A bustling crowd flowed through a winding shopping district, filling the wooden streets with lively chatter and constant movement. Merchants shouted to attract customers from colourful market stalls overflowing with exotic spices, strange trinkets, handcrafted weapons, glowing substances, and fresh produce. Nobles in embroidered cloaks mingled with commoners, while armed awakened carrying swords and leather satchels weaved through the busy thoroughfare. Children darted in-between shoppers, messengers hurried past, and merchants negotiated animatedly with customers. Azdin was wandering among them too, lost in thought.
'Weaver, the demon of fate. What exactly do I know about them right now?'
Aside from the obvious, it was almost nothing. He had proclaimed so confidently that he'd find them no matter what, but really trying to get started was a whole issue on its own. He had no leads, and based on what he talked about with the others, getting information from people was going to be a problem.
'Is talking about him illegal or something? Even Myne got so serious about it..'
Regardless of it all, there was one thing about them that he knew for sure.
'They're the one that gave me this sorcery.'
Of that he was certain of. There were several coincidences that led him to that conclusion.
'Hugo said I wasn't able to do anything like this before they all escaped, and as far as I remember, I've had this ability since the moment I woke up on that island. Which means I only gained this power while we were on that boat stranded at sea.'
As far as he was concerned, there were three.. four people on that boat at the time. Himself before he lost his memories, Hugo, the dying Tyr.. and someone who had managed to sneak aboard at some point.
Ignoring the fact that it would've been impossible to sneak someone on that tiny boat, it could've only been,
'Weaver. It must've happened when they made that deal with Tyr.'
He didn't know much about her, but if she was the one who gave it to him, then she would've said something in her last message. In other words, she didn't know that he had this sorcery either.
'Thinking about it now, that whole thing was a bet between her and Weaver. Which means if Weaver wants to win, then they have to have left something behind for me to find them easily.'
Right away, something came to mind.
'This sorcery again!'
So he hadn't been given it for no reason.
'But how am I supposed to do that exactly?? Is there a built in compass.. or something that I missed??'
At that moment he concentrated hard and tried to summon anything resembling that from the sorcery, but to no avail. Every single day that he could, he had summoned the mysterious runes and meticulously checked every bit of information that it showed. He had yet to see anything like that, though, so he didn't count on it randomly appearing in the future.
'Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way then.'
Taking a step back from that problem, he tried to think outside the box.
'Maybe it's not Weaver that I'm meant to be chasing right now.. but others with it?'
Who says that he was the only one that was given this strange ability? If there were others who had encountered the daemon under different circumstances from him, then maybe they would know a thing or two.
Although he complained that he didn't know much about the Weaver either, he was lacking in knowledge about the sorcery they cast on himself. Azdin had been familiarising himself with it a lot, but there were still things he didn't know.
Like how to make enchantments, for example. Maybe there was something worth looking for in there too.
If the sorcery itself was a clue, then figuring out all of its functions and following its traces should inevitably lead him to the mysterious Daemon, then?
'Yeah, that makes sense. Now where do I learn all this stuff..'
From his experience, there was no better place then a book.
'So I need to look for a library; that's what they're called, right?'
Holding back a sigh, he looked around dazed. He was still very unfamiliar with this floor of the city, so steeling himself, he began to ask around for directions.
**
After some time, he came to find himself standing before a decently large building. Like everything else around here, it was made of wood and cobbled stone, but at its top Azdin could see a large dome made of glass.
'An entire building dedicated to books..'
Roswell's captains' quarters was filled with all kinds of stuff, but their variety was kind of limited. Standing here and now, his mouth was simply watering from all the knowledge that was hiding inside.
But today wasn't the time for that. He had other priorities to get through first.
First, he wanted to figure out the steps to rise on the path of ascension. Although he knew what the ranks and classes were as well as the benefits they granted, he was still unaware of how to actually advance higher. Before he could properly begin his chase, he needed power, so it was the most important of all.
Next were the daemons. If he wanted to find one he'd have to learn about them first. From what Myne told him they were apparently quite infamous, so there had to be a thing or three. Anything on sorcery would be helpful too.
And lastly was geography. There was something that concerned him regarding the upcoming calamity, so he wanted to gather more knowledge before he tackled it.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped inside.
**
An elderly woman gave him a once-over look before extending a wrinkled hand across the desk.
"Membership fee is one drachma a month."
Azdin blinked, staring at her in utter confusion. He stood before the desk for several seconds before she sighed, seemingly having read his expression with ease.
"Knowledge is power, little boy. Of course it costs money. Why wouldn't it?"
'Little boy? Do I look that young?'
Reluctantly, he produced a single gold coin and placed it on the counter. Although he had more than enough, paying for something like this felt rather wrong. The woman's eyebrows rose ever so slightly as she picked it up, inspecting it before looking back at him.
"Paying in advance?"
He knew he was paying too much, but it wasn't like he had any lower denominations, so he didn't mind. It was just a drop in a bucket for him right now.
"Enjoy your year-long membership."
'...????'
He paled.
'Will I even use most of that??'
Without another word, she reached beneath the desk and produced a small black card, sliding it across the counter towards him. Azdin picked it up, turning it over in his fingers. There were strange markings etched into its surface, almost too faint to make out.
Taking the card and tucking it away in his pocket, he stepped away and prepared to start looking. Glancing around for a few moments, though, he ended up walking right back to the desk.
'Why struggle to look when there's someone competent right here?'
"I'm looking for books on..."
He went on to list all of the topics he was interested in, and from there the librarian gave him detailed instructions on how to find them. While she was at it, she taught him how to navigate the place himself. She seemed quite irritated when she did it though.
Once he finally got his directions, he took off into the maze of books.