Chapter 273 The Furious Keeper of Books
For the second part of his world quest, Izroth had to clear something called the Path of Dragons alone. However, he had no information whatsoever about any such place, therefore, he did not even know where to begin looking!
But, after reading the contents of the purple covered book, even though Izroth still was unaware of its location, he learned a bit about the creatures called dragons. Of course, Izroth knew what a dragon since there were some within the Seven Realms, but true dragons they were an extremely rare species!
While there were numerous creatures within the Seven Realms that had dragon blood running through their veins, it could only be considered mediocre at best when compared to the pure bloodline of a true dragon.
According to the contents of the book Izroth just read, it seemed to be a similar case with the dragons of RML. Unfortunately, there was very little data on actual dragons and most of the book was simply speculation and theories about the dragon race. In actuality, the dragon race was shrouded in mystery and it could be centuries before someone reported seeing one!
Did Izroth have a few centuries to wait for a dragon to appear to ask where the Path of Dragons was? Of course not! Though the book was not entirely useless. It would not have caught Izroth's attention with only wild speculations and random assumptions.
Somewhere inside of the fourth kingdom, Tempest was a group of people who worshipped dragons as sacred and divine beings. However, there were three things that made getting there for Izroth a little complicated.
The first was that he had no idea where the fourth kingdom Tempest was located. But, Izroth figured that this information would not be too difficult to obtain. There was even a chance that its location was buried in one of the books within the palace library.
The second reason was that the dragon worshippers were nomads. This meant that they could be anywhere at any time within the borders of Tempest. Fortunately, there were a few known locations that were listed inside the purple covered book. Therefore, Izroth would just have to check them one at a time and hope that he got lucky, otherwise, he could be looking forever!
The first two reasons were not too challenging and anyone with decent connections or the proper resources should be able to accomplish both tasks without too many problems. However, there was nothing Izroth could do about the last issue.
Not all the kingdoms got along with each other. You had some kingdoms who were allies to Amaharpe such as the third kingdom, Proximus and you had those who remained neutral like the second kingdom, O'Tohelm. But, when one held onto as much power as Amaharpe, they were bound to have their fair share of enemies.
In this case, Amaharpe's enemy was none other than Tempest. To make matters worse, they were not simple petty enemies, but rather the two kingdoms were blood enemies!
More than a century ago the two kingdoms fought a bloody war that killed tens of thousands of people on both sides. In the end, Amaharpe was victorious, however, they paid a heavy price and was too weak to even occupy, as well as, secure the territory Tempest ruled over at that time.
During that time, Amaharpe and Tempest were two of the most absolute powers within the Mortal Realm. But after that war happened, it allowed other kingdoms to catch up to them in terms of power and influence. Of course, neither side ever forgave the other and the two have been blood enemies ever since. This was something Izroth had read about in one of the books titled "Seventh War of the Titans".
After obtaining the title Protector of Amaharpe, Izroth's ties to this kingdom was basically carved in stone. It was unlikely that a powerful kingdom like Tempest did not have its fair share of eyes and ears stationed inside of Amaharpe.
There were too many unknowns in Tempest, however, their power was more or less around the same as Amaharpe's. In other words, there were definitely legendary existences in that place! But, Izroth did not believe that they would see him as such a huge threat that they would send a legendary existence after him even if they did discover him crossing their borders.
As long as they did not send any legendary existences, then Izroth was confident in his current fighting and retreating capabilities.
Izroth sat the purple covered book down on the table before him as he turned to look at the mountain of books that he had already gone through. It was well over a thousand books! However, there were still a sizable amount of books waiting to be read.
'I should finish reading the rest.'
Izroth spent the next hour flipping through the pages of books within the palace library. If anyone walked in and saw what he was doing, they would shake their head and mock him. He would grab a book, flip through all of its pages, and then toss it into the pile of books at his side.
From an outside perspective, it looked as though he was just skimming through the books without really looking at its contents and then leaving a mess behind.
Just as Izroth was ready to move on to the next row of books, he heard a voice filled with anger yell out.
"What do you think you're doing?!" The voice shouted.
The voice came from a young man that appeared to be in his late teens. He wore a gray scholars robe with a single silver stripe going across his right arm sleeve. Right now, his expression was one of great displeasure and irritation.
However, Izroth did not pay the voice any mind and kept his focus on absorbing the contents on the next row of books. Besides, he was doing nothing wrong so it was likely that the voice was not even talking to him.
When Izroth ignored him as if he were not even there, the young man's facial expression darkened. He quickly approached Izroth to confront him directly. Did he think that this place was a playground?! This was a sacred place of learning and knowledge and yet this person before him was throwing books anywhere after skimming through them for less than a few seconds.
To make matters even worse, there were well over two thousand books scattered everywhere!
"You-! Did you not hear me speaking to you?! Stop and put those books down at once!" The young man said.
'Hm?'
Izroth turned his head and saw a young man who seemed to be upset about something.
NPC Name: Kaz(Normal)
NPC Level: 10
"Stop? Who are you to tell me to stop?" Izroth was confused as to why Kaz wanted him to stop reading. Besides, who was he to tell him what he could and could not do? Izroth was granted the right to enter this place of his own free will and read from the books on the first floor.
Kaz scoffed, "I am the first assistant of the Keeper of Books, Kaz! It is my duty to ensure that no harm is done to the books of this library and that they are used for the sole purpose of gaining knowledge. They are not meant to be held by someone who treats them like junk and playthings! If you want to play around then do it somewhere else that isn't here!"
Izroth's eyebrows rose slightly at Kaz's words. Junk? Playthings? Was he not using the books in this place to gather knowledge? How was he playing around?
However, after taking a moment to think about it, Izroth understood why Kaz thought such a thing. Due to the Heavenly Golden Body physique, Izroth could retain information from the books just by seeing them one time. Therefore, all he had to do was flip through each page and quickly scan them with his eyes.
But, although he considered this to be "reading", it would obviously look ridiculous from an outsider's perspective.
Izroth could see that Kaz was simply doing his duty and appeared to be passionate about books, so he did not become upset after the misunderstanding.
'Indeed, it would like as if I were just fooling around.'
"You're mistaken, I am reading every book I pick up." Izroth replied in a carefree manner.
Kaz looked at Izroth as if he had a few screws loose in his head. What part of what he was doing was anything remotely close to reading? However, just as Kaz was ready to further rebuke Izroth, he stopped himself from doing so after hearing the sound of approaching footsteps.
Kaz's facial expression immediately lost all its color and turned pale.
"This is bad...! I can't let the Grand Master see the library like this!" Kaz said in a panicked tone of voice as he quickly moved to pick up the books and started to put them back into their proper place on their respective shelves. However, how could he possibly pick up over two thousand books in such a short amount of time?
Izroth was lost by Kaz's sudden change in behavior. As he watched Kaz panicked and flustered state, he heard someone else approaching. The footsteps of that person had a unique rhythm to them every time that person's foot made contact with the ground. It was incredibly calming to the mind and almost made Izroth completely drop his guard for a moment.
'What a terrifying skill.'
While Izroth was about to easily overcome skills like that thanks to his monstrous willpower, if that skill was used on the average person, there was no doubt that their mind would wander off and enter into a completely calm and tranquil state. Of course, that was not necessarily a bad thing if one wanted to meditate or relax, however, if such a skill was used in the middle of a battle it could be dangerous!
A few moments later, a man who appeared to be in his late fifties to early sixties entered into the library. He wore the same gray scholar robes as Kaz, however, instead of a silver strip across his right arm sleeve, there was a circle of five golden stars. In the middle of those stars was the symbol of a small opened book with blank pages.
Izroth observed the man who just walked in. He had short gray hair with a neat and well-maintained beard. Although his appearance was aged, one could tell that he used to be quite handsome in his youth. But what stood out the most was that deep and profound look that lingered about in his eyes as if he understood the mysteries of the world and what they had to offer.
NPC Name: Orion, Keeper of Books(???)
NPC Level: ???
Orion glanced at Izroth who was the only other person in the library besides his assistant, however, it was only for a brief moment as he lost interest. His gaze then landed on Kaz who was scrambling to pick up the scattered books.
"Kaz, what's the meaning of this? Is this what you call well-maintained and spotless? Do you take me for an old fool? You must think my standards low." Orion spoke in a stern voice as his tone carried with it a great level of displeasure.
Kaz became extremely gloomy after listening to Orion's words of rebuke. He could not help but feel bitter towards Izroth who was the try culprit behind this mess. He wanted to strangle him to death!
"Grand Master! I swear this place was spotless a few hours ago! It was this guy who was randomly throwing the books on the floor after only skimming through them without even reading anything! He has no respect for books and the knowledge they hold! He treats them like disposable trash!" Kaz said as he swiftly shifted the blame to Izroth.
Kaz did not want the Grand Master to think any less of him because of something someone else did!
Orion turned his focus towards Izroth as he narrowed his eyes to size him up.
"Young man, did you do this?" Orion asked in a stern tone of voice without mincing any words.
"If you mean the books, then yes. However-" Izroth said but he was cut off by Orion.
"Good, very good! It has been a while since someone has dared cause trouble in my library." Orion said as an invisible force crashed down on Izroth's body.
Kaz felt cold sweats running down his back. He had been with the Grand Master for many years and although he was a strict person, he was still very easy to get along with and there were few things that ever truly upset him. Right now, Kaz could tell that the Grand Master was furious! That guy was finished within Amaharpe! He would be lucky if the Grand Master only kicked him out of the library!
Izroth, however, was unaffected by the pressure being released by Orion. He was flooded with Willpower Checks, but every time he passed with relative ease. Would he allow himself to be intimidated and bullied so easily? The answer was obviously no!
"If you want to bully me for reading, then you'll have to try a little harder." Izroth said in a nonchalant manner.
Orion saw that his pressure was not working on Izroth and the look in his eyes became a bit cold.
"Good, very good. Let's see how long you can keep up your lies." Orion said. He withdrew his pressure as an idea suddenly came to his mind.