Cyrus Solaris
After I left Mira's room in the medbay, I headed to the last place where I thought I could find more information about the school and, potentially, this creature: the Central Library.
I walked into the main library, and it was busier than I expected, books zipping overhead, and at least a hundred students running from shelf to shelf, grabbing other materials to prepare for the final exam.
Should I be studying more?
I found a table by myself and took a seat, raising my hand to call for books on Eylria folklore and myths. A couple of books zipped into my hand, and I spent about an hour or so going through them.
Perimontu, the many-faced Behemoth, steals the faces and bodies of children, then uses them to hunt down the rest of their family.
What is actually going on over there?
The continent had so many things roaming its land that it made me think about Kuru and Chamakuri in a different light, especially if they had to endure things like this on a day-to-day basis.
But none of these books had anything about the dread moon choir, aside from the novel Vlad of the Night.
Does this place have any older records or information somewhere?
I went to put the books away on a nearby shelf and overheard some truth seekers talking about doing extra reading on the academy's history, and that older, rarer books were in the basement of the Central Library. But they didn't want to go there because it creeped them out.
Well, I guess that's where I'm going.
I went to a terminal displaying the building's layout and what each of the six floors primarily housed.
I swiped through it until I got to the page about the basement and how to get there.
With the information I had gathered, I weaved through the rows of bookshelves and clusters of tables until I reached the far end of the library, where a long, twisting copper staircase stood, providing access to the basement and the upper floors.
When I got to the bottom, I found a row of private, soundproof rooms that students could rent to study alone or use noisy equipment and study materials without disturbing others.
But it was like a ghost town, just cold and silent.
After a quick search, I found that there used to be a smaller section of the library and an archive room open to students. However, everything was moved into storage after a renovation. Most students consider the place non-existent.
Despite that, it was still clean and well-kept. This seemed like a place the librarian would often frequent. Maybe after staff hours?
If I have learned anything, it's that everything isn't as it seems.
I walked through several cold corridors in the library basement, following the old school map I got from the Starchive and comparing it with the current layout.
It took a while, because I wasn't the best with maps or architectural schematics, but I eventually found the Rare Books section in the basement. Older books were stored there to slow oxidation and preserve them for as long as possible.
The sign on the door said that books were not allowed to leave this area and that, if they did, there would be repercussions.
Let's see what type of clues I can find here.
I grabbed the knob and opened the door; a cold breeze crept past me, causing goosebumps to prickle down my arms.
Did a Morzeth set up shop here?
When I walked in, the room wasn't what I expected. There were six bookcases, with bare shelves.
So much for following the rules, I guess. What do I do now?
My hand clamped around the corner of a bookshelf. I felt the temperature in my body rise as my cosmic energy surged with frustration.
There has to be something here; this spot has to have something.
I sat in the middle of the floor, letting my breathing practices take over, calming me down so I could think properly.
As I breathed in and out, I let my mind focus on the gravitational waves coming from this room.
After a few cycles of breathwork, I felt multiple large ripples in space that didn't match what was present in this bare room.
I felt the ripples come from the wall to my right, as if there were a secondary space somewhere hidden.
I opened my eyes, got up off the ground, and walked straight to that wall.
The distortions got stronger the closer I got.
Something is behind here. But how do I get past it?
I placed both my hands on the wall and pushed. A slight buzz and a click sound came from the wall.
I need a little bit more juice, I guess.
I imbued my arms and pushed again, so hard that the wall spun like a revolving door, causing me to lose my balance and fall flat on my face.
I'm so glad no one else saw that.
I dusted myself off the ground and found myself in a much larger room. A room housing a large number of artifacts, books, statues, and other items that looked like they could be in a museum.
Everything was covered in a blanket of dust, and the room was dim.
I walked through the room, dusting things off and looking for things that seemed to jump out at me.
I felt another ripple in space, telling me that someone or something was approaching this current room.
Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead.
I looked around for a place to hide.
My eyes darted everywhere, and the object was getting closer.
I heard a creak.
I concealed my cosmic energy and hid behind two gigantic pots on the right side of the wall.
Then I heard light footsteps.
So it's a person.
When I looked to where I heard the footsteps come from, I saw nothing, just the scattering of dust with every invisible step.
Did the creature track me down here?
I stayed behind the pots for a few more moments, trying to gauge what this could be based on the mass of the moving object.
It's too small to be that creature, so is it a student? Whatever it is, it doesn't want to be seen at all.
Then the footsteps stopped, and a box began to float and open.
Papers spilled out of the box, and six pieces floated in the air as if drifting through water.
Wait a minute.
I slid out from behind the large pots and quietly walked to the end of the room, my cosmic energy still suppressed.
Whatever this was didn't seem to notice me at all, and I managed to creep up behind it, close enough that it wouldn't have a chance to counter my next move.
Then, I activated gravity well.
"Ugh!" someone said, their voice hoarse.
So it's a student after all.
"Show yourself, and why are you following me?"
Then the student became visible.
It was Nerena.
"Can you let me up! I'm not following you. We just ended up having the same leads."
Wait, she was investigating this, too?.
"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"
"Just because I'm our cluster's truth seeker doesn't mean I owe you information."
I released gravity well.
"I guess. But why were you searching for the creature?"
"I had a run-in with it, and I didn't get the best look at it," she said, picking up some of the papers scattered on the ground.
She didn't say another word after, leaving the silence to fill the space.
I walked over, did the same, and saw that the box they came from read "archive records."
We never really talked outside of a midterm test. But I didn't think things would be this awkward. Then again, she is always extremely quiet and reserved.
"So why are you looking at records out of all things?'
"Because there seems to be missing information about the history of the school and the dread moon choir."
She must hate giving details, huh?
Nerena and I spent the next few minutes going through the school records from 900 PL to 2113 PL.
First, I found the school roster of students who attended the academy forty years ago when the astral Behemoth attacked.
None of the names jumped out to me, and there weren't descriptions of the students on the roster either.
Then, I looked for the case and incident reports and picked out the years with the most incidents, along with the year 2073 PL, since that was the year of the behemoth attack. I wanted to see if there was anything recurring that might reveal something new about this creature.
The first incident report that caught my attention occurred in 998 PL, when Headmaster Naga's great ancestor, the second Headmaster of Xhatal, led the school.
The report stated that a massive tree and carnivorous plants were growing in the academy's courtyard. Several heirs of great families were eaten, leading to attacks on the school by angered rulers.
It was discovered that the plants were created by a student connected to the Elder Tree Sage constellation. That student was later expelled from the academy.
The student's name made my skin crawl.
Malakar Slytharian.
He attended Xhatal Academy way back then?
Then a sudden realization struck.
Was the M. Slytharion I saw carved on the tree where the lilies were growing his doing?
My heart raced.
But that wasn't the only thing that stuck out to me.
There was another incident report describing the more recent school massacre forty years ago. The massacre took place in the old abandoned dorms. The report had a short list of those who lived in these dorms. The list was detailed, providing a clear description of the students and their constellation abilities.
A student named Selene Strigol, a girl with pale skin and scarlet hair, had abilities similar to those of the creature that attacked me: she could siphon energy from others and manifest fangs made of cosmic energy.
It stated that her constellation was unknown and so rare that some had never seen it in their lifetime. It also mentioned that Selene was last seen on the night of the dorm massacre and that her remains were not found with the rest of the bodies that were found.
I tapped Nerena on her shoulder and gave her the packet of information to read.
She looked at the document and looked up at me, her eyebrows scrunched.
"So the creature that attacked the school all those years ago might not have been a behemoth?"
"It appears not," I said, taking back the piece of paper.
Silence lingered for a moment.
"But now I wonder, if this girl disappeared so long ago, why would she come back to attack Xhatal?"
Nerena winced for a split second.
I gave her a surprised look.
"It's ok, I'm fine—just a little headache. But to answer your question, I have no clue. This is where all of our leads end."
This was not how I wanted this to go. I felt like I was on the verge of figuring it out, only for the rug to be pulled out from under me.
"Yeah, this all leads to some probably ancient missing lady with vampire powers. The school is really going to believe me now."
Nerena shrugged.
"Probably not. Can't do anything about it now. Just make sure you are ready for the Rift Exam," Nerena said, making her way out of the large hidden room.
The exam was my last chance to get our clan's relic, clear my name, and obtain my provisional license.