by A F Kay
But Sift had already stepped through the portal.
Ruwen shook his head and continued to shelve books. Twenty minutes later, a gong sounded, and Ruwen turned around.
Blapy sat on the edge of a nearby table, her legs swinging as she stared at Ruwen.
“Hi, Blapy. How was the wedding?” Ruwen asked.
“Wonderful. Hamma did an amazing job. I really like that girl.”
“Yeah, she is pretty great.”
“It’s too bad she’s picked such dangerous friends.”
“I don’t want her to get hurt either,” Ruwen said.
“I know. Your heart is one of your few good qualities.”
Ruwen frowned. “Thanks, I think.”
“I want to get back to the reception, so I’ll make this quick,” Blapy said. She jumped off the table and walked up to Ruwen. She looked up at him with an intense gaze. “You were an Archivist. A book handler. You are now a Warden. Do you know what that means?”
Ruwen swallowed hard. “A book guardian?”
Blapy nodded. “Not bad. Yes, your duties now require more than just maintenance of the collections, but the safekeeping of it. It is a big responsibility.”
Ruwen stood up straight.
“And your status as Uru’s Champion has complicated this whole process,” Blapy said.
“Complicated how?”
“The rules, of course. Champions are not allowed to own or communicate with sentient weapons. The synergy is too great an advantage.”
“That’s why I can’t hear Io.”
“Yes, you should probably be thankful in that particular case. And this one might end up the same,” Blapy said.
Ruwen’s brow furrowed. “This one?”
Blapy waved her arm over her head. “This structure is a small symbol of my power. When you act in the capacity of the Pyramid’s Ink Warden, you are, by extension, an example of my power.”
Ruwen nodded.
“But I can’t give you a powerful sentient weapon because…” Blapy held out her hand.
“The rules,” Ruwen said.
“Exactly. I’m glad you’re following along. Even more irritating than getting permission from those jerks, I had to agree to limits.”
“By jerks, do you mean…the gods?” Ruwen whispered.
“Of course,” Blapy said.
Ruwen rubbed his hands on his pants. “I don’t even know what we’re talking about.”
Blapy raised her hand. In her palm, curled in a tiny circle, lay a black worm no longer than Ruwen’s fingernail and the width of a flower stem.
“What is that?” Ruwen asked.
“It’s your quest reward. The talisman of your station. A source of power in a dangerous world. It is a Bookwyrm.”
“I don’t understand,” Ruwen said.
“Well, it’s easy. Instead of a sentient sword that can summon city-obliterating stars from the heavens, you get this.”
“That hardly seems fair.”
Blapy grinned and whispered, “I know.”
Ruwen couldn’t tell if she enjoyed the fact that he would be at a considerable disadvantage or if she really believed the Bookwyrm was better.
“It’s tiny,” Ruwen stated the obvious.
“Part of the limitations they forced on me. She will grow as you do.”
Blapy grabbed his shirt and pulled his head down. She placed the Bookwyrm behind his right ear. Ruwen already had multiple notifications, and he opened them, wondering about the Bookwyrm details.
Ting!
You have completed the Quest –
Don’t Judge a Job by Its Cover (Part 2 – A Fine Mess)
You have received 3,000 experience.
You have received the title Ink Warden.
See the Black Pyramid for your reward.
Ruwen closed the notification and opened the next one.
Ting!
You have received the quest…
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. 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
Accept or Decline
Ruwen chose Accept. This quest seemed liked significantly more work. Where would he find a rare book to add to the collection? How would he even know if the collection had it already? Then he realized he probably could search all the books with his library view. He would worry about this later.
He closed the notification and opened the final one.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Bookwyrm (Black Pyramid Talisman Stage 1)
Quality: Legendary
Durability: Indestructible
Weight: 0.15 lbs.
Effect (Passive): Algorithmic Optimization
Effect (Active): Vibrational Conduction
Restriction: Soulbound.
Description: Indexing is the most potent force in the universe.
Another smaller notification appeared over the item description. It had red borders and couldn’t be minimized.
Warning!
The Bookwyrm requires full integration to function.
Warning!
This binding cannot be undone.
Do you wish to permanently bind to the Bookwyrm?
Yes or No
Ruwen’s hands trembled. The Bookwyrm, as useless as she appeared, had a quality of Legendary. The odds of even seeing such an item were minute, and the chances of owning something of this quality were astronomically small.
“I compared this Bookwyrm to Io because they share the same flaw,” Blapy said.
“What’s that?”
“Excessive personality. Although she is an introvert so it might take a while for that to surface.”
Ruwen touched his right ear. “I’m sorry, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but this seems rather useless.”
Blapy beamed. “Exactly! Maybe you are smarter than you look.”
Ruwen straightened up, even more confused. Before he could ask another question, Blapy continued.
“Because I needed permission for this, all the deities know the Black Pyramid’s librarian is someone’s Champion. Revealing your title in the outside world is now extremely dangerous. Don’t do it unless you are prepared to handle the consequences.”
“I understand. What did you –”
But, Blapy had already disappeared without even bothering to summon a portal.
Ruwen didn’t know what to do. Even though the Bookwyrm looked useless, he felt almost obligated to bind to it. It was Legendary quality after all. Not only that, but it seemed Blapy had gone to a lot of trouble to make this especially for him. Who knew what the consequences might be if he refused it?
And none of that really mattered. Regardless of how things appeared, Ruwen knew enough about Blapy now to know his assumptions were wrong. There really was only one choice.
Ruwen chose Yes and bound the Bookwyrm.
The base of his skull grew ice-cold, and the sensation traveled up into his brain until his entire head felt like it had frozen. He shivered and considered casting Campfire, but then the sensation disappeared.
Hi, a quiet female voice said.
Ruwen looked around and then realized the voice had come from inside his head.
Hello? Ruwen said.
There was no response, and Ruwen tried again.
I’m Ruwen.
Ruwen waited but got no response. Maybe he needed to speak out loud? Worry filled him that he’d already done something wrong and that the Bookwyrm would never respond. Then the quiet voi
ce returned.
I’m Rami.
Relief flooded Ruwen.
Hi, Rami. It’s good to meet you.
Ditto.
Ditto? Ruwen asked.
Hmmm. Can I look around a bit? I’m not sure the best way to communicate with you, Rami said.
Look where?
In your mind.
That made Ruwen a little uncomfortable, but he’d already soulbound Rami, it was too late to worry about trust now.
Sure, Ruwen said.
Rami vibrated, and it tickled Ruwen’s ear. His whole body itched. Memories flooded his thoughts, flashing by so quickly they barely registered. Many of the images Ruwen had no recollection of. He struggled to hold on to scenes with his parents, who looked much younger, but they slipped away in the tsunami of flashbacks.
Ruwen’s eyes refocused, and he shook his head. He really had to pee. It took him a moment to remember where he stood, and he glanced around the empty library. He strode toward his quarters and the bathroom there but stopped suddenly when he saw the time: 1:17 PM. Over two hours had passed since he’d spoken to Rami.
Rami?
Yes? Her voice sounded tired.
What just happened?
Your entire life, she said.
Ruwen’s mouth went dry. You…you just looked through my memories? All of them?
Yes. I’m exhausted now. Can we talk later?
Of course.
Rami didn’t respond, and Ruwen assumed she’d gone to sleep. Or whatever it was Bookwyrms did. He moved toward his quarters again.
You really miss your parents, Rami said.
Yeah. I’m going to find them.
I’ll help.
Ruwen’s throat tightened, and his vision blurred.
Thank you.
Chapter 45
Ruwen placed his dirty and damaged clothes in the bin outside his door. He took a quick shower, dressed in a pair of shorts, and sat on the floor in the middle of his living room.
He removed the Suffocation Bracer and placed it in his lap. He focused for five seconds on the Campfire icon, and his Mana dropped one hundred fifty points when the fire appeared. He hoped the extra Health Regeneration would help with the Vertigo debuff from the odd breathing pattern. If he could Fortify train for an hour without having to stop, he would add the Suffocation Bracer.
Setting a timer for an hour, he assumed the pose and began the odd breathing pattern. This time, after the seven shallow breaths, he concentrated on the three deep breaths, making them as deep as he could manage. The panting part of the cycle had caused him to hyperventilate before, which had led to the Vertigo debuff. He realized the three deep breaths were to reset his system.
The ball of Spirit had continued to slowly expand and had reached the size of a fist. It responded immediately to the pose and breathing, the energy flowing into his head and neck like water following a channel.
The deep focus on his breathing made the time pass in what felt like a moment. When his alarm went off, he happily realized he’d made it the entire hour without stopping. He opened his Harvesting view and looked at the results.
Meridian - Location - Level - Progress to Next Level
Light - Head/Neck - Lead - 1.52%
His efficiency had gone up as well. He didn’t know all the variables yet, but in his current state, he’d managed around 0.015 percent per minute.
It was 2:26 PM now. They needed to head back to camp around eleven that night. Since it would be early morning there, Hamma and Sift would need to sleep a little before leaving. It was unlikely they would try level seven this time around. That actually relieved Ruwen a little. He hated the thought of losing all this progress by dying here.
He opened his Void Band and removed one of the Goblin’s rusty spears and then two short swords. Placing the spear on the floor, he pointed the tip toward where he would be sitting and then used the two swords to make an arrow.
Now, if Hamma or Sift came into Ruwen’s room, even if he was invisible due to the bracer, they should understand he was actually there. He opened the door to his quarters since he hadn’t shown anyone the secret entrance yet. That way, they could walk right in and see his arrow.
Ruwen retrieved the Suffocation Bracer from his Void Band and slipped it onto his right wrist. As soon as he entered the pose, his breathing became labored, as if he’d been doing the breathing pattern for hours. The thread of Spirit into his head and neck thickened.
Ruwen began the breathing pattern, and it felt like the air had turned to water. His lungs actually burned, and his chest muscles ached from the force needed to inhale and exhale. With each labored breath, the Spirit link to his head and neck surged.
He stopped after two minutes, his head swimming from the lack of oxygen. The Vertigo debuff blinked under his resource bars as he opened the Harvest view.
Meridian - Location - Level - Progress to Next Level
Light - Head/Neck - Lead - 1.57%
After two minutes, without the bracer, he would have expected to see an increase to 1.55 percent. With the bracer, he had wondered if he might actually do worse than that until he got used to it. The fact that, even with his terrible breathing, he had done better, meant that when he adapted to the bracer, it would really increase his progression.
Ruwen started again. The shallow portion of the cycle came easy since breathing had become so difficult. The three deep breaths, however, were torture. Ruwen decided the air hadn’t become water, but sand. Hot burning sand that charred the inside of his throat and lungs.
He fought the Vertigo, focusing his entire attention on pulling air into his body. In the first twenty minutes, he blacked out twice, collapsing to the floor. When he regained consciousness, he restarted, determined to make this work.
Every beat of his heart felt like a hammer striking the inside of his skull. He blacked out again after forty minutes and found it challenging to hold the pose from dizziness. He pushed through it.
In the second hour, Ruwen’s headache remained, but he didn’t black out. During the third hour, he had either gotten used to the pain in his chest, or he’d managed to get more air into his lungs. Time blurred. The pattern and the pain merged, and he knew nothing else.
A hand slapped him in the head, and Ruwen fell to the side.
“I knew it,” Sift said.
Ruwen looked up and squinted his eyes at the bright light. It felt like someone had compressed his head into a pancake, rolled it up, and then squeezed it into a ball.
“You smell terrible,” Sift said. “What have you been doing?”
Ruwen tried to talk, but his throat felt seared.
Sift’s head floated into view. “I set your clean clothes on the bed. Take a shower and get dressed. We have to find Hamma. It’s almost time to leave.”
“Leave?” Ruwen croaked.
Ruwen’s mind started to work again, and he looked at the clock. It read 10:33 PM. He had been using the bracer for eight hours.
“You hit me?” Ruwen said as he tried to get up.
Sift helped Ruwen to his feet and walked him toward the bathroom.
“You were invisible,” Sift said.
“A giant arrow literally pointed at me.”
Sift leaned Ruwen against the doorframe. “That could have been a trap.”
“Why would I set a trap?” Ruwen asked. “Wait, do you set traps in your room?”
“See,” Sift said, tapping his temple with a finger. “I might start.”
“You make no sense,” Ruwen said.
“Well, your skin is blue, and you were orange earlier, but do I judge you?”
Ruwen looked down at his blue skin. It felt cold to the touch, and he wondered if he’d overdone his training.
“Yes, you do. And you slapped me,” Ruwen said.
“A Sijun should always be prepared for an attack.”
Ruwen groaned and stumbled into the shower. The warm water heated his body, and it took a few minutes for it to stop feeling like a thousand people
were pinching him.
“Hurry up. I’ll wait for you in the library,” Sift said.
As Ruwen dried himself off, he opened his Harvester view to see his progress.
Meridian - Location - Level - Progress to Next Level
Light - Head/Neck - Lead - 16.74%
Ruwen smiled. The bracer, as painful as it had been, had made a gigantic difference. He quickly got dressed, pleased to see the holes in his Clapper armor had been repaired.
He left his quarters, and Sift stood.
“How do we find Hamma?” Ruwen asked.
Sift walked to the closest bookshelf and placed his wrist on it. “Hamma.”
A portal opened.
“Um, is that a good idea?” Ruwen asked. “What if she’s in the bathroom or something?”
“First, Blapy rarely does that. Second, she would not do that to Hamma. I think Blapy likes her. You, on the other hand, should always be careful.”
“That is the most sense you’ve made all day,” Ruwen said.
“After you.”
“Aren’t you supposed to go first? To protect me?” Ruwen asked.
Sift smiled. “If you die walking through that portal, Blapy is to blame. Ky trusts her judgment, and your death will probably get a shrug.”
“Harsh, but true.”
“It is only fair that you enter first sometimes. Plus, what are the chances Blapy would kill you?”
Blapy had already killed him today. Or, mostly killed him.
“Higher than you’d think,” Ruwen said as he stepped through the portal.
Ruwen stepped out of the side of a building into the middle of a gigantic dance party. Thick beams of colored light pulsed into the air. A loud thumping beat accompanied hundreds of finger cymbals. The majority of the dancers looked like a cross between humans and frogs. Their clothes were shiny, and they jumped twenty feet into the air as they danced.
Sift emerged from the portal and quickly stepped up next to Ruwen.
“Not what I expected,” Sift said.
Ruwen, too dumbstruck to answer, just nodded. Creatures he had only see in drawings or read about in books mingled in a large field to his right. Hands and claws clutched food and drinks. A group of six dragons hovered in the air, their colors hard to discern in the strobing lights. They were playing some sort of game with a large glowing ball, keeping it aloft with bursts of air from their wings, or in the case of the two hovering wingless dragons, their tails. When the ball struck the ground, the dragon who’d missed the ball drank from barrels on the ground beneath them.