Late Fees

"A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it."

-Ray A. Davis

*****

Shit. While I still had some distance on him, without even turning to react to him, I decided to just reach for the book as quickly as I could- and then my hand stopped flat on a hard surface, just above it.

"Do not test me, imposter."

Fuck. I slowly looked over at him as I realized what my hand had been stopped on. It was a long, flat, rectangular sword that extended all the way to his hand across the room.

What was stranger was that I couldn't see it; I could only sense it. This meant it was a spell. Such an old wizard, one who's specialty is alchemy, is able to conjure and wield such a large weapon?

I didn't feel confident in winning a fight with this guy. So I resorted to much simpler tactic: honesty.

"Do you know where this book comes from?"

He didn't withdraw his blade.

"It was purchased. A spire was attacked, and it was one of few remaining treasures that could be salvaged. It is mine, rightfully so."

He seemed eager to converse. I didn't know why, but I would take advantage of it while I could. I dispersed

[Shift Visage]

and presented my real face to him as I spoke.

"It comes from the Library. To you, apparently, it's just a legend, but the wizard who sold you this book entered and checked it out. I'm here to retrieve it."

His demeanor started to shift and his weapon lifted a bit off the book.

"I despise those who are dishonest.

And then his sword was against my throat.

[Wind Step]

I dashed back with wind step, cornering myself against a wall and narrowly avoiding the sword which tore a gash in the wall behind the desk.

"I'm telling you the truth! I can take you there!"

He lifted his sword again. It tore through the ceiling like butter as it rose above his head, sunlight shining through as he prepared to strike down on me again.

"Your magic seemed mildly interesting, but… spies must not be allowed to live within this kingdom."

And then his sword crushed the ceiling and the wall where I'd been. Dammit. He doesn't seem to care about collateral damage at all. How rich is this guy? I used wind step and slipped through the gaping hole he'd made in the ceiling and started to run across the flat stone roof. He soon joined me as his attacks continued. The sword had so much range… it was about ten feet long and three feet wide, and its edge was sharper than any I'd ever seen. And this was all made through a spell? Just how much mana did he have to be able to keep it active for this long? As I dodged his attacks, I started to think. Just how could the spell work? He's changing the properties of his mana, solidifying it, without changing it into a different form of matter. If I could figure out how the spell worked, maybe I could find a way to combat it.

I grabbed a metal rod that had been broken out of the foundation of the building as he made his attacks. I jumped over his slash and tried to hit the flat of his sword with it. No damage was done to the sword, and the pipe was slightly bent. Dammit… just how was it constructed? I threw the metal rod towards his head. He easily dodged. I started to use my only real attack spell in an attempt to do some damage, lining the floor with explosive gel as I dodged his attacks. No matter how much I detonated, though, he would easily find a way to slip through. I noticed something, though- as the explosions went off, though they didn't directly damage the sword, the heat seemed to distort it slightly. I get it! He must be solidifying the mana by reducing its temperature with a spell after molding it into his desired shape. Since mana was naturally malleable, it wasn't brittle, and instead perfectly took on the desired shape. In order to maintain the spell, there should be an outer layer of mana perpetually running over it, like a thin veil of water. Now, I had two tasks- I had to disrupt the flow of his mana and increase the temperature of the sword in the moment where the magic faltered- then, the spell should be broken, and he shouldn't be able to re-cast it without having a moment of focus to reshape his mana. That's when I'd strike. I started my retaliation by using [Transmutation] on chunks of rock below me to change them to uranium and thorium. This was difficult. I had to do them one after another after his attacks, and they both had a large number of electrons, 90 and 94 respectively. I eventually managed to complete the transmutation, attaching a bit of explosive fluid to them both. I needed to immediately retreat as quickly as possible from the source, so I entered a hole in the ceiling and made my way through to one of the laboratories. The wizard tried to follow, but behind him-

BOOM!

Just before the explosion had occurred, I'd turned a portion of the desk in front of me into lead to protect from radiation. I still felt dizzy and sick, but I'd mostly been protected from the explosion. I'd only used a small amount, but such a large reaction occurred… behind the wizard was a chunk of technetium, created through fission between uranium and thorium. It was the most radioactive naturally occurring element. The explosion had done a significant amount of damage to him already, but the radiation emanating from the chunk of technetium behind me was scrambling his brain. The mana in the sword wavered before dispersing, and the wizard collapsed to the ground. I started to feel dizzy too, so I quickly rushed over to the metal and transmuted it into palladium, one of the closest non-radioactive elements. All I had to do was add three electrons, so I was able to do it almost instantly. My body felt weak from radiation poisoning, but I needed to get the book before the wizard regained consciousness and recovered. I vomited and then started to stumble back to the study to finally claim my prize.

Once the book was in my hands, I returned it immediately. It disappeared without a trace, back safely inside the library. Finally, I had the chance to recover. Whatever happened now, I'd at least completed my task, and could quickly make an escape if anything went wrong. I needed to heal now before the radiation took greater hold over my body.

[Heal]

I cast my expensive yet effective healing spell as I sat on the ground, exhausted. I felt the symptoms slowly decreasing as the spell took effect. That fight… it wasn't like last time. I held my own, and I didn't win by a fluke. Strangely, though I felt scared, frustrated, and sick, I also felt a little proud. About ten minutes passed before the healing spell ceased, meaning I'd been fully recovered. I stood up and carefully started to make my exit. I poked my head out of the ceiling and checked the surrounding area. I expected there to be guards surrounding the hall, but surprisingly… there was no commotion? After that loud, explosive battle? Maybe if someone had noticed, they'd just expected that there was no chance anything could happen to the powerful court wizard? I didn't know, but right now it didn't matter. I double checked before I left that the wizard was still collapsed. He was. Wait. Is… he dead? Fuck.

I ran over and checked his pulse. It was slow, but it was present. Dammit. It was really slow. He's gonna die.

I removed his clothes. They could still have been contaminated with radioactive particles. As I was slipping his robe off, I felt a few heavy objects in his pockets. I removed them, revealing three glass bottles. He was an alchemist! Maybe these were potions? There was a red and two browns. Instinctively I reached for the red, but as I thought about it, if either were to be a healing potion it would probably be the brown. Red, even in nature, signified danger. It was still a total Hail Mary. They could all be poison for all I knew. But what good alchemist wouldn't carry a few healing potions on hand? I uncorked the bottle and poured the thick, brown liquid into his mouth, holding back his head. He managed to swallow, meaning he was very, very slightly conscious. I waited a few seconds and nothing changed. So I started to do chest compressions.

"Hut! Hut! Hut! Come! On!"

I didn't know why I was trying this hard to save the guy. He'd tried to kill me without even really hearing me out. But I don't know. It was important to me.

"Hut! Hut!"

I felt one of his ribs break. Shit. I had to go. There was nothing I could do for him. God damn it. I started to slip out once again, but then I heard stirring behind me.

"Spy… no… *cough*… Librarian… wait…"

[Name: Calvin Sanchez]

[Title: Librarian]

[Skills:]

[Radial Observe Motion /Active/ [LVL 2]:

LEVEL UP- INCREASES THE RANGE AT WHICH THE STRINGS CAN BE EXTENDED.

Extend thin strings of mana in an orbital fashion, sending a signal to the caster when a string is disturbed.]

[Shift Visage /Active/ [LVL 2]:

LEVEL UP- ALLOWS FOR GREATER MODIFICATION OF FACIAL FEATURES.

When active, slightly morphs the facial features of the user into the desired form.]

[Transmute Material /Active/ [LVL 1]:

Allows the user to shift electrons within a small amount of matter, transmuting it permanently.]

[Minor Discharge /Active/ [LVL 1]:

Conjures a small explosion.]

[Heal /Active/ [LVL 1]:

Expels innumerable microscopic strings of mana throughout the body, putting broken pieces back together and removing unhealthy cells, pathogens, and bacteria.]

[Wind Step /Active/ [LVL 1]:

Manipulates the wind to increase the caster's agility, as well as reducing their weight.]

[Counterfeit Mana /Active/ [LVL 4]:

LEVEL UP- COUNTERFEIT MANA TAKES A SMALLER PHYSICAL TOLL AND GAINS GREATER EFFICIENCY.

Upon activation, your mana will appear to be far greater in density than it really is, attracting greater quantities of mana at a much faster rate and creating a more threatening aura within your mana reservoir.]

[Interpreter (3/5) /Active/ [LVL 2]:

Learn any language recorded in the Library by hearing it spoken or seeing it written and subsequently activating the skill.]

[Book Search /Active/ [LVL MAX]:

Search the records of the Library for a specific book by title or keywords.]

[Body:

A wizard's body, enhanced by magic and the Library's blood.]

[Authorities:]

[Authority of the Library Operator]

[Binds:]