Special thanks to ScotlandForsythe for making the new cover! Also, thanks for the motivation boost. You're the reason the new chapter is out today and why it's so long. I wanted to cut it short but I left you guys with more. I would've responded to your message but I decided to push out a chapter thanks to you.
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“Rune!” Mr. Reader quickly left his seat and greeted his coworker. “I’m just about finished with all the work so all you have to do is lock up after all the students leave and… yes, please check in those books over there for the student who brought them in.”
Mr. Rune smiled and nodded, “Of course. Have a goodnight.”
“Same goes for you. Thanks for offering to take today.”
“My pleasure.”
He waved as the librarian left the room. All he had to do now was wait. No teachers stay as long as the librarians. He knew this because he had spent the last few days staying late at night in the school.
He sat down and observed the flow of the room carefully. There weren’t many students who he recognized inside. Perhaps only one out of the fifteen he spotted.
It would be just a few more hours before the students went home and the library closed. All he had to do was wait until then.
Slightly bored, Rune glanced at the pile of books that Mr. Reader had asked him to check in. The stack was quite large. How many students had piled their books on there and how come Mr. Reader didn’t take care of them?
Rune reevaluated his opinion of the librarian. Perhaps he was a bit lazier than he had initially thought.
He picked up a book and read the title.
“A book about sealing?” he ran through the names of the other ones as well. “All of these are on sealing.”
Curious as to who would check them out, Rune reached for the clipboard and ran his hand down the list. His finger stopped on a student he knew all too well.
“What’s he doing with these kinds of books?” he wondered quietly.
His mind, however, wasn’t so calm. If the boy read these books, then it was possible he had sealed his own powers as an Oddity so as to not lose control and burnout. It would be the best explanation, the only explanation from what the world knew about the real Oddities, not just the ones in the storybook.
Rainen Weaver must have sealed his own powers if he were an Oddity. Rune was sure of it now. And even if, in the end, the boy wasn’t an Oddity, they could simply rid themselves of him. His magic was lacking for the most part.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a scroll and wrote, "The Oddity is in his room."
Relaxing, Mr. Rune watched as the students eventually emptied out of the room.
As soon as the last student left, Rune reopened his scroll and started writing. In the middle of his sentence, he stopped. Something caught his attention. The sound of a book falling from its place.
Putting his pen down, he went to look. If any students were still here, he would kick them out. They still had time to leave.
As he went down each and every aisle, he was met with the same scene. A clear pathway with no one in sight. The library was clear.
He returned to the front desk and sent the message. In a matter of moments, the three members of the Nine Wings would be there and they would begin their search for the item. Everything was going smoothly.
The three mercenaries already sent someone after the Oddity. Now all that was left was the main objective.
“Ummm… Mr. Rune?”
His body turned cold.
“Could I check out this book?”
He looked up to find that the roluk, Ellar, was still there.
“Y-Yes,” he said hurriedly. “It’s closing time so you should leave right away.”
“R-right, sorry. I wasn’t able to find something I really liked…” she hugged the book close to her chest and stared at the ground as if it were her fault.
“It’s fine. Just leave right away,” he said beckoning her to leave as he held open the library door.
“But don’t I need to check this out first?” she asked.
“It’s alright. I’ll take care of everything so you need to leave, NOW.” he commanded.
Startled by his raised voice, she jumped. “Y-yes,” she answered. “S-sorry.”
“Who needs to leave?”
He glanced into the dim light of the hallway and cursed under his breath. They entered the library and noticed the blue haired girl.
“Who is that?” Illuant asked.
“Who are they?” Ellar asked in return.
Rune sighed, “I tried to give you a chance to save your life.” he shook his head, “She’s a witness.”
The roluk took a few steps back, eyes widening in horror.
“I’ll take care of her then,” Jux responded.
He drew a scroll from his side and reached into it, pulling out a halberd.
“I’ll make this quick,” he promised, never changing the tone of his voice. “Don’t move.”
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I burst through the front door throwing my head in every direction. The lobby is clear, it’s quiet. It’s as serene as it was when I left it a few hours ago. If someone entered, it certainly wasn’t through the front door.
The gates are closed at night and I saw the two guards still at their posts when I snuck past. I need to get to the library. If I remember right, that’s where a few of the students were attacked when Krestfall came.
Mr. Rune also went that way when I passed him earlier today.
Fast, but with light steps, I dash through the empty hallways quickly recalling the equipment I have left. From the count this morning, I have ten knives, not worn down by my training, and two smoke bombs each bracer. Including my staff, I’m fairly confident that my arsenal can handle Rune and one more at the least.
I slow to a stop when I come face to face with the two giant doors of the library. They’re closed. Everything’s quiet so far. Perhaps if I just… Slowly, I reach for the handle.
The ground rumbles slightly, and I hear a faint curse. I press my ear against the door and focus my attention on hearing inside.
“I thought you said you were going to finish her off quickly,” someone says, “Stop playing around and end it.”
“She’s deflecting my halberd with her magic.” another voice responds.
“Then fight back with mag-”
I push away from the door and look for another way in. They’re standing too close to it. If someone’s in there and she’s fighting against one of them, then my first priority is to save her. Afterward, I’ll inform th- I’ll take care of it myself.
Looking for another way in, I take a few steps back to better observe the outside of the library. There are no openings near the bottom but there are windows at the top. If I can make it up there then I should be able to see how many opponents I might have to take down today.
Wasting no time dwelling on any decision making, I use my ability to reach the windows and peek through the little open spaces.
I glance near the doorway and spot three people. One of whom is Mr. Rune. I knew that bastard was fishy. If only I started suspecting him earlier, I would’ve known about this plan or, at least, some plan.
The two men next to him look tough. One is wearing a single spaulder, a piece of armor for the shoulder, on his right and on his hip rests a rapier-type weapon. His overall dress is a bit more elegant than that of an average person.
The other man dawns full jagged looking plate armor on his left arm while leaving bare his muscular right arm. Tattoos of monsters, particularly beasts like bears, are littered on his skin. He watches his friend unflinchingly while clutching onto a large mace.
I follow his gaze.
“Fuck.”
The fourth man in the party, someone wielding a halberd, is attacking Blue Hair.
She’s backed up against a table with a small barrier cast around her. Traces of water stain the ground a darker shade and shattered shards of ice and earth mark the crushed defenses and attacks of a mage.
I need to get to her now.
Just as I start to move, I suddenly stop. My eyes are locked on the scene.
“She doesn’t seem to be an average mage,” the halberd wielder says, stopping and turning to his allies. “I suggest we capture her.”
“No,” the muscular man responds, “If we stopped to pick up every little mage who can survive a normal attack from us, then we’d have the carriage full of people. Hurry up and kill her.”
“Understood.”
As he turns back, Blue Hair unleashes a stream of water at him.
He plants his halberd in the ground, smashing the stone, and casts a spell unknown to me. The water splits in two around him.
As soon as it clears, a ball of water and frost arrows launch at him. He twirls the weapon to deflect the arrows and drives the tip of it into the water ball. An orange, red glow emits inside and the ball turns into steam.
By the time the hot air clears, Blue Hair is further away by three tables. There, she places her hands on the ground and sends out spiked ice in a line.
“Finish it.” the muscular man commands again. “We don’t have forever to test the skills of one mage.”
The fighter nods and stops his foot. The ice stops just short, a chunk of the earth blocking its way. Suddenly, he kicks a chunk of it off towards her.
“Barrier!”
She barely manages to protect herself but it holds. The fighter points his halberd at her and releases a blast of lightning. The barrier shatters and she recoils.
He’s quick to jump on her. I ready a use of my ability but he stops a few feet away.
“What are you doing Jux?” the muscular man, who also seems to be the leader, asks.
“She might prove useful, Havel. I suggest we at least offer her a chance. I would linger on this too long if I simply killed her after she put up a fight such as that one,” he says, not a hint of emotion on his face.
Havel watches the scene quietly, probably weighing the possible gain against the losses.
“She’s also the boy’s partner.” Mr. Rune adds, “If anything goes wrong with him, we could use another buffer like her.”
Well, glad that they’re thinking of me.
“Fine. Ask her if she is willing to go with us.”
“If she refuses, you know what to do.”
Jux nods, “Girl, join us. This is not a choice where you keep your life in both cases. If you refuse, I shall end you.” he holds the edge out. “What is your answer?”
They’re distracted. Now’s the perfect chance to strike. But I don’t. I'm frozen.
She pushes herself up, using the wall as support. Her eyes look tired and her face has slight splashes of grime. She looks weak like someone cursed with illness, but she stands up anyway.
I watch intensely, focusing on her, listening for her answer. I want to know. I want to know what she’ll say.
Locking eyes with Jux, she falters for a moment before curling her fingers into a fist. “I-I r-refuse,” she responds, “I won’t join.”
What? Why didn't she agree? Why didn't she join? Is she stupid? Despite these thoughts, I found myself almost overjoyed at her answer.
Jux tilts his head as if confused. “So be it,” he says, slowly raising his weapon.
“[Torrent]!” Ellar shouts and a spell begins to form rapidly.
Mr. Rune quickly counters, “[Containing Box]!”
The ball of raging water is closed off and eventually sputters into nonexistence. Blue Hair looks on in horror as her last gambit fails. She, however, doesn’t fall to the ground in despair. She doesn’t beg for her life either.
I watch as she faces Jux with bravery. A stupid, weak bravery that would get her killed. She had no chance of ever winning, especially not against four enemies but she still chose to refuse.
I… can admire that.
Jux’s halberd falls… and I catch it between my blades.
“Huh?” a faint voice comes from behind.
“Who are you?” Jux asks, as if not actually surprised.
I waste no time responding and I kick him away. He rolls but returns to his feet.
“I’m the Thirteenth,” I say. “Who are you?”
My main objective is saving Blue Hair, but learning who these guys are wouldn’t hurt. While he’s introducing himself, I need to think of a way for us to get out. The windows won’t work. I don’t think Blue Hair could climb up there without a spell.
That bastard of a teacher, Rune, would probably turn whatever spell we use to boost ourselves up there into mana. The door’s blocked by them so that’s not an option.
“I’m Jux, a warrior.”
“And someone too nice for their own good,” Havel comments, contempt seeping through his voice. “You were too slow. Now one is here. Are you going to take responsibility if we fail?”
He silently nods.
I watch their exchange with interest. They’re not all coming at me like I thought they would’ve. Mr. Rune’s been around here long enough to have at least caught a rumor or two about me for sure. Do they know that the others aren’t around here or are they just that confident in their strength?
Jux slowly points his spear at me.
“What? Not all four of you are-”
“Shut up.” he stops me. “I shall end you to atone for my mistakes.”
He takes a step and the atmosphere instantly changes. My eyes widen to take in the world around me and my back is ravaged by chills.
“Duck!” I yell out.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
I grab Blue Hair and toss her out of the way, with myself falling to the ground. A long, almost lightning fast, sweep with his weapon. It barely misses.
He swings downward. I roll out of the way only to be hit by a blast of air.
“Guh!”
I block the strong gust with my hands. The halberd is glowing green. He did a silent activation of his weapons enchantments. This isn’t going to be a very fun battle.
With an upward swing of his weapon, he unleashes a wind blade at me. Knowing that Blue Hair’s behind me, I throw up a layered barrier.
The wind smashes against my barrier. One, two layers shatter. The third one hardly holds. It’s cracked and thin.
“Let us go after the item,” the man with the rapier says in a heavy accent, “Jux plays around no more. There is no reason for us to watch a slaughter.”
I won’t allow it. Channeling my mana into one spot, I let it go, “[Chain Lightning]!”
They don’t even bother to look back. Jux reaches out with his hand and absorbs the attack, rather, he catches it. The aftermath of the spell is a little puff of smoke and no damage. He stares down at his hand and shakes his head.
“The girl was stronger,” he says, pointing the halberd at me again. “[Chain Lightning]!”
I move to rebuild my barrier but it’s too late. I throw my arms in an x to protect myself. The electric shock sends shivers down my body and steam emits from my bracers. I’ve flown back a good two feet.
“Get down!” I hear from behind me.
I duck, and a ball of water shoots forth. It poses no problem for the skilled fighter as he splits it with wind magic. Taking the opportunity, I see, I throw my two knives.
“Abandoning your weapons?”
Nope, just buying time. He swats them away with ease. I use that short time to grab Blue Hair and run into the safety of one of the aisles.
We press ourselves against one of the giant bookcases and take a breath. She’s tired. I can tell just from a glance. A few droplets of sweat a scattered about her face. She has a hard time controlling her breathing. And the parts of her hair which are unbraided are messy.
She’s also terrified.
“How did you suddenly appear?” she asks without stuttering.
“My ability. It lets me… teleport to places,” I say in a hushed voice, “We need to find a way out of here as soon as possible. I don’t think we can take that Jux guy on. Even if we somehow manage to win, his friends would be the end of us.”
“Can’t you just teleport us out of here?” she asks hope shining in her eyes.
“I’m so-” I pause, “I can’t do that. I can only teleport myself and other inanimate objects, perhaps the average field mouse is the largest living thing I can teleport.”
“Oh…” the light of hope drains away, “Are others coming?” she asks in renewed vigor. “They said that, ‘one is here’ does that mean there are more?”
I take a deep breath and clutch my fist, “I don’t know if the others can make it to us today. They don’t even know about this. I came as fast as I felt something was going on.”
“I-I can understand.” she tries to convince herself. “W-we just need to get out of here, right?”
“Right.” If we can get out of the library at least, I’m sure we can lose them in the hallways. There are enough classrooms on the first floor to hide an army of people. If worse comes to worse, windows are everywhere and we can break through those to get to the outside.
“He’s back!” Blue Hair screams, erecting a barrier around us. It blocks two wind blades. A third comes.
I grab her and roll out of the way. It cuts over us and destroys a bookcase at the other end of the aisle. I push myself off her and notice the coolness of the air. Did the wind blade somehow manage to open up a hole to the outside? Why is it so cold?
I summon an earth wall to block his line of vision and pull Blue Hair along. She shakes my hand off as soon as we round the corner. I stare at her incredulously.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“I-It’s nothing… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that…” her breathing is even heavier than before. “J-just… I just panicked for a second there.”
“Okay.” We don’t have time to waste. “That’s fine. We have to keep moving.” I reach out to her again but she swats my hand away.
“I-I’m fine. You lead the way,” she turns her head from me, “I’ll follow.”
“Alright.” if that’s what needs to be done then so be it. “Stick close.”
I take a step forward, and the halberd flies past my face. My eyes follow as it lodges itself into the wall, the tip of the handle only an inch or two from my face.
I turn to look down the aisle when a hand appears from the side and lands squarely on my face. I stumble backward, recoiling from the sudden pain.
My leg gives out from under me and I fall to my back, now being thrown against one of the bookcases. I squint and try to focus my blurry eyes on my assailant.
“[Stone Bullet]!”
Blue Hair saves me. Jux dodges to the side, momentarily weakening his attention on me. With a yank, I pull him close and kick. He stops it with his hand. I push off the ground in a twisting motion, bringing him with me.
He lays flat on the ground and I bolt off. Blue Hair keeps pace behind me. I sneak a peek behind me and spot him with his palm facing us.
I rush to form a barrier. I create two layers before his blast goes off. It shreds through both and knocks Blue Hair into me.
“AGH!” both of us lose our breath.
Blue Hair rolls off to the side while I hurry to stand. Brandishing two new knives, I cross them in an x to catch his blade.
However, his strength is more than I predicted. I struggle to keep it up. I see his leg move back. He’s going to kick me. I prepare to stop his with my own, but halfway, wind emits from it. A heavy updraft whirls me into the air.
“Argh!” he doesn’t stop his halberd and it cuts into my leg.
I twist as much as I can in the air so as to be able to use my arm as a landing break.
“Hmph!”
He throws his weapon again, timing it perfectly to meet me when I touch the ground. I send mana into my arm and focus on the area above him.
I teleport.
“Haaah!” using only my lightning affinity, I throw the punch.
It hits him on the head, rattling him for a moment. His arm comes from below and blasts me down the aisle with another gust of wind.
He ushers the wind to bring his halberd to him. And, slowly, he makes his way towards me. I loosen a smoke bomb on him.
He immediately counters by blasting it away with wind.
“[Pyro Bomb]!”
Again, it does nothing. I push myself backward, my right leg too injured to move properly. Think, think. I need to find a way out of this.
He gets closer and closer, easily batting away all my futile attempts.
I look around for anything I can use to aid me. There’s nothing here but books… wait. These bookcases were toppled before. Mr. Reader mentioned that once, he mentioned it after the attack here not too long ago.
I need a line of sight. I need to get to the other side so I don’t get trapped in the mess as well. The books! If I can just move them out of the way…
I begin to reach into the lower parts of the bookcases and throw the books into the aisle all the while casting the occasional weak fireball.
I finally clear a path, but he’s upon me. He tries to stab me but I roll out of the way.
“[Greater Frostbolt]!”
He turns around for a split second to deal with Blue Hair’s spell.
“[Greater Lightning Bolt]!” I attack from behind.
He swings his halberd and creates a small whirlwind around him. The frostbolt makes one whole revolution and flies back towards Blue Hair. My lightning bolt disperses itself in the wind he creates.
He turns his attention back to me. Shit.
“[Stone Bullet]!”
He gets ready to intercept but I’m not aiming for him.
The spell busts open a hole in the bookcase and I teleport to the other side. I immediately put my hands on the ground and summon a stone pillar. It smashes against the bookcase and topples it.
The sound of hundreds upon thousands of books crashing onto the ground at the same time reminds me of an army’s hoofbeats as the horses shake the earth in unison.
Blue Hair runs from out from the side, clutching her left arm. It’s bleeding. Most of her sleeve is covered in a nasty, dark red blood. I take a step towards her and she takes one back. She refuses to look at me.
“I-I can handle it.” she claims, “W-we have to get out of here. I’ve already started healing myself.”
As much as I want to help her right now, she’s right. If she can walk and say she’s fine then I’ll have to believe her. It’ll only be a matter of minutes before one of his allies comes up here to check on him and there aren’t a lot of bookcases left to topple on another person.
We head towards the door but a rumble behind us catches our attention. I look on in disbelief as the solid wood starts to contort and bubble until it finally bursts. And from it, Jux rises. My heart drops and despair begins to take root.
After all of that, after dropping hundreds of pounds, thousands of pounds worth of things on him, he’s still fine. Not a single scratch has accumulated on his skin nor has any of his clothing been torn since the start of the fight.
“Run,” I tell her. “Run! Now!”
I quickly push her out the doorway and try to follow after, however, the wind picks up and it closes.
“H-hey!” she yells from the other side, banging on the door. “I-I’ll blow this door open! S-stand back!”
“No!” I stop her, “Run and get someone. Alert someone that there are intruders in here and they’re trying to steal something!”
“But what about-”
“Who cares about me. I can handle myself.” I scream, “Now go!”
I don’t know if she’s leaving or not, but she stopped talking… I can take this as a good sign can’t I?
“Heh.” I chuckle. “Now that she’s gone, I don’t have to hold back anymore.”
“Is that so,” he says, “Then don’t. I’ll show you something special for managing to survive so long despite our obvious difference in powers.”
He falls into a stance holding his halberd lower and pointed. Taking a deep breath, a golden light emits from him, covering him.
I pull out a new knife and hold it unsteadily in my hand.
He dashes towards me and I hardly see it coming. I flick my hand just enough so the edge of the weapon glances off my head. The world shakes and pain ripples through my stomach spreading to my back.
I writhe on the ground, holding my stomach and gasping for air.
A voice whispers to me.
Let me help you.
“N-o,” I respond.
Jux approaches me and I slash with my knife in a sudden bout of movement.
“Argh!”
He kicks the knife out of my grasp and stabs into it, pinning my hand to the ground. Pain courses through it and I try to get a feeling, I try to open and close my fingers but they only twitch wildly.
He yanks his halberd from the ground and aims it at my chest. He thrusts and I turn to my side. The ax like part of it scrapes against my back, leaving a sharp pain.
He kicks me back to my back and stabs. I use my gauntlets to deflect. I look through his legs and teleport away.
I clutch at my throbbing side while ignoring my dysfunctional arm.
Release me
My breathing is too ragged to respond.
“[Lightning bolt]!”
It hits me. I’m momentarily stunned.
“[Fireball]!”
I muster my strength and cast, “[Stone Pillar].” using it to push me away. My left arm gets caught and my cloak and shirt sleeve both burn away.
Right there, you see that open flesh? You can release part of the seal right there.
“N-no. I won’t release you again.”
Then you want to die?
Jux slowly makes his way towards me. “Havel will be angry that I didn’t kill you sooner. But I will apologize to him. I commend you for your great effort.”
And you are okay with letting the world step over you? It’s alright if your friends die?
“I may not have wanted to kill you, but I still tried to some extent. The girl will follow soon after. Rest.”
I can help you. All you need to do is…
Jux raises his halberd for the last time, wind magic encircles it. Even if I try with every ounce of my power left, I can’t avoid it. I can’t teleport away. I can’t deflect it. I’ll die. If I die… then Blue Hair will too.
I only have one option.
Release...
The seal.
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Author's Note: If you haven't checked out the new awesome cover that ScotlandForsythe made for this book, go on to the main page right after you finish this note.
Thanks for reading and please leave a comment. I worked pretty hard on this chapter. It took me at least 5 hours straight to write. Also, I want to ask if the fight scenes are too long. Are they too long?