Kaine opened his eyes, sitting up from the best sleep he had in a long time, all the fatigue seeping out of him. He would have wanted to stay in bed longer if weren't for him being completely naked.
He looked at the closes on the floor, sighing, he got up from the bed and gathered them before going to the bathroom.
'Should have washed before sleeping..' It took him a while to get the dirt stains out and recover a little of the original color.
He hung them on top of the drawer and sat back down on the bed, looking at the wall in front of him with blank eyes.
'Why am I here?' He repeated the question in his mind repeatedly.
Why was he here? who brought him here? was there a grand reason or is he just coincidentally here? He kept asking those questions, but try hard as he might there was no answer.
'It's no use, I have no answers, and no clue. But the fact I'm here is true and not just a dream... or maybe it's?' He pinched his arm hard, feeling the sting that followed.
His attention turned to the bracer stuck to him, caressing the finely carved lines of the runic Writings.
'Am I meant to be here, is there some force guiding or manipulating me from behind the scenes?' He rubbed his head at the questions that streamed endlessly from his thoughts.
"I have to look for answers, staying ignorant in these kinda situations leads to bad ends." Resolving his mind, he wore the damp clothes, no matter how uncomfortable they were.
He looked around the bed, finding the map in a corner, he carefully looked over it and read the tiny letters specifying the locations.
'Yep, they have a library all right, it should have everything I need, hopefully.' He took the key and walked out of the room, closing the room even if it had nothing on it.
As he stood in the hallway, he was surprised when he saw a couple of men walking in it.
A tall gray flecked brown hair middle-aged man wearing armor walked into his room just as Kaine looked his way, the man's eyes meeting his before he closed the door, his eyes were that of a man waiting to die at any moment.
2 other 30-looking men dressed in casual clothes talked quietly as they leaned on the men's open room door. And to his right another man wearing tight thick bluish-black robes with a staff walked from another hallway into this one.
'Is he a Mage?'He wanted to say hi and introduce himself, but the man completely ignored him and walked past him, his eyes the same as the armored man's.
'Sigh~ I should go find that library.' As he looked at the map, looking for which hallway to follow, he heard a voice behind him.
"Hey, you're a new recruit?" Looking around one of the conversing men said with closed arms, slightly handsome looking, he was buff given that the clean shirt he wore stuck to him.
"Ah yeah, Just registered this morning." He walked up to the men looking at him, extending his right hand for a handshake.
"My name's Kaine, a pleasure to meet you." instead of greeting him, the men looked at him weirdly, then looked at each other.
"Why are you raising your hand towards me?" The man he wanted to handshake confusedly asked.
"Ah, well it's a greeting, where I come from it's called a handshake, like shaking hands." He awkwardly explained, lowering his right hand when he saw the man didn't uncross his arms.
"You must be from far away from here if that's a greeting." The man answered stoically, the other men leaning on the door giving him a friendly smile.
"Don't mind him, he is always serious. Are you headed somewhere, I saw you looking at that complicated and small map they give to every new hire." The man gestured to the map clutched in his left hand.
"Ah, I was heading for the Library, just wanted to figure something out." He looked between the men as he answered, feeling a little happy he was having a normal conversation in a long time.
"Ah, I guess you must have many questions, They don't explain stuff that much, after all, most recruits already know what they are supposed to do, or have a mentor explain to them everything." The man looked him up and down examining him curiously, the other stoic man remaining silent through the whole exchange.
"Ah, My situation was kinda weird, the master or not master kinda left me after teaching me only a few things so I'm still in the dark about basic stuff regarding this different life." He smiled awkwardly, holding his right arm on the bracer on his left.
"Oh, yeah we get a few cases like yours every few years, most don't last long. Anyway, I don't wanna keep holding you, see you around." The man at the door said, looking back at the stoic man and beginning to continue their quiet conversation.
Kaine nodded, swiveling around, he walked the other way, scrunching his nose and closing his eyes.
'That went as well as I expected.' Shaking his head, he opened the map and followed its directions to the Library.
As he passed through well-lit hallways with wooden floors and the occasional painting hanging on the walls, he stood in front of a grand wooden door.
'I'm here, do I just enter?' He opened the door easily, finding a large room filled with Bookshelves filled with books.
He looked around the room, finding it empty but well-lit with lamps. He walked to the nearest bookshelf and took out a random book.
'The tales of the eerie shadows of Welkin town... sounds interesting, but I'm not here for entertainment.' Putting the book back, he took out another one randomly, the back of the book being blank meant he couldn't just distinguish what he needed.
He went around the bookshelves, picking up books that sounded really interesting but have to be put back, searching for books that talked about the basics of magic.
'Adventures of the balding monk of Mount Dyubi... another one, every book had been stories or tales, where the hell are the educational books.' He sighed as he put the book back on, looking at the tens of bookshelves he went through.
He walked away from the bookshelf, and it didn't help that there was no indication of what each bookshelf held.
"You have been buzzing around for a while now, ruining my focus, what are you looking for?" Kaine quickly turned around, seeing one of the soft mattress chairs occupied by an older woman with glasses, one that was empty a few seconds ago when he glanced in that direction.
'When did she get here?' Kaine looked confusedly at her and the door, holding back his question.
"I was looking for books about magic and mages, or the introductions of them, but I can't find them." he walked closer to the thick and baggy blue robe-dressed older woman.
"You won't find them here, this library is only for stories and some documentaries. What you're looking for can only be found with the staff members of the guild." The woman gave him a short look without raising her head, focusing back on the book in her hand a second later.
"I didn't know that, thanks." Feeling her disinterest, he turned away and walked to the door.
Kaine stopped before the door, his scrunched with a frown, he backtracked walking back toward the lady sitting comfortably in her chair.
"Sorry for the trouble, but I couldn't help but notice the book you're reading. is it a biography about a monster?" Kaine looked at the book with a frown, focusing especially on the page depicting a monster that haunted the previous him's nightmares.
"So what if it's?" The lady finally looked at him, an annoyed look on her face.
"Nothing, sorry for the trouble. I will go now." lowering his head with a smile, he walked away, sighing as he opened the door with slumped shoulders.
"Hey kid, are you new here?" looking around, the lady was looking at him with an annoyed yet curious face.
"Ah yeah, it's my first day in this guild." Kaine quickly ran to the old Lady, smiling at her a little.
"Hmm... you have a lot of manners for a person your age, most of the brats your age are inconsiderate and hot-blooded." She looked him up and down more deeply, making him feel uncomfortable at her intense stare.
"Why are you hovering around, just sit there." She pointed toward a seat next to her. Kaine had opened his mouth before closing it, sitting quickly in the seat next to her.
"So what's your story?" putting the book on the short table in front of her, she looked at the thumb-twiddling Kaine who was looking around the room aimlessly.
"What?" Kaine blurted, caught off guard by the sudden question.
"I like to hear or read about stories, and I find you a little interesting, so I would like to know your story. How are you in this guild without already being a Mage?" Her previous brown eyes turned deep blue, startling him a little.