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"So you mean the news about me has even reached here?" Kaizen asked the shaman.

"News like that usually reverberates through the roots of the World Tree and reaches even the most inhospitable and unexpected places, including the three levels of Olaynore."

"Ow, that\'s why I didn\'t expect it. Alina never told me that." Kaizen confirmed without much thought.

"Do you know Alina, the librarian?" The halfling asked, walking forward with a surprised look on his face. The shaman carried a wooden staff that looked as if it had been carved by hand. It was decorated with carvings and runes that glowed faintly in the firelight.

"Yes, she was the first person I met in this place. Do you know her too?"

"Gee, it seems like hundreds of years since I last heard that name.... She was just a child. Back then, I was the one who protected the outside of her library with a spell.... Psyker, forgive me for asking, but can you tell me how she is? You didn\'t hurt her when you found her, did you?"

"Of course I didn\'t. However, I don\'t have any good news about her. The library you mentioned, where she was hiding, was attacked by..."

"Who? Who would be crazy enough to do that?"

"A mage named Adohorn." Kaizen said with a tone of disgust.

The shaman\'s face turned pale and he instinctively shook his head in denial. "No, that\'s impossible. I live in exile from other people, but I know what happens, it has been many years since the man with that name lived in this forest."

"Apparently, he came down from the upper floors yesterday and managed to get into the library easily and captured Alina."

"So if he managed to get past my protection, he is even more powerful than I expected."

Kaizen frowned. "You seem to know a lot about him and about Alina. I want to save her, but I need you to tell me everything you know."

"I-I don\'t think it\'s your responsibility, and--"

Impatient enough not to listen to any pious justification from the halfling, Kaizen stepped forward and said angrily:

"You said earlier that all humans could do when they crossed my path was wonder what their role was in my journey, didn\'t you? Well, now you know what to do. In case it wasn\'t clear what it is, I tell you: you must help me and tell them everything you know.

The little shaman looked into the player\'s eyes and knew immediately that this was not a test or a stupid joke, Kaizen was serious about wanting to help Alina, which surprised him, the wisest living being in this forest. After all, he had always thought that if psykers ever existed, they would be people who only cared about balance, not other people. So when he saw that the Psyker before him exceeded his expectations, he smiled and nodded.

"There has been a legend for hundreds of years that the famous Library of Mages, the place where the founders of Olaynore studied together, hid a very powerful magic book with the ability to grant any wish to any person." The halfling affirmed, staring into the flames of the fire. "According to the same legend, this book was left by the founders after they died, with the intention that if Olaynore ever needed to be changed or rebuilt, this book would be the key."

The fire in front of the shaman, fueled by sticks and pieces of wood, crackled with a mesmerizing intensity. Each crackle and pop was like music that set the mood for the story the man was telling as the sparks leapt into the air like sparks from a fairy.

"But hundreds of years ago, when this ancient legend became very popular among young people, especially among the nobles of the City of Tears and the Mage Citadel, the future of Olaynore began to be threatened. Young mages began to have the ambition to find this book, for the idea that it could grant any wish, even to escape death, was attractive. So the librarian at the time, Lord Sylly, Alina\'s father, made a critical decision and took a risk right in front of all the mages in the citadel. He teleported the entire Mage Library out of the Mage Citadel, removing some of the essence from the ground."

"And so the library appeared here, in the Forest of the Lost, and that explains why it is so different from all the rest of this place." Kaizen said.

"Correct. And Lord Sylly used a perfect teleportation spell that didn\'t take the Library of Mages out of Olaynore, but made it look like it did."

"So the other mages thought the library could be anywhere."

"And in every world. But there was one problem with all of this, the mark that every citizen of Olaynore wears over his heart is also a circle of great power, and if used in the wrong way, it can be used to stop the heart of the user. When the mages of the council heard what Mr. Sylly had done, they immediately sentenced him to death, saying that he had no right to do what he had done, and they didn\'t punish Alina as well because she didn\'t have the mark yet. However, a few minutes before he died, he came to me in this forest, said he trusted me, and asked me to help him \'seal\' the library with his daughter inside. I was afraid at the time, but I helped him anyway."

"Are you saying that Alina has lived alone in that library since she was a little girl? That must have been terrible for her, almost torture. Dealing with her father\'s death and loneliness at the same time.... I had no idea."

"I agree. However, the concept of time is different in the Library of Mages. The founders wanted all mages to be able to study without having to worry about schedules. So what was a year for us in the Forbidden Forest was four months for them. And luckily, the Syllys have elven blood in their veins, so she must still look pretty young."

"Yes, she is very beautiful."

"Why, is it a matter of love then, Psyker?" The halfling asked, putting a hand to his chin as he looked at Kaizen with fascination.

"Of course not! Alina and I are just friends! In fact, after you\'ve told me all this, I still don\'t understand why Adohorn captured Alina instead of searching the entire library for the magic book."

"Adohorn is someone who is confident in his own talents and abilities. If I could sense your aura when you were twenty meters from my house, he could sense you two hundred meters away. What I\'m trying to say is that if there was such a powerful magic book in the library, even if it was sealed in one of the basement rooms, he could sense it. I don\'t know if he\'s working for someone who\'s looking for that book, or if he has his own ambitions, but he probably thought that since the book wasn\'t in the library, Alina could still be the key to finding it, or worse, he could use her to fall into the grace of the Council mages."

"That\'s crazy." Kaizen said, nonconformist.

"But it makes sense, and that\'s all that matters to Adohorn. He\'s always been that way."

Psyker put his hands on his head and walked around looking at the ground, a little lost, until he stopped walking after a few seconds and spoke:

"Wait a minute, if Adohorn wants the spellbook, he probably wants a lot of power or he wants to change Olaynore completely, doesn\'t he?"

"Surely one of those two things is what he desires. Adohorn always seemed to me to have an insatiable hunger for power, and ever since he was brought here by force as a child, he has always wanted everyone to know about his homeland. Why do you ask?"

"It\'s... nothing. I just thought about his motives for a second, but all in all, it shouldn\'t change anything for me." Kaizen smiled falsely. "Well, Shaman Lord, thank you for telling me so many things, but can you do me one more favor?"

This time, it was the halfling who frowned. "What do you want from me? I\'m no one and I can\'t help you defeat Adohorn."

"Really? You look like a powerful magician to me, but it\'s okay if you don\'t want to get directly involved in this. But I know that you know how to place what you call Marks, and I know that this is the only way for me to continue following Adohorn\'s tracks. So I will formally ask you to place a mark on me so that I can go to the City of Tears and, if necessary, to the Citadel of the Kings as well.

"I don\'t..."

"I know you can do it." Kaizen spoke and looked at him seriously.

"Who told you that?"

"Jeff, the thief who..."

"Who is a water mage, I know, I know. I knew that brat would bring me trouble one day. Okay, I\'ll help you, but not because Jeff asked me to, but because of Alina. I owe it to her. She deserves to live somewhere else outside this hot forest and that place shouldn\'t be a prison.

Kaizen smiled. "You\'re nicer than you look, old man."

"You won\'t talk the same after I put the mark on you. I want to see if the mighty Psyker is as impervious to pain as the legends, or rather the prophecies, say."

...

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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