Throughout all of the capital shops, there was one that really stood out to Elanore. The outside of it wasn't much, apart from the size, but she caught a whiff of something special brewing inside. The vampire ran up to the door with a pip in her step, followed by Naela who still had a bit of blue on her lips.
Elanore cast her cleansing spell on the other girl. I would have cleaned it another way if there weren't so many prying eyes.
The thought sent redness up her face and ears. She turned back to the shop and pulled on the door handle. An array of smells instantly hit Elanore's nose. There was the smell of books, hard wood, and something unmistakable. It was the smell of brewed potions lining shelves. It reminded the vampire of Morgana's shop, but it was much larger in scope.
Rows and rows of bookshelves created a towering library. The place was like a stadium, and natural light shone in from a glass dome at the top. Between each shelf, there were mages moving about. Students of the cloth checked pages of books. One of them in particular caught Elanore's eye. He seemed to be using the same telekinesis that the vampire was familiar with.
A book hovered in front of him with blue mana surrounding it. The pages flipped with the same blue magic that held it up, and his eyes scanned each one. The man—like the other mages around—was younger than Ella expected.
Each of them looked to be in their teens or early twenties. They all had on a similar uniform. Though they had different colored robes, each of them had that same mammoth crest on their left shoulder. Now that the vampire had seen the crest a few times, she started wondering what it meant. As far as Elanore was aware, none of the humans worshiped a mammoth. It must have something to do with their goddess.
She recalled the statue of Synnaria with a small mammoth in front of it. And when she looked on the wall of the library, she saw the same statue. This one jutted out at an angle above some shelves, but the goddess still held that mammoth in her arms.
"Mistress?"
"Sorry, I got distracted."
The wyvern nodded. "I am used to it already, mistress. Though, I am curious about why we stopped in this place specifically."
Ella chuckled. "Silly wyvern, that question is obvious. We are looking for more recruits."
Naela looked around at different robed people passing through the aisles, and the girl could only shake her head while looking at them helplessly. "Mistress, I don't think that any of these people would be sufficient for your energy drink empire."
"True, but I am not talking about these people." The vampire pointed towards a section of shelves with potions and another section of shelves with items. "I am going to look for potential followers there, and I still have your dagger as..."
"My dagger, mistress?"
Elanore shook her head quickly. "There is no dagger!"
The vampire strolled ahead of Naela, arriving at the potion section first. However, the moment she got there, a voice sounded.
"You're not with the college, are you?"
Elanore looked in the direction of the voice, but all she found was the edge of the shelf. The vampire looked around for any people, but she saw no one. It was just this shelf, and there were no speakers affixed to it.
"Yes, me. I am talking to you, witch."
The vampire's eyes widened. It was the shelf who was speaking all along! The wooden side of it formed a mouth and spoke to her as if it was the most natural thing. Even though Elanore had already seen talking and floating pots, this talking shelf astounded her.
"Are you just going to look at me, or are you going to answer my question. Though, I already know the answer."
Ella smiled. "You're pretty sassy for a shelf. So what if I am not with the college?"
The wooden thing sighed and its planks groaned. "You didn't read the rules on the way into this library? Commercial sale of items on these shelves is strictly prohibited. You may not purchase any of these items, unless you are a member of the mage's college. Or unless I give you a rite."
"A rite?"
"A rite of purchase. You better try your luck elsewhere, witch."
"Come on, don't be like that," Elanore said, "it would be in your best interest to give me a rite. Do you have any idea who I am?"
Two eyes opened up on the shelf's side, and it looked the witch up and down. "I haven't the slightest clue who you are. If you don't want to have an army of mages swarming you, I suggest that you leave while you still can."
"Wait, don't do that! I could make it worth your while."
Naela clicked her tongue and grabbed her mistress by the arm. "Mistress, you need to stop sounding like a villain out of one of these books. I am sure that is the reason the shelf is standoffish. Let me try." The wyvern walked in front of her lover and stood before the magic shelf.
While her wyvern got ready to strike up a conversation, Elanore thought of something different. I guess I should inspect this thing. [Inspect]
Race: [Palentis]
Age: 791
Sex: Unknown
Level: 250
Health:
Stamina:
Mana: 14,000,000
Ooh, I had no idea that something this strong would exist here. How is that even possible when the average level of humans is so pathetic? She wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry that the highest level thing she saw in the human capital was a shelf. No wonder these people are lax in their security. Maybe this is also the work of that elf.
"My name is Naela, mister shelf. You will have to forgive my mistress's behavior. She is not from these human cities and has no idea."
The shelf grumbled like an old man. "My name is not mister shelf. My name is Palentis, and unless you can afford the mana cost, both of you need to leave right now."
Palentis made himself wider and connected to the shelves next to him. Soon enough, he was connecting himself to each shelf, until he formed one shelf prism. The features of his face centered on his new figure.
"You have exactly ten seconds before you are swallowed into an oblivion that there will be no escape from. Leave this library, or be consumed by Palentis."
"Sir Palentis, I am sure that my mistress can provide you with the mana you need."
"6..."
Elanore summoned her own talking amalgamation from her inventory. The cauldron hovered in the air.
"Good morning, mistress."
"3..." Palentis stopped his count when he noticed the cauldron in front of him. His wooden eyes opened and stared at Pot.
Elanore noticed that his eyes were distinctly different from a human's. Though the wooden lids opened and closed like human eyelids, the actual eyes were one solid color. They were green and distinctly from eyeballs. If anything, they looked more like a leaf.
Either way, the leaf eyes moved up and down, scanning the cauldron. Palentis eyes glowed slightly, and the moment they did, his entire demeanor changed. The wood snapped back to the way it was before, and the shelves separated.
"My apologies," Palentis said in a hurry, "I didn't realize I was in the presence of someone such as yourself."
Is it just me or did his mouth and eyes get much smaller as well? They were even smaller than before the transformation. Elanore imagined that this was his way of making himself small. It reminded her of a frightened animal, but she had no interest in tormenting him.
"It's okay," Ella said, "I am not going to hurt you."
Palentis breathed a sigh of relief. "If you still want a rite of purchase, you can be granted one."
Elanore tilted her head and looked between Pot and Palentis. "Look at you, Pot. Someone else has recognized your greatness."
The humble cauldron bowed. "It is only natural that anything crafted by her majesty will be greater than others. Anything your majesty touches will arrive at a state of pink radiance with the heavenly glow of an energy drink queendom. Oh, how I long for that vision, your majesty."
Elanore gave Pot a wry smile. She wanted her own energy drink empire as much as anyone else, but she was starting to fear that this cauldron inherited all of her delusions. How would he be a normal butler if he was as delusional as his queen? Would everyone in her royal army have delusions of grandeur?
The vampire looked towards Naela, but all she got was a simple smile in return. At least one of us is relatively normal.
Finally, she looked back at Palentis. "Why the sudden change in demeanor, anyway?"
"You must know it yourself, oh great one." The shelf didn't notice Naela holding back a laugh from the title he'd given Elanore. Palentis continued. "You've been suppressing yourself. If you'd not have summoned this one, then I would have never known. Now that I know, I realize I have offended someone great, and I apologize. You may have a rite of purchase."
"What about the mana cost?" Ella asked.
"There will be no mana cost. Consider this as a recompense for the error of my ways."
Elanore put her hand up. "Wait, you are very low on mana though. You don't regenerate?"
"You are correct. I have no ability to regenerate on my own. My mana reserves are replenished when people give it to me. I am what used to be called a cursed item, but the humans recognized my value. I have made a pact with them on special orders."
"Special orders?"
"Orders of Synnaria herself. The goddess who created me."
Now, it all makes sense! That's why he is a much higher level! Though, this only fueled more questions in Elanore's head. "Why does Synnaria not fill up your mana capacity?"
The eyelids of the shelf opened all the way. "You do not know of the pact the gods made? I imagined that someone esteemed as yourself would know."
How the hell am I supposed to know about a pact I wasn't involved with!? Wait, does this have something to do with that tablet?
The goddess pulled out the [Tablet of the Forsaken Goddess] she'd gotten before. Though, the moment she did, she watched Palentis start to panic. Vines started forming over his face as if he was trying to hide himself behind them.
"Please, put that away, great one."
Elanore did as the shelf said, confusion spreading across her face. She watched Palentis slowly return to normal.
Before she could ask, the shelf started. "There are some magic items that are not to be trifled with. I ask that you please don't summon that thing here again, great one."
Huh? It was just a tablet from a low level dungeon? Surely there are other tablets around being kept by others. The vampire couldn't imagine that she was the only lucky one to discover the mystery. If there were really more of these tablets, and those dungeons were the same as the one she encountered, then they must have entered the hands of powerful individuals. After all, even Palentis himself was higher level than those dungeon creatures.
"I see that you are confused, but I am not at liberty to explain it. If you want a proper explanation, you will have to seek out Synnaria's counsel."
"Synnaria's counsel? You mean having an audience with the goddess herself?"
"Yes, great one. That is what I mean. You can seek out the church here in the capital, and I am sure you will get an audience with her." Palentis released a long sigh. "As for matters involving me, those end at a rite of purchase. Each second I spend here talking to you is a further depletion of my reserves."
Ella shook her head and placed her hands on Palentis's smooth wood. Stubborn little guy. I will give you mana anyways.
"What are you..."
A warm glow of pink mana filled the air and coated Palentis's frame. His mana reserves filled to the brim in less than a second, but then the transformation happened.
Oh no, I did it again!