Rei was even more grateful to her grandfather today.
He'd taught her many things in the years they were together, basic skills, judo, boxing, and most importantly how to land.
She would've most certainly died hadn't it been for the hundreds of times her gramps made her practice fall.
So she fell, her arms arched protectively around her head and her legs tucked safely by her hips, and that made it so she only broke one rib, fractured another, and sprained her wrists from the awkward angle.
She was used to the pain enough to uncurl herself and tear a strip of fabric from her skirt. She wouldn't need the school uniform anyway.
After tearing off more pieces, she wrapped her ribs so that they were supported by her shoulder, and her wrists so that they were aided by her forearms and hands.
Unfortunately, she couldn't set her broken bone, since her sprained wrists might end up getting worse.
Finished, she looked around.
Rei couldn't see much, just the gritty pebbles and blown-up dust around her. Other than that there was a fuzzy grey area that she could see shapes in, while the rest was pitch black.
Never one to just give in, Rei inched slowly, one palm dragging on the ground to check for traps and drop-offs, she moved forward in a half-squat.
The direction she chose was a dead end. She felt along the wall just in case, but it only broke apart under her touch, chunks of musty rock making her blink reflexively.
Walls always led somewhere as long as they weren't arranged in a circle, so she used the wall as her guide. With one hand trailing the wall and one the floor, she made her way left.
The palm Rei had on the wall suddenly fell through empty space, and she stumbled forward in surprise. She picked herself up and surmised that she'd found a new path.
She followed without hesitation. After maybe an hour or so of methodical wall crawling, Rei's eyes had adjusted to the dark and she could walk instead.
At the faster pace she found new pathways and rooms quicker, until she found the jackpot.
It was a hallway with light. It was barely anything to be excited about, but Rei was getting tired of dust and dark and her muscles were starting to cramp. The pain in her ribs had only worsened.
The light was coming from behind a rustic door, the only intact door she'd so far discovered, and she wasted no time in pushing it open.
What was revealed was not as she expected. It was a library. Which was weird, because she'd never heard of a library inside a Dungeon before.
She hadn't heard of a Dungeon without Monsters either, so maybe this wasn't a Dungeon. But then why would her Grandpa seal it off?
Some of the shelves had collapsed under the weight of their books while others seemed a second away from crumbling.
The books themselves were decrepit, scrolls torn, tomes moth-bitten, and records smothered with dirt.
She walked warily into the center of the library, keeping an eye out for anything and everything. Then, a peculiar shelf drew her attention.
It was more of a display case, and it was almost entirely empty with the exception of a weird globe artifact and a single, unblemished book.
The glass hadn't a speck of dust, a stark contrast to every other thing she'd seen in this place. She glanced around self-consciously before using a discarded rock to break open the case.
She wasn't about to leave after finding a difference at last.
She inspected the cover. It was a vivid royal violet with black and silver bindings. What interested her the most however, was that it had no title but instead a perfect replica of her dove-wing pin.
Figuring she had nothing better to do, she opened it, only to find out everything was blank. She tried reopening it, but still there was nothing.
She flipped back to the front page and stared. Annoyed at her lack of progression, she tried setting her pin on the page: nothing.
Then she recalled something she'd caught her grandpa doing whenever he received a letter. She'd always thought it was strange, and once even debated if he was just extremely clumsy, but now she wondered if there wasn't a purpose for it.
He cut himself on the letter opener every time.
Feeling slightly whimsical and possibly delusional from adrenaline and pain, Rei pricked herself with the pin and let the blood fall onto the page.
Just as she was going to close it and start her search again, words appeared. She rubbed her eyes to check for hallucinations. It read,
‚You are deemed a 93.32% match for the System. Would you like to join with the System?'
Rei knew it couldn't be a prank, but she was still in doubt. The image on the cover made her write 'Yes'.
The book generated another sentence right in front of her.
‚NOTICE: By joining with the System you will be unable to harbor an Ablity of your own. Do you still wish to join with the System?'
Rei didn't hesitate that time, seemingly getting her wish to be Ability-free.
The book began glowing a soft purple, and the pages flipped by themselves, until it reached the final cover.
Rei watched as it crumbled into nothing but particles of light, before hitting her straight in the heart.
She was knocked onto the floor, disheveled, when her body started to feel as if it had gotten heavier. She looked exactly the same, yet something had changed.
Ah, it was her wrists! And her ribs! They were healed! Her eyes widened, as apparently, the surprises weren't done yet.
Her vision was obstructed by an indigo screen.
[You have successfully joined with the System]
[Would you like to know more about it?]
Yes No