. A Guardian could've jumped at us any moment and from almost any direction. And yet, it never happened. In fact, this was probably the most peaceful moment we've had in the library so far. Once we got past the halfway mark, most of us had the feeling that we were just going on a short and pleasant hike. It felt almost as if the dangers of the library didn't exist and that even in a God-forsaken place like this, one could find beauty and tranquillity.

Our feelings of peace have grown even stronger when we finally reached the top of the hill and stood in front of the small shrine. It was truly nothing special. The walls made of some unknown dark wood were holding up a pyramid-shaped roof, underneath which stood a beautiful stone pedestal, shaped like a muscular man holding a plate on his shoulders. An ornate vase then sat atop the plate. None of us understood the events depicted on the pottery, but we all agreed that it seemed to show a bunch of people worshipping a deity or a ruler. The entire scene had a fascinating yet eerie feel to it, made even stronger by the two pools of water, each on one side of the road, whose surface was reflecting the light of the lamp hanging from the roof of the shrine.

"Well, this is not creepy at all," Rogier remarked. "I suggest leaving before something bad happens to us."

"Wait. Shouldn't we at least try to see what that vase is all about? What if it's an artefact?" Gier argued.

"It most likely is. Touch it. See what happens."

Gier briefly looked around before he picked up an adequately-long branch from the ground.

"I'm gonna be smarter about it," he said and from a distance of at least a metre and a half, he gently poked the vase.

"Aaaaand, apocalypse?" Rogier asked, his posture showing that he was ready to start running.

"Nope, nothing," Gier said and shrugged. "I guess it didn't really... Whoa..." he turned around and the moment his eyes landed on Amy, his jaw flew open and he dropped the branch.

"Uh-oh..." Corwyn mumbled and seemingly got ready to run too.

"Guys, have you seen Amy?" Gier asked.

"Yeah? Why? What's wrong with her?" I replied, not trusting his sudden change of topic.

"She's... gorgeous!" he spurted out and approached her with a confident smile. "Hey. What do you say we went somewhere nicer once we make it out of here? Just the two of us?"

"Oh god, what am I looking at?!" Rogier said and let out a muffled giggle.

"Come on, we could have some fun. I have an apartment of my own. We could go there," Gier continued.

Amy, visibly uncomfortable, didn't say a word and only slapped Gier as quickly as she could, most likely in the hopes that it would snap him out of it. Upon seeing it, Rogier giggled even more.

"Ooh, you like it rough, huh?" Gier said and grabbed Amy by her hand. The yelp she let out seemed to switch Rogier into a protective mode of sorts.

Stolen story; please report.

"Alright, that's enough buddy." He stepped closer, squeezed Gier's wrist as strongly as he could, forcing him to let go of Amy, and then pushed him away from her.

"Hey, hey! Dude! Chill! I'm not into guys!" Gier protested.

"And I'm not into guys like you," Rogier replied and slapped him again.

The book hunter then wrestled him to the ground near one of the small lakes and pushed his head under the water.

"Wait! What if it's not water!" Corwyn yelled at him.

"What else would it be?"

"I don't know! Could be acid!"

Rogier briefly pulled Gier's head from the water again. "Is his face melting?"

"N-No, but..."

"Then it's fine!" He pushed him under the water again and left him there for a few seconds before pulling him back out. "You feeling better?" Rogier asked.

"Y-Yeah..." Gier muttered and tried to shake the water out of his face. "Amy, I am so sorry. I... I don't know what happened."

"Let's just leave. This place has no books anyway," Amy replied and started heading down without us. We quickly scrambled to follow her since we were all afraid of letting one of us wander the Glassroom alone.

All it took was taking a few steps for us to realise that we have perhaps made a significant error. Descent in any shape or form, be it to the other floors or merely back towards the exit from the Glassroom, took its toll on us. The two experienced delvers of our group were barely affected by it and so they didn't even notice. I suppose after so many journeys into the library, they were already immune to the effects of the first few floors. Corwyn was... well, Corwyn. His body, augmented by all the artefacts, completely negated the effects of the descent. Therefore, the only two affected members of our group were Amy and me.

"Hey, y-you okay?" Corwyn asked when he saw me slow down. My breathing got louder as I desperately tried to convince my body that the pressure wasn't squeezing oxygen out of my lungs.

"Yeah. Just... the descent..." I mumbled, focused more on my well-being than getting a message across.

"Oh! Right! Let's take it slow, okay? Let me know if you need a break. The path is pretty long." Corwyn said, grabbed my arm, and wrapped it over his shoulders, so I'd have someone to lean on in case I'd lose my balance.

Briefly, I looked towards Amy. Gier seemed too concerned to go near her, given what happened at the shrine, so it was Rogier who was keeping her company, making sure she wouldn't fall and hurt herself. Nevertheless, she still seemed to be handling the situation far better than me. I couldn't help but feel like an extra weight pulling them all down. If it wasn't for me, they would've probably gotten out of there much sooner.

Finally, after a couple of minutes, we reached the exit. Amy and I let out sighs of relief when the effects of the descent finally began to settle down a bit. However, Rogier quickly threw a rather uncomfortable suggestion our way.

"So, how about we go down another floor?"

"Are you nuts?! We just got down here!" I growled at him after finally catching my breath.

"Look, I didn't come to this place to be a babysitter. Out here, there are no books worth a damn. Besides, you haven't picked anything yet either. I suggest going back to the middle. The trip there will give you time to rest for a bit, and then we'll go down another floor. You want to be delvers? You need to start getting used to stuff like this."

Amy and I exchanged concerned expressions. Even though we didn't exactly like the idea, we had to admit that Rogier was right. Descending was a natural part of our future profession. Not to mention that if I wanted to ever get deep enough to retrieve my grandfather's work, I would have to start getting used to the awful feeling.

"Okay, let's head down then. But only to floor three for now," I agreed and we all headed back into the safety of the central room.

"Hey, Gier," I whispered his way once we got going.

"Hmm?" He turned to me.

Without saying a word, I pointed at Amy, trying to tell him that if he wishes to tell her something, now would be a good time. He seemed to have understood the message because he immediately shuffled over to her side.

"Hey, umm, Amy, got a moment?" he asked carefully.

"For what?"

"For me. I just... I wanted to apologize for what happened in the Glassroom. It wasn't me. I don't know–"

"Stop. I know. It was the artefact."

"Oh. So... you're not angry?"

"I'm worried. Not angry."

"Worried? About what?"

"About the other relics we might find. A flying sword is terrifying enough but the idea that there are things that can change the way you think... It's just scary. This one you managed to wake up from, but where is the guarantee that some other ones won't be permanent? How can I know that it won't affect all of you? Or... if Rogier wasn't there, what would you–"

"Don't think about it. Listen, if you keep thinking about what-ifs, then you will only scare yourself further. We won't be poking any more artefacts, I promise. And if it makes you feel better, I will keep my distance from you."

Amy gave his words a moment of thought. "No, you don't have to stay back. Just... don't touch anything magical, okay?"

"Heh, alright, I promise."

"CRIIIIISTIIIIINAAAAA!" Rogier yelled across the whole library the moment we reached the safety of the centre room. The echo of his voice carried on throughout the place, sending shivers along my back.

"Yeah?!" we eventually heard her call back.

"Where are you?" Rogier asked.

"Central room, fourth floor."

"Anything interesting there?"

"Not for me. But there's a section about famous historical bakeries. The rookies might find that useful."

"Historical bakeries!" Amy squeaked the moment she heard it. "We have to go there!" she said and I could see the same spark in her eyes as she had in the room with historical swordsmen.

"You really like history, huh?" Rogier asked.

"Yeah! I mean, how often do you get to study history outside the library?"

"How often do you think I'd want to?"

Amy ignored the hunter's comment and instead turned to me. "Do you think you can manage going down two floors?"

I sighed. A quick glance at my watch let me know that we were slowly running out of time and I had to admit that the topic of bakeries sounded at least partially interesting. Definitely more so than the swordsmen.

"Okay, I'll make it somehow," I said eventually.

"D-Don't worry, I'll help you out," Corwyn reassured me.

We all turned towards the nearest staircase but didn't manage to take even a single step forward. We heard a scream. A scream full of panic and fear that only loosely reminded us of Cristina's voice. Without waiting for a second, we rushed over to the bannister and arrived just in time to see her falling. Somehow, for some reason, she got flung across the room and over the safety railing. Horror filled our eyes as we watched her fly through the air above the bottomless pit and land on the other side of a central room, except at least five floors deeper.

"Cristina?!" Rogier yelled at her but got no response.

In order to get a better view, we all circled around the railing to the other side of the room until we could finally see her at least a tiny bit. She was lying there on the ground, completely motionless.