Author's Preface
The next morning Ryan rose to the sun shining through the window and the sounds of the street below rumbling with the sounds of citizens talking and preparing stalls for the day's sales.
Ryan sat up and went to rub his eyes. "Son of a bitch. I slept the entire night away with this mask on and now I have to wear it all day again." Ryan stood and looked out the window. "I could just stay in all day and take a break."
Vesha's words once again rang in his mind. "One year. Get stronger."
Ryan shook the thoughts loose. "No, I need a meditation scroll." Without thinking, Ryan took his mask off and pressed the button on the dresser. "Breakfast first."
A few seconds later, Thirty-Seven opened the door and stared at Ryan, whose mask was now off. Her face was blank as she waited for an order from Ryan.
"Do you wish me to wash you, sir?"
Ryan waved his hands in the air. "No, no, I... I just wanted some food."
Thirty-Seven bowed. "Right away, sir." She shut the door behind him.
Ryan immediately grabbed his mask and put it back on. "Was she just standing by the door? I swear I just pressed that damn button."
Ryan sat on the bed until she delivered his food. He waited for her to leave before he began to eat. Once he finished, he changed his clothes and put his mask on and headed out of the guild toward the library Nyx had directed him to.
Ryan approached the library. It stood behind golden gates and two guards at the entrance. One of the guards spoke and stopped Ryan as he approached.
"Halt, this is the imperial library. You commoner trash can't just waltz up here and expect to enter. You need permission from His Majesty."
Ryan reached down in his bag looking for the token Nyx had given him. "Where the hell is it!"
Ryan scrambled and dumped his bag and everything in it on the ground, searching for the token. One of the guards approached and put his hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Sir, pick up your trash and please vacate the area now, before we remove you ourselves." Just then, a tiny hand appeared in front of Ryan's face holding the golden token. Ryan looked up and jumped back. That same empty expression, the same empty eyes stared at him. "Thirty-Seven? What are you doing here?"
"You need this, correct? You left it on your stand next to your bed. I noticed it while cleaning your room, sir."
The guards both took a step back. "Thirty-Seven?" One looked at the other. The other guard grabbed the token out of Ryan's hand and examined it. He showed the other guard. Both of them bowed quickly. "We apologize profusely, sir. You may enter." Ryan looked down as Thirty-Seven had already picked everything up off the ground and placed it back in his bag. She stood there staring at him with his bag in hand. He grabbed it from her and snatched the token from the guard's hand. He walked through the gates. As he turned back to look, Thirty-Seven was already walking away like nothing had happened.
Ryan entered the library. The moment he did, two guards walked up beside him, one on either side. They escorted him to a private door. As they walked, others inside whispered and pointed at Ryan. The guards stood at the door. One grabbed the token out of Ryan's hand and placed it in a tiny groove that perfectly fit the token. Once the token was inserted, the door began to glow green. Magical glyphs appeared on the four corners of the door. With a CLICK, the door swung backwards, revealing a staircase. The guards walked to the other side and stood on both sides of the staircase. One man grabbed the token the moment Ryan walked through and the door slammed shut behind him. The other guard handed Ryan a torch as the other handed him back his token. Ryan walked down the stairs as the guards stayed up top by the door.
Below the winding staircase, Ryan saw rows and rows of books, tomes, scrolls, grimoires. He strolled through each section like a kid in a candy store. He finally stopped and turned to his right, a large shelf with thousands of scrolls stacked on top of each other. Thousands of years of meditation scrolls stared at him. They ranged from common meditation styles to high-tier ones capable of improving mana recovery and pushing a talent closer to its upper limits.
Ryan spent the next few hours studying the scrolls. Each new one he grabbed correlated to a specific talent or blessing. Each was only compatible with a talent or an element. Ryan finally sat down on the ground. Hundreds of scrolls were opened at his feet. He stared at the mountain of scrolls still left. "He's definitely an asshole. No instructions, just a token and good fucking luck."
Ryan kicked one of the open scrolls across the room. Dust flew into the air. Ryan started to cough. "How am I supposed to get stronger with only 25 fucking mana total, and only 10 left if there isn't a meditation style fit for my talent?"
His system pinged.
[Shadows exist everywhere. Focus on them and draw your power from them]
"So now we are speaking in riddles, huh? How can power exist in a shadow? That makes no fucking sense."
[Meditation style: Shadow Sovereign]
[Focus your mind and core on the shadow]
[Let it envelop your entire being]
"Shadow Sovereign? Envelop my being? Seriously, why does it feel like this system is a parasite trying to take my body over? I've seen this before. You're like Venom from the comics. No thanks."
Ryan stood and picked up each scroll. He rolled them back up and put them back on the shelf. He walked up the stairs where the guards still stood. He placed the token in the door and it opened the same way. Ryan stepped out, grabbed his token, and walked out of the library with his head hung low.
"What a waste of time. And now this system is telling me this cryptic bullshit. Can't anything here just be straightforward?"
As Ryan walked out of the gates, Nyx stood there waiting with his hands behind his back. "Did you find anything in there useful?" Nyx asked as he approached Ryan.
"Seriously, how long have you been here waiting?"
"Oh, just a few hours. Time is something elves have plenty of, so no worries."
"Whatever, man. No, I found nothing useful in there."
"Well, I have something that may brighten your day. A new dungeon was discovered. It is an E-rank dungeon. I took the liberty of assigning it to you. You have to clear tasks and dungeons to rank up." Nyx held out a sheet of paper with a map on it, showing the location of the dungeon. Ryan grabbed the map and studied it for a moment. "How much will I earn from this?"
"Depends on what you bring out with you. We require the head of the dungeon master as proof you cleared it. Any treasures or ore deposits you find along the way will also add to the total compensation you receive." Nyx threw a bag at Ryan. "That is a Vortex bag. It has enough space inside to fit a small building. Good luck on the dungeon!" With that, Nyx walked away, leaving Ryan staring at the map and the Vortex bag.