Shane stared at the closed door long after Elroy left. The beastkin's words echoed in his mind: "Genius who went mad... no talent whatsoever... always seeking trouble." He looked down at his hands, still slender but thrumming with new power. It made him question what kind of world he might be and what Elroy meant by no talent being a genius could already be counted as a talent, right?. Shane wondered.
'So the original Shane saw other worlds and Technology, will that would definitely make people think you are mad', He walked to the desk, tracing the scroll with the mechanical wings design, "This is one hell of an advance robotics, how could he even get this in his dreams" Shane Wondered as he looked closer at the design and sure enough it was as he thought, it was a design for an advanced tech. How he was getting all these ideas about this wing being an advanced robotics technology was baffling enough for Shane.
He was sure he remembered nothing so how did he still know about this 'Robotics and technology' knowledge puzzle him to no end. At the end, he decided to let go of that and focus on what he could do to survive the dangerous trial in front of him.
Shane had planned to visit the library if there was one within the institute, but he had forgotten to ask Elroy for the location of the library.
A sharp knock shattered his thoughts. Before he could answer, the door swung open.
A girl with pointed ears and crimson hair stood silhouetted against the torchlit corridor. Her uniform—crisp black with silver piping—was identical to Shane's, but she wore it like armor. Golden eyes swept over him.
"Shane Rothmaek." Her voice was frost-kissed steel. "You didn't come to the treehouse today why? Was it because of yesterday's incident?"
Shane tried recalling the identity of the Elven lady before him, but as usual, he drew a blank, and she also mentioned a new piece of information, the tree house, so Shane couldn't just turn her away, but he also didn't want to act out of place.
And thinking of his identity as a supposed mad genius, he opted for a more direct approach, he relaxed in his desk chair with a friendly smile on his face. "But I'm sorry, who are you? Don't be alarmed in any way, this is my new way of greeting,
You see, I just recently decided to change my ways and try to live a new life, so please introduce yourself and how we know each other, " Shane said, the smile still on his face.
The Elven lady's golden eyes narrowed into slits. The temperature in the room plummeted as frost patterns bloomed across the windowpane. "A new way of greeting?" Her voice could have frozen lava. "Did you honestly think this would get the siblings off your back?,
You made arrangements with the siblings, and I'm here to make sure you don't hide before you disappear finally tomorrow, or did the Nexus explosion finally shatter what remained of your mind, Rothmaek?"
Shane maintained his relaxed posture despite the unknown pressure thickening the air. He watched the Elven lady's reaction and expression as she spoke, and it was clear she wasn't a friend. He sighed before changing his posture, leaning forward, "Call it... enlightenment. Recent events made me reconsider my priorities." He got up walking towards the door "Perhaps starting fresh wouldn't be bad for what might be my last day here, so please humor me for the last time and please tell me your name and how we are connected"
A beat of silence hung between them, broken only by the faint hum of distant magic. The Elven lady's gaze flickered to the scattered blueprints, then back to Shane's mismatched eyes.
She stepped fully into the room, the door snapping shut behind her with unseen force. "I'm Aimee vi Stromsto. And we've been partners in the Applied Alchemy project need I add unwilling partners since you made that deal with the siblings so they could get off your back." Her lips twisted. "Or had you forgotten how you dragged me into this and our treehouse laboratory, where you nearly blew up last Tuesday?
And the reason I am here is because the siblings asked me to remind you not to forget about today." Without waiting for Shane to speak, Aimee turned around and walked away.
Shane closed the door and sat back on his bed. "Why do people keep bringing the siblings? What was their name again.... Well, that would be a problem for later. Shane took a scroll from his desk and the ink pen and began writing down what he had learnt so far.
From his waking to now, all the information he had heard. And from the look of things, he might be in a lot of trouble, from whatever deal he had with the siblings and the debt including the dark creatures.
NOTES:
Elroy: Servant? Loyal?
Aimee vi Stromsto: Friend? Enemy?
Treehouse Lab: Alchemy project (hostile partnership)
"The Lonais Siblings": Unknown threat?
Released Dark Creatures
Debt: 50k marks + dark creatures
Trial: Tomorrow = possible death
Shane leaned back, the ink on his hastily scribbled notes still drying on the scroll beside him. He stared at the list: debts, dark creatures, hostile classmates, a looming trial. A deep breath escaped his lips.
"I need more information," he muttered. "And I sure as hell won't find it sitting here"
He stood, straightened his tunic, and walked to the window. The view beyond showed spires of black stone veined with glowing blue runes, connected by walkways that shimmered faintly under the light of the three moons. In the far distance, students in various robes crossed the quadrants like ants moving between hives of arcane energy.
He rubbed his forehead, still faintly aching from earlier. "Library. There has to be one in a place like this."
Except… he had no idea where it was.
Shane opened the door to the hallway, a long stretch of polished obsidian floor and torch-lit arches. Fine. A walk might do him good. At the very least, he could get a feel for the layout of the institute and maybe spot a few familiar faces, or potential threats.
The hallways of the Larzano Institute of Magic and Sword were a blend of cathedral and arcane. High, arched ceilings towered above, etched with floating runes that rotated like the gears of some celestial clock. Shane took everything in, he tried his best not to look out of place, but he was blown away by the magical aesthetic.
Shane passed by a corridor where shimmering glyphs danced midair, then another where armored students sparred using conjured weapons. He turned left, then right, trying to appear like he knew where he was going. Every now and then, students glanced at him and whispered.
He kept his head high and face neutral, internally cataloguing every face, this level of contempt was insignificant right now in front of his other problems and impending death. But it made him wonder 'What exactly had the previous Shane done to deserve this level of contempt?'
Eventually, the dark stone corridors gave way to an open courtyard bathed in pale violet moonlight. A mana-fueled fountain hovered in the center, levitating droplets in perfect orbit above a bed of blue lilies. Stone benches lined the edges, and archways connected the four academic wings.
The air was still. Peaceful. Almost enough to make him forget he was trapped in a life not his own, the level of magical elements within this institute was beyond anything Shane had seen before, and this was the first time he had seen something like that.
"Alright," Shane murmured to himself. "Where would the library be?, I could ask around but from the look of my reputation I don't think anyone would talk to me"
He picked a direction at random, the west wing, and began walking again. After several more turns and wrong doors (including one that led to a classroom mid-lecture), Shane finally stumbled across it a massive grey structure detached from the main buildings, its entrance guarded by two carved statues of robed scholars holding open books. Above the arched doorway, in silver lettering:
The Grand Archive of Larzano
He raised an eyebrow. "Subtle."
The doors parted as he approached either enchanted or responding to proximity. Inside, a sweeping spiral staircase wound up and down through countless floors of shelves, each filled with books
Only a few students were inside, scattered across reading alcoves, either reading or just hanging out with books open before them, Shane stepped in, there was a calm here he hadn't felt since waking up, It was like sound didn't exist within these walls, it was quiet even with people's mouths moving not a single sound could be heard.
He drifted past towering shelves, surprisingly enough each section was labeled accordingly, until he found a quiet corner near a rune-lit window. Grabbing a few volumes at random, he set them on the desk. One caught his eye immediately.
Beginning of Chaos – Volume I
---
The History of the Five
The book opened with a powerful image: five banners flapping beneath a blood-orange sky.
> "At the dawn of the third millennium, the five great powers ruled the known world, The Kingdom of Beastmen, The Blackreach Empire, The House of Holy Cross, The Dragon's Court, and The House of Elves. Many smaller kingdoms thrived under their shadow, but these five were the true arbiters of peace or war."
For a while, there was peace. An uneasy one.
But in the year 389, that peace was shattered.
> "The House of Holy Cross declared a crusade against the Blackreach Empire, accusing them of consorting with an Evil God. Cities burned. Villages were wiped from the map. It became known as the First Holy Crusade."
By 406, alliances had shifted. The Kingdom of Beastmen joined forces with Blackreach and retaliated. And that's when the true chaos began.
> "Emperor Maxwell Oluwasheyi of Blackreach opened a forbidden portal to invite a goddess into the world—Ṣopona, the God of disease and decay. His arrival obliterated the capital of the House of Holy Cross. Millions died. The earth cracked.".