Touch of Fate

Chapter 100: In the Stacks

Looking around, Mike had trouble determining how the books were sorted. As far as he could tell, there were some clearly defined sections grouped by bookshelf color, but beyond that, there was no indication of what the sections might relate to. There seemed to be five distinct colors: red, green, blue, white, and black.

Shrugging he decided to start perusing. He quickly discovered that there was a great variety in the quality of the publications included in this section. Some were ornate leather bound tomes with neatly printed words, while others were decaying piles of hand-written manuscripts loosely connected with simple twine.

He picked up a thin book from a red bookshelf entitled, "How to Best your Rippleback Begonias," which focused exclusively on taming a variety of semi-ambulatory flower that was known for its vicious bite.

It seemed that the red section primarily dealt with, for lack of a better term, 'self-help' books. Focusing mainly on instructional manuals for developing a range of mundane skills, such as cooking, carpentry, husbandry, farming, and the like. A couple of low level Martial Arts manuals were present, but nothing of particular interest or value to him. Half the section was devoted to 'aristocratic' pursuits like riding, etiquette, hunting, and even dance. He examined a few of the books, and while there were several that could prove handy in the long run, he didn't see any that he could really make use of right now.

The green section was a bit more interesting for him, since it contained books related to non-magical research. Although not quite advanced as in his old world, the works he took some time to skim through displayed a surprisingly developed understanding of the universe. Judging from the theories presented in these works, Ea worked on a set of principles that was remarkably similar to his previous life. Everything from atoms, the movement of celestial bodies, and gravity to humanoid anatomy and basic biological functions was encoded in these tomes.

There was one key difference, however. The presence of the system. The writers repeatedly used the system as an explanation when things proved too difficult to understand or measure. In some cases they even listed completely contradictory evidence claiming that the system was directly responsible for augmenting their results in some way. Add to that the complications induced by magic, a force that the authors seemed to not fully understand, and the influence of the gods, who proved to be quite active in this world, and it seemed like researchers could make little real progress.

After a fair amount of perusal, Mike selected a book titled, "Monsters of the Central Continent," a thick and heavy volume covering the classification, appearance, and ecology of a variety of creatures that made the central continent their home. The same author, one J. B. Hunting, had gone on to write texts on several other regions of the world, so if this one should prove useful, he would check out the others.

The blue section featured the more anthropological works, and seemed to be the home of history, biography, and cultural examinations of other sentient races. Mike found it hard to really determine where to start for this one. The books he examined often referenced people, places, and things that were not subsequently explained, so it was difficult to follow along with what the author was trying to say. He finally found a small, little used book on the bottom shelf entitled, "A Brief History of Ea: Or How the World was Made." It was a bit pompous, but the author started at the creation of the world and moved forward to approximately present day, only briefly discussing major events.

The white sections was dedicated to religious works, which included everything from the scriptures created by the various religions that held sway in Ea, to biographies of famous members of the clergy, to planar cosmology. Apparently, anything to do with the various realms that encircled and overlaid the world were considered part of theology, a significant and well respected field by the looks of it. He wondered why they didn't have their own department at the University. After briefly considering a book about known demon varieties, he decided to hold off on making his third choice until he had visited the restricted section.

The black section proved to be the most interesting, but also the most chaotic. Rather than any defining theme, this section seemed to contain virtually everything that didn't fall into one of the previous sections, with one noticeable exception. There were no fictional works anywhere on this level of the library, which suggested to Mike that they either didn't maintain those kinds of works, or they were stored somewhere else, like the Secondary Library he'd seen on the way up. He made a mental note to investigate once he was ready to leave.

Seeing all there was to see on this level, Mike took the next set of stairs heading up. The sun had started setting by now, and the varied hues of the evening sky were impossible to ignore, so as he climb his gaze was drawn outwards. True to his luck, this immediate caused trouble for him once he had reached the landing for the next level.

Distracted by the view, he missed the last step and stumbled forward, which consequently rammed his head into the back of another student. The student in question emitted a pained 'whuff' of expelled air before collapsing onto the ground.

""Lord Hubert!"" A pair of men standing on either side of Mike's unfortunate victim cried out.

A young woman who had been apparently talking to the student, sniffed audibly, turned on her heels, and started walking away. Mike only caught a brief flash of long, platinum blonde hair before she rounded the corner.

"Ah..Sorry about that. I wasn't looking where I was going." Mike apologized. His head felt fine, so he was a little surprised on how injured the man looked.

"How dare you, peasant!" One of the two followers roared at him while the other was tending the stricken man. "Do you have any idea who it was you just struck?

All three of them were dressed in dark crimson uniforms with the emblem of a sword and spear sown the upper left chest.

[They're probably Martial Arts students, from the looks of them.]

Mike took a quick second to scan all three with Appraise before replying, starting with the speaker.

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Leroy Teruntine

Age: 21

Race: Human

Class: Apprentice Knight

Title: Devoted Follower

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Leroy had dark brown hair cut short, and was built like a thick-necked weightlifter. The other follower was thinner, with straight black hair parted to one side. His sharp features betrayed a degree of malice towards Mike which would have clued him in to the man's intentions, if his Detect Hostile Intent skill hadn't already done so.

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Victor Kalt

Age: 20

Race: Human

Class: Swordsman

Title: Practiced Fighter

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The man he'd run into, who was still gasping for air on the ground, was a little on the chubby side to be a martial artist. Hair the color of old bricks surrounded a soft face with small second chin. His uniform fit a bit tightly in places, probably part of the reason he was having trouble breathing.

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Hubert Lothrain

Age: 20

Race: Human

Class: Noble

Title: Heir Apparent

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"A distinguished noble from the looks of it, though I don't believe I've been acquainted with him." He replied lightly, while subtly settling into a stance that would allow him to respond quickly. He'd read enough stories to know that his current situation had a good chance of ending in violence. He only hoped that it wouldn't affect his student career.

"Why you!" Leroy growled while balling up one fist in preparation to strike. Much more unsettling, however, was the way Victor edged into one of blind spots while reaching into his pocket.

"That is enough, you two." A calm voice sounded from the floor, as Hubert painfully sat up. "He already apologized for the issue, so there is no need to escalate matters."

"But sir, he embarrassed you in front of the princess!" Leroy complained with his fist still raised.

[Crap. That explains a lot.]

"He did so unintentionally, I'm sure. To hold him accountable for the vagaries of destiny would be to spit in the face of the gods."

The chubby noble managed to work his way to his feet, and fixed Mike with a friendly gaze. "I believe you mentioned that you were unacquainted with me. Let us rectify that. I am Hubert Lothrain, first son and heir of Count Marcus Lothrain. At the moment, however, I am merely a humble second year student of the Martial Arts department. These are my long-time companions Leroy Teruntine and Victor Kalt."

"Good to meet you. I'm Michael, but please call me Mike." He replied with a slight bow.

Hubert returned the bow, before taking his leave. "A pleasure, Mike. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a few errands to run, and some damaged pride to assuage."

"Oh, of course." Mike stepped out of the way and let the trio past. Leroy still gave him an angry glare as he passed, but didn't say anything.

[Well, that went better than I thought. I was sure that was going to devolve into a cliched confrontation or something.]

He was still getting a sensation of hostility, but he figured that one of the followers was probably still mad at him. Shrugging, he moved forward to check out the restricted section.

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"Are you really going to let him get away with that, Lord Hubert?" Leroy asked once they were no longer in earshot.

Hubert gave him a look out of the corner of his eye, "Victor, find out whatever you can about this Mike. We need to lay the groundwork properly before we make a move. Leroy, be ready to act when I say so."

"You mean..."

The scion of House Lothrain looked over at the setting sun, "Its best to pull up weeds from the root, is it not?"

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