Library of Rain

Worthless followed the creature. What else could he do? Stay stranded in this gloomy prison? Soon, the dark shapes in the mist revealed themselves as massive shelves full of books. He had never seen so many books in one place. However, after an eye opened on the spine of one of the books and started staring at him, he wondered if these were truly books.

His dark guide stopped walking and turned to him.

“You must choose which book you wish to read from. I will not make that decision for you.”

Why did she look down when she said that last part? Was she lying?

“Understood.” 

“Then I’ll follow you until you find a book that feels right for you.”

The way the creature clutched at the hem of her shirt reminded Worthless of when Sea was nervous. Why would this powerful creature be scared? Worthless couldn’t figure it out, but it did little to relieve his worry.

Turning to the shelves, Worthless wondered if this was all a test from some god. Would he be punished if he chose an expensive-looking book like that solid gold one? Or was he supposed to search with his heart to find the right book? 

He rubbed his eyes as he realized he was using bedtime stories to help him decide which book to risk his life on. 

“You can walk around if you want.”

He did not want. The less of this place he saw, the better. Looking around the shelves, every book he saw gave him a feeling of dread in his stomach. How was he going to get out of this place in one piece? 

She wants me to do things for her, so this isn’t designed to kill me.

The thought gave him little comfort. Alive and whole were two different things. 

He decided that if he was going to escape this nightmare, he would need to go deeper. Turning away from a book with ghostly hands beckoning him closer, he walked further into the bowels of the library. 

Worthless could almost feel his grip on reality loosening with every passing minute he spent in this endless maze of horrors and impossibilities. If he didn’t get out of here soon, Flake and Sea would wake up, and he wouldn’t be there. The thought of his two sisters gave him strength and acted as a shield against the influence of this place. 

That's right, I need the power to protect them and make a better world for us. 

Resolve strengthened, Worthless quickened his pace. He needed to find the right book. As he had the thought, his eye caught a book on the shelf. Unlike other books in this place, he didn’t immediately want to look away; in fact, he found it impossible to. 

The book had a plain gray cover, but the edges of the book were glowing red cinders as though the book had just been pulled out of a fire. The air above it had the same slight warping look you would find above a lava flow. Worthless knew it was impossible, but he could swear he felt the heat of the book from here. 

Without conscious thought, he reached up and grabbed the book off the shelf. Before he could open it, a hand gripped his wrist. Worthless jumped, mind snapping back into control as his body readied itself to fight whatever had grabbed him. He relaxed a bit when he saw who it was—the unnatural one. 

She looked into his eyes, her usual good humor absent.

“Listen, Mr. Less, these books can do horrible things to the people who read them. If you don’t want to risk it, I will take you back and find someone else. If this goes wrong, I… I won't be able to help you.”

What was going on? She looked like she wanted to cry. Worthless could believe that these books were dangerous. They came from this pit, after all. But if they could grant him power.

“Reading this will give me a class, though?”

“It can. Not every book does, but it's rare not to.”

“I’ll take the risk.”

Worthless could understand what he was getting into; this place and its keeper were clearly dangerous. But if they would lend him just a fraction of their power, then it would be worth the risk. That was when he realized an important fact he hadn't thought of. 

“I don’t know how to read yet,” he admitted, shamefaced. 

“Don't worry, the books want to be read.” the guide said. “It's more important that you remember to only read one page. No more. Got it?”

He nodded, and she let go of his wrist. Taking a deep breath and one last thought about the bedtime stories of fools making deals with dark princes, Worthless opened the book. She was correct; the words wanted to be read and flowed into his mind. They were easy to understand, explaining that the true nature of heat was to twist perceptions and make things seem as what they were not. All too soon, he reached the end of the first page. Every fiber of his being wanted him to turn the page and learn the mysteries that this book contained. If all books were like this, he could understand why the lords hoarded them and valued people who could read and write.

Determined, he wrenched his gaze away from the book and closed it. He felt like a starving man who had just thrown away a platter of food. Why was he being so foolish? He should read more. Then he saw her, and he came back to himself. Better not to disobey the darkling that had him trapped in this place.

[Skill Attained: Heat Mirage.]

[Creating class around Heat Mirage.]

He had done it! He had a skill and was getting a class! A massive grin crossed his face right before the world turned in on itself. And more messages appeared.

[WARNING: Mental corruption has risen [Error]. Current mental corruption [Error].]

[WARNING: Mental corruption has risen [Error]. Current mental corruption [Error].]

With those words, the twisted library around him turned in on itself as his consciousness faded. Visions churned before his eyes of things he couldn’t understand, all except for one. For a brief moment, he saw an empty white place with a single woman standing in it. Or part of a woman, at least; all he could see of her was half of her head and part of her shoulder floating at the right height. Inky fog leaked out of the places where she should have been connected to the rest of her body. The half of a mouth she possessed was open in an almost manic grin as she stared at him. Then the woman and the place were gone. 

[Congratulations: you have met the requirements for evolution from Human to Ash Fox-kin.]

[Heat Mirage has been used as the foundation of the racial class Ash Priest.]

[Class skill Mould Ash gained.]

[Class skill Manipulate Fire gained.]

[Class skill Heat Resistance gained.]

[Racial skill Fox Transformation gained.] 

[Congratulations: as the Progenitor of a new race, all offspring you have with any humanoid race for the next seven generations will be Ash Fox-kin.]

[Warning: You will no longer be able to read any book from the library other than the Tome of Heated Lies.]

As Worthless’s vision cleared, he found himself on his hands and knees. His body ached in a similar way to how it had when he was a kid after he had been kicked into unconsciousness. His head hurt, and his tail… wait his tail? Looking back, he saw a fluffy ash-gray tail sprouting from his lower back! How had he grown a tail? She had mentioned that the books could alter his mind and body but to grow a tail! Not only that, but according to the messages, he was no longer human. If this was the effect on his body, what had it done to his mind?

Looking up at the apparition that brought him here, he saw her looking down on him in surprise. She had kept her word and gotten him a class. He may have to hide his tail now, but that was a small cost. 

He gritted his teeth at the thought of hiding his magnificent tail. Why did that bother him? Deciding it wasn’t important, he bowed his head towards his patron. 

“Thank you, my lady. May I ask your name?”

She paused for a long enough time that Worthless was worried that she wouldn’t grace him with her name.

“Tyix.” she eventually replied. 

“Thank you, Lady Tyix.”

He had a class now, and it seemed like a powerful one; all his dreams were in sight. 

“I’m just doing my part of our deal,” Tyix said, bending over to pick up the Tome of Heated Lies. She proffered the book to Worthless. “I'll lend you this book as long as you keep your end of our deal. You also need to ensure no one else ever reads from it.”

He took the book from her. “Of course, my Lady.”

She looked at him thoughtfully. “You’re one of my people now, Mr. Less, so I will give you a new name. You are not worthless to me; you are Mirage. And I expect great things from you.”

Those words hit harder than he would have expected. No one had ever believed in him. His whole life, he had felt unwanted or replaceable to everyone but Flake and Sea, but now, to hear from this being that she believed in him, he realized that those were words he had been hoping for, but never expected to hear. He wouldn’t disappoint her.