The Library

"Does this mean i'll never to be an adventurer?" he sniffled, after wiping his nose. "No son, unless you become a master of disguise, you'll never be able to even register. Plus its to dangerous for you to go out alone." He tried to tell him in a gentle convincing tone, as he didn't want his only son to die a sad death. His wife and his son mean't everything to him.

Luciels face was all red and puffy from crying, but everything to him started to feel fake. Like his entire life he was just a walking time bomb, waiting for the right moment to blow up. The moment that happened, his entire life would change for the worse. His mother and father then tried to keep calming him down, but to him all he heard was faint whispers. Slowly realizing that he would never be able to leave a normal life, he started to feel as if someone had set a dictionary on his head and shoulders.

A sudden wave of nausea went over him and he passed out. His parents immediately got worried and checked his temperature, his skin felt as though one was touching hot coals or fire crystals. After feeling how hot he was, they both carried him over to his bed and did some preparations they would do when he was sick.

When Luciel woke up, he realized he was no longer in his home, but in colossal room that seemed to be a library. Realizing that he was in some kind of dream he looked around. The ceiling had many different designs made from various colors of stained glass. It was like looking into a kaleidoscope everywhere you looked. The ground looked like it was made out of white marble with occasional pillars going up. He saw many bookshelves with books on them, but on further inspection he realized they were grimoires.

"Didn't grimoires just magically appear though? I didn't think there would be a library that you could choose one from." The grimoires he saw were myriad, all shapes and sizes. Everyone of them was a different color, and it seemed that none of them were placed in order. It was like someone just shoved them on the shelf and didn't take a second glance. While looking for one grimoire you liked, there was about ten better ones that you saw that you also liked. "I guess I should pick one out, I'm not sure if time passes faster or slower here." Heading off in a random direction he started looking.

After what seemed like hours of walking, there was a podium that had a book resting on it. Making his way over towards to podium, he noticed that there were statues on either side of it. They looked like griffins with an hourglass symbol on their chest. Putting his attention back to the podium, he looked at the grimoire in awe, it was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Colored white, it was about average size with silver edges on it. In the middle there was a pentagram that changed into different colors every second. A few ribbons with tassels all colored in silver where also attached to it.

Picking up the grimoire, he was about to open it when he felt a sudden tremor. The stone griffins started coming to life! Were they friendly? Definitely not! They looked at him as though a frost wolf would look at a rabbit, as food. He had to get out of there fast, but he never found the exit beforehand. Thinking this podium would probably be on the same lane as the exit, he started to run as fast as he could from the opposite way he came.

Though he was far ahead, he could hear the two griffins running towards him. Glancing back, one of them had started to fly of the ground at unimaginable speeds. Wide eyed, and running out of breath, Luciel didn't know what to do but keep running. Hoping that the exit was near, heck, if there was even an exit. He doubted that his grimoire would be any help, he was probably to low leveled and unskilled to do even one defensive or attack spell. Most likely, he didn't even have any spells to use yet!

With the griffins only a few meters away from him, he saw an exit. Running as fast as he could, he was only a few feet away before one of the griffins mauled him. A flash of red went over his vision as he felt one of his arms get torn off. He didn't even have time to process the pain when he awoke to the real world. Gasping for air, he then checked to see if his arm and newly found grimoire was still intact. They both looked the same as ever.

He put a hand over his chest trying to calm it, and realized he was no longer in his house but a, carriage? Looking besides him, he had a bag full of clothes, food, some coins, and a few other necessities like a fire crystal and a passport. The last thing he saw was a letter signed with his parents names. As he was reading it, a wave of grief hit him.

Dear Son,

We don't have much time to write this, so I'll keep it short, but we had to send you to Onryx for your own safety. We couldn't come with you as the authorities have put a tracking device on us. The bag next to you should have all the necessities you'll need. Using that passport will get you into Onryx. Don't come back to look for us. Remember that mom and dad love you very much.

Love,

Your Parents

Luciel didn't know what to think, but reading this felt like he'd never see his parents again. Putting the letter back in his bag, he tried holding in the waterfall of tears that was about to fall. Lifting the curtain back, he asked the carriage driver where and how long it was going to take to get to the destination. The man didn't take a second glance at him and replied, "Were headed towards Onryx, it should only be about two and a half days before we get there. You were sleeping for about five hours. I'm not sure how you managed to do that on these bad trails."