Chapter 15
The Gate Keeper
Tokiya slowly regained his vision. Before Tokiya could even see anything, he knew something was wrong. Unlike the soft ground of the forest, the surface he now stood on was hard. He looked down to see he was standing on a stone floor. Tokiya took in his surroundings and saw that he was in a medium sized circular stone room. It was dimly lit, and there were cracks and craters in the walls and floors, so the room seemed old. On the other side of the room was a lonely staircase.
"Tokiya! Where are you?"
Shocked by the sudden desperate shout, Tokiya swiftly turned around to see Berserker aimlessly running about and flailing his arms. His vision clearly hadn't come back to him. As Tokiya was about to respond, Berserker slammed into a wall. Tokiya couldn't help bursting into laughter.
"Haha, I'm right over here, Berserker."
Tokiya walked over to Berserker, still giggling. As Tokiya went to pat Berserker on the back, he felt something crash onto the top of his head. It was Berserker's fist.
"Don't laugh at me, idiot!"
It was clear Berserker was flustered over the many things that happened in such a short time. It made Tokiya uncomfortable. With his ability to see back, Berserker was able to see Tokiya standing in front of him. He let out a sigh.
"It doesn't look like we took any damage from that, but our current situation is still a far cry from ideal."
Tokiya looked around once again.
"It seems almost impossible that we could end up here after being in the forest just a few seconds ago. The sphere that did this was in the mouth of that wolf, so I'm sure Ubi planned for this to happen."
Berserker ran his hand through his hair.
"First with the Temporis and now this. That damn cultist really came prepared. Not to mention that purple haired lady is fighting something she's effectively useless against."
"What do you think that sphere was?"
Berserker began walking across the room, and Tokiya followed him.
"Probably some weird magic infused item. Hell, knowing that we're dealing with the Cult of the Black Sword, it could even be a regalia."
Tokiya, still following Berserker, was confused by this fancy sounding term.
"A regalia? What's that?"
Berserker crouched down and began examining the floor. He responded to Tokiya in a tone that showed he was used to having to explain things to him.
"They're items that are made from the souls of incredibly strong people. It allows them to pass down their power for generations. They're extremely rare, but the most well known would have to be Vanguard's Sword. Unfortunately, like with most well known regalia, its whereabouts are unknown. Although, I doubt you even know who Vanguard is."
Tokiya kicked Berserker who was still crouched.
"I told you I didn't go to school, and now you think I'm an idiot? Of course I know who Vanguard is. Every person in Oravell does."
"Oh, really? Then tell me about him."
Tokiya wasn't going to answer, but the more they stood in silence, the more the fact that Berserker thought he was dumb ate at him. So, he unfortunately fell for the bait and responded.
"He was the strongest and most honorable Imperial Knight in his time, and he's credited with having defeated the Storm Tyrant, one of the Four Calamities. There, does that clear me?"
Berserker nonchalantly waved his hand.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"You were the one who asked!"
Berserker stood up with a troubled look on his face.
"What's wrong?"
Berserker pointed to the crater at his feet and then to the ones on the walls.
"We're not the only ones in here. These craters are obviously from a fight, and whoever made them is strong. They probably went up that staircase. If we want to get out of here that's the first place we have to check, so prepare for a battle."
Berserker pointed to the staircase on the other side of the room. Tokiya sighed.
"This forest has become more troublesome than I thought."
Berserker hit him on the top of his head before beginning to make his way to the staircase. Tokiya barely felt any sense of pain, for his head had built up a resistance to Berserker's abuse.
As they walked to the stairs, their footsteps echoed throughout the medium sized room. Its vacancy was unsettling for Tokiya, and it seemed like the empty space was intentional. The two stopped in front of the staircase.
"Stay close, ok? I'll use my detection magic, so we don't get caught off guard."
Tokiya nodded, and Berserker took the first step. However, before his foot even landed on the first step, a small flash caused him to back up and increase the grip on his sword. In front of them appeared words made of what looked like magical energy, floating in the air. Berserker frowned.
"What the hell is this?"
Peeking out from behind Berserker, Tokiya read the floating words.
"Invalid access. Scholar's Society membership required."
His voice trailed off in confusion. The two men stood in front of the words unsure of how to process them. After a brief moment, Tokiya thought of something.
"It doesn't look like there's a barrier, so maybe we can just keep going."
Berserker shrugged and began his ascent of the stairs. He walked right underneath the words, so he did not see them update once his foot crossed the threshold of the stairs. However, Tokiya did. The message now read:
Invalid access. Please cease policy violating activity.
Berserker was now already about a third of the way up the stairs. He turned around, wondering why Tokiya wasn't following him.
"Tokiya, we're good, so let's go. We can't stay here. It's clearly dangerous."
Tokiya almost shrugged off the floating words until he realized that the message had been updated again without him noticing. It read:
Invalid access. Cease policy violating activity. 9
It changed again.
Invalid access. Cease policy violating activity. 8
Tokiya's eyes widened in realization. His body tensed, and his heart rate increased.
"Berserker, get off the stairs now!"
"Wait, what? Why?"
"Just get down here!"
Invalid access. Cease policy violating activity. 5
Realizing the desperation and urgency in Tokiya's voice, Berserker began running down the stairs.
"Hurry up!"
Invalid access. Cease policy violating activity. 3
"Just jump!"
Berserker bent his knees and jumped off the stairs. His body passed the threshold of the stairs. However, his sword still remained within the domain of the stairs.
Invalid access. Cease policy violating activity. 0
Invalid access. Summoning Gate Keeper.
Berserker landed on the ground. He stared at Tokiya in confusion.
"What's wrong?"
Tokiya stared past Berserker and at the floating words which faded out of existence. His legs began to shake. Berserker forcefully pushed Tokiya back with one hand.
"What are you doing? Answer me goddammit-"
The entire atmosphere of the room changed. Its already ominous feel increased tenfold, and the room somehow felt smaller than it actually was. Berserker was now the one intensely staring past Tokiya. Tokiya sharply turned around.
In the center of the room stood a giant bulky monster. Its claws were like those of a lion, and in its right hand was a giant wooden club fit for its size. The creature was a cyclops, for it had one buggy eye. It had long brown hair that drooped out of its nemes headdress. Its head snapped towards them.
SLAM!
Not wanting to turn their heads away from the cyclops, Berserker and Tokiya shifted their eyes back to see that a metal curtain was now blocking the entrance to the stairs. The craters in the ground started to make sense to both of them. This was the room where people came to die.
Berserker stepped forward, placing his free hand on his sword. The cyclops recognized Berserker's challenge and began charging at him. Despite his injuries from before, Berserker immediately took a fighting stance, and his magical energy began to surround him.
"Tokiya, run! You have to stay as far away from us as possible."
Without hesitation, Tokiya bolted to his left, and began running along the perimeter of the room.
"Does that thing not see me? No, it's too focused on Berserker. Is this Berserker's plan, to take that thing on alone? With those injuries there's no way."
Tokiya made it to the other side of the room before suddenly hearing a ringing clash. The club of the cyclops and Berserker's sword had collided, and Berserker was now under the full weight of the giant. However, for Tokiya, it didn't make sense how wood and magic enhanced metal could make such a clash. That's when he inspected the scene closer and made the horrifying realization that the cyclops' club was covered in the same white energy as Berserker's sword.
Berserker's leg trembled under the intense pressure of the monster even as he enhanced them with magic. Realizing this was a losing battle, Berserker redirected his force backwards, performing a clean roll. The cyclops' club created a crater on the ground as Berserker rolled right into the metal curtain behind him.
With surprising speed, the cyclops picked up its club and swung it towards Berserker. Berserker bolted out of the way before the club forcefully collided with the metal curtain. However, it didn't leave a dent, proving the strength of the barrier.
Berserker created space between himself and the monster.
"Damn it! That thing is way too fast for its size, and there's no way I'll be able to keep up."
"Berserker!"
Berserker turned his head to the direction of the shout to see Tokiya on the other side of the room with his hands around his mouth. Tokiya continued.
"Aim for its legs! It's the only way!"
Berserker smirked and nodded.
"Nice, you're finally making yourself useful."
He directed his attention back to the cyclops, but the monster was no longer looking at him. Its one buggy red eye was staring at Tokiya with overwhelming bloodlust. Tokiya's hands began to shake.
The cyclops dashed towards Tokiya who didn't really know what to do. He couldn't out speed the thing. However, Berserker wasn't far behind the monster. He lunged forward, enhancing his leap with magic. Berserker slashed the Achilles tendon of the monster, creating a deep wound and causing it to stumble and fall to the ground.
Tokiya quickly ran along the perimeter of the room, getting as far away from the cyclops as possible. Berserker took full advantage of the monster's fallen state, and he climbed on top of his body. He ran up to the cyclops' neck.
"Tokiya, you need to stay quiet. Just let me handle this."
Tokiya continued running away from the fight. He clenched his fists as he ran.
"Let him handle it? Of course you're just going to let him handle it, Tokiya. What happened to proving yourself? What happened to getting stronger? What happened to getting stronger?"
Berserker, still standing on top of the cyclops, raised his sword and pointed it straight down. He coated his sword in magic and thrust it into the back of the cyclops' neck. However, unlike his previous attack, this one did not cut deep. It barely cut at all. At the place on the cyclops' neck where Berserker's sword pierced it, was a coating of the monster's own enhancement magic.
Berserker began to lose his balance as the cyclops began to rise. His sword fell out of the cyclops' body, causing him to fall to the ground. While still on one knee, the cyclops spun around to strike Berserker. However, it was with reduced speed which gave time for Berserker to parry it.
Tokiya heard the clash of the weapons and turned around to see Berserker being pushed back and struggling against the cyclops. With a bold grunt, Berserker put everything into deflecting the cyclops' club. Pushing through his own considerable injuries, he dashed towards the cyclops, planning to take out its other leg.
In its vulnerable state, the cyclops couldn't move back or dodge, and it would take too long to bring its club back down to strike Berserker. However, it wasn't out of options. As Berserker approached the monster, the cyclops opened its mouth, and sparks began to fly out. The buildup of fiery energy resulted in a giant fireball being shot at Berserker. With little time to react, Berserker raised his sword to protect himself, but he was still sent flying back a few feet. The impact also caused Berserker to drop his sword.
Berserker stopped his backward motion and began to reach for his sword.
"Great, it can shoot fireballs too. Tsk."
As he went for his weapon, a giant shadow was cast over him. The club of the cyclops descended on Berserker, and he barely managed to jump back in time, further distancing him from his sword. The cyclops opened its mouth again, blasting another fireball at Berserker. Without his weapon, Berserker's only form of protection was his coating of enhancement magic. He took the blast head on and was sent flying back, crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.
Tokiya gawked as he saw Berserker struggling to even move against the wall. Tokiya clenched his fists. The cyclops slowly made its way towards Berserker's bloodied and burned body. There was no doubt that with the way things were going, Berserker would be killed. Tokiya knew this very well.
"If he dies and you just let it happen, Tokiya, I'll never forgive you. How could you just stand here and watch someone who's been risking their life for you die? How dare you think you can just allow someone to die for you. How dare you, Tokiya!"
Tokiya's head began to swirl with thoughts about what he should do next. The thoughts became so abusive that all of his rationale was brutally crushed. His thoughts were no longer about saving Berserker. Instead, they were just about doing something other than standing there or running away.
Tokiya's eyes landed on Berserker's sword. He swiftly ran over to it and thoughtlessly tried to lift it. Of course, it was too heavy for him to even lift one inch of the ground. Luckily, this struggle with the sword seemed to bring him back to his senses.
"What am I doing? Even if I was able to lift this sword, what would I do with it? Did I plan on charging at that thing just to get sent flying like Berserker? If Berserker couldn't beat him, what could I possibly do? Only Berserker can kill that monster."
Tokiya's eyes widened in realization.
"Only Berserker can kill it."
Tokiya looked up. The cyclops was standing over Berserker with its club raised about to land the final blow. Tokiya shouted.
"Hey cyclops!"
The cyclops swiftly turned its head towards Tokiya.
"I know you can't understand me, but I also know that you're too stupid to focus on one thing at a time. So, you're going to come at me and leave Berserker alone."
Perfectly according to Tokiya's plan, the cyclops completely forgot about Berserker and began slowly making its way towards Tokiya.
"Good."
Tokiya bent down and placed both of his hands on Berserker's sword.
"As much as I don't want Berserker to throw his life away for my sake, I don't want to throw away my life for me either. So, I don't plan on killing you with this sword. By no means am I strong. I can't take on an army of wolves like Berserker. I can't stop time like Karasu. I can't make people explode like Eien. But no matter how useless I am, I'm still a human with my own will, so I'm going to use that will to prove that I can do something. So, watch because this is my strength!"
Tokiya's grip on the sword strengthened as the cyclops got closer and closer. He was still barely able to lift the sword, but he wouldn't give up. He tried again and again to raise the sword.
"Please, please, don't fail. Don't fail!"
It seemed almost too convenient, but seemingly in response to Tokiya's overwhelming will, the mark on his left arm began to glow a faint light blue similar to what happened with Mors. The more he pulled at the sword, the brighter the mark seemed to glow until the blue light was almost blinding. At this point Tokiya was able to just barely lift the sword over his head. With his remaining strength, he threw the sword, and it went flying through the air. It zipped past the cyclops who ignored the sword, for it was too focused on the light radiating from Tokiya's arm.
Tokiya fell on his butt, and blood began to stream from the thorn marks on his arm. However, the cyclops did not stop moving. The distance between Tokiya and the creature was short now, and Tokiya would soon be in range of its club. Tokiya scoffed.
"Goodbye, cyclops."
Blood sprayed out of the cyclops' good leg, causing it to fall to the ground. A figure jumped onto the cyclops' fallen body. It was Berserker. His eyes were red and his breathing was heavy and uncontrolled. His body was covered in blood, and the burns still remained on his body. Berserker ran up to the neck of the cyclops and prepared to stab it like he tried before. The cyclops set up its enhancement magic coat, but Berserker's sword pierced it, plunging deep into the neck of the creature.
The cyclops writhed in pain as Berserker brutally pulled the sword out of its body. Eventually, the cyclops stopped all movement. Berserker jumped off the cyclops and began walking to Tokiya. Behind Berserker, the body of the cyclops faded into small particles of light. Relieved that everything was over, Tokiya let out a heavy sigh and stood up.
As Berserker got closer, Tokiya noticed that his eyes were still red and his breathing uneven. Berserker stopped barely one foot away from Tokiya.
"Berserker, are you ok?"
Slowly, Berserker's eyes reverted to their normal maroon color, and his breathing became calmer. Berserker raised his hand. Before Tokiya could react, Berserker brought his hand down on his shoulder, shocking Tokiya. Berserker smirked.
"That was awesome, Tokiya!"
Tokiya blinked rapidly.
"H-huh?"
"Ha, don't "huh" me! That throw was amazing! How'd you even lift my sword?"
"I don't know. It just kinda happened."
Berserker roughly grabbed Tokiya's arm and began inspecting it.
"Well, it certainly wasn't without a cost. Still, that was amazing."
Tokiya flinched and brought his arm back.
"Ow, it was really nothing. You're the one who killed it while being half dead. You did way more than me."
Berserker's smirk disappeared.
"Not everyone would've been able to do what you just did even if they were facing certain death. You're special, Tokiya."
Tokiya scoffed.
"Anyone can throw a sw-"
"Let's not linger, ok. This place is clearly dangerous, so we need to get out of here fast."
Tokiya wasn't happy about being interrupted, but he did agree with what Berserker said. Berserker turned around to face the stairs. The metal curtain that was blocking them before was now gone. He coughed up some blood but acted like it was nothing. Tokiya knew it would be pointless to comment on it. Berserker began walking towards the stairs.
"Think we should try going up the stairs again?"
Tokiya responded in an extremely wary voice.
"I don't know. It'll probably just end up summoning another cyclops. We have to find a different way."
The two stopped in front of the staircase. Berserker looked around.
"I could try smashing through the walls with my sword."
Tokiya looked at him skeptically.
"That would take a while, and I doubt you could do that in your current state."
"I guess we'll just have to wait then because I don't see anything else we can do."
"I guess."
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming from down the staircase. Both men swiftly turned their heads and peered up the stairs. A slender figure was descending the stairs with his arms behind his back, showing no real malice. The monocle on his right eye stood out in the darkness. Once the man touched the ground, the light hit him, and he could be seen clearly. He wore extremely professional attire, and his deep blue hair was neatly slicked back.
Berserker stepped in front of Tokiya.
"Who are you?"
The man shook his head and sighed.
"I come down here check on my lobby just to be rudely interrogated by some brute."
Berserker sucked his teeth.
"What did you just call me?"
Berserker coughed up some blood. Tokiya stepped up.
"Let's calm down."
He turned to the man.
"You said this was your lobby. What did you mean by that?"
The man adjusted his monocle.
"Well, this is my library, so naturally this lobby is also mine."
Berserker looked around.
"What a nice lobby you have."
Tokiya ignored Berserker's sarcastic comment.
"This is a library?"
The blue haired man nodded.
"Yes, it is. The library part of this regalia is upstairs."
Berserker muttered to himself.
"So, it is a regalia."
"I came down here to see what all the commotion in my library was about. Judging by your states, I'm going to assume you had an encounter with the Gate Keeper."
Berserker scoffed.
"If you mean the cyclops, then yeah."
"Honestly, I'm surprised you survived. With most people, I end up having to carry their dead bodies out of here."
Tokiya shook his head.
"Listen, we don't want to be here, so if you could just direct us to the exit, that would be great."
A slightly surprised expression came onto the man's face.
"You mean you aren't here by choice?"
"No, we were brought here against our will."
The man nodded.
"I see."
He turned around and began walking up the stairs.
"Very well, I won't keep you here if you don't want to stay. Follow me. The exit's upstairs."
Tokiya took a hesitant step forward.
"That won't summon the cyclops again, right?"
The man turned his head around.
"It shouldn't unless you're not qualified to enter the library."
"Last time we tried going up the stairs a message told us that we needed to be a member of some organization."
The man swiftly turned his whole body around. He leaned forward slightly. There was a grin on his face that completely contradicted his calm and polite personality.
"You mean the Scholar's Society. So, you two aren't members?"
Tokiya took a step back.
"N-no."
The man snapped his fingers, and two sheets of paper appeared in Tokiya and Berserker's hands.
"That's fine. All you have to do is sign these contracts in order to begin your free trial. After the period ends, if you like the Scholar's Society experience you can pay a monthly fee to have access to our wealth of knowledge and advantages."
Ignoring the man's obvious advertisement, Berserker read over the contract.
"It says the only thing signing this contract does is start our one time free trial."
Still smiling, the man responded with a bit of annoyance.
"That's what I just said. But it's also the only way to get to the exit."
Berserker shrugged.
"Whatever. There doesn't seem to be a catch. You in, Tokiya?"
Tokiya sighed.
"If it'll get me out of here, sure."
The man's greed filled smirk increased in size.
"Very good. You may sign at the bottom."
The man snapped his fingers, and pens appeared in front of Tokiya and Berserker. They looked at each other to confirm their decisions before simultaneously signing the papers.
"Hey Berserker, how do I make a signature?"
"Just write your name, idiot."
Once the papers were signed, they disappeared into thin air. The blue haired man chuckled happily.
"Please follow me."
Tokiya and Berserker followed the man up the stairs. Tokiya looked up to make sure the message did not reappear, and luckily, it did not. Once they reached the top of the staircase, all three of them emerged from the exit that was in the ground of the second floor.
Tokiya's eyes widened at what he saw. In front of him was a labyrinth of absolutely massive bookshelves. Each bookshelf had to be around 100 feet tall, and they were all packed with books of various colors, leaving no empty spaces. Because of the tall nature of the shelves, the ceiling was so high it could barely be seen. The maze was lit by torches running along the shelves.
The blue haired man turned around to face Tokiya and Berserker.
"Welcome to the Library of Ajax."