POV: HELENA IVYRA
As soon as I stood up with the two books I intended to return to the shelves, I opened my bag, quickly searched, and found the paper with the note I had made earlier, with the title: Fundamentals of the Principle of Belief.
"Alright, it's at the end of corridor C, being a compilation, it's probably on the top shelves," I said aloud, walking towards the back of the library on the left. The weather outside remained a cloudy afternoon, but now showed a warm temperature, nothing unbearable, quite typical for February.
When I reached the corridor, I started looking at the books more calmly and noticed the large quantity of mixed books: fiction together with literature, science together with self-help, it seemed like a big mess.
People usually never return books to their original places.
"I guess Rose has to organize this frequently, which must be quite annoying, I think..." I commented in a low voice.
I noticed a paper taped to one of the shelves, labeled: "Collections, Compilations, or Ancient Documents Section."
I decided to stop and read the titles more carefully and attentively.
"Who knows, maybe I'll find some interesting complementary reading, right..." I realized that the collection in this part was quite complete for a small library.
Nowadays, people preferred to use e-readers or read digitally, which made the physical collection something very specific, and, in a way, restricted to an older audience.
It usually made access to certain types of books difficult in less populated regions. So, seeing a small library with so many books was quite cool, I must say!
These older books always had a musty smell and a yellowish color. Perhaps that would help me find this book... Rose had said that the collection had just come from restoration, so the condition should be a good way to distinguish it.
Like magic... as soon as I thought of it, I found a very thick book, like a tome, with a strange symbol on its spine and no apparent title... Strange thing. As I reached for it, I noticed that its great thickness was deceiving. After all, the weight was light, in fact, too light...
I pulled it harder, and felt a horizontal lock...
Clack!
A type of trigger or lever had been activated. I saw the books next to it slightly dim and, a brief moment later, disappear as if they had never been there.
"Some kind of illusory enchantment? Here?" I exclaimed, startled. I tried to remember the last time I saw something like this, but I couldn't. It had never happened, in fact.
I stretched to see what was in the now open compartment, where the books disappeared, and saw a kind of ancient papyrus. A paper or parchment apparently stored for a long time.
I pondered whether I should show this to Rose or just leave it there. But my curiosity got the better of me. And I picked it up. When I touched it, I felt a strange texture, it wasn't just any type of paper, its grammage was thicker, and it even resembled some kind of skin or thick fabric.
The coloration was strange, a kind of brown, with yellowish spots here and there. And some marks of... ink? Blood? Hard to tell, and certainly not the best thing to think about.
As soon as I held it with both hands to better examine what was written, I felt a wave of energy leave the paper and spread through my hands and wrists, causing a strange tingling sensation.
My head briefly spun, and my vision blurred, as if I had strong myopia for a few seconds. After a few moments, my vision returned to normal. And I began to notice some details better on the papyrus.
Some symbols. In fact, they were kind of strange letters...
Wait a minute... I couldn't forget these guys.
Greek Alphabet.
"Who would have thought that these past few months studying geometry would help me translate something," I said, giving a short laugh. I lightly ran my hand over the papyrus to remove the dust.
"Wow... that was the most nerdy sentence I've ever said."
I returned my attention to the papyrus in my hands and realized that removing the dust revealed other strange symbols. It looked like a patchwork of various writings and alphabets.
Even with the strange symbols, it seemed like something was forming in my mind...
A word? No. Something more like a name...
It was as if I knew how to speak this language, but was having a bilingual crisis in the middle, you know?
When you think of a word in your native language, and the word just won't come to you in your second language. It was something similar.
As I analyzed the text, I tried to piece together the lost ideas. But... Something absurd happened before my eyes...
I felt a tingling again, but this time, only in my left wrist. A literary mark was forming.
"What? How the hell is this possible?" I exclaimed, and brought my hand to my wrist to check if it was real.
And the worst part: it was real. How strange...
Marks were only supposed to appear when we understood or read a work completely. Sometimes, not even reading an entire book guaranteed a mark.
"Okay, let's see if I remember the lessons on this aspect. If I'm not mistaken, it's something like..." Another memory from Professor Maria's classes came to mind.
"It's necessary to review, reflect, absorb everything deeply, to the point where knowledge connects with the user's magical energy. Only then does a mark appear." But, if that was correct...
How did this text generate a mark if I barely skimmed it?
I focused more on the document and found another passage that seemed to form another abstract word in my mind... until...
I felt my vision fading fast. Until everything went dark. I noticed my focus traveled from the scenery around me to something like a new memory or a kind of recollection?
I didn't know...
I could see again, but I felt a strange heat around me. A sudden urgency, as if I were surrounded by fire. The environment around me had changed.
I observed shelves to my right. But they weren't like the ones in the common library. They were old, made of rudimentary wood, with imprecise cuts, but incredibly detailed. I saw bronzed ornaments and plaques with strange symbols marking different sections.
On top, there were animal skins with marks made with charcoal or simple pigments. Instead of books, there were papyri. Thousands of sheets, rolls, and scrolls scattered about.
When I tried to focus on one of the papers... my vision darkened again.
In a blink of an eye, the shelves that were once firm, strong, and richly crafted were now in flames. Flames snaked through the environment, racing from end to end, it was as if it were a virus ruining everything in its path.
A hungry predator, and those papers were its prey.
I looked down the corridor ahead. Everything turned red.
My gaze fixed on a charred plaque, where I could barely distinguish all the symbols. But a whisper echoed in my ear:
"Ah-leg-ZAN-dree-ah"
My vision faded again...
When I came to, I was back at the library shelf, with the compartment open before me and the papyrus in my hand.
"What the hell just happened?" I asked, startled, trying to understand what had just occurred. I focused on the papyrus, but whether it was from the headache or the feeling of discomfort, I couldn't focus.
I leaned against the shelf behind me to keep from losing my balance.
Still dazed, it took me a while to get my bearings again, until I smelled a strong scent of sulfur around me...
I thought it was my imagination, but then...
I heard a dry sound of wood breaking.
I looked towards the source of the sound. A man flew against an exposed wall, knocking down several shelves on the way.
A dark-green goo spread on the floor. This man wore a dark overcoat.
POV: NOAH WILLIAMS
"Oh, great... here I am, in a small library in some random town... and I still have to fight this sardine. What a pain." I look around, and realize I broke some shelves on the way after throwing H to the other side of the room.
"I thought my job was to be a translator or support. Damn contract... I think they call it CLT or something here?"
A sharp, strong noise echoes from the other side of the room. It's H's echo-sonar enchantment.
Lucky for me, I've already activated a sensory protection barrier. This time, it won't work like the last time in Budapest.
"Alright... I think I've really pissed him off," I conclude, remembering other times I've done something similar. I spread my senses through the environment.
I detect four magical signatures: three teenagers. One with slightly elevated energy for her age, two within normal range. And suspect H, with his monstrous magical energy...
"I need to hold this bastard until the cavalry arrives..." I murmur, lightly rolling up my sleeves.
"If I rip this again, the HQ people will kill me... The good thing is I don't need to defeat him. Just keep this pest busy." I affirm to myself, as I recall the last few months of the hunt.
I hear the sound of concrete cracking, I realize H seems to have already recovered from the blow.
His strong energy begins to circulate through the environment.
"Hmph... I hope we finish this cat and mouse chase today."
Two of the teenagers seem unconscious... maybe from the strong smell of sulfur, maybe from the absurd energy H is emitting.
Whatever. The other one seems to be further back. I need to prevent her from getting close to him or she could become a hostage. I need to get them out of here as quickly as possible.
"Alright, Noah... time to stretch your legs a bit..."