014 Getting a Teacher?

James proceeded to look around. If he had to guess there were between 40 and 50 members of Solemn Sword in the library. He was surprised to find that he was not surrounded. The other members of the guild were doing their own thing.

James's internal thoughts were interrupted with a greeting from the player in front of him, "I thought that you would be uncomfortable if there were too many of my guild members around you at once. I had them go off and start reading. I sent someone here earlier to find you but it seems like you stayed a few steps in front of him. He told me about the title that grants intelligence so here we are. I did not expect to find you on the bottom floor."

The player continued, "Pardon my rudeness, I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Tempest and I am the co-founder of Solemn Sword."

"Tempest, it is nice to finally meet you. Since you have been transparent with me I will do the same. I fully expected to be cornered by the first guild that found me."

Tempest gave a small laugh, "That might have happened but the top four guilds came together and had a meeting."

"A meeting? Was it about me?"

"Not fully, you were a topic that was discussed though."

"May I ask what the other topics were?"

"Nothing too important. Mostly how to handle the rouge players standing in the leaderboards."

"I guess I am considered a rouge player to your guilds as well?"

"Indeed you are, for now. The guilds came to a conclusion that you should be befriended. To be more precise, all the top guilds want you to join them."

James thought for a while. [I have no plans of joining any guilds at the moment. I need to think of a way to get out of this.]

"Does that mean you are also offering me a position in your guild?"

"Yes I am. We would love to have someone like you in our guild. We would offer you assistance in your SSS ranked quests among other perks such as armor, weapons, and supplies for your profession, and assistance leveling up."

[So that is what they are after. They do not want me, the want access to the quest Alfred gave me.]

"That is a tempting offer. Do you mind if I finish my quest first?"

"A quest? Do you need any assistance?"

"Again, thanks for the offer but it is a quest that was offered by the library so it is a solo quest."

"Oh? The mage I sent here made it all the way to the top floor of the library as well and was not offered another quest. I guess it was the SS ranked quest?"

"Yes, it was that quest."

"I won't lie. I am very curious on what SS and SSS ranked quests are like. Do you think you could tell me what they are like?"

"Sorry, I will not tell anyone of my SSS quest but since I am nearly done with my SS quest I will tell you about it. I have to ready every book in this library."

Tempest was shocked, "ALL of them?!"

"Yup, all of them. I've been in the library for over a week. I have not gained a single point of experience as result."

[Hmm, he is only level one. If I sell the after we will catch him up to our levels I bet I can get him in the guild.]

Seeing that Tempest was thinking James raised his hand to cut Tempest off before he could say anything.

"Like I said I would like to finish my quest before we talk any further. After I finish this book in my hand I will be a single step from being done. Do you think you could wait a little bit?"

Tempest smiled and nodded his head but had different thoughts, [He does not actually care about joining the guild. I will not give you a single opportunity to escape.]

As James went back to reading Tempest sent a message to the mages in the library and the rest of his guild. [-Blaise is in the bottom floor of the library. I want all mages inside to cover the main exit and the stairs to the second floor. I want him to have no escape. I also want people to cover the library garden and the streets near the library. I will not accept failure. Training will become even harder if he slips between our figures. -]

Hundreds of people surrounded the library and those inside the library made it impossible to leave the first floor.

James was aware of what happened inside the library and figured there were people outside as well. [So much for being friendly, I hope I get a hint of where the last book is after this.]

* 10,630 of 10,631 books completed *

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* Ding *

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Favor with the [Library] reached the maximum!

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James heard an ancient voice ring out in his head after the game notification.

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"You have impressed me young one. The final book is hidden with my core. I will give you an option. Do you wish to continue the quest and read the final book or have me modify the quest to make it only 10,630 books so that you are finished? Once you make your decision it will be final."

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James did not show any change to his facial expression on the outside but was internally excited. [This is it! I am too close to give up now. That and it may be a chance to escape. I wish to continue the quest.]

James was notified that he would be teleported to a hidden part of the library.

James looked at Tempest and gave a small smile. Tempest saw it and could tell that things were not going the way he wanted. His displeasure was clear on his face.

"Sorry Tempest, I am not joining any guilds at the moment. On top of that, it seems like your guild is not being very friendly with me. I can see you have cut off all route of escape from the library."

Tempest gave a laugh of contempt, "Yes there is no escape for you. You will be joining my guild. After which, if you leave the guild I will have you hunted down so that you will never progress in the game again. What do you say about that?"

"I can only give you my farewell then. I hope to see you in the future!"

James accepted the [Library]'s teleport then watched as something interesting happened.

The whole library started to shake as if it was an earthquake. Players were stumbling around but none of the books moved. Tempest was the most confused.

[Did he do something? This only started after he said we would be parting ways...]

A deep and ancient voice entered the ears of everyone in the library.

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"The library will be closing its doors to the public for a while. Everyone currently inside will be forcefully removed. Attempt to reenter the library will be rejected. Many attempts will result in the individual being blacklisted from ever entering again. Farewell."

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Very shortly after the voice finished there was a suction force that spread over everyone in the library. Those who were walking around were shot out of the front door like they were garbage. Only those that could grab a table or bookshelf resisted the suction force.

Tempest was able to quickly grab the bookshelf next to him and James. He looked up and saw that James was perfectly fine. The suction force was not being applied to him.

[He did this! He tricked me! He must have finished his quest and this was caused by it! That bastard, I will make his life hell!]

Tempest quickly lost his grip and life everyone else was shot out of the library. The only one left was James.

The scene outside the library's front door was a mess. There were people sprawled out all over the place. Since Tempest had his guild members kick everyone else out of the library only his guild was forcefully removed.

Tempest looked around and saw there were hundreds of people standing around. They were from all sorts of guilds and many rouge players. They all watched the spectacle of the Solemn Sword members being tossed out of the library like they were garbage.

Tempest felt his ears and face burning from embarrassment.

A tall man with a greatsword approached him while he was kneeling on the ground.

"You just embarrassed the whole guild. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Tempest looked up and saw it was the guild leader Alexander and his face paled.

"A... Alex.. Alexander wh... what are you doing here?"

"You caused such a scene commanding a hundred of our members to the library. Naturally other players would show up and watch the show. What were you thinking?"

"It was Blaise! He tricked me! He delayed me by asking me to wait for a few moments when he finished a quest he was on. Once he finished the library forced all of us out! He is a shameless bastard!"

"All I am hearing is excuses. Where is your normal calm and calculative self? I know you are having issues with your fiancée but do not bring those into the game. Since you are the co-founder I will not punish you this time. Your rank in the leaderboard has dropped from 4th to 6th this week because you have been so focused on Blaise. By the end of the week if you are not in at least 4th again you will be required to do a week of gold farming. Our teams are falling behind."

Tempest could only nod, he brought real life issues into the game which is a mistake that any pro-gamer should avoid. What is he to do? His fiancée also plays video games, she is even playing [Broken Chains] but she refuses to spend any time together in or out of the game. He has even has never gotten to know her in-game name for anything she has played. He knows it is a forced marriage due to family matters but he wants to make her happy and accept him.

Alexander helped Tempest up and commanded his guild to leave. The sooner they leave the better.

His guild took a major hit with Tempest's blunder. There are already forum posts with videos of his guild members being tossed out of the library. The ones with comedic background music got the most views...

"Don't say anything Rend. We have suffered enough."

Rend, and most of the other guild leaders, had some small chuckles at his misfortune.

"It is not too bad Alexander just get some PR going and you will be fine! Hahaha"

Alexander ignored Rend's comment, "Due to what happened today Blaise will most likely have ill feelings towards Solemn Sword. He will be on our wanted list thanks to Tempest. Your guilds can still attempt to approach him. Tempest did notify me that he said he is not currently looking to join a guild and is currently level one still."

The other leaders were not too surprised. Author voiced what he and everyone else was most likely thinking, "It is not surprising he is still at level one. From what we understand he was not left the library at all during the first week and a half of the game's release. My guild still wants him but will hold off at approaching him for the time being."

Author and his guild left the scene after his comment. The other guilds followed suit.

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James was teleported somewhere within the library. When his vision returned he saw that he was in an underground oasis. There was a medium sized pond in the center of the cave. In the center of it was a small island.

Wandering around he looked at his new environment some more. There were no animals but the cave was breathtaking. The cave looked almost perfectly circular and its walls had vines and mushrooms growing on the walls.

There were trees spaced evenly around the cave. They looked like giant bonsai tree and appeared to be well kept.

The plants were a mixture of different species. He was able to recognize most of them thanks to the books he read. Most were common plants such as ferns, fruitless bushes, and common flower. However, there were come rare plants like herbs, and fruits from fruit bearing bushes.

He looked up at the roof of the cave and saw giant crystals that glowed like the sun. He could feel the warmth they gave off.

He found the scenery so captivating that he did not harvest or damage any of the plants he found. He carefully made his way to the pond. When he arrived he saw a lectern with a book on it and a small hut. On the short he saw a small row boat and made his way to it.

He boarded the boat and rowed his way to the island. Looking down in the water he saw that it was quite deep. There were coral reefs and fish living within the pond.

He beached the boat and made his way to the hut. He was about to knock on the door but changed his mind. He saw on the mini-map that there were no NPCs anywhere around. So he made his way to the lectern.

The cover of the book read 'Forgotten History'. As he reached to open the book to the first page the ancient voice range out and a person appeared out of thin air.

James backed up a step when the man appeared. Looking at the mini-map there was no indicator that he was an NPC or a player.

The deep voice finally had a person to back it out, "Greeting young one. I have been watching you during your stay at the library and you have gained my favor."

James looked that the person with interest. [Just what is he? A NPC has white dots and players have yellow dots on the mini-map but he has neither...]

"Hello, my name is Blaise. It would be an honor to know your name."

"My name has long since been removed from the annals of time and I have long since forgotten it. I have waited a myriad of years to find someone that can shoulder my teachings. If you accept my tutelage you may call me Teacher."

"Your tutelage? I thought I was here to read the final book?"

"You are here for a few reasons. The book is one of many. Another choice lies before you. First, accept my tutelage and read the book. Second, decline my tutelage and read the book. Third, destroy the book so that its knowledge never resurfaces in the world again."

"Destroy the book to prevent its knowledge from resurfacing? He the knowledge in the book that dangerous?"

"The knowledge within the book is neither dangerous nor evil on its own. But in the hands of humanity it can be twisted. Once again, what route do you choose?"

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* Ding*

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New Quest Offered

Name: Forging the Future

Difficulty: ???

Completion Routes:

1. Accept the tutelage and read the book.

2. Decline the tutelage and read the book.

3. Destroy the book.

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Failure Conditions: None

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Rewards per Routes:

1. Knowledge of the Old, ???

2. Knowledge of the Old, ???

3. ???

Time Limit: Unlimited

Accept?

[Yes] [No]

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[There is not much to go on with this quest prompt... The Knowledge of the Old is probably the information that the book can provide. The quest's difficultly is not even stated. I wonder once I accept the quest if there will be another global notification? I already have unwanted attention...]

James wanted more information, "You said you waited a long time for someone who met your requirements. Just what are they?"

The person did not speak at first which made James worry. After a minute it finally answered, "First, the person had to be one of the arcane ways, second the person had to have advanced knowledge of the arcane ways, third the person must have at least one advanced spell of their arcane path, fourth they must have a decent understanding and ability with [Runes], lastly they must have persistence. Your answer?"

[Hmm, so far I understand that I fit because I am a mage and my profession is [Rune Master]. The Persistence title may fit the last requirement but I do not understand how I fit the other requirements.]

"One last set questions then I will make my decision, how do you see me as having advanced knowledge of magic and in ownership of an advance spell?"

"I forced you to get the advanced knowledge by keeping you in the library. I've waited too long and took it upon myself when I saw you met the other requirements. The advance spell you have is the aura that has two functions. Last chance, what is your decision?"

[So that is why I got that awful quest... The spell Alfred gave me came in handy already; I will have to thank him in the future. Since I do not have any clue what the third route will result in I might as well pick the one I have the most information about.]

"I accept your quest. I will go with the first route."

James proceeded to bow to the mysterious man to accept his tutelage.

"Very good. You have made a good decision."

* Player has accepted the tutelage of a person from the lost era. Quest route locked to route one. *

"Teacher, what exactly is in this book?"

"The book contains information about the lost era. It depicts individuals of great power and greatness. It explains various lost arts. Since you are a [Rune Master] you will benefit greatly as this book contains more information about [Runes] then the man you are searching for. The book also teaches the way of a true arcane master."

James became suspicious, "You know of my quest to find Roland?"

"Yes, when you became my student I learned many things about your purposes. Fear not, I wish to see you become great and return the ways of old to this stagnant world and not harm you."

"I am curious about what would have happened if I chose the third route."

"Destroying the book would have kept the world bound in its chains. The world would remain stagnant just as 'they' want it to be."

James started to worry that he got in over his head, "Who are you talking about? Who wants the world to remain how it is?"

"The 'they ' I refer to are those who shall not be talked about. You are not strong enough to know yet. Once you become strong enough I will tell you more. In fact apart from the book in front of you there is another. The book I am hiding could destroy the word if someone were to open it without proper preparation. It tells of the time that 'they' still walked this planet.

James felt a strong burden on his shoulder now. [Just how deep is the lore in this game go? I think I just stuck myself in the middle of game's story line. I will have to return to find out more once he deems me strong enough.]

"Just how strong do I need to be?"

"Stronger than myself. Even I cannot do anything against 'them'."

Sweat was clearly visible on James's forehead. [Oh boy, I am in deep trouble.]

James was just waiting for a quest to popup about the people that his teacher was talking about but nothing appeared which made James relax some.

He gave sigh of relief, [Maybe it is just lore and nothing more. It is probably for the best if that was the case.]

"Teacher, now that I am under your tutelage what will you teach me?"

"All in due time. First read the book then you will understand. Only then can I teach you."