Raziel kept staring at the open bolt, he knew it was a trap, it had to be, because Seraphina wasn't the type to make stupid mistakes, but his curiosity was stronger than his common sense.
"To hell with it," he muttered, and pushed the gate.
The metal slid without a sound and when he crossed the threshold, the air changed all at once; in there it felt heavier.
He walked slowly between the black-wood shelves, feeling like an intruder who could get punished at any moment, until he saw a dim light at the back.
Seraphina was there, with her back to him, reading a huge book.
She didn't turn when he got close, even though Raziel was sure she'd known he was there from the second he stepped into the forbidden area.
"You took your time deciding," she said softly, without lifting her eyes from the book.
Raziel stopped a few steps away, ready to run if she started yelling for the guards.
"The gate was open," he said, defensive. "I thought someone could come in to steal or something."
Seraphina let out a low little laugh and turned around.
"Of course. You came to 'protect' the library, how noble of you, novice." She closed the book slowly and tapped the cover with her finger. "Or maybe your soul remembers things your mind doesn't understand, and you were looking for this."
She stepped aside, letting him see the title.
The letters were worn, but Raziel could read them: Myths of the Golden Age: The Paragon Theory.
"Paragon?" Raziel asked, frowning. The word sounded ridiculous, like something from a children's tale. "What is that? Some kind of ancient saint?"
"It is not a saint," she answered, stepping closer, lowering her voice like the walls could listen. "It is a concept. The Church teaches us to specialize: heal, fight, or study, but the legend says the Paragon is the union of all of it, someone who does not serve the light, but commands it."
Raziel felt a chill.
'Command the light? That sounded dangerously arrogant.'
"Sounds like a fantasy," he said, trying to look uninterested, even though his heart was pounding. "Nobody can do all that, that would be-"
"A monster?" she finished with a sharp smile. "Or a miracle? Because they say the Paragon is not born, it is made, either through an immense trauma or an unbreakable will."
Right then, something clicked inside Raziel's head.
It wasn't a real sound, it was more like a vibration in his skull, and suddenly, the world turned blue for a split second.
Floating letters appeared right beside Seraphina's face, invisible to her but blinding to him.
[SYSTEM ALERT!] [KEYWORD RECOGNIZED: "PARAGON"] [ANALYZING COMPATIBILITY...]
Raziel blinked, stunned, and all at once he remembered Zion's words in the cathedral, when she told him he had "1 HP" and that he was a "Hidden Boss."
The text changed fast, flashing with urgency.
[RESULT: COMPATIBILITY 100%] [HIDDEN PATH: "THE PARAGON" UNLOCKED] [WARNING: THIS PATH WILL ATTRACT THE ATTENTION OF HIGHER-RANK ENTITIES]
"Are you well?" Seraphina asked, tilting her head when she saw him go pale. "You look as if you have seen a ghost."
Raziel swallowed, trying to make the blue letters vanish just by staring through them.
"I... do not know what you are talking about," he lied, but his voice came out shaking. "I am only a novice and I want no trouble with heresies or strange tales."
Seraphina stared at him, and for a moment, her playful look disappeared.
"No one spoke of heresy, Raziel," she whispered, taking another step toward him, cornering him against a shelf. "I speak of potential. I have seen how you look at others, how you move, and you are not like them. There is something broken inside you, something that shines through the cracks."
She raised a hand, like she was going to touch his forehead, and Raziel went still.
The tension in the air was so thick he could almost chew it, the letters kept flashing red in the corner of his vision, warning him of danger, but he couldn't move.
"But, as of yesterday I was-" Raziel said, because even if he was a studious novice he was not especially remarkable for her to say something like that, unless...
"Someone else?" she said, and her smile widened, showing a predatory edge. "You are not the first, Raziel. Every few years, a nobody, an ordinary novice, changes overnight."
"Their eyes turn old," Seraphina continued. "They move with a purpose they did not have before, and they start asking dangerous questions, just like you."
Raziel took a step back, bumping into the spine of a book.
"I do not know what you mean. I have not changed."
"Do not lie to me." Her voice dropped. "I see it in you, that same strange light leaking out through the cracks. The last one I saw with that look was four years ago, he was a brilliant Acolyte, so the Church declared him a living miracle... until they found him in his cell, torn into pieces."
Panic grabbed Raziel.
'Four years... that is the same time that showed up in that strange text, isn't it?'
"They say divine inspiration is a gift," Seraphina added. "I say it is poison, because it is a чуж power that slips into the soul and eats it from the inside. The Church will call you a saint while you serve their aims, but when you stop, they will call you heretic and burn you."
"I offer you an alternative." Her hand rose again, and this time, the shadows in the room seemed to stretch, twisting at her feet like snakes. "There are other sources of power, older ones."
The letters in his vision flashed with a new warning.
[WARNING: FORBIDDEN ENERGY DETECTED] [RECOMMENDATION: FLEE]
Raziel ignored the message, because running was a death sentence, he knew he had to play his cards right.
"What do you want from me, Sister?"