Preparing To Leave
Isaac and Val woke up after 2 days of sleeping. After a long shower and stuffing their faces with food they decided to inspect the changes with their body. Entering a meditative state they focused on their seal. It seemed that after the seal was opened their body slowly tried to cleanse more of their energy veins automatically. The seal was gathering energy for them at an extremely slow rate and sent it through to the clogged portions of their veins. They could also feel the amount of energy they could store in the seal. While it was small it was enough to cast a few simple spells. After confirming the changes they got up and decided to walk around the library while talking about everything that has been going on. They happened to notice that recently William seemed to be growing more anxious for some reason but when they tried asking him he didn't give an answer. Instead he changed the topic to something else. The two of them just assumed that he didn't want to talk about it and didn't press him for information.
They came across the three summoned helpers who were doing their assigned tasks like cleaning and putting books back to manning the desk and waiting for people to visit the library. All three of them took turns congratulating the two for opening the first seal explaining that it was always the hardest and that it was even more shocking they managed to do it when they came from a world with no energy at all. After thanking the three for the well wishes and congratulations Isaac and Val set off to go find William to talk to him. They searched all over for him but they couldn't find him at all. As they were wondering if they should start exploring the maze of doors and corridors that was the employees only area he came out and seemed startled to see the two of them waiting there.
"I am glad to see you two awake and full of energy." William said with a tired looking smile.
"Thanks." Isaac said. "But are you okay William? You look absolutely exhausted." He said with a worried look.
"Also I can't sense much energy coming from you." Val said. "Is something going on? Was the library attacked by another creature like the one from the black book?"
"Oh no everything is fine and the library wasn't attacked. It's just that the library required me to help prepare for something."
"Well what was it you were preparing for?" Both Isaac and Val asked not being able to hold in their curiosity.
With a sigh William signaled for the two of them to follow him. He led the two of them to a room they had never been to before. There was a collection of various sets of clothes, rings, necklaces, earrings and many other things in cases on the wall. It seemed straight out of a spy movie. On the far end of the room there was a pitch black door with black cracks spreading out from the door and onto the surrounding wall. It gave off an ominous presence. Opposite of the clothes and everything there was what looked like a TV screen with what looked like a quest board.
"This is a special room in the library." William began. "When the library detects the presence of a void artifact on one of the lesser worlds it will generate a quest that you two can accept. A void artifact is similar to the black book that attacked Val. It is made by the creatures that live in the void. When one of the many species in the universes use the artifact it allows the void creatures to slowly infect the user and once they are fully infected it allows the void creature to take over their mind and body essentially creating an avatar on that world. They will spread their madness and death before consuming the soul of the world and spreading out further in the universe. It is important to collect and seal these artifacts before it is too late. Of course the library will reward you two if you manage to seal it and return to the library. Once returned here we can slowly drain and purify the void artifact so it can't do any more damage."
"Okay so what is the mission we are getting?" Val asked.
"Are we getting to leave the library?" Isaac asked, sounding excited.
"The mission the library is giving you two is on a relatively low ranked world. While it has mana it isn't fully awakened. It is pretty similar to the world you two came from but just a bit different. You will be going to a school where the artifact has been separated and sealed. Your job will be to find the pieces before anyone else can and seal them before bringing them back. I will be giving you equipment to help you blend in and to help you with your tasks."
Moving over to the wall of equipment William started to hand them various things.
"This ring is a storage artifact. Just put some energy into it and you will be able to store and withdraw objects in it. This earring will change your appearance to make you blend in with the other humans. The clothes have a shape shifting function to them so you can change their look to what you want. These bracelets will let you pull some of the origin energy from the library so you can recover your energy quicker and also allows you to continue cultivation. And finally there are these crystals. The white ones are used to seal the artifacts when you encounter them while the blue crystal will let you contact me if you need assistance with something, while I can't leave the library I am able to give you information. "
Putting everything on they looked like normal high school kids wearing jeans and a t-shirt with jackets on. There was nothing that made them look different from what they looked like before they came to the library except for their single earring. Isaac had a moon hanging from his left ear and Val had a sun hanging from his right ear. After they were all prepared William explained the hardest part to them.
"To travel to the world you will need to travel through the outer void using this door. The creatures can't attack you on the path so they will try to draw you off the path using voices and illusions. Whatever you do, don't step off the path, just keep walking forward and don't stop. To help lessen the effects of the illusions here is this. William handed them a candle that wasn't lit yet."
Taking a deep breath Val and Isaac held hands before opening the door and taking a step through.
—-----------------