Chapter 13: 012 Trapped Once Again?
Having completed his quest James ran over to Edward who was waiting near the entrance way to the library.
"Welcome back Blaise, have you finished your quest?"
"I did!"
* Ding*
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Quest completed!
Rewards: Access token to the second floor of the library.
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"Blaise, take this token, it is what you need to pass through the mage barrier blocking the path to the second floor."
"Thanks Edwards, I have no time to waste!"
James quickly headed up to the second floor. He was not paying attention and a player noticed him.
Someone had seen him and they instantly recognized his name. [That was Blaise! Oh my god, I can't believe I accidentally found him!]
If the other players in the library were paying attention they would see a girl with ocean teal hair dressed in a blue mage robe jumping up in down in excitement.
She looked around with dodgy eyes. [Thankfully it seems like I was the only one who saw him. If I remember right there is a forum post with bounties for information about him. I bet I can make a fortune selling this information.]
Instantly the girl in blue disappeared, she had logged out to go to the forums.
*******************
Eight players could be found in a backroom of a tavern. Not a single person could be seen wearing the basic armor that every player got at the start of the game.
They were the leaders and co-leaders of the top four guilds. They were having a meeting to discuss the situation on hand.
"Author, you might be referenced as King but the average player but that does not mean you can order a meeting between all of us as if you were a king."
"Yes, but regardless you all showed up."
A different man, who was in a hooded cloak, stood up and stabbed a dagger into the table, "The only reason we showed up to due to the topic at hand, don't think for a second you control us."
Author was unfazed, "I am aware, we are all top players. We are on the same level for now. Let's get on with the meeting."
He continued, "Let's talk about the two rouge players holding spots on the leaderboards and the player called Blaise. Everyone should know Reaper, she had been mostly neutral. She does not interfere in matters revolving around guild conflict. Fights between her to happen but can be avoided as long as you keep your distance."
Mostly everyone shook their heads in agreement.
A woman with scarlet red hair threw a comment out, "She never wants to cooperate. She is a crazy b***** who doesn't know how to make friends. I do not know why we put up with her."
"I know you two have had your fights but they are because you provoke her."
"She slaughtered almost a third of one of our platoons when we attempted that boss raid. After we retreated she did not even try to fight the boss! All she has on her mind is PVP! How do you find that acceptable?"
The whole room was silent.
The women then continued, "Now she holds a position in the leaderboards. It looks bad on all of our guilds when we do not occupy all the boards. I think we should hunt her down, PVP is enabled at level 5."
"It would take a lot of effort to manage her, her fighting style is unorthodox. You experienced that directly."
The women was annoyed, "That was a special occurrence! We were in the middle of a boss raid and unprepared for a player attack. She took out our scouts before they would notify us. If we plan a direct attack she will not have the element of surprise."
Author started a vote, "Very well, all in favor of slowing down the Reaper?"
The result was: three votes against and one vote for.
"Cowards!"
"Scarlet, relax. Oblivion can handle her on our own. If they want to tuck their tails between their legs so be it."
Scarlet looked at Rend and could only sit down in protest.
"Good, next item on the agenda. This player called Talon, what information do we have on him?"
"Our scouts found that he is a [Rouge] class and chose to be an [Archer]."
Another person spoke up, "I witnessed his fighting style, and he has to have real life archery knowledge. The way he uses the bow is beautiful."
A final person stood up, "I propose we try to approach him and get him in one of our guilds. First come, first served."
Author and the other leaders agreed, "All in favor?"
The vote was unanimous in agreement.
"Good, everyone try to maintain a positive relationship with him. Now the last item. Blaise."
Everyone now just started to really pay attention.
Author stopped and looked at everyone, "He is an unknown. Talon and the Reaper all have past history in the spotlight of other games."
"Think he is a pro that changed his name to trick us?"
"I doubt it, it is most likely someone without previous fame. Everyone who has ever been in the limelight in the gaming field has been accounted for in some way. He is most likely an average player who struck it lucky."
"You think that the title and quest are related?"
"Yes, they were not long apart so they most likely are linked somehow."
"If he turns out to be a below average player is it worth pulling him into one of our guilds?"
"Regardless of his skill level he is still important figure. He is the first person to have gotten global announcements. There are dozens of forum posts that will keep him in the back of every player's head. His fame alone is enough to draw more people into our guilds."
Everyone was once again in agreement.
The hooded figure took over, "I take it everyone is in agreement and we don't need a vote. Blaise will be treated in a friendly manner and is free game for any guild who manages to reel him in."
Everyone spoke out at once, "Agreed".
The double doors to the room blew open. A figure sprinted into the room gasping for breath.
Rend was extremely annoyed, "Who they hell are you to barge in here?"
"S.. Som... Some..one found Blaise!"
Everyone in the room stood up.
Author called for an answer, "Who, when, where?"
"Someone posted on the bounty post we made!"
"We get thousands of fake leads a day, what makes you think this one is legitimate?"
"The girl saw someone head up to the second floor the national library."
Everyone was surprised to hear that.
"Tempest, you spent a good amount of time in the library. Do you know anything that could be useful?"
"As you all know you have to get permission if you want to go to the second floor. I accepted the quest and it requires you to read 1,500 books. I only read 42 books before I gave up. It was far too time consuming."
Everyone took a few minutes to think.
A woman with purple hair gave your opinion, "I believe there is a correlation between the SSS ranking quest and the title he received."
Several people found it logical.
"He must be progressing through his quest and while reading all those books stumbled upon the title. The question now is if anyone can get the title and if titles grant anything. If they have any real value we should ignore them."
Author agreed, "I will send someone from my guild to complete the quest as Blaise did. He got at least one title out of his time there. They will stop once they get the title then I will have to decide if sending more people into the library is worth it. "
Tempest had other thoughts, "I have someone working towards getting promoted within the guild. I will send him in then report our finding to your guilds."
Author had to give up the opportunity to outfit his guild with titles first. He knew if he pressed the matter it would cause further strife between the guilds. Something he did not want to enforce yet.
"Fine, I will leave it to Solemn Sword. For fairness I will leave you all on your own while trying to approach Blaise. Meeting dismissed."
After that the guilds went their separate way.
They all had the same idea, send someone to watch over the exit of the library.
Not long after the order passed through the guilds eight rouges approached the library and hid in the shadows.
A man in a green wizard robe later approached the library. He tossed the lead guard a gold coin and made his way into the library.
***********************
James slowly climbed the stairs to the second floor of the library. When he finally got to the top of the stairs he saw more book shelves neatly packed with books. The difference between the floors was night and day.
First, the books were perfectly packed into their shelves. The books downstairs were returned by the players so they were a mess. There book shelves were made from higher quality materials. He was glad to see there were fewer books than the previous floor. Books were also almost twice the size of the previous floor.
Once again he was greeted by the librarian of the library floor.
"Hello! It is exciting to see someone finally enter the second floor! It has been almost two years. I am Tod and I am a Senor Librarian."
"Tod, it is nice to meet you! My name is Blaise. I will cut to the chase; I am very interested in [Runes]! Could you please point me in the right direction?"
"You must be a scholar if you are trying to learn about runes. There are 6 books containing information on the subject. Please follow me."
It must have been because Tod was lonely or bored, he wanted James to follow him rather than just telling him where to go.
"Here they are, I hope you find what you are looking for. If you need anything I will be around the corner."
James watched him leave and then his eye twitched. Tod meant it literally, he stepped around the corner and was occasionally popping his head back into the isle he was in. [He must really be lonely...]
James ignored Tod and started to read the books. This time it took 5 minutes to reach through the entire book.
He finished reading the last book and checked his quest log.
... He found there was no change.
"Tod, could you please answer a question I have?"
Tod came sprinting around the corner with excitement filling his eyes.
"I can certainly do that!"
James pinched the bridge of his nose because he had a headache. "I am looking for information about the [Rune Era] and a man named Roland. Do you know if this library has information about them?"
Tod took a second to think.
"Yes! But you will not find it on this floor. That kind of information is too important to be located on the second floor. "
James sighed, "What do I need to do to get your permission to enter the third floor?"
"Simple! The same as the first floor! You must read enough books to improve your knowledge!"
* Ding *
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New Quest Offered
Name: Just Keep Reading
Difficulty: B
Completion Requirements: Read 500 books of the 2,500 total books of the second floor.
Failure Conditions: None
Rewards: Access to the third floor of the library
Time Limit: Unlimited
Accept?
[Yes] [No]
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"This quest is killing me. I accept your quest. I'm off to torture myself."
James slumped over as he walked to the nearest bookshelf. He had a long way to go.
He looked at his current quest progress and felt his headache worsen.
* 6 of 500 books completed *
[I really hope Tod is right. This quest is going to take almost another full day. If I am wrong I may as well give up Alfred's quest.]
James continued to submit to his self-inflected torture.
* 25 of 500 books completed *
* 82 of 500 books completed *
* 130 of 500 books completed *
* 374 of 500 books completed *
Another 30 sum hours went by just like that. No titles. No further global announcements, just painful reading.
[I will most definitely never touch another book in my life after this.]
The people outside the library already changed shifts three times.
"Man just how much longer does this guy going to be. My legs are falling asleep."
"Who knows but you better not slack off, Author will kill us if we miss him leaving. We already know all the current faces in the first floor of the library and are keeping track of who enters and exits. It is just a matter of time."
"It is just so boring!"
"At least you're not stuck reading books for hours on end"
The two shadows started laughing and the joke and regained their focus on hand.
* 499 of 500 books completed *
* 500 of 500 books completed, return to Tod to turn in your quest.*
"Finally!"
James was happy to be done with that hell. He had snuck a peak at the leaderboard and saw the top 10 player's levels ranged from 13-16. He was quickly falling behind.
"Tod! I have finished your quest. May I have your permission to go up to the third floor?"
"Yes you may, hand me your old token and I will add my seal to it."
* Ding*
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Quest completed!
Rewards: Access token to the third floor of the library.
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James got his token back from Tod, this time is had a stamp on it.
"I am off, hope you have a good day!"
Once James left Tod looked depressed. He wondered how long will it take for him to have company once again
James started his trek up the stairs once again. This time he was not as slow he was practically running up the stairs.
"Woah! Someone is in a hurry to learn. My friends call me Joe the Librarian. I manage this floor."
"Sorry Joe, I was in a hurry. I hope I did not break any library rules."
"Haha, it is no problem. I hope Tod was not too creepy. He still has not realized there are portals to leave the library floors. I don't think he has left the library in over a decade."
James was stupefied. How did Tod manage living until now? What did he eat and drink? He shook it off because his time was running out.
"Someone should tell him about the portal, I think he is going mad. I am looking for books on [Runes] and someone called Roland."
"Roland as in the great [Rune Master]?"
"Yes exactly what I am looking for!"
"Lucky for you that this is the correct floor to find what you are looking for. Also you might as well accept my quest."
* Ding*
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New Quest Offered
Name: Endless Knowledge
Difficulty: B+
Completion Requirements: Read 50 books of the 100 total books of the third floor.
Failure Conditions: None
Rewards: Access to the fourth floor of the library and a new title
Notice: Upon completion another quest will automatically be distributed to player.
Time Limit: Unlimited
Accept?
[Yes] [No]
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James overlooked the notice of the quest pop-up. He desperately wanted to complete his quest step.
"I will accept, we will see how I feel if I actually wish to complete your quest though. I have been in the library for two days now."
Joe was chuckling, "No problem at all, I understand if you need a break. Not many people, then great wizards, have accomplished what you have."
"What do you mean?"
"The speed at which you progressed though the library floors has been faster than all before you. That includes the [Arch-Mage] Alfred."
"Alfred was slower than me?"
"Yes. He could not handle reading so many books at once and took breaks every few hours.
Needless to say, you are a weird person."
James only had a blank expression after he heard Joe's insult.
Not taking it to heart James needed to find where to look, "Joe, where may I find the books I am looking for?"
"They are in section four, and seven shelves in."
"Thanks!"
James ran off, he could taste victory.
He read every book he could find; four books in total. Two books had peaked his interest.
One was on the creation of runes and it was written by Roland himself. The book talked about various ways to form the runic lines to create the rune pattern and how to etch the runes onto different kinds of materials.
The second book was an autobiography left by Roland. It talked about his life, how he studied, and it mentioned his teacher but did not say who it was. The biggest piece of information James got from the book was a city that Roland found. It described it as a heaven for [Rune Masters].
* Ding *
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Quest Log Updated
Successfully found a hint on Roland's whereabouts.
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James could not help but cheer and celebrate out loud. His disturbance drew Joe's attention.
"Blaise if everything okay?"
James was so happy he grabbed Joe's hands and forced him into his celebration.
He snapped out of it after noticing he was dragging Joe around.
James coughed to break the awkwardness.
"Sorry Joe I got too excited. I found what I was looking for."
"That is no problem, are you trying to find Roland's legacy?"
"Something like that Alfred tasked me to look into his disappearance. I found hint about a city that Roland described as a [Rune Master]'s heaven. Do you have any books that might shed some light on the city?"
Joe frowned, which in turn made James frown.
"I cannot say that we do or not. This floor contains many books on locations and famous people's lives. We librarians do always read the books on our floors. That is unless you are Tod. Most of us spend our free time outside the library. When someone enters the barrier between floors we are notified and teleported back to our floor."
"So that means I would have to check and see if the books on this floor have any information?"
"Yes, I am sorry that I cannot help any further."
"I guess I better get reading then."
"Do you want me to help? I can start on the other side of the floor and search for any hints."
"That would help. Let me know if you find anything."
Thus, both James and Joe started reading through the books.
* 12 of 50 books completed *
* 38 of 50 books completed *
* 50 of 50 books completed, please return to Joe to turn in your quest *
James spent 20 more hours reading books. It took 25 minutes to reach each book and every minute felt like an eternity.
"Joe, I finished the quest for this floor. Here is my token."
James sat down at a table in defeat and waited for his new token. [Maybe the fourth floor's librarian knows something?]
* Ding*
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Quest completed!
Rewards: Access token to the fourth floor of the library. Player was granted a new title. Player has received a new quest.
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.
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Title Gained
Name: Persistent
Effects:
1. 10% reduction on crowd control effects
2. Channeled spells consume 5% less mana (rounded up)
3. Health points and mana regenerate 20% faster when health points are below 25%
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James was amazed at the new title.
[Is that not a little bit too strong? Doesn't that mean if a CC effect lasts 10 seconds it will only affect me for 9? It doesn't seem like much but it could be a game changer. With the reduction of the mana cost my aura only costs four mana a second instead of five. As a mage I do not think I want to spend my time below even 75% HP let alone 25%.]
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Automatically Accepted Quest
Name: Unyielding Knowledge
Difficulty: SS
Completion Requirements: Read all 10,631 books in the library
Failure Conditions: None
Rewards: New title and two skills
Notice: You are unable to leave the library until the quest is complete.
Time Limit: Unlimited
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James, who was leaning back into his chair with the front legs in the air, read the new quest information and tilted back too far and fell onto the floor!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone