The passage narrowed fast, until William's shoulders brushed both walls. The faint light from the library above was gone now—swallowed by the stone like a dropped match.
He moved by touch and instinct. One hand on the cold wall, the other gripping his knife. The sling hung coiled at his belt, useless without ammo. The dark pressed on his back like a hand.
Every sound was magnified—his boots grinding grit, the damp scrape of his sleeve, his own breath flattening against the close air.
Each step felt like it might be the one that woke something.
After a dozen paces, his boot knocked something that rolled. He froze, crouched, and felt for it. His fingers brushed something round and smooth—stone, worn perfect by water or hands. Another beside it. Then a third. All heavy for their size.
He pocketed them automatically. Jacket sagged. Three perfect sling stones, and not a System notification in sight.
He sighed quietly. "Figures. The System knows the weight of my snacks but ignores the things that can save my ass."
He straightened slowly, readjusting his pack straps. The lack of proper storage was becoming an irritation. If he wanted to grab his firestarter or tie something fast, he'd have to dig around manually.
A real inventory—digital, instant, weightless—would make sense.
But then again, the System didn't seem built for comfort.
He moved again. The darkness thickened ahead, as if the tunnel bent around something massive. His palm traced uneven stone—cuts that felt deliberate, like chiseling, not erosion.
The air changed first. Cooler. Denser. It clung to the back of his throat, carrying a faint metallic tang. Not sharp—sweet, almost.
His tongue moved without thinking. He tasted the air, and the sensation rolled over him like licking a rusted coin. Metallic sweetness, heavy and unfamiliar. His mind tagged it as iron but didn't follow the thought any further.
Something died here once. He just didn't know it.
He stopped at a low alcove carved into the right wall—a shelf of sorts. Dust draped every edge, but one book sat on top, its cover cracked but intact. He brushed it clean, squinting at the faded gilt.
Reading Rooms—Rules and Etiquette.
He huffed under his breath. "Yeah, that's relevant."
Still, curiosity overrode sarcasm. He ran his tongue along the edge.
It tasted confusing: peppermint-cool, edged with the flavor of parchment dust and mildew. Clean and stale. A contradiction. His synesthesia sparked faint blue-white at first—clarity—then muddied into gray-green, the color of old glue.
A warning and a promise.
He hesitated, then decided that confusion was better than ignorance.
He ate.
The paper was dry and bitter, but as he chewed, a subtle hum threaded through his skull—a lightness, not strength but position. The knowledge that came wasn't combat, or healing, or power. It was awareness.
The geometry of space. Where walls met. Where blind corners weren't safe.
[Book Consumed: Reading Rooms—Rules and Etiquette]
+0 Stats
Skill Gained: Situational Awareness (Basic)
The hollow ache in his stomach didn't ease. It had barely counted as food. Still, his balance shifted—like his body understood the space around him better. A soft benefit, but not useless.
He exhaled through his nose. "So, you're the book equivalent of caffeine. Great."
He adjusted his grip on the knife and kept going.
The tunnel angled steeper, and soon the light thinned again—what little there was turning the stone edges soft and uncertain. He moved slowly, one hand stretched ahead, brushing rough stone for obstacles.
When his boot struck metal, he stopped cold.
He crouched and ran his palm along it. Iron, cool to the touch. Broad. Flat. Not a plate—too vertical. A door.
The taste of iron in the air grew stronger here.
Thicker. Wet. It coated his tongue even though his mouth was closed.
He straightened and checked his surroundings. The floor ended here—an uneven landing cut straight into stone. There was nowhere else to go but back or through.
He set his hand on the metal. The surface was cold at first, then warmed slightly under his fingers, as if something on the other side was alive.
A faint vibration pulsed beneath the iron. Not mechanical.
Rhythmic.
Breathing.
He pulled his hand back. His chest felt tight.
His thoughts turned to the unused skill point. His mind conjured the System again, half in reflex, and the translucent window surprisingly appeared before him in the dark.
Available Skill Unlocks:
…
• ???
• Dungeoneering (Basic)
…
• Scouting (Basic)
…
• ???
• Sling (Basic)
…
• Stealth (Basic)
• ???
• ???
Allocate 1 Skill Point → [Confirm / Cancel]
The list stretched down into gray entries he couldn't scroll fast enough to read. Half the things were locked.
Hidden.
He hovered over Sling (Basic). It would make sense now—he even had stones. But it also felt wasteful. He didn't know if he'd find books that offered better or overlapping skills. And the idea of using points without seeing the full map felt wrong.
He canceled the window. William felt foolish since he'd never opened his skill menu before and just assumed it was used to improve existing skills, but now wasn't the time or the place to go through the list...
The words faded into black again, replaced by the slow pulse of the air around him. The smell was stronger now—metallic sweetness thickening until it left a faint taste of copper on his tongue.
The air pressure shifted once, as if something massive had exhaled behind the door.
He didn't step back this time.
Instead, he tightened his grip on the knife until his knuckles ached, rolling his shoulders once to ease the tension. The faint tremor in the metal wasn't fear—it was something alive, moving slow.
He exhaled once, low and steady, and whispered to himself.
"Alright, then."
The words vanished into the dark.
He set one hand against the iron again, feeling the pulse beneath it—steady, deliberate. Then he pressed forward.
The door shifted under his palm, heavy but not locked, and the faintest seam of red light traced its edge.
Whatever waited inside wasn't waiting quietly.
And William stepped closer.
Status: William Page
Age: 18
System: Unbound Bookeater
Class: None
Level: 2
EXP: 0 / 200
Strength: 11
Speed: 12
Durability: 11
Mental: 12
Social: 5
Luck: 5
Traits:
– Hunger for Knowledge
– Synesthetic Cognition
– Rational Mind
Skills:
– Survival (Basic)
– Mycology (Basic)
– Cooking (Basic)
– Knife Use (Basic)
– Herb Lore (Basic)
– Knife Combat (Basic)
– Medicine (Basic)
– Magic (Basic)
– Anatomy (Basic)
– Unarmed Combat (Intermediate)
– Wrestling (Basic)
– Situational Awareness (Basic)
Abilities:
– Sense Magic (Basic) [Touch]
Combat Values:
– Critical Hit Chance: +10%
Unallocated Points:
– Stat Points: 0
– Skill Points: 1
Inventory:
– Knife (Common, Durability 92%)
– Trail Mix (Mundane, 340g)
– Water Bottle (Common, Empty, Durability 100%)
– Paracord (Common, 16 ft, Durability 98%)
– Firestarter (Common, Durability 87%)
– Poncho (Common, Durability 90%)
– Goblin Key (Uncommon)
– Improvised Sling (Common, Durability 85%)
– Smooth Stones (x3, Mundane)