The inside of the virtual reality capsule was composed of a variety of different components, including cameras, sensors, microphones, and display devices, and when Klaus closed his eyes, he said:
"Start connection!"
Then he felt as if his mind was being pulled into a tornado of dancing colors. This falling sensation was like being in an elevator going down.
[Calibration Data...]
[Calibration data.]
[The scan on your nerves indicates that you are a registered user of Rise Online. Would you like to play this game or another?
I WANT TO PLAY RISE ONLINE / I WANT TO PLAY ANOTHER GAME].
Klaus clicked to play Rise Online and a screen appeared with spaces for the login user and password. After filling everything in correctly, the rest of the process was just like normal NeuroGear.
[Connecting to the world server, please wait...]
[Checking for RISE ONLINE game updates...]
[No updates found.]
[Do you want to connect to RISE ONLINE? YES/NO]
"Huh! This question is always satisfying to read, I don't know why." Klaus said to himself and selected YES on the spot.
A moment later, the world around him took shape and he materialized in the back of the Ravenfeather Shop, his blacksmith and tool shop.
He looked down and began awkwardly wiggling the fingers of both hands. After a few moments, he said aloud:
"Well, the feel of playing in a pod is no different than my normal NeuroGear. Maybe I'll just end up feeling more rested when I log out later."
Like the day he returned to New York from Woodbury, Klaus returned to the Tretidian capital with Black Cloud, already well away from the Steno Labyrinth, but he had no intention of standing around at home forging, he already had another plan in mind.
It had been several, several days since he had last visited the Library of the Magi to talk to Librarian Alina, and frankly, he had to make this visit for her. He didn't even want to think about the possibility that she would forget his existence, since she was the greatest source of information he could get. In addition, Kaizen wanted to give her the staff he had promised her and which was already finished, not to mention that he wanted to ask her for recipes and techniques for making powerful bows. In the book of the legendary blacksmith Wen Chiu, there was not a single page about this kind of weapon.
Kaizen opened his inventory and quickly searched for the item 'Key to the Wizard's Tower'. However, when he finally found this item among so many others, he felt a strange feeling in his chest just by looking at the item's icon.
Kaizen frowned and tried to understand what he felt. He wasn't much for feelings or intuitions, but this feeling was hard to ignore. He took the key and held it tightly, as if he wanted to extract some information from it. However, his rational mind told him to put the feeling aside for the moment and use the key.
A glowing portal appeared in front of Kaizen in the alley where a solid stone wall had been. Through it, Kaizen saw tall bookshelves filled with bound volumes.
Kaizen was awestruck to see the translucent portal appear before him again, it was always very cool.
He approached the portal cautiously, looking at the crack that opened to the other side, after all, this portal always appeared in a different place than the Wizard's Library.
On the other side of the portal, he saw shelves stretching up out of sight. Each shelf was filled with books, some as large as he was, others as small as a diary.
Kaizen approached the translucent portal with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. He wasn't sure what to expect on the other side with that sinking feeling in his chest, but he was eager to find out. When he was close enough to the portal, he reached out his hand and stepped through. As he passed through, he felt an electrical discharge, but it didn't hurt. Instead, it seemed to fill him with a feeling of energy and warmth.
The next moment, Kaizen stepped over with his legs, arms, and the rest of his body, and stepped safely onto the floor of the library. The portal quickly closed behind him.
As was his wont, Kaizen looked around, trying to figure out where he was. The high shelves were all he could see, for in this area, they touched the ceiling.
"If I'm not mistaken, I'm in the history books section. Alina explained to me that if I suddenly found myself in an area with books of different sizes and with shelves reaching to the ceiling, I would find history books. I know that she said this in a subtle way so that if I got lost in that place, I could find my way to her. So the place where she spends most of her time, according to what she said, must be to the south.... But which way is south?" Kaizen wondered, putting his right hand to his chin.
He looked both sides of the corridor and found no sign, mark, or indication of the south.
But he was not discouraged. He knew that the Library of the Magi was immense and complex, but he also knew that Alina left secret markings to help him find his way. He walked down the corridor, examining the title written on the spine of each book as he passed. Some of them had titles that piqued his curiosity, such as "Chronicles of the Dwarf Kings" and "The Dark Ages." Others had aged and damaged covers, as if they had been read and re-read countless times.
Suddenly, Kaizen saw something glowing on the bookshelf to his right. He moved closer and saw that there was a small rune engraved on the bookshelf, which glowed with a dim light. He immediately recognized the rune as being one of the secret marks left by Alina.
[Title effect 'Master of Languages' activated].
[You can now understand 30% of any language.]
[You have familiarity with the language Runes of the Magi. You can now understand 50%.]
[Thanks to the title 'Talented', you can now understand 90% of that language].
"Um... Since this rune is pointing north. I should go the other way."
Instead of following that rune, turning left, he turned right and continued walking down the other corridor. Soon, he found more runes glowing, indicating the way for him, and he followed them, making turns and turns, until he came to a familiar spiral staircase leading upward.
When he reached the top of the staircase, he saw a large wooden door. He knew it was the door to the main section of the library, where Alina would normally be reading something or restoring some book.
Kaizen approached the large wooden door and examined the runes engraved on it. He didn't immediately recognize the runes, but thanks to his title of "Master of Languages" and his familiarity with the language of the Runes of the Magi, he was able to understand their meaning. The runes read, "Main section of the Library of Magi: Access restricted to qualified Magi.
Kaizen knew that he had the right to enter the main section, since there was not even one other mage in this library besides Alina. With a smile on his face, Kaizen reached out and touched the central rune on the door, which glowed with a faint light before disappearing. With a soft sound, the door slowly opened. Excited to talk to the librarian and give her the staff, K immediately entered the room, only to be immediately hit by a disastrous smell.
Kaizen's eyes widened at the same moment, for this smell had become familiar to him recently. It was the terrible stench of blood.
As soon as the door finished opening, Kaizen saw that the place where he had shared so many moments with Alina was now partially destroyed.
Many, many bookshelves were knocked over, hundreds of books littered the floor, and the marble floor was shattered into a thousand pieces. The southern light, which had been absent in this place to preserve the books, now streamed in through the destroyed walls, casting dark shadows over the rubble.
The main section, once Alina's place of peace and knowledge, had now become a scene of complete destruction.
The smell of burning wood and paper filled the air, the result of candles with uncontrollable fires being blown out during what appeared to be an intense battle.
The air was still charged with the aura of heavy magic that still hung over the place, mixed with the smell of burning wood and charred paper.
The walls were riddled with holes caused by magic, and bloodstains disfigured the place. It is a scene of devastation, where only a few parts of this part of the library remain intact, but most of it has been completely destroyed.
This became a disturbing sight for Kaizen, as he considered the library to be a pristine place.
...
Edited by: DrHitsuji
If you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com/NandoFalske
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https://discord.gg/bpqq9u4gS8
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