Robin gently bit his lower lip as he stared at the air in front of him. His interface glowed blue before his eyes and he flicked through it, desperately looking at options in a vain effort to take his mind off the impending meeting with the Head Librarian.

He was currently cooling his heels in an antechamber, awaiting the man’s convenience. Whatever Vryngylla had said to him had been convincing enough to get him a meeting, but clearly the Head Librarian didn’t have quite so much faith in Vryngylla’s abilities as she did herself.

If he had, Robin would already be in that office, not—pointedly—being made to wait out here.

Truth be told, Robin was nervous. The Head Librarian was known for his keen intellect and observational skills. If anyone could see through Robin’s deception, it would be him. So the bard was going over his abilities, seeing what else he might need to drop some emergency experience in, to boost his skills.

He’d already done this twice already. Once right after the meeting was secured, and then again just last night, but his mind wouldn’t stop worrying at the things that might go wrong. He needed to advance this quest!

Quest: [Secrets Chained in Ink]

You have found hints of more detailed knowledge of the Church of Rhyth and their secrets in the Great Library of Noviel. Follow the trail to uncover this information, and gain its insight and power for yourself!

So far you have discovered you need to achieve the following:

1 - Acquire a permit to access the library and its resources. [Completed!]

2 - Win the goodwill of the Head Librarian.

3 - Gain Access to the Restricted Section!

4 - Locate the sources in question.

5 - Unlock the secrets, riddles, and spells which may conceal the information from the uninitiated.

Reward(s): Access to a set number of spells and peculiarities commonly employed by, or unique to, the Church of Rhyth and other practitioners of advanced illusion magics.

Robin had gone through his interface with a fine tooth comb at this point, and there were several powers and abilities he thought were likely candidates. He had no way of knowing what hidden abilities he couldn’t see, but of the ones he could (even the ones that were greyed out and granted only limited insight into what they did), several stood out as likely.

[Phantasm] was probably going to be key to his abilities. It was Tier 3, and the description implied that it allowed one to fool any or all of the senses in combination. The naming convention he’d been following reinforced this idea.

Unfortunately, while he felt he was nearing breaking through to Tier 2, Tier 3 was still out of his reach. Unless he found a way of increasing the speed at which he advanced his skills, or of soaking up a lot of experience in a very short period of time. Power-levelling was a bit less interesting in a place like this, however, where the blood and pain were very, very real.

Tier 2 did have some tantalising spells that he could see, though. [Read Thoughts] would help increase the efficacy of his Deception exponentially. And [Lesser Misdirecting Veil] was exactly what he needed to evade low-level divinations. Knowledge was power, and the more he could know while making sure everyone else knew less about him, the better.

The real bottleneck was the amount of magical energies he could muster for spells. He’d noticed how Drev made use of abilities that either channelled his energies more efficiently or extended the effective use-time of his spells. Because the power and usefulness of magic in this world seemed tied to his effective level, Robin had combed though the interface looking for Perks and Peculiarities that could help with that.

There were not as many as he had hoped.

Part of the problem was that Perks seemed to be essentially random. Mundane skills and abilities could be trained or boosted with experience points. Spells and Peculiarities could be sought out and learned. Perks, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be automatically included in his interface. It made things more interesting, but harder to plan for.

Most of what he could find was higher-level. Things for much further along in his career. Which was stupid! The higher-level he was, the more he’d have to play with in terms of magic! He needed the efficiencies now!

Though there were a couple options.

One of them was even near at hand! Robin had, after much searching, discovered an odd spell called [Sorcerous Mark]. It allowed the caster to create what were essentially temporary magical tattoos that granted various abilities: increased speed, increased resilience, a temporary bump to heath, etc. One of the abilities was an increase in his effective level for the purposes of determining the effectiveness (and duration) of his spells.

Though naturally, it had its own effective caster level requirements to access.

There were some exotic substances he could acquire here in Noviel that would provide a temporary boost, though he would have to be careful not to become addicted. Magic items as well, though they tended to be rather pricey. Yet another demand on his meagre supply of gold.

He kept seeing spells and abilities that would solve so many of his problems! But they were beyond his reach at the moment. It was incredibly frustrating. Sometimes the path to power felt so long, and was walked so slowly.

Still, if he was going to get there, he needed to successfully complete this quest! Not only would it provide experience but it would unlock some more secrets, possibly even ones that would be of use sooner rather than later, Rhyth willing.

Robin willed his character sheet open to review it again.

ROBIN PARKER Heritage: Shadeling, Paragon Profession: Bard Tier: 1 (Effective Level: 6) Spell Points: 9 Bardsong: 6 uses Experience: 8250 Properties

Free Ranks Available: 1 Physical Mental Social Strength: 11 Intelligence: 17 Charisma: 15 Dexterity: 14 Cunning: 22 Manipulation: 13 Fortitude: 11 Resilience: 14 Poise: 16 Proficiencies

Free Ranks Available: 1 Physical (9/9) Mental (9/9) Social (9/9) Athletics: 3 Arcane Lore: 6 Animism: 2 Brawl: 3 Bureaucracy: 5 Deception: 9 Dodge: 6 Concentration: 7 Empathy: 5 Melee Combat: 5 Crafting: 5 Expression: 8 Pilot: 4 Healing: 4 Gossip: 6 Ranged Combat: 7 Insight: 6 Intimidation: 5 Sleight of Hand: 6 Learning: 5 Persuasion: 6 Stealth: 6 Natural Wisdom: 3 Socialise: 7 Survival: 3 Perception: 7 Streetwise: 6 Peculiarities Blessing of Rhyth Tongue of the Fallen Tower Mark of the Trickster Chronicle of Infinite Visions Mask of Myriad Faces Initiate of the Craft Illusion Focus [Slot Available!] Perks

Wayfaring Stranger Shard of the Shattered Manymind Mark of Fairy's Favour Spells

Cantrips* (*no SP cost)

Tier 1 (1SP each)

Tier 2 (3SP each) Lesser Phantasm* Visual Phantasm* Assume Quality (Special) Cutting Words* Healing Note Legerdemain* Whispers from Beyond Lesser Nightmare Curse* Invisible Servant Lesser Witchbolt* Familiar Bond Minor Repair* [Slot Available!] Lesser Charm*

His Deception was as high as he could get it, at present. He was unsure what other skills might come into play. Perception would obviously be useful in keeping a read on the Head Librarian’s mood, as would Insight.

Perhaps he should increase Bureaucracy more. Playing by the rules could sometimes get you further than breaking them. It was also very affordable.

That decided, Robin increased his score there by 2 levels. He didn’t even wince as his experience total went down.

Before he could ponder further, the secretary leaned over and beckoned to Robin.

‘You can go in now,’ he said.

Robin rose and made his way toward the thick door that marked the boundary between the waiting room and the Head Librarian’s office. It was a massive thing, darkly stained wood carved with a series of motifs suggesting knowledge and learning.

It also not-so-subtly radiated power, both magical and mundane.

Robin took a deep breath as he crossed the threshold, the door opening for him of its own volition.

Or at a silent command from the Head Librarian.

The room through the doorway was definitely larger on the inside than it appeared from the outside. Like, mansion-large. There were towers shelves of books in all directions, stacks of paper and notes, inkwells and several magical quills scratching across scrolls and blank books and even slips of paper.

The whole room positively reeked of power.

And the man behind the desk at the centre radiated it.

‘Sit,’ the Head Librarian said without preamble, gesturing to a chair crammed in amidst several towering piles of books.

Robin sat, careful not to topple any of those towers of parchment and leather. The last thing he needed was to blow this interview with a misstep like that.

He managed to seat himself without causing more than a few alarming wobbles.

‘You are the one who discovered the work in question?’

Right into it, huh? Robin found he wasn’t surprised. The Head Librarian seemed to emit an aura of knowledge that made one assume he already knew most of the obvious details, just from simply being in his presence.

Robin felt a prickle of sweat between his shoulder blades. That anti-divination ward he’d have access to at Tier 2 was looking better and better.

‘I brought it back from the dungeon, yeah,’ Robin said. Lying with the truth. The best non-magical way to beat potential divinations.

‘Good. Now…’ The Head Librarian launched into a dizzying series of questions, quizzing and querying all manner of details. He asked questions about the stone and the humidity of the air in Ruprecht’s dungeon, questions about the shading of the ink and the feel of the parchment beneath his fingertips. He asked fewer questions about the contents of the piece, but he asked those as well.

He probably assumed Robin hadn’t paid enough attention to the words inside, or lacked the skill to reliably interpret or translate them.

Robin answered automatically, glad not for the first time that he’d had so much time to practice his Deception and that he’d taken the time to go over the story in his head and make sure all the details were clear and consistent.

‘Excellent!’ the Head Librarian said, throwing Robin further off his mental balance. ‘I have everything I need. Thank you. This has been a most productive and fortuitous encounter.’

The man actually had the audacity to look pleased.

He didn’t even seem to care that it might not be an authentic piece! After Robin had gone to all the trouble of ensuring the forgery was as near to perfect as possible! It was unbelievable.

He couldn’t resist prodding at the mystery, even though he definitely knew better.

‘But…but what if it turns out to be a fake?’ Robin asked, not having to feign bewilderment.

‘Immaterial,’ the Head Librarian stated, dismissing the concern with a little flip of his fingers. ‘There is a chance it is authentic, and the acquisition of the piece will be trivial in terms of effort and expense. Even if it is a fake, as you say, produced by this living dungeon, such a find is worth at least a footnote, if not a few paragraphs of theory in my monograph. It might even have been more, had that idiot—’

Khavren. He meant Khavren. How powerful was the Head Librarian that he could dismiss the son of one of the most powerful women in the whole region like that?

‘—not shattered the dungeon. I might even have bestirred myself to make the trek undercity to interview the entity. Where it might have come across the knowledge could have proved invaluable in my own search for further answers.’ The Head Librarian snorted. ‘Knights. We’d be much better off if they stayed mere figures in tales and ancient histories. Where they belong.’

Robin wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he just made a vague noise that could have been interpreted as agreement.

The Head Librarian didn’t seem to notice. The man was writing with swift, sure pen-strokes on a piece of paper. He signed it with a flourish and passed it to the bard.

It was the access Robin had been looking for!

‘You have my thanks,’ the Head Librarian nodded to him, ‘and you have the access you requested. I wish you the best of luck in your search for knowledge.’

Robin knew a dismissal when he heard one, and he took it. His hands clenched around the slip of paper as if it might suddenly vanish like a dream before the morning sun. If he stayed any longer his luck might run out and he did not want to be here when it did.

He left the room with the sound of chimes echoing in his ears and a Quest Update dancing before his eyes.

He was making progress!