by A F Kay
Understood. How will I know they are from the camp to the north?
That is a good question. Initially, let’s just assume if they’re a Cultivator, they are welcome.
As you wish, Architect Starfield.
A thought struck Ruwen. Lir, when I received the Architect Role you knew my body remained in the Metal levels. Can you tell that about others?
Of course. The cell structure between Metal, Gem, and Divine is quite distinct.
Now I’m worried one of the gods who wants me dead might sneak in with the cultivators.
My siblings in Deepwell and Stone Harbor have briefed me on the relevant portions of the Pact. Specifically, the Pact forbids foreign gods from trespassing on our lands. Doing so will trigger a Conclave, and the destruction of that god. Only a god’s representatives are allowed, and their numbers and levels are also detailed. The rules are clear.
Representatives like the Bone Sculptor. Which also explained why a level one hundred Class hadn’t guarded this location. Okay, that makes me feel better.
Ruwen entered his room, retrieved the Portal Chalk, and carefully drew on his wall the gate runes that would take him to the Blood Gate. He put the chalk away and checked the gate runes twice more. Satisfied, he refreshed all his buffs, and stepped through.
Chapter 23
The Blood Moss reluctantly withdrew as Ruwen’s Black Pyramid mark appeared on his wrist. Whiskers jumped through the door, but the moss left the cat alone. Ruwen found a blank door and drew the gate runes to take him to the chapel on level one. Stepping into the chapel, he turned on Glow so he could see. Whiskers ran past him and disappeared into the darkness.
The chapel reminded him of Hamma. She had taken her job as the Chapel Custodian seriously from the start. She had already performed a wedding and given last rites to goblins. Her prayer book had ten powerful spells, and she’d used one to save the group the last time they were here. In contrast, Ruwen had done far less as the Library Custodian. But he’d come here to fix that.
As Ruwen left the chapel, light spilled into the common area from the Rings in Sift’s area. The pyramid inhabitants were dueling, and he thought about watching a few matches. Instead, he turned toward the library. He needed to stay focused on why he’d come. The library blazed with light as soon as he entered, and he turned off Glow.
Plopping into the nearest chair, Ruwen took a moment to relax. So much had happened since he’d last been here. He found his librarian quest and opened it.
Don’t Judge a Job by Its Cover (Part 3 – Special Request)
The Black Pyramid has lost its Ink Lord, and its book collection has suffered. Find a book of Special quality or higher that the collection does not already contain [COMPLETE]. Reshelve at least sixty percent of the library’s collection (both levels). Finally, raise the Patron Satisfaction above fifty percent (current satisfaction twenty-one percent).
Reward: Codex of Bookwyrm Evolution.
Reward: Choice of one Legendary Potion.
Reward: Title of Ink Disciple.
Reward: 10,000 experience
With the time compression between here and home, Ruwen had three entire days before he needed to be back and greet his parents.
Rami, can you put a countdown-timer by my map?
Sure. How long?
Sixty-eight hours. That will put me back home around 8:30 PM today. That is confusing to say.
Three days is a lot of time.
I know. It’s too bad the women can’t connect to Uru here. It would speed up their Class advancements. And it makes more sense for Sift to come here and Fortify, but he won't. I think he worries if he comes back, he’ll never get to leave again.
What are your plans?
First, I’m going to shower and see about getting my gear fixed. Then I’m going to finish this librarian quest.
Striding to a shelf at the back of the library, Ruwen pulled on a small black book between two tall white ones. The shelf opened and he entered his Custodian quarters. Whiskers jumped into a chair and curled into a ball.
Ruwen undressed and placed everything in the bin next to his door. He added his cloak, all his jewelry, and weapons. Removing the five Coiled Lightning rings proved catastrophic to his Energy Regeneration, dropping it from sixty-seven to twenty-three. All the bonuses added up, but really made a difference when you already had significant Regen.
Placing Rami next to Whiskers, Ruwen went to shower.
I need to improve everyone’s satisfaction by thirty percent, Ruwen said to Rami. I wonder the quickest way to do that.
You could look at your suggestion box.
I have one of those?
Yes, let me look through them. A moment later Rami continued. Wow, people really hate you. Well, not you, but the library.
That’s not good.
The biggest complaints are the lower library is closed with no one to help them and there are no new books. Teachers and parents are upset about the impact on schoolwork.
Of course there is a dungeon school.
Lots of them, actually.
Ruwen finished his shower, dried off, and put on the black pyramid garb he’d gotten from Fluffy on his first day here. The snug fitting clothes made him feel like a Shade. He walked over to Whiskers and scratched the cat’s head, getting a quiet purr. Picking up Rami, he placed her behind his right ear.
A note had replaced the clothes and gear Ruwen had placed inside the bin. The paper listed an itemized invoice of repair costs. Evidently the sixty-eight Black Pyramid Tokens he’d earned while here wouldn’t cover the costs, and the remainder would be deducted from his librarian salary. They were even recharging his Watcher’s Ring of Travel.
Ruwen whistled and looked over at Whiskers. “You are an expensive kitty. Adding ninety-five charges is costing me over three thousand tokens. Are you worth that?”
Whiskers glanced at Ruwen and then returned to his nap, as if the answer to that question was obvious. Ruwen looked at the invoice again.
I have a salary? Ruwen asked.
Rami pushed her head out from under his hair to see the invoice. You get a twenty percent Custodial discount on all services, too. Not too shabby.
This invoice makes it look like I earn a thousand Black Pyramid Tokens a day?
That thousand includes money to run the libraries.
Okay, that makes a little more sense. What’s a normal salary here?
Mom takes care of most things. But vacations or fancier food or a nicer house cost extra. Anything over twenty-five tokens a day is good money here.
Ruwen put the invoice back and left his room. He studied the library around him and thought about the much larger library he still needed to visit in the lower levels.
I cleaned some robes for Fluffy that I think belonged to the last Ink Lord. That death looked messy, but why didn’t he just come back to work here after he revived?
Our previous Ink Lord hoarded his money to spend it on rare books for himself. At an Ink Lord Conclave, one of his crazy peers poisoned some of them. The cost for the cure was of course rare books. He wouldn’t give up any of his books, but the poison had infected his backup. So after he died, he revived and died again. Over and over until he had spent all the money he’d hoarded over the centuries and his god’s priests stopped reviving him. He lost everything over his books and died rather than hand them over to another Ink Lord. They are all insane.
Wow. Sounds a bit obsessed.
Yeah. Nobody liked him here, and he was a terrible librarian. I’m not sure how he got the job.
Did he have help?
Not much. Like I said, he liked to save his salary.
Well, Ruwen hoped that would be the first of many differences between him and the dead Ink Lord. After another moment of thought, he spoke into the air. “I would like to speak with anyone who worked for the previous librarian.”
A portal immediately appeared near the library entrance. A black spider stepped through the portal, its body four feet across. Ru
wen forced himself to relax. Spiders were a close second to centipedes on the list of things he hated.
A chameleon exited from the top of the portal, climbing the wall, and then walking on the ceiling toward Ruwen. He took deep breaths to control the anxiety flooding his thoughts. Two Clapping Brawlers came through the portal and strode toward Ruwen. In moments, the four creatures stood in front of him.
“That was faster than I expected,” Ruwen said.
The spider dipped her front four legs in something resembling a bow. “Greetings Ink Warden, I am Qwyn. I once worked as the Senior Librarian.” Qwyn used one of her legs to point at the lizard. “This is Ipper our Senior Fetcher, and the Clappers are Thumbs and Knuckles, our Shelvers.”
Ruwen bowed to them all. “Thank you for coming. My name is Ruwen and I’m happy to meet you.”
“When we heard a new Custodian had been named, we were all excited, but in the last eight months our optimism has waned.”
Ruwen realized his two-month excursion into the Spirit Realm had been eight months here. “I’m terribly sorry about that. I was trapped and only escaped yesterday. I’m hoping you can help me make up for lost time.”
“We would be delighted,” Qwyn said.
Thumbs and Knuckles snapped their fingers and clapped their hands, and Ipper rotated rapidly through eight different colors.
“I have two immediate priorities,” Ruwen said. “To raise satisfaction by thirty percent and to shelve sixty percent of the books here and in the lower library.”
“If you would rehire us, we would be happy to get started,” Qwyn said.
Rami do you know what they were paid before?
Give me a second. A moment later Rami responded. Qwyn made fifteen tokens a day, Ipper ten, and the Clappers eight.
And you said twenty-five was a good wage, right?
Yes.
For the past eight months, even though he wasn’t here, Ruwen had earned a thousand tokens a day. His library account had over two hundred thousand Black Pyramid tokens. Eventually, he’d want to save a little of his salary to repair his gear periodically, but right now, he didn’t need any of it.
“Like I said, I want to make up for lost time. Each of you, for showing patience, and a willingness to work in the library again, will have your salary increased by five times.”
Ipper fell off the ceiling, and Ruwen jumped forward and caught him. The lizard didn’t weigh that much, and Ruwen’s Gold body barely moved from the impact. Thumbs and Knuckles stood completely still, each of their four arms hanging limply at their sides. Qwyn rose and fell on her legs.
Ruwen sat Ipper down. “If you all accept, I want to staff up,” Ruwen said. “Quickly. Qwyn you have seven hundred ninety-five tokens to use daily. From now on, the minimum salary in the library is twenty-five tokens a day.”
Qwyn’s faceted eyes, already glassy, seemed to shimmer. “I don’t believe it.”
Ruwen smiled. “I am also granting you access to one hundred thousand tokens in the library account. Before I left last time, I printed extra copies of the most popular books, but I’ve been told we are dreadfully short of new material. Get us up to date. Use the tokens for any repairs or enhancements you think are valuable. Do any of the schools have their own libraries?”
Qwyn swayed on her feet. “Our lack of support forced them into trying to do it themselves. Sadly, they are woeful.”
Ruwen nodded. “When you get a chance, assemble a list of books we own that the schools need copies of. I can do those myself. You are authorized to use another fifty thousand tokens to support and build up the school libraries. My favorite place as a kid was the library, and I want the children here to have a chance at that feeling.”
Qwyn’s voice quavered. “Thank you, Ink Warden. You are a true friend of knowledge. Do you have a preferred shelving system?”
“Good question,” Ruwen said. “My first priority is to get all the books off the floor and onto shelves. Once that’s done, we can meet and discuss what makes sense for the patrons here.”
“As you wish,” Qwyn said, and touched her head to the floor. The others bowed as well.
Ruwen returned the bow. “I look forward to working with all of you.”
The four library workers ran toward the open portal, eager to get started. Ruwen grinned, happy he could put all that money to good use. He had nearly died in this library not so long ago, to one of Blapy’s stupid centipedes. But he’d also found A Worker’s Guide to Harvesting here. An incredibly important book, and one of the first added to Blapy’s library. It had a book id of three, which reminded him of something he’d been extremely curious about.
Ruwen opened his Profile and found his librarian rank: Ink Warden. He used a mental finger to touch it, and his librarian view appeared.
Inventory
Checked Out
Overdue
Wait List
Resources
Library Loans
Satisfaction
Ruwen chose Inventory, and another display appeared.
Search by Title, Author, Topic, or Book Id
Ruwen focused on Book Id and added “000001” to the display with a thought. He had wondered since he’d gotten Uru’s Harvesting book what the two earlier books were. An entry appeared.
Book Title: Book of Secrets
Topic: Poems for another time
Author: Pen
Book Id: 000001
Quality: Legendary
Durability: 7 of 10
Weight: 0.9 lbs.
Loan Count: 1
Restriction: Miranda’s permission required.
Description: Thin brown book with a plain cover.
Status: On Loan
Borrower: Miranda
Due Date:
Ruwen studied the entry.
Rami, the first three essence forms you taught me in the Spirit Realm came from a book by a Harvester named Pen.
Excellent memory. That’s correct. I’ll start a query looking for anything related to “Pen.”
Thanks.
Ruwen returned to the search menu and added a Book Id of “000002.”
Book Title: Journal
Topic: Personal thoughts and observations
Author: Pen
Book Id: 000002
Quality: Legendary
Durability: 11 of 20
Weight: 2.75 lbs.
Loan Count: 1
Restriction: Miranda’s permission required.
Description: Thick black book with a plain cover.
Status: On Loan
Borrower: Miranda
Due Date:
Blapy’s actual name, or at least the one she used among the Divine beings, was Miranda, and this Pen obviously had some importance to her. They were the first two books kept here at the Black Pyramid, and she had both checked out. Checked out with no due date. She was hiding them.
A seven-foot portal appeared in front of Ruwen, and a small hand reached out, grabbed his shirt, and yanked him through.
Chapter 24
Ruwen now stood in a small library. Book filled shelves lined the walls, which were twenty feet to a side. Thick carpet covered the floor and a single overstuffed chair sat in the middle of the room. Lamps made from intricately shaped glass gave the room a soft light. Blapy looked up at him.
Oh, my. Mom’s library. She never lets me in here.
“Stay put, Rami,” Blapy said. “You’re not ready yet for the information here.”
You must get me to a shelf, Rami said.
Are you insane?
I’ve been trying to get in here for hundreds of years. It’s the hardest place in the entire pyramid to reach. This might be my only chance.
You have lost your mind.
Blapy smiled up at Ruwen. “Like a ray of sunshine breaking through the storm clouds, your Wisdom occasionally appears.”
Ruwen gently pressed on his right ear. Stop squirming. You’ll get us both killed.
“Nice place you’ve got here,”
Ruwen said.
“Why are you looking for books one and two?” Blapy asked.
Let me go, Rami said.
Ruwen kept his hand cupped around his right ear to trap Rami. “Curiosity mostly.”
“No one asked you for them?”
That confused Ruwen. “Who would ask me?”
Blapy shrugged. “I’m not sure. You get around.”
“Are they valuable or something? Who is Pen?”
Aghhhhh, let me out, Rami said.
Stop it. You’re acting like a crazy woman, Ruwen said.
You don’t understand how hard I’ve worked to get into this place. It’s all Mom’s secrets. Just flick me to a shelf.
Just flick you? Does everyone lose their minds when around their parents?
“They’re valuable to me,” Blapy said. “But not for the same reasons they are to everyone else.”
“And Pen?” Ruwen tried again.
“A friend,” Blapy said.
Rami, are you trying to bite me? Ruwen asked.
The nibbling on his thumb stopped. No.
Do you think Pen is the True God’s name?
If you’d let me out, we’d know in a few seconds.
Ruwen voiced his suspicion. “Friend? Do you mean Companion?”
Blapy smiled. “Yes, something like that. You owe him your life, actually.”
That got Ruwen’s attention. He’d already been terribly curious about the books, although not as curious as Rami, but this comment changed that, and his curiosity flared. “How could I owe Pen my life? Is he still alive?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Blapy said. “The first secret made that impossible.”
Secrets! Rami yelled.
Ruwen tried to slow his heart rate and wondered if he needed to drop into a level three meditation to make his brain work again. Rami didn’t make things any easier, as she pleaded with him to let her free.
“Secrets?” Ruwen said casually. “From the Book of Secrets?”
Blapy tilted her head. “Yes.”
“How do I owe Pen my life?”
Blapy tapped her chin. “In the Spirit Realm, I had to make a decision about you. Eventually you’ll be a danger to me, but there are some things I value more than my own life, and I didn’t want to risk them. But your actions in the Spirit Realm confirmed my suspicion that you were in Pen’s books.”