Chapter 5: The Librarian Awakens (and the Price of Knowledge)
The sun bled orange across Aurora Village, painting the new palisade in fire. The first caravan had parked in a neat semicircle outside the gate—wagons loaded with iron ingots, salt blocks, and crates stamped with the Free Cities crest. The merchant, a wiry man named Halric with a smile sharp enough to shave with, haggled like his life depended on it.
"Fifty wolf pelts for two hundred iron? That's robbery," Alex said, arms crossed.
Halric spread his hands. "Lord Alex, those pelts are dire wolf. Top-tier leather. And you blew up a Silvermoon duplicate with flower bombs. Demand is high."
Lyra leaned in, wings flaring just enough to cast a shadow over the merchant. "Demand drops when your head rolls."
Halric swallowed. "One-eighty iron, plus a crate of mana crystals. Final offer."
Alex glanced at Sylph, who twirled a petal between her fingers. It sparked ominously.
"Deal," Alex said. "But you stay the night. Trade stories. And if I hear one word of this reaching Silvermoon…"
Halric bowed so low his nose brushed the dirt. "My lips are sealed, my lord."
The caravan guards set up camp under Elara's watchful eye from the wall. She'd already marked three of them as potential spies—one had a Silvermoon tattoo hidden under his sleeve. An arrow through his waterskin at fifty paces had been her greeting.
Inside the Lord's Hut, now expanded with a proper trade room, Alex watched the summoning circle pulse soft blue. The air hummed with anticipation.
"Wisdom fragment," he muttered. "We need intel. Weaknesses. Secrets."
Lyra stood guard at the door, sword sheathed but ready. Elara perched on the windowsill, arrow nocked. Sylph sat cross-legged on the table, staff glowing faintly.
"Name her," the System prompted, voice like pages turning.
Alex exhaled. "Nyx."
The circle flared. Books materialized in mid-air, spinning, pages flapping like wings. A woman stepped out—tall, willowy, skin pale as parchment. Her hair was ink-black, braided with silver threads that moved like living script. Glasses perched on her nose, lenses flashing with runes. She wore a sleeveless robe of midnight blue, slit high on both sides, revealing legs that went on forever. A tome floated at her side, chained to her wrist by a glowing tether.
[Unit Summoned: Nyx – Arcane Librarian]
Level: 13
Class: Divine Scribe
Loyalty: 100% (Irrevocable)
Hidden Trait: Goddess Fragment #4 – Wisdom (Sealed)
Skills: Omnilexia V, Truth Glyph IV, Memory Palace III
Nyx adjusted her glasses, eyes glowing faint violet. "My King," she said, voice soft but resonant, like a library at midnight. "Your enemies' secrets are now open books."
She knelt, the tome opening on its own. Words spilled out—glowing, floating, forming a holographic map above the table.
[Silvermoon Enclave – Weakness Detected]
Duplicate loyalty capped at 80% → Mutiny risk at 50% damage
Seraphina's core mana tied to central mirror → Destroy mirror = cripple ability
[Iron Bastion – Weakness Detected]
Golem forges overheat after 100 units → 30-minute cooldown
Marcus's personal guard: 12 elite spearmen, weak to AoE
Alex's jaw dropped. "You just… read them?"
Nyx smiled, small and dangerous. "Knowledge is power. I am its vessel."
Lyra whistled. "We hit the mirror, QueenBitch is done."
Elara's arrow twitched. "I can put three shafts through it from a mile out."
Sylph clapped. "And I'll make it pretty."
Halric's voice called from outside. "Lord Alex! Your fire's ready—roast dire wolf sounds delightful!"
Alex muted him with a thought. "Nyx, what's the catch?"
Her smile faded. "Wisdom demands balance. Every secret I reveal costs you a memory. One of yours. Permanently."
The room stilled.
Alex's gamer brain kicked in. Save-scumming isn't an option here.
"What kind of memory?"
"Anything. A childhood birthday. Your first kiss. The taste of your mother's cooking." Nyx's eyes softened. "The System is… fair. In its cruelty."
He looked at his harem. Lyra's wings drooped slightly. Elara's arrow lowered. Sylph bit her lip.
"I'll pay it," Alex said. "Start with Silvermoon's mirror location."
Nyx nodded. The tome flipped pages. A memory flashed in Alex's mind—his tenth birthday, a chocolate cake with blue icing, his dad's laugh—then vanished. Gone. Not faded. Erased.
Pain lanced through his skull, but the map updated.
[Silvermoon Central Mirror – Coordinates Locked]
Distance: 78 km
Guards: 40 duplicates, 20 elves
Vulnerability Window: Midnight – 2 AM (mana recharge)
Alex rubbed his temples. "Worth it."
World Chat pinged.
QueenBitch99: "He's summoning AGAIN. FOURTH WAIFU. REPORT THIS HAX."
IronFistLord: "Golem count: 800. Siege in 48 hours."
Player42069: "Waifu Lord just mind-wiped himself for intel. CHAD."
Alex muted it. "Nyx, can you read IronFist's forge schedule?"
Another memory—his first Eternal Siege victory, the guild cheer—gone. The tome updated.
[Iron Bastion Forge Cooldown: 11:47 PM – 12:17 AM]
Window: 30 minutes, 0 golems produced
Lyra cracked her knuckles. "We hit the mirror at midnight. Forge at 11:50. Two birds, one stone."
Elara grinned. "I'll take the mirror shot."
Sylph raised her staff. "I'll bring the boom."
Nyx closed her tome. "And I'll bring the silence. No alarms."
Alex looked at the caravan outside. Halric was roasting wolf meat, guards laughing. Spies or not, they'd carry the story.
"Halric!" he called. "Double the iron. We're buying everything."
The merchant nearly tripped over his own feet rushing back.
Midnight – Silvermoon Enclave Outskirts
Elara lay prone on a ridge, moon at her back. The central mirror towered in the palace courtyard—ten meters tall, framed in silver runes. Guards patrolled in pairs.
She nocked an arrow tipped with Sylph's explosive petal. Range: 1.2 km. Wind: negligible.
"On your mark," she whispered into the Soul Link.
Alex's voice, calm: "Now."
The arrow flew. A streak of pink light.
It struck the mirror dead center.
BOOM.
The explosion lit the night like a second sun. Silver shards rained. Seraphina's scream echoed across the continent as her ability shattered with the glass.
[Global Announcement]
Silvermoon Enclave's Core Mirror Destroyed! Lady Seraphina's [Mirror Dominion] disabled for 72 hours!
World Chat lost its mind.
11:50 PM – Iron Bastion Forge District
Lyra led the charge—wings fully spread, Divine Smite charged. Sylph rode her back, petals swirling. Nyx floated beside them, glyphs silencing their footsteps.
The forges glowed red, golems half-formed on assembly lines.
Lyra landed in the center. "For Aurora."
Holy light erupted. Golems melted. Forges exploded. Thirty minutes of production—gone.
Marcus's roar shook the walls as he watched from his tower.
Aurora Village – 3:00 AM
The team returned via Nyx's teleport glyph, singed but triumphant. Halric's caravan was gone, iron delivered, spies accidentally left behind with broken legs.
Alex sat at the table, head in hands. Two memories gone. He couldn't remember his dad's face. Or his first raid win.
Nyx knelt before him. "You paid dearly, my King."
He looked up. Four goddesses surrounded him—War, Hunt, Love, Wisdom. Their eyes held the same promise: We'll make it worth it.
"Next target," he said, voice steel. "Demon Realms. Veyra's watching."
Nyx's tome flipped open on its own. A new page glowed.
[Ashen Rift – Weakness Detected]
Reality Rewrite limited to 1 sentence/day
Veyra's true body anchored to volcanic core
Core vulnerability: Divine Sparks (12/12 required)
Alex smiled, slow and dangerous.
"Twelve fragments. Twelve goddesses. One empire."
He stood. "Rest. Tomorrow, we hunt a god."
The summoning circle pulsed, already hungry for number five.