• 3^rd Person POV

“Uwah… the books are really tall like spires” Evan look up to the stacking books and applauded that it doesn’t fall or taper to the right / left. With Umbra’s tail goes lax not wagging in excitement nor wariness. Signifying that they are no enemies in surrounding which earned a slight relief to Evan.

“I guess I’ll trust the monument about following the path of light for the moment.” Evan thought as he steps forward. The location of where spheres of light is indeed connected to one another akin to a path. Just for curiosity, Evan extended his hand from the spotlight to the darkness.

“Ouch!” Evan winces as he instantly retract his arm. His HP already fall below 10% line and he thinks that the damage will continuously occur if he still putting his hand towards the darkness. Using the same healing magic to heal Umbra, he directed it to himself as his HP brought to 100%.

“My HP is so low, that a low-level restoration spell is enough to fully heals me.” Evan exasperatedly sigh before continuing his path following the light coming from those spheres.

Since it is a weird place, Evan enhances his sensitivity to mana knowing his MP isn’t going to run out anytime soon. As he continues to do so, he didn’t feel any entities even in the darkness. “I guess they aren’t entities rather a dungeon mechanic.” Evan thought while walking forward.

He turn his head to the back and sees the light path he just went through. It is a zig zag pattern moving around the book spires and avoiding the page dust devils. “I wonder where this leads?” He grew curious as he continues to follow the path of light.

“Hmm?” The path of light ended on a massive stage with a spotlight on top. Since he has nowhere to go, Evan just move to the stage as he heard a click on the back of him.

Turning around instantly, Evan sees the other light spheres back have been turned off leaving just complete darkness. Only the one on the stage still brighten the area.

“GRRR!!!” Umbra growls and caused Evan to immediately feel alerted as he too feels something begun to appear. His mana ‘radar’ find an entity and the location is at the centre of the room.

His head turn to the centre trying to find where the creature is until a beam of bright light shoot through Evan’s chest. “Eh…?” Those are the last thought of Evan with the bark from Umbra as a notification appeared before him.

 

Opening his eyes, Evan in the plaza of Novitas as he look at himself. “Oh yeah… if a player died in dungeon, they didn’t get the penalty of being kicked out of the game for a day. Rather it’s a minor status penalty that will be recovered after 30 minutes” His adrenaline pumped heart instantly calmed down as he begun to think of what has transpired.

“What did hit me? a beam of light? Clearly it came from the entity, I detected through the radar.” Evan sees that Umbra didn’t get killed as well rather he is automatically dismissed when his summoner is defeated which gives a semblance of relief to Evan.

“Sigh… it is a level 50 dungeon after all. Let me check the guide about it” Evan has already relocated to the nearest alleyway away from people sight as he began opening the panel for the net.

“let see here…” He searches the keyword for <Mage’s Archive> dungeon and he can found several sites having those words. But no dungeon for it rather the archive itself where mage’s guild students or mage class player comes to get their new magic spells.

Biting his nails, he went to the next page seeing that there’s no ‘dungeon’ regarding mage’s guild which befuddles him. “Ah! It might be its one of the veteran dungeons thing where people purposely control its information” Evan clarify what’s going on to himself.

“Should I just give up? Nah… it just makes me grew more curious about it.” He looks up to the skies and sees that the sun has risen indicating to him that its already morning. So Evan wouldn’t have any more chances of infiltrating the mage’s archive anytime soon.

Instead he left to the familiar spot, upon arrival he summons Umbra and petted the dog to comfort himself and Umbra with the addition of giving him treats.

“I guess I practicing my spell weaving for now until the penalty wears off” Evan decided, as he begin to move to get himself used to short-range teleportation effects. While his dog enjoying the pile of treats that Evan pulled out from his bag.

Evan made sure in between weaves, he didn’t ran out of MP rather he stops and lay down watching the blue skies. Before standing up and continues practicing again, sometimes he ‘prank’ Umbra by teleporting his treats or used invisibility on it.

“Although… Umbra always find them wherever they are. AH! The penalty have worn off” He chuckles while looking at the clouds and stands up. The blue skies now turning orange as it is evening in ‘Eidolon’ with Umbra have a perpetual smug as he defeated Evan in his own game.

The crimson orange sky starts to turn dark blue with glittering stars began adorning them. Similar to Umbra’s fur “Come on Umbra! Let’s go…” Evan dismisses Umbra who replied with an excited bark.

Entering the Novitas’ Library, He immediately went to the entrance of <Moving Library> as he enters. He’s greeted with the familiar sight. Repeating what he just did at ease, instead of taking the book manually. Evan pin point each book that contained infused mana and move them without using his hands.

Soon after, they begun to hover surrounding him as Evan moves them to the slotted pylon, with that four slots have been fulfilled and the defence mechanism deactivated. In quick succession, he teleported himself to the first floor, then to the second floor where the ebony bookshelf lies.

Since he’s used to remember the puzzles, Evan with the help of the cyan light solved it quickly albeit with additional mistakes here and there. Upon feeling the breeze from the back of the ebony bookshelf, he turn to the side towards where the entrance of <Mage’s Archive> is.

Deactivating the illusion wall, he passes through and again greeted with the familiar look of the towering bookshelves touching the ceiling. In addition, to the moonlit area since it is already night-time.

 

Ignoring that warning as usual, Evan sharpens his senses once again, he finds several of those magical traps as he expertly avoided them to the wall of where the entrance to the dungeon part of the <Mage’s Archive> touching the wall. The words etched on it brighten showing a riddle.

I am tall when I am young, and I am short when I am old. What am I?

 

Evan ruminates for a moment upon being given the riddle as he nibbles on his index fingernail thinking of the multiple answers of that riddle.

“A spaghetti? No it bends when cooked, Ice? They melt right but somehow it doesn’t feel right to me… AH! Candle!!” With that enlightenment, Evan hurriedly type the words into the wall as it brightens once again and revealed a path leading to endless darkness. With a clenched fist and the look of determination, Evan enters the dungeon.

You’ve entered the dungeon <Mage’s Archive> Level 50

 

In an instant, he’s transported to the same area. Books stacking with one another disorderly, torn pages that swirls like dust devils. All being dimly lit by several orbs of light that hover in the air like a spotlight.

“Hmm…” The very same monument stands beside Evan as he gaze to it for a moment, before long he summoned Umbra again stroking the dog’s back and enjoying the fluffiness it gives so that he can get a slight courage to challenge the dungeon.

An idea slowly dawned upon Evan as he think of something. Looking closer to the floating spheres of light, Evan tries hard to look for any kind of attachment on that sphere. After a while, he didn’t find any with his eye-sight or mana senses.

Extending his arm, he telekinetically tries to grasp the sphere. As it began to swing towards Evan, “Its…Its working!!” In doing so, the spotlight too moves according to the swinging sphere of light. He continues to play tug of war with that sphere with Umbra just looking at the interaction between them in confusion.

*PLOP*

The sphere of light finally gives in and arrived on Evan’s hand. It looks like a ping-pong ball made from glass. Inside it is a condensed orb of light that shines to a particular spot creating the spotlight cone.

 

Evan tried it as he held it on his arm and aimed it to the darkness. In doing so, he can see something new being revealed akin to a flashlight.

“Oh my gosh…” The room is bigger than Evan thought, and he can see walls made from stacks and stacks of books. There are no structural walls made from bricks or concrete they are all such worn out pages and dusty tomes.

The darkness upon being shined on, retract themselves as if they are a living being afraid of light but it is not regarded as entity in Evan’s radar so the game mechanic. With that new information, Evan decided to take another [Light Orb] playing tug of war with it at first until it gives in.

But rather than holding it, Evan manipulated it to hover just on top of him and follows him & Umbra. As Evan delves to the dissipating darkness from the makeshift flashlight and a spotlight that continues to follow him.

“I need to watch out for my MP though… its constantly draining my MP making it hover on top of me. My MP regen thanks to my skill helps with that, but I don’t know when it will be fully drained.” Evan looks at his status panel seeing his MP bar dropping from full to tiny bit empty then back to full. Making it hard for him to check when his MP would ran out.

Moving onwards, he sees from the sides just musty tomes, torn pages, moldy scrolls, and parchments. All appeared to be flung off the ground or just left there to rot. With the intense darkness of the place thankfully being dissipated by the flashlight and spotlight that continues to hover on top of Evan.

“It helps that I can see what’s in front of me” Evan turn back and sees the original pathway of light that he followed before leading to his doom.

He turns again, going off shoot from the path. It is a straight line until he arrived in some kind of open chamber. The walls are made from books and it makes Evan a bit uncomfortable knowing it would be able to collapse on him.

Stroking Umbra’s back, the dog doesn’t seem to be scared at all by the walls. Only wary against the darkness that consumes when the spotlight leaves.

The room that he has entered is a half-circle room similar to an elevated lecture hall where Evan is the one on the top making him remember his time in university. Although contrary to the sleek and well-maintained benches & table. The tables here are all worn-out, there are torn pages, broken inkwells & quill.

And the ones that surprised Evan the most are the amount of bodies sitting on the benches. They are skeletons as he flashes the light towards them. He stroke Umbra’s back much faster this time with the dog just happily wags his tail.

Evan looks to Umbra as he thought, “Umbra didn’t react at all… it seems that they aren’t enemies. Mostly decoration. But damn… they are super realistic!” The skeletons that’s sitting on the benches and lean on the table made an impression of students. But it seems they have been in here for quite some time.

As the spotlight follows Evan, the darkness is kept at bay with him pointing the flashlight to the furthest edge of the room. There’s a raised stage and stairs on its left & right, with a massive lectern containing a book since Evan can see the hard cover of that tome.

He took the stair on the left as he enters the stage. He focuses on the massive lectern, where an equally big book in display. He approaches the lectern with the spotlight giving enough light to see.

“Eh? A blank book?” The leather hard cover is surprisingly well-maintained in Evan’s eyes as he stroke the cover.

Since his senses are sharpened, Evan can see that the book have mana infused within. Similar to what he sees in the 4 books at <Moving Library> and the map in mage’s archive tower not the dungeon version.

“Hmmm…” Evan began to touch the page as suddenly it faintly glow with cyan light which makes Evan step back as Umbra just tilted his head in confusion saying “Woof?”

The book continues to glow until an image begun to appear on the book’s pages. It is an elaborate magical circle where in the centre of it lies an eye looking straight through Evan. Before he can react though…

*BAM!!!* The book closes engulfing Evan and Umbra at the same time.