To Jien's teammates the next hour or so felt like an eternity. Even more so when the only thing that they could hear were muted footfalls and heartbeats, everyone fearing to speak in this place due to the defining silence. Jien followed the directions of the compass made of flame again and again, pulling books, scrolls and in some cases even a few tablets made of a light white stone with engravings along one side. For each piece of literature he took he would hand it to one of the others.
At first they were confused by him handing over the books. They wondered if they were just meant to be his pack mules while he went 'shopping'. It was only when they started seeing trends in what they were being handed that they understood that he was not looking for himself, but for them. Rosalind was being handed a number of books regarding various metals, smelting techniques, smithing techniques and even a book on stretches and exercises meant to maximize ones stamina at the forge.
Julie was handed introductory books on a vast number of topics, topics that almost all of them knew, whether the daughter of miner, bandit or priest. By the time that he was done selecting books for her Julie could only barely see over her pile while holding the bottom book down by her waist. The others were looking the other way at that point, happy for their between three and five books apiece.
Jien only started gathering books for himself after pulling the selections for everyone else. At this point everyone was truly trying to do their best to ignore Julie, whose teeth they could almost hear grinding despite the spells at work being used to muffle sound. They were positive that if looks could kill, that the glare Julie was currently giving Jien would have left him as nothing but a red smudge on the floor of this grand library.
Despite the glare on his back and the awkwardness of the others Jien continued to collect his own books, acting as if the others did not exist. When the others tried to understand what he was planning to read they felt a headache. The names of the books were so complex theater they were positive that they were all theoretical in nature. In fact they wondered where he was getting all of these book titles in the first place. They weren't positive what was written on the scroll he had handed the receptionist but they assumed that it was a list of the books he was looking for.
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It took Jien another half hour after gathering the books for the others before he finished his own pile. His stack rivaled the one that Julie still carried in size but the titles were too complex for most of them to comprehend. Once done with his selection he led everyone back to the large circular desk and to a robed receptionist.
He gently placed the stack of books on the desk, treating it with utmost care as if worried that he would cause them damage. After his hands were free he drew out his plain silver pocket watch and set it lightly on the desk as well. His cohort watched this curiously, not understanding the purpose. They had thought that the parchment earlier may have been all that was needed but they were proven very wrong.
The receptionist looked over the titles of the books with their shadowed face. After seemingly scanning over the variety of titles a slight deep hum emanated from within the darkness of the hood. They couldn't place the sound with their knowledge of other species and it most definitely did not sound like a noise a human could produce, at least not without untold levels of practice. The tones were a blend of moderate and deep, resonating with their very bones and interestingly enough with the pocket watch.
A blue light flashed from the pocket watch, running across the books on the desk. After the light finished shining, leaving the books and watch as they had been originally Jien took his stack and moved aside to let the others do the same. It only took a few minutes and the process was the same for all of them,
Finally they had finished being in this torturous place. No one but Jien seemed to have any inclination to ever return given the eeriness of the location. It was made worse when they stepped over the threshold once again, exiting the building. Their hearing was brought back to its full potential and the sheer noise of the outside world almost made them change their mind and dive back into the silent haven.
Every footfall on the stone outside the threshold was a thunderclap, each beat of their heart the sound of a drum being stuck at full force. Every whisper like the one speaking was yelling into their ears. They all looked at Jien with irritated expressions matching Julie's. Why did they have to suffer because their leader was so studious?