As William tossed the fishing line into the pond, it would suddenly be severed as if cut by hair-thin wires.
A hand would grab onto William's right arm firmly.
"You really shouldn't be disturbing their natural habitat yknow?"
He'd twist his around at lightning speed to see a finely dressed young man, about mid-twenties, staring at him emotionlessly. He wore an overcoat similar to William's, with a checkerboard pattern scattered all throughout it, and he adorned a couple of colourful ear piercings.
His eyes were dark brown, and he wore a pair of rectangular, black glasses that looked quite stylish.
Yawning, the man would reach into his coat pocket and pull out a badge representing a knight in chess, showing it to William before putting it back.
"So, new guy, come with me, I'll show you the ropes."
He'd gesture to a patch of grass near the pond, dragging William with him. After walking on top of it, he'd sink straight into the ground.
"You see, this way we save expenses on elevators; it's a cost-effective method."
Once they sank around 20 meters, a gateway made of earth would open up into a small underground facility. The dirt elevator would then return to the surface.
The knight would casually stroll in and take off his overcoat, setting it on a coat hanger before donning a similarly designed lab coat.
"So I heard you needed some armor of sorts. I am the Ledus Company's specialized artificer. You can call me Linen, you know, like the material."
He'd then grab William's coat and start muttering to himself like a disappointed teacher.
"This is shoddy work, must've been one of those two...We're gonna get you some of the good stuff, alright?"
He'd put his hands on the coat, and it would start unravelling into its individual fibers, like a tapestry of black and white, before slowly stitching it together once more and reconstructing the coat in a much cleaner manner. He'd then smile and say.
"That's for the fashion aspect, now to give you a lesson on supernatural items as your superior."
A lollipop would manifest in a flurry of illusory text, and he'd shove it in his mouth. Then, he'd begin explaining.
"I'm sure you're really familiar with the gift shop function, I mean, it is one of the most basic parts of the Library after all. It allows for the purchasing of goods with the theme of the worlds of novels you have visited. However, that isn't the only way to get powerful items, nor is it the way to get the strongest items. The items created in the way I'm about to tell you about are called vestiges."
He'd then stroll over to an open area, and several threads of ingenuity would materialize and form an anvil.
Then, he'd put the overcoat on it.
"The ability to craft and imbue supernatural items is open to all, not simply restricted to certain abilities. It's just highly dependent on skill. Now, the basic premise of forging vestiges is to imbue the mystic properties of certain items into others intricately. This principle lies in the transfer of energy. By chance, have you seen any archives after a verifier has perished?"
William would look over to Xiao Wei, who was sitting on his left shoulder.
"Xiao Wei, do you still have those?"
She tilted her head slightly before producing a gagging noise and regurgitating the archives of Li Jiaojie's party.
"I have these four. Can we use them?"
Linen would nod and take the archives before putting them on the anvil.
"Let's see here, reader archives are very useful things, many options here. But for you, my friend, we will do the most common method."
The man would then take one of the archives and start performing some strange movements with it. With his Reader attribute and his trait as the Reader of Lore, he could see the movements of Ingenuity, and what Linen was doing was akin to creating a bond between Item and Archive and fusing them.
'Intriguing stuff...I wonder if I have to pay for this.'
After about twenty minutes of hard work, Linen finished the process and handed the finished overcoat to William.
"Here, one patended Ledus Company overcoat, imbued with whatever powers that archive had. Oh, by the way, this vestige is specifically designed to protect due to its archive base; it isn't going to be really effective at anything else. Vestiges will also sometimes have negative effects on the user, depending on how the remnants of that person's archive viewed the user originally. I assume you killed them, so good luck with the coat."
As William touched the coat, a sense of healing overcame him; the effects of The Reader of Medicine likely.
"Thank you very much, Mr.Linen. By the way, could I request some vestiges for my subordinates? I have three that could benefit greatly. Should I bring some fabric or other materials?"
Linen merely smiled.
"Don't worry, as long as the main ingredients for the vestiges don't come out of my pocket, I'm more than willing to assist."
William then watched as several pieces of thread appeared out of thin air, creating two large overcoats, just without the same Ledus Company branding. Before imbuing those with archives as well. Then, he'd hand them over to William.
Afterwards, Linen would be dismantling his anvil whilst enjoying his lollipop.
"Be careful with the negative effects. Every curio is unique and different after all; it is difficult to exactly quantify their strength, but we assume it's similar to the Reader progression."
Then, he'd switch his tone of voice to something a lot more...sympathetic? More serious.
"Kid, it's only when you know your reason for continuing on that he can fight the hardest. People say that when you have nothing left to lose, you fight the hardest, but even then, you have everything to lose and nothing to fight for. So fight for a reason you believe in."
William would smile.
"The two who brought me into the company said something similar. How much do you really know about me?"
"That's private information. Just know that our intelligence operatives are some of the best in the world. You have been chosen for your task, so do it well."
Linen would disappear into the deeper areas of the facility casually, waving William away.
"You can stay here and experiment with your coat a bit. Call me when you're ready to leave."
Nodding, William wearily wore his overcoat, feeling the medicinal effect surging through his body.
'Hmm, it doesn't show up on the Library as an item in my inventory, but Author's Note should work.'
[Author's Note has been activated.]
[Item Name: Ledus Company Overcoat.]
[Grade: Reader?]
[Abilities: Possessing powerful healing capabilities, it will heal the user's injuries constantly, as well as heal itself if it suffers damage.]
[Drawbacks: Will drain a corresponding amount of the user's lifespan for any injuries healed and will use the user's Ingenuity to heal themselves; the heal function isn't able to be turned off???]
'What's with the question marks? Sometimes I feel like this system is less certain than we humans...'
(New outfit acquired! Good to see William getting top-tier fashion from an expert! Hmm, I should really get back to work on my actual life. So this chapter will be a bit shorter than usual. Actually, it should be around the average number of words. As everyone knows, quota comes first, then quality! Deadlines truly are a magical thing; they make the laziest of people work harder than everyone else.)