Reward voted on.

Addition: Library added to your tower complex.

Connection established between Aramour district and tower complex.

Main quest progress not made due to proximity.

***

I know this isn't fair.

I'm sorry.

My eyes flutter open, and I groan in effort as I slowly sit up. I smack my dry lips while I take in the notification. Looks like the others voted on which tower addition to put in while I was out. Eventually we'll have to add the kitchen, but a library definitely sounds like the better option for right now. Information's the number one thing we need.

Especially since it looks like something went wrong.

I grimace and use the wall to push to my feet while I take a look around to get my bearings. Doesn't take more than a few seconds to recognize the inside of the meditation chamber. Llaliu and Shatterhand are sitting with a now conscious Wojkmi, but not by much. Dull eyes and a constantly bobbing head gives away just how bad a state he's in.

"What happened?" I ask groggily. "How'd we get back?"

Shatterhand turns to look at me. "A door connected to the room with doors after whatever you did to clear the subquest. Everyone else just walked through."

"Mrrn." I grunt in acknowledgement. "Everyone's back safe and sound?"

"You were the only injured one." Shatterhand says in an almost annoyed tone. "I can't tell what happened to you–just that it put you out so deeply that no stimulus could rouse you. It's been two hours since then, if you were wondering, and everyone else is exploring the library if you want to join them."

"Guess I'll do exactly that. Are you sure Wojkmi is up to doing the trial right now?"

Shatterhand nods. "There are absolutely no threats, and we know the solution to the cryptic hints. The sooner we're all on the same page the better."

Normally, yeah. But… well… Wojkmi looks like he's struggling to sit up by himself. I open my mouth to say something, but a piercing glare from the sickly party in question stops me.

"I am fine." He insists. "The poison has taken too much time. It won't take any more."

Personally, I can't blame the guy for getting put out of commission. But from the look in his eyes, this is a sticking point for him. I guess there's no real danger in letting him take a stab at this with Shatterhand… doubly so if Llaliu is tagging along. Which it seems like she is. Just to be sure, though, I raise my chin at her in question.

She nods right back. "We'll keep resetting until Wojkmi is on a side with someone else. Don't worry about us."

"Alright, I won't. Good luck." I say and turn to leave. "Come to the library when you're done. Apparently that's where we're all meeting."

"Sounds good, boss." Llaliu replies as I make my way to the door. "Oh, and when you get a minute, ask Clutter to show you around the district that got added to the tower. Things aren't looking good."

I summon my Class Card and wave it in the air. "Just read the message. How bad is it?"

Llaliu turns away, her face falling to a sullen expression. "Like there's no point racing any more."

…Shit, she seems serious. I grimace and step out into the hall, leaving the three behind to do their mediation. Before I can take two steps Pearl squeezes out of her shell and deposits herself on my shoulder with an expression that almost matches Llaliu's.

My grimace deepens. "Is it really that bad?"

She nods sullenly. "Like she said, there's almost no point racing the horizonguard to surround our tower district any more. Not to spoil the surprise… but we didn't connect one of the six surrounding districts."

"Damn it." I hiss through my teeth. "So we really did get teleported away."

"Really, really far away." Pearl mutters. "Halfway between here and the district Gil said he was in. If we didn't already have the room with doors or your relocation, we wouldn't have any way to get back to the tower."

I run my fingers through my hair with an annoyed sigh. The system's really pulling out everything it can possibly do to screw us over, isn't it? And our unique first-clear reward for that trial is pretty much pointless thanks to how far away it is from us. Well… maybe there's something else that's going to show up. I wouldn't put any money on it, though.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Pearl gently taps my cheek, then points off a new fork in the tunnels. "It's down that way. Jumble and Clutter should be keeping things in check, but Dani just stormed off when we got back. I don't think we should rely on him for anything any more."

"Agreed." I mutter. "Who would've thought that he'd be the one we couldn't count on?"

An amused snort answers my obvious sarcasm. Pearl silently sits on my shoulder as I walk us down the hallway leading to the library, and only when the thing comes into view does she shift like she has more to say.

"Well, I guess this is my stop." She giggles. "Don't forget to check what stat you're getting fifteen of now. Oh, and try sending Gil another message. Maybe he's got more information for us now. And… um… there's something else I was thinking about… no, don't say anything… Ah! Right!"

She springs to her feet and turns to face me. "Gnash found a way to use the teeth the construct gave you. He's really proud of it, so I won't spoil the surprise for him. Okay! That's everything but the thing about the constructs! See you soon!"

I blink in surprise as she squelches back into her shell. "Thing about the constructs? Pearl? The hell are you talking about?"

She grins wolfishly at me from inside her shell and crosses her index fingers over her mouth. So it's another surprise. From how shittily my last encounter with a construct went, I'm not looking forward to whatever the hell she's letting scrape at my overactive imagination. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and reach out to open the door, but catch myself at the last second.

Trial stats first. Then the library. I open my Class Card, flip to my stat page, and check to see where the new discrepancy is.

7B/22M/10S/9F

Fate. Somehow, that damn trial is giving me fate. I mean, I'm not going to complain, but it doesn't make a lick of sense. Not that running from a massive magical stain had much to do with mind, either… so… yeah. Maybe this'll be enough for me to control my skill instead of it controlling me. And the reduced cooldowns on my other skills shouldn't be anything to scoff at either.

I absentmindedly summon a hexagonal coin and flip it once. Without a command, the thing doesn't even try to double before I catch it. Even though I barely used any projectiles or shields in the trial subquest, I'm still running dangerously low. Now more than ever I have to buckle down and find a way to guarantee a tripling of my Worth. I put it off for months. Can't keep doing that because I'm worried about losing a few Worth to experimentation.

Especially now that we might already be doomed.

With a shake of my head I pocket my coin and open the door. It slides to the side, revealing a comfortably yet dimly lit space utterly lined with a maze of bookshelves. Through a two-person wide opening I can see a reading area with comfortable-looking seats and side tables, two of which are occupied by Sawyer and Ward. Both of which are nose-deep in what look like a comic book and a reference book for wildlife.

Sawyer lazily glances up as I step in, then snaps to attention and lowers his reference book to silently offer a salute. I raise a hand to show him I noticed, then swish my fingers to 'order' him back to his chair. He breathes a sigh of relief and does exactly that, flipping back to the page he was reading and reaching over to the side table for a pencil that he uses to scribble something on a piece of paper that was under the pencil.

I wait for an embarrassingly long time expecting him to raise a message for me, but he just keeps reading and writing without another look up. At least he's comfortable, I guess. And I've got more important things to do than stand around watching someone else sit around and read. Yet it's so quiet in here… is everyone else actually in the library?

Carefully avoiding the shelves as I make my way through the crowded room, I slowly creep closer to the other side. Quiet whispers finally hit my ears, but they disappear just as quickly as they came. I'm pretty sure they came from just in front of me, but… there's just a bookcase there. And bookcases all around with no obvious way to get around them.

"Psst. Look for the right book." Pearl whispers.

I stare at the shelf full of unassuming books with a blank expression. Am I missing something obvious? My awareness says no–wait–there's space between the books. Most of them touch the back wall, but there's one that actually looks connected to it. A book with… 'passages of the lost city' written on the spine in gaudy silver letters.

So yeah. It was a little obvious. I reach out and pull the top of the book down with a 'click'. The entire case flickers and disappears in a flash of magic, revealing an insanely cozy room with a crackling fireplace at one end and a bunch of well-loved plush chairs and sofas situated around it. All eyes in the room turn to me the moment I step in, and Jumble quickly scoots into a sitting position to pat the seat on the sofa next to her.

"Cozy." I chuckle and take the seat offered to me. Jumble leans against me instantly. "So what does this place actually do?"

Clutter turns to watch the bookcase reappear, then shrugs. "Nothing we could find in a quick search. We're thinking it's the books themselves somehow, but there's definitely something magical about it."

"Yeah." Gnash agrees. "The titles on a lot of them are weird and creepy. And I'm pretty sure some of them are still being written as we speak!"

I raise an eyebrow as I absentmindedly scratch Jumble's ears. "Do you think they're recording what's happening here?"

Gnash nods vigorously. "There's a book about the guy that's super angry with you. Not, like, before he got here, but what he's actually doing in this place. For some reason it has a screwy cover on it that doesn't make any sense—Sawyer's reading it right now and scribbling down everything important."

"Nice. I'll take a good look at it when he's done."

"Of course you will, boss lady!" Gnash laughs. "Sawyer's good at what he does. Ooh, did they tell you about the teeth yet? I found out how to use 'em! Want to know? Ah, who am I kidding, of course you do. Take out your Class Card and the tooth!"

Gnash eagerly does exactly that to give me an example. I follow suit and copy him, holding a tooth in one hand and my Class Card in the other. He nods enthusiastically and makes a show of flipping to his inventory, then brings the tooth down and scrapes it over the double-wide reservoir space. My forehead scrunches in curiosity as I bring my tooth down, carefully touch it to the space, and scrape it across in one swift motion.

Restriction permanently removed from Reservoir inventory space.

Remaining uses: 5.

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