Library of Rain

The Guide

Rain couldn’t procrastinate any longer; the Gathering of Lords would start in less than a week, and she had yet to move her activation point. The chances of her figuring out the next step in creating a skilled item before it was too late were too small to justify delaying. 

Hoping she wasn’t about to make a mistake, Rain climbed to her feet, drawing the attention of Sunrise, who was braiding her doll Scratch’s hair, and Lucus who was taking one of his rare breaks to paint.

“Is something wrong, Rain?”

“No, I just need to do something.” Rain said, keeping it vague in case Svend was listening somehow. 

“Then why do you have that look on your face like you’re going to do something stupid again?” 

Rain did not appreciate Lucus’s lack of faith in her abilities. Unfortunately, before she could reply, Ise stood and put Scratch down.

“I’ll come!”

“Sorry, Ise, you can’t come with me this time. I’ll explain later,” when the untrustworthy Svend couldn’t possibly be listening.

“But…” The look of disappointment on Sunrise's face made Rain want to find a way to protect her from the unreality of the Shaft and its attached rooms. But no matter how much she wanted to bring Ise, that wouldn’t change the fact that doing so would drive Ise insane.

“Sorry, I’ll explain later.”

Turning away, Rain missed the look of concern that passed between Sunrise and Lucus.

“Just be safe, weirdo.”

“Thanks.”

Feeling a bit floaty from the concern of her siblings, Rain double-checked that she had everything she needed: coins? Check. Snow? Check. Black book that she had left in a locked box under her bed? Unfortunately, check.  Geared up and ready she pushed open the door and entered the Library of Oru.

The moment the door closed behind her, Rain focused on her ‘Librarian’s Search’ skill. She had thought long and hard about what the right information to search for would be and had come up with a few good possibilities. 

The best would be to simply ask to be led to a book that would give her a permanent skill like ‘Librarian’s Search.' Her other options would be to ask for a skill that could copy temporary skills like River’s ability, though that skill required that the copied skill be used on you, and Rain wasn’t even sure it would work on temporary skills. The last and most likely to exist information would be to ask to find a way to make a skilled item from a temporary skill. 

Deciding to go with the first, Rain focused on finding a book with a guiding skill like ‘Librarian’s Search’ and then activated ‘Librarian’s Search.’

A searing pain racked Rain's body as her shadow ripped itself from her and rose into the air. Rain gasped and fell to her knees as the pain became a cold emptiness. She felt less real, as though she had lost a bit of her existence. 

Grounding herself with a few long breaths, Rain looked up at her shadow only to find it turning into an unrecognizable form. Her shadow had taken physical form, gaining depth and texture. Everything below the armpits had turned into mist while the arms had grown long. Each hand sported emaciated, sharp fingers close to a foot long that looked ready to spear Rain through. But the thing that scared Rain was the head, which sported long bone-white hair and milky white eyes. The mouth was a white hole sucking in the surrounding light and shining brighter. 

Rain felt like that mouth was sucking in more than just light as her feeling of instability grew. What had she created? Had the skill been a lie?

The thing's head snapped sideways, looking at Rain.

“What is your command?”

Its voice was hollow yet full of screams. The very sound of it would scare the monsters that frequented Rain’s nightmares. 

“Are you going to guide me through the library?” Rain asked, her acting not enough to stop the quiver in her voice.

“Yes.”

So this was the skill. Rain didn’t understand why it had to take this form, but she still needed it. She would just need to be fast so she could get her shadow back and get rid of this hollow feeling. Already, she was starting to wonder why she bothered doing anything, or if saving the world was really that important. And that was unlike her.

“Take me to a permanent skill that can guide me like you do.”

“That information does not exist.”

Rain winced at that. She had just wasted one of her three charges. If she was going to use one of her charges to create a skilled item then she only had one charge left to ask. 

“I need to learn how to create a skilled item out of a temporary skill. Will you take me to that information?”

The creature stared at Rain for a long moment before speaking.

“That information does not exist.” Rain slumped before the thing continued speaking. “But if your goal is to find a way to navigate this realm by summoning me, I can help you find a permanent solution - for the right offering.”

Rain blinked. Up to this point, this creature had acted a little like Mr. Purple, only answering direct questions and providing no clarification; hearing it make a suggestion changed how Rain looked at it.

That thought made Rain wonder, and she asked Mr. Purple to show her the description for ‘Librarian’s Search.’

[Librarian’s Search: Think of Information you wish to find in the Library of Oru, and the skill will guide you there at the cost of permanently raising physical corruption by one percent.] 

To her surprise, the skill still had three charges. It looked like the charges were only used when it led her to information. Though, she wouldn’t have guessed that turning her shadow into a living creature would be the way it would guide her.

Rain eyed the creature as it gazed back at her through its blank eyes.

“What do you mean by price?”

It smiled. The bright void of its mouth curving up until the corners touched its eyes and light started leaking into them.

“I can take you to a tome you don’t know you need in exchange for a favor, or I can take you to the exact information you ask for for the stated price.”

“What favor?”

“Take the deal, and you’ll find out.”

Was this how people felt when Rain did her Tyix act? No wonder they made such bad decisions. Even knowing how bad this could go, Rain found herself debating the risks. 

“Can I add limits to the favor?”

“What limits?”

“I won’t do anything against my conscience.”

It cackled at that, a sound that reminded Rain of tortured screams. 

“I accept that limitation. The human conscience is a fickle thing, after all. If my request is against your conscience, all I have to do is wait, and you’ll change.”

“Then I want to add that I won’t do anything to harm my family.”

Rain’s conscience would never let her hurt Sunrise or Lucus, but when dealing with ominous beings, it never hurts to add extra layers of protection.

“Very well.”

“Then I accept.” Rain said, raising two fingers to her lips.

She could have tried to order this thing to take her to whatever tome it was talking about, but she had a feeling that if she tried to bypass the deal it offered her, she would end up paying more than just a favor.

The thing still grinning mirrored her gesture, and like that, the deal was sealed.

“Follow me.”

[Passive Skill Attained: Binding Promise.]

Rain took one look at the message from Mr. Purple before shrugging and following the creature. She’d known from the start that this would probably end poorly, but she was still going to walk to the end to see where it went. After all, deals like this weren’t all bad; if her past self hadn’t made a deal, then Rain wouldn't exist. She would likely lose something big, but at the same time, there was something in her gut telling her that this was an opportunity she shouldn’t pass.