Chapter 59: The Hidden Passage

The information from the Broker in the Whispering Fen Teahouse was electrifying. Drake didn't waste a moment after leaving the discreet establishment. He navigated swiftly from the Lower City Ward back towards the Scholar's Quarter, his mind already replaying the Broker's precise instructions via [Perfect Recall]: "Old Archive building... third floor, western wing... misaligned repository shelf... press runes: Twin Moons Ascending, Sun at Zenith, Falling Star, Darkened Orb..."

He reached the Old Archive building, its ancient stone façade familiar from his previous visit when he'd spoken to the Scribe. This time, however, he entered with a specific, clandestine purpose. The lower floors were quiet, mostly filled with junior scribes copying texts or elderly scholars dozing over ancient tomes. Drake ignored them, heading directly for the stairwell. [Perfect Recall] provided a flawless mental map of the building's layout from his earlier brief exploration.

He reached the third floor, western wing. This section was dustier, less frequented, the air heavy with the scent of decaying parchment. Towering repository shelves lined the walls, many holding crumbling, leather-bound books or deteriorating scroll cases. He began his search for the "misaligned shelf." With [Relic Hunter] active, its perception boost from his [Cartographer's Compass] aiding him, he scanned the rows. Most shelves were perfectly aligned, uniform. But then, about halfway down one long aisle, [Relic Hunter] highlighted subtle scuff marks on the floor and one shelf that, while laden with books like the others, seemed to be set a fraction of an inch further out from the wall, its alignment just slightly off-kilter – easily missed without heightened perception.

"This has to be it. Fits the description perfectly."

He checked his surroundings – the corridor was empty. He carefully pulled the heavy, book-laden shelf outwards. It moved silently on surprisingly well-oiled hidden tracks, revealing a section of bare stone wall behind it. Set into the stone was a small, square Alvari panel with four distinct, deeply etched runes. He recognized their described forms from the Broker's instructions, confirmed by [Perfect Recall].

"Twin Moons, Sun at Zenith, Falling Star, Darkened Orb. Here we go."

With utmost precision, he pressed the runes in the exact sequence the Broker had provided:

The rune depicting two crescent moons, horns pointing upwards.

The rune showing a radiant sun at its highest point.

The rune of a streaking comet or meteor.

The rune of a solid, black circle.

As he pressed the final Darkened Orb rune, there was a soft click from within the wall, followed by a low grinding sound of stone against stone. The entire panel, along with a section of the surrounding wall, slowly slid inwards and then sideways, revealing a dark, narrow opening. A gust of cool, musty air wafted out.

<< Hidden Passage Activated! +1500 EXP! >>

"Passage open. The Broker's intel was good. 1500 EXP is a decent chunk too." His experience bar edged closer to Level 20.

He peered into the darkness. It was a tight, unlit service tunnel, clearly Alvari in construction but long disused. He activated his basic torch, its flickering light revealing stone walls covered in thick cobwebs and layers of ancient dust. He stepped inside, the stone panel sliding silently shut behind him, plunging him into near silence, the sounds of the archive muffled.

The passage sloped downwards, twisting and turning. [Relic Hunter] remained active, scanning for hazards. The skill soon paid off, highlighting faint energy patterns on the floor ahead – decaying pressure plate traps. Drake carefully navigated around them or used loose stones to trigger them from a safe distance, resulting in harmless puffs of dust or faint energy discharges. Further on, nearly invisible energy tripwires, barely shimmering even to his augmented senses, crisscrossed the tunnel. He meticulously disarmed them by disrupting their anchor points with the tip of his sword.

As he progressed deeper, ancient security measures began to activate. Small, spherical Archive Drones (Defunct) (Level 12), coated in dust, whirred to life from wall alcoves, their single optical sensors glowing red. They attacked with weak energy pulses or tiny, sharp projectiles. Drake's 100% SCR [Defend] easily negated their attacks (<< Perfect Defend! Damage Taken: 0! >>), and a single 100% SCR [Basic Slash] (<< Damage Dealt: 350! (Relentless Assault building) >>) was usually enough to shatter each drone into sparking fragments. << Defeated Archive Drone! +150 EXP >>. He encountered half a dozen such drones, dispatching them with contemptuous ease.

He also encountered a few Spectral Wards (Level 15), lingering Alvari magical defenses that manifested as shimmering, vaguely humanoid forms lashing out with tendrils of cold energy. Again, his perfect defense absorbed their attacks, and his perfected offense, amplified by rapidly stacking [Relentless Assault], dispersed them quickly. These minor guardians were clearly remnants, their power faded over centuries, posing little threat to his current level and skill, but they confirmed the passage was indeed ancient and once heavily protected.

After what felt like fifteen minutes of navigating the twisting, trapped, and lightly guarded tunnel, which gradually began to slope upwards again, he reached another heavy stone door. Unlike the entrance, this one had no visible mechanism, but as he approached, it irised open smoothly and silently, light spilling out from beyond.

Drake stepped through, and found himself in a completely different environment. The dusty, cramped service tunnel gave way to a vast, echoing hall of breathtaking scale. Towering shelves, crafted from polished darkwood and strange Alvari alloys, reached up stories high into a vaulted ceiling lost in shadow. These shelves were packed with glowing data crystals, ancient leather-bound tomes radiating faint magic, and metallic scroll cases, all perfectly preserved. The air was cool, still, and carried the scent of old knowledge and ozone. This was, without a doubt, the Great Library of Silverhaven – but a section far removed from public access, a place of deep silence and immense, forbidden lore.

"This is it. The restricted upper archives. The Broker wasn't kidding about the scale... or the off-limits nature. Now... 'find the door that absorbs sound'."

He began to move through the colossal, silent halls, his boots making no sound on the polished stone floor. [Relic Hunter] was active, but here, instead of traps, he was looking for an acoustic anomaly or a unique warding signature. He passed rows upon rows of shelves, each containing untold volumes of knowledge. The sheer concentration of information was palpable.

After several minutes of careful exploration, following a path that seemed to lead towards the most secluded and heavily warded section of this archive level, [Relic Hunter] picked up something unusual. Not a sound, but the absence of it. One particular corridor, leading to an ornate but otherwise unremarkable door made of dark, seamless Alvari metal, seemed to swallow all ambient sound. The faint hum of the library's environmental systems, the distant echo of his own almost silent footsteps – everything died as he approached this doorway. He reached out a hand; potent, complex warding magic, ancient and powerful, pulsed against his fingers, a silent guardian.

"A door that absorbs sound... heavily warded... This has to be Elder Jian's sanctum."

He stood before it, the final threshold. The journey had been long, from Veridian Rise to Oakhaven, then deep into Silverhaven's hidden underbelly and forgotten passages. He had followed clues, honed his skills, and overcome obstacles. Now, he was here. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and raised his hand to knock, or perhaps to find some other way to announce his presence to the reclusive master who awaited beyond.