Ember (2)

"What's your name, kid?" he asked.

"It's, uh, it's Powyn."

He nodded. "How long have ya been Reincarnated?"

"About an hour."

"Where ya been?"

"A dungeon."

"Only an hour and you've already been sent to a dungeon?"

"I pissed off the guy who's supposed to be my dad."

Ember laughed. "You're funny, kid. I used to be like that when I was your age, messing with the powers that be."

"You don't sound that old."

"Been livin' for a long time, I have. Ain't kicked the bucket yet. I reckon I got a few more years on my plate."

I stared at the bottle in my hands. I was living in a body ten years younger than I was before. It was weird, thinking about how I was gonna have to go through high school and college again.

That is if I can reach the Silver Rank before summer ends. Which reminds me...

"Hey, System, didn't you say I was gonna die if I left the dungeon?"

[The system only wanted the Player to complete the mission as fast as possible. Cowardice would not help the Player achieve maximum efficiency.]

Wow. What a bugger this thing is.

Ember coughed and hunched over, bringing his fist to his mouth. The hat slid off his head but he caught and quickly put it back on before his coughing fit continued.

"Hey, man, you okay?"

He gave a shaky laugh. "I'll be alright. Old age creeps up on ya. Don't worry about me, kid."

"Are you sure?"

Nodding, he stood up. "I'll see ya around, kiddo. I'll give ya tip before I head off: whatever the original left for ya, check it out before ya go back in that dungeon. Soak up all that knowledge cause ya don't wanna make a fool of yourself."

"Kinda too late for that."

He laughed. "Then I guess ya wanna prove you're not as big an idiot as they think you are."

"Yeah...thanks, Ember. Nice talking to you."

He tipped his hat to me. "See you around, Powyn."

...

I wasn't depressed enough to stay sitting in the rain, so I wandered around some more and eventually found a library.

Stepping inside the library, I entered a small room with two benches. A sign said: HAVE A SEAT AND GET WARM AND DRY. Sure, why not?

As soon as I sat down, I heard a sucking noise coming from above me. I found a machine that reminded me of an Xlerator hand dryer. Those things were epic.

The water dripping from my body got absorbed into them. After I was sucked dry, the sucking noise faded, replaced by one that sounded like someone blowing on hot food. A wave of heat settled on me.

Oh, yeah. This was nice. I could stay here forever.

"Are you having a heatgasm?"

My eyes snapped open. A boy around 15 was standing by the exit of the room. He was staring at me with this get-a-load-of-this-guy kind of expression and I didn't know how I felt about that.

"Uh, no."

"Kinda looks like it. Are you gonna come into the library or not?"

I stood up and followed him out of the room.

The library was huge; it was double the size of Walmart. And Walmart is, like, the size of freaking Walmart. In front of us was a reception desk with a petite blondie with a fake smile getting more strained as she talked to the whale in front of her, who was waving a book and shouting at the poor girl.

Passed the desk was the sitting area. There were about a bajillion tables and about two dozen counters in a circle that snaked around beams of light. Ten clusters were computer stations while the rest were for whatever.

And then the books. The most books I've ever seen were in my new bedroom with a whopping 10 bookcases. In here, they were numbering in the thousands. And that was only on the first floor! The balcony above it somehow had even more. It was book nerd paradise in here!

The kid looked back at me and introduced himself. "My names' Fulton. You?"

"Powyn."

His eyes widened. "Powyn? As in the Powyn Theeves?"

"What, am I famous around here?"

"Yeah, for losing against a Scavenger! No offense but...a Mage against a Scavenger? Even if he was a higher rank, you should've would've whooped his stealing little ass! Especially with all those skills you've got."

"...What?"

"Oh, right, I forgot you Reincarnated. Well-"

"Fulton!" The blondie spotted us and called out. I guess she was using this opportunity to take a break from the whale's tirade. "Who's that guy?"

"This is...my friend."

"Does he have a library card?"

Fulton glanced back at me and mouthed her question.

Briiing! [The Player does not have a library card.]

I shook my head. "Nah."

"Nope! Can you get him one, Eshia?"

Eshia? What kind of name was Eshia? Well, I guess I can't talk. Mine is Powyn.

"Sure," she said. "Come on over and I'll get you set up-"

"Excuse me!" the whale cried. She shoved the book in Eshia's face and yelled, "You still haven't dealt with this!"

"Ma'am, I've already told that the book does not belong to this library."

"So what? It's a library book and this is a library. What's the problem?"

I couldn't help but think, 'Is she stupid or is she stupid?'

Unfortunately, I said that out loud. And boy was she mad.