Upon reaching the Library of Infinite Beginnings, the three of us - Xiang Peng, Mei Gui, and I - didn't hesitate. Mrs. Fang noticed us and gave a little wave as we walked by, which we returned. We didn't stop to make conversation though, as we already had a clear goal in mind.
Heading directly up the spiral staircase in the middle, we entered the second floor, and without stopping, continued onwards, circling around the staircase once again to reach another door higher up. The door was a similar design as the one on the second floor, which meant this was undoubtedly the entrance to the third floor - but to access it, we would need to defeat the Gatekeeper of that floor first.
"This is it," I said, pulling out my library card from my wallet, which, as an aside, was depressingly empty. Hopefully, the Hunters' Guild's payment for me would be ready later today though.
"Woah, you wanna go first?" Xiang Peng asked uncertainly. "I'm stronger, you know. Let big sister here go first to scout it out."
I sighed. "One, you're not stronger than me. Two, you're not my big sister. But...if you want to jump into danger for me, then by all means."
"Hey hey, come on. You're no fun," Xiang Peng giggled. "You say I'm not stronger than you, but...didn't you need my protection back during the fight in Shenzhen?"
Indeed - Xiang Peng had saved me once by blocking a laser beam shot out from one of the monsters' eyes.
I scoffed. "I hope you realize...actually, never mind. Saying anything to you is just useless."
"Hmph! Then duel me, after this!" Xiang Peng puffed out her chest. "I'll show you not to mess with an Ancestral Mage when you're just an Intermediate one!"
I shook my head slowly, exasperated even though I haven't even done anything that required stamina. "I can't believe you'd underestimate me when you already know full well how much power I wield...you're a different breed, Xiang Peng."
"For better or worse," Xiang Peng said with a wink.
"For worse..." I muttered quietly. "In any case, I'm not taking the duel. It's utterly pointless, and I have nothing to prove to you."
She smirked. "Oh? Could it be...you're scared?"
"If you think I'm going to fall for your simple taunts, think again."
"Heh. I know you're a cunning person, so how about this? If you win, you can do whatever you want to me," Xiang Peng offered, grinning suggestively. "I'm pretty confident in my looks, y'know...even compared to all those other girls around you. And if you can win...I'm all yours."
"Denied," I immediately said, not even bothering to spare her a glance. I swiped my library card on the scanner beside the door.
"What?!" Xiang Peng appeared to be genuinely heartbroken. "How is this possible, a teenage boy rejecting such a tempting offer?! Is it because I'm not beautiful enough? Are you asexual or something?! No....wait, do you swing that way?"
Completely ignoring her baseless assumptions, each one more distant than the last, I pulled open the door to reveal a portal behind it. It was just like the one I had entered when facing the Floor Two Gatekeeper.
"Good luck, Master," Mei Gui said firmly, completely ignoring Xiang Peng's desperate cries beside us.
That's my girl, retaining the same qualities as me...heh. We have both perfected the art of ignoring idiots being idiots.
I nodded in response, and entered the portal, leaving behind the two of them.
******
A bright flash ensued, and when I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else. It wasn't like the outer space environment I had been in when I met that Celesticus, apparently one of the founders of the Library. Instead, this setting was a forest. A real forest, with life teeming everywhere, unlike the Forest of Alpheridian Mei Gui and I had just been in yesterday to hunt Thistle Walkers.
Luckily, Thistle Walkers were mainly bright green in color, so I had been able to track them with my eyes even at night in a dark forest, without using any Blessing Magic to empower my vision.
This forest, however, was different.
Despite it being around 7 PM outside, within this dimension, it seemed to be early morning to midday.
It must've taken some insane Space and Time Magic to create an alternate dimensional simulation like this. The founders of this place...just how powerful were they?
I looked around, unsure of who was the Gatekeeper I was supposed to defeat. There were plenty of small animals around - but none of them seemed to be hostile. So far, nothing had tried killing me. I was a bit confused.
Was the real test of this floor more to locate the Gatekeeper, rather than actually defeating it?
It seemed the tests of the Library of Infinite Beginnings were a lot more complex than I had expected. I had originally thought they would all just be straight forward, battle-based, but it seemed otherwise.
Then, suddenly, I heard gentle movement behind me.
I immediately spun around and leapt back a distance away, my guard up. Facing me was an elf - a beautiful woman, with snow white skin and long golden hair. She gave off a gentle and mature air around her, making her seem completely harmless - almost like a caring elder sister or mother.
But I wasn't that gullible.
I kept up my guard as she stepped closer - and the moment she did, I unleashed an attack.
Time to make good use of the spells I just learnt.
Level Three Light Magic - Holy Ray.
I shot a black beam of light at the elf, who appeared a bit surprised - but to me, it seemed that rather than the fact that I attacked her, she was more interested in the color of the attack I had unleashed.
And then, it was my turn to be surprised.
The beam of black light collided with her...not. Instead, it just stopped, a few inches away from the elf's body. It was as if she had an invisible and flexible wall covering her entire body, almost like an invulnerable set of armor.
"My, my...so what Sigil told me was really true," the elf murmured, seemingly to herself.
I narrowed my gaze. "Who are you? There's no way you're the Gatekeeper of this floor, if my attacks aren't even able to graze you."
The elf looked into my eyes, and smiled warmly - a beautiful, genuine smile. "You're right - I'm not the Gatekeeper. My apologies for my lack of manners - allow me to introduce myself properly."
She continued walking towards me, but I didn't step back this time. This was a farce, however. I seemed relaxed on the outside, but I still kept my guard up - this was to give her the impression my guard was down. That way, she would let her own guard down too, thinking I trusted her. If she tried anything...I would be ready.
After walking close enough to touch me, she continued, that gentle smile never once leaving her face. "My name is Aluna. Aluna Elven."
My eyes widened. "Elven...? Isn't that the royal bloodline of the Elves?"
The beautiful elf, Aluna, appeared surprised. "Oh my, you recognize the name?"
I nodded. "I remember reading something like that some time ago, at my old school."
From what I have read, the elves were a matriarchy - in other words, a queendom, with one queen to rule over the entire race. And said queen, has always had the last name 'Elven'. That was the sign of the royal bloodline. According to legends, the first queen had the last name of Elven, and has been passed down ever since. It was also where their race name, elves, originated from.
"I see..." Aluna murmured, thinking to herself.
"So? What kind of business does a member of the royal elven bloodline have with me?" I asked, getting to the main topic at hand.
"Hm...if you show me your face, I will tell you," Aluna giggled softly. It was cute.
"My face? What does that have to do with this?"
"Oh, I'm just curious to see what you look like, that's all," she answered in a carefree tone.
I sighed, and removed my facemask slowly. "There. Happy?"
"Mm..." she murmured, as if evaluating my looks. "Yes, very handsome. Just as I expected."
"I don't believe you came here just to flatter me," I said coldly.
"Yes, yes, you're right," Aluna replied. "My apologies, I got carried away."
"So? What do you want from me?"
"Before that...I trust you've seen a friend of mine already, yes?"
"A friend of yours...? How am I supposed to know your friends?"
"Oh, you know, alright. He's...hard to miss," Aluna chuckled. "I believe the two of you met when you challenged the second floor of the Library."
"The second floor of the Library...ah, I see," I said, remembering who Aluna was referring to. "The Celesticus, yeah? The one that was wearing a mask that only covered his eyes?"
She nodded, happy that I remembered. "Yes. His name is Sigil."
"And? He told you about me?"
I frowned, not liking where this was going. That Celesticus - Sigil - had detected some sort of unique power within me. That is to say...my Chaos power. If these two were 'friends', as they called it, then this elf was also one of the founders of the Library. What that also meant...was that both of these individuals were extremely powerful masters.
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