Chapter 5
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What a coincidence. You have a power stone.
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Valerie frowned as she opened the door to the public library. Like most things in Bunkland, it was very modern and advanced for this time period. But also worn down and left behind by the ruthless nature of society, which had yet to advance socially.
She looked around at the place, finding it rather empty. She walked up to the desk, and the lady took several seconds to notice her, which she only did after Valerie tapped her. It seems her 'stealth' is working as intended, she noted.
The lady blinked in surprise at Valerie, before speaking. "Hello, is there anything we can do for you today?" She asked after calming down. Valerie smirked, before speaking.
"Just looking to browse your selection." She responded simply. The lady nodded and perked up. Valerie doubted many people actually visited this place.
"We have a very broad selection, but due to theft and other incidents, you aren't allowed to check out books anymore." She sighed. Valerie nodded along. She was planning to be a 'Reader' after all, and she had a deep love for literature and books, even if she didn't remember it. She read through all of 'Lord of Mysteries', even if she only remembered the first novel.
"Is it a common problem?" Valerie inquired. She was curious as to whether this place was plagued by being too modern for its time, or if Bunkland was just a city where a library couldn't survive. After all, this was the Victorian era, and she had no doubt that about ¾ the population was illiterate. Perhaps actually closer to 5 / 6.
"Yes. Either homeless people trying to sleep here during the night, or people stealing books for various reasons." She admitted sadly. "It's not all bad though. Our selection is rather broad, and we do hold a few valuable books, though you have to get permission to read them." She chattered. Valerie listened with curiosity.
"What sort of books would a person need permission to read?" She inquired.
"Oh, mostly ancient manuscripts and religious texts, along with historical records." She spoke after a moment of thought. "It's mostly things like Emperor Roselle's Notes. Not the originals, but original copies, mind you." She quickly assured. Valerie wondered if anyone had tried to steal them before, only to realize they were just copies.
She made a note to check if the copies here were genuine or not, as a certain poor man was always looking for Roselle's Notes. Valerie herself would be extremely interested if not for one, small, unimportant fact. She didn't know Chinese. She knew how to speak basic phrases, but not nearly enough to actually read anything.
After seeing Valerie was interested, the woman continued to gossip. "There are also some things written by the creator of the Hermes language, Hermes. Some books were written by nobles from the Solomon Empire. I don't know much else, but they are sometimes lent out to various museums or parties held by nobles." She explained. She seemed to be a vibrant sort, someone who liked to talk and gossip.
Given that this place seemed rather deserted, it wasn't all too suspicious to Valerie that she would gossip a bit. Plus, it was rather interesting. "Well, that is rather interesting." She acknowledged.
"Well, as much as I like gossiping, I hope you didn't come here just to hear me talk." The woman inquired.
Valerie nodded. "I was looking for books regarding mythology." She explained. In actuality, she was more interested in the occult and supernatural section, but she didn't want to arouse suspicion.
The woman then directed Valerie to a large bookshelf near the back, where Valerie thanked her and began to browse. The woman reminded her she wasn't allowed to take books out of the library, before heading back to the front desk.
She felt vaguely cold, with her skin a bit clammy. As well, she felt a bit paranoid, looking around and checking shadows for anyone watching. She sighed, rubbing her head, she could feel the corruption in her mind slowly getting worse. If she didn't find anything, she would have to do something drastic. She had to deal with this at least temporarily by tonight.
She picked out a few books on mythology and history, along with psychology and religion. She sat down at a table and began to look through the books, trying to learn more about the world she ended up in.
In regards to history, she found it to be quite interesting. Historians in this world divided up history into 5 main time periods or epochs. The 1st Epoch was the least understood or known. It was basically the time when Humanity was born, living in caves and whatnot. Before any society existed or any sentient life roamed this world.
The Second Epoch was the one that surprised Valerie the most. It was a time when Humanity struggled to survive, with several other dominant races existing alongside humanity. Though the only universally accepted civilization that historians agreed existed at the time were Elves, there were many theories on other civilizations including Giants and Vampires.
The Third Epoch was the birth of Human dominance over the world, and when the first of the 7 Orthodox Churches formed. It was a time of development and evolution, but not much was actually described about what happened during this time period in the books Valerie read.
The Fourth Epoch was the beginning of Modern history, and the most detailed and well-researched Epoch besides the modern one. It was entirely dated around a single event, that being the War of Four Emperors. It began with the foundation and time of the Solomon Empire, led by the Black Emperor. It then followed the fall of the Solomon Empire at the hands of the Blood Emperor Tudor Alista Tudor and Night Emperor Trunsoest, who then founded the Tudor-Trunsoest United Empire.
But after some time, a descendant of the Black Emperor appeared and established the Solomon Empire, starting the War of the Four Emperors. Who the fourth Emperor was took some time for Valerie to find, only discovering his title, the Underworld Emperor. He seemed to be related to the Southern Continent, but not much was explained about him or his role in the Fourth Epoch much to Valerie's confusion.
After the war ended, the 5th and current Epoch began. It was mainly described as a time of prosperity, ruled by the 7 Orthodox Churches and 4 Great Nations. It also described one of the biggest events as the rule and life of Emperor Roselle, before he went mad.
As Valerie was immersed in these books, she was surprised to hear a sound near her, which made her jump. She blinked to see a young woman sprawled out on the floor, who seemed to have tripped. She was wearing a common Leon-style dress, with short brown hair and simple features. She looked rather forgettable, all-in-all.
She groaned, looking up at her, noticing Valerie staring at her in confusion, before unceremoniously letting her head drop back on the ground. She laid on the ground for several moments, without any signs of getting up. Valerie felt a bit worried, so she asked if she was okay.
The groaning she heard in response was enough of a reply for Valerie. "Do you need me to call for a doctor?" She inquired slightly nervously.
The woman let out a deep sigh, before slowly pushing herself up. "No, no. Thank you for asking. I am just exhausted today, that's all." She said as she sat up, before grabbing the bookshelf and using it to pull herself up.
She then trudged over to the table where Valerie was sitting and slumped down in the chair across from her. "Sorry for making you worry. Collapsing like that probably isn't the best first impression. Though not the worst first impression I've made, sadly enough." She muttered to herself.
Valerie raised an eyebrow. "And what did you do that would beat collapsing on the ground as a first impression?" She inquired with a chuckle. The woman raised an eyebrow, her expression lazy.
"Well, that would probably be accidentally jumping through a window into someone's room." She casually remarked after pondering for a moment. "Or could that be considered a good first impression? Either way, the woman who owned the apartment I crashed into is now my roommate and best friend." She chuckled.
Valerie blinked and smiled. "Seems like you have an interesting life." She remarked casually.
"You wouldn't know the half of it." the woman muttered unconsciously to herself. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out a cigarette, before putting it in her mouth. Valerie raised an eyebrow at that.
"Are you allowed to do that here?" She inquired.
The woman blinked, seemed to realize what she was doing, and chuckled to herself before putting the cigarette away. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just tired. The moonlight from my window kept me up all night." She sighed, rubbing her eyes which had bags under them.
"Anyway, my name is Fors." She finally introduced herself lazily, not bothering to offer a handshake. Valerie was rather amused by how sarcastic and frank this woman was.
"Valerie Zangwill." She introduced herself with a nod.
"So, Valerie, what brings you here? I don't see many people at this library very often." She remarked.
"Just trying to pass the time. I didn't sleep well either last night. Plus, I wanted to do some research on history." Valerie nodded toward the stack of books in front of her. Fors inspected her selection with interest.
"Eh. I wouldn't bother reading this one. It's all just comparisons between what different historians think. A lot of strange and baseless theories." She nodded towards one of the books in Valerie's pile.
Valerie blinked, before thanking her. "So, find anything you like? I would recommend you some good books if you find any topics you are interested in." She lazily spoke.
Valerie blinked in surprise. "Well, there were a few things I would like to research further. I would like to know more about Elves, and their civilization. I also was rather disappointed by the lack of information about the Southern Continent. And of course, I want to learn more about Emperor Roselle." She found herself speaking casually to Fors as she criticized what she disliked about the books she had read.
Fors rubbed her eyes, thinking. "In regards to Elves, I know a few good ones. And of course, there are a near infinite amount of books about Emperor Roselle and his various escapades." She talked about some of the books she recommended and some of the things she liked and disliked about them.
"In regards to the Southern Continent, you won't find many books here about their history. Only about their culture and the war with the Balam Empire." She shrugged. "The Churches and Leon Empire don't bother to keep such books in public libraries. You would have to go to a private one to find out about anything like that." She explained.
Valerie thanked her, and they talked casually as they playfully bantered about books and what they liked and disliked about them. Valerie found it quite enjoyable, and for the first time, she truly felt relaxed and was having fun since she appeared in this world.
Eventually, Fors had to leave. Before she left, however, she told Valerie that she usually came here on weekends to read and that they should meet again next week. Valerie agreed, feeling happy, a smile on her face.
After she left, Valerie sighed, alone again. She got up, intent on leaving. She had a few other things to do today anyway. But then she noticed a book Fors had left sitting on the table. She went to pick it up, intent on returning it, before noticing the title.
It was a book on meditation. She blinked, a little confused as to why Fors would look into such a field of literature, before looking through it curiously. She found that the methods described were actually pretty detailed, and didn't involve any strange or unusual methods. Instead, they seemed like mental exercises Buddhists or psychiatrists might use. According to the book, these methods were developed by Emperor Roselle.
She tried them on a whim, sitting cross-legged in the middle of the library, trying to follow what the book instructed. Focusing on certain thoughts, constantly outlining several habits she had and how she might solve them, and clearing her mind.
At the end of it, she found that the corruption from last night had subsided a little bit, and no longer seemed to be spreading at the moment. She stared at the book in surprise, before memorizing its contents and leaving the library.
As she left, she also decided to buy a membership with the Library when she had the chance. Right now, she didn't have a single coin to her name. To fix this, she decided to head to the bank.
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This is the last Chapter I have written right now. I hopefully will find the motivation to write a few new chapters this weekend.
If you think this story is any good, please consider showing your support by leaving power stones, a review, or just yelling at me to write more. Anything is welcome.