202: Fire wall

I couldn’t shake the worry that Lily was going to show up with a new mythical creature from my head, and with the afternoon to spare, I was heading to the library in the hopes that Sylverith would be there. She might be able to put my mind at ease.

Entering the library itself, I stopped in my tracks. It had only been a day or two since I was in here last, but the room was nearly full of books, with stacks of them on every table, even on the floor, from giant tomes to scrolls of parchment.

“Uh, Sylverith?” I called out.

“Yes, dear? I’m by the window,” a voice said in my mind.

That was easier said than done to reach, as I navigated all the piles of books, being careful not to knock them over. Crisplet was seemingly being even more careful than I was. All the books appeared to be incredibly old, many with titles I couldn’t even make out the words.

“Where did all the books come from?” I asked.

There was a chuckle just ahead of me, but no response.

“You didn’t take them all from the palace, did you?” I said.

“No, dear. I borrowed a few from there, but I also have some of my own here. It’s far more comfortable to read here at the moment,” she said.

Coming around the books, I saw three chairs all close together facing the window, with Sylverith looking at me with a smile, a large tome sitting in her lap. The pages were written in a language I had never seen before.

“What can I help you with, dear?” Sylverith asked, looking me over.

I all of a sudden felt really silly asking if Lily was about to bring a mythical creature here, but taking a deep breath and ignoring the smile that appeared on her face, probably able to glean my thoughts, I pushed on.

“Are there any really powerful ice creatures in the world?” I asked.

“Yes, dear, there are several, but to put your concerns at ease, Lily is not currently seeking one out that I know of, though she has not given up her search to help your lifespan,” Sylverith smiled.

“Is that even possible?” I asked curiously.

“Of course it is, dear. Your king is over two hundred years old, and that individual who gave you those books was once human as well,” she mused.

“Once human?”

“Yes. I don’t know for certain, but I doubt he is technically a human anymore,” Sylverith smiled.

I didn’t know how to respond to that. How does someone become no longer human, or more importantly, what are they then? Does it mean he’s dangerous?

“I can see you’re troubled by that, Trevor, but it’s not overly uncommon for someone or something to level up beyond their original class and grow into something more powerful. It’s far more common in the higher rarity classes, but even common can achieve it,” Sylverith explained.

“Does that mean I’m out of luck, then, since my class said no evolutions when I first got it?”

Sylverith seemed to take a moment to consider this, even closing her book, studying me closely. The emerald eyes felt like they were piercing into my soul. It wasn’t painful, just unsettling, yet I couldn’t look away.

“It is curious. I can see that, but generally, if your class has no evolutions, then the benefits come through the skills you’re assigned, so I wouldn’t be overly concerned,” she smiled.

“So what sort of ice creatures are there?” I asked, wanting to move on from the topic.

“There are many. I believe there is even still kin of mine far to the south, but notably three other creatures come to mind on this world. There is a creature who once was a yeti on the neighbouring continent. I never got a name. It didn’t like conversation. There is a Frolonx, which has almost fox-like features. However, its power over ice rivals that of the most powerful masters,” Sylverith explained.

She then looked pensive but didn’t continue, which left me wondering what the final one was.

“The third?” I asked. I had to know.

“It’s known by Ciro. If Alira is the queen of flame, then it would be the ruler of ice, though I warn you, Trevor, if you encounter this being, be cautious. It thrives on chaos and has little care for morality,” she explained.

“Where does it live?” I asked curiously.

There was a frown on Sylverith’s face, though it didn’t feel like it was aimed at me.

“Nowhere in particular,” she said, now looking out the window.

“I must apologise, young Trevor. We’ll have to continue our conversation momentarily. I need to check something.” Sylverith stood up and proceeded to leave me seated there.

I looked at Crisplet, rather confused. Looking around, I had a look at one of the books stacked up next to me. Again, the title looked almost like random scratching. I couldn’t make out the words at all, and turning to the page, it was no better.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I suppose at least she wouldn’t need to worry about someone stealing the books.

So I pulled out the journal and started to read while I waited for Sylverith to return.

***

Several hours had passed while I was reading. I only left once to switch the jerky in the smoking room, and surprisingly the eyes handled it well, but I rushed back to the library right after to finish reading, as the story was a particularly interesting one where Morlin met with a non-human native species on a continent I didn’t recognise and hunted a tree spirit with them.

What was most curious was his description of the beings: waist height with vibrant green hair and an almost natural camouflage with the surrounding forest, hunting using bows and magic.

With there being no sign of Sylverith returning, I decided not to waste the rest of my afternoon, so I made my way to the butchery room where Milo had made me a table in the far corner to practise carving the runes into the melons.

Crisplet just seemed happy to leave the library but refused to leave my side when I offered it earlier.

Not knowing how long I had spent carving runes into the melons, I felt I was close. I only had four explode on me, although there were dozens that didn’t seem to react at all, or glowed briefly, but there was no change on the actual melon, which was disappointing.