[Total DP - 53]
Ryo appeared not in the library, but in Eilera, specifically in the market street. Despite his anticipation for Kevin to return, he needed to sort out his business here as well. His business was obtaining more library-goers. He wouldn't enact the same strategy twice, as that felt boring. It may be efficient, but where was life without a bit of experimentation?
Ryo looked around, scanning the area for anyone who he could convince to come with him to the library. His pickings were quite slim, sadly, as most people present were trying to sell stuff to civilians passing by. He saw two people having a fistfight, which was gathering a small crowd, but that was none of his business.
Suddenly his eyes fell upon a small cloaked figure with their hood up standing in one of the alleyways at the other side of the street, nestled between a seamstress' shop and a bakery. It was clear that they were trying to avoid being noticed, and to everyone but Ryo, they were succeeding. Ryo appeared nearby, his back against the front of the seamstress' shop, his head turned to the hooded figure.
"I suppose it's none of my business, but I felt like I should ask." Ryo began, startling the person. "I was curious. Why would someone be standing in the alleyway on the market street? You'd blend in a lot better amongst a crowd, even with that hood of yours."
"What do you know?" The person complained, their voice sounding feminine in nature, but it was hardened. They sounded quite battle-worn, if that was the correct term.
"I know a bit." Ryo explained, appearing against the bakery's wall. "Such as, I don't know, five different types of magic, how to identify the weaknesses of different people in a party, and…" Ryo trailed off, turning his head to face the hooded figure. "When someone is someplace they're not meant to be."
The hooded figure jumped back, landing further towards the back of the alleyway. "What do you mean?" She asked, voice slightly shaky. Ryo slowly walked into the light coming from the alley entrance. "I'm meant to be here, just like you."
Ryo chuckled slightly. "By rights, yes. I am. By treatment, no, I'm not. The fact you didn't pay much attention to my face shows that you're nervous. You don't want to meet someone's gaze, for fear it may reveal you." Ryo explained his reasoning, slowly walking towards the hooded girl.
"So, that leads me to two conclusions." Ryo explained as he moved, sticking his index finger up. "One, you're a Demon, sent to perform reconnaissance on the Utopian capital." He said, putting up his middle finger in conjunction to his index. "Two, you're an escaped convict, trying to take one last look at a normal life before you leave the city."
Ryo stood in front of the girl, who stood at a height of four feet and seven inches tall. "Honestly, with how my recent life has been going, I'd be willing to bet on the former." He told her, her robes visibly shaking.
"Get away from me!" She yelled, flicking her hand at him. A blue, sticky fluid released itself from her palm, forming an almost web-like shape in the air. It latched onto Ryo's clothes, wrapping his body tightly as the girl made her escape, jumping over his body as he fell to the ground.
'I've never seen anything like that.' Ryo admitted, getting excited. 'I've got to find out more!'
Ryo teleported out of the webs, circumventing the physical restriction on his body. He appeared at the end of the alleyway just as the girl rushed past him. He quickly grabbed her hood, accidentally pulling it down as he did so. Long, white-ish gray hair revealed itself, the rest of it contained in the main cloak.
Ryo pulled the cloak backwards, dragging the girl along with him. There had to be a reason as to why she was covering her face, so he at least had the decency to prevent anyone else from seeing her. "Alright, so maybe we got off on the wrong foot." Ryo tried to start, but the girl slammed her fist into his hand.
Ryo's hand quickly released, allowing the girl to quickly pull her hood over her head, obscuring her from his vision once more. For a split second, Ryo thought he saw an arm without an actual hand, moreso a point. She threw another web at Ryo, but this time, he anticipated it. The web froze in mid-air, held in place by an invisible force.
"Interesting. It doesn't seem like any other type of magic. Is this… mana?" Ryo asked, analysing the spell with his eyes. It didn't look like it could fit under any of the types of spells in his book. The girl moved back quickly, throwing three more at him. Each of them froze at the same exact space that the other one was held.
"What… what is a Human like you doing with mental magic?!" She exclaimed, moving back towards the alleyway's exit once again. Ryo allowed the webs to drop flat on the floor, watching as the mana began to dissipate. A pillar of roots blocked off the entrance to the alleyway, not out of threat, but to stop any interruptions.
"Well, if you let me explain myself…" Ryo began, quickly teleporting in front of a web that was thrown at him as he spoke. "I talk to a few Demons every now and again. The fact you knew what mental magic was confirms that you're one as well." Ryo explained, dodging another web.
"Please stop that. It's getting kind of annoying." Ryo told her, and, to his shock, she actually did. Usually something like that wouldn't work, at least in his experience. "Now, as I was saying. I talk with a few Demons every once in a while, and one of them provided me with a book on all the different "Demon" magic spells." Ryo said, showcasing his point by lifting himself into the air slightly with Psychokinesis.
"I now run a dungeon that also happens to be a library. Since you're a Demon, I'm taking it to mean that you know what dungeons are." Ryo assumed, continuing with his point. "So, I'm trying to increase foot traffic to the dungeon in order to loan out more books."
The hooded figure stood at the back wall of the alleyway. "Honestly, you sound deranged. A Human? Running a dungeon? You've got to be lying." She laughed, prompting Ryo to appear directly in front of her.
"Want to bet on it?"
The hooded figure made an audible gulp noise, worried about the confidence the Human standing in front of her had. Ryo clicked his fingers, for no other reason than dramatic effect, and the two of them were in the lobby of the library. It was honestly quick jarring, going from a cramped alleyway to a spacious library.
"Welcome to the Library Dungeon. Our book collection is massive, our topics span miles, and we have a Lord Monster here as well." Ryo explained, indicating to the pile of fleshy tentacles that had made a throne out of his own body to sit on. It was exactly a miniature version of how Ryo met him. Aragoth waved over to them, and the poor hooded figure nearly fainted at the sight of him. She only barely stayed upright, but her legs were incredibly unsteady.
"Dear god… you weren't kidding." She gasped, looking between Ryo and Aragoth, unable to understand how a Human and a Monster Lord could have possibly interacted.
"No, I wasn't." Ryo admitted, turning his head to face the back of the library. "Azure! Inquisax! Come meet a Demon!" He yelled, and instantly, Inquisax appeared, holding a fiction novel about some skeletons. Azure, the blue goblin appeared a few seconds later, as they were still at the end of the library due to Ryo's previous instructions.
"How'd you find this one, Ryo?" Inquisax asked, barely surprised. At this point, unless he heard something outrageous, he wouldn't even change his expression.
"Found her in an alleyway in the Utopian capital. My best guess is that she was sent to spy on Humans." Ryo explained. "Although, I honestly don't care about any of that."
Inquisax looked at Ryo with an expression that slowly grew more terrified. "She was in… the capital…?" He asked, his words chosen carefully. "This isn't good. At all."
Inquisax quickly patted his pockets before remembering he didn't bring anything with him in the first place. "I have to go for a bit, Ryo. I'll be back eventually, but I need you to make sure this place stays safe in the meantime." He told Ryo, vanishing without a trace of information left.
"Can you tell me the reason as to why he'd be so scared?" Ryo asked the hooded figure. She shook her head.
"I'm just the person they send to gather information." She told Ryo, before quickly covering her mouth with her…two left arms? Ryo was now clearly able to see her arms, which reminded him more so of spider legs. They were hairless, but ended in a similar spiked bone structure, as if they were designed to impale into surfaces to climb better.
"Very cool arms." Ryo told her, taking a look at the arms from a few angles. "I wonder what it'd be like to have arms like that."
Ryo realised what he was doing could be making her uncomfortable, so he stopped. "Anyways, is there any type of book that you want? We've got well over two hundred thousand to choose from." Ryo explained, making his way to the reception desk.
"Umm…" The girl asked, pulling down her hood. "Do you have any books on how to cook Monsters? I've been eating their flesh raw for most of my life, but I saw a Human cook some chicken, and I want to do that with my food too." She asked, clearly embarrassed. Ryo was able to properly examine her face.
She had two pairs of eyes on her face, one smaller and on top of her main pair. He was able to notice an eye on each of her temples, probably for better perception, if he was to assume. Her teeth were slightly pointed, at least from what he was able to see through the small gap in her lips. Her skin was a pale white, almost like the silk that was used to make the Utopian Emperor's clothes.
"All of us have to eat, no need to be flustered." Ryo reassured her, relaying the instruction to Azure. The Goblin, faithful as ever, came back in around three seconds, holding up a book titled "How to cook and eat Monster meat! Nobody wants to eat it raw anymore, do they?".
"Ah, that should be perfect." Ryo said, thanking Azure. He placed the book onto the table. "In exchange for this book, all I need is a small bit of your blood. Nothing much, I just feel like it's a fair exchange." Ryo explained, pulling out his dagger.
"Sure, what's a little blood?" She responded, making a small "eep!" noise as Ryo cut a small bit of skin out of the top of her upper left arm, near her shoulder, drawing the tiniest amount of blood, but something else fell out as well. A miniscule, white pill that shattered on the floor. It disintegrated before Ryo could notice it, as its noise was near-silent. He quickly wrote the name of the book into the logbook, but when it came to the name section, he had nothing to write down.
"Sorry, would you mind giving me your name? I just have to write something down here to finalise it." Ryo asked. The spider-girl, now holding the book, looked at him.
"I'm Uris, and I'm an Anphon."
"Uris… got it." Ryo noted, using Psychokinesis to open the doors to the library. "Alright, you're free to go!" Ryo told her, and Uris began to make her way out the door, and as her foot crossed the boundary, she stopped.
[You have obtained 6 DP!]
She turned her head back to look at Ryo, quickly glancing to where the pill had landed. "Do… you think I could stay here for a bit?"