"I swear I read books other than that kind," Eir pleaded as they walked to the library. The building was located on the main street, a little way from the Guild Hall. Bane had seen it many times but never had any reason—or desire—to go inside. It was a large brick structure that blended nicely with its surroundings, with a few pillars jutting out to support the overhanging roof.
"I get it. You don't have to keep telling me," Bane replied, already tired of Eir's explanations and excuses about why she was reading a risqué book. In truth, he didn't care. He believed in treating people kindly and avoiding judgment, especially over something as trivial as reading material.
"Ugh…" Eir groaned, annoyed that Bane had even seen what she was reading in the first place. The two of them walked between two massive pillars, and instantly, Bane's breath was taken away.
Every wall was lined with bookshelves that stretched to the ceiling, with aisles forming between the hundreds of bookcases. Women in matching uniforms darted around, carrying books or sending them flying through the air to their proper spots.
"Cool, right?" Eir said, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
Bane sensed an object approaching at great speed and snapped out of his daze.
Thud.
A book slammed against the wall, landing perfectly in an open spot and sending a shockwave of sound through the large room. As Bane adjusted to the chaos, he could hear more thuds as books continued to fly to their designated places.
"Well, let's go," Eir said. Bane didn't respond, simply following her in awe. The librarians were mostly women, with a few men scattered among them, all wearing matching uniforms. Their coordinated movements made the scene feel more like a performance than an ordinary day at work.
Eir led Bane through the library, weaving in and out of rows of bookcases. As they walked, she explained how the books were organized. "Find your genre, then it's alphabetical order," she said. They continued exploring, and a question formed in Bane's mind.
"How do they make so many books?" Bane asked, marveling at the tens of thousands of volumes surrounding them.
"They use magic!" Eir explained happily. She loved being able to teach Bane, even if it was something as simple as this. She raised her hand, and a pen materialized out of nowhere, floating effortlessly above her palm. "Magic isn't just for attacking and healing. You can use it for things like this," she said, gesturing to the pen and then to the librarians floating through the air.
"What does that do?" Bane asked, pointing to the pen. He had a guess but wanted to hear her explanation.
"You can use it to write down your thoughts, transcribe text, or do anything you could do with a regular pen—except it's controlled by magic," Eir explained. As she spoke, the pen floated around, writing something in the air. "See?" she said, revealing her name written on her palm.
"Wow…" Bane said, his mind racing. They can fly with magic? Incredible.
After making a lap around the building, Eir split off, and Bane wandered over to the section she had pointed out for dungeon literature. Some of the books had no titles on the spine, and a few even lacked names on the front cover, making it difficult to find something he thought he'd enjoy.
He eventually found a book titled A Study of the First Ten Floors of the Dungeon and tucked it under his arm as he continued browsing. The section spanned an entire wall and several rows of large bookcases. Bane noted a few interesting titles, making a mental note to return someday. For now, it was time to find Eir.
While they had been walking around earlier, Bane had noticed Eir avoiding a small section at the very back of the library. He had a hunch she might be there now. As he wandered toward the back, two young women stepped into his path.
"E-Excuse me," a blond-haired elf with pointed ears said, looking up at him. Her coworker, a human, did the same, blocking his way. Bane noticed a sign above the doorway that read, Adults Only.
"Can I help you?" Bane asked, towering over the two young women.
They turned away and muttered to each other. Thanks to his heightened senses, Bane could hear their conversation clearly.
"Do you think he's old enough to go inside?"
"I think so. Look how tall, handsome, and strong he is…" the human girl trailed off, stealing a few more glances at him.
"Alright, let's let him in. But doesn't he look familiar?" the elf said.
"I've never seen him before. I would've remembered," the human replied.
After a moment, they turned back to Bane. "Okay, sir, you can go inside," the elf said with a bow, stepping aside and gesturing toward the entrance. Bane stepped through the doorless entryway into a small room filled mostly with mature women eagerly reading books in the aisles.
He spotted a familiar black-haired goddess near the entrance and walked up behind her. Not wanting to startle her, he quietly called out, "Hello, Eir."
"Eek!" Eir shrieked, slamming the leather-bound book shut and hiding it behind her back as she turned to face him. A few of the other readers glared at the disturbance, prompting the two of them to leave the section on their own.
Eir still carried the book, holding it as far away from Bane as possible. "Did you find anything?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.
"It's a book about the first ten floors of the dungeon," Bane said, eager to dive into the information it contained.
"Well, I'm glad you found something you enjoy. Are you ready to go?" Eir said, deliberately steering the conversation away from her own book.
"Yeah, can we just leave?" Bane asked, unsure of the library's procedures.
"No, silly. Since I'm the leader of a faction, we can take whatever books we want. As long as we return them within thirty days, there's no cost," Eir explained happily. Factions came with many perks that common citizens—especially those from the slums—didn't have access to.
The two of them signed out their respective books and made their way back. "Are you going to just read for the rest of the day?" Eir asked. The sun was already setting, and the afternoon was fading into evening.
"Probably. It's not like I want to go to the dungeon this late," Bane replied.
"I see. Then I'll meet you at home," Eir said with a smile.
"What are you doing?" Bane asked.
"I was going to go get food for us, you can go home and settle down. I won't take that long." Eir said.
"Alright, are you going to carry your book around too?" Bane asked, doubtful.
"W-Well, you can take it, but don't look inside of it. Promise?!"
"Promise, I won't look inside or read what it is about." He promised, taking the thin leather backed book from Eir's smooth white hands.
"I will be back soon with food." Eir said and before Bane could say anything, Eir had already started in the other direction.
Bane sighed. "Whatever," he muttered as he made his way back home.
The book he had checked out was a thick encyclopedia detailing everything known about the first ten floors of the dungeon. These floors were the most explored and documented, while information about floors beyond the twentieth was scarce.
Bane opened to the first page and found a short overview of the dungeon, including theories about its origin. The book then delved into a brief history of notable adventurers and some gods. Bane skimmed these pages, uninterested in the past and focused solely on the information about enemies.
As soon as he read the first snippet about the slimes of the first floor, a notification appeared:
[Combination Skill Unlocked]
[Reader's Insight]
"A new skill... What is a combination skill?" Bane muttered, the system put up a box explaining that very question:
Combination Skills: Skills that combine the uses of two already existing skills to form a new one. Usually they are passive and cannot be leveled up, two combination skills can rarely ever combine again.
Bane knew it better to just open the skills description:
Reader's Insight: A combination skill that combines Proficient Reader and threat analysis. Any useful information that the user reads will now be displayed when threat analysis is used.
"Wow... Combined skills are incredible." Bane thought, closing out of the boxes that appeared as he started back on the book. Bane was making good progress, completing the first two floors of information in only thirty minutes.
"I am back!" Eir shouted as Bane put a slip in his book to mark his page.
"Welcome back." Bane returned.
Eir set two bowls on the floor and eyed where Bane lay, "Wow, you read that really quick." Eir admired his reading speed, "You read like a fifth of it."
"Yeah, it is really interesting and my skills are really helpful as well." He explained.
"What skills help with reading?" Eir asked.
'Oh, that's right.' Bane's neglected telling Eir everything, simply because too much has been happening the past few days.
"After we eat, you should look at my status to see all of my new skills and levels." He said, causing Eir to grin ear to ear. She loved checking his status.