Nate and Lorenz had just stepped onto the floating platform that would take them back to the library's main levels when a mage apprentice darted up to them.
She was panting softly, her face slightly flushed. She held out her fist, turned it, and opened it up to reveal a small crystalline token.
"Mage Hollins said to give you this as a reward," she said, glancing backwards distractedly.
Lorenz thought it was enough that she had enough patience to actually give him the token rather than simply chuck it at his face. He followed her gaze to see the huddle of mage apprentices around Mage Hollins who'd produced a giant whiteboard from somewhere. Even as Lorenz watched, Mage Hollins pulled out a wand and waved it at the whiteboard, causing words to suddenly appear.
"What is it?" Nate asked, taking a cautious step back.
That step told Lorenz that he'd run into more than one preoccupied mage. There was a reason mage apprentices were more research fellows than not. The first spells a mage apprentice learned were all of the healing sort.
As the saying went in the depths of the library, flying books didn't have eyes.
"It's a token, of course," Halla replied. She grabbed Lorenz's hand, turned it over and dropped the token in it. Folding his fingers over it, she added, "this will let you take your books out of the library without having to pay. Mage Hollins says that he'll pay attention to it next time. We're going to be a bit busy for now."
With that, she turned and darted back to the group. Lorenz watched her go before shoving the token into his pocket. It was a warm, heavy weight.
He could even hear a faint 'ding.' Lorenz didn't have the nerve to check his status screen. Mages didn't loan books for free. That's how they paid for their researches.
Most mages started gathering their libraries when they were apprentices. It wasn't that hard, just expensive hence the reason they usually chose to be research assistants to more senior mages.
Research assistants could freely access the books in a library. From what Lorenz could figure out so far, some of them got paid in copies of the works they had to pull for the mages they worked for.
Of course, the research assistants also benefited in other ways. Research mages tended to teach whatever they were researching to their assistants, usually as a way to spread the workload and future samples. One mage casting a spell would take forever to perfect, but one master mage teaching it to their students and perfecting it that way was exponentially faster.
They also tended to get free food and board with their employment and free access to the library of their employer.
Just Mage Hollins alone had thousands of books, some of which he'd never actually looked at. Books were the backbone of any decent mage's library, though Lorenz had heard of a couple of experimental ones that collected periodicals with an increasing smattering of books.
Libraries like the one Mage Hollins owned weren't that plentiful outside of the mage cities, and even large ones like his weren't that many. His library offered other services in addition to the research tomes; it was part of the reason it was so popular. If you didn't want to, you never had to leave the library…as long as you had the money to afford it.
Lorenz didn't really pay for his resting place. He was considered a librarian's pet which was more than a slightly insulting title. The librarians were the ones who really ran the library for Mage Hollins. If they wanted to give someone something, he wouldn't care.
The librarians found Lorenz interesting and so gave him a permanent resting place for a pittance and discounted the other services like the canteens and commissaries. He still had to pay full price to borrow the books.
That was because there was a simple, yet expensive spell available that would copy books. The older the book, the more expensive the spell was. You also couldn't use it inside the mage libraries.
If you wanted to keep a book, you either had to buy it from the mage library it belonged to or buy the copy spell and materials needed. A top tier copy spell was rumored to need nothing more than some wood and leather to work.
"You could sell that in the forums for a ton of real money," Nate said. He jumped onto the platform, making it wobble a little.
"I'm not selling it." Lorenz sighed. Trust Nate to try to be practical. "I'm going to use it."
*****
Lorenz checked his inventory. Everything there was sparkling in gorgeous color, the grayed out status a thing of the past. His money had even been refunded.
Nate had decamped once they reached the middle floors. Lorenz thought that perhaps the whole thing was more disconcerting to him than Nate wanted to admit.
Plus, Nate had said that he wanted to talk to his guild about the situation. As far as he'd been aware, people didn't disappear from existence in the game.
That bothered Lorenz as well. The NPCs didn't seem disjointed or unaware of current events. Even the beginner villages were in sync, the NPCs happily passing out the same quests every day to keep their businesses running and villages trouble free.
Lorenz was taking the shortcut he'd heard about when he was accosted by the dark figure.
"You don't belong here," Lorenz gasped. The figure had appeared so close that it was only a foot or so away.
"And neither do you," the figure replied, "but we are both here, nevertheless." It drifted forward just a little, causing Lorenz to lurch backwards, his back touching the alley wall.
Lorenz leaned back against the wall, peering at the entrance to the alleyway hopelessly. No one was looking in the alley's direction, and the crowd seemed distracted by the mass gathering the Library Association was arranging. Gangs and clots of people were surging past the alleyway.
He looked back at the dark shadow before him. It was examining him curiously, head slightly cocked to the side. Diamond bright eyes flickered underneath the velvety black hooded robe.
"Give me the book, and all will be well," the figure said, holding out one hand. It seemed to be gloved in the same black material as the robe.
Somehow, Lorenz felt that it wasn't really a glove. He swallowed hard.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said, inching just a bit to the side. The other end of the alley led to the gates.
Lorenz was flinching inside, wishing he'd never heard of the shortcut. One of the patrons of Mage Hollins' library had been talking about it when he left, saying that it would cut a good half hour off the travel time.
When he'd heard that the Library Association was calling for an emergency gathering, he'd thought that it would be best to use the alleyway. Lorenz's first thought was to take the book to Cora. She'd mentioned that where she was, no one could come unless she said so.
It gave him hope that he could leave the book somewhere there until Mage Hollins had the time to thoroughly examine it. Now it seemed that Mage Hollins had taken the strange dust Nate and Lorenz had brought him to the Library Association which ruled Maraca instead.
If it was serious enough for them to call for a gathering, then Mage Hollins wouldn't have the time to look at a book.
"I think you do know what book I'm talking about," the shadow said. It was disconcerting how smooth and elegant its voice was, like listening to fine bourbon being poured over ice.
"The only books I have our my own," Lorenz fibbed. It felt like the alleyway was getting darker.
He looked down. Beneath the hooded figure, the ground was starting to crack and turn black.
"The book that the little mage entrusted to you," the figure patiently waited. It didn't seem to breathe which only increased Lorenz's unease.
"Which 'little mage' are we talking about? I happen to know a lot of mages," Lorenz shot back. He felt his heart sink just a little lower.
"I'm sure little Orrin will be so sad to hear you've forgotten him like everyone else. He was so sure that the spell wouldn't work on you," the figure replied. Amusement was redolent in its voice.
Lorenz regretted. He regretted taking the alleyway. He regretted letting Nate stroll off back to his guild to ask questions without him. Most of all, he regretted that he hadn't cast one of the first spells he'd ever learned, Mana Shield when he'd first been accosted.
Lorenz blamed his comfortable feelings when he was in the town. Everyone knew you couldn't be attacked in towns, but this figure gave him the vibe that not only could it attack him, but that his character's resurrection would be delayed somehow.
A sixth sense he didn't know he'd had was telling him that giving up the book would be a very bad thing, at least as bad as not getting away.
"Hey! Hey, you!" A town guard called down the alleyway. "What are you two doing? There's a gathering being called." He started to stroll down the alleyway in a jingle of armor, one hand on the sword hanging off his belt. Behind him, his two compatriots watched warily before one started following behind.
"Saved for now," the figure said, drifting backwards and disappearing into the deeper shadow of the building.
"Oy! Where did he go?" The town guard said, drawing closer.
"Careful!" Lorenz said, seeing that the man was about to step on the spot the hooded figure had been standing.
The two guards looked down at the slowly spreading black circle. The second guard looked back and whistled sharply at the lone guard at the alley's entrance.
That guard nodded and disappeared.
"I'm taking it that you might be Lorenz?" The first guard asked.
"You know me?" Lorenz asked, his eyes widening. He had a mental picture of them nearly popping out of his skull that he quickly dismissed as panic abruptly surged.
"Mage Hollins mentioned that this was discovered because of a young mage Lorenz," the second guard said with a frown as he squatted a few inches from the corruption. He pulled out a glass vial from a belt pouch and sprinkled the water inside on the circle. "Said it had to do with a missing apprentice."
"The Guard Captain wants a word, but I think it'd be best if you'd moved on," the first guard said as they watched the corruption smoke and hiss. His eyes slanted towards his companion for a split second before landing on Lorenz. "Were you on your way?"
"I was," Lorenz slowly replied. His eyes flickered to the second guard's intent expression before going to the exit of the alleyway. "I wanted to visit a friend."
"Like the one before," the second guard asked as he pulled out another bottle.
"No, another one," Lorenz vaguely waved a hand.
"Now, now, let's let the young mage go on his way. Research to do and all that," the first said, easing to stand between Lorenz and the second guard.
As Lorenz brushed past him, a roll of paper was stuck into the pocket of his traveling robe. He didn't acknowledge it, exiting the alley and standing for a moment to get his bearings.
Despite the crowds, the way to the gate was clear.
As he walked, he pulled out the roll of paper. He unrolled it to see a rough sketch of his face. Underneath was written, "Mage Lorenz, Under Protection of the Library Association, Render help as needed."
Lorenz scanned the short paragraph underneath, sucking in a quick sharp breath. There was nothing written there about the book or Nate.
He glanced back at the alleyway before hurrying towards the gate, wondering just what was the substance the second guard had sprinkled on the corruption circle.