After causing a minor commotion, Ferti started to head to the kingdom’s public library to gather information. There was a map that appeared at the top right corner of her view that had the city’s layout on it. From that she also figured out that she had spawned in a kingdom call Meleheim. She felt a bit embarrassed because of the commotion, but at the same time, she did not care. Adrenaline was pumping in her blood and she needed a way to get it out.
“Okay, first things first, my status. Status menu, open!” she quietly muttered. A blue screen appeared in front of her.
Status Menu
Name: Ferti Health: 200/200 Level: 1 Mana 268/268 Race: Human Fire Resistance: 5% Light Resistance: 3% Gender: Female Wind Resistance: 5% Dark Resistance: 2% Class: N/A Water Resistance: 5% Goal: To become the ultimate supporter. Title: N/A Earth Resistance: 5% Goal status: Incomplete
Attack: 12 Intelligence: 25 Defense: 8 Wisdom: 12 Strength: 10 Leadership: 2 Agility: 7 Charisma: 21 Fame: 0 Luck: 33 Stamina: 20 Charm: 35
“So that was the blessing she was talking about. Not bad,” Ferti said to herself as she touched her chin. It kind of bothered her that her health was so low, but her mana made up for what she lacked. She calculated that the most average a beginner can get was 280/280 health and 184/184 mana, so she knew that she was above average, yet below average at the same time. It didn’t bother though, for she could easily raise up her strength in the game, also raising up her health bar.
“Next is my inventory. Status menu close. Inventory box, open!” Ferti looked in her inventory box to see she had ten bread buns, a leather canteen, and two silver coins. Her beginner’s attire, a loose white long sleeve shirt, brown trousers, and brown boots were also in there. “Two silver coins? Wow!” Ferti cheered. People usually start out with just 20 copper coins, so this was a huge benefit to her. “This guide… was she an NPC… or… well whatever, anyways thanks,” Ferti smiled as she closed her inventory box and continue on her way.
Ferti soon reached the library. The building was small compared to the other buildings around it and looked a bit run down. She opened the front door and went inside. There she saw an orange haired woman with a smile on her face behind the desk.
“Hello, adventurer! How may I help you?” the woman asked.
“I would like to use the kingdom’s library.”
“O-oh, really?” the woman jumped back, surprised. Ferti tilted her head.
“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t this the kingdom’s public library? Don’t people come here to use your library?”
“Uh, well,” the woman stammered, “the kingdom’s public library is not a favorite place for most adventurer… this place used to be bigger and more grand,” a dreamy look appeared in the woman’s eyes, “but because of the decrease in members… it now looks like this. Most of the adventurers who come in just want to seek Lord Flory’s guidance.”
“Lord Flory?”
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“Do you not know who Lord Flory is, adventurer?”
“Sadly, no. I’ve just recently started my journey as an adventure and because of that, I do not have much information on people yet. Mind to enlighten me, older sister?” Ferti smiled. The woman blushed as she darted her eyes away.
“What do you mean older sister? Just call me by my name, Elisa” the woman smiled shyly, “and of course I can tell you. This is where people come for information anyways.”
“Thank you then, Elisa. I’m Ferti,” Ferti smirked at Elisa, causing Elisa to blush even more.
“Ferti… anyways, Lord Flory is one of the wisest people in our kingdom of Meleheim. He also has a lot of connections with other lords, so a lot of adventures are trying to seek him out and gain his friendship. Lord Flory hasn’t accepted any invitations for a meeting yet though, and his grandson has quite a character.”
“His grandson?”
“Yes. His grandson’s name is Floy and if anyone wants to meet with Lord Flory, then they have to go through him first. Floy is stubborn though, and has requested ridiculous things from the people who wanted to meet his grandfather so many have given up.”
“Really?” Ferti touched her chin. “What kind of things did he request?” Elisa looked and then she started counting on her fingers.
“Well… for one of the groups he requested them to count how many times the word ‘I’ came up in all the books of the library. In another group he asked them to count how many books were in the library, however, each day they came back, he would change the library formation so they would lose count of the books. For another one he had them count how many wo-”
“Okay, okay, Elisa! I understand you can stop now,” Ferti let out a laugh. Elisa’s face turned beet red before she cleared her throat.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. You did nothing wrong,” Ferti smiled, “now then, how can I gain access to the town’s library?”
“Uh, yes. It’s nothing hard, all we require of you is to sign up with us and get a library card. The membership fee will be 20 copper coins. It used to be cheaper when we were bigger, but because of the reduction in size, we have to raise the price to keep the library running. Plus, just for you, I will give a discount of 5 copper coins bringing the total to only 15 copper coins,” Elisa said the last part quietly.
“Thank you, Elisa,” Elisa’s name glided of Ferti’s tongue as she handed over a silver coin. Elisa took it and gave Ferti her change back along with a membership card.
“You are now officially a Meleheim library member. To enter, please scan your library card on the door to your right. Afterward, the door will unlock and you can enter. There are three floors available for members, each floor pertains to the rank of each member. The higher floor the member is allowed to enter, the higher their rank for the library. For more questions please ask the assistant on the second-floor call Floy. Welcome, and enjoy your stay,” Elisa gave Ferti a little curtsy. Ferti gave Elisa a bow back. Elisa gave her a shy smile before looking away.
Ferti made her way to the door and placed her membership card on a slot on top of the doorknob. She then heard a click and opened the door, revealing a set of stairs. She took off her membership card as she went upstairs.
“People most likely don’t come here because they can find more information on game forums. Sad that they do that instead of enjoying the sweet company of history all around them,” Ferti mumbled.
It didn’t take long for her to reach the top. There were two doors, one in front of her and another one to the side. She looked at the one to the side, and there was another slot on the doorknob. She shrugged her shoulders as she turned the knob of the door in front of her. When she stepped inside she felt a great energy hit her. It was an exciting, yet calming feeling at the same time. She glanced at the huge rows of books aligned on bookshelves. In the center of the room was a couple of round tables and chairs.
She closed her eyes and took in a huge sniff, inviting the calming smell of paper inside of her. Her nerves seemed to calm down as a smile appeared on her face and she headed to the front desk. A young boy wearing glasses, with green eyes and hair looked up from his book. She immediately knew that this was Floy, the one that Elisa was talking about by the aura he gave off. When he saw her he rolled his eyes and looked back down.
“How may I help you?” he asked slowly, sounding a bit annoyed.
“Hello there. I would like to read books based on the kingdom’s history. Could you please tell me where they are located?” Ferti said. One of the Floy’s eyebrow went up as he lowered the book and looked up at Ferti.
“Pardon me adventurer, what did you just say?” Floy asked.
“I would like to read books based on the kingdom’s history. Could you please tell me where they are located?” Ferti repeated herself.
“I see,” Floy scanned Ferti from head to toe, “anyways, all the books based on our kingdom’s history is located on the shelf, to the far left. It is listed chronologically in ascending order from top to bottom,” Floy turned back his book.
“Thank you,” Ferti gave Floy a small bow before heading to the back of the library.
Ferti reached her hand up to the book on the uppermost left-hand corner. She pulled it out. She brushed the dust off the book as she read the title.
“Chronicles of Meleheim: Volume 1. The Beginning,” she read aloud. She let out a sigh. “Let’s get started,” Ferti opened the book up, and brought her thumb down on the pages, flipping them at a very fast pace. She absorbed everything in that book. In about two minutes, she placed the book back up and grabbed the second volume.
After about four game hours went by, Ferti went back up to the desk where Floy was still reading his book.
“Are those 42 books the only ones about kingdom Meleheim’s history?” Ferti asked. Floy peered up from his book.
“Have you finished reading them already?”
“Yes.”
“All of them?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… how many times did the word ‘battle’ show up?”
“283 times if you include the word from the title of volume 31. If you exclude it then the total comes to 282 times.” Ferti answered, nonchalant.
“I see… anyways, yes, those are all the books we have on Meleheim kingdom. If you are interested in history, you might want to check out the books located next to those books. They have information on the other kingdoms, and villages surrounding Meleheim kingdom.”
“It’s alright. I have already finished those books too,” Ferti answered.
“Like I sa-” Floy choked on his sentence as what Ferti said registered into his head. “Wh-wha-what?! You already finished all those books?”
“Yes.”
“No wa- I mean, how many times did the ‘Inquisition of the Serenburgs’ get mentioned in all those books?”
“58 times.”
“What about ‘The Massacre of Dunestown’?”
“12 times.”
“Legacy of the Hero Acerbus?”
“127 times,” Ferti replied to each question without hesitating. Floy sat there with staring at her, disbelief written all over his face. There was also a hint of fear behind that disbelief, and Ferti could see it, however, she said nothing as she wanted to play along with his game.