Master Of None

Perfect lines of bookshelves appeared. They had organized themselves so that anyone could walk through. However, the runes in the air blocked the books off completely. "So there are hidden switches that stop this maze." Walker looked at Fleur who seemed more than happy to have helped. She had followed the mana to the switch.

The rumbling had not stopped though. There were still pillars of books rising where each of the stairs had been before. The only one that was lowering was the round bookshelf that Walker had just investigated.

"I think…this is a timer?" Walker realized that with every second, the shelf was sinking. He could only guess that by the time that the shelf was lowered completely, that everything would return to the natural flow.

"Walker! How did you get here? And what did you do to my book!?" Remey had ended up with the book she was reading torn out of her grip. Then the bookshelves changed leaving here in a perfectly straight corridor of books.

"I found notes on what we have been looking for. There's so much more here to research but we can't do anything. Right now. We have to get out. I just wonder what has kept Onyx and Midnight so long." Walker and the others weren't sure of the exact time but they knew that it had been more than long enough.

"Fine! But you are making sure I can finish reading that!" Walker wasn't sure what was so amazing about that book but knew that it must have been very important to Remey and Alvaro's growth.

"I heard that!" Gil jumped from the side of another shelf and smiled pretty big. He hadn't been sure where everyone else had made it to and didn't want to be stuck there forever. "I was trying to get back but every time the floor changed I was back at this shelf of books covered in wind elemental mana."

"I would have assumed you would be stuck with wind. It's your affinity." Walker laughed a little hearing that Gil and Remey had both been drawn to the books closest to their elemental mana.

"I can hear them this way!" Leon came tumbling over another shelf. It seemed that the runes stopping people from climbing and biking through the shelves were deactivated. The books were just protected now.

"Did you have to climb that shelf? The format of the maze became that of a normal library just now. It had to be the work of, Walker." Alma had bumped in to Leon. The pair were following the sounds of voices.

"Alright, that just leaves Su. SUUUUU!!!." Walker called out and was quickly greeted with the sound of loud footsteps charging toad them.

"Thank you for the shout out." Su was glad to be back with everyone. "It looks like you managed to find what you needed to find." Su was sure that Walker was ready to start a proper investigation once he handed over what he had found to the right minds.

"Exactly. Now we have to run out of here before we have to go through all that again!" They started running after Walker who could see the entrance ahead of them. They were making their best moved to get out but the ground had already started to rumble again.

"Time can't be up yet!" Walker was not happy to see that the shelves were changing. The books were all moving downward and the tiles had started to shift from the center out. It was making a new pattern of shelves. One that the group was barely able to make it away from.

"Look!" Alma stopped them at the top of the stairs near the entrance. She had found the shifting maze of books was taking the form of another rune.

"What is that…" Walker felt that the mana around him had changed radically. It was incorporating more than the natural mana. It was the fusion of even the odd manas depicted in the earlier books. The shelf of manas outside of the normal flow.

"But if the manas can mix then what kind of mana is it…but I…" Walker felt that he and Fleur were completely at the whim of such mana. However, it only stayed for a second. Before he could grasp it in any form, the shelves changed and returned to a proper format. The flow of the elemental runes.

"It's time to leave." Gil gave Walker a little wake up slap to the back. He had to snap out of his own head before they made it to the inside of the demon's castle again.

The hustle and bustle inside the castle was clear as soon as they came up the steps they had been guided to earlier. "Bring that armor where! Clar away that wall! Make sure that we find every hidden weapons stash we can!"

"What is going on here?" Walker's voice was just loud enough to silence everyone in the main hall of the demon castle.

"The general discovered hidden weapons and three traps while investigating the castle. We have been instructed to partner with the dwarves to ensure that every trap and weapons stash is cleaned out to protect the researchers that are arriving here in a few hours. The tamer's guild has expedited their travel." The report was quick and to the point.

"Then keep working. We will go outside." Walker did not argue with the safety needed for the researchers. Many of them lacked the skills to defend themselves from any form of traps.

Those moving around had clearly found many different traps. It made sense that Onyx and Midnight had remained outside. If they were to guide others inside they could be risking their deaths. It was a wonder that the traps and weapons had not been activated earlier.

"Brother! You managed to get out without us!" Onyx was just outside the castle. He and Midnight had gathered multiple researchers that had been on the main lines as map makers, information gatherers, and other similar non combat positions. The group was not large but had enough to do what was needed for now.

"Listen here! The maze of a library is underneath your feet. These notes are the key we need now. They detail the magical rune circle used to teleport the three demons we need to bring down. I need the location of where they are. Research this first. Then we will start the full research when the others arrive."

"Yes sir!" Those gathered by Midnight and Onyx took the notes and began instantly. They didn't even leave to set up a research station. Their goal was to start right then and there.

"Brother, there is a lot of mana around you right now." Onyx felt that something was wrong. He could sense mana gathered around all of them.

"The runes inside there are unique. They also had some runes that we all resonated with. It's probably that." Walker could focus on the mana as well. Some he had felt before and others he could not at all comprehend.

Midnight came up sniffing all of them to ensure that they were all safe. After careful evaluation, she huffed in approval before standing next to Walker waiting for him to say something. "Thank you both. Good work. I know everyone must have found something different. I will let you do whatever you need. It's time to wait, I know we don't want to, but that's all we can do."

"Then I will try some things out." Remey looked at a nearby forge and decided to try and head there to mess with some potions. She could make a small alchemy lab.

"Same here, I found a few interesting things. I might be able to learn some interesting wind magic skills." Gil smirked while he and Alma went another way. The elves were waiting for Alma as well. She had clearly been quiet because of what she had learned there as well.

"Good point, I might have something new to learn. Same thing that's been happening ever since I came to meet all of you." Leon chuckled while looking toward a few soldiers that clearly needed a little bit of battle training. Or at least in Leon's eyes, they did.

"I should meditate. I don't understand it but the earth mana was strange there. Deeper than I know." This was also how Walker felt about the earth elemental mana as well. There was always another level and he had yet to even scrape the surface. Therefore, when Su said it, he didn't stop her. She had her partner to help her in this endeavor.

"Care to explain what has happened?" Scylla landed next to Walker with curiosity on her face. She had waited to hear back as she went about her duties.

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