Entering the grand library at Dene, a red headed youth no older than 17 couldn’t help but feel self conscious about her appearance. While she didn’t particularly stand out among the common folk that walked around the city, there was no question that she definitely stood out in this area. Thinking back about her day however, she decided not to worry about it and entered the library.

The second she had entered the city, she had had to immediately ask around for a place where one of her companions could receive much needed treatment, as she had contracted a disease on their journey that was getting worse with no sign of improvement in the distance. Thankfully, it seemed that a certain church seemed to have been producing a great amount of buzz in the city due to them taking care of the destitute and even using some rather expensive potions to cure their diseases. As a result, the three had planned to head over to the church to get their companion cured. Along the way however, they had managed to heard more quite a few more things about this extremely generous church, which helped to ease their worries somewhat about the situation. 

Originally, they had only planned to stay in the city for a couple of days, until they could either find another caravan heading towards Actia or a merchant who would hire their services. But as a result of their companion getting sick, it was obvious that they would now have to stay for at least a week, as even if she did get a cure, they would still need to wait to make sure that she was fully recovered and avoid any possibilities of a relapse.

Since they would have to stay for a week, it was now necessary for them to find a good lodging where they could stay, since it was simpler to book a place for a few short days than an entire week. Thus, knowing this and feeling more confident that the church would be able to cure his sister, the young chestnut haired youth that was another of her companions told her that it was fine for her to separate from them and run any errands she thought necessary. As a result, she reluctantly separated from the two, not exactly wanting to abandon her friend, but also knowing that it was necessary for her to find a place for them to spend the night at immediately, as it was likely that her companions would spend quite a good amount of time in the church. 

As she walked around the new city, asking a few of the people around for directions and those who seemed of a good character for recommendations for an inn where a few youths would be able to safely spend their night, she finally found herself in front of an inn called ‘The Old Boot’, a name that she found quite a bit odd and not exactly very appealing for an inn.

Nonetheless, she decided to give the inn a try as a few kind looking people recommended it to her. And, once she had actually gone inside and talked with the innkeeper, she felt a sense of assurance and security towards it and decided that it would be a good place for them to spend the week. Not only that, it was relatively cheap and wouldn’t dent their savings as much as she had expected.

Having found a good inn quicker than she had previously thought, the girl began making her way towards the local library, as it was at the library that she had told her two companions to meet her once they were done. Thus, asking around, she finally made her way towards the library as she quickly began to see that something was quite wrong.

Or it wouldn’t be right for her to say it was wrong, but probably her ignorance as a result of having lived in a tiny isolated island. Unlike the library at her island, the library in this city was absolutely massive, nothing unlike the small and humble living the housed the few books of her town. Not only that, the closer she got to where the library was located, the more upper class people looked, and the more she stood out among them, earning her a few odd looks which made her very much self conscious about her appearance.

Now finally inside the library, she was able to relax herself once she noticed there weren’t many people inside. Which was quite a surprise to her as there seem to be an infinite amount of people in Dene and she imagined the massive size of the library was built with that in mind.

Taking a better look at the library once more, she was honestly left flabbergasted at how massive and intricate the library seemed. She was pretty sure that there were enough books to fill the entire library back at her town. And she didn’t mean its shelves, but in the same way water would fill a container. It was a grand and majestic building, truly a place that should house the world’s knowledge, and deciding to take advantage of this, she began to make her way through the shelves as she began to search for a book that could be useful for her.

While she was searching among the shelves of the library, not exactly sure of how she was supposed to navigate this maze of books, someone began to approach her direction with a book in hand. Taking a good look at this person, she was able to notice that it seemed like a girl her age. However, unlike her rather common appearance, this girl seemed to be long to the higher peerages of society. She was wearing a white shirt and black pants, seeming to be of a much higher quality than the simple leather outfit she was wearing, all of the same bland tan color. The girl also had beautiful blue hair, and while her brown eyes were also quite pretty, they unsettled her in a way she couldn’t exactly describe.

Although she felt nervous approaching such a person, she gathered her courage and called out, “Uhmm Excuse me, wo-would you mind helping me find some books in this place. I can’t really figure out my way in this place.”

At her question, the girl in front of her seemed to give her a good look before continuing to walk. Then, stopping at a certain point, she put the book in her hand back on the shelf as she answered at the same time, “Sure. What kind of book are you looking for?”

“Oh, uhh, well, anything that relates to dungeons or monsters would be helpful.” She replied, a bit put-off by the way in which the girl answered without looking at her.

Having finished placing the book back, the girl turned around and looked at her in the eye as she said, “Hmmm, how much do you know about dungeons?”

“Uhh, I’ve read quite a bit in the library back in my town. I know about the basic monsters and about some of the more famous dungeons. Although that’s all I’ve really read.”

“I see.” responded the girl before putting on a pensive appearance. “Follow me.”

Following after the girl, the two began to make their way towards the end of the library. Once they made their way towards the back, the girl turned to her and said, “This entire section is dedicated to dungeons and monsters.”Then, walking towards one side, she continued, “The one’s over here are more general and serve as a good introduction to dungeons and monsters.” Moving to the other side now, she said, “And the one’s over here deal with more specific matters. Such as the different dungeons and unique monsters that could be found within them, as well as more specific matters about monsters.”

Once she had finished her explanation, the girl turned to look at her as she commented, “It honestly takes quite a while to read any book, so I’d recommend you come by an earlier time next time. You have about an hour until the library closes.”

Slightly surprised at the girl’s comment, she began to wonder if maybe picking the library wasn’t such a smart idea. In her town the library normally stayed open until around 9, and she imagined it would be the same or even longer in a large city. Regardless, she decided to make a mental note of this and accepted that she might have to wait outdoors for her companions for a while as she turned to the girl and answered, “Thank you for your help. My name is Elizabeth.”

“Alex.” replied the girl, “And don’t worry about it Elizabeth.”

Having finished saying that, Alex gave her a nod before making her way to another part of the library. Now alone at the back, well not really as there were two other people in a table all the way at the right side, she began to look for a book that she could start and make some progress on for the next hour, as it was up to her to acquire any and all knowledge that could help them on their journey, since her two other companions could be rather unreliable in this area.

Picking up a book about common monsters, Elizabeth made her way to one of the tables and sat down. Not soon after however, a boy with chestnut colored hair and a cheeky smile poked her side, waking her up from the book she had lost herself in.

“Hey.” said the boy with that trademark smile of his on his face.

Looking around, Elizabeth found Rose just a bit away, the small kid jumping up as she tried to reach one of the books up high on the shelf.

“What you mean Hey!” Said Elizabeth with an accusatory look and in a hushed tone. “Why are you letting Rose jump inside a library! Come on, let’s get out of here before you two do something.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

Ignoring the boy that was giving her a confused look, Elizabeth took Rose by the hand and dragged her out, putting her other hand over the girl’s mouth to silence her before she could cause a scene inside the library. As they made their way out, they passed by Alex who noticed her group and gave her a smile. Elizabeth returned a smile to her as she tried to quickly exit the library, hoping that their group didn’t look too out of place and lacking manners in this high class locale.

Once she was out, she released her hand from the little girls mouth who began to complain at her. Ignoring her, she turned to Daniel and asked, “So, how come you’re here so early, and why is that little troublemaker already up and walking like nothing happened.”

“Hey! I didn’t even do anything this time.” Complained the girl.

Putting on a rather relieved smile at seeing his childhood friend and sister bicker at each other once more, Daniel explained how they had gone to the church and have been surprisingly attended by a young elf that was about the same age as Rose that tended to them rather quickly and effectively.

Hearing this, Elizabeth let out a voice of surprise as she then commented, “Well, it seems some kids actually make use of their free time instead of just being a nuisance.” Then, ignoring the girl that immediately began to complain at her once more, she looked at Daniel and said, “Let’s go then, I found a nice inn for us to stay in.”

Thus, the three made their way towards the Old Boot. With Daniel simply smiling along the way enjoying the view while the two girls next to him fought amongst themselves, although he could see the clear expression of relieve in Elizabeth’s face that made his smile all the wider…