Deep inside an ample forest, a small girl was picking some mushrooms. Being careful not to pick up the poisonous kinds.
She wore a gentle, woolen overdress, quite large, if I must say, for her frame. Her sleeves dropped a little over her wrist, and her shoulders hung low.
The fabric was an exotic dull lavender, as beautiful as the flower.
Near its hem, hanged curling symbols, their silver color attracted enough attention to be noticed, but later forgotten.
The bottom was worn, like it had been neglected. On one side, the skirt dipped lower than usual, like it was weighted by some things she kept hidden in her sewn-in pockets: like a quiet clink of bone, some dry herbs, the soft tap of glass against glass.
A shawl made out of the finest furs wrapped around her shoulders, pinned at her collar with a tarnished clasp in the shape of an eye. The fur was firm and thin so as not to weigh her down.
On her hands, she wore gloves. The leather was patched roughly, like it was homemade. And by the way, it stretched and stitched itself in layers; it wasn't the first time she had done it.
Her hair was half-braided, it was caught behind her small ears with a single pin that seemed to be carved from bones. Some of the strands escaped and curled loose around her face.
But most would just describe her as a mysterious witch.
Meanwhile, she didn't exactly love that alias; she was interested in those kinds of things.
She has always been.
Her mother was one of these so-called witches. So she had learn many from her. Even how to create some potions. It was just... she lacked the talent her mother had. And a power to make things easier.
But even without both, she is still passionate about it. And hopes that one day she will be able to create a potion like her mother used to do to heal her when she got injured.
Most of course don't know this about the young witch, and such think of her as a freak.
It was also why she decided to move completely from the village.
She was tired, tired of everyone around her. So she built a small hut somewhere where she knew she would be alone.
That was also why, after gathering the mushrooms she wanted and traveling a long way back home, she was surprised to meet a boy sleeping in her bed.
At first, she had wanted to kill him, thinking he might be a threat. But she decided against it.
The boy was strange. Like he wasn't from this world.
But still, she wasn't going to let him get away without punishment.
That was how Aether ended up being attacked by a cat... and having to explain himself to the girl.
[...]
"An interesting story... but did you really have to kill the poor man?"
Aether scoffed, clearly unpleased by her response. He was expecting to get sympathy, but instead, she questioned his ways.
"Didn't you listen to the story? I had to do it?"
He said irritated, turning his head away from her.
"Since when is a food not done properly a reason to kill?"
Aether's face turned a little red.
He knew it was absurd. It was crazy even for him. But he couldn't say the real reason. He wasn't going to make the same mistake twice.
And since he had just awakened, his mind scrambled for a way to disguise his true reason...
and that was the genius excuse he came up with.
"And who are you to judge? You aren't just a saint yourself. Look at what your cat did to my face! And how is it even moving?"
Aether turned his neck and pointed to the many scratches that scarred his face. And the criminal was standing right next to him, licking his paws like nothing had happened.
He could even see his blood on them.
'Have some shame, you feline!'
The witch crossed her arms in authority. Not wanting to let a petty child speak like this to her.
"Well, unlike you, I had a normal reason!" She pointed with her finger directly at Aether, "You're lucky I didn't kill you for intruding inside my house."
Aether shrugged cockily.
At first, he only wanted to stop the talk about why he had killed the fisherman. But now, he didn't want to let his pride fall under hers.
"You call this a house?"
It was a clash between two immovable objects.
Hearing the child disrespect, a little dagger appeared in the witch's hand.
It manifested from thin air. Like it had always existed, but at the same time was never there before.
Aether's eyes widened.
And paled in terror.
'W-What?'
Seeing the disbelief in the young intruder's eyes, the witch smiled.
Thinking it was because he was scared.
But that was far from the truth.
"How... how did you do that!"
Aether said, his desperate tone taking the women off guard.
...
"I just summoned a relic?"
This only fueled the child's bafflement. He was acting quite strangely. But she knew from the beginning there wasn't something right with him.
"What do you mean relic? What is a relic!'
Aether gritted his teeth as his tone changed from being desperate for answers to demanding them.
Seeing this, the witch felt quite uncomfortable.
But decided to answer.
"Relics? The things the Codex awards you?"
She rolled her eyes, like she was annoyed explaining something that was so simple.
Like it was something everyone knew.
Meanwhile, Aether was panicking more and more.
"Codex? Do you have an affinity, skills, heck, even a path?"
"Um, yeah? Well, I don't have a path yet. I'm just a reader."
Aether paled completely. He didn't understand what was happening.
He was supposed to be inside a book; the people inside shouldn't have the Codex. The stories in the Infinite Library are their own worlds; they are completely different from the real world.
'So how does she know all of this?'
The fisherman, not knowing about relics, made things even more confusing.
'Is she the only person? Is she not from this world...
is she from the real world and had entered Frozen Crown me?'
But that answer didn't match her tone. She was speaking as if everyone knew about these puny things. Which in the real world would be true. But not inside a book.
'Does she know I'm also not from this place? Is that why she's surprised that I'm acting as if I've never heard of these terms?'
It was a possibility.
Well, it would be, but after someone enters a book, alone or with a cohort, others can't enter. Neither during nor after.
This had to mean that the Codex was something normal in this world.
Which could only mean that the events inside this book were somehow part of the real world.
'But how is that possible?'
Do books that happened inside the real world exist?
There was no other explanation.
No other made sense.
But if Frozen Crown did take place in his world.
Then what about the Infinite Library?
Could he enter it from inside?
And what would happen after he changes the ending?
Wouldn't he be changing the past?
Well, it was more the question of after beating a book, the ending actually changes.
Books close after someone challenges them; no one is allowed to see what happened to them and their story.
So it wasn't written in stone that the actual ending changes.
'Then... where am I really? Where in the real world am I?'
He took a deep breath. Trying to calm down.
He knew how weird he was acting in the eyes of the girl. And how out of the ordinary his reaction was.
"Yeah... you're right, I'm just a little tired."
The young witch raised an eyebrow at him. Judging him.
She didn't say anything. She rather looked his body up and down. But it didn't look like she was looking at him.
But rather at something inside of him.
"I can't see anything..."
She raised her head and frowned.
"Who are you?"
Aether blinked twice.
"What do you mean you can't see? Are you blind?"
The witch sneered and rolled her eyes, annoyed by him.
"Not you. Your essence threads. It's like they don't exist... And answer my question, you fool!"
His essence threads?
What did that even mean?
While he knew what they were, they were the many pathways that connected the core to the rest of the body.
He didn't get what she meant by them not existing.
He still could summon relics and even use his abilities.
Was it because his affinity was restricted?
'Probably not.'
While part of the core is your affinity, the other is you, so essence would still flow, and thus, there would still be essence threads.
So then, if it wasn't because of his affinity.
It had to do with the other part of his core.
It was because of him.
Or more specifically, by what he figured. His path.
He gave her a cocky smile.
"Who am I? You said it yourself.
I am just a Fool."